Swedish Pop via Colorado

Not Lame Recordings in Fort Collins, Colorado is the purveyor of all things pop, or, as their slogan proclaims, “Good Music for Good People.”  Started by Bruce Brodeen in 1995 (moving online first with AOL), Not Lame is the premier power pop label in the States and also the distributor of finer pop music, particularly imports. I’ve discovered countless bands from the pages of Not Lame, including Good Shoes‘ Top 11 entry from 2007.

On occasion, the fine folks of Not Lame will throw in a promo release of rare or difficult to find power pop.  Awhile ago, I received one such installment with Vol. 2 of “How Swede It Is.”  Filled with Swedish pop to warm the harshest of Scandinavian winters, it’s an album I’m immensely enjoying with easier access via my Roku.

Here are two of the finer pop goodies, though they’re all delish.

Apple Brown Betty – “Aeroplane”

Mismates – “14”

9 Million New Fans By Week’s End?

You don’t sell units by being on (M)tv or the radio anymore; this MiS knows, but the key these days is getting your music where it can be heard: commercials, significantly used (Jason told me) in a TV show, or maybe even in a video game? Next generation games have been utilizing artists’ songs for years now and tomorrow marks the debut of what will most likely be one of the best selling games ever — Grand Theft Auto IV. Not only will this game house more than 200 artists and their respective songs, GTA will also try something truly next level – a “hear it and buy it” model for digital files. After the jump for more….

Rue Royale Take a Stroll In the Darkness

The latest act to drop in on the indie-folk scene is a subdued, husband-and-wife team called Rue Royale.  Their story is a bit reminiscent to the one portrayed in the movie, Once.    The two innocently met while Ruth was touring the States with a choir from Staffordshire, UK.  Brookln Dekker moved to Chicago from St. Louis in the late ’90’s hoping to further his career.  Forming a bond behind their musical backgrounds, they began to write and record songs together while establishing a long-distance relationship that eventually led to a marriage.   

Drawing influences from Fleetwood Mac and the Doves, their music parallels many contemporaries such as Sufjan Stevens, Jose Gonzalez, and Earlimart.  Wistful melodies blend with earnest lyrics to create a touching acoustic landscape perfect for any Sunday morning.

Rue Royale plans to tour the Midwest in May (May 7th at Subterranean in Chicago) in support of their first full length album, before hitting the rest of the States throughout the summer.  Catch them if you are able.  Check out their Myspace page to listen to a few songs, particularly “UFO” and “Even In the Darkness.”

Rue Royale :: Myspace
Rue Royale :: CD Baby (to purchase their albums)

The Crowd at a Rock Show

Maybe you’ve seen it; maybe you simply missed it, but I’m deeming it worthy of sharing. If you’ve ever been to a show where there is live music, you should do yourself a favor and take a minute to glance at this picture. Don’t hate me if you’re not feeling it though. I’m not sharing what number I am.

Part of the Weekend Never Dies…

Soulwax, your favorite band out of Belgium, has a forthcoming DVD on the way about none other than themselves. It’s directed by Saam Farahmand who has received many accolades for his music video making. Check the trailer below for a little bit of that KRACK!

EMI Sucks

I got this letter today from MP3tunes.  For those unaware, MP3tunes allows you to upload your ripped music to a secure site and then stream it through your own personal login account.  Yeah, just like music purchased digitally through Amazon.com or iTunes.  Should physical product be limited compared to digital commodities?  This issue is about ownership and it’s another example of why EMI (and often Sony BMG) have been the last major labels to understand a damn thing about the future of music–consumers demand their music be easily accessible,  no matter how they purchased it.  As Matt Mahaffey would croon, “I’m gonna jump off the back, of the Titanic…..Titanic.”  Time to jump.

Dear MP3tunes Customer,

Let me start by saying that as the CEO of MP3tunes I appreciate your support over the last few years. Your suggestions and patience have helped us build the Locker system we have today. We just launched AutoSync that makes managing your music collection easier than ever.

As you may be aware, the major record label EMI has sued MP3tunes, claiming our service is illegal. You can read about the case here. Much is at stake — if you don’t have the right to store your own music online then you won’t have the right to store ebooks, videos and other digital products as well. The notion of ownership in the 21st century will evaporate. The idea of ownership is important to me and I want to make sure I have that right and my kids do too.

I would like to ask for your assistance in our battle for personal music ownership. We need your help because we are a small, 15-person company battling an international giant. They would like to make us spend all of our money paying legal bills. Here’s what you can do to help:

1) Please upgrade to a Premium account. This week MP3tunes is launching 3 service levels. I hope you will consider signing up for one of the paid levels. This will not only help us pay for the costs of our service (machines, storage and bandwidth) but a portion will go to cover our legal costs in our case with EMI.

2) If you have a chance to talk publicly about our cause on your blog, with friends, reporters or even EMI personnel please do so. MP3tunes is working hard to design a secure personal music service. We don’t promote sharing of music in any manner. We want people to legally acquire their music. But once they do, we think it’s important that you be able to use it how you want for your personal use. The AmazonMP3 store says: “You may copy, store, transfer and burn the Digital Content only for your personal, non-commercial, entertainment use.” and this is what MP3tunes allows you to do.

You have my commitment that I’ll continually battle for your right to store your music online and listen to it anywhere on any device. I hope you’ll consider helping MP3tunes in our battle. Thanks.

— Michael Robertson
CEO
MP3tunes.com

You Better believe OK Tokyo

According to Reading, England band OK Tokyo, their music is “pyrotechnic-enhanced powerpop for the new generation.”  Maybe, but wasn’t Matt Mahaffey (“I’m a fan of both poppy melodies and not-so-poppy sounds”) doing this a decade ago?  The band’s first single, “You Better Believe It’ has sparked a bevy of reviews in the British press and it’s an admittedly catchy tune.  Aside from NME, they have also been a “New Band of the Day” (#295) in The Guardian. Once again, another British indie band is hoping to get the kids to the dance floor.    Justin Timberlake apparently calls them the “future.”  With that, what’s left for me to write?  Check ’em out.

Myspace page – Official Page

Purchase the single (in 320K MP3 or AAC HQ)

Stream “You Better Believe It”

Don’t You Evah…

If that picture doesn’t excite you enough to continue reading, then know this: Spoon released a maxi-single with five remixes and a b-side entitled, “All I Got Is Me”. The single, “Don’t You Evah” was first seen on last year’s LP Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Give a listen to the b-side below and get your fix of the goodness here.

An interesting mix of people contributed to the remixes: Diplo, Matthew Dear, DJ Amaze, Ted Leo, and Doc Delay. (Ted’s is the only one I’d care about if I were you.)

Spoon :: All I Got Is Me

Got a Mac? Digg Muxtape? Read on…

For me, Muxtape is become simply, invaluable. My job right now doesn’t allow me to store music on a computer, so a streaming site like this one continues to amaze me. If you’re not familiar with it, please take a look on their home page or my previous post that includes my first 12 track mix. The point of this post continues below…

The only downfall is sifting through people’s sets until you find one you fancy, although a lot of these mixes seem to be constructed by people like you and me. Instead of clicking random mixes, why not setup your browser to act like Cover Flow to pre-browse everyone’s mix? Check this tutorial here on how to utilize this time saving feature. Quality!

Record Store Day is Tomorrow!

Get out to your local indie store for the first annual celebration of…independent record stores!  Click above for additional info in your neck of the woods.  Many stores are having in-store performances, not to mention sales and other festivities.

Participating Stores in Chicago:

Beverly Records, Dave’s Records, Gramaphone Records, Hard Boiled Records, Laurie’s Planet of Sound, Music Direct, Permanent Records, Raffe’s Record Riot, Reckless Records, Record Breakers, Shake, Rattle & Read, The Music Experience,

and in Denver/Boulder:

Albums on the Hill, Bart’s CD Cellar, Cheapo Discs, Twist & Shout