Another song that serves as a perfect soundtrack to Summer. A very different kind of Summer to the one brought to mind by Wavves snotty pop punk. Jangly, shimmering guitar; fey, C86-inspired vocals. MP3: Tennis - South Carolina
Part One 1. California Gurls - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg 2. CMYK - James Blake 3. Odessa - Caribou 4. Thieves In the Night - Hot Chip 5. Empire Ants - Gorillaz 6. I'm Not Going Anywhere - Nika & Rory 7. Dancing On My Own - Robyn 8. Acapella - Kelis 9. Computer Face: Pure Being - Flying Lotus 10. Come With Me - Ceo 11. Lemonworld - The National 12. Treats - Sleigh Bells [...]
As much as I adored Wavvves, it felt like a one trick pony; spending most of last Summer acting a dick during various live shows didn't do much to help the impression of an artist crashing and burning whilst trying to learn on the job. He might still be a dick, I don't know the guy personally, but King of the Beach shows progression. The sound's more polished but it's leaner, sharper and a lot poppier. That probably burns like Kryptonite to some of the Pitchfork faithful, but it's a good thing for a sound that thrives [...]
We all had a great time and it was fun whilst it lasted, but I just can't do his anymore, Angelina. Remember when Lady Gaga was just a bad imitation of an electroclash Christina Aguilera? Then Fame Monster came along, Pitchfork offered warm praise , Bad Romance and Telephone revealed themselves as AAA pop songs and were reinforced by internet-stopping videos and Christina Aguilera eventually stumbled back on the scene and offered a better bad impersonation of an electroclash Christina Aguilera . But now, it's over. Alejandro is the end of our little fling, [...]
An ecclesiastical banger that bumps hard in typical Big Boi fashion. One month to go. MP3: Big Boi - General Patton
Arcade Fire setlist (Notman House, Montreal, June 4, 2010): The Suburbs Ready to Start Month of May Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) City With No Children Rococo Keep the Car Running Empty Room Modern Man Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) Rebellion (Lies) Suburban War Wake Up From Pitchfork And a great review from Said the Gramaphone : http://www.saidthegramophone.c om/archives/gorgeous_demolitio ns.php Originally I was mostly unimpressed by their new material: Month of May was [...]
I've blogged about 60s psychadelica outside of the West before, but I'm not going to wax lyrical about a genre this time. In this case I just simply have a thing for the idea of four women in post-colonial Indonesia starting a rock band in those outfits in an age before irony. Fans of Vivian Girls et al, take note. They've got a pretty cool back-story to boot. From their Last.fm page : 'Dara Puspita (Flower Girls) was Indonesia's most successful girl band of the 1960s. While [...]
So I was browsing the internet and came across an Esquire promo trailer for a Daisy Lowe shoot - as you do - and was immediately taken by the quality of the soundtrack; a really sassy, chicken-scratch guitared electro/funk/disco-ey work out that soon took my interest away from the model cavorting in high definition on my screen. So I skipped to the end of the video (sorry, Daisy) and found it was by Maximum Balloons, Dave Sitek's newly named side-project . A few hopeful googles didn't provide me with a download link, so I'm currently just [...]
I'd intended to write about this duo in my LCD gig review, but for the sake of brevity I didn't write about their support performance. They've more than a bit neglected by me in general, See Mystery Lights was one of those albums that fell through the cracks and doesn't get listened to for months. And, to my regret, when they pop up as a support act for one of my more anticipated gigs of the year and I give them a respectful listen, they turn out to be really good. Groovy, DFA dance-punk with [...]
Disgustingly talented 18 year old's solo project; sounds like a mellower, less scrappy, but just as fuzzy Wavves. http://www.myspace.com/cloudno things MP3: Cloud Nothings - Hey Cool Kid
As much as I love LCD Soundsystem, I've been to the Brixton Academy quite a few times, so feel qualified to declare that its sound quality sucks. Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hot Chip, lord knows you all tried your best to make it work, but Brixton wasn't co-operating. You all put on great shows; they just could have been that much better somewhere else. I was cautiously optimistic. 'It's been so long since we've been in London' . If they hadn't just played opener, 'Us v Them', twice due to the keys being broken on [...]
Crystal Castles are a tricksy band: despite their chiptune stylings, they're not named after the 1983 Atari videogame; they're not adverse to an on-stage hissy fit or a pre-show cancellation and Crystal Castles, the name of their second album, is the same as their first – Crystal Castles. Such inscrutability translates into their music. Crystal Castles (the album - the first one) held still just long enough to be unsatisfactorily pinned down with labels like the aforementioned chiptune and, more awkwardly, new rave. But the NME's keenness to create and categorise a movement – not surprisingly - never [...]
Flying Lotus's second album is set to drop next week, May 3rd. It's better than Crystal Castles and it gets a lot stronger than this track, but I didn't want to spoil you. If you like what you hear and fancy indulging yourself, then head over to his Myspace page where the whole album is available to stream. MP3: Flying Lotus - And the World Laughs [...]
Crystal Castles sophomore effort - annoyingly titled Crystal Castles , like their debut - is out today. MP3: Crystal Castles - Baptism
. Not enough interpretive dance in music videos these days. MP3: The xx - Islands
Another Record Store Day curio. Well, if you could call the first single from Blur in seven years a curio. Understated is probably the magic word here: the lyrics detail a typical day in the life of Damon Albarn and address the process of recording this track, which includes walking past Woolworths and dropping off his kid off at school. Coxon's guitar gently shuffles a chord progression that sounds more than a little like (I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight (sorry, once you've heard it you won't be able to unhear it). We get a nice, [...]
On first glance, I was surprised that the band included a remix on their Zebra EP (released especially for Record Store Day). With a quirky, zany name like Cough Syrup, I had visions of Legrand's vocals cut up and glitched over a dirt electro house beat. Thankfully, that's not what happens here, the word 'remix' doesn't give the best impression of what's done. The album cut was a quite a cinematic affair that was one of the many instances of the band progressing beyond their introverted, low-fi beginnings. The shimmering guitar and the propulsive drums drove the song [...]
Last year, Grizzly Bear played a solitary date at Koko. This year, they've booked the Roundhouse for the weekend and sold it out. What's changed? There's a multitude of different factors that you could suggest. They appeared on the Twilight soundtrack, so they've roped in that tween demographic; they got Jay-Z appearing at their shows, so they'll have some Hip Hop fans interested; and Two Weeks served as the backing to a dozen romance scenes in American dramas and was most notably used in a Volkswagen commercial during the Super Bowl. They've gotten a lot of mainstream [...]
(Picture courtesy of Humbert15 - rest of set available here. ) Usually when you go to a gig you get a bunch of nice memories that will flourish your enjoyment of the recorded songs in weeks and months to come. Apart from the live 'experience' you want to hear that favourite cut off their latest album loud, you want to hear what they'll do with it in a live setting. Usually it's a beneficial relationship for all parties involved, but, as happened tonight, sometimes you get a [...]
Photo courtesy of the extremely talented Anika Mottershaw. (Pictures from the rest of the set here ) Almost exclusively finding, listening and sharing music online can make for some surprisingly jarring effects when dunked into the real world. Outside of the Pitchfork bubble, Girls are a relatively unknown band. Despite performing under the banner of the NME Awards Tour, they don't manage to sell out the cosy Scala, far from it, and despite the hyperbolic praise lavished upon the band in the past 6 months they're not quite there yet. The music [...]
Misspeak Music
No Church In The Wild
CHROMATICS "THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME"
Nas - Daughters
The Rains of Castamere by The National
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Avicii – Two Million
Yellow Magic Orchestra edit from Chrome Canyon
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
H&M Lookbook Mujer y Hombre Otoño 2012.
