Yes, darlings, this is a very thinly veiled attempt to catch up on my inbox. Can you believe I even have this problem!? It was only a few months ago that I was jumping up and down in my living room because someone had finally sent me something to post. But it’s true, now folks send me stuff and I am so happy about it. And I write things about the music and mostly I write about how it feels, because you know, I’m really a dilettante. I’m no musician, I can’t critique something technical, nor do I particularly want to. There’s plenty of blogs and publications out there for that. I won’t ever rate an album or a song on a scale of 1-10, it’s just not me. If something strikes my fancy, you’ll hear about it, regardless of genre or popularity. I’ll proudly cling to my little niche of the internet where people like me talk about what music feels like, it’s a friendly place.

So, Hari and Aino sent me these two indie pop tracks, and you know, I always say I don’t like all that twirly girly twee music, hahahaha. But yeah, I’ll admit it. This stuff is good. It feels thin and willowy and like gauze blowing in the breeze, and her voice is beautiful. It’s a high pitched voice that doesn’t sound little girly, I really like that. It’s rare to find a woman who can sing the high notes without squealing like a 7 year old these days. Enjoy these two tracks, sent out by the group (no, they’re not really a duo, but a Swedish quintet) for your downloading pleasure.

Maple mp3
A Considerate Kind of Home mp3

buy it here at Cloudberry Records! listen to more on their MySpace page

Annnnnnnndddddddd, I’ve been on a shoegaze kick for the past few days, ever since stopping over at Mars Needs Guitars and finding another shoegaze afficianado (and a great link to these guys from Campfires and Battlefields who haunts all our comments sections, the darling!)

So peeking into my box, (no, don’t make the joke!) I tripped into two localish bands asking for reviews. And yes, they are very deserving, talented souls.  Jadiid describes themselves as a indie/soul/shoegaze and yes, yes, yes, they are deliciously all three. The swirly synthesizer, and is that a trumpet? with dreamy background vocals is just really all very, very, good. Their EP, four songs long, promises a great future for this combination of artists. I think it must be difficult for a baritone voice to sing so tenderly, to counteract the tingly bits, is that a wind chime?, but this singer pulls it off nicely. Jadiid is working an album as we speak, I’ve no idea when it’s out… let me know! Pick up their EP here on their website, and check their MySpace for more tunes.

Which I Put On My Shoes mp3

Update: Catch Jadiid playing on 3/25 at the Underground Lounge

Looking at all these MySpace pages you begin to realize that so many of your local bands know one another, play in one another’s bands, even in a big city like Chicago. And so I wasn’t surprised to see The Hudson Branch as the first friend on Jadiid’s page. Similarities there? Sure, but not enough to make you want to miss a second of either one of these bands if they’re playing within 20 miles of your city!

Now I have no idea which of these two bands should deserve first billing here, so don’t hold a grudge, eh? But The Hudson Branch’s EP is awesomely charming, with shimmering cymbals and tinging bell bits and drop-y watery noises to offset the more expected indie band vocals and guitars. None of it is the usual of anything, they bill themselves as having a “fresh, original style” and well, yeah… I’ll agree to that. This band features three brothers; Corey, Cobey, and Carey Bienert with Richie Palys as well as Matt and Jake Boll from Jadiid.  They say they begin working on their new album on March 7th, it’s gonna be great if it’s anything like these songs.

Did They Really Care mp3

The Hudson Branch on MySpace