Around the Blogosphere: Ride, Hives, Morrisey, Mansun, Levy, Ackleys, Starky, French Disco, 20-20, Racer X, Blinker the Star, Field Mice, et. al.

Yes, there it is: Ride's "Twisterella," one of the my five favorite songs of the 90s. The other four? All in good time. This haul is a nice mix of past and current, with plenty of old favorites but also some newbies to try on. Oh, and an historic moment: We post our first nonmusical bit. Sacrilege? Mebbe, but the Cheech and Chong is a long-time fave. We will send it to the bottom of the class, in case you're offended.

Ride - Twisterella - Retro Music Snob
The Hives - Tick Tick Boom - Badminton Stamps - Hot. Damn.
Morrisey - First of the Gang to Die - Retro Music Snob
Mansun - Drastic Surgeon - The Runout Groove - For all you cheeky sods. . .

Levy - Matthew - The Yellow Stereo
The Ackleys - Blank Mind Between The Traffic Lights - Can You See the Sunset from the Southside?
Starky - Hey Bang Bang - mp3hugger
French Disco - Avant Garde Bubblegum Factory - Speed of Dark

20/20 - She’s An Obsession - The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s of Power Pop
Racer X - Driving Me Wild - The 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s of Power Pop
Blinker the Star - September Already - The Rawking Refuses to STOP!
The Field Mice - September’s Not So Far Away - The Rawking Refuses to STOP!

Cheech and Chong - Sister Mary Elephant - Retro Music Snob

Thanks to all the hosts and hostesses!

Happy Labor Day, if you celebrate it in your neck of the woods.

Ash, Starky, Young Galaxy, Kelly's Heels

So much music, so little time. Over the weekend I dug back into the SXSW 2005 site and found another 50 or 60 songs I rated at three stars or better. (Translation: I like 'em a lot.) For the next several weeks I'll be working in a few per day, along with current goodstuff I happen upon. Thanks to visitor "John's" recent tout, Ireland's Ash have been for me one of the most exciting close encounters of the heard kind in many a moon. Imagine if you dare (and why not) my embarrassment/excitement to find them right there as one of the SXSW Showcasing bands back in 2005, which is by way of saying we lead off with them. Next we're calling Sydney for a song by Starky I've liked for a year or two now. (I posted Starky's "Hey Bang Bang" at Big Bloc 4, which I must confess is one of my favorite posts since I started blogging.) Then we get a bit more au courant with a goodun by Montrealers Young Galaxy, brought to earth at the excellent AOL Spinner.com. We close this set with a pleaser brought to our attention by a representative of the London band, Kelly's Heels. Thanks, Katy! Click the artists' names for more info, music, etc.

Ash - Meltdown mp3
Starky - Girl Talk mp3
Young Galaxy - Outside the City mp3
Kelly’s Heels – Invisible Hold mp3 (pic)