The Bloodbuzzed Jukebox Week 51

Ready for another round of exciting music? Our Jukebox series reaches its 51st week with another TOP TEN playlist playlist including the tunes we have been enjoying the most lately. Like the unpredictable Spring weather, we have a really eclectic collection of tunes, full of new findings. A lot to listen & enjoy! And don't forget to join us at our Soundcloud blog page.

Direct links to 2015 Jukebox playlists
Week 36  Week 37  Week 38   Week 39  Week 40 

Week 41  Week 42  Week 43  Week 44   Week 45
Week 46  Week 47   Week 48  Week 49    Week 50

Best Songs of the Year 2014: 100-76

After Concerts, Books, EPs and Records, we start the 4th edition of the Bloodbuzzed's Best Songs of the Year. Here's our 100 favourite songs of this last twelve months. Please don't take the order's list too seriously and, as always, consider we would love to highlight more songs & bands included, but you have to put an end. So, after many hours of the loveliest debate, we have ranked them in four different posts of 25 songs each (maximum twice per group). So, today, we begin with the tunes from 100 to 76 that you can also listen in our Souncloud page. Play it loud, enjoy it and stay tuned to the rest of the list!

100. Just One of the Guys- Jenny Lewis
99. Yeah, Tonight- Gold-Bears
98. Erika K - The Understudies 
97. Comin On’- David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights 
96. Actuary- King of Prussia
95. Honey Do- Beverly
94. Jumprope- Gingerlys 
93. The Moon Song- Karen O
92. I Lost My Way, I Found a Friend- Anthony Atkinson
91. Without a Face- Luluc
90. Latin American Ficciones- Peter Matthew Bauer
89. Market Town- Echo and the Bunnymen
88. You and You- Me and the Bees
87. My Heart is a Lonely Hunter- The Pretty Greens
86. Wavy Gravy- Flyying Colours
85. Dream Happening- Sea Pinks
84. All I Can See- Tape Waves
83. Sister- September Girls
82. Lovejunky - The Popguns
81. Walk Me to the Bridge- Manic Street Preachers
80. Forget the Fall- Flowers
79. Feel It- Powder Blue
78. The Wolf is Free - Lily and Madeleine 
77. Feel- The Soft Science 
76. El Olivar - Las Ruinas

The Bloodbuzzed Jukebox 27

After two weeks without our TOP TEN playlist, we come back with a pretty diverse selection of bands. From the pop-punk style of The Pretty Greens and the agressive new material of September Girls, from the folk pop music of Lily & Madeleine to the retro-pop of Souvenir Stand, from Wild Balbina, the Spanish indie band proposal of the week, to the cover of 'Tire Swing' from Kimya Dawson by Kingsley Be Brave. As always, it's all at our Blog's soundcloud, so please Join Us!

Direct links to the previous Jukebox weeks
Week 1      Week 8        Week 15     Week 22  
Week 2      Week 9        Week 16     Week 23 
Week 3      Week 10      Week 17     Week 24
Week 4      Week 11      Week 18     Week 25
Week 5      Week 12      Week 19     Week 26 
Week 6      Week 13      Week 20
Week 7      Week 14       Week 21

Welcome to the Jukebox!

These Go to 11: interviewing February Records

Been meaning to post this one for days and finally here it is. For our next interview we go back to a record label. But a unique one, due to the good taste, being responsible of making me discover a bunch of great bands, like my beloved The Swapsies, The Pretty Greens or Caténine among others. And because its run by two of the nicest folks I've been lucky to meet (virtually to this date, would love to solve that soon). Ladies and gentlemen, a very special pleasure to introduce you the answers of Dan & Kristin, the bosses at February Records. These Go to 11!

Kristin Gill & Dan Goodwin, February Records

Dan & Kristin, indiepop all year 'round

Created as Tweefort Productions in late 2008, initially as a live music booking and promotions project in New Haven, CT, with their first show arriving in March 2009 and releasing first CD-R compilation albums afterwards. The focus of the project quickly shifted from booking shows to releasing music, so they changed their name to February Records in May 2010, with the label putting out its first original recordings few months later. February Records has hosted three Elm City PopFest in New Haven in 2009-2011 and 37 releases to this day, primarily online-only, from bands all around the world with a DIY ethic and a clear goal: offering amazing indiepop tunes, in all their styles. The micro-label is run by founder, label manager and creative director Dan Goodwin, who operates from Boston, and Kristin Gill, primary artist liaison and contact person, who recently moved to gorgeous Stockholm. Here we go!

The "other" Swedish pop

1. First record that you bought (be honest)

Dan Goodwin: I think the first music that I bought with my own money was a cassette single of Ace of Base's "I Saw The Sign." I loved that song so much when it came out. I guess it foreshadowed my love of Swedish pop music.

Kristin Gill: The first album I bought was The Wallflower's “Bringing Down the Horse.” I loved that song “One Headlight,” though I can't say I really remember anything else from that record.

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)

D: I believe the first concert I attended was a Christian rock band called Newsboys with a church youth group when I was in middle school. I'm not ashamed to say I thought they were awesome at the time. The last proper concert I went to was Elvis Costello at the University of Connecticut in November 2013. The last DIY show I went to was Eastern Phoebes, Pier Jump and some other bands at a very cool DIY space in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, called Machines with Magnets, in January 2014.

K: I suppose the first show I ever went to was something my friends organized at the local VFW. However, if we're talking about actual concerts, I'll have to go with seeing Howie Day when I was 14 or something. The last gig I went to was the Eastern Phoebes and Pier Jump show with Danny in Rhode Island back in January.

Taylor Swift, country pop?

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)

D: I'm not ashamed to admit that I own more than one Neil Diamond record.

K: This was tough as I'm not embarrassed about anything that I like. I'm really not ashamed at all to admit I like Taylor Swift. I don't own any of her albums, but I'm certainly not afraid to sing along. It's never been a secret - I think multiple people have been subjected to that by now.

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)

D: I guess my most precious music items aren't really collector's items. I have a bunch of records that belonged my parents when they were teenagers. There are some really great records in there ― The Beatles, The Monkees, The Everly Brothers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Beach Boys ― and they are all marked up by my parents with their names and other doodles and writings. I just think it's cool to kind of get a glimpse of what my mom and dad were like and what kind of music they were into when they were younger.

K: I don't think I'm a collector by any means, though I have a great deal of records and instruments lying around. Like Danny, I inherited a lot of records from my parents, though I've grown the collection quite a bit on my own in recent years. I suppose the most precious records that I own are ones that have stories behind their acquisition or hold sentimental value for me.

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

D: For an art class I took in high school, we had to choose song lyrics for a typography project. I remember I chose a couple lines from "Strawberry Fields Forever," by The Beatles. I'm not sure I would say they're my favorite song lyrics, but they've always stuck with me. Living is easy with eyes closed / Misunderstanding all you see / It's getting hard to be someone / but it all works out / It doesn't matter much to me

K: Since I merely pretend to know anything about the technical side of music, lyrics are usually what draws me into a song initially. Therefore, this question is absolutely impossible to answer. Just about any song I like has at least one verse or phrase that I think is wonderful. I simply couldn't choose.

The drummer of that small band
from Liverpool, you know?

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)

D: I'd love to meet David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

K: I've already embarrassed myself in front of Barry Tashian, so I'm going with Johnathan Sebastian and Peter Noone.

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)

D: I've always loved the artwork for The Beatles' "Revolver." When I was younger I used to try to draw it all the time, but I could never get Ringo's nose quite right.

K: Admittedly, I don't pay a lot of attention to artwork on albums. There have been quite a few that I find aesthetically pleasing, but I couldn't narrow anything down. If anything, I focus on bad artwork more than I should!

"Heartbeats"poster 

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both)
D: Lately, I've been watching a lot of movies. I even started documenting and rating them in a Tumblr I call I Like Movies. The last movie that I watched that I thought was really beautiful and moving was "Heartbeats." The original title in French is "Les amours imaginaires." It came out in 2010 and was directed by Xavier Dolan, who also stars in the movie. It's about a love triangle between three close friends. The music is amazing, the story and acting are great and it's beautifully shot. I'd highly recommend it. I recently read Gabriel García Márquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" for the first time. I can't recommend it enough.
K: Danny's Tumblr does have some great movie suggestions! I haven't watched many as of late. I think the last film I watched was “Robinson in Ruins.” I never thought I would enjoy watching a butterfly sit on vegetation for five full minutes, but I did! The imagery was wonderful. Books are much more my thing, though. I was a literature major in school and I still tend to devour books quite quickly. Before I left for Sweden I read Donna Tartt's “The Secret History” in about a week, followed by Jonathan Lethem's “Motherless Brooklyn” in about the same amount of time. I highly recommend both! I'm currently reading Andrew Brown's “Fishing in Utopia.”

The Swapsies, better than any World Cup

9. Release (of yours) you are most proud of

D: I love all the music that we've been fortunate enough to release on February Records, but the ones I'm most proud of are probably the first three that we released back in January 2010. We had three digital offerings come out on the same day to make a splash as we made the transition from a booking and promotions outfit to a record label. Those releases were Onward Chariots, "I'm So Good at Shining"; The Fictional West, "Giant Clouds"; and Women's Basketball, "An Octopus, But Like An Octopus With MassiveWings And Junk". When Onward Chariots went on to release with Elefant Records, I considered that something of a victory for our little record label.

K: There isn't one release in particular that I'm more proud of or that I like more than the rest. I genuinely love everything this label has produced since the very beginning. I'm glad that my involvement brought the label back from it's hiatus, and I suppose in that sense I'm proud of the first two singles we released in which I played a major role: Finnmark's Everyone's Dying” and The Swapsies “Another Game on Saturday”. 

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)

D: This is such a loaded question. In a sense, I feel like the word "indie" has nearly lost all meaning. A lot of people see it as an aesthetic, whether or not the band or label is actually independent or not. Indie is not a sound or a look. To me, it's a conscious choice to go your own way, do things how you want to do them, and seek the approval of a much smaller, but much more devoted, group of fans and music lovers, rather than the approval of the masses, the majors, or the corporate media.

K: I don't necessarily think “indie” holds the same connotation that it used to. Personally, it simply means doing things on my own terms. It's a concept in which I try to live my own life by.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

D: This is so far out for me to be thinking about. I guess I'd like to see February Records as an established record label with enough money to support a successful roster of bands.

K: I hardly know where I'm going to be a month from now, let alone ten years! I hope the label is still around in some capacity - maybe we'll be able to press vinyl eventually. Hopefully I'll still be in Europe, teaching somewhere. Maybe I'll even have learned how to play guitar by then. Better yet, perhaps I'll finally have caught up with the Lloyd Cole discography.

Zillion thanks Kristin and Danny!

The Bloodbuzzed Jukebox 3

Third round of our newest blog section, the Friday's TOP TEN playlist with the tunes I have been enjoying the most this week. Lots of wonders in this playlist, several coming from recent of very recent discoveries, plus some favourites and a classic band returning to form. As the previous sets, this is available at the blog's soundcloud. Hope you like it!

Direct links to the previous Jukebox weeks
Week 1
Week 2

Welcome to the Jukebox!