Keeping with this ongoing theme of new albums I’ve failed to mention over the past month or so continues with A Sunny Day In Glasgow and their recently released second album titled Ashes Grammar.  As their name may lead you to believe, they are not actually from Glasgow or anywhere remotely nearby, but are actually a Philadelphia-based group.

I remember hearing them on the radio a few years ago while driving through Atlanta on the interstate.  I was instantly hooked, and not knowing for months what the exact song I heard was incredibly agonizing.  Of course, I figured out the song (“Wake Up Pretty”); but to this day, I still have not listened to Scribble Mural Comic Journal in its entirety.  There’s no real reason to attribute to it; I guess I was just content with listening to bits and pieces of it.

That being said, it kind of made the release of Ashes Grammar a bit anticlimactic for me.  I kind of gave it one of those “Oh hey, I know those guys!” sort of reactions.  After listening to “Failure” for the first time, I was instantly reminded why I liked these guys.  I’ve always had a rough time with people tossing the Shoegaze tag on them, as it just seems so lazy to label them with that.

I’m not even sure if I could think of a genre to describe them outside of just a very dense, ambient-laden kind of dream pop.  It’s music that’s completely lost within itself, which may not sound like much of a compliment, but it just makes as I listen to these songs (all 22 of them).

MP3: A Sunny Day In Glasgow :: “Failure”
MP3: A Sunny Day In Glasgow :: “Ashes Grammar Ashes Maths”

Image: Flickr

Reading all of the news, emails and just about everything else revolving around SXSW has me a little sad that I once again (three times straight since I started blogging) am not able to partake in this year’s proceedings.  As always, I say to myself “Hey, maybe next year!” but for the time being I will just stew here in my chair until next week. Knowing that isn’t really productive, I figured why not make a little mix to cheer myself up?  What else can turn a frown upside down than a bunch of fun pop songs, or even for a random, lazy Sunday afternoon.  Hope this finds you in happy spirits!

MP3: A Sunny Day in Glasgow :: “Best Summer Ever”
Scribble Mural Comic Journal (2007)
MP3: Jens Lekman :: “I Don’t Know If She’s Worth 900 kr”
You Deserve Someone Better Than A Bum Like Me EP (2005)
MP3: Pants Yell! :: “Magenta and Green”
Alison Statton (2007)
MP3: Camera Obscura :: “Let’s Get Out Of This Country”
Let’s Get Out Of This Country (2006)
MP3: Heavenly :: “C Is The Heavenly Option”
Le Jardin de Heavenly (1992)
MP3: The Divine Comedy :: “Something For The Weekend”
Casanova (1997)
MP3: The Lucksmiths :: “Untidy Towns”
Happy Secret (1999)
MP3: Belle & Sebastian :: “Lazy Line Painter Jane”
Lazy Line Painter Jane EP (1997)