They Shoot Music, Don't They?

I'm loving street music blogs. It's always nice to hear a nice ditty when you walk by on your way to work or the subway or whatever and it would be a real treat to see some of your favourite artists play in this manner. There are lots of local indie street level video blogs popping up all over the world, set in strange locations other than studios. There's Black Cab Sessions based in Britian, Blogotheque in France, Amsterdam Acoustics in the Netherlands and many others.

One of my newer discoveries is: They Shoot Music, Don't They. This "a Viennese video/geoblog featuring artists that can be vaguely described by the blurred out term indie." They're an English-speaking blog based in Vienna, Austria and currently "shooting" sessions in Berlin, Germany as well. You can go here on their website to see a map of all the locations that they've filmed at, as well as some information on the surrounding scenery. They also note the geographic location and historical landmarks where each session takes place. So you can get a little educational tour of the Vienna and Berlin as well as finding out about new music. It's like two for the price of one!

Check out some of their Berlin Sessions below:

The Rifles in front of Flughafen Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany.

The Rifles - Fall to Sorrow (mp3) (buy)

Noah and the Whale in front of Postbahnhof, Berlin, Germany.

Noah and the Whale - Blue Skies (mp3) (buy)

The Dodos at the Greifswalder Straße, Berlin, Germany.

The Dodos - Strum (mp3) (buy)


By the way, does anybody know if we have anything similar to this in Toronto?

[EDIT: Mp3s removed]

No Love Lost

I hate being wrong. I'd rather be right. But if I'm wrong, I'd like to be pleasantly surprised.

Case in point. I found out about a band called the Rifles perhaps late last year via a late night Hype Machine gluttony session. I automatically liked them. And I can't remember why, but I thought they were an older band. Perhaps its their incline to Britpop. It's got a choppy catchy jangly pop sound so reminiscent of that place and time.

But no, turns out they only formed in 2004! And just signed to Nettwerk in North America! Their first full length North American release, the Great Escape, comes out this fall. Perhaps some touring with follow? Their first album, No Love Lost, had London-cool attitute and enough charm to make fans out of their musical heroes Paul Weller and Oasis.

Rifles - The Great Escape (mp3) (buy)