Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having

The new Atmosphere album is entitled, You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having - it dropped early this month and they are currently touring to promote it. In its first week, it debuted at #1 on Billboard's Independent Label Chart. Atmosphere is made up of Sean Daley aka 'Slug' & Anthony Davis aka 'Ant', and is a group from the Twin Cities that is finding much sucess on the independent hip-hop scene. Slug has an appeal that few can match with poignant self-awareness, intelligence, razor-sharp humor and actual emotional vulnerability. Ant is one of the rap game's finest producers.

Atmosphere - Trying To Find A Balance - (Highly Rec'd!!)
Atmosphere - Cats Van Bags
Atmosphere - That Night

"One can feel Atmosphere loosening modern hip-hop from its moorings and yanking it into some weirder and far more interesting place." - ROLLING STONE
"This Minneapolis indie rap hero has potential to spare, delivering taut, complex rhyme narratives with everyman earnestness." - ROLLING STONE
"Like it or not, Slug is reluctant king of emo-hop, the emerging alt-rap scene."
- BLACKBOOK
With passionate inflection and pristine delivery, Slug toggles neatly among the poetic, preachy, and provocative, sometimes hitting all at once.
- Entertainment Weekly

Find more reviews at: HIP HOP DX, OKAYPLAYER, PLAYBOY.COM, MSNBC.MSN.COM. Atmosphere and Eyedea & DJ Abilities are all on Epitaph Records.

Music On TV:
Great night of music on TV tonight. Fiona Apple is on Letterman, Damian "Jr Gong" Marley is on Leno, The Decemberists are on Conan and Franz Ferdinand is on The Late Late Show. Nice!

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Eyedea & Abilities

Once lauded as one of URB Magazine's Next 100, Eyedea and Abilities dropped their first full length album, entitled First Born, in the Fall of 2001. Regarded as a conceptual success, it caught many fans off guard, as they expected a more battle oriented approach to the songs. But as unexpected as it was, First Born proved that a powerful battle M.C. and Turntabilist could create a cohesive concept album. They returned last year with E&A. 'Now' was the first single from E&A. Eyedea is a hard hitting battle MC and DJ Abilities can cut shit up. If you missed it, check them out...

DJ Abilities also performed all the scratches for El-P's critically acclaimed Fantastic Damage

Eyedea & Abilities - Now

Stream E&A Day - The B-Side of 'Now'

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Jens Lekman

Are you all meatballed out?! That's terrible, I didn't mean that in a bad way Sweedish friends - as you can see I love you. Anyway, the Swedes just keep on coming this week at MOKB! Swedish songman Jens Lekman's debut full-length collects tracks from three previously-released EPs. All three EPs are now out of print, so your next chance to purchase his sweetly-sung songs comes on Nov. 22, when Oh You're So Silent Jens hits stores. Lekman is a young (23) pop crooner with eyes bright, heart wide open - he's getting a lot of pub with his home recorded magic and fantastic lyrics. Jens is on the the Secretly Canadian label. Secretly Canadian is so awesome, seriously you can download so much free music at their site...shveeps!



Jens Lekman - Maple Leaves
Jens Lekman - You Are The Light : or see the Video
Jens Lekman - Rocky Dennis' Farewellsong To The Blind Girl

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The White Stripes cover Tegan & Sara's 'Walking With A Ghost'

Not my favorite Tegan & Sara song, but The White Stripes have been covering Tegan & Sara's 'Walking With A Ghost' now and then and recorded a studio version as well. Here is both a live version and the studio cut...the studio cut is much more listenable. Jack is a little too screechy in the live version...

The White Stripes - Walking With A Ghost (Studio)
The White Stripes - Walking With A Ghost (Live In Toronto)

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New Subways song - Rock & Roll Queen

Here's a new song from The Subways on The O.C. soundtack #5. The Subways are an alt-rock band from Welwyn Garden City, England. They first came to the attention of the wider world when they were picked by Michael Eavis to play at Glastonbury. Some hype has been surrounding them in the wake of that performance, and judging by the relentless urgent energy and polished songwriting they are able to conjure up, it seems justified. Read some more about The Subways here.



Subways - Rock & Roll Queen

Local Show: Son Volt & Fruit Bats tonight at The Vogue - 7:30pm
I mentioned this week that Son Volt was coming to The Vogue tonight and the opener will be Fruit Bats. The show is $20, which not being an enormous Son Volt fan makes it a little steep, but I do like some of their music and maybe I'll love their live show.

Fruit Bats - Lives Of Crime
Fruit Bats - A Bit Of Wind (Highly Rec'd!)

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The Mae Shi

The Mae Shi, out of Los Angeles, are experimental art electronic-noise-funk-rockers who employ all manners of instruments - "guitar, bass, drums, tamborines, noisemakers, computer programs, omnichord, glockinspiel and voice", among others - and "staccato bursts of rhythm" to create something wholly original.

The Mae Shi have also been described as "unsettling" - "Unsettling in the sense that listening to these guys in our little monkey boxes makes us want to run outside and set a trashcan on fire! Or deliberately misfile our weekly status reports or something similarly rebellious..."

The Mae Shi - Vampire Beats
The Mae Shi - Revelation 3
The Mae Shi - Born For A Short Time
The Mae Shi - Chop 2
The Mae Shi - Body 2
The Mae Shi - You Can't Do That To A Bat
The Mae Shi - Gommorah

The Mae Shi's MySpace & a great article about The Mae Shi and their live show. The Mae Shi are on 5rc.

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Audrey

Well, I'd like to quit with the Swedes while I'm ahead (am I ahead?), but I'm not sure I can! Audrey is four ladies from Henån, Sweden and they formed the band back in 2001. The band consists of Victoria, Anna, Rebecka and Emelie. It's pretty stuff - orchestral, beautiful, harmonious, sweet and sad.

Audrey - Box & Fights
Audrey - The Text Is Written (Upside Down)

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Cinemechanica

Cinemechanica, one of Athens' most intrepid and exciting bands, is heading out on the road and offering up an exclusive download from their forthcoming album, The Martial Arts. These guys are a little more hard rock, but have some good guitar and drum work going on, so it's worth giving more than just one listen.

Cinemechanica runs their own label (Hello Sir Records - home to Tiger Bear Wolf, Maserati, and We Versus The Shark) and studio. Cinemechanica's MySpace.

Cinemechanica - Brain Tarp
Cinemechanica - I'm Tired Of Paul McCartney

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Jose Gonzalez

So, wrapping up "I LOVE SWEDES DAY" at MOKB in what is really the most important log of the day, Craig @ Songs:Illinois, who is the same Craig @ Swedesplease, many moons ago was all like, "I wanna start a revolution bloggaz! Jose Gonzalez is the 2nd coming of Jeebus Soofyawn Christo Stevens! You gotz to be listenin' to him kid!" Well, in more or less words. And anyway, I was all like, "Nah, I don't like Ol' Soofyawn like all y'alls cool kids out there. Fo' gitz dat. Huff!"

BUT, NOW I HAVE REALIZED I DO LIKE JOSE GONZALEZ, who actually has a sound more like Jeebus Nick Christo Drake. Man, do I like Jose Gonzalez.



As mentioned before, Jose is Argentinean-born, but Swedish-raised, and it’s been quite a year for him, causing acoustic rumblings all across Europe, tearing at people’s heartstrings in the process. 'Stay In The Shade', the second single taken from Jose's debut album Veneer. It's out on Parasol. I haven't heard it all yet, but Veneer will certainly be in my top 3 albums of the year without a doubt. I can't give these songs any higher recommendation....If you only download four songs today, these should be those four.

Jose Gonzalez - Stay In The Shade
Jose Gonzalez - Slow Moves
Jose Gonzalez - Save Your Day
Jose Gonzalez - Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division Cover)

And with that, we bid the Swedes farewell...

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Moneybrother

Since we are on the Sweedish theme, we'll go one further...three Swedes in a row! Moneybrother may be the next big thing out of Sweden. What does it take to be the next big thing out of Sweeden anyway? How would I know who the next big thing out of Sweeden is?! Thinking about this more heavily, Craig @ Swedesplease probably knows, but I never remember to check that blog after his other blog, Songs:Illinois. And right now, it's probably Argentinean-born, Swedish-raised Jose Gonzalez.

Moving on...originally of Sweedish punkrock fame, for his vocals in former band Monster, in 2003 Anders Wendin took a new direction with his solo project, Moneybrother. Moneybrother is a soul orientated blend of all the music styles he likes to listen to.

Recently Moneybrother was nominated for "Best Swedish Artist" together with Kent, The Hellacopters, Christian Walz and Timbuktu by MTV Europe.

Moneybrother - It's Been Hurting All The Way With You, Joanna
Moneybrother - Reconsider Me

OK, seriously, like 1 comment this week?! You guys got something against Swedes?

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The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity

My experience with The Cardigans was extremely limited. Limited in fact to Love Fool and some terrible crossover with Tom Jones. Both songs I hated and that was pretty much enough for me to write them off...BUT...at the urging of others, others who claim that The Cardigans are Sweden's most successful pop export since Abba, who I love in the closet, and claim that The Cardigans have returned with an excellent new album entitled Super Extra Gravity, I decided to check their new album out. The album was produced by Tore Johansson who has worked with Franz Ferdinand on past efforts, and it is really good. I mean, I've listened to it once, so things may change, but usually if it's good the first time through, it only gets better. A couple of my favs:

The Cardigans - I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer
The Cardigans - Little Black Cloud

"We’ve never had the same sound on two records," explains guitarist and songwriter Peter Svensson. "Super Extra Gravity is probably the edgiest record we’ve made, with very compact songs and lots of energy."

Since I have pretty much shunned them since the Love Fool days, it's interesting to see the sexy lead Swede, Nina, has tossed her blonde bikini team locks for a jet black look with a little more edge. Find more Cardigans at Scenestars and Said The Gramophone.

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We Are Soldiers We Have Guns

We Are Soldiers We Have Guns consists of Malin Dahlberg with help from Robert Tenevall and Pontus Wallgren at times. According to Malin, We Are Soldiers We Have Guns will never be cool or cute, nor will it ever be ironic, but the name kinda is I think. You might expect something a little more Rage Against The Machine with a name like that, but she plays a relaxing brand of Swedish lo-fi indie-rock/pop with loose harmonies that just sort of fade off into space. It's nice and chill. We Are Soldiers We Have Guns' MySpace.

We Are Soldiers We Have Guns - Jodi's Noise
We Are Soldiers We Have Guns - Damn Those TV Shows, Damn Them Straight To Hell
We Are Soldiers We Have Guns - Tourists In Our Hometown

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Walter Meego and Imogen Heap...

Check out Walter Meego, seriously, it's good. One of the middle-west's newest and most funktastular musical groups - Walter Meego makes smart electronic music that's witty and straightforward, but not pretentious. Walter Meego is made up of Jarrett Spiegel, Colin Yarck & Justin Sconza. Walter Meego's MySpace.

Walter Meego - Usually
Walter Meego - Usually (Justin Acoustic)
Walter Meego - Usually (Salva Remix)

Lots more Walter Meego mp3s here.

Related:
Salva - Fully Equipped (Tim Fite fans check this out!)
Def Harmonic - Celebrate

In The Blogs:
Aurgasm has an excellent interview with Imogen Heap. She talks about the recent MySpace Hotel Cafe Tour, Cary Brothers, Zach Braff, Frou Frou and much more. Really well done, check it out.

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Summerbirds In The Cellar

Orlando has been best known, on a national level, as the land of Disney and a decent vacation spot or convention town, but the emergence of bands like Summerbirds In The Cellar, has doubtlessly been a relief for those many residents who would like to expose a much deeper layer to the city’s artistry than that created by Walt. The sound is Phil Collins/Genesis crossed with current new wave pop/rock, and that may or may not sound so appealing, but it is good. Everyone holds a little place in their hearts for Phil anyway, you can admit it.

These guys have toured with The Bravery, which I've mentioned I like and hate all at the same time: like their sound, hate the band's attitude. These guys are probably cooler. Anyway, high rec...check them out!

Summerbirds In The Cellar - Behold The Wolf
Summerbirds In The Cellar - Strange Answers

In The Blogs:
At Docopenhagen via Dumb Gun you can find a previously unreleased Brendan Benson song entitled The Trouble With You

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Clumsy Lovers, IST, and The Working Title

Clumsy Lovers has got to be one of my favorite new band names out there. Well, they aren't really new either I guess. They've been around for over 10 years and logged over 1500 performances actually. They have a rootsy pop/folk sound with an alt-country twang and hail from Vancouver, not the Deep South or Appalachia. You can download more Clumsy Lover songs at their site.

Clumsy Lovers - Mercy
Clumsy Lovers - Better Me
Clumsy Lovers - Amen



IST is out with and currently promoting their second album, King Martha. IST's MySpace.

IST - Here We Go Again



The Working Title has been touring with Athlete and MAE and you can now preview songs from their new album on MySpace. "Nothing Less Radiant," "The Crash," and "Never Run Again" have been posted.

The Working Title's MySpace

In The Blogs:
Kevin @ So Much Silence has posted yesterday's Nada Surf KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic show. This post is the first half of the show. Git on over der!

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The Tall Dwarfs

Pioneers of the lo-fi aesthetic, formed in 1979, the Kiwi duo The Tall Dwarfs, made up of Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate, influenced such bands as Yo La Tengo and Pavement with its playful, home recordings and were members of the highly touted New Zealand underground scene of the 80s and 90s that included The Clean, The Chills, and Bailter Space. Featuring found sounds, an oddball sense of humor, and warped hooks, the Tall Dwarfs’ Weeville and Fork Songs - released on Flying Nun in New Zealand - have long been out of print. The Tall Dwarfs’ influence can readily be heard in the Olivia Tremor Control’s sound, so it was only natural that Cloud Recordings - owned and operated by OTC’s John Fernandes - would choose to reissue them. In fact, the Tall Dwarfs recently made a rare US tour appearance supporting the Olivia Tremor Control in a series of highly publicized and successful shows.

Weeville and Fork Songs are being released tomorrow, October 25, on Cloud Recordings

The Tall Dwarfs - Pirouette (Highly Rec'd!)
The Tall Dwarfs - Hallelujah Boy
The Tall Dwarfs - We Bleed Love
The Tall Dwarfs - Think Small

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My Morning Jacket & more...

Weekend Show: My Morning Jacket & Kathleen Edwards:
My Morning Jacket played Indianapolis last night with Kathleen Edwards opening up for them. First off, Kathleen Edwards is hot and her voice is so good. Secondly, shiz got wacky from there - MJ and I found a good place on the left side of the stage as Edwards was starting up. Her set was great, her band had all grown full beards and then shaved to just Magnum P.I. mustaches that day - pretty funny - they had all adopted personalities befitting their 'staches. There was the Irish Bookie, The Frenchman and The Pedaphile. MJ turned to me after the set and asked if we could move towards the middle more as the speakers was hurting her ears and she felt light-headed. I said the place was pretty packed so we'd be lucky to find a good spot, but OK. She then leaned in as if to say something and just kept falling. I grabbed her before she hit the ground, but she was dead weight. I looked around for someplace to lie her down, told the guy next to me to grab someone for help. The guy just stared blankly at me, in fact everyone around us did. Just staring. Look, if someone around you needs help, help them. It's a f'ed up pack mentality or something, everyone believes someone else will lend a hand. Luckly, a friend from VIP saw it happen (many thanks again Ryan!) and helped me carry her into there and sit her down. She started coming around and we got her to start drinking water. She actually has a history of this (no alcohol or drugs were involved), so I didn't panic, but it was the first time it happened out in public. After about 15 minutes she started feeling normal. I pushed for us to leave, but she didn't want to, so we went upstairs for another 20 minutes and sat down. MMJ started up and she wanted to move back downstairs. We were pretty far back, but enjoyed the majority of MMJ's set - 2 or the first 3 songs were a couple of my favs, Gideon and One Big Holiday - we took off after about 8 songs, as I was still worried about her and kinda on edge - it was excellent for what we saw, no pictures due to the craziness though. On Wednesday, November 23rd, My Morning Jacket will play the last show of the US Fall Tour at The Louisville Palace with special guests VHS or Beta, I'm there. Lots of early previously unreleased MMJ materials at Darla.

My Morning Jacket - Knot Comes Loose
My Morning Jacket - O Is The One That Is Real

Got me the sweet cover art tour shirt too:


Colts 7-0:
Colts are 7-0, had a little tougher time in Houston than maybe everyone expected, but that was kind of a trap game. Anyway, they turned it on in the second half and got the victory. Going into the bye week, not losing once during the first two months of the season, is pretty awesome. The odds of the Colts going undefeated were released at about 10-1. The odds of the Texans not winning a game this season are about 9-1.

Adult Swim:
I love it.

Upcoming Shows:
Son Volt & Fruit Bats this Friday, The National on November 1st, Margot & The Nuclear So So's on November 5th, Digable Planets on November 6th and Bob Mould on November 12. Terrible news: My favorite place to see a show in all of Indianapolis, The Patio, will be closing on November 30th. The bastards sold it off to a Chinese restaurant.

Son Volt on NPR.
Fruit Bats - Lives Of Crime
Fruit Bats - A Bit Of Wind

Music On TV & Radio This Week:
MONDAY, October 24: NADA SURF on KCRW (11:20 AM PST), AQUALUNG on CONAN, INXS on The LATE LATE SHOW, KEANE on CARSON
TUESDAY, October 25: THE WARLOCKS on KEXP (1:00 PM PST), SINEAD O'CONNOR on LENO, LIZ PHAIR on CARSON
WEDNESDAY, October 26: IMOGEN HEAP on KCRW (11:15 AM PST)
THURSDAY, October 27: SUPERGRASS on KCRW (11:20 AM PST), SEAN PAUL on CARSON, SINEAD O'CONNOR on The LATE LATE SHOW
FRIDAY, October 28: DAVID GRAY on LETTERMAN, WALLFLOWERS on CONAN, OK GO on CARSON
SATURDAY, October 29: BEN FOLDS & RAY LAMONTAGNE on AUSTIN CITY LIMITS

Love for my homies:
Good to see you last night Jeff - check out and be friends with 91.7 WEEM at their MySpace. Good independent music and shiz!

In The Blogs:
I am an instant fan of this blog: Good Weather For Air Strikes. Great name, great music, a love for the O.C. My new best friends.

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Harvey Danger & prostitution

No, unfortunately the two are unrelated. Thanks to Smoking Gun and Yeti Don't Dance for this story. Chris may bring you the hottie wholesomes, but here at MOKB, I bring you the dirrrrty dirtys:



In a July 2005 undercover operation, Florida cops busted 15 strippers on a variety of criminal charges, including prostitution and exposure of a sexual organ. The arrests came at five different gentlemen's clubs (Bare Assets, Lollipops, Extasy, Brass Flamingo, and Calendar Girls) along U.S. Highway 19 in the Tampa area. Fourteen of the arrestees posed for Pasco County Sheriff's Office mug shots, which you'll find below (make sure to click on each image to see the following booking photo). (14 pages starting here). Sweet. My favorites are Sassy Feverblister and Trixie Bloodeye.

Moreover, some retard suit spent a cool quarter mil at Scores and doesn't wanna pay.



Earlier this month, Harvey Danger came back with a new full-length called Little By Little and this song title is right in line with the previous story. You can download the entire album for free at their site.

Harvey Danger - Wine, Women & Song

Smallville : Thanks To Rich For the Reminder!:

Egotastic sums up last night's Smallville it three great words: Erica Durance Bikini - lots of pics and vids at Egotastic. That JLA line killed me too Rich.

In The Blogs:
Got a great email from Jax over at Rock Insider - You've got to check the post on Anton Newcombe of Brian jonestown Massacre discovering MySpace. Classic.

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The Double & Stellastarr* Contest Winners

Not too long ago Matador Records signed NYC band The Double. Anyway, I'm a big fan of these guys - their sound isn't necessarily groudbreaking, but I love it. They have a thick, manic, almost carnivalesque at times type sound. Soft vocals fighting through noisy distorted guitars and keyboards. The Double sets a atmosphere of chaos mixed with melancholy, but even though at times unsettling, it's utterly captivating. They've recently opened for Interpol and Blonde Redhead. I give high recommendation on the band kids.

The Double - Idiocy
The Double - Blanket On A Beach
The Double - Up All Night
The Double - What Sound It Makes The Thunder via Fluxblog

Stellastarr* Contest Winners:
The Stellastarr* contest winners (randomly drawn by MJ) are Jason P. and Nicholas J. - I'll be sending you an email today! Thanks to everyone that entered!

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Lady Sovereign US tour & mp3s

Tours:
Lady Sovereign will have her first US tour in support of her highly anticipated EP, Vertically Challenged in November and December. Here are the dates:






November:
28 - Boston, MA - Middle East
30 - New York, NY - Knitting Factory

December:
1 - Philadelphia, PA - Silk City
2 - Montreal - La Tulipe
3 - Toronto, ON - Revival
6 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
9 - San Francisco, CA - Live 105 After Party
13 - Los Angeles, CA - Cinespace

Lady Sovereign - Hoodie (Mizz Beats remix)
Lady Sovereign - Random Remix

TV:
Watch Smallville tonight because, my man Cary Brother's tune Waiting For Your Letter will be used and because it's the introduction of Aquaman.

New season of Drawn Together started last night. That show rules.

Contest:
You only have the rest of today and tonight to get your email in for the Stellastarr* Free Give-a-way Contest! Get it in!

Picture of the day: I'm not one to make light of hurricane victims, but this guy knew what to grab first when it got thick...Keystone Ice, Red Dog, Bud Light, Bud Diesel, liquor and toilet paper...nice.



Frapper!
So Chris found Frapper, which is way cool, and put it up for his readers to give a shout out...p