Although posts will be a little more sporadic over this festive period, we will still do our best to bring you a handful of musical gifts . As we edge towards the end of 2009, which has turned out to be a wonderful year for The Recommender, we thought we would provide you with a quick thank you. We list below two tracks that have popped up on the blog radars in recent weeks, together with two outstanding videos. These two tunes are of the kind that get many repeats and it's rare to have a [...]
NEDRY Phew! We are a little out of breath here at Recommender Towers. Mainly because we've just had it whipped from us upon hitting play on Nedry's songs. We call them songs, but that's a little miss-guiding, they're really life-changing experiences. The kind of experiences you get when dipping your LCD-fuelled head into a bucket of jelly, whilst someone rams a mains electricity cable up your ass! It's not for the flimsy music fan out there. It's for the intellectual, for the strong silent types, for those wanting to know what fresh air really tastes like. [...]
BEST TRACKS OF 2009 Every blog loves a good roundup of the year and The Recommender's no different. It's a joy to get to the end of the calendar and review the plentiful archives and pluck out the many highlights amongst the many highlights. If you've ever missed one of our blog posts this is the one with which you can now catch up. The only rules are that these tunes either got officially released this year, or arrived into our music folder during 2009. We provide our [...]
THE REMIXES - PART 7 - STARSMITH Starsmith , (real name Fin Dow-Smith), recently messaged us an update, which we're pleased to say clarifies his current position. To date we've known him as the producer behind Ellie Goulding 's album, as well as playing alongside her live. With her debut album due for a release in early 2010, we knew Fin's work was virtually complete there, so what was a well connected talent such as Starsmith going to do next? Well, the 21 year old is putting his music degree to [...]
FOREIGN OFFICE With this wonderful three piece out of London town you can count the influences one by one as their tunes blast out of your stereo. And they will blast, as this is one band that are truly worth donating a couple of speakers to. This is not to suggest they aren't original, contemporary, or thoughtful in their sublime constructions. You will hear choppy guitar riffs and clapped breaks that are straight out of The Clash catalogue. It's with these familiar elements, and particularly with the vocals, that you are reminded of those [...]
KITE IN THE AIR When looking at 'super groups', making a whole that is greater than taking it's individual parts is often one hell of a hit or miss business. Just check out rock's attempts, with Velvet Revolver missing it badly, or the more recent Dead Weather , who made it work with a little more success, (although Jack White could join Jedward and make it work as far as we are concerned). Kite In The Air isn't quite a 'super group', but the members have previously existed in separation. Mike [...]
GOODNIGHT OWL Listening to a newly discovered song over and over and over, for a ridiculous number of times, is rather an irrational and overly obsessive thing to do. You secretly don't want anyone to know that the instant this said tune just finished in your earphones you're fiddling with your ipod to restart it. Still, let's be honest, we ALL do it don't we. One thing for sure is that it's very rare and it takes a blindingly good song to cause such an abandon of your usual sensible self-control. Well we are openly admitting [...]
BEST ALBUMS OF THE NOUGHTIES The daunting task of putting together something that you know lots of readers won't agree with is never easy, but then we thought you could always go make your own lists. At least we had the balls... So the 50s had rock n roll, the 60s had it's pop and folk, the 70s it's punk, disco and glam, the 80s it's pop, hip hop and hair rock, the 90s it's grunge, brit pop and dance music. It begs the question - what standout genre defines the [...]
KiT How is it that every time we come across a band from Paris it makes us want to be right there, in their beautiful, hipster culture? It's probably the same factor that made us want to live in Brooklyn when we discovered Sleigh Bells , or Los Angeles when we first came across Heartsrevolution , or Berlin when, or Manchester when, or, or, etc. OK, to be fair, our home town of Brighton is plenty cool enough thanks, but this three piece from the Gallic capital are definitely made from that [...]
DETROIT SOCIAL CLUB If you like Kasabian , you are going to love this six piece. They may describe themselves as " big beat junkie folk ", but they're wrong, they are the new Kasabian. It's that simple. There's a little bit of bluesy Primal Scream in there perhaps, possibly even a little bit of Oasis , but mainly Kasabian. We won't be ending the critique there however, because they also happen to write fucking awesome tunes. Very much like Kasabian do actually. You know the sort of songs; absolutely [...]
THE GOOD NATURED We are often posturing about who the next big things are going to be. Is it wrong that just the other day someone was stating a new artist as " ...the next Little Boots ", when Victoria's debut album only came out in 2009! It's appreciated that blog's often catch onto these things many months before the wider commercial success comes, so we were aware of Little Boots a long time ago, but there is still this relentless hot pursuit. Will the men's 100 metres always [...]
WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS We cover two gigs today that show off one established act and a band who find themselves at a rather more humble beginning. It's fair to say that this Scottish four piece pack no lesser punch however. We adore them, having previously covered them here and here . If you could bottle the energy and power that this young band play with then you would out-sell Coca Cola. With drums and guitars that sound as if they're being played by Thor himself and their ability to pen [...]
WILD PALMS We predict that this band are going to split you lot down the middle. It's not that there's anything wrong or that we're not recommending without our usual thorough conviction, but there's a sharp bite and a pair of bollocks that come with this north London four piece. Their daring mix of originality alongside their obvious retro gothic rock influences is precisely what camp dividing is made of. It is similarly their ability to not only take from the old, but add in a key fresh new ingredient, that so many other [...]
WASHED OUT This very exciting artist comes from Perry, Georgia, of all places. It’s perhaps a little surprising to find that one of the most promising genre-crossing electronic artists of late hails from a small town that boasts of its “ slower pace ” and “ helping of Southern hospitality ” However, reading that Perry considers itself to be a “ warm and gracious ” place puts the pieces together. This is because Washed Out’s currently sold out EP, Life of Leisure , released through the appropriately named Mexican Summer , delivers [...]
We have a little comparison on the blog for you today. There's been some kind of coincidental theme running through this week, so we thought we would post about it. Two separate videos by two amazing female solo artists got released to the wider public this week. Both these girls are Recommender favourites and due for big things. Very big things. ELLIE GOULDING The first is Ellie Goulding, (who we first blogged about [...]
LA CORPS MINCE DE FRANCOIS Are blogs really the modern taste-makers they proclaim to be? OK, so we stamp our self-proclaimed authority on new music, but really we're simply the stream in which it flows, rather than being its source. The surfers of scenes and the social butterflies of new music if you will. Bands and record labels are the ones that actually carve out the direction. We are the reporters, giving voice to the good out of the plethora of crap that's out there, making sure that the bands and labels we use [...]
BIRDS & BATTERIES This West Coast five piece's EP was lovingly posted through the letterbox at Recommender towers this week, or as it's more commonly known, our email's inbox. It's a piece of work that follows not one but two debut albums by this band. Two debuts!? To explain, the first attempt, Nature Vs Nature , was the solo work of Michael Sempert, which got re-recorded once he relocated to San Francisco and recruited the rest of the band. The second attempt, I'll Never Sleep Again , was the first release of [...]
Hope you enjoyed our last post all about those great Shoes remixes ? For today we are enjoying a return to the indie shores of Recommender-land. A familiar and rather brilliant place, with three gorgeous pointers for you to enjoy. FREELANCE WHALES New York is pumping out so much great music at the moment, but to be fair to this beloved city we aren't sure it's conveyor belt ever stopped?! The next band that plonked onto our playlists come from the [...]
We have three very original and adventurous artists on show for you today, but each one comes with that rare and rather wonderful ability to mesmerize and trap you with their unique creations. Welcome once again aboard the good ship Recommender - let's go floating... NIC DAWSON KELLY Following on from our coverage of the excellent Brighton band, The Agitator , we are pleased to be able to provide yet another artist who neatly slots into a similar foot-stomping, blues-based pot. [...]
THE RECOMMENDER
Arctic Monkeys | Do I Wanna Know? (Official Video)
Listen to Arctic Monkeys’ new single, “Do I Wanna Know?”
The Hot Five
Arctic Monkeys Release New Song And Video ‘Do I Wanna Know?’
