Tag Archives: music

Three new bands (New to me) in 2020: (3) The Big Moon

That went quickly, the third and final entry of this short series is already here. After The Mysterines, Dream Wife we last but by no means least come to The Big Moon (Wikipedia entry) from London. Of these three bands I believe they’ve been around the longest, so I’m rather late to the party. They certainly make brilliant videos. Let’s start with one where they play every single role, Sucker:

The Big Moon – Sucker

They get rather colourful in Cupid, must have been fun making that, despite the mess:

The Big Moon – Cupid

Silent Movie Susie is a beautiful stop motion video with dolls taking on all roles. There’s also a cameo of the band, both as dolls and real people. Can you spot the previous video they are quoting?

The Big Moon – Silent Movie Susie

From their second album is Your Light. With lots of cycling. And puppets. What more could you want?

The Big Moon – Your Light

To close a cover version. I discovered The Regrettes via their appearance on The A.V. Club, interesting to see that The Big Moon also played a cover at The A.V. Club, Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler from 1983:

The Big Moon serves up a stellar rendition of “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”

I hope you enjoyed this little series and maybe even found a band or two you’ll like. Maybe let me know via the comments?

Three new bands (New to me) in 2020: (2) Dream Wife

Having started this introduction of bands I discovered for me this year with The Mysterines I’m now moving on to the second band I found: Dream Wife (Wikipedia entry). Formed while at university in Brighton they have since moved to London. Let’s start with Hey Heartbreaker from their debut album:

Dream Wife – Hey Heartbreaker

Also from their debut album is Somebody (with a very memorable chorus line):

Dream Wife – Somebody

Moving on to their second album, released in 2020, with Hasta La Vista:

Dream Wife – Hasta La Vista

Another one from the second album is So When You Gonna…. with a quite interesting video:

Dream Wife – So When You Gonna…

To close a live performance mixed with an interview on KEXP:

Dream Wife – Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

Again I hope you enjoyed the music, I love the variety in Rakel’s singing and Alice’s guitar play, brilliantly supported by Bella’s bass. The third and last band in this series to follow tomorrow.

Three new bands (New to me) in 2020: (1) The Mysterines

Over the last two years the two main new bands I listen to were (and still are) The Regrettes and Skating Polly. In addition to them I also discovered Jade Bird. A few weeks ago I decided to go on a hunt for a few new bands (new to me, not necessarily new to the scene) I might like. That hunt turned out very successful as I’ve found three bands (all British) that have been on heavy rotation since and I expect will remain for some time. So I thought I share some of their music, starting with The Mysterines from Liverpool (introduction in the NME), opening with Take Control:

The Mysterines – Take Control

Moving on to Love’s Not Enough:

The Mysterines – Love’s Not Enough

A quite fast version of Gasoline:

The Mysterines – Gasoline

To close just Lia Metcalfe on her own with an acoustic guitar (incl a much slower version of Gasoline):

Lia Metcalfe (The Mysterines) – NME Home Sessions

I hope you enjoyed the music, more in the second part to follow tomorrow.

My New Year’s Eve 2019 Playlist

So that’s another year and a decade coming to an end. Having a relaxing evening at home, probably aiming for a reasonably early night so that I can be ready for the New Year’s Day concert from Vienna tomorrow (same as this year). Currently baking an improvised garlic and onion bread, which I’ll enjoy with a beef steak with black garlic butter soon. And while that’s going on I’m listening to one of my favourite playlists I’ve built up this year. Some is from bands/artists I discovered this year, some is from bands/artists I’ve known for a while. Some I’ve mentioned on this blog before, some will be new. They all have something in common though, I’ll let you figure out what that might be. Thought I’d share that playlist, where I’ve found a YouTube video I’ve linked it so you can listen if you’re interested:

Sorry, no YouTube playlist (I exported the list from my Google Play Music playlists and looked up the videos, picking live alternatives in some cases where studio versions were not available). You’ll have to pick the individual songs you’re interested in. Hope you find something you’ll like.