Palo Alto Pop Overthrow: Featured albums in Q4 2009

Well folks, I'll be the first to admit that I've been behind on posting each weekly featured album to the blog. So, let's go back and review the previous quarter's worth, so that we're up to date.

October 1st - Scotland Yard Gospel Choir

Credit: Casey Black for Bloodshot Records

Due to recent events, the first week of October we opted to feature an artist, rather than an album. The band in question was the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir from Chicago. They've been featured on the PAPO before, but we felt it was important to bring them back up: they had just debuted a new album, entitled "...and the horse you rode in on," and were out on tour supporting it, when they ended up in a very bad accident involving their touring van. The members of the band spent considerable time in the hospital - and like many fledgling independent bands, some members of the band were without health insurance. Since then, guitarist/vocalist Mary Ralphs has written some reflections on being suddenly disabled. For more information about how you can help the band members recover, please visit their donations page on the web site of Bloodshot Records. Playlist.

October 8th - Kirsty MacColl

Source: 1gl@flickr

Once again breaking with our custom of featuring an album, we had our second annual tribute to the late, great singer and performer Kirsty MacColl. Kirsty has been referred to as a "female Elvis Costello", or even as the "Dorothy Parker of pop." Born as the daughter of folk singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl, she had the pleasure of working with David Byrne, Johnny Marr, Shane McGowan, Neil Finn among others. On October 10th she would have celebrated her 50th birthday. We played a wide sampling of her music, and gave a historical overview of her career, her collaborations, and her life. Playlist.

October 15th - Camera Obscura: "My Maudlin Career"
Three years after the release of their first album, the band Camera Obscura comes back with "My Maudlin Career", produced by Jari Haapalainen, of The Bear Quartet. Featured tracks: French Navy, My Maudlin Career, The Sweetest Thing. Playlist.

October 22nd - "Why Isn't Chris von Sneidern Famous?" with Director Kathleen McNamara

credit: Charlie Homo Photography

Kathleen McNamara, the director of "Why Isn't Chris von Sneidern Famous?" stopped by the PAPO to chat about her film debut. See the blog post for more information.

October 29th - The Corner Laughers: "Ultraviolet Garden" and live in-studio performance

Credit: Ivy

For the second time in as many years, our good friends The Corner Laughers stopped by to chat and perform several of their delightful pop tunes. Angela, Charlie, Karla, and Khoi had just released their new album, "Ultraviolet Garden" on John Wesley Harding's Popover Corps label, so we were pleased to hear stories from its inception, along with live renditions of many of their new songs. Playlist.

November 5th - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: "Higher Than The Stars"

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are an Indie pop band from NYC. Their short, four song EP, "Higher Than The Stars" was a part of KZSU's new music rotation, having been released two months prior on Slumberland. In case you're curious, the band's name came from a children's story written by a friend of the band, that has never been published. Featured tracks: Falling Over, 103, and Twins. Playlist.

November 12th - The Clientele: "Bonfires on the Heath"

The Clientele originally formed in 1991 in suburban Hampshire, and was originally called 'The Butterfly Collectors'. Who knew?! Their music strongly recalls Archer Prewitt. If you're curious about the inspirations for this album, you should check out a great interview that self-titled did with The Clientele. Featured tracks: Never Anyone But You, Three Month Summers, and Share The Night. Playlist.

November 19th - Wiretree: "Luck"

Wiretree is Kevin Peroni (vocals, guitar, keys), Rachel Peroni (bass), Joshua Kaplan (guitar), and Daniel Blanchard (drums). They're an indie pop band from Austin, TX with equal parts Matthew Sweet and Elliot Smith. Their first album, "Bouldin," is one of the most played albums of all time on the PAPO, so we were very excited to highlight their latest work. Featured tracks: Falling, Satellite Song. Playlist.

November 26th - Dreaming in Stereo: "Dreaming in Stereo"

Dreaming in Stereo is the project of singer and songwriter Fernando Perdomo. His music is equal parts power pop and 70's era art rock, which Perdomo has wistfully self-labelled as "progressive pop." Despite being highly successful in his work for other artists, he has no reservation with taking himself less than seriously, as you'll see in this music video for our favorite track, "Steal This Song." Featured tracks: Steal This Song, Smile, and Decisions, Decisions. Playlist.

December 3rd - Manic Street Preachers: "Journal for Plague Lovers"
Going on for nearly a quarter century now, The Manics are back with another album full of glam hooks and zany lyrics. It seems nothing is off limits for this band; case in point, our favorite track off of the album is called "Me and Stephen Hawking." Featured tracks: Marlon J.D., Me and Stephen Hawking, and This Joke Sport Severed. Playlist.