The Jeunes
The Jeunes were a great band:
The Jeunes were a band from Seattle, Washington, influenced primarily by British new wave and post punk. Comparisons ranged from the Cure, Stone Roses, Velvet Underground and Joy Division to Jesus & Mary Chain, Sonic Youth and Opal.
They formed in 2002; disbanded in 2005. Their only release was a four song EP, although they left behind unfinished and unreleased recordings of many more songs.
I just got this email from James Jeune:
Hi Jyoti,
Hope you’re doing well!
I just wanted to let you know we finally got around to releasing your 2004 remix of “Never Be The Same” - on a new LP by the Jeunes called Strangers In The Night.
Ironically the LP is mostly 2008 remixes of recordings the Jeunes made in 2004/5. In keeping with the history of the band, we decided to make it available as a free download. You can download it in 256k MP3 form (with cover art) in a single zip file here. The password to open the file is “june” (without the quotes).
Folks can also download from iTunes, emusic, Amazon and a limited edition CD is available from CD Baby.
Our website is here.
Feel free to give out the free download link on your blog or anywhere else - otherwise feel free to just download a copy for yourself if you’re interested!
cheers,
James (& the Jeunes)
Well, better late than never! 
And it’s FREEEEE!
Merry Crimbo 2008!
Ho ho ho!
As a special festive treat, for one week only you can download the mp3 version of my 2006 ‘A New Surprise EP’ totally free! I’ve even written a little background blurb that I’ve included as a text file.
The EP was originally released as 7″ vinyl by Heavenly Pop Hits, a Swedish indie label.
The songs on the EP are:
A1 A New Surprise
A2 Melissa Joan Hart
B1 Make A Right At Jordfallsmotet (cover version of the classic Agent Simple song)
B2 Theme For A Post-Watershed Cop Show Set In Wellingborough
The zip file of the EP is around 12 megabytes so beware if you’re not on broadband!
Click here to download the EP! Sorry, it’s gone now!
Thanks to all of you for supporting my music, I hope you all have a great Christmas / Saturnalia / whatever and a happy and healthy 2009!
love and kisses,
Jyoti
Me And The 808
Rhodri Marsden has written an excellent article about the TR-808, probably the best drum machine EVER! And I’m very honoured that I was one of the people he interviewed for it. Warning: very high geek factor!
Here you go:
Rhythm king: The return of the Roland 808 drum machine
love and kisses,
Jyoti
PS - I’ll be doing a little festive pressie soon… keep your eyes peeled!
UK Zazzle
Woohoo! Good news if you’re a UK fan and want some tasty White Town / Bzangy Records swag. There’s now a UK version of Zazzle! So, just click here and you can drape yourself in fine frippery!
Why I Love CD Baby
Look! I’m RICH! Well… it’s a start…
Ahhh, look at it. Money I’ve made from music, posted directly to me. No label, no accountants, no expensive audits to see how much money the label has “forgotten” to pay me this time… bliss!
I think this is the fourth cheque this size I’ve got from CD Baby. There were two or three earlier, smaller ones before I raised the payment limit to make the conversion more economical (banks charge to convert because, ummm… they can).
Notice also that most of the money is from digital downloads. In actual, physical CDs, I’m selling a piffling amount. This is the reality for musicians nowadays - nobody really gives a crap about physical product. Sure, I’ll keep on releasing CDs but this is because I’m an old bloke wot likes to hold a lyrics booklet, likes to see artwork. Obviously, that isn’t how most buyers of my music feel. Logically, I should stop manufacturing physical products. But I won’t because I’m nostalgic and illogical and love the feeling when a new album of mine arrives in shrinkwrap. Releasing an album only as an mp3… it just wouldn’t feel as real to me.
Also, the bulk of that digital income is from iTunes. I tried to get on iTunes for around a year with no joy, even got my lawyer to email them. CD Baby got me on there in about a month. That income is money that, if I’d left it to Apple’s iTunes Store admin team, I would never have earned.
If you’re an independent musician who hasn’t ever tried CD Baby, check them out. Having been a musician for 25+ years now, I can tell you it brings a tear to my rheumy old eye to actually get paid for my work.
I’d also like to thank every one of you out there who’s paid to buy my music. Believe me, it does mean a lot to me!
Don’t Mention The War iTunes Review!
Yaay! It’s taken a while but there’s now an official review for ‘Don’t Mention The War’ up on iTunes. Here it is:
White Town’s “Your Woman” was probably the most unlikely one-hit wonder of the 1990s, a rather brilliant mash-up of a 1930s vintage trumpet sample, old-school synth pop rhythms, and playful gender-bending lyrics.
But Jyoti Mishra knew the musical mainstream wasn’t for him and cleverly left EMI to return to the indie underground that had spawned his one-man band. Unfortunately, the resulting album, 2000’s Peek & Poke, was terribly inconsistent, and afterward, Mishra seemed to disappear entirely.
Returning to music with the self-released and completely self-created (down to shooting the cover photos and designing the packaging) Don’t Mention the War, Mishra has unexpectedly created his most consistently entertaining album so far.
The 12 songs on Don’t Mention the War (title courtesy of Fawlty Towers, but also pointedly acknowledging the extent to which a war that has lasted longer than World War II is ignored in the day-to-day life of most Brits and Americans) fuse all sides of White Town’s musical personality, from early guitar-oriented twee pop EPs to the dance beats and electronics of Women in Technology and the sometimes strident political themes of Peek & Poke.
For the purest expression of the last, note “These Are the MPs,” a set of minimalist synth washes over which Mishra recites the names of the members of Parliament who voted to authorize the Iraq war, a track that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a very early Mute Records single.
Other songs are considerably brighter in tone, even when Mishra’s lyrics tend toward the dark. Highlights include “A New Surprise,” two and a half minutes of acoustic guitars, handclaps, and winsome lyrics (”Where are the Jetsons and flying restaurants?/Where is my golf course on the moon?”) that sound like a vintage Sarah Records single circa 1991, the sweet-natured electro-pop of “I Was Trotsky’s Nun,” and the excellently titled, atmospheric instrumental “Theme for a BBC Natural History Series Starring Richard Dawkins.”
It may have taken over half a decade, but Mishra has finally conclusively proven that he deserves more attention than one fluke hit has given him.
What a lovely review! Thanks, iTunes!
You can see how accurate the review is by clicking here for iTunes or here for CD Baby! 
Buy Stuff!
Do you long to wear a tiny, independent record label’s logo on your chest? A label no-one’s ever heard of, hence making you cooler than liquid helium?
Are you a long-time White Town fan who’d love to have teeny-tiny badge versions of all my albums?
Well, today’s your lucky day!
I’ve just opened a suitably miniscule merch shop. Click here!
(Oh, and you can choose colours, sizes and even styles of top. But I’d steer clear of the camo.)
Women In Technology on Play Digital
Play.com have pre-empted Amazon’s DRM-free mp3 service with their own shop. And I’m pleased to see my EMI album on there for a bit cheaper than you can get it on iTunes. Well… four pence cheaper! Also, it’s iTunes Plus so there’s no DRM on that download either.
But if you’re anti-Apple or simply prefer downloaded mp3s, check out the Play.com shop!
Make The World Go Away - HD
White Town - Make The World Go Away from Jyoti Mishra on Vimeo.
I’ve just joined Vimeo so now you can see the vid I made for ‘Make The World Go Away’ in lovely HD. Yaaay!
If you click the little pic marked ‘Full’ in the bottom left, it should launch the super-duper, fullscreen version.
Death In Kettering (Acoustic Version)
Hello!
This evening, I was feeling a bit woolly and reflective, remembering how much fun it was to play in Stockholm last week. So I recorded an acoustic version of ‘Death In Kettering’ and I thought I’d share it with you lovely peeps. It’s the sound of me around 8.30pm!
You can hear it and also download the mp3 for free by clicking here.
The track was recorded straight to stereo, no overdubs or studio magix, all I’ve done is EQ it a bit. So it’s a bit rough but quite representative of what I sound like live with just a guitar (ie, a bit rough).
Hope you like it!
love and kisses,
Jyoti
PS - And the original electronic version is available to listen for free or buy here.
