A few odds and ends tonight as I help unravel the mystery of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”, share some lesser known quality tunes that have passed through my airspace, and continue my coverage of hip-hop’s “Lil”s.

Viking Kittens: A co-worker instant messaged me today with a link: http://www.vikingkittens.com. Not knowing what I was getting myself into, and ensuring that this was not an act of NSFW sabotage, I inquired about it. “Not at all”, he replied, “you may even want to share this on Ickmusic.” How right he was. As I clicked into the link, and the vision of two sea warrior felines appeared, the mighty intro into Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” sounded. And the kittens began to sing. And the lyrics appeared. And years and years of mumbling my way through parts of the song are now a thing of the past. “Valhalla I am coming!”

Viking Kittens (web site)

The Appearance: If anyone can follow Viking Kittens, it’s this band. The Appearance are a Southern California band who grew up on SoCal skate punk and 80’s metal. Their debut album, Lost in Aurora, is scheduled for an April release. They nailed down a well known producer / engineer, Chris Fudurich, for this album. Chris has worked on albums by the likes of AFI, Jimmy Eat World, Nada Surf, and Matthew Sweet. Their debut single is the title track, and danged if I don’t have it for you right here…

Lost in Aurora (mp3) – if you dig it, support these guys by going to iTunes and buying the song.

Check out their video on YouTube.

The Appearance’s Official Site | MySpace

Orange is In: These guys (and a gal) are a Houston band who caught my attention because they mentioned The Boss as an influence. Their new CD, Another Lame Semi-Tragedy, “takes Springsteen-style drama for a road trip down a dusty Texas back road.” Not too shabby of a tune. I’m a fan of Marah, and I could picture lead singer Dave Bielanko belting out this tune. The chorus though: “on and on and on”… that reminds me of another song, and I have no idea which one. Hmm.. help?

Run Towards the Warmth of the Sun (mp3) – from Another Lame Semi-Tragedy

Listen Here:

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Orange is In’s Web Site | MySpace

Joel Rieke: Joel came to me in the form of a MySpace friend invitation. I try to check out every one, and fail miserably, but this one I did click into, and I’m glad I did. The default tune on there is called “Talking.” It’s – how you say? – infectious, catchy, and overall quality tuneage. Joel doesn’t have an mp3 up. But I say to you people, go to his MySpace page and listen to it! I also emailed him to ask for an mp3. Maybe I’ll have one up soon.

Listen to “Talking” on Joel Rieke’s MySpace. Seriously.

Lil’ Scrappy: One of my resolutions for the new year is to post about any “Lil” I come across in the hip-hop world. I started a few weeks ago with Lil’ Flip, and tonight, Lil’ Scrappy takes the spotlight. He hails from Atlanta, and was discovered by and signed to Lil’ Jon’s (one more Lil) label BME Recordings, which was brought into Warner Bros. Records as a joint venture. Check out the new video. You’ll learn fast that ol’ Scrappy likes his Cartier frames.

Oh Yeah (Quicktime Video) | Oh Yeah (Windows Media Player Video)

Lil’ Scrappy’s Official Site