Tweet It may start out a little like R.E.M.'s 'Everybody Hurts' but that's where the similarity ends for 'Come On Over' is an immensely propulsive thing once it locates its afterburners. It comes courtesy of London act Veronica Falls who've had previous with the Royal We and have cocked the ears of some clued-in folks at the Slumberland, Captured Tracks and Bella Union record labels. All this surely means one thing, critical fawning followed by a long slow terminal decline before they [...]
Tweet It must seem like a very odd thing for a music blogger to say but as the years tick by the less and less I find myself listening to whole albums. Not sure if you are born with ADD or can acquire it but it seems that as more and more music crosses my path the less and less I appear to be listening to it. Not that that I've in any way fallen out of love, the opposite in fact, [...]
Tweet An Irish band doing indie rock, how particularly un-novel given that there are a million or so of them in operation. Especially now that the economy has taken a giant dive and all the young people will have nothing to do except scoff up their runners, grease up their unkempt hair and dream of throwing apple gizmos into the pool from their 5 star hotel bedroom. Pretty confident that Cork band Superblondes won't get that far but they may well be [...]
Tweet Such a bitch of a day Tuesday, so feckin' useless really, and so meaningless in the context of getting to the other side of the weekly grind. But we probably owe it at least one high five for motivating Bloomington youngsters Selfish Whales into writing the shortest ode to those 24-hours (serious nods to Why? here) without ever sounding like it was a throwaway idea that needed legs. This beauty is taken from the group's debut album 'Enjoy The Weather' which [...]
Tweet One of the unexpected consequences of listening to so much new music is that when I'm asked for a recommendation I am often stumped. A thousand bands circulate around my cranium and rarely does one peep over the precipice and offer itself to the expectant questioner. Thank the lord then for Lower Dens who have not only scooped top spot on our songs of the year last year but with 2012 a mere few days old they are already [...]
Tweet Well she did set out to sound like PJ Harvey after all and this certainly has the building momentum and snarl of a 'Sheela Na Gig' epic. Setting such grand targets could result in hollow results but Van Etten had a backroom team that contains various members of the Walkmen, Wye Oak and the National so success was all but assured. If anything 'Serpents' is even better than that. This really is a kick in the balls without the associated pain. [...]
Tweet When a friend of mine, who was as ecstatic about music as me back in the day, recently pointed out that most new music was in fact old music dressed up in new clothes I couldn't but agree. It's either riding on the coattails of an electro prancer from the 802s or else shrouded in the mysterious allure of a dark clothed being from a little bit more recently. The net effect is toe tapping, yet altogether too familiar to create [...]
Tweet We wouldn't be ones to fall for the hype, if truth be told we'd probably run a mile to avoid it. So when the whispers became a stiff breeze about the Vaccines we ambled about knowing full well that our paths would cross soon enough. And so they did via the incandescent single 'Post Break-Up Sex' which sounded for all intents and purposes like the best thing (of its ilk) that we'd heard since the closing strains of 'Is This It?'. [...]
Tweet Oh please humour us for we've had the toughest couple of days and we're in need of easy thrills. So dispense with the obvious comparisons because we're this sounds so utterly retro heeled. And in normal circumstances we may well have similarly scoffed but for now 'Brand New Funky Hairdo' is filling a wounded part of our being. And anyway if you are going to go all Noel Gallagher with your musical stylings you may as well do it in such [...]
Tweet In the hip-hop world, Slick Rick is something of a legend, bringing the rhyme to the beat for well over two decades. So, it wouldn't be a stretch to have an alt-country leaning indie rock band like The Dead Trees pay homage to the rap icon. Only, the track 'Slick Rick' has absolutely nothing to do with the MC formerly known as Richard Walters. Instead, this LA-via-Portland-via-Boston quartet serves up a short and noisy folk-inspired number that ruminates on [...]
Tweet In the hip-hop world, Slick Rick is something of a legend, bringing the rhyme to the beat for well over two decades. So, it wouldn't be a stretch to have an alt-country leaning indie rock band like The Dead Trees pay homage to the rap icon. Only, the track 'Slick Rick' has absolutely nothing to do with the MC formerly known as Richard Walters. Instead, this LA-via-Portland-via-Boston quartet serves up a short and noisy folk-inspired number that ruminates on [...]
Tweet I'm not sure who Angela Penhaligon (she is Piney Gir, or PG if you are into unfunny classifications) hired to do her PR but jaysus they are persistent. So much so that they penetrated all spam controls employed to halt their advances. Cursory listens were given with each missive, more out of the thought that such aggressive suggestionism must have been because the goods were mind-boggling. Well they are not but on that 6th try 'Stay Sweet' charmed our puffed-up [...]
Tweet Now and then the shuffling feature of my music player has an uncanny knack of hitting a rich seam of dreamy new tunes. It's as if it can tell when I'm not going off on a wholesale cull, recognising the constituents of my taste and recalibrating itself to eek out tunes of a similiar ilk. This morning there was one such occurence wherein the tattered delete button was given a much deserved break over the course over half a dozen beauties. [...]
Tweet Fancy some Animal Collective magic without overdosing on the flashing lights of merriweather post pavillion? Then step this way, courtesy of Fishing and their miraculous remix of Jonathan Boulet. With Fishing you know there is going to be a clever hook and together with their antipodeon mate they've left us hanging on with baited breath for similiar treats. This is awkward music to dance to I'm sure but then I find you can shimmy with greater consistency from the relative comfort of your mind. Perfect music for [...]
Tweet I'm not sure how this Brooklyn trio calling themselves Widowspeak managed to elude me in 2011. Almost obsessively I mined the internet for interesting new sounds but these guys (and girl) somehow slipped through the cracks. It's a mistake that's easy to make in this day and age and luckily it only takes an errant mouse-click or two to correct. The track 'Puritan' is immensely likable from the very first chord. A clean, deep guitar sound, some simple kick [...]
Tweet This song hardly needs an introduction and given its faultless original state it is to Glowbug's great credit that the aura of the tune emerges unscathed. To be fair Daniel Anderson goes beyond swatting misgivings and presents the 'Surfer Rosa' anthem in an altogether different light, a warm and pleasant shade it must be said. And the Washington man isn't at all afraid to tackle other sacred cows either as his 'Covered In Lights Vol. 12 includes renditions of songs by [...]
Tweet Kris Hermstad and Derek Burdette from Atlanta have the regular knack of drawing us in with their New Animal project. It happened a couple of time last year and with such effect that one of their tunes made our best of for 2011. To date each of their 3 releases have been freebies, the last of which, 'Still In Mind', appeared towards the end of the year and marked a step forward. In many ways the pair have moved from the [...]
Tweet I wouldn't mind never having heard of shoegaze and being able to judge whether I liked this song or not. As it is that particular genre stalks my every move, informing whether anything with buried vocals and raging chords is any cop or not. In this case Belfast band Morning Claws have instilled the old with a enlightened contemporary shading. The last we heard it was 'Slack Magic' (see vid below) but this the follow-up (from last months 'Pet Storms, Ancient [...]
Tweet As Mark Chester is a member of Grand Pocket Orchestra he has been a consistent performer on this blog. He has also been known to moonlight with I ♥ The Monster Hero, but today it is his solo work with Ginnels that has our head in a spin. A distinctly slow uptake on our behalf given that this side project of his has been garnering lots of online praise over the last few months. Easy does it I suppose, and what [...]
Tweet Sometimes it gets rather boring, all this immediate gratification of the digital age. Have you posed with friends for a group photo lately? The camera makes the rounds until all parties are satisfied that they look suitable for inclusion on Facebook. If an eye is closed or a hair is out of place, the photo goes to the trash bin and and it's time to try again until the results are perfect. It can be tedious, especially if your friends have [...]
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Miike Snow – Paddling Out (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
