2010's winners The xx Each and every year I look through the Mercury Prize list and tally it up with the list I have in my head. Sometimes the list is good and includes virtually everything that I too considered to be the best of that period. Other times, and particularly in recent years, the list seems to consist of two groups the year's big financial hitters and some seemingly willful curve balls. This year's list falls between the two stalls. There's a lot on the list that seems to be dictated by [...]
The Wireless event (still loathe to call it a festival...!) has attracted some big names over the past few years, even coaxing some back together and out of hiding. Two of their biggest draws have been the reformed Britpop behemoths Blur in 2009 and just this last weekend, Pulp continued their comeback with a blistering show. Can they continue to pull in these big comebacks every few years? Will the nostalgia for the era of Britpop and beyond continue for much longer? Certainly Wireless has consistently succeeded in pulling the most varied line-up together this side of Glastonbury, [...]
London has been my home now for nearly ten years. Roughly about the same length of time that British Sea Power have been signed to Rough Trade. It startles me a bit to think that I've been going to gigs in this part of the world now for so long that entire band's careers are encapsulated in that span. British Sea Power have always been a band unafraid to be different, confident in themselves and their craft. Now as they approach their second ten years as a band, they seem more comfortable than ever in what they're doing. [...]
1. PJ Harvey returns White Chalk didn't hit all the spots, A Man A Woman Walked By wasn't her alone - I'm hoping this year sees Polly Jean Harvey return to the fray in fine solo form. Her new record, Let England Shake , lands on February 14 and already the hype is starting to build. Themes of violence and disillusionment are not exactly new ground for PJ, but this time it seems to be a wider commentary on the state of a nation than the state of [...]
It can hardly be said that Clinic have changed much over the past 10 years. Right from their initial releases up to 2008’s "Do It" they’ve kept that same dense gothic sound, with its fast paced guitar rhythms, humming electro organs, and creepy, sometimes hilarious lyrics. But for 2010’s "Bubblegum" they’ve decided to alter the mix and shake things up with a new sound. Or have they? "Bubblegum" is a non-committed reinvention, the band deliberately trying to make a non-‘Clinic’ album. The sound is certainly softer, featuring many acoustic guitar driven tracks, but in making this change they’ve [...]
There's so much love in the Queen Elizabeth Hall; Collins is determinedly walking with the aid of a stick to his spot at the front of the stage, his band pumping out Chic's Good Times . Sometimes, the applause of a performer onto the stage can be a little perfunctory, but there's no hint of that here. Every single person in the crowd is ecstatic and thankful that the Scotsman is with us, the fact that he's making music a bonus scarcely believable five years ago. He settles into position and leads his band, and make no mistake lead [...]
In some ways, Bang Goes the Knighthood is very different from Neil Hannon’s past work. Long time fans on pressing play for the first time will expect the stirrings of a string section or the familiar rat-a-tat of his signature drum beat - but there is no grand opening this time. Instead, Hannon’s 10th album begins with wistful melancholy; Down On The Street Below is about looking at your own life and feeling out of place. Of course it’s about his own minor celebrity status, albeit too elegantly written to seem like egocentric wallowing. [...]
There’s something mechanical about the way the Fever Ray show starts, that wonderful rumble that opens last year’s magnificent debut album from Karin Dreijer Andersson. As the band lurches into If I Had A Heart the bass is deadening, it’s the kind of noise you feel as much as hear – for me it reverberates around the top of my stomach. Then you get to hear the voice, disconcerting and inhuman – pitch-shifted and bent out of recognisable form. Visually you get no clues either, you can barely see the band for the smoke and darkness that envelopes [...]
Kicking off with discovery of the week, South London artists and all round creative types Breton. Already building a name as remixers, video artists as well as making spiffing tunes in their own right - this track comes from their forthcoming EP, Sharing Notes . A heady mix of post-rock, electronica and mathy guitar noise, I can't wait to get my hands on the physical version of this. Not only are the tunes great, but get this - it comes attached to a circuit board with instructions on how to make a fully working synth - talk about the [...]
A new Chemical Brothers album. Not news to stir the emotions is it? Five years since their last decent track ( Galvanize , if you were wondering) and much further back since their last full length really hit the spot; you could be forgiven for immediately writing Further off without a second thought. Stick with it though and Tom and Ed's seventh studio album reveals a partial return to form. Gone are the odd guest vocalists that plagued the last few records, and back is the expansive and ever-so-slightly psychedelic twisting electronica that we all fell in love [...]
After almost 30 years of writing and performing in some form or another, it wouldn’t be surprising if James settled into that "established act of yester-year" phase. Like The Cure or Depeche Mode, they could be recycling their old ideas in increasing less-essential albums, mopped up by the faithful, whilst live they perform greatest hit sets to casual fans, young and old. Their reformation album Hey Ma seemed to lay the ground work for this phase. Despite its post 9/11 protesting, it was very much a glossy business-as-usual piece of work that could’ve sat between 91’s [...]
After almost 30 years of writing and performing in some form or another, it wouldn’t be surprising if James settled into that "established act of yester-year" phase. Like The Cure or Depeche Mode, they could be recycling their old ideas in increasing less-essential albums, mopped up by the faithful, whilst live they perform greatest hit sets to casual fans, young and old. Their reformation album Hey Ma seemed to lay the ground work for this phase. Despite its post 9/11 protesting, it was very much a glossy business-as-usual piece of work that could’ve sat between 91’s [...]
Sat in the sunshine at my local station this morning, listening to my 'new favourite band', Washed Out , I got to thinking about how I got into music. I still remember, as I'm sure many of you who read this post will, what my first album was. Now, I'm going to hit you straight - no lies to retrospectively cool-up myself, no altering of history. Boss Drum by The Shamen. It was on tape, bought from the Longton branch of Woolworths. I was 10. I was a pretty naive ten year old too, for I'd [...]
Sat in the sunshine at my local station this morning, listening to my 'new favourite band', Washed Out , I got to thinking about how I got into music. I still remember, as I'm sure many of you who read this post will, what my first album was. Now, I'm going to hit you straight - no lies to retrospectively cool-up myself, no altering of history. Boss Drum by The Shamen. It was on tape, bought from the Longton branch of Woolworths. I was 10. I was a pretty naive ten year old too, for I'd [...]
Despite being a band that essentially consists of one man, Neil Hannon has never actually toured solo before, or at least not since hitting the big time. Normally he’s seen on stage backed with anywhere up to 35 players. But - for his latest tour Hannon has unexpectedly gone back to basics; it’s just him, his piano and his guitar. Hannon often comes across quite uneasy at the beginnings of concerts, taking a few songs to really get into the swing of things, but despite the added pressure of performing solo, he seems completely at ease at London’s [...]
It isn’t normally a good sign when a late-in-their-career artist brings out a covers album. It normally signifies a significant drop in bankability and the chase of a fast buck; in the desperate hope that tried and tested tunes will earn them some attention. Fortunately, Peter Gabriel’s career prospects seem a little more healthy. Gabriel is a man who doesn’t complete an album until he’s good and ready, which seems to be about roughly 8 years. If his hardcore fans were disappointed that this new release was not his long muted I/o project, at least they [...]
It was Record Store Day this Saturday. A serious lack of moolah in the Jealousy wallet meant no new purchases for me this year, but there was some great stuff available; Blur, MGMT, Foals, Black Keys etc. Most of it you can probably find for a fortune on Ebay, not that it was that cheap to start with! Not that this is going to be a rant about the somewhat backwards nature of RSD, it being backed by major labels and such... There is however, something you can get for free! Pitchfork are showing, for a [...]
This debut LP from the Dum Dum Girls is a tease. You see, in name, in style, in hype they're retreading ground already gleefully stamped all over by the wonderful Vivian Girls. Even three tracks into I Will Be , there's little to distinguish them from their Brooklyn counterparts. It's all DIY-surf-echoed gubbins; it's good though - opener It Only Takes One Night shakes, clatters and rolls along, recalling the fantastic Raveonettes tune Attack Of The Ghost Riders . Then, it happens. You see, they've been hiding a stupendous trick up their sleeve. In [...]
This debut LP from the Dum Dum Girls is a tease. You see, in name, in style, in hype they're retreading ground already gleefully stamped all over by the wonderful Vivian Girls. Even three tracks into I Will Be , there's little to distinguish them from their Brooklyn counterparts. It's all DIY-surf-echoed gubbins; it's good though - opener It Only Takes One Night shakes, clatters and rolls along, recalling the fantastic Raveonettes tune Attack Of The Ghost Riders . Then, it happens. You see, they've been hiding a stupendous trick up their sleeve. In [...]
Different gigs have different vibes. Archie Bronson Outfit may not be about to cross over to the mainstream just yet, but there were clearly people here at ULU who were really, really excited to see them, and really, really wanted to have a good time. Gangs of guys were just waiting, waiting, for the signal that it was time to leap up and down and start moshing. They would alas, be largely disappointed. It was clear within a few songs that things just weren’t taking off. There were yells from the crowd ‘turn it up’, ‘you’re really quiet’. [...]
Stereo Jealousy
Listen to Daft Punk’s “Horizon”, the Japanese bonus track for Random Access Memories
Baauer knocks trap music out of the park with Disclosure ‘You & Me’ remix
