After Dark

A series of late nights alone in my room and finishing Haruki Murakami's After Dark, in which many of the scenes are soundtracked by various records, have got me thinking what tracks would provide the best company in the gloom of my room when I should really be asleep. As in many Murakami novels, a central theme is loneliness, and to reflect this the ten songs I chose all possess a sense of melancholia and a quietness that is what being alone after nightfall feels like.

1. Sufjan Stevens- For the Windows in Paradise...

2. Grouper- Heavy Water/I'd Rather be Sleeping

3. Beach House- Gila

4. Slowdive- Alison

5. Squarepusher- Tommib

6. Burial- In McDonalds

7. Marissa Nadler- Dying Breed

8. Portishead- Only You

9. Booka Shade- Lost High

10. Lackthereof- The Columbia

And to herald the dawn of a new day...

11. Yeasayer- Sunrise

I should probably find a hobby/friends/do some work instead of sitting alone in all night in my room...

Xiu Xiu

Recent videos from Xiu Xiu have certainly complemented the weird and at times disturbing themes that runs through much of their music, with naked flesh, suffocation and vomit all making appearances in the vids to their newest two releases. If not exactly pleasurable viewing, the videos are certainly intriguing and grimly compelling, and the music's not too bad either.

Dear God I Hate Myself:

Grey Death is also well worth having a peek at, but you'll have to head over to Pitchfork to do so i'm afraid.

You can download Grey Death here.

(is it just me or does the breakdown sound pretty reminiscent of A Place to Bury Strangers)

Happy viewing (or not)

New Caribou

This is the accompanying video to one of my favourite songs right now, Odessa by Caribou, a song that was given away as a free download to promote new album Swim. The video is pretty cool, a rather surreal look at what appears to be a car crash, and reminds me a little of Mulholland Drive stylistically. Anyway, well worth a look, even if it's just to have take a peek at what everyone is saying is a walking penis (it's not, it's definitely just a be-hooded person) about 13 seconds in.

King Pantha

As much as I love techno, especially of the minimal variety, I wasn't expecting an album many have dropped into this category to have the potential to be in my top albums of the year (I know, it's only February).

However, German producer Pantha du Prince has seemingly achieved this feet with his new album Black Noise. Minimal techno is perhaps the wrong label for his music, although it does contain many of the hallmarks of the genre, but it also does so much more. This is partly achieved by collaborations with indie stalwarts such as LCD Soundsystem and !!! on The Splendour and, most notably, with Noah Lennox and his vocal chords on Stick To My Side (this perhaps all down to his label-change to Rough Trade). The result is a beautiful, captivating 70 minutes of understated, dark techno, but techno that does not simply stick to the repetitive grooves that dominate the style, but branches into wider realms of sonic potential (how pretentious).

Band of the week No.2

Life Without Buildings

Collapsing inexplicably in 2002 with just one album and a live recording to their name, Life Without Buildings were a band who pre-empted the post-punk revival of the early noughties. they continued the long tradition of wonderful scottish indie bands, playing fairly standard indie rock, but with an urgency and passion too often missing from other such groups. However,perhaps the biggest draw is lead singer, Sue Tompkins. she speaks (frantically) more than she sings, often over annunciating and repeating short refrains of words ("Hold tight! Hold tight!"), which cleverly mimic and complement the jagged guitar riffs.

the band chose not to tarnish their legacy and instead quit whilst they were most certainly ahead, and yet they have never grown beyond a cult sensation, beloved by all those lucky enough to be in the know. so, if you've never heard such songs as The Leanover or New Town (in particular the rather splendid 7 minute live version), then i implore you to track them down and give them a listen, and to hopefully fall in love, just as i did, and to swear allegiance to the cult of a Life Without Buildings.

Photo: Last.fm

Thom Thom Club

News that Radiohead may have recorded a new album is, of course, very exciting. it will be their first long-player since 2007's In Rainbows, released into a media frenzy, most of it focussing around the innovative method of release, rather than the innovative music.

however, my joy at the prospect of a new Radiohead album has been somewhat dampened by my realisation, alas too late, that Thom Yorke will be playing a solo gig at my nearest venue, literally 10 minutes walk from my front door! it's the only gig he has posted until he plays Coachella later this year, and the fact that he has chosen to grace Cambridge with his presence (don't forget he's an Oxford man) is thrilling indeed. if only i'd been quick enough on the draw to secure tickets, i don't really fancy the £100 now being asked, i am a student after all. to any kind soul out there who feels like donating a ticket however, drop me a line!

Re,Re,Re,Reeee-Mix

I'm not usually a massive fan of remixes, if i like a song i'll listen to the original, if i don't like a song i'm not gonna bother checking out remixes of it. Every now and then however, a few remixes creep past my reservations and into my ears, sometimes even eliciting pleasure.

There have been two such tracks in particular that have recently made an impression on me, both in a good way.

The first of these remixes is the Gui Boratto take on Paradise Circus by Massive Attack. Taking on a track by arguably the greatest production team in recent times must be a daunting prospect, but Brazilian techno producer Boratto seems unperturbed. At first Boratto maintains the simple, brooding piano and vocals, before adding in a bassline Ennio Morricone would be proud of, instilling a spaghetti western vibe. What results is a fun, funky take on the original, that nonetheless maintains the darker aspects to result in a far more danceable end product. Listen here

Remix number two comes from Brighton duo Fuck Buttons and their reworking of Fever Ray's If I Had a Heart, easily one of the best songs of last year. A thumping techno beat underpins the whole 8-minute song, with added bleeps and beeps supplementing the digitally manipulated harmonies of the original. the song breaks down after about 5 minutes, before resuming again in an even more euphoric fashion, with a shimmering wall of noise laid over it. All in all a transfixing, ethereal and yet distinctly inorganic re-imagining , which compels you to go and relisten to both Fuck Buttons and Fever Ray.

Check it out

Dart for my Shark

Bearded bues-rockers The Archie Bronson Outfit have released the first single off upcoming album Coconut (out 23/3/10). The track is titled Shark's Tooth, and whilst it maintains many of the ingredients that originally made the band so great, it sounds like a step up in the production stakes. The song reminds me of the new Flaming Lip's output, and especially Watching the Planets, but with a dancier, funkier edge, added by a nicely loping bassline and some military-style drumming. I have to say i'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album off the back of this, but you can judge for yourselves by following this link.

Photo: Last.fm

An introduction of sorts

I felt it would be a good idea to provide a clue as to my musical leanings, and to supply you with a personal Top Ten Tracks selection. This proved to be a lot harder than i had ever thought, the number of songs i had casually described as "oh yeah, definitely in my top ten ever" slightly exceeded ten, and so i was left with a near-impossible task of culling and cutting, to leave me with this resultant list, which i hope you can enjoy as much as i do. (they are in no particular order by the way, that may have proved a bridge too far)

1. Young Marble Giants- Searching for Mr Right Possibly the greatest minimal, sub-3 minute pop song ever created. Perfectly understated, but with more emotional punch than a Peter Andre love song compilation (and that's a lot). Clear parallels can be drawn with modern upstarts The xx, but for me this song, and indeed this band, will never be trumped.

2. The Stooges- I wanna be your dog Iggy at his snarling best, one of the great riffs that pounds away for the duration of the song, and some of the best jingly bells ever heard on a rock song. How could you turn down the offer of Iggy as your dog?

3. Radiohead- Idioteque Of course everything by Radiohead is experimental genius that cannot be equalled, blah, blah, blah, but this track really is all of those things. From probably my favourite album of theirs it beautifully pulls off the nigh impossible task of making a heart -rending idm track, with it's soaring, glacial synths and Thom's incomparable croon.

4. Mogwai- I know you are but what am i? A majestic procession of pianos, guitars and bleeps that build and collapse, rise and fall in a way that only Mogwai can pull off. Stately, beautiful and an unbeatable instrumental.

5. Modest Mouse- Cowboy Dan This is probably my favourite song off my favourite album ever. A schizophrenic song of two parts, one raging with anger, the other peaceful contemplation of the world, with Isaac "standing in the tall grass, thinking nothing". Amazing.

6. Lee "Scratch " Perry- Black Panta This is Lee "calling the meek and the 'umble" into his world of spooky dub productions, and it's an offer that surely can't be refused after a listen to this.

7. Joy Division- She's lost control almost as minimal as Young Marble Giants, with the haunting, gothic bass and the clattering, incessant drums providing the sole backing to Curtis' equally gloomy vocals and the depressing story of young epileptic. Depressingly brilliant, like most Joy Division really.

8. Cocteau Twins- The hollow men not too dissimilar to the Joy Division track in terms of the intensely gothic atmosphere conjured up by the dissonant washes of Guthrie's guitar and Elizabeth Fraser's abstract wailings. However, in contrast a far creepier, ethereal song is created in contrast to the stark realities of the Joy Division effort.

9. At the Drive-in- Mannequin Republic the highlight on the seminal 'Relationship of Command 'album by the forerunners of some of the worst music to pollute the last decade. the intensity of the song never abates, just as it doesn't across the whole album, and they cannot be blamed for the sad wave of copycat bands who would form in their wake.

10. James Luther Dickinson- O how she dances a clattering conglomeration of drums and guitars and rattles that build, first with Dickinson talking, and then singing furiously, but also amusingly, over the top. Dickinson's vocals are the main attraction and his tale of dancing girls and showmen.

Band of the week No.1

James Chance & The Contortions

One of the leading lights of the New York No Wave scene in the late '70s, James Chance and his Contortions created a heady, nihilistic mix of free jazz and post punk, with Chance's distinctive yelps and crys laid on top.

The band imploded in '79, along with the rest of the 'Wave', but Chance continued to make music, although this time under the soubriquet James White.

The reason for me choosing this band as my very first 'Band of the week' (I'm sure Chance would be delighted with the honour...) is that they're playing the Matt Groening curated ATP Festival in May, with the possibility of a few other dates around that time. Sadly i won't be in attendance, but a few friends are, although their excitement is tempered with a little fear, Chance being renowned as a combative performer, picking fights with audience members on occassions.

Whether you intend to go and see Les Contortions, or if you've never heard of them before, go out and listen/re-discover the album Buy, and in particular tracks such as 'Contort yourself' and 'Design to kill'. Happy listening!

photo: last.fm

New beginnings...

A fresh blog to join the already swollen ranks of eager amateurs, this one bringing a selection of music-related posts, of an as yet undecided nature, but which will hopefully soon take shape.

This blog comes partly as a means to fill the spare time i find myself burdened with as a student, and partly as an outlet for any thoughts, feelings and opinions i have about music.

Anyway, i hope you find something of interest and perhaps something to entertain, who knows, i can but start with high hopes!happy future reading...