on Wednesday 29 April 2009

Bearsuit - Muscle Belt

I was beginning to wonder whether i might be getting bored with Bearsuit, could they really continue to be so wonderful, could their ramshackle charm remain a charm without becoming annoying or repetitive, fortunately the answer is no and they remain as brilliant as ever, slightly electro, slightly no wave with their jagged guitar lines that those NME loving boys could well take a lesson from instead of spending so much time choosing which shockwaves product to use next. This is killer chorus pop perfection, a little bit chaos a little bit soaring boy/girl loveliness not a million miles from the Delgados of old but with the usual Bearsuit trademark brilliance. The perfect working out soundtrack or something like that...basically, its brilliant!

Myspace

The Ideal Husbdand - No Bye, No Aloha

Another lovely discovery and quite possibly an early contender for soundtrack of the summer, The Ideal Husband make sumptuos music inspired by 1960's Hawaii, all grass skirts, lapsteel, ukelele and flowers in the hair.

Myspace try Terrified
Youtube
on Tuesday 28 April 2009

Ben Frost - Theory of Machines

I love that feeling when you discover an album that you instantly fall for, look no further than the Lovely Eggs review below for a recent happening where a track hit me so hard I listened to it 17 times in a row.

Despite being about as far away as possible from The Lovely Eggs, Ben Frost's Theory of Machines has hit me in a similar manner, you know how you read all those glowing reviews on Boomkat about the latest release from Machinefabriek and a whole host of other artists, and then you find that you're ever so slightly disappointed, i will step to one side to admit that not always do Boomkat dissappoint, in fact their end of year selection is normally amongst the most reliable, but if you're looking for pure drone perfection, pure drone perfection with a hint of noise, but restraintful noise, perfectly built up and executed then you should really look no further than the marvellous Ben Frost. Not since the Fun Years wonderful and ever fresh Baby, Its Cold Outside have i heard an album of such magnitude and natural, oraganic perfection. Static sounds and gentle, soothing soundscapes of epic proportions, so natural and inviting, a dream in sound, balancing the noise perfectly with the drone like a master of suspense. I can't recommend this highly enough, believe me, its on constant repeat.





on Monday 27 April 2009
The Lovely Eggs

It seems that this weekend i have been somehow ripped out of my droney hollow of dreamy soundscapes that i have become so accustomed to over the bitter winter months, content to put my hood up, snuggle under the blanket and fall asleep to the gentle clicks, whirs and drones of the Fun Years and more recently Ben Frost and Alva Noto.

Instead, i find myself back in the land of indie pop, fanzines and the least self consious dancing i've seen in years and it was the best feeling ever. On Friday night I kicked myself at least 300 times for firstly leaving before a Horowitz encore, a rendition of Chilwell Olympia, the home of my school and a hundred million games of football, but still worse faux pas' would follow.

Let me introduce the Lovely Eggs, a simple two piece, her on guitar and vocals, him on drums and backing vocals and retardedly simple songs of such simplicity that it defies belief that anything more could possibly improve this pure simplistic device. Remember your first encounter with Scout Niblett? the stripped down brilliance, the rawness, the pure delight and proziacical feel those songs gave you, then remember when you first heard Kenickie, their poptastic hooks and their pure comic genius, then remember how Slow Club stole your heart with their onstage banter and simplistic joy and ecstaticism at the fact that peple care enough to come along and see them let alone the fact that they know every single word to each and every song, you should by now have a feeling of the pure euphoria i felt i we walked in to a song that repeated "I want to fall off my bike" again and again with relentless glee.

Things only got better with what i think may possibly be my favourite song ever. Have You Ever Heard A Digital Accordian can not be explained in words, its outright genius and gets better with every listen, even the most cynical person in the world would struggle not to smile at the retort "if you've never heard a digital accordian/ then you've only ever heard an acoustic accordian!"

Whats better is that you can stream it from Last Fm free... a great song, a great band and a kick in the teeth that this was their last song of the night :(

The Lovely Eggs - Have You Ever Heard a Digital Accordian?