I’m fairly confident you’ll have heard the news that Snoop Dogg is no more: he is now Snoop Lion. Swapping one cool animal moniker for another cooler one (animal, that is), could it be that his music is taking a step in the same direction? On first listen, his track ‘La La La’ is pretty good. It’s got an old school, rootsy vibe that you don’t hear all that often in the age of Gyptian and Vybz Kartel. That largely comes thanks to the superb sample he’s chosen, Ken Boothe’s ‘Artibella’ and from the [...]
There’s nothing groundbreaking here today, just a few songs I’ve been enjoying this week that you really ought to listen to. The first is from R Stevie Moore, the madly prolific Lo Fi artist. This is the first song on his latest album, called Lo Fi Hi Fives . ‘Pop Music’ isn’t all that Lo Fi to be honest with you: it’s got a classic vintage pop sound, albeit with some Nashville influences (listen out for the slide guitar and honky-tonk piano). It’s a feel-good number for a Friday evening. You may know him for this cover [...]
The North-East is currently producing a healthy crop of artists. We recently featured Little Comets, who hail from Jarrow and Tyneside; today it's the turn of Middlesborough's Collectors Club. I'll get the comparison in early: they do sound a little like Little Comets. Not a copy, but in a way that would suggest there's a real market for a good guitar band in the NE. The single we're featuring here is called 'First To Know' and they released it on their own This Is An Adventure label back in April. It's a cracking [...]
What a pun. That's my day job actually, writing them. Moving swiftly on, here are two acts who have dropped song in the inbox over the past few days and they'll work rather nicely back-to-back. Firstly we've got a Welsh artist called Osian Rhys, who's releasing his debut single 'Long Time Gone' on Backwater Records at the end of this month. It's a simply orchestrated 'proper' folk song (no Mumford and Sons here, thanks), which relies on his voice and the really close melodies to keep the listener engaged. The B side is a song called 'A oes [...]
Once again I find myself writing a post for this Music for Horses playlist, which, considering it was an in-joke that I expected to last all of about three weeks, I find a little surprising. It's now been running almost as long as this blog, but I still find songs that I want to include. Moving on to the good stuff though. The first song is a beautifully engineered piece of electronic music; dark, moving and sophisticated, it's got all the ingredients for a good song. The song begins as a quiet drone and quickly builds as the [...]
The debut by LA four piece Electric Guest is a lesson in how to put a host of sub-three minute pop songs (one or two exceptions notwithstanding) into a 40 minute slice of fun pop that's perfect for the summer. While the band generally stick to three minute songs, they are by no means conventional. Opener 'Holes' is a slow, synthy start to the record where singer and front-man Asa Taccone gets a chance to put his vocals to the fore. In contrast the next song and lead single 'This Head I Hold' is pop bliss. That's pop [...]
The temporary cover for Life Is Elsewhere Little Comets have recently announced that their sophomore album, to be titled Life Is Elsewhere , is going to be released on 20th August. You can pre-order it here . The band's debut, In Search Of Elusive Little Comets , was a treat , with it's nods towards to the 802s guitar sounds of Steve Winwood and the afrobeat rhythms of Paul Simon, and judging from the lead track off their [...]
Three covers, none of the duvet variety First is a cover of a Bob Dylan song which is, oddly, more famous that the original. Especially when you consider that the person singing on the new version of the song isn't exactly talented. But what do I know? Listen to Rebecca Black's version and then the original by the one and only Bob Dylan (or God, as he's also known). Bob Dylan - Friday [ More Info ] [...]
Stockholm's Urban Cone make some really, really delightful music! It's the kind of thing that goes down a treat when laying in the sun in Greenwich park, with a frisbee and some once-cold bottles of cider. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I intend on doing this weekend, weather permitting. But back to the music. The song I've been listening to on repeat (a mere year late...) is the infectious 'Urban Photograph'. It's got a beat that skips along with a synth part that's more than a little reminiscent of a certain song by fellow Swedes The Caesars, while [...]
Secret Diaries, the producer we featured a little while back for his Stock-71 double-mix has just let loose this remix of Stubborn Heart's recent song 'Knuckledown'. The original starts with a soundscape that makes you feel like you're on a haunted beach before the warped, melancholic vocals drop in with a mournful lyric. Secret Diaries has managed to capture all of the emotion in his remix while making it infinitely more dancefloor-friendly. It's a blissful track, with the piano loop an homage to the 'good' house music that people genuinely want to listen to on [...]
The 'Green Sea' loosely sketched here by these London/Brighton pop-kids is closer to a man-made lake: cultivated, non-tumultuous and pleasant. The occasional flecks of gentle tape distortion (it could be accidentally generated, but I'd bet against it) suggest hidden depths made unattainable and irretrievable through the misfortunes of recording on the cheap - how cheap exactly would be my question. This lo-fi sleight-of-hand demonstrates that the band believe they have something to hide: the listener is required to believe it's worth seeking. B-side 'Born' stands unshakily in C86 territory, where [...]
This evening I'd like to talk to you about Tiny Ruins, the performing name of Hollie Fullbrook. She's originally from Bristol and emigrated when she was little to New Zealand. In a recent 6music interview she said how this probably influenced her songwriting, on account of the stark difference in surroundings and the isolation of Wellington, her new home. In between the talking, she played one of the most impressive live sessions I've heard in a while. It had me down tools and just stare at the little radio I was listening to the whole [...]
Bobby Womack is back! And his new song, 'The Bravest Man In The Universe', is a class bit of work. His voice sounds as rich and as emotive as ever, while the production (from Damon Albarn and XL head-honcho Richard Russell) adds a depth and groove that gives a great modern spin on the Bobby Womack of old. It's funky, edgy and, above all, really, really good. After hearing this new track I indulged myself and had a Womack-sesh at work today, listening to The Poet (I & II) in their entirety. With the [...]
There are times when I listen to a song and immediately know that it belongs in this playlist. But when it's as good as my first choice today it needs an equally superb companion. It took a while, but I was able to find the perfect 'part 22. Anyway, I'll stop talking about myself and start on the music. We begin this evening with SBTRKT's 'Wildfire', which features the vocals of Little Dragon. The laid back, synthy bass that drives the song gets in your head, while the vocal melody floats above it in a way that I'm struggling to [...]
It's been almost exactly a year since we last posted about Fancy Mike, and seeing as he's just put up a new song on his Soundcloud it's about time he got some more airtime. Or pixeltime. Or whatever you want to call this. Moving on from the semantics, the new track is a two minute treat. Spacy, bassy and dubby in places, it's got a chilled ominous feel that's enhanced by the sampled vocal that drifts in and out of the instrumental. It's seriously good, [...]
I was sent a copy of the newest Kitsuné mix the other day and I've been trying to listen to it but I'm having problems. These problems are due to the first song, by St Lucia, being so damn good that I have more or less put it on repeat and not listened to the rest of the mixtape. Regular readers will be only too aware of my (and the other writers') love for all things electronic. Specifically the sunny, slightly camp electronic stylings of Cut Copy and Architecture In Helsinki, so the first song on Kitsuné [...]
People who know them have been waiting for this for ages now, so I'm happy to be able to say that Leisure have announced a release date for their debut album, which will be called Plastic Soul . It's due to be released on 18th June digitally. They came to prominence supporting Girls back in 2010, with the song 'It's Alright (On The Suez Canal)' catching many an ear. With Beatles-esque strings, quirky guitars and the charming vocals of singer Jed Rouhana. Fans of Girls, Bowie and Grizzly Bear should definitely take [...]
Tru Thoughts' Belleruche are now on to their fourth full-length release and they've made a concerted effort to shake things up a bit. We all know that they do the DIY electro-soul thing well, so it seems that they wanted to show us they can make a darker, more complex sound work too. Luckily, they don't disappoint. The percussion-led songs from 270 Stories and Turntable Soul Stories are replaced by a bass-driven, smokier sound. The production values on Rollerchain are dramatic: it no longer feels like a small band making an album on a budget. [...]
Jesca Hoop, showing off a pretty sweet hat It's all in the title really... Jesca Hoop, the Northern Californian girl living in Manchester whose music Tom Waits described as "like going swimming in a lake at night", is giving away a song over at her website for free. All you need to do is enter your email and then BAM!, you can be the proud new owner of her latest song 'Born To'. It's from her upcoming album called The House That Jack [...]
It's very nearly one of my favourite days of the year. It's a day when people are encouraged not to just click the 'download' link next to the song they're listening to, but to put on some trousers, shoes and other going-outside necessaries, totter down to the local (preferably independent) record store and pay in circular bits of metal and rectangular bits of paper for a - wait for it - physical copy of said song. Now bear with me. This isn't some new-fangled idea that some hipster came up with, but it's what people used to do [...]
Safety, Fun & Learning
Inside "Magna Carta Holy Grail" with JAY Z + Samsung
No Age - C'mon Stimmung (not the video)
CHVRCHES - Gun
AlunaGeorge - You Know You Like It
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" (Official Audio)
Listen to Arctic Monkeys’ new single, “Do I Wanna Know?”
Kanye West x DJ AudiTory – Yeezus [Chopped & Screwed]
Escucha el ruidoso regreso de M.I.A.
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