Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 13th - Siouxsie & The Banshees

It's saturday so why bother with small problems. This song is about city of Pompeii, destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 79 CE. Besides that it's a cool little postpunk song with dark lyrics but a really poppy hook.

Siouxsie & the Banshees released Cities in dust as a single and was a cut on Tinderbox from 1986.

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 12th - Hüsker Dü

Bob Mould is a legend and this song is Pink to Blue as played by Hüsker Dü.

The song is from the album Zen Arcade from 1984. The lyrics of Zen Arcade are usually interpreted as telling the story, in the first person, of an adolescent who runs away to escape an unfulfilling home life. In this song he tries drugs.

Rolling Stones writer David Fricke described Zen Arcade as "the closest hardcore will ever get to an opera ... a kind of thrash Quadrophenia."

Check it out. It has huge levels of energy.

Everything that happens will happen today

Art-rock legends David Byrne and Brian Eno has taken up their old partnership and released a new album 'Everything that happens will happen today'. Byrne is currently streaming it in its entirety. I definitely liked what I heard so I thought you should know about it too.

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 11th - Osymyso

Osymyso is an English mash-up DJ. Not really a genre I usually spend any time on but I couldn't help being fascinated by his 'Intro-Inspection'; a 12-minute collage of hooks from an extremely long and diverse list of hits. This is pure dj-wizardry. To make it even better, some kind soul has gone through the huge trouble of putting together a video showing all the songs involved.

Intro-Inspection Part 1:

Intro-Inspection Part 2:

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 10th - Super Furry Animals

Today we will lift the mood a notch or two. There was no way I was gonna ignore my favorite Welsh guys (aside from Ian Rush, of course) in the wonderful, spaced-out pack of Super Furry Animals. They have penned so many brilliant songs but Pitchfork have managed to choose one I did not know - well, I may have heard it once or twice but 'Ice Hockey Hair' only came out as an EP. As it doesn't figure on any of the Animals' regular albums, it is not to be found on my cd shelves (yes, I am very much a sucker for the good old album format).

Super Furry Animals have always produced excellent music videos that reflect their humoristic approach to their art. I challenge you to sit this one out without getting a smile on your face. Prepare for a vocoder soaked murder story, complete with sing-a-long choruses and some passive table tennis playing.

NB: In a strange way, both the use of vocoder and the video's stage scenario seems to quote Daft Punk's 'Around the world' which is from 1997. As 'Ice Hockey Hair' is from 1998, it could be the case. Judge for yourself. (the music kicks off after 20 seconds, so be patient)

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 9th - The Clientele

London's The Clientele is very much the story of the forgotten band. Having existed since 1991 it was not until 2000 they released their debut album "Suburban Light' which collected a series of underground singles and EP's made between´97 and´00. 'Reflections after Jane' is taken from the debut and demonstrates the band's oozing and easy style. The music is perfectly matched by singer Alasdair MacLean's breathy, slightly nasal voice - not unlike Michael Penn or Scritti Politti's Gren Gartside.

The Clientele still spread their laid back vibes to this day and are slowly getting more and more recognition, as exemplified by Pitchfork's endorsement and also by the adoration of young folks like Peter, Bjorn & John. Enjoy and relaaaaax...

 

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 8th - Suicide - Dream baby Dream

Today it's Suicide-time! Some thinks this duo were just as influential as The Clash. Nontheless they are phat! And can easily compete even today. Their raw-cool-doomsday electro is just perfectly depressing.

I bet that Sigur Rós has taken this song for a few spins before doing some of their kling-klang tracks. Listen on the mp3-version of "Dream Baby Dream" below.

By the way Bruce Springsteen has also used a solo keyboard version of "Dream Baby Dream" on his Devil & Dust Tour 2005.

Suicide - Dream baby dream

Carter USM revisited

There no good reason for this post. It's just one of those memories that pops in to your head during drifting. And it's a good memory from the late 1980's. It's Carter USM, it's electro-punk, it's Sheriff Fatman

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 7th - Althea & Donna

I'm the only guy in the Indie Laundry-village who has a soft spot for sweet laidback reggae-rhytms. Or maybe dare to be honest about it?

While the other guys today are enjoying themselves in such different parts of the world as Paris and in the magnificent and colorful village of Stjær, Jutland I get to decide. So i thought: Let's play with girls with really rad hair-do's.

This sundays treat is a one hit wonder from jamaican reggae singing duo Althea & Donna. The song is 'Uptown Top Ranking' and has a sweet and simple riddim pumping.
30 years ago Althea & Donna reached number one in UK with 'Uptown Top Ranking' and disappeared forever. And has never been seen since. No where. Even their hair might be lost.

It's a cute little tuney-thingy. View a take from a BBC show below...

See mi in mi Benz and ting
Drivin' through Constant Spring...

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 6th - Billy Bragg

In 1985, his song "A New England" became an instant top ten hit in the UK. Billy Bragg blends folk music, punk rock and protest songs. I know not at lot about this dudes carrier, but I know he collaborated with Johnny Marr, R.E.M and not at least, Wilco. I kind of like this song.

This video is 'A New England' and Billy Bragg performes together with a damn smoking hot object - Kate Nash - at NME Awards 2007. Enjoy this protesty and now super commercialized song. Honestly I don't know why the fuck I picked this song. But it touched me. Or Kate Nash did. My eyes fell on it on the list. Or I am to busy. Have your own opinion ready. Helmets on!

Delayed Thanksgiving from Ryan Adams

One of our alltime favorites here at the Indie Laundry-office. Ryan Adams playing it heartfelt.

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 5th - Wire

Today we'll take you back again. It's 1978 and the place is London, England. The band is Wire.

Wire was inspired by the burgeoning U.K. punk scene. Wire expanded their sonic boundaries in the 1970s of not just punkt, but rock music in general. Wire can be described as art punk or a post-punk ensemble. Read more about Wire.

In 1978 they released the album 'Chairs Missing' (as in 'that guy has a few chairs missing in his front room.' ;-) ) giving their rockpunk a more complex, structured sound involving increased use of guitar effects and synthesizers. (UH!)

Check out this beautiful little New Wave song 'Outdoor Miner' from that album. It's more poppy than the stuff they done before (except from 'I Am The Fly' from that same album). Also this single was for some reason deleted from the charts in 1978, which meant it didn't meet the criterias of the BBC chart-list, which was the shit back then, meaning no commercial career for the band.

Download Outdoor Miner by Wire

The resemblance with the indie-sound anno 2005 or so is striking. Also remember to check out a quite unique - but way cool - ukulele-version of that song!

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 4th - Slowdive

Today we make a minor jump forward in time to the early 90's. Slowdive was part of the English shoegaze scene alongside the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins. In ´93 they released the album Souvlaki which contained the breezy tune 'Alison'. It cannot be because of this that Slowdive was dropped by their label Creation two years later. Parts of the band was not ready to take the dive, though and went on to form another well-respected band, Mojave 3.

Pitchfork 500 - Dec. 3rd - Mission of Burma

'That's when I reach for my revolver', Mission of Burma singer, Clint Conley, hollers - and that's when the last shadow of christmas spirit is blown away, you might add. Nevertheless, this is a very intense song with the mark of an indie classic written all over it. It has been covered by many, including Graham Coxon (of Blur) and Moby. However, the latter chose to change the lyrics to "That's when I realize it's over" in order to not to promote gun violence... Yeeeeees, Moby.

Unfortunalety, I have not been able to find any official video for the song, so this still image video will have to suffice. But it's the sound that counts, right?

Fuck homophobes in the asshole!

Fuckin hell. Everytime I listen to the wonderfull and absolutely weird Devendra Banhart I just feel like smokin joints and go to Califonia to party for a couple of months. I have blogged about the new side-project Megapuss before, but there's a video you gotta see and a song you gotta hear - because the lyrics in the song are so beatiful and the video is som funny. Sorry but I couldn't find a mp3 working so check out this link, and listen carefully to the song 'A Gun On His Hip and a Rose On His Chest'. It also contains a very ... original solo!!