Blinker the Star - Collected B-Sides and Demos

In 1999 Canadian muli-instrumentalist Jordon Zadorozny released "August Everywhere". It was a departure from the two earlier efforts with his band Blinker the Star. Those earlier albums had fine moments but were a bit unfocused, sounding like many indie-bands of the time influenced by Nirvana. August Everywhere was more synthesizer based and contained a series of Beatles influenced tunes mixed in a britpop influenced manner. There is not a bad track on the album. Very much worth picking up.

It took four more years for the next Blinker the Star to release their next album. 2003's "Still in Rome" was a mixed bag. In many ways it returned to the harder edge sound of the two earlier albums. There were great moments though. The pop tune "Got to Go Through It" is great, as is the bitter but catchy "Don't Believe It".

Since 2003, Zadorozny has released a tantalizing trickle of songs on the three MySpace pages he controls in addition to his now deleted Blinker The Star homepage. Each of these songs is a nicely produced PowerPop epic. Many as good as the pop contained on "August Everywhere". I've collected all of these songs in one place. They include b-sides from 'August Anywhere" as well as demos and singles from more recent sessions. Also included are three songs by "Abbey", Jordon Zadorozny's new band with fellow Canadian singer Sofia Silva. Silva has a voice that complements these songs and they integrate well with the others that Jordon sings.

Listen to this Collection of Blinker the Star B-Sides and let me know what you think. Hopefully Jordan will eventually release his next epic. These tracks show he has it in him.

1993 Blinker the Star
1996 A Bourgeois Kitten
1999 August Everywhere
2003 Still in Rome

Jason Falkner - Live Acoustic

I'm very glad that Jason Falkner is putting out something new...even its part two of his Bedtime with the Beatles series. His first volume of instrumental lullabies was filled with clever "Jason" takes on classic Beatles tunes. Lots of fun.

However, what I most appreciate about Jason Falkner are the excellent songs he writes. I'm posting a fine sounding solo acoustic concert from years ago below. These stripped down solo performances help bring out the power of his song writing. I'm enjoying listening to these classics all over again.

Jason Falkner - Solo Acoustic

The Lost Super Deluxe Album

During the late 1990's the Posies were turning out a series of terrific Power Pop albums. At the same time, another Seattle based band was producing great music closely modelled on that prototypical "Posies Power Pop sound". The band "Super Deluxe" was lead by lead singer Braden Blake. in 1995 and 1997, Super Deluxe released two excellent power pop albums. A coincidence was that Braden Blake's voice sounded remarkably similar to Posies leaders Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. (I think that Blake subsequently worked with Ken Stringfellow in his "Salteen": project during the couple of years when the Posies broke up - but that's the subject of another post).

Super Deluxe produce great poppy tunes charged with the high energy sound of the bands of that era. They released two excellent albums, "Famous" and "Via Satellite". You can hear "Famous", their excellent out-of-print debut at King Size Mongs fine blog.

After their second CD, 1997's Via Satellite, Super Deluxe faded from sight only to reemerge in 2005 with their fine comeback CD "Surrender". However in 1998 a series of excellent demos for an unreleased third album made their way around. The songs are great and the production excellent and to my knowledge they were never officially released. Enjoy!

..also be sure to check out the 2004 solo album by Braden Blake entitled "A Year in Pajamas". Though much more mellow, its full of memorable Power Pop tunes... and its still in print.

Sweden's Moonbabies - Making Some of Today's Best Power Pop

Sweden has produced some of the most sublime Power Pop music of the last decade. And though the heyday of Swedish Pop appears to be over (late 1990s bands such as the Wannadies, the Merrymakers and This Perfect Day are no longer recording), there are still many wonderful sounds coming out of that country. The Moonbabies have updated the classic Swedish fixation with sublime melody by adding contemporary electronica and indie attitude to the mix. They produce gorgeous Power Pop updated with recording techniques that superficially make them sound similar to contemporary Canadian bands such as Stars, Mates of State, or Great Northern. I think Moonbabies' melodies are influenced more directly by the Beatles than those other bands.

Over the last seven years, the Moonbabies have released three wonderful albums and a series of singles, EPs and even some early tapes (does anyone have mp3s of those early tapes?). Last year's album "At the Ballroom" was a gem, but my favorite so far was 2004's "The Orange Billboard”. Just listen to Crime O' the Moon off of that album and tell me you don't hear echos of the Beatles or even CSNY. You can stream most of their recorded output at their record label's popup player. If you have never heard the Moonbabies, you are in for a treat.

You can also download two of their best pop singles directly from their website:

War on Sound
Sun AM

Purchase their CDs on their website as well

2001 June and Novas
2004 The Orange Billboard
2005 War on Sound (Mini Album)
2007 Moonbabies at the Ballroom

Most of these albums can be downloaded from iTunes, Rhapsody and eMusic as well.

The Moonbabies have always been really great at making b-sides and demos available for a while on their website but they do take them down after a while. As usual, I've compiled a bunch of b-sides and demos for collectors. Most of the songs on the compilation here were made available by the band over the last couple of years. The majority are demos and left-over songs from The Orange Billboard. Needless to say, there are some wonderful tunes here.

Enjoy... and support these two talented artists. Ola Frick and Carina Johansson have lots yet to say.

Seth Swirsky and The Red Button

Probably every Power Pop fan agreed that "She's About To Cross My Mind" by the Red Button was one of last year's best Cd's. The talented duo of Seth Swirsky and Mike Ruekberg released a Beatles influenced disc with terrific tunes and sterling production. If for some reason, you were living on a deserted island and missed this one, run (don't walk) to your latest on-line music store and pick it up. You won't be disappointed.

In 2004, Seth Swirsky released his first CD entitled "Instant Pleasure". This one is also a Beatle lovers dream with tunes that could have been lifted right out of Revolver or Sgt. Pepper. Really superb stuff. Its a must as far as I am concerned.

I'm a collector and I've collected some of Seth's demos and b-sides. For me they are also essential tracks however these are all I that I have. I know that I am missing some key tracks. Does anyone have anything missing here?

There are reports that Seth is working on both a Red Button CD AND a new solo CD this year. I can't wait...

Parthenon Huxley - Unacknowledged Genus

Parthenon Huxley is a sorely under-recognized pop genius. He's been putting out superior Beatlesque power pop for nearly 30 years with a criminal lack of public recognition. As "Rick Miller", he was one of two singer songwriters for the seminal North Carolina power pop band the Blazers. Later as "Rick Rock" he recorded three classic slices of power pop in the Mondo Montage series. in 1986, "Parthenon Huxley" recorded his first album "Sunny Nights", a 1980s Power Pop classic. His 1995 epic "Deluxe" was recorded by his working band "P. Hux". (It's great that this classic is back in print and currently available for download. ) In 1998, Parthenon Huxley joins ELO 2 and then that band is renamed "The Orchestra" when Jeff Lynne demanded control of the ELO name back. Parthenon's classic "Jewell and Johnny" was a high point for the Orchestra.

Parthenon Huxley has put out a remarkable string of P Hux albums, all of them classics and highly recommended. I've included a link to some hard to find b-sides and compilation tracks. There are some great tracks here and you should definitely check them out. But don't miss out on the official releases, they are even better. Almost all of them are available directly from Parthenon Huxley. I've purchased most of mine this way and recommend every one.

1980 The Blazers How To Rock
1988 Parthenon Huxley Sunny Nights
1993 P Hux Mile High Fan (released in 2006)
1995 P. Hux Deluxe
1997 VeG
2001 P. Hux Live In Your Living Room
2001 P. Hux Purgatory Falls
2001 The Orchestra No Rewind
2004 P. Hux In Your Parlour
2005 P. Hux Homeade Spaceship (the Music of ELO)
2007 P. Hux Kiss The Monster

Thanks to Powerpopaholic, I found and enjoyed reading this recent interview with "the man". Sounds like Parthenon is up to some interesting projects. I'll be checking those out soon.

Excited About the New Pugwash

For those of you who don't know, the Irish band Pugwash is one of the finest Power Pop bands recording today. Band leader and writer Thomas Walsh has worked with Andy Partridge and Jason Falkner and he really deserves to run in that distinguished company. They have a new CD out in the UK entitled "Eleven Modern Antiquities" and from what I've heard it may be the best thing so far this year. I can't wait to receive my overpriced import copy from Amazon!

You can listen to snipets from the CD at their Myspace site.

I loved the single "Take Me Away". I downloaded from Amazon and I really recommend it. It has a great "Revolver" vibe to it. In honor of this new CD I'm posting a few (not so great sounding) rarities I've picked up. They're nice but I'd really recommend the albums if you don't have them:

2005 Jollity
2003 Earworm
(A compilation of some of the tracks from two earlier albums "Almanac" and "Almond Tea". If anyone owns these would you let me know please!)

These are all highly recommended.