I can't hear this song without thinking of the Muppets version and that's sad enough without thinking that sod all has changed since. Ah well, night all.
I was going to do a little midday compilation of tracks that had popped up on my iPod or had provided inspiration but then this particular song came on and it is so damned good it deserves its own entry. My goodness this is just sublime.
Very dark electro-pop. I read that they were from London and for some reason it surprised me, it sounded more Scandinavian but then lo and behold it turns out that they are Norwegian and based in London. Still got it kids! My ear for Scandinavian electro-pop is as sharp as ever. Enough nonsense from me, this is a wonderfully retro sounding tune, the kind of tune that I used to listen to on the John Peel show of an evening all those years ago.
Taken from her album of last year, Newcastle (anti-)folk singer, Beth Jeans Houghton plays very melodic, acoustic folk with subversive intent. The lyrics can be sweet but as often as not they are biting masked in a sophisticated humour.
If anyone else had covered Portishead's Glory Box I'd probably have been quite upset but this is the late John Martyn. Sorry...the late, great John Martyn. Much missed.
Possibly my favourite Floyd tune. This was clearly an early indication of the power of Floyd's songwriting and with the added bonus of a John Peel introduction. Perfect.
One of Dr Johnson's most memorable bon mots was "when a man is tired of London then he is tired of life" and one that he firmly believed in. For Dr Johnson, London was the epicentre of human civilisation. For many it is still true. Along with New York, it's arguably the most important city on Earth for arts, culture, finance, you name it, London has it. It's no exaggeration to say that probably most nations and races have a community there. This does of course, have its downside. Londoners can have a very snobby attitude to their city and London can be a cold, dangerous lonely and expensive place.
This dark side to London has frequently been explored in music, one of the most famous songs to criticise the city must be Ralph McTell's 'Streets of London' and it's a sad thing to reflect that nothing has changed since he wrote that song 40 odd years ago. The three songs I've chosen as examples are all by outsiders, non-Londoners jaded by their own experiences and the only other criterion was that London had to feature in the title.
Tricky's 'Bristol to London' is a collaboration with his errant younger brother and seems to me to describe London as almost a gangster 'finishing school' where crime is almost unavoidable if you are unlucky enough to be born the wrong side of the tracks. It's a deliberately aggressive tune that reflects the streetwise nature that they had to adopt to stop them from drowning.
Catatonia's 'Londinium' has the city as a leech sucking the lifeblood and humanity from their souls. The song lyrics annoy me somewhat as I can't help but think that there's always been a latent anti-Englishness to Catatonia and although they may have a point in what they say, there's a lot of prejudice within also. Money's 'Goodnight London' is fresh from their debut album and is a very melancholic tale of how they just don't feel able to live their anymore.
I will try to redress the balance with some songs in praise of our capital city but for now here's three songs that paint a picture of a city that doesn't care.
I always make a point of looking out for these little mixes from Rob Garza and I'm glad to see he's added another. It's a very eclectic set too with The Smiths alongside 16 Bit Lolitas. Here's the tracklisting in full:
The Smiths - This Charming Man (Luis Leon Bootleg)
Space Ranger - Push Button Bang (Jori Hulkkonen Remix)
Mirror People - Kaleidoscope (Psychemagik Remix)
16 Bit Lolitas - Deep Space Girls (DAVI Remix)
This is I - Hood Rat (Original Mix)
Jimmy Van M, Affkt, Luxor T - Dreams (Original Mix)
Lonely Boy - When I Think About (Giom Remix)
Miguel Migs, Aya - The Distance (Balcazar & Sordo Remix)
Dharma Protocol ft Boy George - Coming Home (Juan Kidd Weirdo club mix)
It was one of those mornings when listening to the iPod on the way to work and thinking of tunes to put on this morning's blog entry and track after track was an ideal candidate. Take this beauty for instance. It's an instrumental number by psychedelic American/Cambodian rockers Dengue Fever and underneath the funky rhythms is almost a ska track trying to break free.
This is such a cool song fro Brit School graduate, King Krule. The maturity and range that he shows does belie his youth. I'm still working my way through his album but this particular track is already a stand out for me. It brings together orchestration that makes you think of XX with soft and subtle guitar work but his approach to singing is all early Paul Weller/early Elvis Costello angst but wrapped around a Georgie Fame type warm vocal style.
The album 'Egyptian Wrinkle' was released last year and remains firmly under the radar. I suspect their name doesn't help. It's not the easiest to find via google and I found I had Google repeatedly asking if I really meant a Korean boy-band with the same name - no, no I don't mean that band!
They're from Texas and musically they sound ethereal and spookily like the Cocteau Twins which can't be a bad thing. This is track 1 from the album and easily my favourite.
I've been listening to the new David Lynch album (yes..that David Lynch). Very much a continuation of the first album from last year (or was it 2 years ago?) although there's very little in the way of that indie electro sound of 'Good Day Today'. It's all slide guitar blues, distortion, echo, wah-wahs, crunching riffs. A complaint is that he does like to distort his voice in a similar style for most tunes - I wonder if it's a lack of confidence in his singing ability. The songwriting is off the scale in terms of wackiness. If you like weird David Lynch-type movies then you'll love this album too.
This Aussie band are making big waves within the music industry right now. With endorsements from some heavyweight names the new album 'Howlin' has been eagerly anticipated and I'm glad to say it does not disappoint. It's a ridiculously good album and as tight as I've ever heard a band on a debut album. It's as if a Madchester band had been re-formed but with Hot Chip or Passion Pit production. I know I've said it with other albums but this is a serious contender for album of the year with so many tracks on the album able to be candidates for single releases in their own right. I think this is a band I'd love to see live too and compare the performance with the studio release.
If you get these 2 very individual characters together then the result will inevitably an off the wall production. They haven't disappointed with this video. The pair of them dressed as Mexican mariachi performers and wandering the streets and having adventures. There's even a scene with someone in a gimp suit that gives huge nods to Monty Python's 'Holy Grail'.
The big question is - 'is the song any good?' I guess it all depends on how you like your Moby and Flaming Lips. This is a gospel-tinged feel-good anthem that won't win any awards for innovation and I like it although I'm not sure I'd go out and buy it. That probably doesn't answer the question at all! See for yourself and make your own mind up, I guess.
As a postscript, I don't think I can watch the video too often as Moby seems to have morphed into Sid Little and that's just not sitting well in my brain!
Only Belle and Sebastian could write something this sleazy and yet make it sound so beautiful. I suppose that anyone that toured with the infamous Arab Strap would have been affected to a degree.
More Brighton and Hove Albion wins, more album releases from Portishead, more Stewart Lee videos on Youtube, more Bombay Mix, more sunny days out in the country with my loved ones and more Sunday afternoons in a pub garden with friends, more Asics Onitsuka trainers, more people using the English language properly, Walkers to put more crisps in their packets, more Monday morning lie-ins. I want more.
Where has the time gone? Here's a special video to coincide with the landmark - and look how young they all look. Ridiculously young. And I do like the message at the beginning from David Gahan "You don'r need to find anything from the music or lyrics, they could just enjoy it"
The title track from their 2004 album and what can best be described as 'classic' Zero 7 by which I mean it's a slow-burner, melodic, almost ambient, slightly dark and layered with a lot of love going into the detail.
I seem to be on a psychedelic rock trip today, having been to Rough Trade and bought a few psychedelic CDs (more about that in a later post) and I've returned to my work desk to find an email linking to a live performance that Brazilian band Os Mutantes did for Seattle radio station, KEXP. And it's bloody good, excuse my French.
Here's a few tracks that have popped up on my iPod recently that are well worth sharing.
Nino Ferrer - 'Looking For You' This is an old French psychedelic number that may not be too familiar to a lot of people. I love how epic this track is. It's so 70s.
Fight Like Apes - 'Something Global' This Dublin band really missed out on not being 20 or so years older when Britpop ruled the airwaves. This particular song is just so catchy.
DJ Krush - 'Still Island feat. Shuuzan Morita' Japanese hip-hop legend doing downbeat moody electronica in his own inimitable style.
Tricky - 'Wash My Soul' One of my all time favourite artists. Take it away Mr Thaws.
The Pixies have announced the release of a new EP today and as part of the launch have also uploaded the video to one of the tracks 'Indie Cindy'. I've only listened once but it does sound like a return to form. God, I've missed them.
Last one from me for now. This is Cape Town-based, Congolese-born artist Alec Lomami with a bittersweet rap/pop crossover with an equally intriguing video.
Mancunian band Money have their debut album 'The Shadow of Heaven' out right now and this is one of the biggest tunes from it. It's anthemic and uplifting and as the website loudandquiet.com point out, reminiscent of early Verve. They're also predicting a Mercury Award nomination. I've not heard the whole album yet but from what I have heard, a nomination would be well deserved.
Norwegian electro-pop goddess Annie has teamed up with producer Richard X and together have created the A&R EP. This particular track is a bit of a bonus as it's a vinyl-only remix.
This has been on my favourites list for some time but for some reason I'd forgotten to blog it. With a new album out for the first time in years that I'm very excited about too here's Hope and the rest of the band. Beautiful.
Brighton folk duo Gaps have put together this exquisite mixtape for thisisfakediy.com and I feel compelled to share. I'm very proud of my hometown and its musical output. Bands like Gaps are the reason why.
I'll share with you a few tunes that I've been listening to of late.
This is a bit of an oldie. Heavy bass lines that veer into dubstep but if that isn't your bag then don't let that put you off, this is altogether something different. Crookers - 'No Mercy'
Brand new folk from Iceland and featuring John Grant and video direction by Arni and Kinski who have done such sterling work with Sigur Ros. Ásgeir – 'King and Cross'
I wanted to play you another from a few years ago with some very funky psyscedelic hooks. Chris Joss - 'Kali Flowers' but unfortunately it's not out there on the net - more's the pity and I recommend anyone and everyone to hear that tune. No matter, here's another psychedelic feast for you, Amorphous Androgynous - 'Auto Pimp'.
This is unadulterated pop from East Coast band, Pure Bathing Culture. They've obviously been keen students of the Cocteau Twins back catalogue but there's also something slightly Scandinavian sounding about them too - as if they were part of that Gothenburg dream pop scene a few years ago. They have a new album out this month too and I've already got it on pre-order.
An all Norwegian collaboration for this superb disco/house track. A big thanks to my friend Matthew who put me onto this, he leaves for Kenya in the next week or so. Best of luck buddy.
It's a lovely thing to go for a walk at lunchtime to the soundtrack of an album that you haven't heard in ages. Velvet Underground's 'Loaded' is a phenomenally good album. For a bunch of wasters, egotists and suchlike to produce an album as tight as this is a remarkable feat. This is track 1 on the album and a good indication of how wonderful the remaining tracks are (and there are lots - it all depends on whether you've got the original, re-mastered, the one with the out-takes....)
I feel very tired this morning after a late night out with my girlfriend to see an Elvis impersonator last night. I've never not enjoyed seeing Elvis shows, last night's was particularly good. The commute to work was therefore a happy one, made even better with these tracks popping up on my iPod.
Glasvegas - 'Stabbed'
Jonsi - 'Boy Lilikoi'
Grinderman - 'Palaces of Montezuma (Barry Adamson Remix)'
I heard about this today and it's a concept that works well, the Steve Mason/Dennis Bovell dub remix album springs to mind. Callahan's deep voice resonates throughout and the dub is understated to excellent effect. Out on 12 inch soon. I know a few people who would be interested in a vinyl copy of that.
It doesn't come much dirtier, scuzzier and just downright naughty than this. I keep meaning to put this on my blog whenever I hear the 'Back To Mine' compilation from Lamb. Probably my favourite from that series. Apologies for the naff graphics to this video. I was hoping someone had it on Soundcloud but wasn't to be.
The name Roy Chuter won't be familiar to many outside of the Brighton and Hove Albion community but within he was well known and respected for his part in saving our football club. He died in rather tragic circumstances yesterday and this entry is dedicated to him.
