Like Love to Hatred Turned

A random mp3 mini-mix for your downloading pleasure:

Blitzen Trapper – Love I Exclaim [mp3]
Bon Iver – Skinny Love [mp3]
Little Big Adventure – The Hateful Eye [mp3]
Richard Hawley – It’s Over Love [mp3]
Rob Crow – I Hate You, Rob Crow [mp3]
The Bird and the Bee – I Hate Camera [mp3]

Band Links:

Blitzen Trapper
Bon Iver
Little Big Adventure
Richard Hawley
Rob Crow
The Bird and the Bee

Polynya : Crop Rotation (2009)

I'm interested in weird geographical anomalies like the Sargasso Sea so when a CD by a band called Polynya landed on my desk I actually knew what their name was all about. A "polynya" is an enclosed area of unfrozen water surrounded by ice.

The band Polynya, from North Carolina, is similar - in that they quickly melt away any hesitations by immersing the listener in a warm, welcoming soundscape.

Their self-titled 2007 debut paved the way for 2009's Crop Rotation, an album packed with instantly likeable songs, many of which feature guy/girl harmonizing from Andrea Parthemore and Luke Berchowitz.

Fans of Velocity Girl, Blake Babies and 4AD bands like Lush will enjoy Polynya's brand of sugary indie pop/rock with a heart. It's catchy upon first listen and had me returning for more.

The quartet is completed with Pat Johnson and Thom Canova, who co-produces here with Berchowitz.

Take a listen to some of the band's songs at their MySpace page.

Polynya released Crop Rotation on their own Childhood Pet imprint and is available on CD via the band's website plus as downloads at Amazon and iTunes.

Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies

Songs full of questions that make it sound like a one-sided conversation.

Jonah Matranga - How Does Life Go? [mp3]

Ruetschle – Can You Remember? [mp3]

Joan of Arc – What If We Were Not After All, All Destined For Greatness? [mp3]

Josh Ottum - Who Left the Lights On? [mp3]

Radio Dept. - Why Won’t You Talk About It? [mp3]

Photons – Where Were You Last Night? [mp3]

Plumtree – Was That All? [mp3]

Polara – Is This It? [mp3]

Denise James – What Ever Happened to the Love We Know? [mp3]

Club 8 – What Shall We Do Next? [mp3]

The Airborne Toxic Event – Does This Mean You’re Moving On? [mp3]

Benjy Ferree – Why Bother? [mp3]

Artist's Labels:
Welcome Home (Jonah Matranga)
Poptek (Ruetschle)
Jade Tree (Joan of Arc)
Mill Pond (Josh Ottum)
Labrador (Radio Dept., Club 8)
Insound (Photons)
Endearing (Plumtree)
Susstones (Polara)
Rainbow Quartz (Denise James)
Island (The Airborne Toxic Event)
Domino (Benjy Ferree)

This Makes It Shine

This evening on WCWM (90.9 FM) from 9:00 to 11:00 pm (EST), Crenellation Radio is hosting an all-Elliott Smith two-hour radio show in celebration of his birthday! Click on the radio to the right for live streaming if you would like to share in the love.

Elliott Smith – Stained Glass Eyes (Live) [mp3]

Links:
Official Elliott Smith Site
WCWM

An Arm and a Leg

Pale Young Gentlemen – The Crook of My Good Arm [mp3]

Feathers – My Apple Has Four Legs [mp3]

The expression “It will cost you an arm and a leg” is thought to have originated from fees charged by 18th-19th century portrait painters. The idea is that for each element contained in the picture, the greater the price. Therefore, the sitter could save money by having just a head and shoulders portrait or a three-quarter portrait instead of one that contained both arms and both legs. Legend has it that the reason that many gentlemen were portrayed with one hand inside a vest pocket is because of the difficulty of painting fingers. Whether it was truly a money saving device is unknown because there are plenty of historical portraits with clumsily painted hands.

Labels:
Science of Sound
Hometapes

Do you love me, honey dove?

I was lucky enough to get a promo copy of Lee Fields and the Expressions My World released by Truth & Soul Records earlier this month. It is not often that an unsolicited promotional copy gets repeated listens by me. But I can honestly say that I cannot get enough of this album -- from start to finish it is solid. My World is the album that Truth & Soul hoped would bring in younger listeners to soul sounds reminiscent of The Delfonics and The Stylistics but they are quick to say that it is not “a carbon copy of sweet soul music” from the sixties and seventies. They describe Lee Fields as legendary and a “gut bucket soul singer” and that is no exaggeration.

Lee Fields & the Expressions – Love Comes and Goes [mp3]
Lee Fields & the Expressions – Ladies [mp3]

Links:
Lee Fields & the Expressions MySpace
Truth & Soul Records
Buy My World from Amazon

Wish You Were Here

Foreign Born – Vacationing People ::MP3::
[Label: Secretly Canadian, 2009]

Desmond Reed – Summer Vacation ::MP3::
[Label: Series Two Records, 2008]

The Robot Ate Me – Vacation ::MP3::
[Label: Swim Slowly, 2004]

New Models – Permanent Vacation ::MP3::
[Label: Modern Method, 1981]

Cold War Kids – We Used To Vacation [Label: V2 Records, 2006]