Vice are hosting a special party on October 29th to celebrate the half century anniversary of the iconic Dr. Martens brand. Get on down to the secret East London venue and enjoy sets by Flats (i bloody love that band) and the Black Lips, amongst others, by registering for FREE tickets at the Facebook event page (just write your name down).
I've been very busy not blogging lately so i thought i'd come back with a vengeance. I offer up the following three videos as part of this vengeance. These aren't just any old videos however, no. They're all united by a little bit of bleary-eyed crying. You've all probably seen these videos before, but only now are they all brought together under one thematically cohesive blog post.
1. Kele- Everything You Wanted
Kele's latest single sees him walking the streets of New York, at times looking determined, at others more bewildered. It all culminates in a tear-stained breakdown. Aaawww, despite his new found muscle-bound exterior it seems he's still the introverted softie of old on the inside.
2. Janelle Monae- Cold War
I know, I know, I've already posted this, but so what? It's still good and it fits the crying criteria.
3. Summer Camp- Round The Moon
Technically this is not a video of the actual band and instead represents a highlights-only version of the film A Swedish Love Story. Teenage love, lust and heartbreak wouldn't be complete without tears, right? Nicely soundtracked by the retro nostalgia Summer Camp have quickly perfected.
I've spent much of today listening to the new Menomena album, Mines, which is really pretty good. Sounds less abstract and willfully experimental than their previous record, Friend and Foe, although this isn't meant to denigrate that album which is still a favourite of mine. Having said this, the new songs maintain all the classic Menomena characteristics: tinkly pianos, deep sax, yelps and croons, all delivered in staccato fashion. Reminded me of the funk of Liquid Liquid at times, particularly this track, but that may just be beacuse the "something like a phenomenon" line reminds me of the name Menomena. Anyway, here's the band in action.
LOL, that was a pretty funny joke.
This gives a better representation of what they're actually like:
Another album, that's been out a little longer, but that is also "really pretty good", is Archandroid by Janelle Monae. Check out the video for the storming Cold War. It's a wonderfully simple video that contrasts with the high drama and energy of the song, with the sort of performance not seen since Karen O's near break down in Maps.
Most of you have probably heard the new Arcade Fire album by now, and most of you probably think it's brilliant. And I would completely agree with you, I'm not gonna shit on this sacred cow, who do you think I am, Vice? I do have one bone of contention though, and it's to do with the lyrics. The album's title may be The Suburbs, but this does not mean that every single song (almost literally) has to include the words "suburbs" or "sprawl", let alone countless relations such as "city", "town" and "street". The suburbs are populated, almost exclusively it seems, by "the kids", or on a few rarer occassions "the children". We all get that it's an album about suburbia and childhood, but across 16 songs those themes become stretched a little thin when the same few words are used to articulate them.
Here are the results of my pedantry, mentions of:
The suburbs/sprawl = 20
The kids/children = 16
Back in my day...
I realise this is a somewhat trivial matter, but it detracts from the listening if you find yourself noticing, and being irked by, these things. Maybe if they'd cut three or four songs, rather than the 16 they've opted for, these shortcomings may not have been so obvious.
Still, one of my favourite albums of the year so far, but it seems increasingly unlikely that Arcade Fire will ever quite top Funeral, and will always leave people, well me at least, a little disappointed.
Despite being described by one magazine as the best-dressed festival of the year, Shoreditch's 1234 Festival proved it had plenty of substance to back up its indisputable style. Perhaps the bulk of this substance was provided by Peter Hook and his showcase of Joy Division's classic Unknown Pleasures. It was a fitting setting for such a performance, Joy Division a band that launched a thousand Shoreditch post-punk copycats, and this was confirmed by the huge, raucous crowd who came to witness the spectacle. And spectacle it was, as Hook tore through the album, giving it the full rawk treatment, often far removed from the minimal, menacing restraint of the original recorded version. Having obviously never had the fortune to see J. Div perform for real, i have no real point of comparison aside from the record itself, and despite this most recent incarnation being different, it was no less affecting. This was aided on a number of songs by the powerful vocals of former Happy Monday and X-Factor contestant Rowetta, again making no attempt to mimic the distinctive Ian Curtis, which was perhaps for the best. The highlight was saved until the end however, with the only non-Unknown Pleasures track, Love Will Tear Us Apart. The sight of a thousand Shoreditch scenesters finally shedding their cool insouciance to dance, sing and all but cry along to every indie kids favourite song was a somewhat touching moment.
Peter Hook's set would have proved a fitting headlining show, had he not been on at 6, with numerous acts to follow him. Instead, much of the crowd dissipated before Wavves came on to rip through his snotty lo-fi punk, before being told to get off the stage by an equally snotty festival organiser due to over-running. Wavves were in fact a more fitting representation of the kind of bands i ended up seeing throughout the course of the day. The likes of Mazes, Dum Dum Girls and Vivian Girls all played lo-fi alt-rock that evoked different decades of American indie, from the Pavement-inspired Mazes to the 60's girl-groups and West Coast pop of Dum Dum Girls. Notable exceptions to this rule of thumb however, included S.C.U.M, a group of black-clad post-punk upstarts who have discovered the art of making a song since i last saw them a year ago, as well as the Japanese prog/punk/noisefreaks Bo Ningen who tore apart the tiny Artrocker tent with their collective insanity.
The only negatives on what was an otherwise beautiful and entertaining day in Shoreditch park were my sunburn and the sound problems of These New Puritans that resulted in them pulling out of their headlining slot in the Rough Trade tent just two minutes into their first song.
1. Offshoots of Indie Kings Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear have both released new material lately. In the GB corner, Daniel Rossen has unleashed a series of old songs and outtakes under his Department of Eagles moniker, collectively (and originally) entitled Archive: 2003-2006. While We're Young is a typically beautiful track that will be instantly familiar to fans of the Bear.
In the AnCo corner, we have the heavy-hitting Noah Lennox, AKA Panda Bear, releasing his first material after the much lauded (and much copied) Person Pitch. It's woozy, off-kilter pop is instantly recognisable, but equally instantly lovable. His full album, Tomboy, is out sometime in the Autumn.
2. Secrecy and anonymity are watchwords for 2010 it seems, withholding your identity the latest marketing ruse for many new bands. Most of the pioneers, the likes of Summer Camp, have since been rumbled, but Wu Lyf, who supposedly hail from Manchester, have managed to preserve their secret status. I followed a link to their website today that goes straight to a video depicting a struggle between white invaders and natives on a seemingly tropical coastline. It's got a sweet twist to it, plus some good old gore, and the song that soundtracks it (that i'm obviously assuming is by Wu Lyf themselves) is pretty great. It's got a similar aesthetic to the nostalgic pop that's so in vogue right now, save for the vocals that sound incredibly pained and impassioned, a dimension sorely missing from most other such bands. Check it out here.
3. SALEM are a band who make spaced-out goth pop, but who have come to be seen as leaders of the so called witch-house genre. Ludicrous genre names aside (i realise the witch connotations from the name, but seriously??), they've done a remix of the latest These New Puritans single, Hologram. As i'm meant to be seeing TNPs this weekend, it seemed rather timely, as well as the fact that it's a cool song, all slow beats, handclaps and deep vocal with a heavy drawl. SALEM's own stuff is also worth checking out, especially the song King Night.
20 July 2010
OMG?!?!!?111?!, why aren't Four Tet and The Fall and These New Puritans and that other band i really really like not on the Mercury Prize list????
The Creators Project is perhaps the boldest undertaking in modern popular culture, seeking nothing less than to be the "first spark of creativity that gives life to the hopes and aspirations of the Twenty-First Century." Such claims need backing up, and that's just what The Creators Project did, in conjunction with Vice and Intel, this Saturday with the party they threw at Victoria House in London.
Peaches on the decks with a broken leg. Nice one Peaches.
All those lucky enough to get in were treated to a series of performances from some of the artists who have been profiled by The Creators Project, including Mark Ronson (and his new band, the awkwardly titled "The Business Intl."), Kele and Tinchy Stryder. I was disappointed to miss a set by Yuck, a band who make lovely lo-fi rawk a la Dinosaur Jr. and stuff, influences that belie their north London roots. They also have a drummer who is basically Jonah Hill's bigger, funnier brother.
My disappointment was soon swept away by the strident opening chords of Mark Ronson' latest hit Bang Bang Bang. I've been neglectful before in not saying how fucking awesome this song is. Ronson has moved on it seems from being the super cool guy with a horn-fixation to a super cool guy with some good tunes of his own. The rest of his set was an interesting combination of new, unknown songs that didn't go down as well as some classic covers that had the drunken crowd singing along with abandon.
Whilst waiting for Kele to set up, fun was had in the form of Saam Farahmand's DJ set that utilised footage recorded earlier in the night of party-goers dancing in front of a blue screen. I think i spent the majority of the time either boasting that my moves were better, or trying to copy those i was secretly jealous of. When Kele came on i gave up all pretence at busting out anything that could actually be called a "move" however, instead letting my inner fanboy out to shout along and pump his fist and generally have a brilliant time (thanks free bar). The new songs really worked in a live setting, produced as they are by Hudson Mohawke, a man who knows how to get people moving. Thrown in for good measure were a few Bloc Party classics, although they too tended towards the more electronic, club-friendly end of the spectrum, with the likes of The Prayer and Flux.
The night was about a lot more than just some gigs however, with impressive installations round every corner, such as the UVA light art, or Nick Zinner's photos, or the 8-bit video games that had me baffled in my drunken state despite their evident simplicity.
The future cultural landscape looks set to be in safe hands with The Creators Project.
Into the first category (things what i am currently listening to) fall the following:
1. On a literal level, i am literally listening to this as we speak/I type:
The Notorious xx- a mash up of The xx's debut album of late night melancholy minimalism and hip-hop hero Biggie. It shouldn't work, but it does. You can listen to it all at Soundcloud. (This is a few months old by the way, i just wanted an excuse to mention it)
2. I've been listening to an online stream of blog darlings Best Coast's debut album, Crazy For You. Online streams of albums ahead of their release seem to be the new thing, The National and LCD Soundsystem just two others to have followed a similar strategy this year. Anyway, you've probably all read about how Best Coast make that lo-fi nostalgia-pop everyone seems to love this year, music that must have a crick in its neck from all the nods it makes to older bands. Despite its zeitgeist-riding derivative nature, it's got some wonderful melodies and enough charm to carry it all off. Listen to it here.
3. Another online stream worth checking out this week is that of Mount Kimbie's Crooks & Lovers, another debut effort. Unlike Best Coast, Mount Kimbie's music could only have been written today, or perhaps tomorrow, a fact i've mentioned before i believe. They're one of those production teams forging a new path away from the wobbly dubstep of of old and into the future, taking with them a whole new army of fans not previously so enamoured with the genre. Listen to it here.
4. Hugo is a singer i'd never heard of until recently when i discovered his intriguing, and ultimately enthralling cover of Jay-Z's 99 Problems. He turns it into a roots-y, blues-y stomper that's pretty much as far from the original as can be imagined. Well worth checking out, again on Soundcloud.
5. Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma album is pretty much amazing, unsurprisingly, but i've been enjoying the latest video he's released. It's for the track Mmmhmm, which features Thundercat, and was directed by Special Problems. The track itself is pretty deep and psychedelic, a trippy, bewildering amalgam of shuffling beats, pianos and high, velvety vocals. The video somehow enhances all these aspects, a weird and wonderful ride from collage seabeds to space scenes, with some floating Indians for good measure. The space theme in particular seems particularly resonant, it's what FlyLo's productions always remind me of. If such a name hasn't already been made up before, he should be crowned king of space-hop.
And onto the second category of things what I'm looking forward to hearing...
1. Arcade Fire and their new album, obviously. In this i'm probably not alone. Hype for The Suburbs has been building for some time now, hype that i like to think i helped build, and now that we've heard a few songs in full, it seems fever pitch has been reached. We'll just have to wait until August 2nd though.
2. Deerhunter.
I bloody love Deerhunter (childish swearing intended, i'm that excited). Microcastle and Weird Era Continued were excellent, as were all of the various side projects, such as Bradford Cox's Atlas Sound and Lockett Pundt's Lotus Plaza. Their new album, Halcyon Digest, isn't out until the end of September, but they're marketing strategy is also of note, harking back as it does to the good old (halcyon????) days of rock and roll and when posters for all your favourite bands were plastered on all the city walls. Cox has designed a poster for fans to print out and stick up around town, with photos of your handiwork earning exclusive ownership of the first single and a non-album track.
Here's the poster (and a link to the appropriate website):
Apologies for the length of this post. I hope it was worth it.
A 20-song folk opera that tells the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, transplanted to a post-apocalyptic America. A Joanna Newsom-cum-The Road-cum-Groovy Greeks behemoth that is surely too pretentious for its own good. Surely? Well, no, actually.
I'm a few months late on Anaïs Mitchell's recent Hadestown album, which is unsurprising really considering the low-key nature of its arrival in April. Neither was it a release that would have caught my eye in the first place: i'd never heard of Mitchell before, rarely listen to folk and have a limited knowledge at best of the Greek myths. The critical response it garnered from those who did pay it some attention was anything other than low-key however, with universal applause directed its way. . On the back of the overwhelmingly positive reviews however, it would have been wrong to have avoided it any longer.
Mitchell has enlisted an ensemble cast including Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Greg Brown, Ani DiFranco, Greg Brown and Ben Knox Miller (The Low Anthem), with each giving voice to a different character in the story. The result neatly avoids any of the ridiculous excesses that blight many a supergroup or concept album. Instead, the piece comes together quite wonderfully, aided by Michael Chorney's scoring, and a true story, or odyssey, unravels.
The songs work both together and on their own, tracks such as When the Chips Are Down making fine stand-alone singles. The aforementioned song, featuring the Haden Triplets, is a wonderful, skronking, soulful hoe-down that demands a sing-along from the first listen. But don't stop there (or start there even), play it through whole, and then do so again, and again. On an album as rich and deep as this there's always more to uncover, and plenty to savour multiple times.
There's been a lot of focus on Kele of Bloc Party fame lately, what with his transition from angst-ridden indie front man to happy electro entertainer. Perhaps it's an inevitable and universal shift, such as the classic metamorphosis from student lefty to middle-aged conservative, but either way it got me reminiscing about his early work. Silent Alarm maintains a high, and seemingly permanent, place in my list of favourite albums, and i'll always be an old Bloc Party fanboy at heart, and so i went back and re-listened to much of their back catalogue. It was an enjoyable nostalgia trip, enlivened by the rediscovery of the Silent Alarm remix album, which contains a few corkers, particularly this one:
It's by another old favourite, Four Tet, in which he takes the original and stretches it out, giving it a spacious and euphoric feel. It bears that distinctive Four Tet hallmark, electronic production that sound remarkably organic, giving his work a heart that most producers seem unable to inspire.
Aaaaaanyway, thought i'd remind people (and myself) of the song, and whilst you're there to give some of the others a go, such as those by Whitey, Mogwai and M83.
I've been home for two weeks now and can safely say i've spent my time wisely. By day i've done my utmost to preserve my porcelain skin, watching Come Dine With Me repeats rather than dare go outside. At night, whilst failing to fall asleep due to the suffocating warmth and constant buzz of insects, i've been listening to a lot of techno, wishing i was at places like this, rather than in a place like this (although far less idyllic). I've also just gained access to a set of car keys, and i enjoyed spending the weekend zooming around (within all legal speed restrictions) listening to a series of mix cds, most of which are hangovers from last summer. As well as the summer toonz of '09, i've also been listening to more recent choice cuts, such as these.
I've also been prepping myself for the upcoming 1234 Festival, and i've come to the rather inevitable conclusion that most of the Shoreditch vampires whose bands will be playing there sound a lot better live than on record. However, the prospect of seeing Peter Hook playing live the whole of Unknown Pleasures is enough to keep me awake on it's own, 'heat-wave' aside. I'm also looking forward to seeing These New Puritans performing their rather brilliant new album, especially after my girlfriend's rave reviews of a live show she saw earlier this year.
Summer's shaping up pretty well so far then, and it's set to get better, albeit with a few brief library excursions thrown in to remind me that at some point i do need to actually do some work.
Tune for the day: Janelle Monae- Tightrope (Feat. Big Boi)
She's been getting a lot of attention lately, and as a blogger i feel i'm not doing something right if i don't mention her. This song justifies it though. And she looks great.
You may have missed it due to lack of advertising or broadcasting, but over the last weekend a surprisingly sunny Somerset field was taken over by Glastonbury. I was lucky enough to be able to watch it all on the television, living the same highs and lows as the crowd with the bonus of a daily shower.
The BBC, to their credit, gave pretty thorough coverage, even if every other performance shown seemed to include Florence Fucking Welch (her parents were very prescient). Along with the actual live sets themselves, there was a treat for all those stuck at home in the form of exclusive acoustic performances. These were performances conducted in a carefully designed and constructed studio that made the between-music links resemble coverage of the Chelsea flower show. I ain't dissin' the flower show, but i imagine there are better models to copy from when covering a festival such as Glastonbury. To continue the parallels however, Mark Radcliffe proved an Alan Titchmarsh-esque figure, providing a nice level-headed maturity in contrast to the puppy-dog eagerness of Reggie Yates and crew. The presenters proved perhaps the biggest irritant (especially Jo Whiley and her search for the next Glastonbury "moment"), but fortunately it was never too long before the next musical performance, or not musical, as was the case with the brilliant ping pong juggler and whip-cracking cowboy.
Now i have to admit that i didn't watch as much as i'd first intended, the combination of a beautiful sunny weekend and the depression arising from realising you're not actually there (again) proving too much at points. As such, i'm in no real position to pick out any of my own "moments", but the Flaming Lips looked and sounded pretty spectacular, and it would have been great to have caught LCD as they wind down their wonderful career. It was sad to witness the apparent failure of Gorillaz, particularly after the hugely sentimental success of Blur last year, and it was nice to see a beefed-up (and seemingly chavved-up) Kele performing with what looked suspiciously like a smile on his face. Snoop Dogg followed successfully and entertainingly in the footsteps of Jay-Z, Radiohead (well half of them) played a secret show which would surely have been amazing, and i was disappointed not to see any of what was apparantly a brilliant set by Hot Chip.
The impression from those who were there seems to be entirely positive, the baking sun and the great music taking the edge off a hilariously shit English football performance and adding as further incentive (if it were needed) that i need to get down there myself.
However, the new-gaze (or nu-gaze if you're a fucking twat) revival may have gone a little too far, or at least have been taken too far by journalists in their attempts to come up with new labels and to further atomise the genre.
I was having a browse of Pitchfork's Forkcast section today when bands that fell into the following categories were given a mention:
This is along with at least three bands described as dream-pop and innumerable others as dreamy and/or lazy.
I listened to all the stuff they chatted about and yeah, you can hear the shoegazey sounds, the swirling effects-laden guitars soundtracking mumbled vocals telling tales of middle-class angst, but the new tags seem largely ridiculous and unnecessary.
Anyway, having waded through the crashing waves of guitars and noise, the best song to emerge from my Forkcast trawling was this: Gyptian- Hold Yuh (Major Lazer Remix)
It's been a while, i know, but get off my case. I've been 'toff my head' the past week, and this serves as partial excuse for my lax blogging. However, now that my summer holidays have begun (it's so far comprised watching too much football and cricket: Living the Dream 2010), i foresee a more fruitful and bountiful period of writing.
To keep my hand in until this period of bountiful posting, i've lazily selected some songs i'm currently "diggin'", a process that consisted of trawling through my most recently added and most recently played playlists on iTunes. I use the word "trawling" entirely incorrectly, it makes it sound as if it took some effort.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the George Moore Summer Jamz Playlist 2010:
1. Hudson Mohawke- Ooops (Oh My) A banging remix of the song by Tweet
5. Japandroids- Younger Us As above, go and make some summer memories that you can then reminisce and write a catchy song about when you're a few years older in a moderately successful rock band.
6. Florrie- Come Back to Mine(Elite Gymnastics Remix) Sounds like it should soundtrack a montage scene that looks back over all the good times with your buddies, preferably around dusk, a little like the beginning of the trailer for Kids (but maybe not the second half). Here's the original (not as good).
7. Jape- Floating From a few years back, but still fun and cool and just a darn good song
9. Memory Tapes- Bicycle (Tanlines remix) (this one's an MP3 BTW) I swear Memory Tapes has remixed and been remixed by just about every cool hip band, but this one's good. Tanlines (who hail from Brooklyn, obv) do a good impression of the kind of Scandinavian pop i'm such a fan of.
As summer shines the fun goes up and the posts go down, so soz about that, but you should all be outside anyway, not reading (albeit brilliant) blogs like this. To keep things in line with the summer vybz, i'll serve up some good old fashioned reminiscence and nostalgia.
As has been shown before, the sunshine seems to stir up all those good-time memories of summers gone by. Japandroid's latest single, Younger Us, is no exception, as it remembers all the things that they used to be able to do when they were younger, such as "that night you were already in bed, said fuck it, got up to drink with me instead". It's a pretty great track that channels the kind of passion and emotion rarely heard in modern 'indie' or whatever, with its preference for insouciance over heart. In this respect the band share a fraternal bond with the likes of Titus Andronicus and The Gaslight Anthem, bands unafraid to raise their voice above a coo and a whisper and to wear their hearts on their sleeves as they say.
From looking at pictures of Japandroids it seems rather premature for them to already be harking back to their younger selves and their reckless ways, but when the results are so thrilling i'm not gonna argue.
The final remix of Cold Cave's Life Magazine has just been released. It's the work of Prurient, who delivers a drone-tastic take on the song, adding to the already diverse set, details of which can be found in the post below.
I think I may have written about Cold Cave before, but i can't really remember. if not, i should have, as their last album, Love Comes Close, was good. One of the stand out tracks from the album, Life Magazine, has since been subjected to the remix treatment on multiple occasions, each new version being accompanied by exclusive artwork. The remixes are set to appear together on an EP released on June 8th, but one such remix that hasn't found its way on there is this one by Spanish group Delorean. It also happens to be my favourite of the reworkings done so far, which includes the one by Pantha du Prince, a previous favourite of mine. Delorean strip away the gothic edge that pervades all of Cold Cave's tracks, along with the high drama of the vocals and synths, transforming it into a suitably summery, Balearic-tinged shimmering pop number.
I first heard The Hundred in the Hands on a Warp Records sampler a year or so ago and was a little bemused. The track being showcased, whilst pretty good, was more reminiscent of Silent Alarm-era Bloc Party with its spiky guitars than the inventive electronica Warp is famous for. More recent tracks that have appeared on the This DesertEP have displayed more of the Warp electronic trademarks however, particularly Tom Tom, which has just earned itself a video. The song mainly comprises some cool riddims, plus a twinkly keyboard line and the occasional stab of guitar. The vocals, courtesy of Eleanore Everdell, are sweet like the lyrics, but fairly unremarkable. The video is also a pretty standard affair, comprising those two great promo staples, a large cavernous space (usually a warehouse or abandoned car park) and abstract projections. The band members also look like they just stepped out of an American Apparel catalogue, but then again, that's not alway a bad thing (amiright??)
The Hundred in the Hands may be just another Brooklyn band, and they have no real distinctions, but there's something about them that i find endearing, perhaps just the fact that they write good tunes. Even if they at first appear out of place on the Warp roster, there's enough about them to justify their place on it.
Buy the EP from Warp now!
Then you can go to their Myspace
Do you remember the lo-fi, no-fi, oh,hi! noise pop of Wavves? You should, as it was pretty good and his last album was only out last year.
His next one, King of the Beach, is out this August, and there's a taster of what to expect from the tracks Cool Jumper and Mickey Mouse. Both were first heard last summer, but have been resurrected, providing an indication of the greater precision and clarity that Nathan Williams has brought to his music, aided by Zach Hill. The drumming of Hill provides a much needed backbone to the songs, now more vital than ever when each track clocks in at over five minutes.
Wavves may have garnered more headlines last year for his offstage antics (mental breakdown and Black Lips bust-ups for instance) than for his music, but hopefully this year will see the balance redressed.
I'll be checking him out live myself at The 1234 on July 24th, i may even report back.
The Creator's Project have made a video about sexy songstress Peaches chatting about shit, such as her collaboration with the one and only Iggy Pop. Check it out here
Today has been beautiful, a day for sitting in parks and slowly broiling in true British fashion. I'm currently sitting in my room, looking out my window at the sun setting in a cloudless sky.
It's only fitting therefore, that I give you some tasty dramatic goth pop, none of that nostalgic lo-fi chillwave stuff, that's so passe, man.
All y'all regular readers may remember I'm a fan of Zola Jesus, and this song represents the fruits of a collaboration with one of her touring bandmates, a collaboration appropriately called Nika + Rory (appropriate cos that's their names).
Main track, I'm Not Going Anywhere, is most akin to Zola's other output, maintaining the high drama, but with added disco beats. Other songs prove a little more intriguing however, the auto-tuned vocals and massive synths of LA Suxxx, along with Do You Wanna Be, coming off like tunes worthy of the likes of Rhianna, especially the latter of these two tracks.
An intriguing prospect all round, and well worth a listen, and hopefully these early releases will blossom into a proper full length a some point.
ROLL UP ROLL UP NEW ARCADE FIRE INTERACTIVE TRACK PREVIEW FUN
check it out now.
If this were the format for the whole album, it can't help but be amazing. Imagine if you could spin and scratch the track like you can here on your obligatory ipod wheel. wowzers.
The tracks are called The Suburb and Month of May and they're out on June 1st, which comes just after the month of may for all you calendar fans.
(if you haven't figured it out by the way yet, you can drag around the vinyl)
I remember hearing a song by Icelanders FM Belfast like, literally years ago and thought it was really good, but then never saw anything about them afterwards. Now, thanks to Stereogum, i've been reconnected, this time with the video to their new single, Underwear.
It's suitably weird, in a way that most things are that come from that Arctic island, lyrics about running up the hill in your underwear seemingly forgetting that it's fucking freezing up there most of the year.
Along with the weird, there's also a good dose of melancholy as they describe living in a place where they "count the days until nothing", a place where everyone "keeps off the grass". I don't advise a trip to Cambridge anytime soon.
It's got a cool video that shows a selection of people dancing in slow motion, matching the elegiac beats of the song.
Everything about the new Scissor Sister's single, Invisible Light, is more '80s than the '80s themselves. It's like stepping onto the dancefloor of Studio 54 and boogying with both George Michael and Ronald Reagan. At the same time. Whilst setting a high score at Pac Man. They were the days.
Seriously though, it's well cool, as most things are that involve a Sir Ian Mckellan spoken-word interlude.
Here it is, in all its ass-clenching glory.
Invisible Light will be on the new album, Night Work, released on June 29th on Universal.
It seems the point of many music blogs, of which this is one, is to provide new music, or dig up old stuff that might otherwise be forgotten. I fear this is something I haven't really been doing, so I thought I'd make a little playlist of some newer songs that you hopefully haven't heard of before, but probably have cos you're all so far ahead of the curve it hurts.
I make no justifications for any of the songs other than that I like them, but you don't have to, in fact I'll let you not like up to three of them- choose carefully.
I've also been re-listening to this album again. It's possibly my favourite-ever album, especially when listened to whilst reading the accompanying notes, yeah, that's right, I read liner notes.
There are loads of great tracks on there, but this one is well cool.
Good bit o' spoken word. Menacing. Bongwater - His Old Look
School of Seven Bells' debut album Alpinisms was one of my favourite discoveries of last year and easily passed its subjection to repeated spins. Good news yesterday then when I heard the first song off their second (if I was cool I'd say "sophomore") album, Disconnect From Desire. It's a title that pretty much perfectly evokes SVIIB's (I am cool enough for acronyms however) sound, their dream pop sound and abstract lyrics providing a disconnection from reality, or just from desire, whatever.
The new track is called Babelonia, and you can download it by signing up to their mailing list, which you can do here. It follows on from where Alpinisms left off, the beautiful vocals and harmonies of the Deheza twins backed by chiming guitars, bells and drums which, when they all come together, produce quite the cacophony- a sonic cathedral even??.
Disconnect From Desire is released on 13th July via Vagrant.
Here's their Myspace!
A few months ago I went to a club night where Kele Okereke of Bloc Party was doing a DJ set, a vain attempt to see/listen to something different to the usual provincial club fodder I am perennially subjected to. As Bloc Party frontman, he'd demonstrated a wide appreciation of music, from the Gang of Four aping post-punk of Silent Alarm (still one of my favourite albums) to the more electro-minded Intimacy. I therefore felt pretty justified in hoping for an interesting and eclectic set, but i was left disappointed and disillusioned. What Kele served up was simply another load of provincial club fodder, the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Wiley getting a few spins for example, all going down pretty well on the dancefloor as you can imagine, leaving me playing the disgruntled snob in the corner. I couldn't decide whether this was what Kele really wanted to play, or whether it was a case of pleasing the crowd.
With the release of Kele's first single as a solo artist, it seems this question has been answered. Tenderoni is a pretty brazen electro banger, the most noticeable aspect of which are the big meaty synths that instantly evoke the likes of Wiley's Wearing My Rolex and Dizzee's Bonkers. The vocals prove the only real difference, Kele's distinctive delivery nicely buried in the mix before coming to the fore during the euphoric rush of the chorus.
It may seem a far cry from the spindly guitar lines of Silent Alarm, but there were signs that this was the direction Kele would be heading in, particularly the one-off single Flux, all oscillating bass and soaring, piercing synth-lines.
It's not really a track I'd go back to, but it's not especially bad, i just can't help but feel that nothing has topped that debut release, and perhaps never will, with every further attempt seemingly becoming further removed in both style and quality.
Tenderoni will be released on 14th June, with the full album, The Boxer, appearing the week later on Wichita. Interestingly, it's produced by Hudson Mohawke and XXXChange, both well worth checking out/following in their own right.
The ubiquitous 'they' say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but in this instance premature judgements are proved valid, with Usher's single, Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home) proving to be as amazing as its cover art would suggest. This is more than artwork for the sake of aesthetics however, acting also as a clear statement of beliefs and values, demonstrating the importance of family over the trappings of our modern, capitalist society, with its mansions, designer labels and swanky cars all relegated to the background. This is emphasised by the knowingly all-too-perfect, shiny veneer, a sweet satirical swipe against our airbrushed world. As mentioned, the song is also extremely good, and can be read as a subtle undermining of the usual bravado and misogyny of hip-hop, case in point being these lines:
"And girl tonight we'll gonna do a lot of sexin',
Can't nobody do your body like this no"
In this cruel, increasingly secular world, where not even the Pope is above suspicion, it is to people like Usher that we turn, their oeuvre both art and moral compass. Further evidence comes in the blasphemy-dodging single OMG, 'oh my gosh" serving as the curse of preference for both Usher and fellow force for good, Will.I.Am. I sadly know little of Usher's previous work and don't know if he has always displayed such a fine moral core, but it seems he is taking his role as child-prodigy-mentor seriously, proving a suitable role model to Justin Bieber. Sadly little Justin seems to have gone off message, implying in his sing Baby that the way to win a girl back is through her inevitable fondness for material possessions, proclaiming that he will "buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring". Oh Justin, what would Usher say...(nice rhyme though)
I'm very bored by the way
30 April 2010
Been around for a few days now, but here's the first taste of what hotly-tipped noiseniks Sleigh Bells' debut album might sound like:
D'you like it? Seems to retain the ear-battering effect of their primitive demos, which can only be a good thing.
The song will appear on Treats, set to be released on May 11th on N.E.E.T., the label set up by M.I.A, as previously mentioned.
Here's the Myspace
I chatted about Cariboubefore, but the release of Dan Snaith's latest album, Swim, warrants further attention. I won't bother going into too great a depth, but rest assured it's worth checking out, providing an ideal companion piece to Four Tet's There Is Love in You, with its similar blendng of musical genres, from techno to krautrock, but differing from Kieran Hebden's project in its greater emphasis upon vocals and lyrics, developing themes revolving in particular around love; both lost and found. The result is a heady concoction of evocative electronica that marks a new direction from previous Caribou output, whilst retaining the hallmarks and qualities that made Dan Snaith such a distinctive musician to begin with.
The almost-nine minute long video to the Sri Lankan stars most recent song, one which features a prominently looped sample of Suicide's Ghost Rider, shows scenes of police brutality, naked flesh, lots of explosions and a suitably bloody ending. Showing a succession of police raids and the deportation of a bunch of ginger teenagers to some kind of death camp, where they must run through a minefield, goes straight for the jugular in its efforts to get its point across. The point is clearly one about oppression, brutality and violence in the world, and in particular that aimed at particular groups of people, reflecting both the troubles of M.I.A.'s homeland, as well as the lyrics of the original Suicide song, "America, America is killing its kids". The fact that it was also made by Gavras, who shot this notorious video for Justice, also helps to explain the ultra-violent social commentary of this "promo" (I don't see it getting played, unedited, on MTV anytime soon).
As well as making apt political and humanitarian points, the video suits the menacing groove of the track's sampled backing, as well as M.I.A.'s snotty, punky vocals, and her assertion that she was "Born Free"- which is also the title of the track as I have forgetfully neglected to mention.
It's a far-cry from the lazy, slacker vibes of breakthrough hit Paper Planes, although Maya's predilection for sampling classic bands seems to have remained. The grittier, more lo-fi approach to the recording is also perhaps the result of getting into Sleigh Bells, recent signees to her N.E.E.T. label, whose sound is not too dissimilar in it's brutal fuzzed-out approach.
Born Free will probably be appearing on M.I.A.'s third album, which is as yet untitled, due out on June 29th in the USA, not sure about the UK release date.
As wiser men than me once said, it's "summer, summer, summer tiiiiiime" (hats off to you Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince). Stop me if I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, it is only April after all, but it does feel like summer in all but name. My exams are over for another year, I wore shorts for the first time of 2010 (subjecting my skinny legs to the sun was traumatic for them), yesterday was also the first cricket game of the season and it don't get much summer-ier than that folks. Here's a short guide to summer, with some musical accompaniment to provide this post with some kind of justification.
To quench your thirst for cricket-related popular music (don't lie, everybody has such a thirst), look no further than The Duckworth Lewis Method, a recent project involving The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon.
No media represents summer more than the humble polaroid, turning anything it touches into a hazy, lazy summery paradise, transporting you to what my friends and I call 'polaroid world' (snappy, i know). So sit back and let Ted Leo take you to your very own polaroid world (so corny).
Another reason behind my summery disposition is the fact that I have, this very night, booked my summer holiday flights, which include a Stockholm stop-over, home of all the best tropical pop (and beautiful blond babes, obv). A summer soundtrack of Air France and the gang (maybe not Fever Ray so much...) surely beckons.
Personally, I'm hoping for a summer filled with sun, friends and short shorts, a little something like this in fact.
, warrants further attention. I won't bother going into too great a depth, but rest assured it's worth checking out, providing an ideal companion piece to Four Tet's 
, with its similar blendng of musical genres, from techno to krautrock, but differing from Kieran Hebden's project in its greater emphasis upon vocals and lyrics, developing themes revolving in particular around love; both lost and found. The result is a heady concoction of evocative electronica that marks a new direction from previous Caribou output, whilst retaining the hallmarks and qualities that made Dan Snaith such a distinctive musician to begin with.
