There's Another Perro del Mar

It's leaked. This time you don't even have to download the album for free on the Internet to see if you like it. El Perro del Mar's newest, From the Valley to the Stars, is available in its entirety on their MySpace, however the songs aren't available to download.

The album altogether has a very heavenly and airy feel to it. I can definitely see why later release dates were chosen for the States and the U.K. because a lot of the songs remind me of the summer-spring transition, when the sun is taking the skies back from snow in winter and rain in spring.

Female musicians generally annoy me, but Sarah Assbring pulls it off in a way that isn't obnoxious. Her voice is extremely delicate, and it sounds like if she pushed a little harder for stronger vocals, the song would break. "Somebody's Baby," is a pretty good example of her limits. It's a piano-led track that resembles the upbeat bounce of Motown in the late '60s with flicks of guitar here and there. For most of the song, it sounds like she is humming the verses and the gentle choruses are not much more passionate, but it's the kind of simple that I think people can appreciate.

El Perro del Mar moves in again on the retro feel with other songs such as "How Did We Forget." Marvin Gaye himself could have been backed up by the light piano and hints of a brass section in this track.

She's kind of like the softer female equivalent of fellow Swede Jens Lekman, whom I've heard she's friends with. They both have their own take on the light American groove of the 1960s and '70s.

From the Valley to the Stars is set to be released on April 22 in the United States, but has been out in Scandinavia for two days already.

Web: El Perro del Mar
Blog: A Journal from the Valley to the Stars

Ra Ra Riot Again Tonight!

Man, I love me some Ra Ra Riot. Or as Ed so tactfully put it, "I'm on their dick." Either way, our calendar seems to be missing their show tonight at Yale. They will be at the Calhoun Cabaret at 189 Elm Street with Bottle Up & Go, Sea Sick, and Lady Lovelace and the Calculator Death Machine. Bottle Up & Go was with the band last night at Wesleyan, or so I thought they would be because at least I missed them. Other than that, it's a completely new show.



I've made the observation that they are 20x better live than on their album, and Jamie agreed with me. Even more of a reason to check them out tonight.

Oh, and Extra Life sucks. They played right before Ra Ra Riot yesterday and bored Ed into leaving. I don't blame him (Well, I do. He's an old man). Their lead singer didn't stand throughout the whole performance, which is a big no-no for live music. Solo acoustic shows are the exception. He also had the nerve to make fun of a guy dancing like a maniac to Ra Ra Riot, so in short your band sucks and you're a dick. Enjoy the rest of your tour.

Will Ferrell Got Game

I know Bill Walton is old and all, but he did play in the NBA before, right? In an effort to further promote Will Ferrell's new comedy Semi-Pro, the actor took on Hall of Famer and NBA commentator Bill Walton in a game of Horse.



I think I'm a bit more surprised by how good Ferrell is (although he's probably been practicing on and off the set since the movie began filming) then how bad Walton is. Semi-Pro will hit theaters this Friday and if you happened to miss the trailer you can find it here.

Edit: Just popped over to the A.V. Club and saw they did an interview with Ferrell that was posted today.

A Little Gem in Seattle

KEXP Where the music matters: I recently stumbled across KEXP 90.3 FM on LiveJournal.com and I guess they're well known in the Seattle, Wa. area for playing artists frequently left out of regular air time on other radio stations. I found a bunch of free tracks on the radio station from old South by Southwest shows as well weekly updates worth of stream-able songs by artists with albums dropping that particular week.

You can stream the current show live with Real Player or VCL online and this particular segment is solely composed of emailed requests. Right now they're playing "Trigger Cut" by Pavement and they just made an announcement that Tegan & Sara will be coming up shortly.



It looks like they're also preparing for this year's SXSW coverage, on Mach 7- 12 in Austin, Texas, and judging by last year's as well as 2006, I might have some high expectations of KEXP for 2008. They have posted entire set lists worth of individual artists' songs and and versions of their live performances at SXSW from previous years. Stay tuned.

Doom Gets Ric Rolled

Rick Astley might not be a household name, but he made a hit that continues to be used (mocked) still today. The song has appeared in a few different TV Shows including Family Guy and Queer As Folk and has now reached a new height in the internet video realm thanks to the people at SomethingAwful.com. Im not saying this video is anything new, but any child of the early 90's with access to a computer will appreciate it. Here you go.

...and the one from Family Guy for good measure.