Listen Up! No. 61 - Hollerado - Americanarama

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Being a lo-budget Ok Go might be a gas, but what happens when you run out of zany-video money? Write some songs?

Listen Up! No. 45: The Wombats - Tokyo

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Clearly not content with picking up their Inbetweeners royalties and being the parting shot at every indie disco within a 5 mile radius of Camden underground, the scouse trio are back, hoisting themselves excitedly above a steaming mound of public indifference and determindly planting an I Heart The 80s flag whilst gibbering away about nothing in particular, again.If I said it wasn't as good as the new Klaxons effort, you'd probably know roughly what to expect.

Listen Up! No. 28: Mystery Jets - Dreaming Of Another World

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Rewriting the 80s as if Duran Duran were sex-starved literature students.

Listen Up! No. 24: We Are Scientists - Nice Guys

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We Are Scientists doing their sorta-earnest, sorta-subversive, always catchy thing; Andy Burrows (yup, that one) doing his drumming thing (doesn't miss a beat); and a goofy video inwhich weedy indie-rockers do their thing on scooters (i.e. fall off). It's as good as they'll ever be (or ever were), which constitutes a compliment, but not an endorsement.

Listen Up! No. 20: Larsen B - Marilyn

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New-fangled jangle-wangle. And running drums. Can't go wrong with running drums.

Listen Up! No. 15: Black Francis - Cinema Star

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Missed this? Missed out. Something Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV doesn't seem to be doing much of, judging by the lyrics.

Listen Up! No 14: LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls

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Yes, I know - last month called and wants its new songs back - but regardless, this track still warrants mention for perfectly distilling the oft-barmy hedonism of boozing, all in a flurry of sharp one-liners and David Byrne vocals. If there was any justice this would've been number 1, not 190 (eek!).

Listen Up! No. 13: Thomas Tantrum - The Last Kiss

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This is the best I've heard in a while of the shiny new tracks PRs occasionally feed into my inbox to break up the monotonous stream of penis enlargement and Nigerian banking emails. Yes I wish my penis were bigger, no I don't want to invest $12000 in Dr. Ernest Dadanu's 'Freebank of Lagos', nor divulge my bank account details.

This unsigned Southampton quartet mix the trigger happy guitar-smarts of Good Shoes with a more palatable take on The Long Blondes' Pulp-apeing debut.

The Last Kiss by Thomas Tantrum

Kate @ WorkItMedia made this all possible - ta. 

Listen Up! No. 3: Medications - Seasons

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Plenty of hooks, cross-eyed rhythms and great chops from this DC trio - the best band you've never heard of.

Listen Up! No.2: Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Bottled in Cork

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The key cut from his robust, breathless new record, The Brutalist Bricks, here Ted proves irrevocably he's best when channeling heart over head. And then repeating the killer hook for the 15th time.

Listen Up! No.1: Nada Surf - Love Goes On

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Yes, it's a Go-Betweens cover. It's also the pick of the tracks off the band's new covers record, If I Had a Hi-fi. If I had a hi-fi (which I do), I'd mostly be playing this (which I am).

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***5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today ***

Hot 5 at 5 (21/1)

Roxy Music - Do the Strand
Foxy music 

Eels - Tiger in the Tank 
Full tank 

Bob Marley vs Funkstar Deluxe - Sun is Shining
Bright

Sons of Noel and Adrian - The Wreck is Not a Boat
Mumford Jrs

The Knife - Hearbeat
Cutting


Hot 5 at 5 (21/1)

Hot 5 at 5

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***5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today ***

Hot 5 at 5 (18/1)

Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos!
Deadly

Fanfarlo - The Walls are Coming Down
Fan-tastic

Les Savy Fav - Pots & Pans
Les Savy Favourites

Shades Apart - Stranger by the Day
Shades of 1999

Underworld - Born Slippy
Lager Lager Lager Lager (et cetera)

Hot 5 at 5 (17/1)

Interviews and Features

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Greetings and a very Merry Xmas to all from THE POPSCENER! Hot 5 at 5 will be back in the New Year, but in the meantime here are a few interviews/features I have been conducting/writing elsewhere recently. Enjoy!

The Antlers @ Subba-Cultcha.com

Official Secrets Act @ Subba-Cultcha.com

Trailer Trash Tracys @ Spoonfed.co.uk

Gig Guide for 2010 @ Spoonfed.co.uk

Records of 2009: Artists' Choice @ Spoonfed.co.uk


Feel free to tweet it all around the interweb etc...

Hot 5 at 5

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***5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today ***

Hot 5 at 5 (19/12)

Bruce Springsteen - Dancing in the Dark
Shines a light

I Blame Coco - 18 With a Bullet
I Blame Sting

Alicia Keys - Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart
Key listening

Weezer - Across the Sea
Transatlantic geek-offs

Sleeper - Delicious
Tasty

Hot 5 at 5 (19/12)

Hot 5 at 5

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***5 highly recommended tracks that have been tickling THE POPSCENER's eardrums today ***

Hot 5 at 5 (18/12)

Taken by Trees - Sweet Child O' Mine
Familiar

Noisettes - Never Forget You
Unforgettable

Kurran and the Wolfnotes - Whatabitch
Whatagoodsong

Razorlight - Pop Song 2006
Does exactly what it says on the tin

The Lemonheads - Hannah and Gabi
Wistful

Hot 5 at 5 (18/12)