F-POP! Propaganda. Click For Infos.Comrades,
We’re excitedly awaiting the arrival in the UK of one of the finest bands in the entire cosmos, The Ladybug Transistor. Flying in from Europe where they’ve been playing knockout shows for last few weeks, the band will be playing Glasgow (Saturday), Nottingham (Sunday) and London (Monday). Take this chance to see them… they’ve not played here for a while and who knows when they’ll be back again.
For their London date they’re joined by Manchester’s fabulous up-and-coming psych-popster The Beep Seals, currently working on their debut album with Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, and Amor De Dias, an indie-superduo comprised of Alasdair Maclean of the Clientele and Lupe Núñez-Fernández of Pipas, in support. Surprisingly there are still some tickets left. Snap ‘em up now:
Mon 28th April The Luminaire, London with The Beep Seals and Amor De Dias (The Clientele / Pipas)
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/28276
Sat 26th April Twisted Wheel, Glasgow with The Hermit Crabs
http://www.tickets-scotland.com/booking.html?c=viewevent&event_id=12071
Sun 27th April The Red Room @ The Rescue Rooms with Fists
http://www.gigantic.com/gigantic/event_gc02_4976.html
If you’ve not seen it already, check out the video for Ladybug Transistor’s latest single “Always On The Telephone” here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFmRQa0Vxgk
“Brooklyn’s The Ladybug Transistor have been playing their elegant, lovelorn pop since 1995. Their latest sees strings and brass adding lushness to songs of heartache. File next to Belle & Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields and The Go-Betweens”(Q)
“A surprisingly mature collection, all playful guitar lines and smooth saxophones. Gary Olson’s baritone is worthy of the late Lee Hazlewood while other tracks find the middle ground between Burt Bacharach and Belle and Sebastian” (Uncut)
“Newcomers will enjoy Gary Olson rounding his vowels like an indie pop Scott Walker, and hearing organs and warm guitars roll by like 1960s beauties. Long-term fans will envelop themselves happily in the album’s soft loveliness” (The Guardian)
Tickets are also on sale for this Friday’s Beat Hotel when we’ve the excellent The Low Lows playing, a band we’ve admired for a long time, along with the wonderful The Left Outsides, Kelman and Still Corners. Tickets here:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/29546
Hasta luego,
El Presidente
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*** THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR ***
A special one-off London show from the legendary
Brooklyn-based pop collective
THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR
with support from
THE BEEP SEALS
and
AMOR DE DIAS
featuring Lupe Núñez-Fernández (Pipas) and Alasdair Maclean (The Clientele)
Monday 28th April 7pm
The Luminaire
311 High Road, Kilburn, London NW6 7JR
Nearest tube : Kilburn (Jubilee Line)
Tel : 020 7372 7123
Web: www.theluminaire.co.uk
E-mail : info@theluminaire.co.uk
Advance: £10 from We Got Tickets
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/28276
LADYBUG TRANSISTOR
America’s finest purveyors of lush, formalist pop music, The Ladybug Transistor formed in Brooklyn, NY during the mid-1990s, where they soon came to the attention of Merge Records. Since then they have release six perfectly formed albums, including the classic trilogy of The Albemarle Sound (1999), Argyle Heir (2001), and The Ladybug Transistor (2003), and developed and honed their trademark sound – a distillation of classic pop, characterized by a precise melodicism that is anchored by the restrained baritone of Olson. Recently the band also contributed to Soft Machine legend Kevin Ayers’ critically acclaimed album Unfairground. Their own new album Can’t Wait Another Day (released on Fortuna POP! in Europe) continues the Ladybug Transistor’s gradual shift away from their somewhat psychedelic beginnings towards a more open, timeless sound and features contributions from members of The Aislers Set, Architecture in Helsinki, The Clientele, Jens Lekman and Kevin Barker (Currituck Co., Vetiver). Much like the band themselves, it is, in every sense, classic.
“The finest baritone warble in indie rock, unfailingly catchy pop tunes and perfectly pitched melancholy ballads… the Ladybug Transistor’s best work equals the best pop music made at any time in the past 50 years.” (Can’t Wait Another Day review, All Music Guide)
http://www.theladybugtransistor.com
http://www.myspace.com/marlboroughfarms
THE BEEP SEALS
The Beep Seals formed many moons ago thanks to a mutual admiration of each other and a shared love of various things predominantly the rock band Pavement, visionary demi-god Todd Rundgren, the Animal Collective, long walks on rainy days, the sound of a really good fuzz pedal and the Beatles (obviously). Spending 2007 touring some of the world and cultivating a fearsome live reputation centred around the best drummer since Animal from the Muppets and vocal harmonies that’d make Brian Wilson punch Carl in the face; the Beeps somehow managed to release two sold out singles of pure psych-slacker pop as well. They are currently recording their debut longplayer with Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub at the controls.
“This could have been air-freighted from Athens, Georgia by Neutral Milk Hotel and gives you a feeling of endless summers and the gentle buzz” (SoundsXP)
http://www.myspace.com/mysadcaptains
AMOR DE DIAS featuring Lupe Núñez-Fernández (Pipas) and Alasdair Maclean (The Clientele)
A new pop superduo featuring Lupe from Pipas and Alasdair from The Clientele promising both spanish guitar versions of Clientele songs and new songs from both protagonists. They are currently recording with Ken Brake of Louis Philippe and Denim fame and, despite not so much as a note being heard, wild internet speculation suggests that they sound like Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa – a South London Domingo.
http://www.myspace.com/pipas4real
http://www.myspace.com/theclienteleofficial
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*** THE LOW LOWS AT THE BEAT HOTEL ***
The Low Lows + The Left Outsides + Kelman + Still Corners
plus Fortuna POP! DJs playing indiepop, punk, 60s psych and northern soul
Friday 25th April 8pm til late
Buffalo Bar, 259 Upper Street, London N1 1RU
Nearest tube : Highbury & Islington
Tel : 020 7359 6191
Web: www.buffalobar.co.uk
E-mail : info@buffalobar.co.uk
Advance: £5 from We Got Tickets/Door: £6
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/29546
THE LOW LOWS
Formed from the ashes of critically acclaimed New York dream pop band Parker and Lily, the remaining members, Parker Noon, Daniel Rickard and Jeremy Wheatley moved to Athens Georgia, and re-grouped to form The Low Lows, releasing their swirling, majestic debut album, Fire On The Bright Sky, in October 2006. Their sophomore disc, Shining Violence, reveals a more feral, leaner balladry, P. L. Noon’s distinctive keening voice residing uneasily somewhere in the high vibrato-less territory between Neil Young and Jim James. His lyrics are stark though never bleak, and recount confessional love stories in a concentrated, reverberative, obliquely tragic prose, as if a Cormac McCarthy novel had been set to music. While the bulk of the album fits with only a modicum of discomfort into the lo-fi indie-americana file-folder, alongside Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket, Skygreen Leopards, Sparklehorse, Jason Molina, etc, the blasting drones & buried melodies of “Sparrows” and “Elizabeth Pier” evoke ghosts of the Velvets & Galaxie 500. The Low lows’ live shows remain their primary focus, and are raw, loud, electric & visceral.
“Fans of My Morning Jacket and Sparklehorse will weep with joy” (Austin Chronicle)
http://www.thelowlows.net/
http://www.myspace.com/thelowlows
THE LEFT OUTSIDES
Formed in Camberwell, London in Winter 2003, The Left Outsides are Alison Cotton (vocals, viola) and Mark Nicholas (vocals, guitar). Their debut EP ‘Leaving the Frozen Butterflies Behind’ was released on the ‘I wish I was Unpopular’ label in January 2005. Mark is a former member of Of Arrowe Hill, while Alison was previously a member of Saloon and played in (an early version of) British Sea Power, as well as playing viola on releases by bands such as Tompaulin, Comet Gain, Television Personalities, Do Me Bad Things and January. Live they are augmented by Matt Ashton and Mike Smoughton, both ex-Saloon. They have recorded BBC 6music sessions for Tom Robinson and Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone and their debut album “In Colours In Between” will be released via Transistor on May 12th.
“The Left Outsides are the sound of frost on overgrown abandoned train tracks; of sepia tinted photographs and delicious nights in by the fire with an old David Crosby song on the stereo… beautiful hipsters crouching in the shadows of 1960’s loft parties, dreaming of a Pop coloured gentle revolution” (Tangents)
www.theleftoutsides.com
http://www.myspace.com/theleftoutsides
KELMAN
London-based 3 piece influenced by The Velvet Underground, New Order, Tindersticks, Galaxie 500, Smog and The Go-Betweens. Formed from the ashes of the hotly-tipped Baptiste, their debut single, The Happiest Man Alive, was released on their own Liner Records label in Autumn of 2005, followed by a second single, The Heart Is A Useless Ally, and an album Loneliness Has Kept Us Alive in 2006. The band recently contributed their cover of the Go-Between’s “Apology Accepted” to a Grant McLennan tribute album.
“Fine, regret-stained, swimmily gorgeous pop” (Kittenpainting)
http://www.kelmanband.com/
http://www.myspace.com/kelmanband
STILL CORNERS
Building dreamy noir-pop love songs like Alfred Hitchcock built suspense, Greenwich 4-piece Still Corners create a kaliedoscope world around them, full of wintry melody, swirling organ, and big drums. Inspired by French film and sixties sound production and influenced by a range of artists from Serge Gainsbourg to Ennio Morricone as well as contemporaries the Cocteau Twins, Broadcast, and Camera Obscura, Still Corners continue to delight audiences across London.
http://www.myspace.com/stillcorners
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*** FREE HAYMAN, WATKINS, TROUT & LEE DOWNLOAD SINGLE ***
We’ve been telling you about our new signings Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee – the East London bluegrass band featuring the not inconsiderable talents of Mr Darren Hayman of Hefner-fame and Mr Dave Tattersall of The Wave Pictures – for a while now. Some of you I know are thinking, “Well, I like Dazza, and Dave from The Wave Pictures has nice hair, but I’m really not sure about this bluegrass business”, so we’ve decided to give you a free taster of what it’s all about by releasing the first single from the album “Sly And The Family Stone” as a free download, available from either of the following two sites:
http://www.myspace.com/haymanwatkinstroutandlee
http://www.hefnet.com/HWTL.htm
A Darren Hayman original, the song is not especially anything to do with the band Sly and the Family Stone, but Darren has been kind enough to offer us some insight into its lyrical themes, saying: “It is true that my wife earns more money than me, though it’s not true that it bothers me. I’m kind of shocked when I discover that some men have an insecurity complex about not being the main breadwinner. The second verse has some lyrics about girl’s shoes. I’m not sure that I’ve ever written an album or even a string of 3 or 4 songs without mentioning girl’s shoes. Girl’s shoes are great and I think it’s my aim to start writing even more songs about them. The second half of the second verse has the filthiest lyrics I’ve ever written. Its shocking behaviour, I really shouldn’t be allowed out.”
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*** CLUB 8 – THE BOY WHO COULDN’T STOP DREAMING ***
We’ve had some great reviews for the Club 8 album we released way in in, oooh, January, so we thought we’d round them all up for you in an effort to persuade you that you really are missing out if you’ve not bought this album yet. C’mon, all the other kids are laughing at you ‘cos you’ve not got it! Ordering details at the bottom of this mail.
“Exquisite, perfect creamy dreamy pop, classic sunny Swedish minimal pop. Karolina Komstedt’s voice is perfect, perfectly beautiful, she has the ability to gently melt just about everything with her perfect perfect beautiful voice. Classic sensual creamy sunny breezy indie pop that just really is perfect. Classic beguiling St. Etienne, Cardigans, Whipped Cream style indie pop and a just right in every way mix of melancholia and sunshine – gloriously good. This is just perfect simple clever dreamy indie pop. Beautiful, you really need to go find it.” (Organ)
“Focused on the melancholy pop that is their forte, Karolina Komstedt’s breathy vocals are very much to the fore on these ravishingly pretty melodies. These songs about love and the fleeting nature of existence pack an emotional punch. (**** Q)
“it throbs to the pulse of deliciously bittersweet guitar melodies, a lifelong passion for The Smiths and even a shaking of Latin percussion” (**** Metro)
“Hushed vocals soar dreamlike through the glacial-pop of Club 8’s oeuvre; shoe gazing, 60’s girl bands and a penchant for Belle & Sebastian worshipping Rule the waves, a perfect partner to the sheer wonder of Asobi Seksu!” (SubbaCultcha)
“And no wonder he couldn’t stop dreaming, if he was listening to this album. After a four-year absence, Sweden’s Club 8 provide the dreamiest dreampop imaginable, with Karolina Komstedt’s feather-light voice placed delicately over Johan Angergard’s gently evolving backing tracks.” (4 Stars, The Sunday Times)
“The kind of sweet Swedish pop that makes references to the Concretes, Camara Obscura and Belle and Sebastian kinda unavoidable, and their sixth album is assured,classy and, in Whatever You Want and When I Come Around, home to at least two choruses that hit you like a sunbeam. Delicious.” (Buzz)
“A gorgeous offering from Swedish duo Club 8… cool and melodic ditties, ranging from classy 60s pop ballads to the more upbeat slices of pop. File under: Yummy.” (AllGigs)
“Club 8 are on sparkling form here, seemingly having absorbed a little bit of extra pop-nous, a la Peter, Bjorn And John while the sugary finish of Karolina’s vocals, brings to mind Saint Etienne chanteuse Sarah Cracknell or Dubstar at their most angelic. This is comedown music imbued strangely with the ghostly groove of the swinging Sixties. Themes of loss and death are beautifully rendered, as melancholic as the pale winter sunlight.” (NARC)
“An absolute bundle of Scandinavian indie-pop brilliance from start to finish… the vocals are beautiful from Karolina Komstedt, weaving a dreamy pop way around the instrumentation with nods to bands like The Concretes, St Etienne, Joy Zipper and Husky Rescue as reference points. I’m so glad that i’ve been blessed with this album, it’s really wet my appetite to hear more. (The Beat Surrender)
“Six albums in and the Swedes of Club 8 are showing no signs of dipping in quality. The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming is another album of delightful female fronted indie pop… listen carefully and you’ll see it’s a gem.” (Russell’s Reviews)
“They do this well, the Swedes. Clean guitars, vocals like water over ice, frictionless.” (Plan B)
“An album that sounds like warm breath steaming up frosty windows, fairy lights reflected in faraway eyes, and smiles going distant and dreamy whilst ice cubes melt into vanilla vodka.“ (Kitten Painting)
“The duo of Karolina Komstedt and Johan Angergård have seemingly given us the Summer album of the year. Err…six months too early. Fey, filigree pop music of the highest caliber… the finest 60s-influenced, acoustic-led pop south of the arctic circle… exquisitely delicate and melodically seductive.“ (BBC Music)
“Club 8 hark back to the glory days of C86 indie-pop: ‘The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming’ recalls the summery guitars of Sarah Records and Simon and Garfunkle harmonies. Jaunty beats, cheerful strumming and a dose of Neil Young’s more pastoral side: a derivative mixture, yet one that will fill the gap until the next Belle and Sebastian release.” (Is This Music?)
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*** NEW SOUNDS ***
Some brand spanking new records for you to order…
BAD DECISIONS – MY SAD CAPTAINS (7″ SINGLE £3)
“The everything-but-the-kitchen-sink arrangements of Arcade Fire, the warped melancholy of Pavement and the fuzz-pop heart of Teenage Fanclub” (Subba-Cultcha)
“Like The Magic Numbers going toe to toe with Wilco in a meadow full of summer flowers.” (The Beat Surrender)
” Dangerously addictive… kiss any other soundtracks to your summer goodbye… all the best bits of Sparklehorse, Pavement and Yo La Tengo” (RockFeedBack)
“A lushly laden gem of classically appreciated soft-centred country pop currency, packed to the rafters with honey-crusted tip-toeing melodies… In a word – perfect.” (Losing Today)
“A warm, orange, summer evening, of song; it is warm, hazy and relaxed, with a hint of American alt folk. It is utterly charming in its effortless simplicity.” (Neon Buzz)
CAN’T WAIT ANOTHER DAY – THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR (CD ALBUM £10)
“The finest baritone warble in indie rock, unfailingly catchy pop tunes and perfectly
pitched melancholy ballads… the Ladybug Transistor’s best work equals the best pop
music made at any time in the past 50 years.” (All Music Guide)
“Six albums in, Can’t Wait Another Day develops the Ladybug’s
earlier indiepop and psychedelic sounds towards a sound which is more
classic baroque pop, with a glorious melancholic lilt and the sort of
impressive crooning you thought was lost decades ago… it strengthens
their reputation as purveyors of intricately arranged and stately pop songs.
(SoundsXP)
“Forty minutes of Pop in its most beguilingly classical, sparklingly emotional form.” (Miwsig)
“A surprisingly mature collection, all playful guitar lines and smooth saxophones. Gary Olson’s baritone is worthy of the late Lee Hazlewood while other tracks find the middle ground between Burt Bacharach and Belle and Sebastian” (Uncut)
“Brooklyn’s The Ladybug Transistor have been playing their elegant, lovelorn pop since 1995. Their latest sees strings and brass adding lushness to songs of heartache. File next to Belle & Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields and The Go-Betweens”(Q)
“Newcomers will enjoy Gary Olson rounding his vowels like an indie pop Scott Walker, and hearing organs and warm guitars roll by like 1960s beauties. Long-term fans will envelop themselves happily in the album’s soft loveliness” (The Guardian)
ONE-TWO-THREE – THE LOVES (7″ EP £3)
“A heady brew of T-Rex swagger, Super Fury’s oddness and the jubilant pop-mindedness of The Zutons at their sweetest… perfect for those missing a little ram-a-lama-ding-dong in their lives.” (Subba-cultcha)
“The Loves are part Monkees and part Os Mutantes but for ‘One-Two-Three’ they’re T-Rex. It’s a stupid/genius gram rock stomper with girl-group harmonies, an air-punching chorus and a sleezy groove” (SoundsXP)
“The results are fantastic… One-Two-Three rolls in pop heaven with irresistible call and response vocals and chugging guitars” (Music OMH)
“One has to wonder why the likes of The Loves are not huge popstars… a glam rock inspired floor stomper complete with the catchiest chorus this side of planet Mars. If T-Rex were on the C86 tape this is what they would have sounded like. Buy!” (Indie-mp3)
“Mixing T Rex and Johnny B Goode, the Loves have cooked up the feel good song of the year. A chorus so good that you’ll be singing before you’ve even heard the song” (Fat and Confused)
“There’s nothing in the entire spectrum of medical science that’ll get this one out of your head… a football-chant simple glam-rock stomper so catchy it makes Rhianna’s ‘Umbrella’ sound like free jazz performed on out-of-tune instruments by tone-deaf chimpanzees.” (Pennyblack)
“A delirious dandy of a ditty that manages to shoehorn nods aplenty to Suzi Q, the Rubettes and most curiously the Beach Boys in surf mode and ‘end of the century‘ era Ramones (I kid you not) while wiring into the mutant matrix some nifty touches of 50’s bubblegum pop tendered with the essence of Spector while hoodwinking a spot of acutely faux Bolan-esque boogie while playfully cross fusing Glitters ’I love you love me’ with the Bay City Rollers ’bye bye baby’. Buy on sight.” (Losing Today)
“A piece of fine bubblegum pop.” (Russell’s Reviews)
TO ORDER THESE MINOR GEMS IN A SEA OF MEDIOCRITY…
BY POST: Send a cheque, postal order or IMO made payable to ‘Fortuna
POP!’ to 4 Mayfield House, Rushcroft Road, Brixton, London. SW2 1LD.
UK.
BY PAYPAL: Use our PayPal address ministryoffinance@fortunapop.com
For orders in Europe but outside the UK, please add 50p per item
ordered. Outside of Europe, please add £1.00 per item ordered.
www.fortunapop.com
www.myspace.com/fortunapoprecords
