de-minimis

26 May 2012

chromatics - 'kill for love'

I love all the current wave of neo-New Wave bands out there at the moment. At this point I'm rather pleased with that terribly pun in the first sentence, tomorrow I shall probably regret it. Ah well, let me tell you about this new song, the title track from the new album from the Oregon-based Chromatics. They are signed to THE record label that have done more to push New Wave back onto the musical agenda. I'm talking of course about Italians Do It Better. The whole album has an anthemic feel to it and the female vocals help to lift it brilliantly whilst carefully avoiding the trap of slipping into a power ballad. Why is it that all New Wave sounds like it's sung with an English accent? It's a great album and one of my tips for the critics' top 100 for 2012.

sun kil moon - 'king fish'

This is my favourite track from his new album 'Among the Leaves' which is currently receiving a lot of critical acclaim. This tune particularly sounds very Will Oldham but the album overall has more of a feel of a Lambchop or Midlake album rather than Bonnie Prince Billy. It's quite a deep album with the music and lyrics a lot heavier than the deliberately pretentious track titles. I won't spoil the surprise but if you fancy a giggle, you can read them here.

sin fang - 'walk with you'

Truth be told, I'm shattered. I've had a lovely day with my 2 sons down on Hove Lawns and the weather has been what can only be described as glorious but we were out all day and the heat has finally beaten me. There's still time for some music though, there's always time for music and so I'm keeping the tempo down and the mood lighting low with this live performance from Sindri Már Sigfússon.

frankie smith - 'double dutch bus'

This, folks, is the equivalent of hip hop sampling royalty. It's a great tune in its own right, too.

bjork - 'cosmogony (laponte rmx)'

emilie simon - 'flowers'

She's welcome to buy me flowers any day.

24 hours of vinyl

The concept is simple. Some music buffs invite their friends over, they play the music for the next 24 hours and it's all broadcast live via the internet. The only proviso is it's all vinyl. You can follow it here and I recommend you listen to even just a small part of it. The music is extremely eclectic and there's a lovely warm feeling to it all as if you've been invited to a housewarming. Watch the video below to see highlights of the last one.

And what is my favourite vinyl? Not sure but the Sugarcubes 'Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week' could be a candidate.

25 May 2012

yes, yes, yes!

This is the original of 'No, No, No' by Dawn Penn and still, in my eyes, the best. Perfect for a sunny day. Shame I'm inside and working!

ring the alarm!

Another sound is dying.

alex kenji - 'adelante'

This is still my favourite minimal techno track. When the Spanish guitar kicks in, it just sends me into raptures.

how to operate with a blown mind

I've been racking my brains for a seriously funky summer album and I'm reminded of the Lo Fidelity Allstars classic. I don't listen to this album as often as I should. Here's the title track from the album and then Lazer Sheep Dip Funk, an impossibly catchy dance number.

walls - 'raw umber/twilight (viogt and voigt remix)'

This has Kompakt writ large across the whole track. Out on 28th May this remix is on Walls new album: 'Coracle Remixe'. Certainly one for the shopping list!

hundreds - 'under the icicles' ep

I plugged this band last year and their track 'I Love My Harbour' was one of my tunes of 2011. It seems that they will be under the radar so to speak for the foreseeable future, busy with making a new album but in the meantime they've left us with a free 5 track EP. You can download it here. It's got a couple of covers and a remix of the aforementioned 'Harbour' track. I'm not so sure about the remix to be honest. The track is powerful as an ethereal piece and I'm not sure the dubstep treatment was required.

This is also on there and much more in keeping with the tone.

23 May 2012

love missile f1-11

I have this extended version on vinyl. Still as fresh as when I first heard it.

ltj bukem - 'watercolours'

So underrated.

22 May 2012

world goth day

Apparently it's World Goth Day so it's only right I play something suitably Gothic. I've picked something very controversial here, I've gone for one hit wonder Q Lazzarus with 'Goodbye Horses'. I think it qualifies as Goth and will argue the case until I'm blue in the face. And we can't have this song without Buffalo Bill mincing around.

"It puts the lotion in the basket!"

kiss me

Another song for the summer. I'm a sucker for that old school jangly guitar sound and when you add a very cute female voice then you might as well serve me up because that's me done! Hard to believe that this band originate from the US midwest rather than the UK.

nick drake - 'saturday sun'

A few years ago, whilst on holiday in Ibiza I discovered that lovely sunny days and Nick Drake go hand in hand. Okay, it's not Saturday but this still works very well. It's a bittersweet feeling that I find so much solace in his music and clearly Nick Drake couldn't. It's such a shame.

icona pop in session

This is only about half an hour long but don't let that put you off, this is an awesome little set. The Swedish ladies rock the house down.

Here's the set list (just wait until they really get going with 'I Love It'):

Sun Goes Down

Rocket Science

I Love It

Manners

Nights Like This

Top Rated

Weekend

jenna andrews - 'unhappy ending (solo remix)'

Unbelievably, this is available as a free download here. It's got a kind of old school Eartha Kitt-esque feel to it with a stripped back techno sound to it that isn't quite minimal but certainly not full on either. It's a real slow burner too that will grab you by the end and have you hitting the 'rewind' button.

the art of great music videos is not lost

Not when there are videos like this still being made. Woodkid - 'Run Boy Run'.

21 May 2012

gorky's zygotic mynci - 'let's get together (in our minds)'

I haven't heard this in years but listening to that Saint Etienne mixtape with the Matching Mole classic 'Oh Caroline' reminded me of Gorky's version. This track I've selected is probably my favourite of theirs.

lauren halo new album streamed

The album 'Quarantine' has recently been streamed by FACT magazine. I've not listened to it in full yet but from what I've heard I can understand why a lot of respected independent record shops have it as their album of the week. You'll find the tracklisting underneath the stream.

1 - Airsick

2 - Years

3 - Thaw

4 - Joy

5 - MK Ultra

6 - Wow

7 - Carcass

8 - Holoday

9 - Tumor

10 - Morcom

11 - Nerve

12 - Light + Space

new sigur rós video

This is from their new album, the video to the track 'Ég anda'. I love the music but can't say I'm too impressed with the video, it tries too hard to be wacky. It's unnecessary because the music already provides the avant-garde. There's no need to go around putting these visual exclamation marks to the songs. The record is out next Monday. Let's hope the video doesn't detract too much from the tune.

photo kid - 'all along the dotted line'

To coincide with the Hacienda's 30th birthday, ditto.tv have finally released 'All Along the Dotted Line' by Photo Kid. It was a one-off from Ben Kelly with Godley and Creme playing all the instruments. It's been transferred from tape to digital, they've polished the sound and even given it an accompanying video.

This is the very first I've heard of it and it's not easy listening by any stretch of the imaginatiion. Ben Kelly's voice and delivery is eerily similar to Syd Barrett. Have listen to Barrett's 'Opal' album and see what I mean. If I hadn't known better I would have laid good money on this being a long lost Barrett/Tubeway Army collaboration. Now there's a thought!

saint etienne - 'lazy crazy hazy days of summer mixtape'

To coincide with the release of their eagerly anticipated (and not just by me) new album, Saint Etienne have also posted a lovely summer mix for their fans. It features some rather lovely tunes, including one by Robin Gibb who passed away yesterday, yet another victim of cancer. It's a very sweet and fitting tribute, I think. The Bee Gees and Saint Etienne are unashamedly pop, in fact they are proud to call themselves pop bands. It's a lovely nod from one great band to another.

20 May 2012

casiokids - 'dresinen'

From their second album and also featured on Pro Evo Soccer 2012.

sad accordians

I was sent a link to this via Twitter just recently. It's another great Bandcamp find but I have saved it for a Sunday night as it best suits my mood. I forget who said it but a very wise person once wrote that the main differences between the sexes is that women will never understand the melancholy that men feel on a Sunday. For some reason, I find that music is a wonderful solace to this pre-Monday gloom. The album title alone is surely a great name for a band.

19 May 2012

stereo mcs - 'step it up'

CHOOON!!!!!

burial - 'street halo'

One word: Epic.

18 May 2012

sons of noel and adrian

This very excellent Brighton band are streaming their entire new album on Soundcloud. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to create the playlist in the correct order - if anyone knows how to do that, please can you show me? - but I hope it doesn't take away from your listening pleasure. If I could cheekily suggest it's like having shuffle on your iPod!

The band describe the album as about grandparents, life, death, alcohol abuse, divorce, mental health, arson and love. All in all, just another day for your typical Brightonian, really.

aba shanti i - 'higher judgement'

Morning!

best opening line to a song

I've narrowed my favourites down to 3.

I never thought it could happen with me and a girl from Clapham

Son, I'm 30. I only went with your mother 'cause she's dirty

I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden

17 May 2012

donna summer 1948- 2012

By now I think everyone has heard the sad news. Miss Summer has lost her battle against cancer and died at the age of 63. I was thinking about how best to pay tribute to the ultimate disco queen and rather than try to be clever with an obscure track from one of her lesser known albums I've picked the ultimate party record. I've written before how some tunes are genuinely timeless and I think "I Feel Love" is right up there at the top of the tree. And boy, how important it is too. Put simply this track defined dance music. Sod it, I'll stick my neck out and say that it still does. I adore this song and it's guaranteed to get me dad dancing when I hear it played. Actually, this song is very forgiving. You have to have absolutely no rhythm to dance badly to it. I'd like to think I haven't quite lost all mine just yet. Look and learn, kids.

I jest and perhaps I shouldn't but let me say that although I am sad that she passed away, I didn't know her and I'd like to celebrate her life and music rather than mourn her death. I did meet her once. I was with an ex-girlfriend and we were at a rather swanky hotel near Fitzrovia in London. Ordinarily the price would have been out of our reach but we'd wangled a lovely room for a very good rate. We were in reception, collecting the room key, I was trying to avoid the bellboy's eye and I saw Donna Summer walk in. Not quite, she glided in looking every inch the glamour puss. This woman oozed 'diva'. We shared a lift together and I, completely out of character...I'm painfully shy around strangers, all so briefly apologised for interrupting her day and said that I loved her music. And then we got out and she carried on up to the top of the hotel. A banal story, there is nothing exciting to relate and we didn't get to hang out with her but I'm telling this because I was reminded of it when I heard of her death today. I'm glad I got that moment to thank her.

My favourite remix, it's featured at more than one of my house parties.

lamb - 'gabriel (si beggs 5.1 futures remix)'

soley - 'pretty face (brum remix)'

16 May 2012

for cristina

With much love.

cud - 'somebody snatched my action'

This is a blast from the past.

freschard - 'come closer'

This featured on the ever brilliant Bob Fischer Radio Tees radio show a little earlier. French singer, Freschard take whimsical to stellar levels of cuteness with this song.

do you know frank sinatra?

"He's dead." That line from this song still cracks me up after all these years. Miss Kittin and the Hacker doing what they do best:

hafdis huld - 'happily ever after'

I was listening to her first album tonight on a little explore of Bristol where I'm working at the moment and had forgotten just how good it was. I have bittersweet memories of this album but the music is as good as when I first heard it and fell in love with her music. This is one of the more obscure tracks from it.

my favourite opening to a song

The Smiths - 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me'

15 May 2012

acouphéne

Or in English: tinnitus. This is no aural pain though, quite the opposite. It's a fairly old mix but new to me and a lovely mix of genres. It's not too heavy on the brain either without being too lightweight.

nico - 'afraid'

She's not the easiest of singers to listen to but if you stick with it then I think you might find the rewards are plentiful. This is from her very first album ' Desertshore' and really puts paid to the lie that she couldn't sing. I think she preferred the 'talk/sing' method because of her strong accent and I wish she had persevered with more singing but I guess that might have detracted from what she was best known for. I'm rambling, let's get to the music. This song is, as with her life, all too brief.

passion pit - 'take a walk'

Track number one from their upcoming album is an uplifting affair and is bound to be hitting the radios in a big way this summer.

As a bonus, I found the tracklisting for the album, Gossamer, for those that are interested in these things.

1. Take a Walk

2. I’ll Be Alright

3. Carried Away

4. Constant Conversations

5. Mirrored Sea

6. Cry Like a Ghost

7. On My Way

8. Hideaway

9. Two Veils to Hide My Face

10. Love Is Greed

11. Its Not My Fault I’m Happy

12. Where We Belong

saint etienne - 'tonight'

Their album comes out at the end of this month and it's probably the album of the year that I've been waiting for. It's been a long time, too long, since their last album and rest assured a full review will make an appearance in the not too distant future. In the meantime this can sate my hunger, it's the first track 'Tonight' from the album.

charlotte gainsbourg feat connan mockasin – 'anna'

Best Fit Sessions have brought us this acoustic piece. Is it just me or does her voice sounds very English?

kindness - 'house'

Adam Bainbridge redeems himself massively in my eyes for the abomination of a song* on his debut album with this wonderfully touching video of how he creates a song with the help of young Ramon.

*the cover version of 'Anyone Can Fall In Love'. Shudder!

14 May 2012

soulsavers ft dave gahan, new album

You can hear it streamed here.

grimes - 'nightmusic ft majikal cloudz'

She's the Canadian lady of the moment, it seems with everyone name-dropping the very lovely Grimes as their tip for the top. Not to be outdone, I'm going to add my name to that list of her fans. I love the darkness she brings to her music. I guess this is the influence of Witch House going mainstream. It's nice to see Canadian pop have that twist to it and put paid to the myth about music from that country.

vcmg - 'skip this track'

Better known as Dave Gahan and Vince Clark, VCMG have had an album out for about a month now. I haven't had a chance to play it in full yet but it's on the list (I promise!) and from what I've heard so far, it's packed full of beaty goodness. It's a bit heavier and more seriously dance-oriented than their usual pop angled music but I guess that's what this spin-off is for: to allow them free reign to make different music.

13 May 2012

wild belle - 'keep you'

It's hard to believe that a double act from Chicago could have an English sounding album with heavy dub reggae influences but I can assure you that is what we've got here. Their album is released this week and is already on my shopping list.

my god is blue (dolores remix)

Well..blue and white in my case but I won't begrudge Sébastien Tellier for missing out one of the colours of my footie team especially when we have a free download of the Dolores remix.

nguzu and boska - 'sicka'

Oh my, what a clever tune. I love the drum patterns here.

la bronze

Yet another bandcamp act referencing themselves in their debut album and once again proving that there's some great new music out there. I can't seem to find too much about them at present other than the briefest of bio's on Bandcamp. They are fronted by the stunning Nadine, hail from Montreal and are playing a number of gigs around Quebec soon. They play an earnest and accomplished pop and manage to avoid the twee MOR rather well. It's mainly a classic guitar/drum arrangement but a few of the slower tracks feature piano as well. Nadine's voice is beautifully husky and it works so well in her native Canadian French. The guitars are a little too crunching at times and almost seem to be begging for some air grabs but overall they compliment the band well. Overall, it is a very good album and reminiscent of No Doubt's early work.

12 May 2012

tshetsha boys - nwa pfundla

boyfriend - 'bad dreams'

The debut album from Boyfriend has proven to be something of a slow burner for me. I wasn't overly impressed at the start but with every listen, I'm beginning to get where they are coming from. It has depth and beauty in equal measure but what really stands out for me is the craftsmanship of the musicians on show. I think I've become more discerning as I've got older and this is why I have persevered with the album, it's so well produced that I was able to appreciate the music on its own before the concept of the music as a whole.

Enough about me, let's play some music.

11 May 2012

beth orton - 'it's not the spotlight'

Part of the bonus disc on the deluxe version of Trailer Park.

ebtg - 'missing (todd terry remix)'

Ben Watts and Tracey Thorn are the coolest couple in the universe. Forget Wills and Kate; forget Victoria and David; forget Beyonce and that bloke she's with; Ben and Tracey ARE the cool cats. I don't think they realise just how a regard a lot of people (myself included) have for them. From the bedsit pop of the 80s, the stuff Ben did with Robert Wyatt, the Home Movies album that got me through backpacking and university, the stuff Tracey did with Massive Attack and of course the Walking Wounded album, probably the most played album in the whole of my quite extensive music collection.

This is from the previous Temperamental album and has the Todd Terry makeover, it's a massively important record and just simply brilliant.

the walkmen - 'we can't be beat'

If you are a fan of I Am Kloot then I think you will enjoy this track from The Walkmen. Bittersweet lyrics twinged with regret and a lo-fi acoustic guitar. It's making it all sound so simple that is the trick.

lund quartet

Eponymously named, this is a very trippy, downtempo album that fuses jazz with trip-hop to produce a quite stunning little album. Of special note is track 2, Kulde. It's extremely good with a piano score given a very mellow turntable scratching as accompaniment. Do yourself a favour and buy the album and support real music.

cry me a river

Sorry Mari Wilson, but Julie London's version just pips yours as my favourite.

10 May 2012

barbarossa - 'butterfly plague'

James Mathe returns in the guise of his alter ego with this song from his latest EP released next month. It has all the tell-tale signs of a Mathe production too. It's electronic but with a lo-fi feel, the confident yet understated vocals and a warmth that you just can't fake.

regina spektor - 'call them brothers'

This track is a bonus on the deluxe version of her new album 'What We Saw From the Cheap Seats' and features the vocals of Jack Dishel.

09 May 2012

exitmusic - 'white noise (acoustic version)'

Recorded in a hotel room in Austin, Texas.

daniel steinberg in the mix

My favourite minimal techno DJ has uploaded this beauty. And it is a beauty.

classic detroit techno

Psyche - Elements

another day, another train journey

This time I'm Birmingham bound. All this commuting does afford me the luxury of listening to a lot of music though and my album of choice today is Senior by Royksopp. It's a more purely electronica album than it's older yet quixotically named sister album 'Junior'. It reminds me in part of the Kompakt compilations in design and depth but also in part of the recent Orb albums. I guess I'm trying to say, albeit very badly, that it's an ambient dancey album.

This is 'Tricky Two'.

07 May 2012

ricardo villalobos - dexter (robag wruhme mix)

This is playing right now on my stereo. It's track 3 on Wruhme's Wuppdeckmischmampflow album and is an exquisitely mixed tune on an incredibly well compiled album. The album is so fat with beats and percussion yet retains a minimalism at its core that allows a Villalobos track to feel right at home within.

pressure drop - 'rudeboy rhapsody'

From the extremely underrated album 'Tread'.

dj format - 'in the mix'

Brighton's very own keeping the spirit of turntablism alive.

and.id is in the house

DJing is serious business but nothing winds me up more than prima donnas on the 1s and 2s. You know the types, too cool even for the crowds they play to. That's why my heart lifts when you come across videos like this one showing And.Id in action. There's some seriously funky music and smiles everywhere.

As a bonus, here's the song he's playing ('Black Mamba') in full. Actually, it's the complete EP.

06 May 2012

candidate for tune of the year?

Mr Day - 'Forgotten Realms'

time to get funky

Bootsy Collins? Hell, yes.

memories, like the corners of my mind

Shoreditch in the early 90s was a crazy place. There were still large areas that were yet to be gentrified, neighbouring Hoxton felt like the Wild West to a suburban boy from Sussex and the rave scene was coming to an almighty hedonistic end. This is a grainy amateur video of a rave in a warehouse in Underwood Street back in '94. My memories of those times are hazy. I didn't go very often as they felt cliquey and there was often a slightly menacing undertone that was thankfully (and deliberately) absent from the early days of the scene. The monochrome sets the mood well, I think.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/projects/secret-history/22451/shoreditch-rave-

(You'll need to follow the link as the video owner has disabled embedding).

mississippi delta

I've been listening this morning to Bobbie Gentry. Cold, grey Sundays are made for sounds like this; the roast is in the oven, a cup of Earl Grey tea to hand and the keywords are 'chill' and 'relax'.' This is the first track on the album and was Bobbie G's first major success. She always drew inspiration from her Mississippi roots where music tinged with melancholy meets a languidness that only living in sunny climes can bring. She also brings that Deep South bloody-mindedness that shines through.