...into the exam room

I'm currently in the middle of some pretty sweet exams, so thought I'd share the pleasure with a little selection of songs.

1. LCD Soundsystem- Tribulations
2. Justice- Stress
3. Belle & Sebastian- Wrapped up in Books
4. The Concretes- Lonely as Can Be
5. Art Brut- I Will Survive*

A fitfully depressing mix I feel. When it came to exams, my old history teacher used to tell us that before you could listen to the Andrew WK A-side, Party Hard, you had to first listen to the B-side, Work Hard. I think he made it up, or it was on some really limited edition vinyl somewhere...

*i put very little effort into choosing these songs, and they were done purely on the merits of their titles, rather than any lyrical content. But you can still listen to and enjoy them. I'll let ya do that.

Yeah it is

It's sadly only too easy to imagine the lead single, Drunk Girls, off of LCD Soundsystem's latest (and possibly last?) album soundtracking "hilarious" frat-boy parties in sub-American Pie (and that's pretty low) films. The irony, the wit and the cynicism that runs through all that James Murphy does will be overlooked for the simple match up of lyric with picture, which, as well as being simplistic, is misleading in that the single is not representative of the album as a whole, being very much an anomaly with its raucous, catchy, shouted vocal line. By contrast the rest of the album is a far more restrained, melancholic affair that rails against hipsters ("talking like a jerk, except you really are a jerk"- ouch), the music industry ("you wanted a hit, well maybe we don't do hits") and life in general. If Drunk Girls corresponds with North American Scum from the incredible Sound of Silver album, then the rest of the new tracks continue in a vein similar to songs such as Someone Great, All My Friends and New York I Love You. Comparisons have been made with everyone from Iggy Pop to Lou Reed to Talking Heads, but the beats remain great; familiar handclaps, squelchy synths and funky bass-lines. Murphy's louche spoken-word pieces such as on opener Dance Yrself Clean, or impassioned sung vocals on closer Home, which is an easy highlight of the album, continue to impress, although is it just me who thinks his singing voice sounds a little like Casiotone For The Painfully Alone at times?

What LCD does so well, and what makes them a great (and i truly mean that) act, is that they temper their cynicism, wit and irony with an unparalleled sense of sensitivity and sensibility. Its this that made tracks such as All My Friend so amazing, lending them a tenderness that many other bands would have been unable to inject, and which sets them apart from the New York hipsters they send up in their songs, most notably on their breakout Losing My Edge, still a classic to this day.
Perhaps it's for the best that LCD are calling it a day, leaving on an undoubted high, before descending into self-parody and losing what made them so special.

LCD Soundsystem are currently touring the UK and Europe, and you can listen to the album in full being streamed on the DFA website.
Here's a song for you to download though - Home

Atoms for Joy

At last night's Oakland gig, Thom Yorke and his new band the Atoms for Peace, treated the crowd to a second encore consisting of the Joy Division classic, Love Will Tear Us Apart- everyone's favourite alternative love song. The cover is commendable for it's no-messin' approach, adding little to the original, perhaps the best approach to tackling the nigh-on-perfect-already Joy Division. Yorke's vocals are also of interest, seemingly plummeting new depths in their Curtis-mimicking, a far cry from his usual falsetto.
It's this kind of thing that just makes me kick myself even harder over this missed opportunity.
First read about this over at Stereogum.

Liquid Liquid

If Alan Partridge made music, it would, undeniably, be "liquid". It may even sound a little like New York post-punkers Liquid Liquid, a band who are currently going through a revival of sorts. They recently made their first ever television appearance, a pretty remarkable feat in this modern, technological age (is that some kind of social/cultural commentary?!), on Jimmy Fallon, playing their classic track Cavern. They will also be headlining this years Offset Festival in London, a festival that seeks to unite the great post-punk bands of yore and their young, upstart, modern counterparts on one billing.
This live video of Liquid Liquid playing to the Fallon audience showcases their greatness, delivering a style that feels like a primitive, authentic drum and bass; all bongos, disco beats and a rumbling, funky bass-line that's right up in the mix. Salvatore Principato delivers his clipped, staccato take on vocals over the top, telling us that this is "something like a phenomenon". The emphasis is on the sound and rhythm of the lyrics, as opposed to the content, which, along with the heavy bass and drums, amounts to a rhythmic assault of astonishing proportions.

Here's the Fallon performance:

Summer of love

The inevitable has happened and the shores of Britain have produced their first 'chillwave' band, the appropriately-named Summer Camp. Their songs channel the same sense of nostalgia as American counterparts such as Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, bands they admit to admiring, telling tales of first love and sounding as if recorded onto battered cassettes, rendering them tender and raw. The band had, almost by accident they claim, retained their anonymity, but have since revealed themselves as Jeremy Warmsley (of Jeremy Warmsley fame) and Elizabeth Sankey (of Platform magazine fame). Whilst still an unknown quantity, there had been speculation that the duo were in fact Swedish, and it's not hard to see how such confusion arose. Summer Camp's music bears many similarities to the tropical summer jams that bands such as jj and Air France excel at, although the duo also cite other influences as diverse as Motown and The Cocteau Twins.

Summer Camp are surely the band to soundtrack the fast-approaching summer, which will obviously be the hottest EVER, their wistful nostalgia perfect for those lazy, hazy summer days, even if they won't be spent at a real summer camp. Alas, if only I were an American kid...(my uncle works here- the lucky, responsibility-shy bastard)

The video for their single Ghost Train (out on Moshi Moshi) evokes perfectly their sound, with it's depiction of teenage frolics on an '80s beach.

Summer Camp - Ghost Train (viral) from Paddy Power on Vimeo.

The band are currently on tour with fellow Moshi Moshers Slow Club. 

You can download Ghost Train, and check out their Myspace for other tracks. 

Ariel Pink strikes gold

Ariel Pink has always had an ear for a juicy hook, but due to his preferred method of home recording they've often been buried by the crackle and pop of the tape, a sound we've all become accustomed to after the recent glut of lo-fi/chillwave/whatever. But just as all these other bands break, Ariel has released an out-and-out pop gem, Round and Round, all silky melodies and relaxed backing, recorded in a more conventional manner that leaves it sounding like a great lost '80s soft rock classic. This stylistic change coincides with the band's signing to 4AD, quite possibly my favourite indie label of all time, well for the moment at least. I'd intended at some point to do a proper piece, maybe with some actual research and stuff, on 4AD, but then i couldn't be bothered, so this Ariel Pink track serves as a nice reminder that I should probably do that at some point, and that anyone reading this who hasn't before, should go and check out anything on 4AD (start with Cocteau Twins, can't go far wrong with them and they're a perfect example of the original sound the label pioneered and promoted).
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti have just finished a US tour and are supposed to be heading off on a European jaunt at some point, along with releasing their 4AD debut full-length, Before Today, on June 8th.
Myspace and official website here.

Download Round and Round here

Drove my Chevy to the levee... and found the Mystery Jets (OMG!)

On Thursday 8th, the Chevrolet Spark Unscheduled Tour kicked off on schedule (a-ho-ho-ho) at London's Vinyl Factory. The tour, which was some kind of promotion for Chevrolet judging by the name and the liberal placement of various 'Chevys' around the venue, was headlined by Eel Pie Islanders The Mystery Jets. If I'm being honest, this was the first I'd heard of them since the release of their second album, Twenty One, over two years ago, but according to the band themselves they have a third due out in July.
On their debut, The Mystery Jets created some fine ramshackle indie pop, with a few proggy inflections. They fitted into a vibrant and productive scene, sometimes known as Thamesbeat, but were one of the few bands to emerge unscathed and un-imploded, ready to release their second album, a father-less effort that this time took its cues from the '80s, with the high-gloss production on singles such as Two Doors Down,  ensuring considerable radio airplay.
When the band took the stage on Thursday, the visible grip of the '80s remained, with all four members resembling Duran Duran after a five day bender, all big suits and wonderful shirts. Their live sound inevitably retained little of the sheen of their records however, but the eternally catchy hooks of older songs such as Half in Love With Elizabeth, Flakes and Young Love ensured the crowd were in fine voice throughout, even inducing some into a spot of crowd-surfing. Four new songs were given an airing, including Bounce and Serotonin, all of which fitted into the set well. One (which i didn't catch the name of) was a particularly sweet, slow arms-in-the-air number, the kind that you can imagine becoming a future live favourite, and the summer festivals will surely treat them kindly, helped by the timely arrival of their third album, which is sure to be a success on the back of what was witnessed in the Vinyl Factory.



Check out their Myspace for updates and tour dates