Since I initially heard Liechtenstein I have been craving more, and back in June, as a surprise,  klk brought back a copy of their new 10″ Survival Strategies in the Modern World that she picked up at Aquarius (I’m still so jealous that I’ve never been to that store).  I absolutely love this record, it gives me the same satisfaction that I get while listening to Tiger Trap and Talulah Gosh, but with a slightly updated sound.  Liechtenstein also refuses to get lost in the fuzziness that is so popular these days, and I now have very little motivation to put on albums by Pens and Vivian Girls when I know that I will be much more satisfied by Liechtenstein (or Talulah Gosh for that matter).

Liechtenstein’s 10″ while wonderful is pretty short, a mini LP of nine songs, and in my searching of the internet I came across another amazing offering from the Free Music Archive.  When Liechtenstein was in the states back in June they stopped by WFMU and recorded a set for one of my favorite radio shows, Michael Goodstein’s Choking on Cufflinks.  The set is up in it’s entirety for free download from the FMA…and I’ve been particularly into these two:

[mp3] Liechtenstein- “All At Once” (via the FMA)

[mp3] Liechtenstein- “Everythings for Sale” (via the FMA)

[full album download/stream] Liechtenstein- Live on Choking on Cufflinks 6/6/09

This live set includes songs from their out of print cd-r and 7″s so it is totally worth checking out (“Everythings for Sale” is one of them).

Liechtenstein have also recently participated in Slumberland Records‘ Searching for the Now Series.

Here is why Slumberland does Searching for the Now:

We here at Slumberland have always believed in the 7″ single as the greatest medium for pop music. 7″s are cheap and portable, a great way to hear new bands without spending too much cash, and similarly a great way for bands to get their music out there without going broke. Add in a cool sleeve, maybe some color vinyl and the odd sticker or badge and you have an unbeatable little package.

The last few years have seen a real resurgence of great pop, and we find ourselves with a favorite new band almost every week. Or at least a few favorite new songs. We’ve puzzled over how to make more of this terrific music available, and our solution is our new split single series Searching For The Now. Our plan is to release two limited-edition split 7″ singles every ten weeks or so, then compile every eight singles onto CDs to keep them available. Note that this is not a subscription series — while we are limiting each single to one pressing, they’ll be available from your favorite indie record retailers and mail orders, and of course directly from Slumberland. All singles will be pressed on color vinyl and packaged in special sleeves — full-color, letterpress, silkscreen or something else cool. (more info here).

I fully agree with Slumberland’s vision with this series, and I feel like it speaks to me as a record buyer.  They are 100% correct in thinking that the 7″ is a great medium (both affordable, and digestible) for checking out new bands, and Slumberland is able to keep these records inexpensive ($5), and I am more likely to invest time in something that I buy for a couple of dollars than something I get off the internet for free.  Slumberland also has been kind enough to give us Liechtenstein’s new studio track “This Must Be Heaven” as a free downloadable sample.

[mp3] Liechtenstein- “This Must Be Heaven” (via Slumberland.  How can you resist that vinyl…Buy it here)

“This Must be Heaven” is pretty much a perfect pop song in my mind, and again like the 10″ it leaves me wanting more.

Liechtenstein recently lost  Naemi, but they have found  Ulrika to take over playing bass in the band.  And back in August they spent a couple days in a Gotland studio recording some new songs…I can’t wait for these to see the light of day.  Any news is good news if it’s coming from these ladies.

In the mean time…here is their video for “Security By Design”

Links:

• more on Liechtenstein here.
• more on Slumberland here.
• buy music by Liechtenstein here.
• Creative Commons credits on tracks from the FMA
  • Liechtenstein / CC BY-ND 3.0

“Highspeed Drift” is the first track off of Gary War’s Horribles Parade.

This video was made by Jacqueline Castel (of WNYU’s wonderful (Make) the Product radio show).  I was completely unaware that she did music videos until this popped up on No Conclusion.  I’m pretty into the video, and I think it complements  the song (and Horribles Parade in general) wonderfully.  It really gives me the underwater vibe that I get when listening to the album.   Gary War hasn’t steered me wrong yet.  I still need to pick up Galactic Citizen….maybe this weekend.

On another note if you haven’t heard Gary War’s first album New Raytheonport…you should really check it out…and you can do that for free!  New Raytheonport was one of my favorite albums of 2008 that I didn’t actually hear in 2008, and shows a little bit of a lighter side of Gary War and psychedelica.  This free download is possible because of Gary War and the Free Music Archive at WFMU!

Now that it is available for free there is no reason for you not to have this album…and it’s perfect for this last weekend of summer.

Check it out:

[mp3] Gary War- “Healthy Living”

[mp3] Gary War- “Please Don’t Die”

[free album download/stream] Gary War- New Raytheonport (via FMA!)

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Links:

• more on Gary War here.
• more on Jacqueline Castel here.
• Buy Horribles Parade from Sacred Bones here or at insound here. .
• Buy New Raytheonport on LP here.

Explode Into Colors is a new super group of sorts from the pacific north west, Portland specifically, composed of Lisa Ann Schonberg from Kickball, Claudia Meza of Japanther and Heather Treadway of Tender Forever.  This two weeks ago their first 7″ single was released on M’Lady Records.  This is the first in a series of three (another one to come on Kill Rock Stars and a third on Just for the Hell of It).

Catbird has been posting about these ladies quite a lot since the beginning of the year, and when I saw the new single I had to pick up a copy.  Explode Into Colors are not exactly what I would expect from a band out of the pacific northwest, and it is great hearing new sounds coming from that part of the country…instead of a classic indie rock sound we get a beat heavy dub influenced single perfect for these last warm days of summer.  From the looks of this single we have great things to expect, and if their live shows are anything like Tender Forever’s I really hope that they tour soon.  It should be a blast.

[mp3] Explode Into Colors- “Sharpen the Knife” (via the FMA!, this might be a demo version)

The three 7″s that are being released are going to be limited releases, and as I said this is the first.  They will later be compiled into a collection and be released as a CD/EP on KRS. If you happen to be a DJ, or radio person I recommend picking up the 45s…totes worth it.

Buy “Coffins”/”Sharpen the Knife” from M’Lady Records here.

Pre-Order “Eyes Hands Mouth”/ “Wooden Ghost” from KRS here.

While it’s undeniable that

[mp3] Sic Alps- “Message to the Law” (via the FMA!)

is a great song, but other than that song so far I have been uninspired by Sic Alps both on recording and at live shows….up until now.  The other week Bill mentioned that the new single on Slumberland sounded a bit “Spoon-ish.”  While I have been a fan of Spoon for a while (more so when I was in college, but still) saying something is Spoon-ish isn’t necessarily a good thing for a band…so when I was at Academy this weekend I picked up the new Sic Alps single “L Mansion” if for no other reason to hear what Sic Alps sound like tinged with Spoon.

I don’t know if you have recently bought (or seen), a Slumberland single recently, but if you haven’t I highly recommend doing so.  This is my second 7″ from the label in the past two or three weeks, and I have to say they do singles right.  The record comes in a full color jacket, black dust jacket, colored vinyl, and are limited edition.  For a slightly larger record label they really put a unique personal touch on their singles.

“L Mansion” is a short track, and unlike their records in the past it has a much cleaner indie rock sound.  Maybe this is a change in production value, or something but like the b side “Superlungs (My Supergirl)” both tracks show growth and departure from previous releases.  Slumberland has made “L Mansion” available for download…so you be the judge:

[mp3] Sic Alps- “L Mansion”
(via Slumberland. Buy it here!)

In the case of this single, I think the production and the slightly more up beat sound brings Sic Alps into a new light.  Up until this single Sic Alps seemed to get lost in the massive amount of lo-fi garage rock/shit-gaze that has been going on, but I think now I’m going to be following their releases a little more closely…it actually makes me really want to hear more, and even see them live again.  It’s not just the cleaner sound, but even better song writing.  I think I am correct in saying that “L Mansion” is the first Sic Alps recording with Ty Segall on drum, and so far Segall seems to do no wrong (he has released several singles and three LPs under his own name in recent memory).  I am excited to hear more from this new line up.

Although it appears to be older material Drag City just released a massive 2xLP collection of what appears to be older songs…you can pick that up here (this collection contains “Message from the Law”).