1. Supa D – Rinse 03 LP: Awesome mix CD of funky, 4×4 garage from the venerable Rinse FM DJ.
2. Thomas Tantrum – ‘Trust Rhymes With Crust’: Wave Pictures aside, my fave band at the moment.
3. New Bloods – The Secret Life LP: Lurching, DIY pop from the US noiseniks; think ESG crossed with John Cale.
4. It Hugs Back – ‘Other Cars Go’: Ace Thurston Moore-isms from this increasingly impressive band; four ace singles and counting.
5. Wiley – ‘Wearing My Rolex’: Inevitably.
6. Your Heart Breaks – ‘Southern Girl’: Lesbian punk rock from the US. Don’t know much more about it.
7. Tippa Irie – ‘Complain Neighbour’: Hilarious and brilliant dancehall pop from the incredible ‘An England Story’ compilation on Soul Jazz.
8. The Paper Cranes – ‘I’ll Love You ‘Til My Veins Explode’: Nice, very English sounding indie pop after a Teardrop Explodes fashion. Unbelievably, they’re Canadian.
9. The Breeders – Mountain Battles LP: I think the Breeders top the Pixies every time. You?
10. No Age – ‘Eraser’: short and sweet post-MBV pop from Sub Pop, good stuff.
Posts Tagged ‘currently listening’
currently listening:
Category Currently Listening, Music
currently listening
Category Currently Listening
I’ve gone all 70s retro this week, sorry.
1. Carl Craig – Sessions LP (unbeatable)
2. Alice Clark – Alice Clark LP (amazing soul record from 1972)
3. The Wave Pictures – ‘Long Island’ (love that line, “And you should know I am the real Slim Shady / And lady you are my natural home”)
4. The Young Knives – Superabundence LP (OK, not as good as ‘Voices of Animals and Men’, then. But it’s got several crackers).
5. Phil Renelin and Wendel Harrison – A Message From the Tribe LP (any any other mid-70s jazz on Tribe records, in fact)
6. Doctors of Madness – Figments of Emancipation LP (strange Bowie/pre-punk hybrid from 1976 – amazing)
7. Donny Hathaway – Everything Is Everything LP (more bruised, classic soul – from 1970 this time)
8. Benga – Diaries of an Afro-Warrior LP (loving the raw, dirty vinyl version of this dubstep monster. The CD version is more measured, apparently).
9. Moondog – Madrigals Rounds LP (can’t describe this; avant-psychadelic-jazz-classical nuttiness from 1969. Wow)
10. Giant Drag – Hearts and Unicorns LP (specifically the bit in ‘Kevin Is Gay’ when Annie sings “miaow miaow miaow miaow, miaowmiaowmiaowmiaowmiaow miaowmiaowmiaowmiaowmiaow”. That bit kills me).
currently listening…
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. The Field : The Sound of Light EP – four fifteen minute tracks of slow-burning genius
2. Les Amazones De Guinée : Wamato LP – glorious; see my review here
3. Foals : ‘The French Open’ (from the Antidotes LP) – it feels desperately calculated, but those afrobeat rhythms, I can’t resist ‘em.
4. Astroid Power-Up : ‘Kanveh’ – from the ace Twisted Nerve compilation A Kind of Awe and Reverence and Wonder
5. Hercules & Love Affair : ‘Classique No. 2‘ – squelchy detroit techno with a pure pop heart – unbelievable
6. LCD Soundsytem : ‘Freak Out / Starry Eyes’ – lovely LCD newbie; get it here, quick
7. David Bowie : ‘Ashes to Ashes’ – blame Gene Hunt
8. Grupo Oba Ilu : Santeria LP – tremendous Soul Jazz collection of Afro-tinged Cuban music.
9. John Fahey : ‘On the Sunny Side of the Ocean’ – from his The Transfiguration of Blind Joe Death LP
10. Shocking Pinks – ‘Dressed To Please’ (Deepchord Remix) – sorry for all the DFA stuff this week. I’m chasing cool, not cool.
currently listening
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. Francisco Mora Catlett – ‘Amazona (Carl Craig Edit)’.
Lovely, barely noticeable but beautifully intricate remix from the ever reliable Mr. Craig; the original is a delicious, warm concoction of jazz, funk and world music sounds. So’s this version, really.
2. Vampire Weekend – ‘One (Blake’s Got A New Face)’.
There’s something worryingly pastichey about the African-accented call-and-response backing vocals on this lovely slice of art-pop highlife. But y’know what, it bloody well works. All through Vampire Weekend’s lovely debut, the guitars, drum rhythms and keyboards sparkle, as do the melodies. Ladies and gentlemen, the Paul Simon revival starts here.
3. Stephen Malkmus – ‘Gardenia’.
Lovely, complex but tuneful fare from the new Malkmus LP, Real Emotional Trash, this is perhaps less likely to piss off those old fans who can’t take the fact that Steve is now, to all intents and purposes, a hippy. Lots of prog noodling on the (wonderful) album, then – this one’s a bit more straight-forward.
4. School of Language – Sea From The Shore LP.
I’m cautious about the fact that the totally genius Field Music’s David Brewis is now pursuing other projects, and replacing the pristine constructions of his former band’s perfect pop with a bit of noise, but early indications are that he’s still absurdly talented. The School of Language debut is complicated, brilliant and poised to unfurl further treasures with repeated listens.
5. Holy Fuck – ‘Lovely Allen’.
I like the way that Holy Fuck, who create organic, slightly Krautrocky dance music so lovingly re-create the build-ups and break-downs of contemporary electronica using live analogue instrumentation. Built around an amazing string sample, this is the best thing on their rudely self-titled LP.
6. Tetine – ‘Slum Dunk’.
Part wistful electronica, part baile-funk, this awesome slice of Brazilian minimalism can be found on the excellent Soul Jazz Singles 2006-7 album; well worth a look.
7. Hot Chip – ‘Ready For The Floor’.
I know this one is everywhere at the moment, but that’s ‘cos it’s so good. What’s particularly brilliant about it is the way it’s gently calibrated to build and build as it progresses. It begins sounding vaguely mournful, and ends up damn euphoric. Ace.
half of a 1000 albums
Category Currently Listening, Music
I love lists, particularly of books and records, althought it’s vital not to take them too seriously. A case in point is the current 1000 albums to hear before you die feature running in the Guardian, which is a mostly great list of mostly great albums, yet is packed with glaring ommissions.
That really isn’t the point, however, and it’s a great starting place for people who want to hear new stuff. So, working through from A-M, which is as far as they’ve got so far, I’ve drilled down to find three albums from each section – one that I know and unreservedly recommend, one that I’ve heard of (often from a band I already love) but never managed to hear, and one that is completely new to me, but which sounds interesting.
Any opinions on the listed records much appreciated:
-A- (here)
Love it: Amadou & Mariam – Dimanche à Bamako (2005)
Heard about it: AR Kane- 69 (1988)
New to me: Rabih Abou-Khalil – The Cactus of Knowledge (2000)
-B- (here and here)
Love it: Breeders – Pod (1990)
Heard about it: Big Star – Radio City (1974)
New to me: Peter Brotzman – Machine Gun (1968)
-C- (here and here)
Love it: Coldcut – Journeys by DJ:70 Minutes of Madness (1995)
Heard about it: The Chills – Heavenly Pop Hits (1994)
New to me: Ce’Cile – Bad Gyal (2007)
-D- (here)
Love it: Dinosaur Jr – You’re Living All Over Me (1987)
Heard about it: The Durutti Column – The Return of the Durutti Column (1978)
New to me: DAF – Gold und Liebe (1981)
-E- (here)
Love it: Brian Eno – Another Green World (1975)
Heard about it: 808 State- Ex:El (1991)
New to me: 801- 801 Live (1976)
-F- (here)
Love it: Fun Boy Three – Fun Boy Three (1982)
Heard about it: Fugazi – 13 Songs (1990)
New to me: The Fugs – The Fugs’ First Album (1965)
-G- (here)
Love it: Gastr del Sol – The Serpentine Similar (1993)
Heard about it: Green On Red – Here Come the Snakes (1989)
New to me: Robert Glasper – In My Element (2007)
-H- (here)
Love it: Happy Mondays – Bummed (1988)
Heard about it: Harmonia – Musik von Harmonia (1974)
New to me: Michael Head and the Strands – The Magical World of the Strands (1998)
-I- (here)
Love it: Inner City – Paradise (1989)
Heard about it: Ice T – Power (1988)
New to me: Abdullah Ibrahim – Water from an Ancient Well (1985)
-J- (here)
Love it: James – Stutter (1986)
Heard about it: Daniel Johnston – 1990 (1990)
New to me: Victor Jara – Chile September 1973 Manifesto (1998)
-K- (here)
Love it: Steve Reich – Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint (1990)
Heard about it: The Knife – Silent Shout (2006)
New to me: Stan Kenton – City of Glass (1995)
-L- (here)
Love it: Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray (1992)
Heard about it: Lo’Jo – Au Cabaret Sauvage (2002)
New to me: Linx – Intuition (1981)
-M- (here and here)
Love it: Michael Mayer – Fabric 13 (2003)
Heard about it: Joe Meek and the Blue Men – I Hear a New World (1960)
New to me: The Moments – Love on a Two-Way Street (1997)
currently listening to…
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. Robert Wyatt – Comic Opera LP: Yes, yes – still awesome.
2. Kaki King – Everybody Loves You LP: Caught Kaki King on Later With Jools Holland this week. Siobhán laughed lots at her name. We both marvelled at her unbelievable guitar playing.
3. Distance – My Demons LP: Sparse, mauling dubstep. Bassy.
4. Steve Malkmus – ‘Maggie’s Farm’ (from I’m Not There OST LP): I don’t think I’d like this much if it was anyone else – but I’m a sucker for Malkmus’s voice, period.
5. Skull Disco: Soundboy Punishment LP: Brilliant, heavy dubstep compilation mostly consisting of tracks by Shackleton and Appleblim – thanks to James for drawing this one to my attention.
6. Ghostface Killah – ‘We Celebrate’ (from The Big Doe Rehab LP): Available over at Pitchfork, and predictably great.
7. Mum – Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy LP: Atmospheric, innit.
8. Bruce Springsteen – Magic LP: After the more serious and introspective Springsteen of recent years, it’s good to hear him reigniting a bit of his legendary energy.
9. Royal We – ‘All The Rage’ (from the Royal We LP) : Enjoying the none-more indie stylings of this Hefner-style glam fest.
10. Burial – Untrue LP: Alright, I’ve only heard one or two tracks from this, but about to listen to it properly and I just know I’m going to love it.
First currently listening of my 30s
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. PJ Harvey – White Chalk LP (Her best yet. Really)
2. Shocking Pinks – Shocking Pinks LP (classic New Zealand indie rock in the Flying Nun vein; all the more surprising for being on DFA)
3. V/A – A kind of Awe and Reverence and Wonder LP (none-weirder compilation from Twisted Nerve, featuring prog rock, Eastern psych, folk and ‘concrete siphoned from natural sources’. Impeccably packaged too)
4. Scout Niblett – ‘Elizabeth (Black Hearted Queen)’ (the new Niblett LP, This Fool Can Die Now is brilliant, and all the better for the presence of Bonnie Prince Billy and some Americana arrangmenents – this is the pick for me so far)
5. Buffalo Tom – Let Me Come Over LP (now, amazingly, fifteen years old – and still sounds awesome)
6. Port O’Brien – ‘Close The Lid’ (decent debut single from the Californian fishermen types; solid signing for the new End of The Road label, too)
7. David Thomas Broughton – The Complete Guide to Insufficiency LP (Quite astonishing at the End of The Road, I’m awaiting his new album with enthusiasm. In the meantime, this 2005 attempt is still dead bewitching)
8. Misty’s Big Adventure – Crumpled Up Guy (best lyrics of the year, surely: “grave-robbing beast, grave-robbing beast, you drew a picture of me as a grave-robbing beast, so they sent for a priest”)
That’s yer lot.
croatian currently listening
Category Currently Listening, Music
Okay, well, this isn’t what the people of Croatia have been listening to this week (they’ve been listening to Bon Jovi), but it is the stuff I’ve mostly been sampling through my ipod.
1. Prodigy of Mobb Deep – Return of the Mac LP
2. Happy Mondays – Olive Oil (from their Squirrel and G Man LP)
3. Sonic Youth – Rain King (from their Daydream Nation LP)
4. Young Knives – Walking On The Autobhan (from their …Are Dead LP)
5. Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation LP
6. Numbers – Now You Are This LP
Play any songs from these records in the future and, I hope, for a moment I’ll get a real, however fleeting memory of Cavtat, which is all I want in a record, and a good way to hold on to a holiday (alright, work trip).
currently listening to:
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. Field Music – Working to Work (none prettier pop from the North-East, via their super Tones of Town LP)
2. Fatal Microbes – Violence Grows (ultra-weird punk pop from 1979)
3. Sebadoh – Live at the Paradise, Boston (the reformed ‘Doh still sound amazing)
4. Blonde Redhead – Dr Strangeluv (I’m a big fan of their recent 23 LP)
5. Thurston Moore – Trees Outside The Academy LP (significantly more wistful and beautiful than I had imagined)
6. Dizzee Rascal – Hard Back (from his ace Maths + English LP)
7. Mark Arm – Masters of War (angry and seething 1990 Dylan cover from the Mudhoney frontman)
8. Prinzhorn Dance School – Lawyers Water Jug (Fave Prinzhorn song so far)
9. Mika Miko – 666 EP (noisy girl rock)
10. Marnie Stern – Grapefruit (from the bewildering In Advance of the Broken Arm LP)
currently listening
Category Currently Listening, Music
This week’s top six:
1. The Cribs – Men’s Needs: Anyone else get the feeling that The Cribs are going to be very massive, very soon? If so, they’ll thoroughly deserve it. I had their ‘You’ll Never Lose Us’ pegged as a big hit a couple of years back but it’s taken them this long to break through. They’re kind of like a Franz Ferdinand or The Rakes who actually have the tunes to back up the energy and attitude, and I love this.
2. Children Collide – Frozen Armies: saw this lot at The Great Escape and was blown away by them; heavy, noisy Australian indie rock somewhere between early Lemonheads and Nirvana – brilliant riffs and bags of energy, but they’ve got proper songs, too.
3. Blonde Redhead – 23 (LP): This, along with the really good latest album by The Ponys, which Dustin recently copied me, has provided me with the rest of my week’s quota of Sonic Youth guitars. It’s great to have Blonde Redhead back after a few years away – still as good as ever.
4. Cold War Kids – Hang Me Out to Dry: I’d heard a few songs by this lot and not been impressed, but this track, which I just heard today, is just awesome – the heavily off-kilter guitars and pianos work a treat, and the whole thing just shakes and saunters it’s way into my memory vault, so I keep twitching with the rhythm; ace.
5. Micah P. Hinson – Drift Off To Sleep: Another highlight of The Great Escape, this dark country music is the kind of thing I’d could have admired but never loved five years ago, so measured and authentic, so beholden to tradition – but it’s truly lovely. And if that means I’ve grown up, then so be it.
6. Dizzee Rascal – Sirens: Both musically and physically, Dizzee seems to have just come back much stronger; this track is bruising and compelling, a dense cacophony consisting of slabs of rock guitar, beats and sirens, with Dylan telling us “I break the law, I never will change” over the top.
songs for the week
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars – ‘Living Like a Refugee’ : This is my favourite song of the year, so far; heartbreaking African reggae. (“You left your country to seek refuge in another man’s land”)
2. Arctic Monkeys – ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ : I wonder if they’ll be wilful again and hold back the new album’s obvious number one, like they did last time? Either way, this is just brilliant. (“Oh that boy’s a slag / The best you ever had”)
3. Dinosaur Jr – ‘Back To Your Heart’ : Amazing hearing Lou Barlow back in Dinosaur, this rocks like Sebadoh meets Dinosaur meets Elliot Smith – ace. (“Breathe your air / cut my teeth / bones of a hypocrite that looked like me”)
4. Le Volume Courbe – ‘I Killed My Best Friend’ : Sexiest, flimsiest track on the list – a minute and a bit of JAMC/MBV tinged acoustic pop. (“I killed my best friend / He was so early”)
5. Electrelane – ‘The Greater Times’ : Is the new Electrelane their best album yet? Sounding pretty amazing so far. (“You say you don’t know what love means anymore / Since I found you I’m tearing down the walls”)
6. Ola Podrida – ‘Cindy’ : Another good find from Dan – don’t know much about this, other than it’s dead pretty. (“She’ll bring almost everything / except her wedding ring / cause she threw that in the sea”)
7. Lemonheads – ‘Let’s Just Laugh’ : One day I’ll do one of these lists without a Lemonheads track on it – for the moment I’m still obsessing over this gorgeous anti-Bush rant/beauty from last year’s eponymous comeback LP. (“I hope that you’re tried and fried before you’re finally fired”)
8. Sebadoh – ‘Kathy’ : The new Dinosaur album has inspired a period of Lou Barlow obsession, and this is untouchable. (“Every anxious wave rode through / To find me lying safe with you”)
9. The Young Knives – ‘Kitchener’ : Had this in my head all week after hearing it again at AS’s the other night; a great Adam and the Ants rip off (“It’s nice to be wanted / It’s good to be useful”)
10. Lone Official – ‘Pony Ride’ : Delicate Pavement-esque country rock (“Set off on a secret tide / A good friend is nice to have / When your makeshift raft washes out on you”)
currently playing:
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. The Good, The Bad and The Queen – Doghouse (amazing funky afro-beat romp they left off the album – shame).
2. Stephen Malkmus – Real Emotional Trash (“It’s that kind of night / Everybody blushes but no-one blinks to check the scenery”.)
3. V/A – ‘Choubi, Choubi; Folk and Pop Sounds of Iraq’ LP (demented, vital music from age of Sadamm Hussein).
4. The Mountain Goats – Love Love Love (“Some things you’ll do for money, and some you’ll do for fun / but the things you do for love are gonna come back to you one by one”)
5. The Horrors – Draw Japan (which sounds like a cross between British Sea Power, Birthday Party and the inside of Noel Fielding’s head)
6. Field Music – She Can Do What We Wants (“I should have put my fist through the lock and said / Now leave me, it’s easy”)
7. Dinosaur Jr. – Almost Ready (“Come on, night / I’m almost ready”)
8. Deerhunter – Octet (I believe I am legally obliged to call this ‘sonic adventurism’ – it’s nice)
9. Bill Callahan – Diamond Dancer (“She was dancing so hard / she danced herself into a diamond”)
10. Panda Bear – ‘Person Pitch’ LP (taking me a while to get into this but I’m really getting it now)
currently listening
Category Currently Listening, Music
Here’s what I’ve been listening to this week:
1. Tinariwen – Aman Imen LP (amazing desert blues from Mali – wonderful)
2. Field Music – Tones of Town LP (far out prog-pop from the North East)
3. LCD Soundsystem – ‘North American Scum’ (amazing return from James Murphy)
4. Replikas – Avaz LP (at times lovely, blissful Turkish indie rock – like Pavement with an arabic twist, if you can imagine that)
5. Dinosaur Jr – ‘Almost Ready’ (they’re baaaaaaaaack!)
6. The Long Blondes – ‘Giddy Stratospheres’ (Pulp meets Blondie, with an equally captivating frontwoman)
7. Showbiz and AG – Runaway Slave LP (classic early hip hop – forgotten how good this is)
8. Circus Lupus – ‘Unrequited’ (re-living my teenage obsession with dischord records at the moment – hard, brittle punk rock, and still fantastic)
9. Vieux Farka Toure – S/T LP (gorgeous and delicate Malian pop)
10. Pale Saints – In Ribbons LP (more teenage reminiscences, although of a slightly more ethereal nature)
December lists, 2006
Category Currently Listening, Music
Okay, here’s this year’s entry in the “I’m hipper than thou” awards…
Assistant Blog Top Ten Albums of The Year
1. K’naan – The Dusty Foot Philosopher
2. Cat Power – The Greatest
3. The Lemonheads – The Lemonheads
4. Ghostface – Fishscale
5. The Young Knives – Voices of Animals and Men
6. Hot Chip – The Warning
7. Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
8. Lily Allen – Alright, Still
9. Graham Coxon – Love Travels At Illegal Speeds
10. The Hot Puppies – Under The Crooked Moon
Feel free to leave comments / abuse below….
Awesome Stuff Which Didn’t Make It
1. CSS – Cansie De Ser Sexy
2. The Futureheads – News and Tributes
3. The Rapture – Pieces of The People We Love
4. Tony Allen – Lagos No Shaking
5. Brakes – Beatific Visions
6. The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home
7. Joanna Newsom – Vs
8. Peter Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block
9. Bonnie Prince Billy – The Letting Go
10. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Decent Stuff Worth A Mention
1. TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain
2. Tapes ‘N Tapes – S/T
3. Thom Yorke – The Erasor
4. Tiga – Sexor
5. Victorian English Gentleman’s Club – S/T
Stuff I Didn’t Take To At All:
1. The Walkmen – A Hundred Miles Off
2. Secret Machines – Ten Silver Drops
3. The Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Shake Your Bones
5. Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
6. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
7. The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
8. The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
Best band in the world this year: bit of a cheat, seeing as they broke up, but a final endorsement for the peerless Sleater Kinney.
And worst band of the year: no question this time round: Kasabian.
dear mariella
Category Currently Listening, Music
I do that ‘currently listening to’ feature quite a lot, enjoying it cause it’s an easy post and it gives me a chance to compose a sentence or two about the songs I’m currently favouring. But this week – for now – I’m just going to concentrate on one song, because despite having a surprisingly intense period of listening to stuff recently (really digging recentish records by CSS, The Long Blondes, Bonnie Prince Billy and Joanna Newsom) I’ve kept coming back to one track which is worthy of particular attention.
The whole of The Hot Puppies debut album, ‘Under The Crooked Moon’, is really great – arty, literate pop with nods to Blondie, Pulp and PJ Harvey – but the best song on the record, ‘The Girl Who Was Too Beautiful’, is just majestic, both musically and – particularly – lyrically. So I’ll take a little time to admire the lyrics and the theme of the song, because I think it’s quite special – a kind of short story of a song. It begins:
“Dear Mariella, I am 25.
I live alone.
I think I might have found love,
But I just don’t know.
There’s something wrong”.
I’m a big fan of Mariella Frostrup and her no-nonsense relationship advice column in the Observer, so the first time I heard this song that’s the bit that jumped out. That’s pretty neat, I thought, a love song in the shape of a letter to an agony aunt.
The next few lines somehow somehow slipped by unnoticed for a while, but then I noticed them:
“Cause he has another love,
and she’s been buried a year.
And there might be a passing resemblence,
but dear Mariella, how can I compare with the girl, with the girl, with the girl, with the girl
who was too beautiful?”
And all of a sudden the song is in a much darker place altogether. The protagonist, expertly voiced by the marvellous Bec Newman, is preocuppied with her partner’s dead lover, and begins, despite the warnings of those close to her, to assume her predecessor’s persona.
“And all my friends say that it’s not right,
but I don’t care, I’m gonna change my hair.
Cause he wants her.
And I just want somebody there.”
The next verse raises the drama. The bit where Newman sings “Dear Mariellia / It’s gone from bad to worse / It feels like I’m chasing a hearse / And now I’m even wearing her clothes / I feel like a ghost” is plain shocking. Worse still is to come.
“And just the other day, staring from across the street,
I think I might have seen her mother, but dear Mariella,
She didn’t see me. Just a girl.
Just a girl, just a girl, just a girl who was too beautiful”.
By the song’s end, the by now wretched sounding Newman is almost totally subsumed, asking and threatening “would you wanna let go, like I wanna let go, and I need to let go?” and concluding, finally, “I am the girl who was too beautiful”. It’s a deliciously Hitchcockian theme, simultaneously dark, knowing and sexy, and brilliantly performed. The tune itself positively sizzles, bursting with tremendous melodies, keyboard riffs and it even briefly swoops into an indie-disco breakdown without breaking its stride.
Odd how so much press time has been expended on the (admittedly great) Long Blondes while the Hot Puppies are bubbling under – it was great to see Kate Jackson up near the top of the NME’s supremely daft Cool List this year, but surely Bec Newman deserved a place too. Hopefully they’ll be massive in 2007 – they deserve to be. Doubtless half of the blogs in my sidebar and starting to put together their yearly round-up lists, and I probably will soon too. And this is a serious contender for best single of the year.
currently listening to…
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. Art Brut – Nag Nag Nag Nag (where Art Brut have retained the dominant, droll lyrics but done much to beef up their sound; a brilliant single.)
2. The Good, The Bad and the Queen – 80s Life (almost impossible to pick a song from their forthcoming album which doesn’t merit a mention, but this is the song that’s stuck in my head this week, particularly the lyric, “I don’t want to live with war that’s got no end in our time”).
3. Field Music – In Context (wherein Field Music, if such a thing is possible, get snappier and poppier and more brilliant. Can’t wait for the album).
4. Joe Jackson – Fools In Love (“gently tear each other limb from limb”)
5. Jarvis Cocker – Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time (Jarvis’ best song in ages? Got to be! Romantic, yearning, tuneful, funny – excellent)
6. Graham Coxon – What Ya Gonna Do Now? (a hilarious, brilliant, nutty Clash-like rant: enormous fun)
7. Jarvis Cocker – Black Magic (a bit brit-pop-tastic this list, isn’t it? Well, another good track from the new Jarvis record – a kind of aggressive Motown stomp with a big wall of voices, and quite ace too)
8. Subtle – The Mercury Craze (enjoying this a lot, mainly by virtue of it being the most insane hip hop record I’ve come across for a while – it reminds me of Gold Chains, whose ‘Rock The Parti’ I absolutely obsessed over a few years back)
seven days in music
Category Currently Listening, Music
A week of musical memories:
1. Oh, alright, I won’t go on about the Young Knives again.
2. Watching a band set up and play a set on the beach on Sunday afternoon. School’s out for the summer and the young are running free, singing cod-reggae in fake jamaican accents and singing ‘funny songs’ about date rape. I suppress the urge to dash pebbles against their heads.
3. I just read that Andy Partridge, main man of XTC and best songwriter in the world (if you forget Wyatt, Malkmus, Costello etc) has finished his trawl through the archives and decided to stop cataloguing his demos and out-takes at volume 9. So he’s reissuing the Fuzzy Warbles tapes as a nine-CD collection. I cannot afford to buy it. Why do I have a horrible feeling that I will, then? (via)
4. This week I have been mostly living at Dave’s house and as a consequence am now, somehow, able to play several songs by Coldplay and Travis. Blame Natalia. I drew the line at learning ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Eric Clapton, ostensibly because my religion does not allow it (Church of Sonic Youth, English branch) but mostly because, erm, I’m not talented enough to play it.
5. You can buy The Clangers Opera here.
currrently listening to:
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. The Young Knives – Voices of Animals and Men LP (thunderous and frequently hilarious debut)
2. Super Biton De Segou – Afro Jazz De Mali LP (cool collection of Malian Jazz)
3. K’naan – The Dusty Foot Philosopher LP (best rapper on the planet?)
4. Lambchop – Beers Before the Barbican (heartbreaking and gorgeous track from the new album, Damaged)
5. Wayne Jarrett – Showcase Vol. 1 LP (sweet, chaotic dub reggae)
6. Junior Boys – In The Morning (fabulous, crunchy new slice of tech-pop)
7. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Kamli Wala Mohammed (loping, funky pop from Pakistan)
8. The Needles – Summer Girls (ultra indie)
9. Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited – Chimurenga Explosion LP (vibrant zimbabwean protest music – recorded in Oregon, so go figure)
10. Good Shoes – All In My Head (fizzly, crackly pop and good fun)
on the stereo
Category Currently Listening, Music
Currently liztening to:
1. The Young Knives – Loughborough Suicide: Easily the best thing the thrilling ‘Knives have done to date, this is just tremendous; an elegant, caustic little slice of small-town ennui which occasionally splutters into The Jam-style fury. The lyrics marginally edge it over the tune, with Henry spluttering “I’ll never go down fighting” while House intones “Well, it’s cold cold cold and I think I’m gonna die in here / considering Loughborough suicide, which I’m definitely going to do, this year / And if you take a look outside then the answer to your question is quite clear / that you may as well leave because there’s nothing else to do around here”. When the guitars briefly erupt into a kinetic little riff half way through something physical happens and I want to punch the air. Ace.
2. Lily Allen – Little Things: Apart from the luminous ‘LDN’, my favourite Lily Allen song so far, from the first wistful lines (“Sometimes I find myself sitting back and reminiscing / Especially when I have to watch other people kissing”) to the way she alternates between sassy wit (“Drinkin’ tea in bed, watching DVDs / when I discovered all your dirty grotty magazines”) and girlishness (“the first time that you introduced me to your friends / and you could tell I was nervous, so you held my hand”) – it’s lovely. Best of all, obviously, is her voice, which is unshowy yet demonstrative, and totally convincing, especially when she sings lines like “I know it sounds lame but its so true”. It is.
3. Midlake – Roscoe: Dan is loudly proclaiming Midlake’s ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ as record of the year so far, and he mightn’t be far wrong – it’s a super little record, all beguiling harmonies, soft-rock piano riffs, buzzing synths and bucolic calm. It may seem lazy to pick the first track on the album as the best song, but it’s really beautiful. Clincher is the escalating harmonies and the line “Whenever I was a child I wondered what if my name had changed into something more productive like… Roscoe”, which triggers a little cascade of shivers. Soft rock need not sound like The Feeling.
4. Sol Seppy – The Bells of 1 2 LP: Another Dan-discovery, via last month’s Wire Tapper, this is a lovely, insular record. You can test the water by downloading a track here. If you can’t be bothered to do that, I’ll just tell you that the album is strange and beautiful; acoustic folkiness switching with churning Velvets guitars, the odd glitchsome beat and some ethereal, rather gorgeous vocals. And Sol Seppy mainwoman Sophie Michalitsianos is kind of, erm, pretty, too. And stop looking at me like that. I would have said the same of the Young Knives if it were true.
5. Jarvis Cocker – Running The World: chiefly here because it proves that Jarvis can still do it, rather than because it’s streets ahead of the other stuff I’ve been listening to this month (honorable mentions to Quarterstance, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Herbert, Infinite Livez and Plan B); it’s much as you’d expect, really – lots of keyboards, neat guitars and a het up Jarvis on fine lyrical form, claiming that it isn’t cream that rises to the top in life but shit, and that the “cunts are still ruling the world”. Neat, and right. You can download the song here if you’re minded.
currently listening to…
Category Currently Listening, Music
1. Br. Danielson – Daughters Will Tune You
2. Dizzee Rascal – G.H.E.T.T.O
3. Taz – Can’t Contain Me
4. Count Bass D – Drug Abusage
5. Futureheads – Back To The Sea
6. Wiley – WD25
7. Graham Coxon – R U Lonely?
8. Primal Scream – Little Death
9. Young Knives – She’s Attracted To
10. Black Grape – Shake Your Money
