We don’t normally post our work on this blog, since finding great music for clients is just what we do! However, since this TV commercial for Peugeot 308 CC Allure aired last week, we have been inundated by people asking what song we chose. Well, it’s ‘Easy As 123′ by Stephanie Kirkham, a new artist soundlounge discovered while carrying out one of our in-depth searches. We look forward to seeing her career blossom…

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The soundlounge jukebox is our outlet for sharing the cream of the music industry with all. Updated every few weeks, it offers a chance for people who don’t have much time to sample good quality music, whether new releases or hidden gems from the archives. We receive music from all the majors, indies, publishers and sometimes the artists themselves and will bring to your desk (and attention) some of the most interesting and diverse music out there.

Visit the soundlounge jukebox to hear the following tracks.

Seven – Fever Ray
The debut solo album from Fever Ray, an alias of Karin Dreijer Andersson of the Swedish electronic duo The Knife, along with her brother Olof Dreijer. Anderson revealed to one journalist that Fever Ray has its roots in sleep deprivation. That makes sense when you hear the album, which strips away the dance beats that grounded The Knife’s ‘Silent Shout’ album, leaving behind ominous clouds of electronics and a penchant for synthetically manipulating her vocals. This is an astonishingly stark and brooding record, built on the barest of electronic bones and brought to life through Andersson’s almost primal vocals. It’s not exactly plain sailing, and what may be bewitchingly hypnotic to some will sound a tad repetitive to others.

French Navy – Camera Obscura
Hailing from Glasgow, Camera Obscura formed in 1996 but it was five years before they released their first album, Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi in 2001. Since then they have released three further albums, the most recently being this year’s My Maudlin Career. They have always fought inevitable comparisons to other Glaswegian indie outfits such as Belle And Sebastian claiming they do not want to be part of a scene. Certainly their Phil Spector, wall of sound-esque production style sets them apart from most bands around at them moment. The playful strings and reverb heavy vocals hark back to a golden age of pop, long may it continue.

Speed – Quad Throw Salchow
I won’t even try to understand the name of this band, but ‘Speed’ is an album that oozes post-punk from every orifice. Reduced, electronic, mechanical, full of reverb, and with dark and venomous vocals courtesy of artist/producer O de Lanzac. The album builds layer upon repetitive layer to create a sense of disturbance and movement not unlike a cross-fertilization between Joy Division and The Fall’s early work. De Lanzac’s vocals burst over the mechanical backing like a raspy Patty Smith drugged and singing gibberish in the bath, which completely contrasts the mechanical beats. Both dark, diabolical and delerious at the same time.

It’s Only Been A Week – Skint & Demoralised
A duo consisting of Matt Abbott, an open-mic poet from Wakefield, and the mysterious Mini Dog, a so-far-anonymous Sheffield producer and musician. They ‘met’ on the internet after Dog (or should that be Mini?) came across Abbott while searching for a vocalist to put words to his music. It’s a match made in musical heaven: the duo’s debut album, Love And Other Catastrophes, is a fantastic slab of northern-soul-meets-indie-street poetry. They recorded it in New York with the great Dap-Kings. The Dap-Kings are most known in the UK for their work on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album and Mark Ronson’s Version. There’s not a bad track on this album and it was difficult choosing one for you listening pleasure – enjoy.

Kelly – Van She
I know you’ve probably had enough of 80’s influenced synth pop by now but this is a cracking track from Australian band Van She. They met at a rock band audition calling for musicians with influences including Sepultra, Entombed, Black Skull and Phil Collins. Ironically they were originally billed as the next fresh thing despite their reliance on 80’s influences, since then though their sound has become more textured and this is a great catchy tune for the summer.

Liar Lion – Wild Birds & Peacedrums
Wildbirds & Peacedrums are a contemporary experimental two-piece hailing from Sweden and consisting of husband and wife duo, singer Mariam Wallentin and drummer Andreas Werliin. Their instruments consist of her powerful vocals and his unorthodox percussion/drumming, resulting in a powerful, innovative sound. The resulting effect sits somewhere between folk, blues and jazz and their sound ranges from a gentle warble a tribal chant. This track goes some way to illustrate how they have evolved from their first album, which was relatively basic and stripped back. Here they incorporate more percussive elements and even a few electronic textures creating what feels like a much more complete sound.

Listen to these tracks on the soundlounge jukebox.

Enjoy! – Brian & Sam
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The day of reckoning has finally arrived. Today, the much-lauded Barack Obama brand machine, which has been working around the clock to inspire and influence a global audience, will finally stand up and be counted. And so far, so good, with recent figures from CBS and the New York Times suggesting that 80 per cent of Americans feel positive about the next four years under the former Illinois senator. But while few would cast doubt on Obama’s personal sentiment during his stirring speeches, his success is by no means one solely of his own making.

Like all politicians, Obama has marketed himself to the max and earlier this week uniquely demonstrated the invaluable impact of a relatively new kind of branding. This technique uses music to represent a brand’s core beliefs and values – it’s about finding the sound of the brand. While we are all exposed to music in commercials on a regular basis, Sunday’s We Are One concert held at Washington DC’s Lincoln Memorial, was a first-class demonstration of the importance of music branding on a different scale. The event proved to those in attendance and indeed, the rest of the world, how sound can not only trigger strong emotions but target any number of different groups and simultaneously unite them.

So what is the “Sound of Obama”? Read more…

The soundlounge office can be quite the cacophony of sounds from time to time, but there are days when the stars align and we all agree not to touch the eject button on the stereo receiver.  This led to my favorite personal pastime, which soundlounge will now open to the public:  top five music lists.

This week we will focus on the currents – the discs that have yet to be shelved and still remain within an arms length of the stereo.

With respect to the author of High Fidelity, Nick Hornby, and the great cast from the film, especially John Cusack and Jack Black – we shall begin.

‘In no particular order’

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

2. Georgia Anne Muldrow – Olesi: Fragments of Earth + (Instrumentals)

3. Girl Talk – Feed The Animals

4. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes

5. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles

Our music supervisior Sam’s wish is for some afterthoughts, so here they are:

Burial – Distant Lights

Little Joy – Little Joy

Ra Ra Riot – The Rhumb Line

Q-Tip – The Renaissance

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

We will be back with more lists, but the committee will have to meet again. Until then, check out our jukebox.

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A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

Who was this mystery violinist in the metro station? Read more…