Joom II - "Bluebird Liquor, Black Crow Wine". A couple of weeks ago, Said the Gramophone held a contest, asking people to submit lyrics for a song I had imagined - a song called "Bluebird Liquor, Black Crow Wine". A couple of days ago I was idly browsing the web and to my great surprise came across a song by the same name. It's a song of overgenerous sounds - fuzzy strokes of acoustic guitar, a big and giving voice, a piano that rinkydinks so tinnily that I mistook it for steel drums. I was even more surprised when I listened to the lyrics, and found by some extraordinary coincidence that the words were identical to the ones submitted by the StG contest winners. How strange that Joom II (aka Mr Christpher Farstad) might independently derive these same scraps of words. It is synchronicity at work, coincidence harnessed to a attic-room pop-song that would sound appropriate on that recent Kelley Stoltz album. Shulgan sounds that happy kind of drunk - more bluebird liquor than black crow wine, - dancing in the early hours with a girl who has grass in her hair.

mc DJ - "Bluebird Liquor, Black Crow Wine (Electrosymphonic Mix)".
mc DJ - "Bluebird Liquor, Black Crow Wine (Tendo Mix)".

mc DJ has done two remixes of Joom II's "Bluebird Liquor". The "Electrosymphonic Mix" is a sea anenome kind of mix, warm and fluid and stuttering. The "Tendo Mix" is better, blipblooping its way to work, Joom II's vocals circling in the sky.

[NB: The above talk of coincidences is of course nonsense. Mr Farstad's song is an original work inspired by Said the Gramophone's contest lyrics. And we tip our enormous fur hats to him. If anyone else uses these lyrics for a song, of course let me know!]

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Angela Desveaux - "Heartbeat". Montreal's Angela Desveaux is now all but done her first album, a record of sunbursting country pop, a warm sweater for wearing outside when it's cold. The recordings were made at the Hotel2Tango with Brian Paulson (Wilco, Gastr del Sol, Rosebuds, Beck, Rock*A*Teens, Uncle Tupelo) and Gramophone-friend Howard Bilerman (Silver Mt. Zion, Arcade Fire, etc) behind the boards. I do this name-dropping in an attempt to articulate the sweetness of this sound, the way Angela's voice heats and lingers, the way the sky clears for the chorus. A deeper twang than Kathleen Edwards, a stronger grip than Sarah Harmer; here's a song for carrying in your basket when you hike with a lover to the top of those hills. (Angela Desveaux previously on StG.)

[not yet out, exciting label details to be announced soon / more info]

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The new music video for the Arcade Fire's "Tunnels" is by far their best yet: watch it. [medium-res WMV, imperfectly synced] I suspect that as with "Laika", it was made by former band-member Josh Deu.