New & Recent Releases - Feb 08

This episode features a bunch of new and recent releases. I think I'll try and do one of these at least once a month from here-on-in. First up are Minisnap, a band that started off as an offshoot of The Bats. They essentially are The Bats, but without Robert Scott. Featuring the songwriting and vocals of Kaye Woodward, Minisnap have previously released two EPs but now they have put out their debut album Bounce Around. The opening track New Broom features on the podcast and you can check out a video for the song on the video page.

White Swan Black Swan is based around the songs of Ben Howe (Black Swan) and Sonya Waters (White Swan). Their second EP Castle of Useless Junk was mixed in Nashville and is intended to be coupled with their first, self titled, EP to make up a overseas taster for an album release. Until recently it has only been available at WSBS gigs and on the band's Myspace page but it has now had a digital release and is available through Amplifier or Emusic. Orange and Brown is from Castle of Useless Junk, the song title describing the colour scheme of the Counting the Beat blog, the EP title describing the room where I record the podcast.

I've long been a fan of country outfit The Broken Heartbreakers. Their recent self titled album is an early contender for my best of the year list. Hot on the heels of that release comes a series of limited edition CD singles (sedingles?) available for sale only at Broken Heartbreaker gigs. The first of the singles is Wake Up Monday. Sign up to the Heartbreakers email list on their site to get advance warning of shows and be in quick to get one of the limited to 100 CDs.

Finally, a track from the second Ruby Suns album, Sea Lion. This is a great CD that is much less in debt to the sound of The Beach Boys than their self titled debut but retains complexity and whimsy in the songwriting and instrumentation. The main songwriter, Ryan McPhun is a very clever chap who seems destined for considerable success. A good taster of what the album offers is the song Tane Mahuta which is included in the podcast. I highly recommend you also watch the clip for this and two other Ruby Suns songs on the video page. They are recorded live on the streets of Paris by a great French video podcast site La Blogotheque.

Download the Counting The Beat - New & Recent Releases Feb 08 podcast