Posted by
ben
at
13:25on Wednesday, 8 December 2010
I've long been a lover of Bearsuit and I even have the original Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck 7" single to prove it, not that anyone would want me to do that but there you go. Renowned for their hectic boy/girl screaming interchangeable vocals and their ability to slip from Belle & Sebastianesque pop to Melt Banana white noise whilst still retaining pop sensibilities, it can only be good news that they have a new album on the horizon,The Phantom Forest, which is due for imminent release on the lovely Fortuna Pop! label.
So, just to give you absolutely no idea what to expect from the album, here's a filthy dubstep remix of one of the tracks from the aforementioned album, When Will I Be Queen. An affinity with Bearsuit is not required as this is like nothing they've touched before, judging by how good it is maybe they should take it as a new direction or at least slap Crystal Castles around their face with it until they realise this is how you make music.
For the last year or so, Grouper have hogged the top spot of my Last Fm Top Artists for the last rolling 12 months, I don't check every day but for a long time my love affair with Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill has left all other artists lagging behind...until this week that is, when Grouper finally made way for, of all people, Belle and Sebastian.
I find it almost hard to believe that the first band (well maybe second or third, as Blur and the Foo Fighters filled much of my early teen listening years) I ever really obsessed over have stuck so firmly in my playing selection. I say this because I'm the kind of person who always wants to hear something new, always ready to discover something different and I get easily bored of albums. Seven or eight years ago i could firmly tell you my 5 favourite bands, that being Belle and Sebastian, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Hefner, Clinic and The Delgados, these days Iseem to be able to discover five new bands a week, i could hardly begin to squeeze down to a solid list of my ten favourite bands, maybe not even 20. Since these humble beginnings my tastes have evolved through indie pop, electronica, post rock (to the point of boredom), drone and more recently dubstep and even house and yet subconsciously and admittedly with the help of a new album, Belle & Sebastian are still doing it for me, more so than any other band over the last 12 months it would appear.
Posted by
ben
at
06:03on Saturday, 6 November 2010
Any band that has made as big an impression as Belle & Sebastian did when they hit the scene all those many years ago is bound to meet with mixed reactions by the time they reach their seventh studio album (I'm excluding compilations and soundtracks here). Generally the reception will be frosty with no real basis, quick conclusions that the album is poor after little more than half a listen. So called "real fans" will complain that it's not a replica of Sinister but then if they were "real fans" wouldn't they like everything the band did? One for those elitists to ponder over.
The truth is that if anything, this album is closer in sound to Sinister than anything they've done in a while, yes it's shinier and many of the songs are "jauntier" but in comparison to The Life Pursuit, an album that disappointed many but in time grew in to a real winner, there are a number of slow simple songs, such as Calculating Bimbo that could easily have been taken from an early Belle and Sebastian release.
Whereas you may long for another Sinister, the truth is that Belle & Sebastian aren't going to be the band that do that, someone else will come along and create something that causes such a stir, instead we should see the progress and the fact that so many albums in the band are still making great pop songs albeit with the controversial assistance of Norah Jones! Arguably the whole album isn't incredible but in a generation where there are so many albums available and so many ways to get hold of them, this album deserves your attention, like back in the day when you'd buy the album the day it was released and listen to nothing else for weeks on end until you could recite every word.
Stand out tracks are the excellent Come on Sister which along with the opening I Didn't See It Coming showcases a more prominent keyboard presence and some fantastic backing and choppy guitars, without doubt one of their finer moments, though of course Belle and Sebastian are not short of such. I Want the World to Stop is reminiscent of Waiting For The Moon to Rise but on a better budget with a bassline that makes it dance floor friendly and begs to be remixed. The string of songs, Write About Love, I'm Not Living in the Real World and The Ghost of Rockschool are particular highlights, Write About Love is lyrically brilliant and the guest vocals of Carey Mulligan are a polite reminder that despite what we all expected, they've never really looked back since the departure of Isobel Campbell. I'm Not Living in the Real World is not typical B&S but is a triumphant two and half minutes of call and response ba-ba-ba, oooo-weeee-oooo pop brilliance that will seemingly never grow boring. The Ghost of Rockschool finishes the trio nicely, effortless in sound, casually brilliant, the classy guitar licks and bass line are the icing on the cake as this builds and builds into yet another brilliant track.
The closing brace of I Can See Your Future and Sundays Pretty Icons are a lovely pair of tracks that are so catchy and yet i think they'll take a few plays before you actually realise how good they are.
All in all, a very good album from one of my favourite bands of the last two decades, despite what some will say. Give Write About Love a chance, you might be surprised, even the Norah Jones song is pretty good if you can look past the initial concept.
I won't lie, i have been seriously distracted from pop music, you've probably already realised that by my extensive ambient list of last week. That being said it's hard to deny that there has still been some really great pop music released this year, not much of it revolutionary but pop music is pop music and it's great so why change it??
I wanted to try and add some mp3's but ran out of time. As always you can usually find a track or two on Hype Machine and Elbo, I'm also pretty sure every band in the world has a myspace and they're generally easy to stumble across via google. Purchase wise, Amazon, Norman or Boomkat should sort you out with this bunch.
Happy reading, listening, discovering etc etc etc.
1. God Help the Girl - Stills Ep A return from Stuart Murdoch and a triumphant one too, anyone who thought he'd lost it was proved wrong, if not by the album then certainly by this fantastic and much overlooked ep. Stuart himself providing vocals on the jaunty second track He's a Loving Kind of Boy, full of Belle and Sebastian panache and an indie dancefloor recipe cooked to perfection. Stills and Baby's Just Waiting are gorgeous slow burners and The Psychiatrist Is In is again so perfectly Belle and Sebastian, the vocal phrases staccato and instantly memorable. A glorious EP not to be missed.
2. Fergus and Geronimo - Blind Muslim Girl A wonderful pop single, garage greatness and begging to be played continuously come summer or winter.
What Soundsxp Said :
‘Blind Muslim Girl’ is another audacious pop tune approaching the greatness of ‘Harder Than It’s Ever Been’. It’s bubblegum-surf pop, a giddy hybrid of Jonathan Richman and the Ramones, and as perfect as pop music can get. ‘Powerful Lovin’ on the flip is gospel-garage music, accompanied by a charming toy organ sound, showing that Fergus & Geronimo are nothing if not versatile. Their records have been some of the sharpest highlights of the musical year.
3. Lacrosse - Bandages for the Heart Following on from their 2007 debut and one of my favourite pop records ever, namely, This New Year Will Be For You And Me, Lacrosse delivered yet again, opening the album with two storming tracks, We are Kids and You Are Blind, proving beyond a doubt that this was a band that did not intend to slow down with their delivery of perfect, catchy pop.
There are a few slowies that are still growing on me but the aforementioned openers alongside I See a Brightness and It's Always Sunday Around Here ensured that this album would be played time and time again this year and next year too.
4. The Loves - Three A band who have always had a place in my heart, and for good reason. Simon Love is some kind of time travelling beatnik genius who writes track after track of fantastic 60's esque garage pop classics. Where to start? The singles One-Two-Three and The Ex Gurlfriend had long since made huge impressions in my record collection. Add to that the awesome Ode to Coca Cola, Sweet Sister Delia and the wonderful stomping cover of You Don't Have To and you have on your hands yet another essential foot stomping, hand clapping, dancestastic release from the ever evolving but ever lovable and reliable Loves.
5. The Cave Weddings - Bring Your Love Another exceptional 7" that found itself gaining heavy rotation on my turntable this year. A little bit Buddy Holly, a little bit Jonathan Richman, that is with a more perfect voice, dare i say. Delightful stuff.
What Odd Box Said :
Another day, another slice of American garage rock’n'roll. Yet another 7″ record on the increasingly amazing Hozac Records.
The Cave Weddings are a three piece from Albany, New York. But they could be from any town, any time. Especially a dead beat back water town circa 1966. This is a worthy successor to the 60’s sounds brought back into vogue by compilations like nuggets and pebbles. The Cave Weddings provided some driving guitar action on this two track 7″ single. ‘Bring Your Love’ kicks off proceedings and it’s a rollicking ride through 1960’s garage rock sound. The ‘B’ side ‘Let’s Drive’ keeps the 60’s vibe intact – but it hints at a 50’s rock’n'roll heart beating somewhere deep within The Cave Weddings.
6. The Drums - Summertime Maybe the Drums Lets Go Surfing is this years answer to Young Folks with its instantly lovable whistled melody. Really great fun summertime music.
7. Summer Cats - Songs For Tuesdays Reminiscent at times of Henry's Dress, for their fuzzy raggedy sounds, Comet Gain and just about anything else great that has happened in the last 30 years noisy indie pop wise. Super and Maybe Pile stand out, though the album as a whole is amazing. Would love these guys to come to the UK.
8. Cats on Fire - Our Temperance Movement I've never liked The Smiths, that may however be the same as i've never liked the Beatles, cos i'm stubborn and have never let myself get to know them. Apparently Cats on Fire sound alot like The Smiths, the band that is, you arsonists!, and i like Cats on Fire alot. A very strong album with Tears in Your Cup being the cherry on top, one of my most played tracks in 2009.
9. Cheap Red - Cheap Red Absolutely wonderful to hear something new from Stewart Anderson and Jen Turrell, even better to know that members of Kanda completed the line up of Cheap Red.
From the opening notes of the aptly entitled Let's Start a Riot, with all their Sanddollars charm, it's clear that this is going to be a treat. Unlucky in Love very reminiscent of Kanda with a cup full of Pipas thrown in for good effect. As you'd expect it's a little rough a round the edges but in my eyes all the better for it.
10. Cortney Tidwell - Boys The Boomkittens waxed lyrical over this one, and rightly so, delicious and dizzying, a whirlwind of honey like pop.
What Boomkat Said :
Courtney Tidwell's self-titled debut remains one of the most played records in our office ever, its bittersweet blend of sugary vocals and a deep sense of melancholy never failing to get a reaction from anyone who happens to be around when its played. This long awaited second album for City Slang should hopefully nudge her beyond her current status as one of the great underrated singer songwriters of her time - its just music made for recognition. The production is crisp and glossy but contained by Tidwell's remarkably evocative voice, a voice that somehow reminds us of The Sundays' Harriet Wheeler or Emiliana Torrini but with a sad, introspective edge. Opening track "Solid State" is just vast in scale, a sun-bleached, countrified ballad washed with sweeping strings and quite possibly the most astonishing vocal delivery from Tidwell yet. Recent single 'Watussi' is up next and changes tempo and colour with a perfectly judged Casio pop burner, complete with a super-addictive, propulsive chorus that you'll find impossible to stop humming after just a couple of listens. "Oslo" is an altogether more introspective number, evoking the memory of Hope Sandoval's incredible "Bavarian Fruit Bread" album with its widescreen, hushed tones - just beautiful music. Yes, it's smart and glossy, but something rings very true about this girl, and besides - anything that makes us think of the Sundays AND Hope Sandoval is an absolute winner in our book so we really couldn't recommend this album highly enough. Buy this album - it's just irresistibly lovely.
11. Micachu - Jewellery Much hyped by the NME and deservedly so, a real special debut from the elf like Micachu, DIY pop, eccentric and inventive, something that seems to be lacking for the most parts on the pages of the aforementioned journal, a refreshing change.
What Drowned in Sound Said :
Her debut, Jewellery, - delayed from its original release date due to the band shifting label allegiances to Rough Trade – is bursting with leftfield yet accessible ideas that for once avoid mining the increasingly stripped-bare past for their cues. Though for all the talk in the press of this being a pop album, those in search of something fitting the classic verse-chorus-verse mould should beware. Outside of the melodic brilliance of early single ‘Golden Phone’, Jewellery subsists on a heavy diet of scattershot, deconstructed pop.
It may reek of graduate thesis on the page, but what actually transpires on ‘Calculator’ or the stuttering neurosis of ‘Just in Case’ is fractured yet shimmering pop music made for the 30-second attention span generation. Jewellery is, fundamentally, a constant case of musical leapfrog that boldly springs from gleaming melodies and found sounds to sudden rhythmic and stylistic shifts; often within the space of a single track. And it all stems from the brain of a sneering tomboy capable of sending most major label marketing departments running for the hills in screaming terror.
What do you get when you put it all together then? Thrillingly improbable pop made by a grade-A maverick. Three cheers to that.
12. The Long Lost - The Long Lost It seems forever since i was first completely enthralled by this release. One to keep your hope in true love alive, Daedelus and wife cook up some truly beautiful pop, toy pianos and all, enchanting and charming scarcely give credit to the fairytale beauty of this collaboration.
13. Slow Club - Yeah So Another band that's been charming our pants off for what seems like forever, he is the genius, she is annoying, but luckily when they embrace in song the results are near sublime.
14. Pastels / Tenniscoats - Two Sunsets Another meeting of voices, this time the Pastels and Japanese underground legends, the lesser mans Maher Shalal Hash Baz, combined to make some delicate delicate pop music. Song for a Friend was one of those magic moments of the year. Spine tinglingly sparse and equally beautiful.
15. Dreamdate - Patience Just wonderful, somewhere between Dear Nora, Tiger Trap and the Darling Buds, i think i've said enough.
16. Stolen Hearts - Heart Collector A very recent discovery but this 3 track single has enough Shangri-La's in the first twenty seconds to guarentee its place in my heart forever, fantastic sixties girl pop, nothing new but still, this kind of pop is rarely done quite so well.
What Fire Escape Talking Said :
Their songs are full of chugging new wave bass, driving guitars and infectious 60s pop. Their favourite records may well be Blondie’s Parallel Lines, the Ramones’ debut album and Spector’s Philles classics.
17. Magic Kids - Good to Be Garage Pop is rife or so it would seem, yet another great release was Magic Kids Good to Be, can't really put it any better than Boomkat did below. The B Side, Hey Boy being the real star, almost like they should make a musical based around it. Special stuff.
What Boomkat Said :
"Hey boy, where's your girlfriend? She needs your attention." So starts this luminous piece of pop architecture - the work of a bunch of Memphis based youngsters billing themselves as Magic Kids. The verses are sublime early '60s bubblegum with a faintly festive feel to them, but by the time the chorus kicks in, 'Hey Boy' becomes downright majestic, sounding like a pre-pubescent Roy Wood doing his best Phil Spector impersonation, arranging horns, tuned percussion and garagey clatter in a fashion that makes you wish Vivian Girls were more like this."
18. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca If only for the quite wonderful accapella explosion half way through Remade Horizon, a special band taking pop to the next level.
What Boomkat Said :
I was beginning to lose hope, I really was. 2009 wasn't shaping up to be a great year for pop music; sure there have been good albums but there weren't many really 'defining' records. Animal Collective had hit us square in the chops with 'Merriweather Post Pavillion' but nobody else had raised their game to meet it - the world was lacking the run of albums it needed to make 2009 'great' rather than simply 'good'. That brings us to 'Bitte Orca', an album which might lack the fanfare of its Black Flag-influenced predecessor 'Rise Above' but delivers sonically on every imaginable level. The band have for me always been 'almost there'; their records have been inventive, original, daring and engrossing, but I haven't found myself going back time and time again. Something about the arrangements maybe stopped me from humming the tracks on the bus, but this is exactly what Dave Longstreth has addressed on 'Bitte Orca'. From the tantalizing first few seconds it's obvious that Longstreth has trimmed the fat without losing any of the creative pizzazz the band is known for; the tracks manage to amaze on a technical level but at their heart they're simple, sing-along pop songs, laden with hooks. It's all too easy to make musical mathematics boring or overly quirky but with 'Bitte Orca' we have balance and for every dangling 7/8 guitar part there's a heart-wrenching vocal line, every production flourish is balanced by pounding beats or heavenly harmonies. The band worried long-term fans when 'Stillness Is A Move' was released as the first single; the track is notable for not featuring Longstreth on vocals (sorry girls), but I find it was the perfect teaser for the album. The song is the definitive realisation of Longstreth's fascination with commercial R&B music - a style he's flirted with for years but until now never really got spot on. 'Stillness...' sounds like Longstreth's take on Aaliyah (RIP), with stuttering Timbaland-inspired basslines and sugary vocal harmonies toying with the senses. The only weakness is that there aren't more tracks like this - but that's hardly a criticism. Each track seems to excel in its respective style, and Longstreth battles with folk, blues and soul, wrapping everything in a hip indie sheen without losing sight of coherence. If you haven't come across Dirty Projectors before, don't worry. If you haven't heard Dirty Projectors before, it doesn't matter - 'Bitte Orca' is the pop album of the year, you won't want to miss out.
19. Bill Callahan - Too Many Birds How could anyone resist "that" voice. Amazing as ever.
What Boomkat Said :
Bill Callahan's second post-Smog album is arguably a more solid and consistent affair than Woke On A Whaleheart's occasionally sunny, gospel-influenced sounds, harking back to the more authoritative, poetic works of earlier albums. The first line of 'Jim Cain' provides a great introduction: "I started out in search of ordinary things: how much of a tree bends in the wind?" It's a lyric that mirrors Callahan's uncomplicated yet enormously commanding voice, and a sentiment that hints at the kind of teasing enigma residing at the heart of his craft. For an ordinarily very wily, enigmatic artist, a moment of uncommon directness comes soon after: "I used to be darker, then I got lighter, then I got dark again" he intimates, seemingly laying plain his temperament during recent albums - and no doubt prompting many listeners out there to start thinking he's talking about his relationship with Joanna Newsom - yet there's always some doubt as to just how much we can really trust Callahan, and we always half-suspect he's smirking at us through that rich, Johnny Cash-like baritone. After announcing "I dreamed it was a dream that you were gone", lamenting the absence of a loved one, the beautiful 'Eid Ma Clack Shaw' becomes part Kubla Khan, part 'Tribute' by Tenacious D, with Callahan claiming to have later dreamed the "perfect song/It held all the answers" yet having scribbled it down the words read as gobbldigook. Rather than merely reporting this fact, Callahan goes on to transcribe and sing a nonsensical chorus full of meaningless words, though it's all delivered with the same seriousness and conviction heard everywhere else on the album. It's at once beautiful and strangely quite tragic, as if these were utterances from someone floundering hopelessly both in their relationships and their art. On the strength of this resolutely on-form album however, we can conclude that the latter, at least, is most certainly not true at all.
20. The Crayon Fields - All The Pleasures Of The World We had the pleasure of playing with this band earlier in the year and even though i loved them i never really expected an album as good as this, very sixties sounding and very very good, less garagey than the majority of t60's influenced bands this year, instead more like the Zombies, sweet and harmonious, the opening track especially so.
What Austin Town Hall Said :
In a year that offered lots of mediocre albums, 2009 had so many new records that it was hard to digest them all in due time for reviews. Yet, I always intended to touch on this album, as I’ve loved The Crayon Fields since Animal Bells came out a few years back.
“Mirrorball” made the list of our Top 50 songs of 2009, and it still draws a lot of power, months after it first hit our ears. Singer Geoff O’ Connor has a real breathy vocal projection (like a pop whisperer), one that will recall Colin Bluntstone of The Zombies for many listeners…it’s just one of the many touchstones for the group.
One thing that differentiates the characterstics on All the Pleasures of the World from Animal Bells is that there seems to be a little bit of darkness lingering beneath each of the songs. On Animal Bells, you had songs like “Living So Well,” which were full of sunny beach pop and gang vocal effects, but this doesn’t fit here. On the album’s title track, amidst singing of pleasures, O’ Connor seems sort of resigned to see the pleasures, though not necessarily take part in them. Perhaps the extra layering of instruments has made a more dense soundscape from which the band took off this round (some of the best being from the solid bass work). Just a guess.
When one comes across songs like “Celebrate” you can see how a Clientele reference might creep up in a review, but you might also note that the similarites are existant, yet polarizing. Where The Clientele often feels extremely cold, and their melodies have a sense of brooding danger, The Crayon Fields put a little bit of energy into their artistry. By this I really mean one thing: The Clientele gives you foggy melodies; The Crayon Fields blow the fog away with a touch of beach-side sunshine.
You’ll also find a lot of the guitar-work of Glaswegians Belle and Sebastian lying beneath this album. You can almost pick up on the homage being given in songs such as “Disappear” where there is a hint of swing and sway to the general atmospheric creation. It’s not a bad thing to highlight, as I’m a fan of the former band, which also probably shows why I’m a huge fan of the latter. Really, is there any ground for originality nowadays?
So, here I am, a few months after the release, though you will still find it hard to get a hold of All the Pleasures of the World in the U.S. Be that as it may, you’ll do yourself, and the dollar, justice if you go out to your local hotspot and purchase the latest from The Crayon Fields, and the last one while you’re at it.
Posted by
ben
at
12:19on Friday, 18 September 2009
Fergus & Gerinimo - Blind Muslim Girl
Snappily titled and catchy as can be, lovely shiny 60's Beach Boy pop, slightly scuzzier but equally as catchy. A bit of Belle and Sebastian can be heard beneath it all, particularly on Harder than It's Ever Been, Belle and Sebastian had they been brought up in the gutters and not a private school. The title track is one of the pop songs of the year. Highly recommended.
A Lily – Wake:Sleep "sweet, meandering melodies, caught somewhere between sleeping and waking. childrens' voices echo incoherent and lively; electronics, accordian, drums and glockenspiel drift in and out."The Wire
It’s taken me a long time to get into this and I wonder why, it’s so perfectly me, perhaps it’s those final two tracks, far too long for my short attention span, too droney and uneventful, maybe they just don’t fit the rest of the album, the latter being 30 plus minutes in length, perhaps on my way to sleep I would welcome them into my ears but following on from the glorious six tracks that precede them, i’m not interested. Maybe if this is available on vinyl the label will have been discreet enough to have tracks 1-6 on side A and 7 & 8 on the flipside, they seem that far removed. The album comes with a story...( "In his solo project A Lily, James Vella creates willowy instrumental dreampop whose pitter-pattering beats, chiming melodies, softly murmuring voices, and fluttering guitars sound like they're emerging from behind a translucent scrim. Inspired by his girlfriend Leanna, Wake:Sleep is a valentine set to music created by the Canterbury resident and Yndi Halda guitarist using primarily computer and electric and acoustic guitars, but also accordion, piano, drums, glockenspiel, bass, and pretty much anything else within reach.)...and its every bit as beautiful as the sentiment, six pieces of glitchy goodness, skittering beats and gently whispered sampled laments, like múm if they only shopped organically and avoid e numbers, like a film dropped on the floor before developing, stained half recallen memories of good times, the light that awakens you day in day out, reliable, bright and persistent. Children’s voices reminiscent of Boards of Canada and Isan, twinkles and chimes so soothing on the brain that remind me of I am Robot & Proud, each song slowly turned inside out as if to reveal the inner person, the secret person of the heart. A special special album.
Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee - Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee (Fortuna Pop!) I wonder where he finds the time, where he finds the inspiration, this being the umpteenth release this year from the wonderfully honest and analytical Darren Hayman formerly of Hefner, one of my all time favourite bands. Darren has the ability to put feelings into words, everything you want to express, all those frustrations you’ve felt, all the sideways glances, all the thoughts you never thought you’d tell into flipping good pop songs. With Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee there is a diversion from the normal sound this being a bluegrass project, which would normally be enough to turn anyone off, however alongside Dave Tattersall of the Wave Pictures the Hayman magic shines through as ever. Hesitation Blues will have you strutting around your kitchen and dosey doe-ing your loved one whilst your kettle boils, Jameater Blues will have you flinging open your windows on even the coldest days and make you eat jam straight from the jar without a care in the world. High Blood Pressure cannot fail to make you smile, alternatively it may just inspire you to go watch O Brother Where Art Thou? Go embrace Hayman, Watkins, Trout & Lee, let some light heartedness into your life.
The Mountain Movers - We've Walked In Hell And There Is Life After Death (Fortuna Pop!) With a title like that of an over ambitious post rock band or a survivor from the lost island writing his autobiography you’d be forgiven for expecting something pretentious and overblown. It won’t help their cause when I tell you that all the songs are about death, the devil and the afterlife. You’ll be pleased to know however that instead of being some death metal disaster, the kind people at Fortuna Pop! Are treating you to 12 songs as laid back and splendid as everyone’s favourites, The Butterflies of Love.
Bubblegum Lemonade – Ten Years Younger EP Strawberry Whiplash – Who’s In Your Dreams EP A lovely couple of releases straight out of Glasgow from the ever reliable Matinee Records. Bubblegum Lemonade are very JAMC and very Creation but loveable all the same. Ten Years Younger is a brilliant shoegazey pop song with an almost Aislers Set/Black Tambourine stomp to it especially as it resurrects itself so brilliantly just before the three minute mark. That Thing You Do! Sounds like something i’ve heard before, it’s nothing new but it’s exceptionally well done. Highly recommended. Strawberry Whiplash have a similarly familiar sound, this time more drenched in fuzz and keys, like a modern Shop Assistants, and really need I say anything further than just go discover them.
Cocoanut Groove - The end of the summer on Bookbinder road A brilliant harpsichord drenched track of Left Banke pop with a bass line taken straight from the fret board of the Association. One for those few sunny days when you miss the old Belle & Sebastian.
So it really has been to long since i visited this page and shared good music with you. Much has happened and much new music has been discovered and continues to be discovered on a daily basis, the Japanese in particular, seemingly a nation full of talented musicians, equal parts genius and beauty. An endless stream of musicians similar in style to World's End Girlfriend and dare i say better than. Each one taking the most lovely parts of classical and turning it into something of exceptional splendour.
First up Anoice, whose album Remmings is a real joy, a gorgeous mix of piano and violin, occasionally dischordant but in a subtle way rather than any barrage of decay that you may expect. The almost Tarantula AD had they not discovered 80's poodle rock of Kyoto stands out alongside the yearning violins of Liange.
Anoice guitarist and programmer Takahiro Kido also records under his own name, more sparse and slightly magical in its basic form. Lovely piano compositions
Yasushi Yoshida's new one for the ever impressive and reliable noble label is a touch of genius in a very similar vein perfecting the mold he so sucessfully created on pevious album Secret Figure. Highly recommended.
This is Ivy League have been catering for my pop requirements. Thir self titled debu album is a breath of fresh summer air, like Belle and Sebastian with a greater love for Simon & Garfunkel, for Modesty Blaise, for Love . like Suburban Kids With Biblical Names if they slept in silk pyjamas, really quite brilliant. Richest Kids, A Summer Chill, Love is Impossible stand out. This is Ivy League - Richest Kids mp3
Women are just brilliant, like No Age playing Shin's covers. Clinic covering the Bach Boys. I need say no more.
Matmos have been getting all perfect on us, less concepts more electronics, the opening three tracks on new album Supreme Balloon are obscenely good, suffocated in retro synths, rubbery and brain meltingly good. The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to the exceptional openings but the three are well worth tracking down.
Just five minutes back snow was showering itself down like dusting on a cake, nonchalantly falling like everything was normal and we weren't slowly working our way into the month of April...now there's glorious sunshine...I sometimes forget just how great Belle & Sebastian are, even though the blogs very bame is stolen from one of their songs..from time to time i'll revisit, latey i've been trying the newer stuff, swallowing my pride as an old school fan and just ennjoying the fact that as far as "chart music" goes, Belle and Sebastian are indeed a breath of fresh air. Today though I'm feeling sinister and Fox in the Snow seems like the right song to be listening to on repeat, i smile to the line, the best looking boys are taken, the best looking boys are staying in bed in the gloriously simple and instantly loveable Judy and Her Dream of Horses.
How can you not love Kimya Dawson, so imperfect yet twice as perfect for it, a hero for those who "can't sing" who aren't afraid of being different yet are secretly paranoid about what other people think. I Like Giants is a lovely song..."all girls feel too big sometimesRegardless of their size"
A delightful album of layered electronics, found sounds and gentle guitars coming over like a mixture of Bright Eyes and The Postal Service given a laconic remix by Four Tet, all woven and sewn up into a little package of early morning sunrise.
Best taken as a piece of music rather than any individual tracks that jump out, here Matthias Grubel satisfies those like myself who were disappointed by Khonnor's much talked about Handwriting.
The Young Republic - 12 Tales From Winter City (End of the Road) Another great pop album, this time from the talented Boston octet The Young Republic mixing Belle and Sebastian, Hefner, The Tyde and even early Embrace without sounding identical to any of them. Great well written and perfectly executed pop songs, mixing both folk and country along the way, stylish and instantly memorable.
Future of the Left – Curses (Too Pure) It’s fair to say that heavy music rarely does it for me, and when I say heavy I don’t mean heavy in the sense of Let Airplanes Circle Overhead, Russian Circles, Pelican and the like, I adore them, no I mean heavy as in with screaming and intenseness, it’s the combination that I’m not that fussed about. However there will always be exceptions, in the past the main exception happened to be the highly underrated Mclusky and so its no surprise that my new favourite band (for 15 minutes as ever for me) are Future of the Left the new project of former Mclusky front man Andy Falkous and drummer Jimmy Egglestone. This is no nonsense full on aggressive in your face rock, yet for all its no nonsenseness it full on nonsensical lyrics, and melodies that will having you nodding your head and banging your steering wheel as you wait at the lights.
In the tradition of Mclusky amazing song titles are ever present (My Gymnastic Past, Suddenly It's A Folk Song, Adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood) and perhaps less familiar will be the excellent keyboards lines now present used to amazing effect on the fantastic Manchasm, I’ll let you discover this years best outro yourself, needless to say that like Mclusky, Future of the Left are a very special band.
Go! Team - Proof of Youth (Memphis Industries) I’m not ashamed to admit that I really never intended to hear this, planning to avoid it at all costs. I really enjoyed their debut album but was let down with the live performance, it was all very “put yr hands in the air, like you just don’t care” and didn’t do it for me at all and then a series of events, the plan b interview, to quote “I wanna be a cartoon! I wanna be a comic! I wanna be a watch!” why? why would you ever say that? And then the press shot in the latest Plan B, grotesque and utterly repulsive, again why would you let people print such bad pictures of yourself, and yet I eat each and every one of my words, I take back all my misconceptions, my past experience of bands never quite matching the exuberance and quality of their debut, my everything, Proof of Youth is one of the best albums you will hear this year, full to the brim and overflowing with feel good tunes, songs to pick you up, to make you dance, to let you forget about all the crap you have to deal with, I love this album, only a week ago I could never imagine saying such a thing. Its sends a shiver down my spine how good this album is. Taking the best of hip hop and mixing it in with a serious helping of motown, tracks like Doing it Right have no need to beg you to dance for by the time the first bar has kicked in you’re already there on the dance floor, and a series of chants likely to be echoed on a million dance floors “do it do it alright” “extra extra read all about it”.
If you thought Annie’s Chewing Gum was the song to get you in the mood then now you have a whole album, soo good that you’ll be tempted to stay in, it really is that good. I’m having trouble describing just how good, Fake ID is smothered in such northern soul magic where it not for the hip hop twist you’d swear you were down Wigan Casino on a Saturday night. Don’t let your musical snobbery put you off, Proof of Youth is awesome.
Back when I was a lad, or at least when I when I was first beginning to “properly” get into music, whereby I mean that my record collection no longer consisted of taped music recorded from and occasionally by friends too cautious to “lend” in fear of never seeing their beloved disc again. Instead my hard earned cash gave me the opportunity to fill every possible place I could ram a CD within my (shared) box room…and so I did…and so my findings led me to a pentateuch, so to speak, of bands that I both swore by and adored, bands who could do no wrong in my eyes…a list of which follows
It is from the final and perhaps weirdest and unpredictable of the bunch that arises my latest obsession, that being the solo project of former front man Euros Childs, going by the alias of…erm, Euros Childs. Gorky’s a their finest where able to produce both noise and melody, hush and chaos and ultimately a song for each occasion, whether that be the loud and chaotic Sweet Johnny, the literally barking mad Poodle Rocking, the sunshine pop of Spanish Dance Troupe, Diamond Dew and Patio Song or the heart melting four tracks that closed 1999 album, Spanish Dance Troupe, who could forget the “Jodie brown eyes” line, one that to do this day I find myself randomly singing. And so out of nowhere Euros has given us three albums in the space of sixteen months, Chops (13/2/06) Bore Da (05/03/07) and now The Miracle Inn (25/06/07), a treasure trove of Gorky-like pop. The piano led pop remains, songs like Horse Riding & Ali Day are instant classics, whereas the more ambitious 15 minutes of The Miracle Inn show the ideas and experiments are not running short yet. Costa Rita is a lovely love song told in the normal Euros way, quirky and normally from a distance, the way we all fall in love with that girl that we see on the bus each day, the one who walks past our window at work, the one who works in the florist down the road and yet we’ll probably never ever pluck the courage up to talk to her let alone tell her how we feel. Country Girl shows his fondness for country as previously expressed in the much loved yet little heard Johnny Cash Lawsuit Song. Euros Childs is a madcap genius who deserves your attention, let him put a little sunshine and romance in your life.
I've long been a lover of Bearsuit and I even have the original Hey Charlie, Hey Chuck 7" single to prove it, not that anyone would want me to do that but there you go. Renowned for their hectic boy/girl screaming interchangeable vocals and their ability to slip from Belle & Sebastianesque pop to Melt Banana white noise whilst still retaining pop sensibilities, it can only be good news that they have a new album on the horizon, The Phantom Forest, which is due for imminent release on the lovely Fortuna Pop! label.
Bearsuit - Please Don't Take Him Back mp3
