Rien pour les renards

Just returned from a brief sit-in at Jonathan's new pop night at Golden, which is called L'oiseau et le chien. They played some great stuff and I felt a bit bad to leave while Bad Dream Fancy Dress was sounding from the tiny speakers. A nice, unpretentious night, which is probably necessary when they have it every Wednesday. I also learned today that the cover of the Garlands ep was done by a friend of mine! It's out already, so if you haven't ordered your copy yet Cosy Den or Cloudberry will see to your needs promptly.

Today I also got Arthur and Martha's debut single in the mail. It's called "Autovia" and this 45 is out on their own label Happy Robots since a couple of weeks. Arthur is actually Adam from Saloon, and Martha is Alice from The Duloks and The Seven Inches; sometimes things can be a bit misleading. Good thing then, that the two sides are straight-ahead synthpop that won't have you bury your head in your hands in existential angst! "Autovia" is an instant hit, with it's persistent Kraftwerkian beat. The most impressive feature is Alice's voice though, which is suitably suave and classy. Support their humble cause here.

The debut album from Sweden's Action Biker is also out, as of today I think. It's called Hesperian Puisto and naturally it's released by Friendly Noise. I haven't got that yet but judging from her set at Rip It Up last year (the first we got to hear of her new material) it's going to be brilliant.

Another item you need to pick up as soon as possible is the split-7" with Wake the President and The Kingfishers, on German label Aufgeladen und Bereit. I just ordered it from Norman! WTP's contribution is called "You Can't Change That Boy" and I think I've increased its play-count on MySpace by at least fifteen (deliberately, that is).