Forever turned out to be too long.

There must be something special in the water over in Denmark. For such a small place, it seems that every time I turn around there is another incredible band popping its young head up on Denmark's shores. The Kissaway Trail is no different. Formerly known as Isles, this five piece from Odense is a group to keep an eye on. Their debut self-titled album was released early this year in Europe through Bella Union, and is currently only available as an import. Their sound inhabits the crossroads where hope and beauty meet, and they have crafted an album that will undoubtedly lift hearts and turn heads.

The Kissaway Trail-La La Song
The Kissaway Trail-It's Close Up Far Away

Ba La Na (and Da and Ya)

Well, I have finally done it. The End of Summer BaLaNa compilation that I have promised you readers is finally here. It proved to be more of a laborious undertaking than I originally thought, but in the end it just made it that much more enjoyable to listen to an hour plus of songs with made up words in them. You can download a zip file of the entire compilation from megaupload, and enjoy it as an ode to the preceding season. Bring on the scarf weather.


Also, I thought that a stuffed-animal riding a sailboat was a pretty good way to say "bon voyage" to summer. Just so you know.


The tracks:

1.La La Song-The Kissaway Trail
2.Ya Ya-Lee Dorsey
3.Breathing Rapture-Le Loup
4.The Rebecca Fantasy-The Polyphonic Spree
5.La Breeze-Simian
6.Head Over Heels-Tears For Fears
7.Can't Get You Out of My Head-Kylie Minogue
8.Don't You (Forget About Me)-Simple Minds
9.You Can Have It All-Yo La Tengo
10.Howling At The Moon (Sha-La-La)-The Ramones
11.Cherry Chapstick-Yo La Tengo
12.Time Wont Let Me Go-The Bravery
13.Falling-Ben Kweller
14.Recycled Air-The Postal Service
15.Too Many Pictures-The Sheds
16.Picture Book-The Kinks
17.Nowhere Man-The Beatles
18.Tom Courtenay-Yo La Tengo
19.Bruised-Ben Folds
20.Section 1 (Have A Day/Celebratory)-The Polyphonic Spree
21.A Long December-Counting Crows
22.The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down-The Band
23.Ooh La La-The Faces

The glitter of possibilities

Anathallo is perhaps one of my favorite bands of all time. They hold a very special place in my heart that I think will never be filled by another band just as there aren't really any other bands that sound like them. I have not listened to them in a while but this past week have been on a kick, and seeing as how they are currently in the studio recording a follow up to Floating World, I thought I'd share a couple of goodies. First, here's a nice video them covering The Books' song "Smells Like Content" from their tour about two years ago. Hopefully this song gets recorded at some point in the time space continuum, but until then this video is a nice representation of both the song (which probably has the best lyrics of any song I've ever heard) and Anathallo's unique interpretation.

Here is a new song called Noni's Field

Another new one called Northern Lights

Also, if you have not done so already, you can check out Anathallo's very own blog, Your Happy Makes Me Go Oldies, which is part information, part nonsensical writing and part YouTube video hound.

Roses for you.

So I have been sitting on this one for a while but really wanted to share it with you all because I was reminded yesterday of what peacefully beautiful music it is. Miracle Fortress is the doings of Graham Van Pelt, a Montreal based fellow who is incidentally one of the members in the dance-fuzz three piece Think About Life. Van Pelt's songs are sweet and syrupy but still retain a type of grit to them with little McCartney-esque touches. The production work is trippy, swirly and simply outstanding, especially when you consider it was all handled by Van Pelt himself. A fantastic listen all the way through, especially when enjoyed with some sun or good friends. These tracks are from his most recent album Five Roses.

Miracle Fortress-Maybe Lately
Miracle Fortress-Blasphemy