oh, it’s fine.

How about a winter tryst -

We'll wrap up warm in each other

and compose letters to your mother;

oh, we'll try hard to resist.

Sublime the cold of our hearts

To the smoke of the day.

Let it roll by, come as it may -

Our love poisoned darts.

Soon it'll be spring and we'll part;

We'll let our hairs malt,

Take our breaths with ease.

The birds won't have a love-song,

Not for us, not for long;

In a rush we'll taste summer's breeze.

would you like some delicacy? a little sprinkle of snow upon your nose? wouldn't we all. If only I could look outside and see white.

I gave H* Ane Brun and she didn't listen - her loss, your gain. Ane Brun is sweetness incarnate.

Ane Brun - Treehouse Song (y.s.i.)

Give this track multiple listens and you'll sink into love:

Laura Veirs - I Can See Your Tracks (y.s.i.)

.x.

the faces watch from the walls.

...

some things in life are meant to be done, others are not.

Hannah Hunt and Ryan Lynch probably know this, they have a band called Dominant Legs. They have songs too; songs that get lost in your head, but don't fight to get out again, they just drift about, smiling.

Dominant Legs - Clawing Out at the Walls (y.s.i.)

Dominant Legs - About My Girls (y.s.i.)

.x.

ghoulish gaiety - you're a bit late.

...

There's an urban legend in South Korea that an electric fan can cause sudden death by suffocation, hypothermia or poisoning. No, they don't believe the fan morphs into a monster and slays them, just, simply, that the electric fan can chop up oxygen molecules, leaving none to breathe; that it creates a vortex that sucks all the oxygen out of the air; that it uses up the oxygen and creates more carbon dioxide...mental.

So, out of the manga-fuelled madness saunters Fan Death, the protégés of the Erol Alkan, to deliver a whole load of synth slaughter. Last year, out came 'Veronica's Veil', and now a new offering of 'Cannibal' that is every decent drag-queen's dream. It's downcast-disco with an upbeat tempo; they sing like all the greats did, with nonchalance, and yet it's a diamond tear you'll find on their cheeks.

Fan Death - Cannibal (y.s.i.)

.x.

a truncheon to the head, a hammer to the heart.

...

Do you ever wake up in a day? A blaze of life overwhelms you; it's no longer a day that's merged, slipped and stretched from one to the next; it's no longer a day where nothing really starts nor ends - when it seems the night got caught up in the day and the day’s fallen asleep. BOOM! with a spread of synth, if you like it that way, Cold Cave will be that match for your fuse. Oh so 80s and oh so infectious, I was mesmerised by them when I spectated in person. It's music for the kids who want to feel a purpose when they realise they haven't seen daylight in 48 hours. This is all very paradoxical since Cold Cave is the genius of Wesley Eisold, who spouts vast quantities of nihilism and misery; however, he has brought together Caralee McElroy, Dominick Fernow and Max G Morton to create darkwave music that is hooky enough to relate to, and could it almost be disco?

Spoonful:

Cold Cave - Life Magazine (y.s.i.)

.x.

a sweet slap in the mouth.

...

Moody and nonchalant, The Cheek is a five-piece band from Suffolk who seemingly would far rather suit Paris, yet the way they shout in harmony, in an apathetic punk kind of way, requires them to be Mancunian or of the like. Vogue love ‘em; it must be the “je ne sais quoi” of Rory Cottam on vocals, Charlie Dobney on guitar & vocals, Thom Hobson on bass, Christian Daniels on guitar and Ali Bartlett on drums. They recorded their album in Belgium and it is now due to be released in early 2010 - produced by Ed Buller, who’s collaborated with Pulp in the past; it adds greater weight to The Cheek’s sense of Britpop days, where solid, catchy, punchy guitars is accompanied by sullen vocals, oft complaining. With these surly smiles The Cheek have moved from their name of Cheeky Cheeky and the Nosebleeds to a band worth looking at, and maybe pretending to dislike...:

The Cheek – Hung Up (y.s.i.)

The single's out and available from Puregroove.

.x.

I miss. have I missed?

...

haunting and beautiful, it caresses and pinches your insides; Warpaint are a four-piece L.A. band that's girl power harmonised with drums. They all sing; Jenny Lee Lindberg plays bass, Emily Kokal plays guitar, Theresa Wayman also plays guitar; then there's their drummer, a man, Josh Klinghoffer. Apparently they were once Heath Ledger's favourite band...and they've toured with Strokes' Fabrizio Moretti's band Little Joy. Besides, besides, they released an EP, 'Exquisite Corpse', but a month ago on the label, Manimal, which once put out Bat for Lashes; so have a little try:

Warpaint - Billie Holiday (y.s.i.)

Jenny's the sister of that girl [Shannyn Sossamon] in 40 Days & 40 Nights and A Knight's Tale; she used to drum for the band, but had to stop for her acting schedule...

.x.

p.s. The last DODOS show in the UK this year is this Sunday at Scala and you can get tickets here.

fragmented tales, pt. 2.

"...

Bent-over, typical, and hobbling, the patron appeared out the shadows, raised his glasses and eyes off his drooped nose. His stare, despite being glazed over by cataracts, peered right into my gaze; telling me all I wanted to know. The lock clucked and a flash of light from the dimming sun clothed the shop, highlighting. His shuffle and mumble contradicted my stumble and shout; he turned back into the remaining shadows and I followed, demanding still more. The swathe of luster did not last as the door creaked shut and the darkness returned, leaving me there, with swollen curiousity. Books and knick-knacks lined the walls, yet dust was in a greater quantity. What lead me here grew in appearance as my eyes adjusted to the remaining light, and an open book on a lectern collected my focus."