Reader Rewards: Win Johnny Foreigner's Single, But Not That Single

[UPDATED] Regular readers will be as surprised as we are to learn that we haven't written about Johnny Foreigner for almost a month. For a while it seemed like we couldn't go two days without writing about the Birmingham, England-based noisepop trio, a fact that prompted one of our colleagues to remark that sometimes Clicky Clicky is like a Johnny Foreigner (and Frightened Rabbit) fan blog. We're OK with that. As we stated more than a year ago here, we once considered fairly strongly starting a new blog exclusively devoted to Johnny Foreigner. Sadly, any additional writing endeavors we commence need to be revenue-generating. All these records do not pay for themselves. Except for the free ones. But we digress.

Today in the U.K. Best Before Records releases the fourth and likely final UK single for Johnny Foreigner's superlative debut full-length Waited Up Til It Was Light. "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella," as we've noted many times before, is being issued as a Pacman-yellow 10" with three remixes. We eagerly await our vinyl copy, which apparently was only one of 400 being sold. We are fortunate enough to already have received a copy of the promo CD version of the new single scored off EBay. Don't get overly excited, this is not what we're giving away today. What we are offering up is a spare copy of the promo CD for the first single from the aforementioned longplayer, "Our Bipolar Friends" b/w "The Houseparty Scene Is Killing You," which our Ebay seller was vending together with his copy of "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella." Despite already having the former, we figured what the hell, the extra copy would be something nice to give away to help promote the band to the kids in the U.S. So here's the deal: the first U.S.-based reader -- besides previous winner Jane, sorry Jane -- to email us the names of the parties responsible for the three remixes found on the "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" single will receive our extra CD of "Our Bipolar Friends." A link to our email address is in the sidebar. We'll update this item as soon as we have a winner.

Speaking of promoting Johnny Foreigner to the kids, we are mystified that we've yet to appreciate any sort of press push for the planned Sept. 23 North American release of Waited Up Til It Was Light. And the JohnnyForeignerMusic.com page, frankly, still needs to be copyedited. Perhaps the physical release date (which a press release originally gave as "October") has been pushed back until the band can actually make it across the Atlantic to support the release? The album has been available digitally to the domestic market since July, so a sales stopgap is in place, at least. The trio has tour commitments through Oct. 8 with Dananananaykroyd, and then we expect they will set about recording a Christmas single or filming variety show spots for holiday specials like they was the Beatles or something. You can stream all of Waited Up Til It Was Light at Last.FM right here, although the songs are curiously ordered alphabetically rather than the normal running order. We expect it won't be another month before we write about Johnny Foreigner again. In the event you don't yet know what all the fuss is about, here's the A-side of the band's debut single, released on Laundrette in late 2006. [Congratulations to reader John for winning the single]

Johnny Foreigner -- "Sometimes, In The Bullring" -- Sometimes In The Bullring b/w Camp Kelly Calm
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[buy Johnny Foreigner music from EMusic right here]

Johnny Foreigner: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" Unleashed

>> Those readers who don't conscientiously watch the comments to our items likely missed an anonymous post from someone who certainly sounds like he or she knows that of which he or she speaks. And in that post our commenter stated the reason Best Before Records pulled the video for Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" (it of course has since been posted to Vimeo after being leaked by the cats at DrownedInSound; we've posted it atop these paragraphs) was to afford Pitchfork the opportunity of an exclusive (Pfork ran with it very early this morning). Seems a little like kowtowing the The Man. But as a rabid fan of Johnny Foreigner, we suppose if it takes an exclusive with Pitchfork to break them in North America, so be it. Anyway, not long after NME published this item about "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella," the forthcoming third single from the Birmingham, England-based indie rock trio slated for release Sept. 8 in the UK. The item states that the Bloc Party remix of the song was actually the handiwork of Bloc Party's angular-haired guitarist Russell Lissak. What's confusing is the short NME blurb then states that Lissak remixed a different song called "Bravado." Which is it? Fortunately NME gives the last quip to Johnny Foreigner fronter Alexei Berrow, who jokes "We're flattered [Lissak] would remix a little band like us," he admitted. "Can we go on tour with them now please?" Johnny Foreigner's debut full-length was released digitally in North America earlier this week; buy it from EMusic right here.

>> And another thing: our commenter confirms that indeed, Glaswegian septet Dananananaykroyd will be recording their debut full-length for Best Before Records with producer The Machine. The sessions will run from Aug. 18 to Sept. 8, and directly thereafter band will embark on consecutive UK tours. One of the tours will be with labelmates and indie rock superheroes Johnny Foreigner. Dananananaykroyd's Sissy Hits EP was finally released on Holy Roar Records recently after a long delay; you can buy it from EMusic right here.

New Johnny Foreigner: "Ghost The Festivals," U.S. Dates

Birmingham, England-based indie rock dynamos Johnny Foreigner recently recorded a 23-minute segment for something called Channel m, operating out of Manchester, England. We're not familiar with the show, but based on its format (bands play live, chat a little, then play live some more) we think we're going to have to see what else they've got to offer. Oh wait, here's the deal about Channel m from its Brightcove profile page: "Channel m is based in Manchester, England and provides programmes for the Greater Manchester community. It is available at www.channelm.co.uk, free to air within the Greater Manchester area, on Sky (channel 203) or Virgin/NTL (channel 878)." So there.

Anyway, Channel m had Johnny Foreigner in recently to play a short set, and it is great. Shot with three cameras, the sound is perfect, and the noise-pop trio's performances are solid almost all the way around (there's a little slip during "Eyes Wide Terrified," and the dynamic of "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" downshifts at the major transition instead of crescendoing). Most exciting is the band, whose excellent full-length debut Waited Up Til It Was Light was finally released in America last week by Nettwerk, plays a new song we've never heard -- or even heard of -- called "Ghost The Festivals," which we expect is about the band's experiences on the European festival circuit this summer and last summer.

There is an interview segment mid-set, but the television presenter doesn't seem to be aware that the trio just snuck a new song on, and therefore he doesn't get any answers for us. But he does elicit from Mr. Berrow a strong defense of mainstream pop-punkers Blink 182. Had Berrow defended any other commercial punk act we'd have raised an eyebrow, but as our esteemed pal The Good Doctor used to make a similar speech about Blink 182 at the turn of the century, we're used to being told there's some quality there. Also in the interview there is discussion of the video for Johnny Foreigner's current single "Salt, Peppa And Spinderella," which was banned in England because it was feared it would cause seizures in epileptics. Alexei cuts in: "Allegedly. It's only [banned] in England. But it's playing on kind of music stations in Japan and America and no one's died yet." Anyway, we've embedded the whole set above, so sit back with a beer or two and have at it. Set list is below. As you can see, "Ghost The Festivals" is the third track, six-and-a-half minutes in.

Johnny Foreigner has also been quietly adding to its U.S. appearances next month. In addition to the band's CMJ date on Thursday Oct. 23 we mentioned previously here, the stellar Birmingham, England-based trio will appear for a KEXP Live Session that same morning at a certain Gibson Showroom somewhere in Manhattan. The following night the trio rocks Fontana's in Manhattan. And Monday, Oct. 27, Johnny Foreigner will visit Philadelphia-based independent broadcaster WXPN to record a live session. All of which leaves us wondering whether we'll be seeing the band in Boston around that time. If not, assuming we've no other commitments we're likely to venture to Manhattan for the Friday CMJ show. Because, you know, we like rock music. We like it so much, here's a live version of "Lea Room" from an XFM radio session early this year. Or maybe late last year.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Lea Room (Live)" -- XFM Session
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[buy Johnny Foreigner music from EMusic right here, or Newbury Comics right here]

Channel m set list:
"The End And Everything After"
"Henning's Favorite"
"Ghost The Festivals"
Interview
"Salt, Peppa and Spinderella"
"Cranes And Cranes And Cranes And Cranes"
"Eyes Wide Terrified"

Reader Rewards: Win Johnny Foreigner's Debut Full-Length

[UPDATED] So it appears the single for Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" has leaked to the Internerds. Or at least we found the eagerly anticipated Bloc Party remix posted here this morning. The track, produced by angular-haired guitarist Russell Lissak, is pretty laid-back and abstract. We had presumed the "SP+S" remixes would be cataclysmic club bangers. And we think we might have preferred that. If we were able to assign the remix job out ourselves we think we would have chosen Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, circa the "Sin" CD5. Or maybe one of those doods in Lords Of Acid. We guess we're showing our age. Oh well -- none of this is the reason we're posting this morning. But while we're talking about it, the "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" single will be issued on 10" vinyl by Best Before Records in the UK on Sept. 8.

Now to the business at hand. We're lucky enough to have one extra copy -- still in the shrinkwrap -- of the British version of Johnny Foreigner's seriously awesome Waited Up Til It Was Light. We reviewed the record here, and we've got a very strong suspicion it will be our favorite record of 2008, or at least top three. The Birmingham, England-based trio's set was released in the UK in early June, but the domestic version won't be in stores in North America until October (although, according to Wikipedia, the actual date is now Sept. 23). Sure, the album has been available digitally at all the usual digital storefronts for a few weeks. But the tangible artifact is well-worth seeking out (which is why we paid a ridiculous amount for the import) for many reasons, not the least being that it comes with seven different album covers featuring artwork by Johnny Foreigner compadre Lewes Herriot.

Now, normally here at Clicky Clicky we simply just give things away, figuring no one wants to deal with the hassle of filling out a form, or doing a little research, or whathaveyou. That said, we're going to make the winner work for this one a bit. Don't worry, it's nothing hard. The way to win your very own pristine copy of the UK version of Waited Up Til It Was Light is by being the first person to send us an email that contains the names of any three songs released on a single by Johnny Foreigner through the Laundrette Recording Company label. The first person (U.S. residents only, sorry) to email us that information (our email is linked in the sidebar) gets Waited Up Til It Is Light for free. Since you read this far, we'll give you a hint: one of the titles at Wikipedia is incorrect. We'll update this item when there is a winner. Good luck. And just because we can't help ourselves, here is one of our favorite unreleased Johnny Foreigner tracks, which if memory serves was even left off of the I Like You Mostly Late At Never demo. [UPDATE: Congrats to reader Jane, who won the record]

Johnny Foreigner -- "KickKickKick"
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Today's Hotness: Frightened Rabbit, TVOTR, Johnny Foreigner

>> Drowned In Sound reports here that Selkirk, Scotland's finest, the indie rock foursome Frightened Rabbit, will issue a third single to support its superlative sophomore set The Midnight Organ Fight [read our review here]. Due Sept. 22 in the UK is the uptempo rocker "I Feel Better" backed with our favorite track from the record, the infectious and relatively swinging piano-pounder "The Twist." The Midnight Organ Fight, incidentally, has finally been issued on vinyl, although label Fat Cat's web site says the 12" issue is already sold out just via pre-orders. Or at least we think that is what they mean. Hard to say. Either way, getting one bought, boxed up and shipped to the States is likely prohibitively expensive. We reviewed Frightened Rabbit's July 1 Boston show right here. The quartet begins successive tours of Ireland and the UK in early August, and then it plays several European dates in early October. Consult Frightened Rabbit's itinerary at it's MySpace hutch right here. How about a classic?

Frightened Rabbit -- "The Greys" -- Sing The Greys
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[buy Frightened Rabbit records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> NME reported here today that TV On The Radio will release its third full-length Sept. 23 in the U.S. The set is called Dear Science, -- sadly, that comma is part of the title, which puts it on par with names as cool as *NSYNC, in our humble opinion. The Brooklyn-based act's previous record was the highly acclaimed Return To Cookie Mountain, which was released in 2006. TV On The Radio teased the release of that record with a performance at Boston's City Hall Plaza two years ago, which we reviewed here. The quintet is currently giving away for free at its MySpace dojo the jitterfunk track "Dumb Animal," which is new to us but was apparently originally issued as a b-side on the sold-out "Province" single released last year by 4AD. Have a listen.

TV On The Radio -- "Dumb Animal" -- Province 7"
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[by TV On The Radio records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> As of last night, Johnny Foreigner had yet to officially unveil the video for its forthcoming single, the gargantuan "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella." The video clip appeared online briefly about a week ago, and then was pulled just as a MySpace bulletin was circulated by label Best Before saying the video would be released this past weekend. Well, the weekend has come and gone. The single will be issued Sept. 8 as a 10" with three remixes, including one concocted by countrymen Bloc Party. Hear any interesting stories about Bloc Party fronter Kele Okerere? [Oh Lydon, we're so disappointed]. Anyhoo, "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" is the third and likely final single from the Birmingham, England-based trio's debut full-length Waited Up Til It Was Light, which is available digitally in North America today. Yes, you read that correctly. We checked EMusic, ITunes and AmazonMP3 last night, and no one had the digital files live yet, although Amazon was clearly ready for the clock to strike midnight. A physical release for North America is slated for October; we reviewed the import here last month.

>> According to this blog post, Glaswegian septet Dananananaykroyd will apparently record their debut full-length for Best Before Records in New York, just as labelmates Johnny Foreigner did a year ago. We can only speculate the hotly tipped, Dischord-reminiscent act will also work with The Machine, the Hoboken-based producer who spun the knobs and situated the mics for the recording of Johnny Foreigner's spectacular Waited Up Til It Was Light. When that's confirmed or denied, we'll pipe up.

>> We're certainly no Facebook superuser, but we still feel like it should be patently obvious what the popular Facebook music app iLike does. But either it doesn't really do anything interesting, or we just totally don't get it. This story at Digital Music News refers to iLike as a "profile and discovery platform," which in our opinion means it does the same thing the rest of the Internet does. Most striking is iLike chief exec Ali Partovi's assertion therein that "[i]n some ways, streaming is the new downloading." We've heard this before, from the digital music service Rhapsody, who incidentally provides the back-end for many iLike services through some sort of sub-license. Interesting thing about Rhapsody is it just recently announced it would be selling untethered MP3 downloads. So it would seem to us that downloading is the new downloading, yeh? We just don't get it.

Today's Hotness: Futureheads, Frightened Rabbit, Johnny Foreigner

>> Up until about a month ago the name Dolby Anol would have simply been part '80s new wave icon, part gibberish to us. But then the name became attached to one of the remixes on the forthcoming Johnny Foreigner single "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella." And somewhere thereafter we learned that Dolby Anol was the nom de remix of a duo that includes at least one member of Glaswegian fight pop septet Dananananaykroyd, whose angular, intense indie rock references some of our favorite D.C. post hardcore sounds. We were very interested, then, to receive this afternoon another Dolby Anol creation, a remix of jittery indie rockers The Futureheads' recent single "Radio Heart." The remix is a fairly in-your-face deconstruction of the dynamic, syncopated jam, the video of which you can watch right here. The remix of "Radio Heart" is successfully transformed by big beat production and electrobass; its release into the wilds of the Internerds is intended to promote the Aug. 4 release of The Futureheads' next UK single, the anthemic "Walking Backwards" [stream it at Youtube here].

More remixes are expected, and a quick trip to the Dolby Anol MySpace wigwam turns up evidence that the duo has also remixed the Sunderland quartet's track "Crash." The Futureheads' third record This Is Not The World was released on its own Nul Recordings label in May. For Dananananaykroyd's part, as we reported over the weekend the band will record with Hoboken-based The Machine beginning in mid-August. Upon returning to the U.K. the band is slated for two tours, one with Johnny Foreigner and another whose headliner is still the subject of rumor. The rumor that appeared in our comments (more on those below) was that the headliner will be Foals, but like we said, that's just a rumor.

The Futureheads -- "Radio Heart (Dolby Anol Remix)"
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[buy Futureheads records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> Online video site Switchburn has posted three very compelling clips of Selkirk, Scotland's Frightened Rabbit performing last month at The Mohawk in Austin. "The Modern Leper," "Fast Blood" and "I Feel Better" are all given the customary deluxe three-camera treatment. We watched "The Modern Leper" and found it to be a somewhat more reserved rendition than we've seen from the chaps on a few occasions here in Boston. Even so, superlative drummer Grant Hutchison occasionally seems one capricious impulse away from laying waste to his kit, even as he eases back somewhat. Watch all three clips at the links above, you won't be disappointed.

>> Since we already broke our promise to ourselves not to mention Johnny Foreigner for a week a couple paragraphs above, we may as well report some interesting tidbits that popped up into our comments the other day. If Mr. Anonymous is to be believed, then the forthcoming 10" "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" single that will be issued in September is being released on "Pac Man-yellow" vinyl and in a limited edition of 500. Of those 500, only 400 will be going up for sale. Which kind of makes you wonder what they are doing with the rest of them. Hopefully sending at least one to us, and perhaps the remaining 99 go to other members of the press. Doesn't seem like the best way of covering your costs, giving away 20% of your inventory. But as the single potentially serves a dual purpose of promoting the U.K. and North American releases of the Birmingham, England-based trio's fantastic debut Waited Up Til It Was Light, perhaps there is a method to the madness.

Speaking of madness, we were minding our own business today perusing EBay when we noticed that some one is selling here an unplayed copy of Johnny Foreigner's debut single "Sometimes, In The Bullring" b/w "Camp Kelly Calm" for the equivalent of $99.38 plus another $20 or so for shipping, which makes us feel all the more fortunate that we have a copy. The band has recorded "Bullring" an almost incalculable number of times, and it appears on Waited Up Til It Was Light. "Camp Kelly Calm" is a little more of a rarity, so here is a nice rip sent to us by the chap who put the single out.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Camp Kelly Calm" -- "Sometimes, In The Bullring" b/w "Camp Kelly Calm"
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[buy Johnny Foreigner recordings from EMusic right here]

Free-Range Video: It Hugs Back, Johnny Foreigner

>> Pitchfork today got the exclusive on the new video from It Hugs Back for the track "Now & Again." The song, from the Kent, England-based quartet's forthcoming full length Inside Your Guitar, is dense and beautiful like early Stereolab. The video itself is styled like many of the best early MTV clips (perhaps because there was a similar budget?) and features the band rocking out in a warehouse as Tetris-ish wooden blocks do their own peculiar variety of bumping and grinding. We'll be featuring It Hugs Back Monday in the next installment of our Show Us Yours feature. Inside Your Guitar, as we've reported several times, will be released by 4AD April 7.

>> Readers may recall we were very excited to go see Johnny Foreigner play at the annual CMJ music "conference" last fall. And then you may recall we got horribly ill and had to stay in Boston. Or maybe you won't. Anyway, that was no fun. But fortunately for us, when the Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans dropped in to record their radio session with New York-based WNYC someone thought to roll some video tape. The truth is the video quality of the clips we're about to link to is not that great. But the audio is very good, and there is a bit of a surprise as well, in the form of a new tranced-out arrangement for the old Johnny Foreigner single "Sofa Core." The band's most recent single (only released digitally, as it turns out) "DJs Get Doubts" gets a stirring reading, and the band makes an attempt at a refined take on "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella," although the song is much too boisterous to be held back. But let's get to the video: there is no embedding option, so click the hyperlinks to watch "DJs Get Doubts," "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" or "Sofa Core."

Review: Johnny Foreigner | Waited Up 'Til It Was Light [MP3]

They are no longer merely one of Britain's most tireless (and gin-swilling) touring rock concerns: Johnny Foreigner just released what is to date the record of the year. The Birmingham-based trio's massive debut long-player is thronged with careening guitar anthems, its 13 tracks shot through with typewriter ribbon-lengths of lyrics that collectively present a contemporary mythology of the band's beloved city. And they're all whip-smart: opener "Lea Room" -- named for the trio's van driver -- leads with the line "OK, flattery will get you everywhere, we're bored" and slyly warns "get out before the ship goes down." The listed closer "Absolute Balance" evidences singer Alexei Berrow's admiration of Craig Finn and The Hold Steady, as the track transmogrifies the Brooklyn act's "Killer Parties" into a summation of the experiences caged within Waited Up Til It Was Light. There is plenty of clever: the brilliant hidden song at the end of the album is titled "The Hidden Song At The End Of The Album" (the pop gem was issued previously as part of the demos collection I Like You Mostly Late At Never with the title "This End. Is A Beginning.").

The truth is we steeled ourselves to the possibility that Waited Up Til It Was Light would not live up to the expectations set by Johnny Foreigner's superlative 2007 EP Arcs Across The City. This was for a few reasons. We met the band in New York just as they wrapped the sessions for the full-length, and they were all sick. The band also made what seemed like an unusual choice for producer: while most of our favorite American indie acts worked with Agnello, Albini, Robbins or Weston, Johnny Foreigner threw its lot in with The Machine, a producer whose prior credits included Clutch and Armor For Sleep. Our concern was that he might go too far scrubbing up the trio's sound. And then the initial critical reception for the record in the UK was solid, but not ecstatic.

Happily, our fears were unfounded: Waited Up Til It Was Light is not slack, sanitized or suppressed. Instead the tracks burst with lacerating guitar, blissful feedback, tight vocal interplay and harmonies, and a fair amount of shouting. Overt production trickery is limited to some segues between tracks and some squishing and looping of guitars. Gang choruses (not our favorite) are deployed here and there, but given the band's camaraderie with Cardiff, Wales indie pop concern Los Campesinos! -- leading proponents of the gang chorus today -- we are not surprised to hear some influence manifested (the latter act was actually slated to come and provide backup vocals for "The Hidden Track..." but were apparently waylaid by a late plane). The denouement of "Absolute Balance" recycles the smacking, canned drum beat from "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" (and the bridge of "The End And Everything After") before closing out with a rant from Berrow buried among vapor trails of guitar that loop off into the periphery of the left channel while a simple, poignant piano figure closes out the primary proceedings.

Songs start, stop, stutter and slam. Lyrics continue to memorably concern themselves with themselves, as well as pointy-shoed scenesterettes, retail wage slaves, and the rest of the frothing mass of the night-clubbing class. Berrow's words regularly penetrate the fourth wall and double back, dragging within their orbits failed romances, scene seances and social criticism. In the stellar "Cranes And Cranes And Cranes And Cranes" Berrow bemoans the impact of imperial barmen ("your boyfriend owns the bar we drink, your boyfriend owns everything") and urban gentrification ("why'd you want to live there if there's nothing but housing?") on Birmingham.

After signing to Best Before the trio's Arcs Across The City EP [review here] and "Our Bipolar Friends" single made it into the U.S. market laterally via EMusic, but the faucet seems to have been shut off, so you'll need to order Waited Up Til It Was Light from the U.K. or Japan. While you wait for that to arrive, read Alexei's song-by-song explication of the record at Drowned In Sound here. The set was issued June 2. The third single from Waited Up Til It Was Light will be for "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella," a song that surely will launch the phrase "turn on the real drums" among the hipster class when it is released Sept. 1 with the requisite remixes (we'd be shocked if one such remix didn't come from within the Los Campesinos! camp). Johnny Foreigner films the video for the track in London next week before launching headlong into the summer's endless strand of festivals. You can review all of the band's live engagements at its MySpace domicile right here.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Cranes And Cranes And Cranes And Cranes" -- Waited Up Til It Was Light
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[buy Waited Up Til It Was Light at RecordStore.co.uk right here]
[buy Arcs Across The City and "Our Bipolar Friends" from EMusic here]

Johnny Foreigner: Internets | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Today's Hotness: Report Suspicious Activity, TV On The Radio

>> Our complaints about the lack of contemporary, politically charged hardcore music continue to go largely ignored. Thankfully, Vic Bondi and J. Robbins' Report Suspicious Activity is on the case. Has it been more than a week since this whole "lipstick on a pig" nonsense transpired in the American political sphere? It certainly hasn't been much longer than that, which makes it all the more remarkable that Report Suspicious Activity has already recorded a track responding to that empty furor and the empty politician that inspired it. The track dubs Ms. Palin "George Bush in a skirt," so if that isn't the sort of sentiment that sits well with you, well, you probably wouldn't be here in the first place. The tune is available for download at the foursome's MySpace compound, but we'll save you a trip and post it below. Do make certain to go to the quartet's MySpace wigwam, because another new song, "1-800-DESTROY" has also been posted and is even more of a barnburner. Thank you, Mr. Bondi, et al., for taking the time to put one of America's important natural resources -- hardcore music -- to use at a time when it is most needed. Because we'll never stop loving it, we're also posting Report Suspicious Activity's "Subtle." Alternative Tentacles released the band's sophomore set Destroy All Evidence Aug. 18.

Report Suspicious Activity -- "Lipstick On A Pig" -- MySpace track
Report Suspicious Activity -- "Subtle" -- Report Suspicious Activity
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[buy Report Suspicious Activity records from Newbury Comics right here]

>> By the time you read these words MySpace will have been streaming in its entirety the madly anticipated new record from TV On The Radio for hours and hours. And Stereogum says here you can already stream the deluxe edition of the album at Last.FM right here, so hold on while we click over. Wow, wait until you hear "Crying." Dear Science, will be in stores Tuesday -- and we will most certainly make a special trip to buy it during our lunch hour that very day. People are already throwing around album of the year accolades, which isn't terribly surprising considering how strong Return To Cookie Mountain was. We noticed that a promotions company has set up a number of prominent music blogs with vinyl copies to give away, so if you've got a turntable you should hit up the Googles to avail yourself of such an opportunity. The Brooklyn-based quintet commences a long strand of tour dates tonight in San Diego; the tour wraps in Europe Dec. 5. You may inspect all the tour dates at the aforementioned MySpace dojo right here. TV On The Radio plays the Wilbur Theater in Boston Oct. 13, but we may have to pass as we'll be seeing The Feelies and The Notwist on the two preceding nights.

>> Pitchfork threw a little love -- just a little -- in the direction of our favorite British noise-pop stars Johnny Foreigner. The Bloc Party remix of "Salt, Peppa And Spindarella" got the Forkcast treatment here, which we suppose means it is now cool for us to post the track as well. We still await delivery of our copy of the vinyl version of "Salt, Peppa And Spinderella," but it shouldn't be too much longer. What else can we tell you? There's not much else new to know about the band. We made an insprection of the Nettwerk web site recently to see if we could find an actual North American release date for the band's forthcoming full-length debut Waited Up Til It Was Light. And while we found nothing definitive about a date, we did learn that Johnny Foreigner's label in Canada is Nettwerk Productions, but in the U.S. it is Nettwerk Records LLC. Fascinating, right? Whatever, here's the remix.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Salt, Peppa And Spinderalla (Bloc Party Remix)" -- Salt, Peppa And Spinderella 10" single
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[buy Johnny Foreigner music from EMusic right here]

Bloc Party, Others Remix Planned Johnny Foreigner Single

[SCREEN CAP from YouTube] Another day, another Johnny Foreigner update. The Birmingham, England-based indie rock superheroes have disclosed that the b-sides to its forthcoming 10" single "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" -- yes, the trio is now sort of an answer to Black Flag's age old question -- will be three remixes. Collaborators meeting the challenge of remixing the pulsing anthem include Bloc Party (a partnership that underscores that Johnny Foreigner's profile is definitively on the rise), Dolby Anol featuring Acrnym (otherwise known as some or all of the members of new label-mates Dananananaykroyd) and Nibiru, a recording engineer who has worked with electronic music luminaries Sasha & Digweed. We are surprised that Los Campesinos! don't get a shot at a remix, but perhaps the Cardiff septet will be tapped for something else down the line. The 10" is due in stores in the U.K. Sept. 8. In case you've yet to hear it, the track is posted at the band's MySpace yert.

The jumpy video for "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella," shot early last month, is already on YouTube now, although embedding is disabled was available at YouTube early Saturday but has since been removed. We watched it several times and sent the link out to the Twitter faithful. We also grabbed an embed code using some schmancy Firefox plug-in or another that we bet would enable us to post the clip here, but since so much trouble has been gone to to ensure that it doesn't get seen until next weekend we don't want to post it and bum anybody at the label out. We can tell you this: the video was shot with a regular still camera and, apparently, the resulting photos were painfully stitched together under the direction of a fellow named Tim Mattia, who has also directed clips for Blood Red Shoes, Biffy Clyro and other bands who we have heard of but whose music we can't say we recall hearing. Folks who poke around can find a screen cap from the video at YouTube, which we've posted above.

Review: Johnny Foreigner | WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow

WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow, the "lost" first Johnny Foreigner record, was recorded in the band's practice space and issued in 2005 in an edition of 40 copies packaged in handmade sleeves bearing photos of its beloved hometown of Birmingham, England. The surprise of the collection, recently unearthed through some persistent research conducted by our KeepingSomeDarkSecrets colleague Luke Cotton, is that it is remarkably detailed and textured for a band that is now better known for an irresistible, high-energy, bash 'n' pop sound. It's not that contemporary Johnny Foreigner music isn't sophisticated, but the band's commercial releases to date have drawn from a decidedly narrower palette than the tracks on WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow. The tracks on that set, 11 in all spread across forty minutes and daisy-chained in places via some very accomplished segues, more often combine guitars, ethereal synths and ambient room sound than the lacerating electric guitar, bass and drum kit that provide the foundation for Johnny Foreigner in 2009. This week the band is in Brooklyn to record its sophomore set for Best Before Records with Alex Newport; it released the triumph Waited Up Til It Was Light in June 2008.

WeLeftYouSleepingAndGone suggests that the aural difference between proto-Johnny Foreigner and contemporary Johnny Foreigner may be as much the product of personnel changes -- namely the departure of founding member and multi-instrumentalist/synth aficionado Daniel Boyle and the installation of current bassist and singer Kelly Southern -- as it is a barometer of the growth of guitarist Alexei Berrow as the act's primary songwriter. Speculation, to be sure, but also a convenient answer to a question perhaps even the band hasn't considered. Stylistically, there are fewer hammer-ons, fewer lyrics even, as well as less distortion, less drumming. In their places are acoustic guitars, accordions, synths, snippets of conversation and general ranting tucked away in corners of the mix. There is a carefree and expansive experimentalism that is bracing.

Take for example the wild tumult and the ensuing, surprisingly quiet close of "His Floor Is My Ashtray": the tune quietly nestles into a reverie built on a reversed drum track, plucking on the guitar strings behind the bridge and band fronter Alexei Berrow murmuring "he just calls it like he sees it" over and over again into the fade. And the clarinet in "A Slow Song For The End" is wholly sublime. And "Sword Buried" is largely built around an Aphex Twin/mid '90s electro-trance beat. This sort of experimentalism isn't completely absent from the recordings of "modern day" Johnny Foreigner, but it seems to have been compartmentalized into seques and sections. Fans of the band's recent singles will note that the spoken-word section in the middle of "My Interest In Saving You Is More Than Idle Curiosity" -- a song that fades into a gorgeous collage of radio static and synth that pans around the stereo field like light from a lighthouse beacon -- is a definite precursor to Mr. Berrow's rant that ignites the coda of "Salt, Peppa And Spinderella." WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow, as we stated supra, is a hyper-limited edition item, but fans of the band should make certain to get it in their collections somehow. To get you started, below are MP3s of two tracks from the set.

Johnny Foreigner -- "Looking Up Is Not Enough" -- WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow
Johnny Foreigner -- "A Slow Song For The End" -- WeLeftYouSleepingAndGoneNow
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[buy in-print Johnny Foreigner music here, here and here]

Clicky Clicky's Top Songs Of 2008

We humbly submit our list of 10 favorite tracks of the year. The typical caveats apply, mainly that an individual band could only chart once, no matter how awesome it may be. Meaning, for example, that despite three Johnny Foreigner songs being among our 10 most-listened-to tracks of 2008, only one is able to make the cut below. Of course, the tracks in question had to be released this year. And there's really not much else to it. We think these songs are the bee's knees, and we look forward to hearing much more from the bands who recorded them in the future. Our list of top albums of the year largely echoes this list of songs, but there are some notable differences, so be certain check in next Monday to read that one. Thanks for the rock.

1. Johnny Foreigner -- "Absolute Balance" -- Waited Up Til It Was Light
Stream it at Last.FM right here.

Bifurcated from the demo "Balance Comma Girl," expanded, stuffed with skyrocketing dynamics and draped with vapor trails of guitar feedback and delay, "Absolute Balance" puts the final (well, almost) exclamation point on Johnny Foreigner's stunning debut Waited Up 'Til It Was Light. The tail end reintroduces a familiar canned beat (it also drives the single "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella") and makes a miraculous ascent into a crescendo in which fronter Alexei Berrow unhinges his soul and lets fly a spine-tingling, entirely inscrutable 20-second rant. Watch the band perform "Absolute Balance" at the tail end of "Yr All Just Jealous Of My Von Dutch Hat" from T In The Park this past July right here at the YouTubes. The band will begin recording its second full length later this month, and intends to tour North America in 2009. We reviewed Waited Up Til It Was Light here in June.

2. A Weather -- "Shirley Road Shirley" -- Cove
Download "Shirley Road Shirley"
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[buy]

The most intimate record of the year was released by the somewhat shadowy -- or at least reserved, perhaps press-shy -- group A Weather out of Portland, who somehow took the narcotic and stoney vibe of slowcore and imbued it with hopeful romance and mystery. Spurred by careful, boxy (and apparently no-footed) drumming and spare guitar, "Shirley Road Shirley" soars into its almost-chorus, the questionable vow "I won't try anything, I swear you won't even know I'm there." We reviewed A Weather's Cove right here in February. Thanks to the band for the permission to post this track.

3. Los Campesinos! -- "Death To Los Campesinos!" -- Hold On Now, Youngster...
Stream it at Last.FM right here.

Pepped up and ragged, shouted and layered, the lead track from the Cardiff, Wales septet's first release of 2008 is rife with sly lyrics and enthusiasm to spare. We actually think this song's mix flattens the dynamics a little too much, perhaps in order to make all the instruments audible. The following track, "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats," is much more explosive -- although it hurts our head to figure out why. But it is the dueling vocals and gang cheers that make "Death To Los Campesinos!" the gang's best track of the year. The fact that its video features a homicidal unicorn is just so much delicious icing on the technicolor cake.

4. The Notwist -- "Gloomy Planets" -- The Devil, You + Me
Watch the amazing video with Andromeda Express Orchestra at YouTube right here.

Fuzzier vocals and acoustic guitar would seem to herald a new, ever more reserved direction for the laconic German quartet The Notwist, best known for its 2002 electropop milestone Neon Golden. But halfway through "Gloomy Planets," as the song scales its sole chorus, looping tones overtake the mix, overlay the piano and guitars and build a crescendo that waxes on for almost two full, thrilling minutes. And suddenly, it is like the band's recent history has caught up with it. The Notwist's Oct. show at Boston's Roxy nightclub was among our favorites of the year. Hopefully it will not be another six years before The Notwist releases a new record.

5. Frightened Rabbit -- "Floating In The Forth" -- The Midnight Organ Fight
Stream it at Last.FM right here.

We had already considered Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison a master of crafting the devastating lyric prior to the release of The Midnight Organ Fight, but when we reached the tail-end of the record and heard this track buzz up into its bottomlessly sorrowful first line our estimation was affirmed all over again. "So you just stepped out of the front of my house and I'll never see you again." A lot of bloggers have expended a lot of keystrokes talking about the emotional rawness of Frightened Rabbit's overdriven folk-rock, but this track is the only one for us that is almost unlistenable. While The Midnight Organ Fight's relatively glossy production is somewhat at odds with Frightened Rabbit's music -- particularly its high-octane live sets -- every song on the set is dynamite. "Floating In The Forth," with its lush sonic palette, harmonies and dreadful sense of finality, was the biggest surprise of the collection. The band returns to Boston's Great Scott next month. We reviewed The Midnight Organ Fight here in March.

6. The Raveonettes -- "Dead Sound" -- Lust, Lust, Lust
Stream it at Last.FM right here.

A wonderfully realized track that amalgamates spectral (and obviously Spector-al) harmonies, simple urgent programmed rhythm tracks, aggressive white-out guitar fuzz and reverby leads into an aural candy treat.

7. Destroyer -- "Foam Hands" -- Trouble In Dreams
Download "Foam Hands"
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[buy]

When you stop to think about it, the chorus to this track is ridiculous. But elsewhere band leader Dan Bejar's relatively simple yet typically impressionist lyrics are as evocative as ever. Mr. Bejar's singing is perhaps the most singular of this decade, as it is as convincing when coyly elongating and wearily over-enunciating syllables as it is when the narrator turns against his narrative, and occasionally the listener. Miraculously, "Foam Hands" does a whole lot with fairly little, including boring itself hopelessly deep into your brain, all the while providing Bejar ample opportunity to bend expectations just slightly into a gothic tale of estrangement.

8. The War On Drugs -- "Show Me The Coast" -- Wagonwheel Blues
This track isn't available to hear on the Internet for free.
Stream a short sample at EMusic here.

Ten minutes of kaleidoscopic, blissful drone could have easily felt like five minutes too many, but something about the arpeggiated swells and Petty-esque declamations spiraling out over an F# seemingly into forever is entrancing. It also inspires the cartoonish feeling that somehow, somewhere this song is always being performed, like the black-and-white footage of an oncoming steam train hidden behind the door in a Bugs Bunny short. The War On Drugs were the best of the many great things that broke out of Philadelphia this year.

9. The Hold Steady -- "Constructive Summer" -- Stay Positive
Stream it at Last.FM right here.

The most rocking track from the Brooklyn quintet's 2008 release, which was the only CD we kept in the car in late July. Big guitars. Harmonics. So much possibility. Nothing can go wrong. We have to believe that the lyric concerning water towers references the same found in the alternate versions of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait" packaged with the reissues of Tim and Pleased To Meet Me this year.

10. The Swimmers -- "Pocket Full Of Gold" -- Fighting Trees
Download "Pocket Full Of Gold"
Recorded live at Chicago's Hideout, March 22, 2008
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While "Heaven" continues to be the "hit" of the long-awaited debut from this Philadelphia act, at least in terms of the attention bestowed by the Internets (the band recently released this video for the track, as well), "Pocket Full Of Gold" is the most irresistable of the ten tunes on the band's Fighting Trees. Tweedy-esque vocal, the track would have been a good fit on the first Wilco record, before the Chicago act entered its baroque period. We reviewed Fighting Trees here in March.

That Was The Show That Was: Clicky Clicky Community Servings Benefit Show Thank Yous And Wrap-Up

Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A lot of people, places and things made this show happen, and they are, in no particular order: Carl Lavin; Kerri Lavin; Joe McMahon; Rafi Singer; Michael Marotta; Jeff Breeze; WMBR; Jed Gottlieb; The Dig; The Phoenix; The Boston Herald; Adam XII; RadioBostonDotCom; Anngelle Wood; WZLX; Nick Lorenzen; Tracy Gibbs; Tim Leahy; Sarafina Scapicchio; Gareth Dobson; Reuben Bettsak and the unearthly Guillermo Sexo; Sadie Dupuis and Speedy Ortiz; all the guys in Infinity Girl, who are the nicest dudes you'll ever meet; superheroes Benjamin Deily, Lisa Marie Deily and Joshua Pickering who together comprise the mighty Varsity Drag and who each deserve special recognition for their help; Alexei Berrow, Junior Elvis Washington Laidley, Kelly Southern and Lewes Herriot all of the fucking top serious Johnny Foreigner cohort, who we are proud to call our friends, including visual fifth man Benjamin Rausch and driver Evan Bernard; Johnny Foreigner's label heads J. Matthew Nix at Swerp and Jack Clothier at Alcopop; Brad Searles; William Scales, whose counsel we rely on regularly; Cameron Keiber; Richard Bouchard; Michael Piantigini; Berklee's The BIRN; Brendan Mattox at WERS. We are sure we forgot some people, for which we apologize, but the risk of forgetting someone is no excuse for not recognizing the rest of you. Cheers. Yr loved, drummed.

Despite the freak snow storm that blew in Wednesday night, the above-referenced show was a smashing success, albeit one scaled back somewhat by three inches of fairly unexpected slushy snow and 60 mile per hour wind gusts. The 100 or so folks who made it to Great Scott in Allston gave not one glaring expletive about what was going on outside once they made it through the doors, as all four bands on the bill turned in thrilling sets. Openers Infinity Girl, the hottest new band in Boston, brought their wall of sound in from the cold and made the dwindling ranks of the unfamiliar realize quickly why the band is becoming an ever-present fixture on bills around town. They normally lead off with "Please Forget," but this night they held it back, like a pitcher making a hitter wait for the fastball. It was a delicious set, and definitely the best we've seen the foursome play to date. Varsity Drag -- a very late addition to the bill after the snow forced Speedy Ortiz to cancel -- took the stage next, no sound check, hardly time for more than a "how's yer mum" as they strode through the doors and pretty much went right on stage, plugged into borrowed gear, and just slayed. Just turned in a murderously good set, filled with Clicky Clicky faves like "Summer Time," "Skinny Ties" and "Billy Ruane." It gets us every time, when they finish that latter song, and drummer Josh Pickering shouts "it's not the same!" Theirs was a commanding performance, and it included "Drowsy Owls" and "Mind Like A Sieve," new songs fronter Ben Deily is contributing to the planned Lemonheads reunion record we wrote about in September here.

After driving across Connecticut in the snow storm, a trek that took the band 10 hours door to door from New York to Boston, Birmingham, England-based noise-pop savants Johnny Foreigner finally made it onstage -- after some real-time soundcheck -- around 11:20. Just as quickly they dispersed from view, and then drummer Junior began the slow piano melody of the band's soul-crushing ballad "Johnny Foreigner vs. You," with fronter Alexei Berrow and bassist Kelly Southern singing the vocal off mic from different spots within the assembled throng, with many of the suddenly-very-young crowd singing along. The band slowly filtered back on stage, and the final note of "Johnny Foreigner vs. You" became the deafening squall of the first notes of the hyperfizzed anthem "Feels Like Summer." From there, the band turned in a shuddering, exhilarating, floor-shaking set for its Boston debut. Other tunes performed include at least two cuts from the brand new Names EP [review forthcoming], as well as classics "Eyes Wide Terrified," "With Who, Who And What I've Got," and "The Wind And The Weathervanes." A colossal rendition of "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" inspired spirited moshing and generally threatened the structural integrity of 1222 Commonwealth Avenue. Johnny Foreigner closed with the classic early single "Sofacore," and with the final note the band ditched its gear and Ms. Southern led a giddy coalition of the willing back through the crowd and out the front door of the club to make snow angels on the sidewalk. Insane.

Boston psych-rock phenoms Guillermo Sexo, who are finishing up an extremely promising fifth collection recorded with Justin Pizzoferrato, turned in a focused, otherworldly set of hypnotic guitar workouts and steady grooves. It was the perfect way to ground and round out the evening, with singer/keyboardist Noelle Dorsey's incantations and swirling stage presence leading everyone on a journey inward. The quartet delivered thrilling iterations of "Colour The Noise" and "Skyline" from its most recent collection Secret Wild [review here], closed with the bright and elliptical new cut "Bring Down Your Arms," and then closed down the bar with the gang from Johnny Foreigner late, late in the evening. To say we are overjoyed by how the show went is an understatement, as not only was the music incredible, but we raised a nice chunk of money for Community Servings, which, as readers know, provides free nutritious meals to the chronically ill and their families. While Wednesday is just a fading memory at this point, the need for the services Community Servings provides never goes away. There are two ways anyone reading these words can help RIGHT NOW. First, if you are reading this sometime before Nov. 17, go buy a pie from our good friend Nick, who co-hosted the event with us. All of the money from your purchase goes to help feed those in need. If pie isn't your thing, you can click this link and make a donation of any amount to the organization. Finally, clear your schedules for 2013, 'cause were gonna do this again, for sure. How about some music to take us out?

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Today's Hotness: Lemonheads, Bob Mould, Superman Revenge Squad

>> We're finding it hard to get excited about the forthcoming Lemonheads record, which is called Varshons and will be released by Vagrant on Sept. 13. That's because, as Pun Canoes reports here, the set features no new Lemonheads tracks (penned by fronter Evan Dando or otherwise). Instead Varshons collects Dando's versions of 11 songs popularized by artists including longtime Dando influence Gram Parsons, Wire, Christina Aguilera and Leonard Cohen, among others. Making it somewhat less of a Lemonheads affair are guest vocal performances from celebrities Liv Tyler (who is admittedly quite musically pedigreed) and Kate Moss. While we loved Juliana Hatfield and Belinda Carlisle's contributions to the Lemonheads catalog, those women are, you know, actually musicians. Check out the full track listing for Varshons right here. The Lemonheads' previous record was a self-titled set recorded with former Descendants Bill Stevenson and Karl Alvarez; it was released in September 2006. The buzz on the Lemonheads forum is that Mr. Dando continues to write songs for a new album. We reviewed a December 2006 Lemonheads show right here.

>> We were very tickled to see revered solo artist and former Husker Du and Sugar fronter Bob Mould give props to Ringo Deathstarr at his blog yesterday. They were very understated props for the Austin-based shoegaze outfit, but they were props nonetheless. The primary purpose of Mr. Mould's post was to offer details about his next record. The set will be issued on Anti- in February 2009 and it is in Mould's parlance a "guitar record." A tour will follow the release. Mould's implicit praise for The Deathstarr (and, incidentally, the San Antonio/Austin representing act Honey Thief) inspires fantasies in us of 1) his new record featuring a heavy shoegaze sound and 2) his taking Ringo Deathstarr on tour with him. How awesome would that be? About as awesome as the track below, we reckon. We reviewed Bob Mould's "Circle Of Friends" DVD here in October 2007; Mould's most recent record District Line was issued on Anti- in January of this year.

Ringo Deathstarr -- "Sweet Girl" -- Ringo Deathstarr EP
[right click and save as]
[buy Ringo Deathstarr from Spoilt Victorian Child Records right here]

>> Superman Revenge Squad recently recorded 11 tracks that are being considered for release as an album tentatively titled This Is My Own Personal Way Of Dealing With It All. The songs were recorded by a fellow named Simon, who traveled recently to the Squad's home base in Croydon, England to do the session. No word on which tracks were recorded and when we might be hearing them. But we don't imagine it will be too long. Superman Revenge Squad is the solo project of former Tempertwig and Nosferatu D2 fronter Ben Parker. Parker plays what is now a rare full-band gig in two weeks to celebrate his birthday; the band will include Mr. Parker's brother and longtime former bandmate on drums, as well as a cellist, according to this blog post. Superman Revenge Squad will also play a gig in Berlin this fall.

>> British regulatory body OfCom has banned Johnny Foreigner's video for "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" from being broadcast on MTV2 and other outlets because it is feared the jittery clip for the forthcoming single could incite seizures in epileptics. This all according to a MySpace bulletin from Alexei Berrow, fronter of the Birmingham, England-based indie rock behemoth. DrownedInSound runs down all the major details right here.

Today's Hotness: Ringo Deathstarr, The A-Sides, Johnny Foreigner

>> [Video Credit: Acid Marshmallow4] Performances by Austin-based shoegaze provocateurs Ringo Deathstarr along the U.S. East Coast heretofore have been rare. Happily, the quartet has posted a strand of dates to its MySpace dojo that bring it back to not only New York and Washington, D.C., but also the Boston area. Indeed, The Deathstarr will perform at Tufts' Oxfam Cafe Friday Oct. 24. Based on a video of the band performing last month at The Cake Shop in New York that we've posted atop this item, fans can expect loud, dense renderings of Deathstarr favorites old and new. The video contains an entire 40-minute set that culminates in a brain-warping maelstrom of feedback and distortion and echo. In among the mire fans will recognize tracks from Ringo Deathstarr's 2007 EP including "Some Kind Of Sad," "Swirly," "Sweet Girl" and "Down On You," as well as the new single "Summertime." Full tour dates are listed below. And even though we post it all the time, we can't help but offer once again the quiet, fuzzy and fever-dreamy demo for "Your Town"

Ringo Deathstarr -- "Your Town (Demo)"
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[buy Ringo Deathstarr music from Spoilt Victorian Child Records right here]

10/14 -- Emos -- Austin, Texas
10/15 -- Walter’s -- Houston, Texas
10/17 -- Rubber Gloves -- Denton, Texas
10/20 -- Drunken Unicorn -- Atlanta, Georgia
10/22 -- Knitting Factory Tap Bar -- New York, NY
10/24 -- Oxfam Cafe -- Medford, Massachusetts
10/25 -- Velvet Lounge -- Washington, D.C.

>> Philebrity broke the sad news here yesterday that The A-Sides have broken up. The erstwhile Philadelphia-based quintet (which itself acknowledged the dissolution with a MySpace status message last night) released two records; the second, Silver Storms, was released by Vagrant last August after the album floundered for quite a while in the wake of a prior failed label deal. Even bigger news is that A-Sides members Jon Barthmus and Patrick Marsceill have launched an electronic-oriented new project dubbed Sun Airway, whose first track "Waiting On You" is streaming at the link supra. The band is also giving it away at its web site, so we'll post "Waiting On You" below along with a few of our favorite A-Sides jams. We suppose you could deem the Sun Airway track "Dntel-ish," although the trademark swirling, sun-shiney melodies of The A-Sides persist within the new paradigm. We last wrote about The A-Sides here in April, when we reported that the band was slated to play three live dates before embarking on the recording of its third record. Sometime in the intervening four months things must have taken a different turn, but we're glad at least some of the band members are continuing on with music.

Sun Airway -- "Waiting On You"
The A-Sides -- "Sidewalk Chalk" -- Hello, Hello
The A-sides -- "Here Or There" -- Hello, Hello
The A-Sides -- "Sinking With The Ship" -- Silver Storms
[right click and save as]
[buy A-Sides records at a good price from Newbury Comics right here]

>> So the Johnny Foreigner live video we posted last week apparently features what is the band's typical opening salvo on its current UK tour with labelmates Dananananaykroyd, that is, the three songs "Ghost The Festivals," "Henning's Favourite" and "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella." This is according to a nice informative interview posted here at the blog Sex As A Foreign Language. In the interview the band also talks about future recording plans, which according to fronter and guitarist Alexei Berrow could include an EP that would contain a re-imagined version of an unspecified track from the band's debut long-player Waited Up Til It Was Light and a bunch of new tracks. Such an EP would be "a bridge" between Waited and a sophomore set for which the Birmingham, England-based trio has already been writing new material. Says Mr. Berrow: "The plan at the moment is to go in [to the studio] in February to start on the next one. We’ve written about half of it already and it’s been going very well." In addition to recording, Johnny Foreigner expect to spend a substantial amount of time touring the U.S. in 2008, and will prime the pump with a handful of gigs and radio sessions later this month centered around Berrow's birthday the annual CMJ Confab. All those dates are listed at the band's MySpace tent right here.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Mobius Band, Yuck

Oh, the things we haven't had a chance to report during our very busy last several weeks. Let's catch up together, shall we?

>> Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner are presently in the midst of their first full tour of North America (mostly the U.S.), where they've been supporting the truly terrific Los Campesinos! But the big news is the announcement of two releases on new label Alcopop! The first is an EP confoundingly titled You Thought You Saw A Shooting Star But Yr Eyes Were Blurred With Tears And That Lighthouse Can Be Pretty Deceiving With The Sky So Clear And Sea So Calm, and it contains six songs: "The Wind And The Weathervanes," "Who Needs Comment Boxes When You've Got Knives," "Elegy For Post Teenage Living (Parts 1 and 2)," "Robert Scargill Takes The Prize," "Harriet By Proxy" and "Yr Loved." Alcopop! will issue the EP in November in physicial and digital editions, but the EP is already available to North American ITunes shoppers [LINK] as a way to harness the hype the band hopes to generate during the current tour. The physical release of You Thought You Saw... will feature unique art for each unit shifted, which art is being crowdsourced from actual photos being submitted by fans. More deets about that right here. The second release Johnny Foreigner will do with Alcopop is a split single with new labelmates Stagecoach. The split, limited to 500 copies and carrying a Nov. 15 release date, features each band performing one of their own songs as well as one song by the other act. Johnny Foreigner's contributions are the new track "Tru Punx" and Stagecoach's "Good Luck With Your 45;" Stagecoach turn in what is apparently an amazing acoustic version of Johnny Foreigner's "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" and the new track "Not Even Giles (... Would Say We'll Be OK)." The two bands tour the UK from 18 November through 11 December, and you can see all the tour dates here at ThisIsFakeDIY. Pre-orders for the Johnny Foreigner EP will be taken imminently; the JoFo/Stagecoach split will be sold on the bands' tour, but we have it on good authority there will be some copies stocked in the Alcopop! store and Banquet Records is already doing pre-orders as well.

>> Reformed post-rockers/electropop geniuses Mobius Band officially announced its hiatus. This is sad, in a rented hatchback. The very fine trio has released to date two excellent full length recordings and a seemingly endless number of EPs, and we're sad to see the band taking an indefinite break, although that break has been going on for what seems like a couple years at this point, so it is not exactly a shock. Each band member continues pursuing musical interests. Guitarist Ben Sterling's Cookies project already has a 10" record on offer with the tracks "Summer Jam" b/w "Throw A Parade." The a-side sounds very much of a piece with the Heaven-era Mobius Band stuff, and features a very solid female vocalist whose identity we don't know. Both tracks can be downloaded or streamed at the Cookies web hacienda right here. Ah, what the hell, here's the link to the .zip file, have at it, music aficionadoes. Cookies will make its live debut Nov. 5 in Manhattan at Mercury Lounge. Mobius Band drummer Noam Schatz -- seriously, the drummingest mofo you will ever meet, by the way -- has a new project LOLFM and an album of electropop gems titled We Are Its Waves freely downloadable from Bandcamp right here. Bassist Peter Sax also has free rock on offer under the nom de rock Ladies And Gentlemen; check out "Up To Us" here and "What You Could" here. All of these new musics have their charms, but we certainly harbor hopes the trio will be reconstituted at some later date. Mobius Band, we salute you.

>> Superlative upstart indie rockers Yuck, who make their US debut in Boston at Paradise Rock Club next Wednesday who recently cancelled their planned US dates (see comment), have signed with Fat Possum. The label will release the London-based act's full-length debut -- as-yet untitled -- in early 2011; the set will be issued in Europe by The Pharmacy Recording Company around the same time. Preceding the full-length will be a US single on Fat Possum for Yuck's "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty." The single will be issued Nov. 23; fans, of course, know that "Georgia" was previously issued as a single in the U.K. in March. U.K. fans have a new, 12" Yuck single to look forward to as well: "Rubber" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty" and "Dark Magnet" will be released Nov. 1 on The Pharmacy Recording Company. If you haven't yet heard "Georgia" in all of its Yo La Tengo-esque deliciousness, feast your ears on this.

Yuck -- "Georgia" -- "Georgia" b/w "The Base Of A Dream Is Empty"
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[pre-order the single from Fat Possum right here]

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, The Feelies, Ladytron

>> So that third single from Johnny Foreigner's amazing full-length Waited Up Til It Was Light? For "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella?" That we previously told you would be out Sept. 1 on Best Before in the UK? Now it is coming out on Sept. 8. The Birmingham, England-based trio will push the single (and the album) with still more in an endless line of tour dates, this time a short strand from Sept. 21 to Oct. 5 with newly minted labelmates Dananananaykroyd. We don't know what the b-side to the single will contain, perhaps a cut from a radio session? Incidentally, have any of you Johnny Foreigner fans out there been catching those UK radio sessions and turning them into MP3s? If so, please send them along. With the difference in time zones it is just too difficult for us to keep track of. We reviewed Waited Up Til It Was Light right here.

>> NYCTaper has the second set of The Feelies' recent show at Maxwell's. We've only listened to the first two tracks, but it seems like a nice recording, albeit a little quiet. Snatch it here.

>> It is with a heavy heart that we note the passing of the excellent music blog You Shall Know Our Discography, which posted this goodbye June 30. The blog posted many rare and many more excellent songs from superlative '90s records and compilations. Most recently it posted about Jiffy Boy Records' thoroughly excellent Ten Cent Fix compilation CD, which features great tracks from Barnabys, Poole, Grifters, Lilys and many others. A tip of the hat to you, Mr. Discography. Your blog will be missed. Here are two of our favorite tracks from Ten Cent Fix:

Barnabys -- "Gargamel" -- Ten Cent Fix: A Jiffy Boy Records Compilation
Slow Children Playing -- "Thirteen" -- Ten Cent Fix: A Jiffy Boy Records Compilation
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[search the Internerdz for a copy; we couldn't find one for sale anywhere]

>> If we had money to hire a correspondent to cover shows, and he was interested, we would first ask Keith from The Dead Part Of You. His colorful but blunt assessments are a pleasure to read, and we particularly enjoyed his take on the recent Ladytron show at Boston's Paradise Rock Club. Check it out here.

Today's Hotness: Johnny Foreigner, Guitar, Frightened Rabbit

>> [Image Credit: Lewes Herriot] Believe it or not, there will be a fourth single from Johnny Foreigner's cataclysmically great debut Waited Up Til It Was Light. In the UK, anyway. According to an email, the band's label Best Before will release Jan. 12 the double A-sided single "DJ's Get Doubts" b/w "Lea Room." Which means that five of Waited Up Til It Was Light's 13 tracks will have gotten the single treatment, while, miraculously, some of the best tracks ("Absolute Balance," "This End Is A Beginning") remain relatively, and curiously, uncelebrated. We had written previously here and perhaps elsewhere that the Birmingham, England-based noise pop trio's prior single "Salt, Peppa and Spinderella" was the fourth from Waited Up, but we just went to our discs and checked and, no matter how we count, that doesn't add up. "Sometimes In The Bullring" was released as a single by Laundrette, but that was an older version of the track released prior to the band's signing with Best Before. So anyway, the ballad "DJ's Get Doubts" (which is nice, but not as strong as "All Mosely Gardens" in our opinion) and the raucous rocker "Lea Room" (named for the band's driver/tour manager guy, who can be spotted just offstage in all of those awesome live videos we hyped up on our Twitter feed later last month) are next in the spotlight. No word on when, if ever, any of these Johnny Foreigner singles will be issued in North America, where Waited Up Til It Was Light was issued to zero fanfare in July (well, some fanfare -- our review is here). Incidentally, the same email from Best Before referenced above noted that superlative Glaswegian indie rock sextet Dananananaykroyd has completed recording its full-length debut, and the set is currently being mixed by The Machine in Hoboken, New Jersey.

>> Surfing On Steam reports here that German electrobliss duo Guitar will release a new set titled Come Summer Come Blues early next year. In addition, Clairecords has recently reissued two Guitar sets, 2004's Honeysky and 2005's Salty Kisses, and there is a note at the Clairecords site stating that the label also intends to reissue It's Sweet To Do Nothing. According to this MySpace blog the new set contains eight tracks that apparently harness Guitar principal Michael Lueckner's love of bluesmen Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Big Bill Broonzy. We reviewed Guitar's Sunkissed for Junkmedia six years ago right here; our first exposure to the act was its contributions to the excellent Morr Music-curated Slowdive tribute comp Blue Skied An' Clear which was released in September 2002. One of the best tracks on Blue Skied An' Clear [review here] is Guitar's MBV-influenced stomper "House Full Of Time," which we're posting below.

Guitar -- "House Full Of Time" -- Blue Skied An' Clear
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[buy Guitar music from Clairecords right here and EMusic here]

>> A propos of nothing... you know what would be a great mash-up? Do the kids still go for the mash-ups these days? We honestly don't know. But anyway, a clever remixer could take B. Fleischmann and Ms. John Soda's absolutely sublime cover of Slowdive's "Here She Comes" and combine it with Frightened Rabbit's stunning "Floating In The Forth" and make something perty. Yeah.