Around New Year The Virtues released the single “Hope”. A really beautiful ballad which you can listen to and download here below.

“Hope” is the finishing song on the band’s latest album “Beautiful Game”, their fourth one since 2003, and was released last year. I haven’t written about it yet, so I took the opportunity to listen to it now. And I like the album, it’s a good rock/pop-album with a lot of vibes from Big Star and Tom Petty and a dose of early New Wave. I love the intimate sound in the songs; retro, airy and full of good-sounding guitars that have plenty of room to ring out their tones. Add then also Per’s nice rock vocals, good melodies and some interesting adventures like in for example the punk vibing “Liquid”.

You can hear the album on Spotify and you’ll find the band on Facebook and on their site.

Hope

After I wrote about Killer Clan of F.U.N.’s debut album in 2009, I came in contact with the band, and we started talking about a collaboration, which also was started soon thereafter. A little more than two years later we could present the band’s second album in the beginning of this Autumn, through my label Blindmen.

As it’s Christmas time the band wanted the entire album to be available for free download, and since the journey started, in a way, here on Meadowmusic, I thought it would be a good place to announce it in a post here. I have added three songs here below and if you’d like to listen and download the entire album you can visit Killer Clan of F.U.N.’s Bandcamp page.

I think it’s a wonderful album and also a fascinating journey to be a part of. They are a hard working rock band who have played at all possible and impossible scenes during the last two years. There’s an unstoppable and positive energy within this band that sometimes amazes me. It doesn’t seem to matter if they are playing a large venue or if they are playing on a small stage in front of a few visitors in pouring rain; it’s always 100% energy and focus. Well, I guess that’s what rock’n’roll really is about, a kind of joy of life through the music and a strong wish to share it with others.

“The World of Voodoo” is an album where the band pushes their rock frontiers even further. If the debut album mostly was about straight classic hard rock, now more influences have started to show themselves more clearly. One of them is a strong punk vibe you can hear in several songs, which goes hand in hand with the singer Maniac’s expression and lyrics. All in all it’s a great varied rock’n’roll adventure which I hope you will enjoy.

The band experienced a setback some week ago as the drummer Big Boned Barabas left the band, and they are now searching for a new drummer who can join them on tour next year.

To follow Killer Clan of F.U.N. you can visit their site or their Facebook page. The album is also available on Spotify.
If you like the cover illustration above I recommend having a look at Christian Wallin Illustrations‘ site. Christian is one of the guitar players of Killer Clan of F.U.N. and also works as an illustrator. He’s produced covers, logos and illustrations for a number of rock bands and rock festivals like for example Hardcore Superstar, Sister, Close Quarters, Skogsröjet et. al.

Cocaine On the Brain
Stay-In-Bed Day
I’m Dead

Every year I present some new Christmas songs in a post, and this year’s no exception. If you’d like to check out the songs from earlier years you can check them out here: 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

First up is ad dios. They have produced Christmas songs every year since a few years back, and now finally they have made a collection of these, together with new ones, on the album “Season of Tranquillity”. Here’s the opening track:
In the Bleak Midwinter

I wrote about Slottet and their new EP “Servants” a couple of weeks ago. Here’s their Christmas contribution:
A Cold Christmas

The Higher Elevations released their Christmas song in 2006, but since I haven’t presented it before, I thought it would fit perfectly in today’s post:
All These Winter Nights

Acid House Kings with their new Christmas single:
(I’m In) A Chorus Line 

Finally a contribution from Skånske Arne & Jonny Spöge who with “Kanske tomten har Facebook” (“Maybe Santa has Facebook”) finish a productive year with this follow-up to their debut singel “Gula lådan“:
Kanske tomten har Facebook

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Edit 20/12 2011 – added the new Christmas single from Acid House Kings

Bring the Mourning On releases another track for free from their album “Going, Going, Gone”, which I wrote about earlier this year. It’s the excellent “Eye of the Beholder”, which you can listen to and download below, accompanied by a video made by Björn Wahlström (Idle Hands).

You can listen to the entire album on the band’s site, on Bandcamp or on Spotify.

Eye of the Beholder

Buy “Going, Going, Gone” – on iTunes – on Amazon

Simon & Garfunkel goes indie could be a description for the band Oriel Joans‘ music. It may be a little exaggerated but it’s not only the band’s vocal harmonies that lead me to this referral, but also the feeling from melodies and clear references from folk music in the songs. At the same time it feels indie, where it doesn’t get too sweet or predictable and they seem to follow their own path. An excellent combination I think, which works great for me.

Last year they released the self-titled debut album, earlier this year the EP “Ghostly” and here below you can listen to the latest song, the single “Chin Up”. Listen to all this on Spotify or on their site.

The band name comes from a pseudonym, Ori L Joans, which in turn came from a music project that started the band, under circumstances that are little cloudy. An internal reference, so to speak, where they felt that the name felt right, they changed it a little and went on with the band.

Chin Up

Support the artist: Buy Oriel Joans’ music – on iTunes – on Amazon