My 100th post

Can You See the Sunset From the Southside? (CYSTSFTS) is now 100 posts old. With no more than one post per day and oftentimes less, how about a big “hooray” for me. Oh, here’s another picture of my daughter.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel, 15mm fisheye, 1/15sec at f/2.8

I recently heard the music of Maryland’s Page France for the first time and I’m totally loving it. Maybe it’s because I recently had a kid and the child-friendly melodies and instrumentation really resonate with me, or maybe their latest record Hello, Dear Wind is just that damn good. This is indie-pop of the finest quality. Whimsical, gentle, sing-a-long-able, and utterly charming is how I would describe this acoustic-based pop music. I just can’t stop listening to this record. Lead vocalist Michael Nau sounds remarkably like a cross between Ben Gibbard (DCFC) and Matt Pryor (GUK/NewAms). His vocals work perfectly with the female backing vocals and the playful instrumentation. Page France’s music is joyful and honest and completely irresistible. This is highly recommended.

Another recent find (Tonight Let’s Dance) is Foreign Born. This L.A. quartet has an EP out on Startime (home to Brendan Benson, dios (malos), Tom Vek, and more) and a new record coming out Dec 6th on Moshi Moshi Music. This is just well-played melodious and atmospheric indie-pop-rock that has that timeless quality about it (think Interpol or Simple Minds). On a side note, their bassist/producer used to front ska-punk greats (and friends of ours) The Hippos. Foreign Born sound nothing like that band. If you like this track, you can download a live performance from KEXP radio here.

MP3 | Page France – Dogs Hello, Dear Wind
MP3 | Foreign Born – We Had Pleasure In The Remote Woods EP