NEW! Ghosts Of The Virgin Suicides - Podcast Part 2 "Happy Haunting Ground"

The Lisbon girls were 13, Cecilia, 14, Lux, 15, Bonnie, 16, Mary, and 17, Therese. This is the second installment of our ongoing Ghosts Of The Virgin Suicides series of podcasts. "Happy Haunting Ground" tells a different story. All songs here have a central focus on the original main theme song from the movie, "Playground Love" by Air with vocals by Gordon Tracks, better known as Thomas Mars, lead singer of Phoenix. Unlike our first in the series, this isn't so much a ghostly reminder of the original, but more a story of "...what the girls listened to", while still retaining the "Playground Love" theme just below its' surface. The songs, like the girls, are different in attitude and style, hopefully reflecting their different personalities. The ghosts of the Lisbon girls make their presence known once again for another haunting collection of songs. We hope you will like this! Download the entire podcast featuring Go-yo, Broken Bells, Sacred Animals, Joy Zipper, The Swerve and several other bands and hard-to-find tracks below.

- Michael Fierce

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Electronic / Shoegaze / Chillwave Gem - PALLERS "The Sea Of Memories" (2011)

Pallers are Henrik Mårtensson and Johan Angergård from Sweden, on Labrador. Both have worked together under Johan's previous moniker, The Legends. However, while their previous work was notable and had memorable moments, when they officially became a full-fledged band as Pallers, their new band added elements and a production sound that enhanced everything they do to a higher level. This is their debut album. For me, from beginning to end, this is a mesmerizing, emotionally complex, original, instant classic.  Well, I should say, with the exception of #9, "Wicked", every song is incredible. "Wicked", isn't a bad song, just abruptly too upbeat, and being the one song sung by a girl, feels out of place. The album is a mixture of warm and cold. Like snow-covered fields on a sunny day. Like hot blood running through you as you make your way under a cold, grey sky. Like a warm night with an unexpected eclipse of the moon breaking through the clouds above. Together, Johan's voice and heart-breaking lyrics, are a thing of beauty. The Pallers music is sometimes subtle and sometimes epic but not with any of the usual forced epicness many bands seem to be at fault for. It has elements of synthpop, chillwave, shoegaze, electro pop and electronica but is seamless in it's weave of perfection. Standout tracks are "Come Rain, Come Sunshine", "Years Go, Days Pass", "The Kiss", "Wired" and my favorite, the closing song, "Nights". If you haven't heard this yet you are really missing out. This is our first recommendation in a wave of albums, and EP's I will be reviewing in our new feature, spotlighting "gems" and "diamonds in the rough" you need to know about and might have missed out on dating from 1997 to the present. Pallers, "Sea Of Memories" is my highest recommendation of 2011!!!

- Michael Fierce