Our friendly UPS man just delivered boxes of the brand new ‘Moonstruck’ EP (matinée 079) from Champagne Riot! Here are the complete details:

Debut Matinée release from bold Scandinavian duo Champagne Riot. Formed as a solo project of Caspar Philip Bock (who also serves as bassist in fellow Matinée hitmakers Northern Portrait), Champagne Riot released a superb EP on Shelflife Records in 2008. Along the way, Champagne Riot became a duo with the addition of Anders Reuter and the two proceeded to experiment with new sounds and a bolder approach to pop music. Recording from the basement of a neglected Copenhagen shopping mall, they make pop music of a kind that rarely exists anymore.

Their melodies take you back to a distant youth of sentimental evergreens on noisy AM airwaves, long summers of true love, and endless possibility. Their soundscapes are painted large and grand and draw inspiration from a variety of places, including the world of classical music, Scandinavian melodic tradition, and electronic pop’s greatest torch-carriers including Kraftwerk, New Order and Pet Shop Boys. In contrast to the music, their lyrical universe describes a lifestyle full of chaos and apathy.

‘Moonstruck’ begins the EP with a self-composed classical arrangement that gradually evolves into a massive electronic pop track full of arpeggio synths and layered drum machines plus a sweeping, radio friendly chorus. The song tells the tale of a night out in Gothenburg, Sweden and the resulting paradox of feeling perfect in the moment while realizing a late night crush will never survive the light of day. Have a listen to it on the Soundcloud player below and just try to resist.

Following the lavish title track, ‘Goldrush’ showcases more rich instrumentation including piano, mellotron, harpsichord, layered snare drums, and hand played percussion, while ‘Heart Stab’ is a club hit inspired by classical French pop, with organs and harpsichord melodies mixed with sweeping synthesizers. ‘A Friend Of A Friend’ concludes the EP with a clever mix of electronica and traditional instruments including piano and flute, plus nice female backing vocals. The song celebrates the beauty of shameless laziness, another recurring theme in the life of the band.

Champagne Riot’s uniqueness lies in their ability to translate and express a sense of inner chaos and urge for rebellion through songs of purity, beauty and romance. ‘Moonstruck’ is a confident step forward for the band and a magnificent and unexpected release for Matinée. Perfect for fans of classic electropop or modern artists like The Drums (whom Champagne Riot supported on their recent European tour) or The Radio Dept. Limited to 1000 copies in custom minijacket.

The EP is officially released February 15th but you can get a copy RIGHT NOW exclusively from the trusty Matinée shop!

Hey – we’ve made two more preview clips from the new Lucksmiths ‘Unfamiliar Stars’ DVD (matdvd058)!

The first is an excerpt from the live portion of the DVD of the ever magnificent ‘Untidy Towns’ – a song that will always be one of our favorites as it was our very first release with the band (matinée 004) way back in 1998. I still remember assembling the 7″ with Mark, Marty and Tali (plus Mike Babb of Drive-In Records) around my dining room table just before heading off for the band’s first ever show in Washington DC.

As a bookend to the band’s accomplishments, the second clip is really nice footage of the band recording their final single ‘Get-to-Bed Birds’ (matinée 077) in 2009. Nice t-shirt Tali! This clip comes from the short film ‘Darkening Doorways’ also included on the DVD.

Have you ordered your copy yet? We have a big bag of Lucksmiths buttons and a stack of ‘Unfamiliar Stars’ postcards that we are throwing in with all orders so get to the Matinée shop before we run out. Please see complete release details below.

What a way to start off 2011 – a return to the new release shelf for Australian legends The Lucksmiths and our first foray into the DVD format, oh yes!

Filmed at The Lucksmiths’ August 2009 farewell show at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel, ‘Unfamiliar Stars’ (matdvd058) is both a captivating concert film and a definitive end-of-the-line document, standing tall among the best of the band’s vast discography. Directed by Natalie van den Dungen (The Tote documentary), the film captures the final bittersweet airings of many Lucksmiths favorites as witnessed by a full-house of hometown fans, friends and family. Clocking in at a total of thirty-three songs, the swansong performance is the culmination of farewell tours across Europe and Australia, and finds the band in vintage form, cherry-picking pop gem after pop gem from their sixteen-year career and filling the gaps with a double-dose of irrepressible Lucksmiths repartee.

Here’s the impressive final show set-list: 1) A Hiccup in Your Happiness 2) Good Light 3) A Downside to the Upstairs 4) Synchronised Sinking 5) Myopic Friends 6) Camera-shy 7) Stayaway Stars 8) Untidy Towns 9) The Golden Age of Aviation 10) Take This Lying Down 11) Successlessness 12) Great Lengths 13) Song of the Undersea 14) Under the Rotunda 15) Requiem For the Punters Club 16) Frisbee 17) Macintyre 18) Punchlines 19) Weatherboard 20) Broken Bones 21) The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco 22) Self-Preservation 23) California in Popular Song 24) Smokers in Love 25) Fiction 26) Caravanna 27) A Sobering Thought (Just When One Was Needed) 28) Sunlight in a Jar 29) T-Shirt Weather 30) Midweek Midmorning 31) The Great Dividing Range 32) The Music Next Door 33) The Year of Driving Languorously.

Rounding out the package, ‘Darkening Doorways’ is a short documentary of the band’s final months and presents an intimate view of The Lucksmiths in rehearsal, in the recording studio and throughout their farewell tour.

‘Unfamiliar Stars’ is released officially February 8th but we’ll be shipping all preorders starting January 31st so you don’t have to wait too long. Preorder your copy now exclusively in the Matinée shop! In the meantime, you can view the nifty trailer for the film here:

Please note: this DVD is an all-regions disc in NTSC format. Our chums at the Lost And Lonesome Recording Company in Australia have pressed the DVD in PAL format, so please point your browser Lost and Lonesome-wards if your country uses PAL.

Anyone who bought the recent ‘Matinée Holiday Soirée’ EP (matinée 078) surely noticed a new (to Matinée) name among the featured artists— Copenhagen duo Champagne Riot. The band’s excellent contribution ‘Xmas Safari’, with its orchestral and hypnotic feel, provided a nice electronic contrast to the jingle and jangle of labelmates Bubblegum Lemonade, Math and Physics Club, Northern Portrait, and Strawberry Whiplash.

Champagne Riot began several years ago as a solo project of Caspar Bock Sørensen and released the superb ‘Paris and I’ EP with our pop comrades at Shelflife Records in 2008. The following year, Caspar joined Matinée hitmakers Northern Portrait as they were about to embark on their first set of live dates which brought Caspar to the US for a set of Champagne Riot performances in California. One of the many highlights of those early performances was a new song called ‘A Friend of a Friend’ which reminded us instantly of the fragile best of the Pet Shop Boys. Along the way, Champagne Riot became a duo with the addition of Anders Reuter and the two proceeded to experiment with new sounds and a bolder approach to pop music. Each new song recorded became their best and as 2010 came to a close we were corresponding regularly with them about a debut EP for Matinée.

The resulting ‘Moonstruck’ EP (matinée 079) is now nearly ready and we’re very excited to tell you about it! The title track is clearly their biggest and boldest statement to date and may take some of you by surprise. Over the years Matinée has established itself as a label of quality but also one that somehow evoked a ‘Matinée sound.’ While we have flirted on the edge of indie electronica occasionally (most notably with Simpático, Pipas, and The Snowdrops), most Matinée releases probably didn’t reveal our lifetime adoration of bands like New Order, Pet Shop Boys or Depeche Mode. Until now, that is…

‘Moonstruck’ is a popsong that has that sort of sweeping chorus that is both radio friendly and perfectly suited to the dancefloor. Have a listen to it on the Soundcloud player below and just try to resist. The EP features three more A-sides entitled ‘Goldrush’ and ‘Heart Stab’ and the aforementioned ‘A Friend of a Friend’ which were all briefly considered the lead track of the EP until ‘Moonstruck’ came along to claim that spot. The EP is officially released on February 15 but you can preorder a copy right now exclusively from the Matinée shop and we’ll ship it as soon as we have copies back from the pressing plant next week. We also have limited copies of the ‘Paris and I’ CDEP + 7” release on Shelflife available in the shop if you haven’t already picked that up. Watch for more Champagne Riot news over the next few weeks!

Hello popfans! After counting a heap of votes in our ninth annual Matinée fanclub poll, here are the official results!

The 2010 Matinée album of the year award goes to the smashing debut album ‘Criminal Art Lovers’ (matcd054) from our good Danish friends Northern Portrait with a very impressive 48 votes. Other top choices include the celebrated sophomore album ‘I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do’ (matcd055) from Seattle trio Math and Physics Club (42), the magnificent album ‘Seconds’ (matcd053) from Sweden’s The Electric Pop Group (24), and the ace retrospective ‘Dealing In Antiques (matcd056) from Finland’s finest export Cats on Fire (16).

In the singles category, Australia’s The Lucksmiths and Math and Physics Club share the spotlight as the ‘Get-to-Bed Birds’ 7” (matinée 077) and the ‘Jimmy Had A Polaroid’ 7” (matinée 075) tied with 36 votes each. Northern Portrait came close with 31 votes for the ‘Life Returns To Normal’ 7” (matinée 076), while Scotland’s Bubblegum Lemonade round out the top tier with 24 votes for the ‘Caroline’s Radio’ 7” (matinée 074). Looks like the 7″ single is back to stay!

In the coveted ‘song of the year’ category, Math and Physics Club get the glory with ‘Jimmy Had A Polaroid’ topping the list with 34 votes. The band has ruled this category five of the past six years so they certainly know how to pen a catchy tune. The top five also includes ‘Get-To-Bed Birds’ from The Lucksmiths (31), ‘Crazy’ from Northern Portrait (20), ‘Caroline’s Radio’ from Bubblegum Lemonade (18), and ‘Life Returns To Normal’ from Northern Portrait (15).

Other favorite songs of the year include ‘New Favourite Moment’ from Northern Portrait (12), ‘Not By Another’ from The Electric Pop Group (10), ‘Boy In The Bubble Car’ from Strawberry Whiplash (10), ‘Trying To Say I Love You’ and ‘We’re So DIY!’ from Math and Physics Club (both with 9), ‘The Operation Worked But The Patient Died’ from Northern Portrait (9), ‘The Way It Used To Do’ from The Electric Pop Group (8), and ‘The Münchhausen In Me’ from Northern Portrait (8). Additional songs from Cats on Fire, The Electric Pop Group, The Guild League, Northern Portrait, Pale Sunday, and Simpático complete the top 20.

In the favorite Matinée artist category, The Lucksmiths secured the number one spot for the ninth straight year with 37 votes. Consistent with last year, Northern Portrait (35) and Math and Physics Club (27) took second and third place. Other favorite bands of 2010 include Cats on Fire (15), Brighter (13), Harper Lee (12), Bubblegum Lemonade (10), The Electric Pop Group (10), The Guild League (9), and Would-Be-Goods (8).

The Lucksmiths also retained top billing in the favorite Matinée album of all time category with 31 votes for ‘Warmer Corners’ (matcd039). New release ‘Criminal Art Lovers’ (matcd054) from Northern Portrait proved a serious challenge (30), while old favorites ‘Math and Physics Club’ (matcd042) from Math and Physics Club (25), ‘Singles 1989-1992’ (matcd026) from Brighter (23), and ‘Everything’s Going To Be OK’ (matcd020) from Harper Lee (16) also made the elite top five.

Other album favorites include ‘Where Were We?’ (matcd019) from The Lucksmiths (15), ‘Seconds’ (matcd053) from The Electric Pop Group (14), ‘Out To Sea’ (matcd041) from Brighter (13), ‘Our Temperance Movement’ (matcd052) from Cats on Fire (12), ‘First Frost’ (matcd049) from The Lucksmiths (12), ‘R is for Razorcuts’ (matcd012) from Razorcuts (12), ‘This is Farewell’ (matcd031) from The Fairways (11), ‘I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do’ (matcd055) from Math and Physics Club (11), ‘All Things Can Be Mended’ (matcd033) from Harper Lee (10), and ‘Spring A Leak’ (matcd044) from The Lucksmiths (9).

Northern Portrait have the top Matinée single of all time as their debut ‘The Fallen Aristocracy’ EP (matinée 068) earned 26 votes to lead the final category for a second year. ‘T-Shirt Weather’ EP (matinée 018) from The Lucksmiths (25), ‘Napoleon Sweetheart’ EP (matinée 070) from Northern Portrait (22), ‘Weekends Away’ EP (matinée 056) from Math and Physics Club (18), and ‘Movie Ending Romance’ EP (matinée 059) from Math and Physics Club (17) also made the top five.

Other favorite singles include ‘Train Not Stopping’ EP (matinée 032) from Harper Lee (16), ‘Sunrise’ EP (matinée 067) from The Electric Pop Group (15), ‘Baby I’m Yours’ EP (matinée 066) from Math and Physics Club (14), ‘Feel Good Factor’ EP (matinée 063) from The Hermit Crabs (11), ‘Midweek Midmorning’ EP (matinée 042) from The Lucksmiths (10), ‘He Holds A Flame’ EP (matinée 061) from Harper Lee (9), ‘A Hiccup In Your Happiness’ EP (matinée 060) from The Lucksmiths (10), ‘Picture Perfect’ EP (matinée 072) from Strawberry Whiplash (9), ‘Sunday Lovely Sunday’ EP (matinée 016) from Edson (8), and ‘Emmanuelle Béart’ EP (matinée 030) from Would-Be-Goods (7).

Congratulations to all the Matinée artists and thanks very much to everyone who entered the poll this year. We had a great number of entries from people in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, and USA. The lucky winner of the $50 Matinée prize pack is Jim Dean from Melbourne, Australia. Hurrah! Now, on to the 2011 releases…

We are still counting votes in our annual Matinée fanclub poll and will reveal the 2010 winners following a trip to Washington DC this week. In the meantime, the smashing ‘Matinée Holiday Soirée’ EP topped the Matinée hit parade last month. Here are the top sellers for the final month of 2010:

10. Cats on Fire – Dealing In Antiques CD
9. Various Artists – The Matinée Winter Warmer CD
8. Math and Physics Club – Jimmy Had A Polaroid 7″
7. Bubblegum Lemonade – Caroline’s Radio 7″
6. Northern Portrait – Criminal Art Lovers CD
5. Math and Physics Club – I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do CD
4. Northern Portrait – Life Returns To Normal 7″
3. The Lucksmiths – Get-to-Bed Birds 7″
2. Bubblegum Lemonade – Sophomore Release CD
1. Various Artists – The Matinée Holiday Soirée CDEP