If there's one thing that I like about covers is that when it totally reinvents the original. Like when Steven Tyler reinvented himself to become Janice Dickinson...oh, wait, they're not the same person?

Nevertheless, if you loved Pomplamoose's cover of I Don't Want to Miss A Thing, you can head on over to their YouTube channel because they've got tons more of those nifty covers as well as great originals for your listening pleasure :)

In an effort to break the 90's flashback theme going on in the past few posts, our Fresh from the Post artist swings us back to the present....an 80's themed present that is.

The Venus Stare are Anthoni "Toni" Lone, Edward Clipse, Angela Maze and Linda Ipgloss - four friends admittedly obsessed with 1980s powerballads and outrageous 80's fashion. The video above is their freshly released music video for their time-warp generating single Close To You - which the band debuts today on The Indie Music Database.

We had a quick chat with the group about their new release and how one little eighties movie started it all -

Close To You (Fear of Tigers Remix)

Since we're on the topic of the 1980's here, can I get a poll of  80's related stuff from you guys?

Favorite 80's band:  Heart 
Favorite 80's movie: Mannequin / Big Trouble In Little China
Favorite 80's Saturday morning cartoon: The Mysterious Cities Of Gold

 I admire your choice of medium in releasing your album - I don't think anybody uses cassette tapes anymore (well, I guess they still have that in some old cars). Do you think the cassette will mark a comeback like vinyl did?

We saw some other band put an album out on cassette last year, and there is a love of analogue, so there could well be a resurgence, but we're not sure if it will make a huge comeback. We chose it because of connotations of the 80s, making mixtapes for friends which everyone loved doing.

For my last question, I always ask this to all the bands that I feature (as our site is about indie music). What is your definition of indie music?

I guess we see indie music as music created without a machine behind it. Made for the love of music, not for the love of money.

***

I do really give my age away when I gush about the eighties - which The Venus Stare makes me do. Just to answer my own eighties poll, Heart might be grand but my favorite 80's band would have been A-ha (live action + cartoons in a music video, what's not to like?). And to note, Big Trouble in Little China was the first movie I stayed up late for, to watch on TV when I was a kid. As far as 80's Saturday morning cartoons go, I don't know why, but the Pole Position theme got stuck in my head just now.

For The Venus Stare, there's no denying that they've got the eighties sound down pat - which actually makes me really excited for the next couple of songs that they have under their sleeve. For now, we've got their cool new single and video to satiate our hungry 80's music appetites with.

The Venus Stare will be releasing their first single Close To You on March 22 as a digital download as well as a limited edition signed cassette tape available through their online shop at http://thevenusstare.bigcartel.com/

For today's Fresh from the Post, we go with some folksy guitar pop with Saul Ste. Marie, Ontario's Kalle Mattson. The group started out in 2007 with singer-songwriter Kalle Wainio, and grew to a full band with the addition of Rory Lewis, Théan Slabbert  and Jimmie Chiverelli, releasing two albums- 2008's Telescope EP and 2009's full length album Whisper Bee.

A group on the rise, Kalle Mattson has been recently nominated at this year's Northern Ontario Music Awards. They're also slotted to perform at the upcoming Canadian Music Week in Toronto.

We talk with the group's frontman Kalle Wainio, who gets to answer this week's Fresh from the Post questions -

I guess I begano writing songs roughly two years ago after my mom passed away. I think it's very cliche to think that that was the only reason I began writing songs, and I don't think it was the sole reason that I started, but there is something to be said for having something tragic happen to you that changes your life in many ways, and starting to write songs was one of the major changes in mine. Music wasn't even in my life until I was in my mid-teens, (which must have killed my dad who's an avid music fan and musicologist), but it quickly became an obsession and then eventually I began writing songs and Kalle Mattson started.

How did you choose the pseudonym Kalle Mattson?
People tend to have a tough enough time pronouncing Kalle as it is (like the spinach kids!) and you bring that with Wainio (yeesh) it's just a recipe for disaster. Mattson is my middle name and I tend to like it better, sound and shape wise, it also has a symmetrical thing with Kalle, two L's and two T's which is quite nice.

You guys look so young, if you don't mind us asking, how old are you?

Jimmie Chiverelli our drummer is 24 and then Thean Slabbert (bass), Rory Lewis (guitar) and myself are all 19, so right now we're all just above legal drinking age. Rory, Thean and I have just moved to Ottawa to go music school this September and Thean and I are studying classical guitar and Rory is studying music production. Ol' Jimmie still lives in Sault Ste. Marie (our hometown) and he flies in for shows here in Ottawa (commitment!), but it's all worked out quite well despite the distance.

I've seen an emergence of really great musicians that are starting out quite young. Do you think this easy access to a great range of music that the internet provides nowadays is playing a part in that?

I'm seeing more and more young folks become so well rounded when it comes to music.
I think the internet definitely has played a role in allowing me to find and search for a lot of older records that are hard to come by but, ultimately I think it really is about the environment you're in music wise. I was in a house where Beatles, the Smiths, Ron Sexmith and Wilco records were all at my disposal and I think that really shaped my musical tastes and the music I want to make. I think the internet allowed me to dig even further and find more obscure stuff, I think it's a combination of what you're exposed to and how you can get your hands on it.

Some people have described your music as new music for the old soul. Where do you draw your inspirations from the songs that you make?

I think songwriting wise I try to focus on the poetic side of lyrics and try to create imagery while still maintaining a story.My three favorite songwriters are Neil, Dylan and Jeff Tweedy, and each one for certain reasons. With Dylan, he obviously doesn't need any other reasoning other than that every songwriter out there owes a world to him and I'm no different. With Neil, I feel there's more of a connection between him, it might be a Canadian thing (which I'm sure I'm not alone with) but it's also the fact that you feel he's "real" or "authentic", which in cases like Bob Dylan or Tom Waits that's not always true, so that part of Neil's writing very endearing and something I strive for. With Jeff and Wilco, I think they're the best band on planet today and definitely a band Kalle Mattson strives to be like, they might not be fully getting it now but I think in 20 years time Wilco will definitely get their due and be remembered as one of the best bands of our time period.

Which songs would you like to share for our readers this week?

I guess we'll go with 'Hall Of Oats and 'Jack Frost', both from our newest full length 'Whisper Bee'.
'Jack Frost' was my attempt at conveying the feeling of being in love, yet, with knowing that it could possibly not work out. Some people have perceived it as a breakup song, but I really find that it can be interpreted as really hopeful as well as being sad. It also has a sneaky Dylan reference.
Kalle Mattson at one point in time was just a duo between myself and Rory, and someone, at some point in time decided to compare us to Hall & Oats (go figure?), so we thought it would be funny to name a song after that. We also gave it some other meaning by saying it was about all the girls in art class that only draw horses, you can draw your own conclusions as to what that means.

Hall of Oats


Jack Frost



I always ask this to all people we feature because I'm intrigued on how other people would define indie music - especially musicians themselves. What, for you, is indie music?

To me 'indie' refers to a certain musical "aesthetic" and sound, coupled with being on an independent label. To me the first band that carried the "aesthetic" along with the sound would be the Velvet Underground, and that certain feel has been carried through bands throughout decades but, to me I think the band that best encapsulates what "indie music" is would be Pavement. They seem to be pretty synonymous with the word and are a definite reference point for anyone in a guitar based 'indie rock' band.

***

In their MySpace page, Kalle Mattson describes their sound as something that would result - 'If Nick Drake went to Sault Ste. Marie, sang a Bob Dylan cover with Wilco as his backing band, guest staring Stephen Malkmus and Neil Young and then went to record his album with Jim O'Rourke and Radiohead.' Whether or not you're a fan of any of the name-dropped artists - Kalle Mattson's sound is something that's definely appealing, and fresh to the ears. This is a young group that's got the chops, and they're also another one to keep on your list of bands to watch out for.

You can catch them perform in Toronto during Canadian Music Week : Wednesday, March 10 at 9:00 pm at The Central, and you can also grab a copy of their latest album Whisper Bee, here.

Nothing cheers me up more than people doing the crazy dance while someone sings 'I want to live in an asylum' . Our Video of the Week comes from Belfast trio Not Squares whose lovely single 'Asylum' makes me want to scream 'more cowbell please!'.

**Update: Looks like the band also has Asylum as a free download on their bandcamp. So, head on there if you want to add it on to your mp3 player and take the crazy dance to the streets ;)

En Tout Cas is Jimmy Cain, Dave Cameron, Skube Burnell and Marc Stubberfield, a four-piece band from Melbourne, Australia - who create noisy guitar pop inspired by quiet walks along the beach and hemorrhagic fever.

They just finished wrapping up their new EP, 'Dengue Fever' -  which will be out next month, and had some time to kill for a Fresh from the Post Q and A. Their drummer Skube takes a shot at our questions and gives a sampling of what's in store for us on their upcoming EP release -

How did En Tout Cas get started?

It started in late 2005 as just a garage band, just me and Dave.  We invited Jim to come over and jam and he added alot to the table.  We began writing songs after Jim was in and needed a bassist.  We actually went out specifically looking for a bassist at this "indie" club in the city one night and found Marc.  It was a good find.

Your new EP,  is called Dengue Fever, which has a cool and upbeat title track of the same name. I grew up in a tropical country most of my life where dengue fever was quite common and I still remember getting hospitalized for a couple of days where they give you those tourniquet tests to see if you still have it. Luckily, I didn’t need blood transfusion - but it was a nice few days off from school. My question is, have you guys ever had dengue fever before? If so, I don’t suppose the experience inspired you to do the song or it would be about delirious fevers and bouts of nausea.

I don't think any of us have had Dengue Fever ever.  We wrote it in the middle of Summer and the name was thought up as a working title by Dave and it stuck, I was loving it cause I hate songs that are named by the vocal hook of the song, you'll play this song thinking it's about Dengue Fever but you don't know what you will be getting yourself into..

Can you tell us more about the two tracks that we have up here off your upcoming EP?

Dengue Fever - Unofficially our first single, was written right in the middle of Summer at Dave's holiday house, and at that point with just the guitar, before vocal ideas had been put down, the song already had a "Summer" feel to it so the vocals a week or two later followed in that direction.  From my point of view it's upbeat instrumentally with negative lyrics if you do read into it.


Wait Along Time - This was the last song we wrote before heading into the studio, over two weeks all parts were changed around and it was noticeably taking form.  I think we spent the most time on that particular song when we were in the studio and it really shows.  The vibe of the song brings to mind images of a 'Clint Eastwood' Western movie, with the desolate sounding guitar, whistles and echoed shakers.  I think it's the most different song we've written so far, so from the start we really wanted to include this song on the EP.  The name of this track will be renamed prior to release of the EP, March 6th 2010 so consider it a working title temporarily.


Last but not the least, I always ask this question to all bands we feature. What is your definition of ‘indie music’?

I can't really give a definition but the label 'indie' always brings to mind lo-fi bands with a stripped down sound in general.  It seems to have become a bit of a fad label among new bands as it's really become popular.  I think everybody has a different idea of what is indie music.  As with any other genre it's broad so you can't really narrow it to one band as an example.  We've been labelled as indie rock and alternative pop by reviewers and listeners, I guess that sounds about right.

***

En Tout Cas is a band that always aims to be different . They've got a knack for picking out unique sounding names - from their own French moniker, to the title of their EP carrier single. They've also got a talent for creating instantly likeable songs. Whether it's indie rock or alternatve pop, they create music and make it their own.

Dengue Fever will be available on iTunes, March 6th. If you're in the area, the band is also doing an EP launch on the same day at the East Brunswick Club in Melbourne. You can check out the band's Myspace page for more information - http://www.myspace.com/entoutcasmusic

I always love bands that come from non-english speaking countries - especially ones that release records in english. For me, there's always a draw to artists that step out of their comfort zone to create something that can reach a larger audience - and I thank them, because with my limited knowledge of the world's many languages and my own unending need for new music - they give me something new to whet my appetite with.

This week's Fresh from the Post artist comes from a little Belgian town called Huy. They've been around for a while, supporting acts such as The Rakes, Maximo Park and The Charlatans and (according to their bio) have a long standing quest to find 'that perfect pop song to appeal to housewives and students, CEOs and motorists stuck in traffic jam for days'. That's a pretty specific target audience if you ask me - whether or not they've achieved it is up to the housewives, students, CEOs and motorists in question. For today though, they take a short break from that long standing quest as Showstar's Chris, Tony, Dave, Dannny and Bruce talk to us about their band and their newly released album 'Think Ringo' -

By a sheer fluke. It was the name of one of our guitar amp ... a Klemt Echolette Showstar ! We liked it cause it was so tongue in cheek ...

You've got a new album is entitled Think Ringo, can you let us know what your fans can expect from it?

It's just ten indie pop songs. But there's a lot of ourselves in it ! Three years of writing, more than 30 songs. Hopes, doubts, hesitations ... we experimented a lot. We recorded the demos at home and then, we had to choose ten or eleven songs to get into the studio ... We received at great help from the producer, Gareth Parton. He's such a nice guy. We already worked with him on our previous album ("Dot") and he did a great job again !

Think Ringo – is that a homage to Ringo Starr? Some tracks sound a bit Beatle-esque…or is it just me drawing references to the Beatles because of your album’s title?

Both. Ringo is the guy behind the "other guys". Not so important at first sight but so essential.
For us, THINK RINGO also means : keep it simple. Play it simple, to the basics ("think Ringo", always said Gareth to our drummer). While writing the album, we tried to experiment, to find new directions. But it was way too complicated for us ! We decided to stick to what we probably do best : pop songs.

Actually, a lot of people do draw reference to Beatles when they hear really great music – I guess the Beatles have become some sort of a measuring stick to determine what’s popularly known as good.

Above all, it's a band we all really like (some of us more than others : they even bought the Beatles Rock Band !). They are like a lightouse for us ...

We've got two tracks here from Think Ringo. Can you let us know a little bit more about these tracks?

Residents of the lost Club : the story and the making of Think Ringo, very personal lyrics, nobody will ever understand the words. We think it's a lovely introduction to the band and the way we're making music.

(Love) : this is not a love song ! We really enjoy playing it live, pure pop music with a lot of energy and cynism. It will be the second song taken from THINK RINGO here in Belgium, perfect for Valentine Day ...


And for our last question, a question that I always ask everyone - what is your definition of ‘indie music’?

Music that goes straight to your heart.

***

Behind the Beatles references and that little bit of Sgt. Pepper's atmosphere that you get when listening to Think Ringo, Showstar's music is music that can most likely go straight to your heart. They're definitely one of those bands that can make you say - yes, this is why I love indie music.

You can check out more tracks from Showstar's new album, 'Think Ringo' at their official website: www.showstar.be

As a post-Valentine treat, our video of the week is about a mighty love - a love that's strictly from the bottom and simply from the head...whatever that means. This one is from Indonesian band Zeke and the Popo with 'Mighty Love' - a neat and nicely done video which uses that ever so popular technique of still photos as motion video.