SUNDAY ASSORTMENT...

... BROUGHT TO YOU BY eMUSIC

About a year or so ago, I signed up with eMusic for a trial membership that netted me 50 free downloads. Then, a couple of weeks ago, they e-mailed me. Seems that they missed me and wanted me back. Well, it's good to be wanted, so I've re-upped with them for another free trial (and 40 more downloads). Here's a handful of the songs I've extracted thus far...

[MP3] [left-click] The Wedding Present/"Interstate 5" [Extended Version]
[MP3] [left-click] All Girl Summer Fun Band/"Becky"
[MP3] [left-click] Okkervil River/"A Glow"
[MP3] [left-click] Mary Lou Lord/"Turn Me Round"
[MP3] [left-click] Say Hi to Your Mom/"Recurring Motifs in Historical Flirtings"

WE B SWEDE

MOONBABIES

Yesterday's "NASA back in space" post leads fairly effortlessly into this one (though it looks like the shuttles are grounded again - at least until they can stop shit from falling off the booster rockets).

Moonbabies are from Sweden, and like a lot of their countrymen, they are highly harmonic, tastefully tuneful popsters. There's just two of them - Ola and Carina. Ola's a boy (I think), and Carina's a girl (I'm pretty sure). And yes, they make some very beautiful music together. Gentle indie pop with some subtle electronic accents that never overwhelm the melodies. The perfect soundtrack to summer, actually. Sunny yet laid-back. If I have one complaint, it's that their songs sometimes run about a minute too long (though this is not the case on the title track to their new 8-song LP, War on Sound, out July 26).

Viva la Sweden!

From the LP War on Sound, 2005 >>>>
[MP3] [left-click] "War on Sound"

From the LP The Orange Billboard, 2004 >>>>
[MP3] [left-click] "Sun A.M."
[MP3] [left-click] "Summer Kids Go"
[MP3] [left-click] "Fieldtrip USA"

From the LP June and Novas, 2000 >>>>
[MP3] [left-click] "We're Layabouts"

HOUSTON, WE HAVE NO PROBLEM?

SPACE ODDITIES

Fairly self-explanatory today, what with the space shuttle returning to service and all. It should perhaps be noted, however, that "I Am an Astronaut" is "sung" by then-ten-year-old Ricky Wilde, little brother of Kim Wilde, in 1972. Of course, Kim herself would become famous in the '80s for "You Keep Me Hangin' On." But it's the kid that cracks me up every time....

[MP3] [left-click] "Astronaut"/Luna [from the LP Rendezvous, 2004]
[MP3] [left-click] "Let's Talk About Spaceships"/Say Hi to Your Mom [from the LP Numbers & Mumbles, 2003]
[MP3] [left-click] "Wide Open Space"/Mansun [from the LP Attack of the Grey Lantern, 1995]
[MP3] [left-click] "I Am an Astronaut"/Ricky Wilde
[MP3] [left-click] "Lost in Space" Theme
[MP3] [left-click] "Space Oddity"/David Bowie [from the LP Space Oddity, 1972]