Tears in a cup

Finnish indie band Cats on fire are not completely different from all other good indie bands. They are addictively melancholic but that's also not something new. They are however incredibly adorable.
So far they've released 3 albums and I managed to get my hands only on the first one: "The Province complains". According to Wiki:

"The mood in their lyrics extends from melancholie to self irony."

When I asked Ville to sign my CD, he slightly blushed. I find that incredibly cute but then again, I always had a soft spot for the shy guys...

Taste some of their good stuff, yeah:

Radio Dept. - Swedish indie with a style

I like discovering new band by checking upcoming concerts and listening to the songs on youtube. In this way I discovered Local Natives, a band that quickly became one of my new favorites.

So last week I Radio Dept. came on my indie radars. They are an indie band from Sweden (Lundt), that exists for 15 years. So far they've released 3 albums and I have to say, I really like the music they play. Not only they sound extremely well, their songs are also political.

The concert was like a balsam for every indie fan. Soft indie electro was extending from chillout to dancy rhythms. By a coincidence my friend and me met a part of the band after the concert.  Interesting coversatoins about music, politics and life pretty much convinced me they really have something important to say.

In case you wanna hear - I recorded this video at the concert.

The Villagers & Here we go magic in Berlin

Checking out new indie bands became my new summer sport (apart from repairing my bike). This time I bought tickets for Here we go Magic, indie band from New York. It is fair to say the band is not inventing new kind of music, nevertheless it is performing a crossover indie extremely well. Untamed raw guitare sounds are sometimes very soft and gentle and the other times hardcore, almost old school rock like. So yes, definitely 12 EUR well spent.

But this time something quite strage happened. It was not the main band that impressed me so much, but their support act - The Villagers. Actually it was only the frontmen Conor J. O'Brien performing but OMG, what a voice! Clear, strong and melanholic in that indie kinda way, topped up with quality lyrics that left me speachless. Apparently he described his lyrics as:

"transcendental darkness and the weirdness...Dark imagery or feelings alongside really mundane domestic everyday things".

Yes, I bought the CD and yes, will definitely go and see the next show. I think the music did for me what John Mayer did for some of my female friends. However, I do think Conor O'Brien is entirely different story than John Mayer and probably less of a cunt too :)

Local Natives

Yesterday's concert of Southern Californian indie band Local Natives was indeed one of the music highlights. Only a week after the German release of their debut album Gorilla Minor they peformed in Berlin's rather small but nice alter place called Bang Bang Club. And let me tell you, oooh, and aaah doesn't even begin to describe it.

Expectations were high and were partially satisfied by an excellent rock pre group who's name I didn't manage to catch. Needless to say the club was packed with excited people and so was the stage.

Local Natives were not performing at all, it seems as they were completely melted with their music, enjoying every minute of it, and so did we. They mastered their instruments as well as the genre. Positive surprise and a band that is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Unfortunatelly I didn't make any photos as I found concert much more enjoyable that way, but here is a taste of their live performance. Very likable!

Better Than Heaven

There are some things that simply nothing can spoil for you and there are some bands that you want to see no matter what. And yesterday's Bloc party concert was definitely one of those situations. No wonder it was sold out.

Chaotic crowd, lack of air, sweaty strangers pressing against you, people jumping and dancing pushing around. Disturbing? I couldn't care less. We were all united by one wish - to see them live. And we were not disappointed.

The concert was spectacular and far beyond anything I imagined. Banquet, Like eating glass, Modern love, Song for Clay, Hunting for witches, One month off, Ares, Mercury and many more.

Soooo much energy, so much sunshine and such an excellent music! It was definitely one of my top 3 concerts ever. Completely surreal and I want to see them again.

And if you feel bad about wanting to go but not going, you shouldn't. I lied. You really should. I swear I felt love.

Making plans for Friday evening?

When: 6^th February (Friday)

Where: Open Cafe, Ljubljana

What: Your daily recommended intake of indie provided by Djane Cherry

Excuses: N/A

Can't say you didn't know.

120 Days

I found out about 12o Days while randomly surfing around for some new indie music. To me they sound very much like a modern mixture of Placebo and Joy Division and are there a must for my shopping list.

The Norwegian band consists of four people (whose names I cannot pronounce properly):

• Jonas Dahl,
  
• Arne Kvalvik,
  
• Kjetil Ovesen, and
  
• Ådne Meisfjord .

The band was formed in 2001 under name "The Beautiful People" - apparently they felt the name was a bit too ambitious so they changed it to 120 Days :). After two EP's they signed up to new record company - Norwegian independent label Smalltown Supersound.

The band is now working on the new material which will be followed by a tour - hopefully somewhere close :hint hint:

120 Days : Get away (nevermind the lame slide show)


120 Days: So this is suicide


120 Days: C-Musik

NON Band

Every now and then Myspace turns out to be actually quite useful tool for discovering cool Slovenian bands.

I've never heard about NON before but after listening to music on their Myspace profile it was almost love at first sight.

It is kinda electronic mixture of Depeche mode and Interpol. Their dark synthetic melodies are quite catchy too. Darkish. Naughty. Sexy.

So who are they anyway? According to their webpage NON consists of four guys who already did their share of touring abroad:

• Boštjan Brcar - synt
• Damjan Ćosić - bass
• Gregor Vrečar – drums, percussion
• Matjaž Moraus Zdešar – vocal, guitar, programming
  

When I asked them if they could send me some of their stuff I expected a CD with few songs. Well, I got their debut album: Not everything is made in china which btw has a really good potential to become one of my all favorite albums.

You can check them out live this Saturday @ AKD Izbruh in Kranj.

This fire is out of control

What on Earth can motivate people to drive in the unbearable summer heat to anther country? Got two words for you: Franz Ferdinand. Even though I've already seen them live I knew it was one of those "longlasting" relationships so I couldn't resist convincing Jota to go with me to the concert. Spinach Fairy tagged along and so we headed towards beautiful Italian city of Ferrara.

Our timing was amazingly perfect. Despite an hour long waiting at the Italian "pay toll" stop we arrived just in time to hear Franz Ferdinand rehearsal, have a couple of beers and some cheap junk food and to take a walk in the city.

The concert was held in the open space of Ferrara Castel and the place was not too crowded. The Cribs seemed fairly average but then again they were not even close to what we all were waiting for - almost two hours of pure joy provided by four Scotsmen.

And so they did - the concert was outstanding! Set list consisted mostly of Franz Ferdinand album, few songs were taken from You could have it so much better and we got to hear quite a lot of new stuff - soon to be released in their third album. What an energy! What a music! What a performance!

40' , Come one home and This Fire were absolute highlights of the evening, not to mention Jacqueline, Fallen and Michael. I missed Darts of pleasure and This boy but I guess the idea of concerts is to leave the audience wanting more. Well, it was successful.

According to what I heard, third album will be much better than the second one and a bit more diverse than the first one. I simply can't wait to get my hands on it. Until then - enjoy the highlights:

Ferrara:

Franz Ferdinand sound check:



High male shoe fashion for Tadej and his shoe fetish ;)

The Cribs:



Franz Ferdinand



Till next time!

They can't sleep @ night

Remember how I went on about this young slovenian indie band We can't sleep at night that totally caught me by surprise? Yup, the lads are still very much alive and kicking - not only that they released their first album.

Hopefully it will soon be in my hands, because it can't be bought in stores but has to be ordered by email. 6 EUR? Seriously, I'm sooooo having a few copies! Plus first albums tend to be my favorite ones, probably because of the anticipation.

If you're curious about the band you can either check the mp3's on their website or see them live next Thursday @ Metelkova mesto. I'm definitely going!

Little Man Tate

Another great indie band Little Man Tate started their carrier in Sheffield, UK. Their recognition and success was partly resulted from having large internet fan support. Even though they exist for three years already, they've somehow managed to hide from me for a long time.Not too successfully though as it was almost love at first sight note. They sound a bit like Libertines, don't they?

Little Man Tate:House Party At Boothy's

Bones

When I was a kid I'd associate bones with dogs and He-man & The Masters of the Universe (loved this cartoon and adored Flash Gordon). Skeletor was excellent antagonist but quite scary too.

My next bigger bones encounter was connected with Clarissa Pincola Estes and her book: Women Who Run with the Wolves. She put skeletons and bones in to completely different perspective: more profound, symbolic and therapeutic. I never finished reading the book though, just couldn't chew on her elaboration of really cruel experiment with dogs. But bones wouldn't go away only to show another, much more sincere, decadent yet melodic side. Not once, not twice but three times. Here's my favorite melodic bones threesome:

1. Depeche mode: Stripped

When I first heard Stripped, I was astonished: "Let me hear you make decisions without your television"... Bones never sounded so sexy before: "Let me see you stripped down to the bones." It's still one of my favorite songs, whether in original or Rammstein remake version.

2. The Killers: Bones

Then there were The Killers- their first album was a blast, a second one was a slight disappointment and the third one - well I guess they ran out of new material so they republished their previous stuff and made some remakes. I still love the band and their work but can't help hoping they'll take more time to make their next album. I'd love to hear more of the new stuff - however this piece still is a pearl: "But I don’t really like you, apologetically dressed, in the best put on the heartbeat line..."

3. The Editors: Bones

The last but not the least are Editors, indie band from Birmingham who managed to live up to the expectations. Most of the bends who make a boom with their first album rarely succeed to repeat that success with the second one.

But they managed that - their second album "An end has a start" is just as good if not even better as their first one: "In the Back Room". I have to see them live and the rumors say they might come to Slovenia in March. Please do, cause I'm dying to hear this live:
"In the end all you can hope for
Is the love you felt to equal the pain you've gone through..."

Shadowplay

Betty thinks I'm obsessed but Jota and me know it's only passion. I'm seriously considering playing the Killers version of Shadowplay on quite commercially orientated party next weekend. I can already see the grumpy man freaking out and asking for another DJ.

Still I'm quite tempted. Should I?

Indie friday with the Saund

Tonight I'm checking out the new indie place in Ljubljana on Zaloska 35. Actually the only official indie place in Slovenia as far as I know. Being genuine indie slut I've been really anxious about it since I heard the rumors about its opening.

Today the promise to treat us with a band that is playing songs of Franz Ferdinand, White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys and others. Indie after party included. So where are you gonna be tonight?

Irresistable blondes

The Long Blondes to be more exact, indie band from Sheffield. Their Album Someone to drive you home was released in November 2006 and received excellent critics. Their style is an interesting mixture of 60's pop, post punk an new wave but in the end it sounds like synthetic rock.

Band members Kate Jackson (voice), Dorian Cox (guitar), Emma Chaplin (guitar and keyboards), Reenie Hollies (bass) and Mark Turvey alias Screech Louder (drums) have unmistakable glam punk image and are worth all the attention.

Enjoy their hit Giddy Stratospheres

Ecstatic

Need I say more?

Song 4 C.

It's one of those Fridays that doesn't feel like a Friday because of the shitty weather. I need something strong and I need it fast.

Bloc Party to the rescue.

Muse-ic

I just couldn't resist. Today is the day for the Muse fans. Jotaeater is coming and so are Andy D-mashine, Black Betty and many others, including myself.

I've never gone to a rock concert with a sprained ankle before. Will that stop me from jumping around? I doubt it. After all, it's Muse we're talking about ;)

Love wil tear us apart

I am so not a Monday person. If it would be up to me, I'd skip working Mondays altogether and have 3 day weekend. Unfortunately that is not the case so I trick myself into making Mondays easier by playing one of my favourite bands/songs.

This week is kinda special to me as this Saturday I get to play music on one of my favourite parties. Special week, special party, special song. This one I play every single time on every single party and it still does the thing for me. It is kinda hard to decide though with all the great songs they've made.

Too bad I never saw them performing live and never will. I guess you can't have it all. Here it is:

Joy Division: Love will tear us apart

Slovenian indie rock

Does it exist at all? Until yesterday I was pretty sure it doesn't and it is all just presumptuous self-definition of some young pop rock band. So I went there and was glad to find out I was totally wrong. Boys were fantastic.

We can't sleep at night indeed is young slovenian indie rock band and a good one too. Their raw rock music reflects the influence of The Doors and flirts a little bit with Arctic Monkeys.


Photo source: We can't sleep at night

Nevertheless four boys (three guitars, drums and occasionally synthesizer) surely know how to give the audience pure rock energy. Even though it's hard to understand what they are singing about, they show great potential. But really, please do make your website is a bit more user and SEO friendly plus put some lyrics on.

Luckily they are also on MySpace. I hope I will hear more from them soon and I am really really glad to see indie is possible also in Slovenia.

Rock on boys!