crybaby

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Danny Coughlan is going to be massive. Of this there is no doubt. His voice comes straight from Orbison, Morrissey, Hawley and is just so crystal clear that it makes you weep that you can't sing like this.

iz and diz love vibe

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Nice.

aztec camera - 'oblivious'

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This is, in my mind, still one of the greatest 3 minute pop songs ever.

jungle brothers - 'how you want it we got it'

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This is from my 12 year old's favourite Jungle Brothers album, Raw Deluxe.

steve mason and scroobius pip?

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Oh, hello.

splodgenessabounds

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Not just them but a band name like that deserves top billing.

Splodgenessabounds - 'Simon Templar'

Beck - 'Youthless'

Dreadzone - 'Iron Shirt'

Glasser - 'Glad (De Lorean Mix)'

c'est magnifique

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Francois and the Atlas Mountains playing an acoustic versions of 'Les Plus Beaux' for Faits Divers.

b-movie

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I have become so disillusioned with politics in general that I have gone past the point of cynicism and probably past the point of caring any more. I used to worry that this wasn't a particularly healthy place to be but when I hear songs like this from profoundly wise people such as Gil Scott-Heron I don't fret so much. GSH pretty much nails it all for me here. What was true 31 years ago is still true today and that is so depressing. Thank the Lord for music.

jj - beautiful life

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It's been far, far too long but finally my favourite Swedish dream-poppers return with a single from their imminent new album, No 4. I love this tune already.

sad songs say so much

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I've dug out a few remixes/reimagines of my favourite 80s pop classics. 

Yazoo - 'Only You (Matt Pop's Broken Toy Mix)'

OMD - 'Souvenir (10" extended single)'KKK

Nouvelle Vague - 'In a Manner of Speaking'

the mary onettes - 'explosions'

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Bork! Bork! Bork! I'm feeling in the mood for some Swedish music.

help me make it through the night

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Christian Carpentieri in the mix.

racoon bandit - 'katie cruel'

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Blues-y deep Southern soul with a dark edge to it. This is Racoon Bandit.

black cab sessions with our broken garden

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I adore the concept of the Black Cab Sessions and have featured Daniel Johnston before on this blog. This time it's the band that had, for me, the album of 2010. It is of course Our Broken Garden with 'La Sagittaire'.

You can see more Black Cab Sessions by clicking here.

e.m.a.k. - 'tanz in den himmel (crazy tape's urban tripe)'

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art2tonic - 'makassar bisa tonji'

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I don't know an awful lot about this band; I think they are Indonesian, they sing in their native tongue and it's quite a catchy tune. I came across it quite randomly on Youtube last night and if this is the quality of Indonesian music I'm going to do some more exploring. See what you think.

bonobo - black sands reminimixed

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This came as a bonus mini CD with Bonobo's Black Sands remix album. It's a 20 minute mix of the tracks and just oozes class from every pore. They are well known for their lush orchestration but even by this Brighton band's standards this is so warm and sensual. If you are after that perfect 20 minute chilled mix then this is the one. I think I will leave this blog tonight with this as my swansong. Sleep well. 

the heart and the hand

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This falls straight into that genre I can't quite describe with Damian Jurado / Daniel Lefkowitz / Low Anthem / Bon Iver / Fleet Foxes et al. How would you describe it? Lo-fi indie folk? It seems almost that you are dealing with minutae of differences with a tag like that but it is definitely its own sound. The Heart and the Hand are a Seattle band with a fantastic back catalogue already and I confidently expect their name to be mentioned when, in years to come, we talk about the great lo-fi indie folk bands or however we choose to describe them. Let's hope it's someone better qualified to define the genre who gives it a proper name!

like father, like son

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Between them, Jeff and Tim Buckley were on this planet for a total of 52 years. How very sad to consider. 

I find Smiths covers very hit and miss. The Jeff Buckley version is almost up there with the live Smiths version from Rank although I believe Jeff Buckley could have sung the football league final scores and it would have sounded beautiful. The Tim Buckley in session on the Old Grey Whistle Test is perfect with Whispering Bob Harris almost reverential in talking about Tim Buckley. 

Jeff Buckley - 'I Know it's Over'

Tim Buckley - 'Dolphins'

new music

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Here's some new music I bought recently. 

I'm particularly looking forward to giving the Grinderman remix album a good listen but the one that I chose to play first is the EP from Daniel Rossen (frontman with Grizzly Bear). His voice reminds me of Paul McCartney or specifically the kind of music that McCartney should have been making all these years. There's some Neil Young thrown in that voice too. It's a very good little album.