This one almost passed me by. Or rather I sort of ignored the Rough Trade email of a few weeks back until today. I'm not sure why I did, because Oh My Darling by Basia Bulat was one of my favourite albums of last year. Now she's got some new songs out as part of a download-only single. They're funny beasts really, are download singles. If they're not pressed up on 7 inch or 12 inch vinyl (or maybe at a push, on CD) I can't really properly think of them as singles. Still, it's new [...]
Last night whilst doing the washing-up I heard a beautiful song on the radio. Lovely timeless guitar pop, with a soaring melody, it was. It felt like years since I last heard it, yet it was as familiar as an old friend. That's mainly because I've spent a lot of time, years ago, listening to it and the album it comes from. The song is September Gurls by Big Star , and the album is Radio City . This album is a bit of a special one for me, since the combo of [...]
In my experience, people are usually either into music or hi-fi, not both. Of course, I'm generalising massively, but I think it's a fairly accurate generalisation. Those I have known with top of the range equipment often have a relative lack of music to play on their gear, or just have a general lack of excitement about music – their pleasure is derived more from getting that perfect sound coming out of the speakers. On the other hand, the people I know who really love their music (and there are more of them, I'm pleased to say) are too busy [...]
After King Creosote 's set at the End of the Road Festival last year, Matthew Song By Toad and I had a bit of a debate about the merits of Kenny Anderson's new direction. We had just witnessed a fairly loud (by KC's normal standards) show, which mainly consisted of tracks from latest album Bombshell , a record which sees him rocking out like never before, and given a pop sheen seemingly miles from his Fence Collective roots. I wasn't taken by the new stuff – I preferred it when the King's [...]
Here's something new that came my way a couple of days ago, and since French bands seem to be quite the thing at the moment, I thought I'd give it a whirl. John and Jehn (should that be John et Jehn?) are a French couple living in London to make their musical mark. That might be just beginning. Their debut album is out sometime soon (can't find exactly when), and though the fact that it's split into a 'John' and 'Jehn' side (how does that work in a non-vinyl format?) might suggest some sort of artistic division, it [...]
Calexico are one of my favourite bands, and one that I'll usually go to see every time they're in London simply because they're a fantastic live band who always put on a great show. I know I was a bit lukewarm about the last time I saw them , when they were outclassed by Beirut in support, but that won't stop me going to see them again. Their gig at the Barbican with their Tucson buddies Mariachi Luz de Luna back in 2002 was one of the best I've ever been to. They must have known it was [...]
With all this talk of MIA yesterday , it seems appropriate to revisit her, particularly since Paper Planes , the finest track off Kala has just been released as a single on tasty 12 inch, with more dodgy artwork. It's possibly the best thing Maya Arulpragasam has ever done, what with its gunshots, cash registers, Clash sample and killer tune. This time it comes backed with the obligatory range of remixes, some of which are plain lazy with just a rap stuck on top, but others are better, none more so than James [...]
People have been getting excited about Santogold (Santi White to her mum) for a few months now. Although she made it into that BBC top 10 for 2008 , she might not have achieved Vampire Weekend–big coverage yet, but surely that's only a matter of time. Whether it's Mark Ronson vocal slots, MIA supports, or hanging out with hotshot beatmeisters like Switch, Sinden and Spank Rock's Alex 'Armani XXXChange' Epton, she's got friends in all the right places. The two songs of hers most widely available right now show her off [...]
Last week Xfm DJ John Kennedy wrote into Time Out to complain about their music critics' snide remarks about the radio station, and defending his own championing of new music. He was right – his Xposure show is a place where you can hear good new music and he is tireless in championing it, but his programme is a lone island in a sea of bland corporate indie rock, which has seen the station fall from an exciting and brash new kid on the block in 1997 to a deadweight for which new life seems impossible. [...]
A couple of weeks ago I raved about the new album by LA pop-punks The Mae Shi and now here's a couple related projects I've come across lately. First up Gowns , a band whose core is made up of Ezra Buchla, who used to be in The Mae Shi, and Erika Anderson formerly of Amps for Christ. But don't expect any line of continuation between Ezra's former band and his new one, the two are miles apart. Where the 'Shi show off energy, snappy synth action, cheery guitar riffs and mass singing, Gowns are about [...]
Not so much a good start actually - how about a brilliant start! A couple of days ago, End of the Road Festival announced its second lot of bands for this year's bash on 12-14 September. This was in addition to the first lot of bands announced a couple of weeks ago, which were: Mercury Rev, Two Gallants, Micah P Hinson, Mountain Goats, Sun Kil Moon / Mark Kozelek, Jeffrey Lewis, Jason Molina, A Hawk And A Hacksaw, Bob Log III, The Wave Pictures, Woodpigeon, Friska Viljor. If [...]
Last Tuesday night at the end of Oxford Street was an evening of contrasts. 2000 of The Kids were packing into the Astoria to see perplexingly over-rated Young Knives. Then about 50 metres or so round the corner and downstairs about 30 people had turned up to watch The Cave Singers at their first London headline gig. I'm a bit of a fan of the Seattle band's debut album Invitation Songs so I had fairly high expectations of how it would translate into a live experience. I wasn't to be disappointed. Onstage, [...]
Sometimes great new music can just hit you from out of nowhere. Yesterday afternoon, a message popped into my inbox from John Brainlove, head honcho of the excellent Brainlove Records with info on the label's new release – a split 7 inch featuring Friends of the Bride and Modernaire. Friends of the Bride I was familiar with, and have always enjoyed their big-band swing meets 60s beat sound with a definite modern twist. If you're not acquainted with Bobby Grindrod and co, maybe think a [...]
With all this talk about Krautrock, it seems appropriate to revisit one of the most under-rated bands of the last couple of years - The Early Years . Their self-titled debut album from 2006 was criminally ignored by almost everyone (myself included) when it came to the end-of-year best ofs. The album was good, but that's not my concern here. It's actually one of the band's lesser-known tunes, tucked away on a b-side, but in my opinion their finest hour. This is where they show off their true Krautrock credentials. More than that, the track I [...]
This is the final instalment of my short 'Euro Week' on the DG. I should do it again sometime, next time for more than just a couple of days. Anyway, this is all about French Krautrock. Not that Krautrock played by French bands should be more noteworthy or unique that British bands playing music influnced by Can, Neu!, Faust et al , but it's more that I don't listen to very much French music at all, and the two band which have come my way recently, and [...]
Aargh! Where did the week go? Rather than it being Euro week on The Daily Growl, it'll have to be Euro couple-of-days. Oh well. Let's get on with it then – today we've got The Raveonettes from Denmark. My experience of The Raveonettes has been short-lived but very sweet. It mostly consists of a cracking gig at Cargo a few years back. Me and my friend turned up late and crammed into the back of the venue against the bar, but still managed to have a fantastic time as the Danish duo cranked out [...]
I'm having a bit of a Euro special this week on The Daily Growl. I spend most of my time writing about British or American artists, so it's only good and proper that I cast my eye across the channel from time to time to check out some decent stuff from our continental cousins. First up, from Germany we have MIT , who were the creators of Good Book , the LCD Soundsytem-alike tune which one of my favourite tracks of last year. I was initially surprised to see that Good Book wasn't on [...]
So, the second edition of Jeremy Warmsley and Fay Buzzard's Welcome to Our TV Show is up online now, and like the first, it's very good. It's a sort of lo-fi Jools Holland, where the hosts are less slick, but also far less cringeworthy. If you missed the first, the premise is basically a load of bands and mates piling into Jeremy and Fay's living room and getting filmed playing unreleased songs. This time round it's the turn of Emmy the Great, Lightspeed Champion and Laura Groves, as well as [...]
I knew that after briefly writing about this band a couple of weeks ago , I would be returning to them before too long. And here I am. The Mae Shi are the latest in a steady trickle of great bands to emerge from LA. Well, it's not like they've just emerged, but they are relatively new to me. I'm a bit behind though because the band have actually been around since 2002, and have released four records in that time, including a 59-minute EP and debut 'proper' album Terrorbird . They first [...]
In the UK at least, all the UK press coverage of the Grammys was firmly focused on Amy Winehouse. Fair enough I suppose, here was 'our girl' cleaning up at an American awards show, and it was Troubled Amy of course, being let out of rehab to do what she does best. In all these tales of redemptive awards and covered-up tattoos , I almost failed to notice that the award for best electronic/dance album went to The Chemical Brothers. It just seemed a bit odd really, like it should have been ten years ago or something. My first [...]
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Azealia Banks - '1991' [Listen]
Metric Debuts Album via Synthetica Hide+Seek, Tickets On Sale Now For Fall Tour
THE MASTERSONS — BIRDS FLY SOUTH
