The 20 albums you've probably never heard of challenge - Part VI

Ok, here's the final instalment of the 20 albums you've probably never heard of with the lowdown on days 15 through 20.

 

Day 15: Pale Face Baby from Dogbreath. Now disbanded but hailed from Stockholm. Released just the one superlative album in 2009. Footage above is the sole survivor from YouTube.

 

Day 16: The self titled Mina Tindle from 2012. We saw Mina supporting Camille on her last tour of the UK. Her debut album is out on Sauvage Records.

 

Day 17: Up from System 7 is the band's 10th studio album. This electronic dance band is fronted by Steve Hillage (ex Gong/The Orb).

 

Day 18: Memento Mori from The Bastard Fairies. Formed in LA in 2005 and falling loosely into the anti-folk genre, their debut album was self-released on the band's website as a means of 'spreading the word'.

 

Day 19: Little Notes from Tiny Ruins. This is the project of Bristol born, New Zealand raised singer/songwriter Hollie Fulbrook based in Wellington, NZ. Little Notes is her debut album released in December 2010 on Australia's Spunk Records.

 

Day 20: We are the tide from Blind Pilot. American indie-folk band from Oregan. Signed to Expunged Records, We are the tide was released in 2011

 

And there endeth the lesson.

 

New theme starts tomorrow - the Jems Music 'genre' songs. 31 genres, 31 songs, 31 days. More about this later.

The 20 albums you've probably never heard of challenge - Part III

Throughout February, JemsMusic is hosting a music challenge - 20 albums you've probably never heard of. Parts I & II gave you a bit more detail about days 1-7; here's a little more about the choices for days 8 through 14.

 

Day 8: Castletalk from Screaming Females. Formed in 2002 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the band built on the zeitgeist of America's punk and indie underground.

 

Day 9: Old Time Speaker by Bronze Radio Return. Formed in Hartford, Conneticut by singer/songwriter Chris Henderson after he attended the Hartt school of music. The band released a self-titled EP in March 2008 followed by 'Old Time Speaker' in Spring 2009

 

Day 10: Of Ghosts and Travellers from Bender. Bluesrock failsafe released on the Dooload.de label in April 2012

 

Day 11: Never a Cold Shoulder by Knock Kneed Sally. The band's website - www.knockkneedsally.com describes the band as party blues and butt movin entertainment. Hailing from Kansas City, Missouri, this is the band's first album released in 2009.

 

Day 12: The house that dirt built from The Heavy. Formed in Bath in 2007 the band are currently signed to Counter/Ninja tunes. Loosely described as 'neo-soul', 'The house that dirt built' is the band's second album released in 2009.

 

Day 13: Said I would by 72Blues. The second studio album from this Canadian band. Signed to the Toronto based 'Never Again' records. 'Said I would' was released in October 2006.

 

Day 14: Night Talk by Black Rain. Formed in Bologna, Italy in 2002. Black Rain's solid bluesrock is well captured on their debut album released on Street Symphonies Records in November 2012.

 

In Part IV (sometime around the end of February) you'll get more on days 15 through 20. As well as something about the JemsMusic challenge for March 2013.



JemsMusic - 20 albums you've probably never heard of - Part II

On 9 February JemsMusic started a new challenge - the top 20 albums you've probably never heard of. Those of you following this on Facebook will have seen the first 9 choices now - but here's a little more about selections 2-7.

 

Day 2: 'In the pit of the stomach' from We were promised jetpacks - hailing from Glasgow, We were promised jetpacks signed to Fat Cat Records in 2008. They released their first album following a successful supporting tour with Frightened Rabbits in 2009. In the pit of the stomach is their second offering from 2011.

 

Day 3: 'Conventions' from Ugly Purple Sweater - the band started as an acoustic duo playing house shows in Washington DC. They toured the west coast of the USA in 2009 and released their first album. 'Conventions' is their second, released in November 2011. If you want a sample, their latest EP - the DCUSA Ep - was released on 13 January 2013.

 

Day 4: 'Foreign Land' from A lion named roar - A five-piece band led by Chris Jackson and Tyler Anderson from Louisville, Kentucky.

Day 5: 'Bulletride' from Big Balls Cowgirl - garage rock band from Meppen, Germany, fronted by Katharina on vocals and signed to Timezone Records. Bulletride was released in 2012.

 

Day 6: An Experimental salute to Led Zep IV - was released by the unsigned 'Experimentalists' in 2009. Hailing from Murphys, California, the band make all their music in a spare bedroom. This caught my eye on www.emusic.com as it somehow manages to trash the original whilst retaining a very listenable quality at the same time.

 

Day 7: 'Showtime at the Apocalypse' from The Jones - Funk Metal rendering released on the Orchard label in 2000. Search out the final track on the album 'Whatthefunkisitallabout' for a taster!

 

In Part III of this mini-series, I'll take you through my choices for days 8-14 and covering February 16-22.

 

 



Jem's Music top 20 albums you've probably never heard of

Hello Pop Pickers and welcome to the new Jem's Music series for 2013 - '20 albums you've probably never heard of'. Starting today (9 February) and running through to the end of the month - and in no particular order of preference - here's a selection of 20 obscurities which you'd do well to dig out and download.

 

To start things off we have Eastern Belgium's best kept secret '14weeks' and the opening track from their October 2012 album 'Past Present Now'.

30 day song challenge - Part IV

As promised at the end of January, here are my song choices for days 21 through 30.

 

21: A song I listen to when I am happy - two for today; "I believe" from Johnny Lang & the Fisk Jubilee singers or "Last of the sunshine days" from Mountain

22: A song from my teenage years - "Four Sticks" from Led Zeppelin.

23: The last song I listened to was (on 2nd Feb) "Where are we now" from David Bowie

24: A song to play at my funeral will be "In my time of dying" from Led Zeppelin

25: A song that reminds me of winter is Lindisfarne's "Winter Song"

26: A song I wish I could play on an instrument is the Hot Tuna version of "Hesitation Blues" from the Jefferson Airplane album 'Flightlog'

27: The earliest song I can remember from my childhood is "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" from the Beatles

28: The most romantic song is "Cuz I luv you" from Slade (1971)

29: The song that defines me and my soulmate is Patti Smith's "Because the Night" from the 1978 album 'Easter', and

30: The song most likely to reduce me to a quivering wreck is Cry of Love's version of "I ain't superstitious".

 

And I leave you with Hot Tuna's 'Hesitation Blues'