Frightened Rabbit – The Midnight Organ Fight Not just one of my favourite records of the year, but one of my favourite records full stop. Heartbreakingly honest lyrics sung in melodies that get under your skin over the backdrop of alt indie folk fighting it out with the early 90's American alternative scene. This is a record that gets better and better and is sure to be one of those landmark releases that'll spread by word of mouth. Kiki Pau – Let's Rock A great debut from Norway [...]
It starts with sleigh bells. A distant howl of a familiar melody. And just as you're settling in to the gentle opening, 'Young Liars' explodes into life, a post rock wall of guitars signaling the arrival of TV On The Radio . It's startling. Stunning. You can almost feel the wave of noise knock you back slightly. And it doesn't let up. Not for the next hour and a half at least. 'Young Liars' dies down, replaced by a frenetic take on 'The Wrong Way'. Sped up and played with complete abandon. An accelerated underground [...]
Bloc Party – Intimacy As misleading titles go, 'Intimacy' is up there with the best of them. Musically in your face, 'Intimacy' sees Bloc Party flexing their indie muscles and widening their horizons with added electro and big beat. Once you get past the occasional dodgy lyric and barrage of studio wizardry, 'Intimacy' reveals itself as another strong release from Kele and co. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago The first time I pressed play on this record, it stopped me in my tracks. I sat in [...]
I've done it. I've finally compiled my roundup of 2008. Well, kind of. I've not actually sat down and written anything yet. But I have been through all the records I've heard that were released in 2008 and chosen my favourites. And the list stands at a not so even but completely honest prime number of nineteen. But, as with previous years, before the list is revealed, let me offer up my disclaimer. I make no claims that these are the best albums of 2008. They are not necessarily the most forward thinking albums. Nor are [...]
There are two reasons why this will be a brief post today. The first is that you find me with a mini hangover this morning. Too much vodka while celebrating someone's birthday will do that to you it seems. The second is that blogger seems to be playing silly buggers and not loading properly so I don't really want to spend too much time writing something only to find that the page crashes and it all gets lost. So with that in mind, consider this a lazy Sunday post. The blogger equivalent of vegging on the [...]
Idlewild are back with a new album. Or at least they will be in April when they actually get round to writing, recording and releasing it. But that small matter doesn't have to stop you from buying it now . You see Idlewild are the latest band to try out a new way of getting their music to the fans. The idea is that by pre-ordering, you'll get a limited edition CD with exclusive packaging and bonus tracks and your name in the CD booklet. You'll also be able to download an additional 15 [...]
It's a brave blogger who's gonna post anything from 'Chinese Democracy' . Or a stupid one. But being neither of those things myself, I'm afraid you're not gonna find any Guns N Roses here. I couldn't however let the release of Axl's magnum opus pass without a few words. You see, 'Appetite For Destruction' was the first real album I ever heard. Up 'til that point, the furthest my musical adventures had strayed was as far as a Now compilation and a Madonna album whose title escapes me right now. To [...]
I first heard this song back in 1993 as a live b-side to the 'I Had A Dream Joe' single. Only just getting in to music at the time, I can honestly say I'd never heard anything quite like it before. A deranged, semi spoken word nightmare of a song. A world away from the songs I'd heard as a child. This was not pop music. Not a song about love. No verse chorus verse. It was the very definition of the word creepy. An apocalyptic tale of travelling circus freaks left to wander aimlessly after [...]
It was my birthday on Friday. Hence the slight pause in proceedings. But I'm back. Older, definitely. Wiser, not so much. And it seems that my memory is the first of my faculties to signal to exit the building. That's if you ignore my receding hairline. Which I'm trying my best to. You see, I completely forgot that this here little blog passed it's three year mark almost a month ago. October 27th to be precise. Talk about time flying when you're having fun. Three years and 654 posts later and here I am. No huge [...]
This might sound like a veiled insult but it really isn't meant to. The Good Graces make the kind of music you could fall asleep to. Now I'm fully aware that it could sound like I'm implying that the work of Kim Ware is insipidly dull. But that's not what I mean. It's more that it's the kind of reflective record you'd best appreciate in the dark, late at night. Where some records are communal experiences, this strikes me as one that should be played alone, behind drawn curtains. If you haven't worked [...]
Is there a period of your life you could say was your favourite for music? A moment in time you could pinpoint as the pinnacle of your music collection? I'm not entirely sure I could. Not honestly anyway. To paraphrase John Peel , the best year for music was this year and the next best year, will be next year. I'm not saying there aren't periods in my life that were great for music. There are. Loads of them. And that's the point. To pick one would mean ignoring the rest. No period defines me [...]
Take a band who've made one of my favourite records this year . Add in a song by one of my favourite bands. And you've got this, a cover of The Smiths ' 'Girlfriend In A Coma' by Noah And The Whale . In theory it should make for a wondrous combination that makes me swoon with delight. But in reality I'm not sure it does. Despite listened to it repeatedly, I can't actually decide if I like it or not. Which is weird because I pretty much love the whimsical folkiness of [...]
I get the impression Electrelane are set to be one of those criminally overlooked bands. And that sadly, they will always will be. Which, when you consider the amount of one dimensional, join the dots shite that becomes unfathomably popular, is a shocking state of affairs. Not that it's particularly surprising. I'm sure we can all think of many a band we've grabbed on to, only to see them shunned by society like lepers with hygiene problems. Not that it's a great surprise. One look at the bands that seem to influence Electrelane's sound [...]
I thought I'd try a bit of interaction today. Inspired by ATP vs The Fans . But first, some background. Running since 1999, All Tomorrow's Parties isn't like your average festival. There's no sponsorship. No camp site. And no chance of any furore over Jay Z headlining. What you get instead is a great atmosphere, a chalet to sleep, wash and cook in and a line-up with a difference. And that, is the crucial part. Because there's a real cohesiveness to the line-up. Rather than being a hodge-podge of randomly chosen acts, ATP [...]
It's been a bit of a grim month for us MP3bloggers. What with DMCA notifications being issued willy nilly and posts being indiscriminately deleted . So it's nice to be able to tell you about some good news. At last. First of all, this here blog got mentioned again by the national press. Noting a glut incoming visitors coming over from The Guardian 's website, I investigated to find that they'd linked themselves over here. And I wasn't alone. The Vinyl Villain and 17 Seconds were also recipients of a [...]
This is a bit of a curiosity. One for the completists among you I'm guessing. And lord knows, Ryan's sure to have enough of those. Asked to finish off a live session with a song that's was either a favourite or had a story attached to it, Ryan Adams opted for neither of those and just made up a song on the spot instead. I'm not entirely sure it's gonna find it's way creeping into your top five Ryan Adams songs of all time but it's kinda fun with stupid, surreal lyrics about being [...]
For a band known for their lush, elegiac music, Sigur Ros can't half make some noise. At their peak, the cacophonous crescendos are as loud and as raw as any rock band worth their salt. After a few years of sharing their stage with string sections, brass bands and additional players, Sigur Ros have reduced back down to their original four piece incarnation. It may be a reaction against the perception of them as a grand, Attenborough sound tracking dinner party band or it may just be influenced by touring costs in a time [...]
It seems so obvious, you wonder why no-one's done it before. Maybe they already have. But not with as much style or energy as the Vivian Girls . They've taken the girl band vocals of the 50s and 60s, updated it with the vigour, force and urgency of punk and then smoothed off the edges with some hazy shoegazery lushness. Kind of like ram raiding Phil Spector 's Wall Of Sound and then using one of the broken bricks to smash your speakers in. It's a thrilling and rather astonishing sound. Simple, [...]
I'm in two minds about Seasick Steve 's latest record, 'I Started Out With Nothin And I Still Got Most Of It Left' . On the one hand I really like the songs. On the other, I think the addition of external influences loses some of the rag tag, hobo charm of his previous records. A statement which I realise makes me sound dangerously like an indie hipster. For which I can only apologise. The thing is, I can't help but think that Jools Holland 's championing of him is both the root [...]
I've never really held much of an opinion on Elvis Costello . Sure it's been a mild irritation to be constantly told how much I resemble him but beyond that, nothing. That is, until now. Now I hate him. Loathe him. Despise him. And what you may ask has brought about this turn of events? What has he done to offend me so? Well let me tell you because I can actually pinpoint the very moment his existence came to horrify me. It's the point where the clock strikes 1 minute 22 seconds on 'Carpetbagger' [...]
to die by your side
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