Is it the Christmas season already?? I know the holiday decorations now go up the day after Halloween; but, I personally refuse to acknowledge them until after the fourth Thursday of November. Well now that date has passed and Christmas actually is just a month away, so even though I’m a bit of a Grinch, let us all enjoy a bit of Christmas tunage together.

Summer Fiction delivers their gift to the season in their usual wrappings of baroque pop with “Christmas Eve For Two”. This has all the hallmarks of a classic Christmas pop song…subtle sleigh bells in the chorus, mentions of snowflakes, Santa, mistletoe and “kissin’ by the glow of Christmas lights”. What else could you want?

- DMitch

artist: Eureka Stockade | genre: alt-rock, alt-country | label: Cracking Tunes

This just in… Eureka Stockade, my favorite alt-country band from the other side of the pond have just released their latest single “All Alone”. As with their previous tracks we’ve shared here, the sound feels much more like Georgia or Tennessee rather than England’s Cambridge. But between the steel guitar (which I’m always a sucker for), the ambiance set by the cello, the joyous drumming, and the earnestness felt in the Michael Stipe-like vocals…I don’t really care where they are from.

Once again, Eureka Stockade deliver well crafted musicianship, meaningful lyrics, and a soulful delivery. Talent, genuineness, uniqueness. Across all genres, those are the qualities we applaud here at Froglix.

- DMitch

We’ve tallied all the Thumbs Up’s and Thumbs Down’s for the month of October and the Froglix listeners have proven to have quite the diversity of tastes. Forty-five (45) tracks from thirty-three (33) artists received votes, but alas, not everyone can be a winner. Represented in the Top Ten alone though are artists we have described before as rock, modern rock, alternative rock, Brit alt-rock, ambient, electro, electronica, indie pop, ska, power ska, reggae, punk, post-punk, singer/songwriter, and actually quite a bit more. So without further ado…take a listen to October’s favorites…

October’s Top Ten
(in alphabetical order)

28-200 :: I Kiss U
Attention Thieves :: Let It All Out
Case Of The Mondays :: Indie Girl
Mars Accelerator :: Fill For The Glacial Till
Mobile Wash Unit :: September Was Winter
Ring Of Truth :: Why Should This Be?
Rude City Riot :: Victoria
Small City Calling :: Atlantic: Castaways
Treading Lemmings :: Comeuppance
Variety Workshop :: U Suck Noodles

– DMitch

I feel like we’ve been on a bit of a New Order theme here in the last few months. Back in June we had a Joy Division flashback. Then two Friday’s ago we featured New Order’s “Blue Monday” for our Friday flashback. And then just last week we mentioned Andy Hawk’s cover of “Temptation” making use of the mandolin (which is awesome by the way).

Well, today we pay a bit of homage to New Order yet again. Peter Hook features in autoKratz‘s latest single “Becoming the Wraith”; and, the bass line melody contributed by Hooky is absolutely unmistakable. Combine that signature bass with the hookalicious chorus and you have a recipe for an electronica anthem. And for those of you better-versed electronica aficionados, check out the entire Becoming the Wraith EP. I’m sure you will more greatly appreciate the remixes, especially the Night and Day mixes by French producer Alex Gopher.

- DMitch

artist: Grimus | album: Egretta: As If It's Real | genre: alternative | label: SpaceRay Music

I had been anxiously awaiting the new full-fledged album from the Romanian alternative rock outfit Grimus, and so I was very excited when I was sent a preview of it a few weeks ago. Egretta: As If It's Real turns out to be a complete body of work showcasing the full range of talent from this Transylvanian six-piece. It’s worldwide release is still a few more weeks away so I’ll be sure to remind you when you can get it for yourself. You can also check out three (3) tracks off the album (“Started” review, “Face The Light” review, “Vanity” post) we have already featured on Froglix Radio. But I want to focus now on the stand-out tracks we hadn’t heard yet.

From the very first track, “Cave” delivers everything I’ve come to expect from Grimus. Pulsing guitar, driving drum beats, simple but solid melodies with perfectly subtle harmonies. It’s a perfect introduction to what this band is all about. And I was so pleased that the first track was just as solid as all their previously released singles. It’s not an album of their hits mixed with fodder. This was a sign to me that the whole album would be worth listening to. And I wasn’t disapponted.
Grimus – Cave (clip)

Grimus continues to impress me with tracks like “Nature Falls”. A poetic bent on lyrics are all too often missing from popular music and is always greatly appreciated by yours truly. The start of this song paints such a vivid picture of our universal desire to be free; and I can’t do it justice by recounting it here so you’ll have to take a listen for yourself. Then after the scene is set, the harmonies drive it in, internalizing that yearning personally for me. This is easily one of my favorite tracks on the album.
Grimus – Nature Falls (clip)

The track “Egretta” takes on a bit of a different mood from Grimus’ other singles. One thing I love about Grimus is the feeling of angst they can deliver without falling into the typical “emo” clichés. The title track brings a calmer angst making it feel all the more heartfelt. The lyrics “…all I was trying to say to you…” feel sincere. Indeed, all Grimus is trying to say to us in this album feels sincere. For me, this is one of the must-have albums of the year.
Grimus – Egretta (clip)

- DMitch

We’ve been working hard here at Froglix to revamp the site. The goal is to make easier for you to get to new and great music from multiple genres. We aren’t done, so expect more changes coming. But we didn’t want to wait any longer to share the improvements.

The biggest difference is the new launch page found at http://www.froglix.com. From there you can quickly find your way to your favorite Froglix global broadcast, the OuterSound podcast, or to our blog. The second biggest difference is we are adding channels. The Big Mix is what you already know and love. Skalicious is new with Combustulator and Dubs & Dreads coming soon. Along the way you’ll find a new player, a bit more user interactivity, and more links to iTunes so you can support the artists you love with your pocketbook.

We are excited about the changes. We hope it provides you with the best experience to discover great new music. Our mission at Froglix remains the same, to bring to you the best independent/unsigned artists from around the world.

- DMitch

artist: Grimus | genre: alternative, indie-rock | label: SpaceRay Music | iTunes:

We are pleased to add to rotation the latest single, “Vanity” from Grimus. The single is part of the Romanian purveyors of rock upcoming album Egretta, set to be released mid-October, so look for a full review then. We can’t wait to hear more!

- DMitch

artist: Eureka Stockade | genre: alt-rock | label: Cracking Tunes

Check ‘em out on

listen now:
Without You    Violence

I had to do some double checking of things with Eureka Stockade. For example, are they really from Cambridge? The one in England?? I have to say, the sound is quite American to me. The pedal steel guitar playing a prominent role in “Without You” does make me think Nashville. And other tracks like “Violence” and “All Alone” made me seriously wonder if they could be from Athens, Georgia. I actually did double check….it’s still Cambridge, England.

And with tracks titled “All Alone”, “Without You”, and “Through Every Darkness”, one might be afraid these could be country-western songs where you lost your job, your wife, and worst of all your dog. Don’t worry; they aren’t. Eureka Stockade is a solid four piece, delivering vocally driven, well-crafted, alt-rock tunes with a decent range of different sounds. “Without You”, with that pedal steel guitar is a masterful acoustic ballad and really is a bit country. “Violence” is on the other end of their spectrum, being more Athens-inspired rock. If you like both of these tracks, then you should be happy with everything in between.

- DMitch

artist: Grimus | genre: alternative, indie-rock | label: SpaceRay Music

listen now: Face The Light

iTunes:

My favorite band from Romania (ok…the only band I know from there) have a new single out, and once again Grimus delivers in spades. “Face The Light” draws you in from the beginning with its steady drum intro and progressive chord changes and then builds into their signature angst driven melodies. Again, a comparison to The Killers is fair, but as I stated in my first review of Grimus, the sound is their own refined mix of rock and mood.

As I also mentioned in my first review, I have yet to hear a track from them that I don’t like. You really need to check out Grimus on iTunes and support the best alternative rock band from Romania.

- DMitch

We can learn a lot about ourselves in the face of tragedy. And forgive me for using this as a platform to disseminate my own personal feelings. Last Wednesday tornadoes ripped through my community. And we were not alone. Dozens and dozens of communities, towns, cities and counties got hit hard. A few hundred dead, a few thousand injured. Whole homes and lives literally swept away by the wind. A couple of tornadoes came within a couple miles on either side of me and my family. My home was spared, and for that I am incredibly thankful. Going without electricity through 5 nights was a very minor inconvenience compared to the loss many others have suffered.

So what I’m about to share now is utterly trivial. But yesterday evening I just had to listen to music. Since the storms hit, the radio had been dedicated to solely informational purposes. And I didn’t want to waste my iPhone’s battery on anything other than it’s communications abilities. But last night I went out to my deck, plugged my headphones in, and went searching for something that would both soothe me and satiate my musical hunger. I turned straight to my good friend Paul Heaton. Specifically to The Housemartins. Nostalgic, upbeat, but still socially conscious. Songs like “Flag Day”, “Build”, and “Caravan Of Love” took on new-found meanings. It was the exact medicine I needed.

But that’s enough for my own self-centered thoughts. Others still need much stronger medicine than I needed. From Haiti to Japan to Alabama, and so many countless places in between, there are people that have real needs. When it’s so massive and right in your own backyard you simply can’t turn your face from it. But to be honest, when tragedy hits other places I watch more as a curious voyeur than really feeling for them. So, this has been a reminder to me that all these people everywhere are real human lives, “with loves, and hates, and passions just like mine” (to borrow a line from The Smiths).

So maybe tragedy makes us all a bit more human. It’s a shame that we need bad things to happen to us to remind us of that though.

- DMitch