Sunday Selection

Hey everyone, hope all is well. There's been some good stuff lately but I feel I've had to filter through it as not all of it's postworthy. Maybe it'll grow on me. There's new material from Chromeo and Midnight Juggernauts which will always be worth checking out, 'sides I'm sure it'll hit the airwaves and tv screens soon enough and I have other things to show you.

In the summer, I did an internship at a music publishing company in London. I heard there was this guy, Pete, who was a DJ and had 'the best music taste in the building' - naturally I was curious to meet this person. There was also this guy I saw walking around the offices all the time handing things out to people so I thought he was totally average. Turns out this was Pete, who also produces innovative, atmospheric dubstep (if you have to label it). So, I'm in the record store on Friday afternoon I get given the latest releases, amongst them 'Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo/Wet Look' and I'm told it's one of the best tunes around now. I'm gutted as I worked with him for a month and didn't meet him, but I'm pretty excited about his stuff. Here's the AA side, and I'm finding it hard to describe other than.. avant-garde.

Joy Orbison - Wet Look

So, elsewhere we have:

Fanfarlo - Luna
Not the newest of new tracks, but I like it anyway. Anyone remember Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah? Sounds a little like them mixed with The Magic Numbers. Good fun; I wasn't hot on this song at first but heard it on the Nike Store website the other day and was all like 'ooh, this is pretty cool'.

Bombay Bicycle Club - Magnet
The latest track from BBC's debut 'I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose'. As you would imagine, it's got a very catchy riff and those trademark wavering vocals from the lead singer, Jack. Funnily enough, Jack is also a DJ (and quite a good one, too) and the last minute and a half of this track transforms from teen indie rock to super-chilled-ambient-jam. I'm loving it.

Miike Snow - Black & Blue
Yes! More Miike Snow! This time, the latest single, which has already received the remix treatment from some big names, including Tiga and Caspa, but I'll let you guys find those for yourself. The track's got a cool, effortless energy about it that'll get you nodding your head sooner or later. Glitchy electronic beats mixed with some piano keys and an infectious chorus clearly makes for a damn good song. Good Job Miike Snow.

And we're done for the time being - enjoy the music.

Fresh!

I suppose I didn't really need to specifically title this post 'Fresh!', as (I like to think) most of the stuff I post is pretty fresh; it's like an unwritten law of writing a music blog. Let's get to the exciting bits:

Okay, most notably, in the slow and steady stream of new music releases, Julian Casablancas solo effort has popped up out of nowhere. After 2006's 'First Impressions Of Earth', The Strokes have taken a break until recently, where they've been said to be writing new material. Still, in these past few years there've been solo efforts from the band, including Nickel Eye, Albert Hammond Jr. and Little Joy. Most recently though, frontman Casablancas has stated plans to release his solo album, 'Phrazes For The Young' in the UK on October 19th. They've been keeping the whole thing on the down low but the first single's out and it's sounding very tasty. So, I imagine you've got an image of a classic Strokes riff with maybe a few quirks here and there as a result of Casablancas fine tuning. You're half right. There's the best parts of The Strokes layered with '80s, bold Mr. Hudson style synths. Sounds like REAL pop music to me. Have a listen:

Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension

Get ready for a tour people. Casablancas tells us he wants a 'series of over-the-top Disney style shows'.

In other news, Miike Snow are getting bigger and bigger, mixing, remixing and producing all over the shop. Here's the dark, buzzing, electro pop stomper (that's not a paradox, you'll see) off their forthcoming album 'Black & Blue':

Miike Snow - Plastic Jungle

And another band who I've found out about lately; The Clientele. These psychedelic, dream-popping brits have released many albums before (five, in fact), and their latest one, 'Bonfires on the Heath', promises to be 'denser' than the earlier work. This depth is more than apparent on their swirling, summer kickback of a new track, Harvest Time. 'Bonfires on the Heath' will be released on October 6th.

The Clientele - Harvest Time

And there's your basic round-up of things I've been listening to/things that will be out soon. Enjoy!

Sunday Selection

So, I was thinking nothing too heavy on the ears today. Today is the day of rest. There's no real theme to this one, just a selection of tunes I'm playing more than the others for whatever reason - I'm sure you'll like them too:

Miike Snow - Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)
I've heard swedish indie-pop guys Miike Snow are going to hit it big sooner or later. They've got a pretty good sound going on and Mark Ronson delivers us a reggae version of one of their newer tracks; quite a nostalgic track.

jj - Ecstacy
Now I don't know much about jj, but I think it's supposed to be more about the music than the image. Ecstacy is an amusing little jam with a spaced-out version of the beat from Lil' Wayne's 'lollipop'. Good fun to listen to, and really quite catchy.

The Do - Stay (Just A Little Bit More)

The Do actually have a little slash in the 'o' but that causes so much havoc and I can't really be bothered. This song falls in a category of 'cute' songs with a million others thanks to a girl singing about guys in a quirky fashion over an innocent serving of ukulele with a bit of whistling thrown in for good measure. I find you can never have too many of these.

New Metronomy & More Calvin Harris

'What's that? A new Metronomy EP, fabulous!' I hear you say, and quite right too. I like it. A lot. Their new sound differs slightly from that of their previous music and you'd expect that, not only because a band's sound should develop and mature, but because they've got a new band line up with one of the old members leaving. However, this transition's a gentle one, and fans of their off-kilter electro-pop before this EP won't be disappointed either. Production on the new EP sounds smoother than their older material; the oddball synths remain yet these tracks are now laced with futuristic, more subtle notes which I could imagine going well with staring at a starry night sky. Take a listen to two of the tracks off it below and I don't doubt you'll get a similar vibe:

Metronomy - Do The Right Thing

Metronomy - Not Made For Love



And of course, unless you've been living in a cave recently, you will have heard about Calvin Harris' latest album, 'Ready For The Weekend' hitting the shelves today. As is the case with many albums, it had already leaked onto the interwebs anyway so you may have heard some/all of it already. If not, well, you're in for a treat. I wasn't such a fan of his debut LP but from what I've heard of the Scotsman's sophomore effort makes me think it's something special. Calvin Harris effortlessly blends retro and modern styles for what seems to be eclectic, eccentric, electric second album that packs a whole lot of funk:

Calvin Harris - Stars Come Out

Calvin Harris - The Rain

And today we end on a fairly amusing note with Calvin Harris performing his single 'Ready For The Weekend' using ladies in lingerie covered in paint. Hmmm.

I Wish I Had A Pizza And A Bottle Of Wine

There's no real theme to today's post. It's pretty humid out so my selection involves nothing too heavy - you wouldn't wanna break a sweat.

Mr Hudson - Supernova (Orchestral Mix)
Supernova's crooning vocals get even more of a croonover as current crowd favourite Mr Hudson recorded a version that's not so Kanye'd up with autotune and that electro-sounding production. A simple and pretty little song. People should make more classical pop music.

Girls - Lust For Life
Lust For Life is a two and a half minute anti-punk whine about, well, life. In fact, I'm sure a good few of you can relate to it, even if you're not totally mad. Girls' subtle psychedelica flows so smoothly and I cannot get the lyris out of my head. A real gem.

The XX - Intro
The introduction to The XX's debut album 2.0 is not one of those 30 second little skits about something that you normally hear but lets you accustomise yourself with the style of their music. This short-but-sweet instrumental is epic in it's most laidback, 'cool as' form.

Et voila.

And All The Colours Conspire To Overwhelm The Grey

Hey guys, again I have to apologise for not posting in a long while. This time though, it's not because I've been working (although I still have work for the next week and a half) - I've been sailing up and down a river in the south of France away from all (most) forms of contact. This includes the computer, which probably did me a whole lot of good. So today is my first day back in the country and although I have little time to spare, I've found two particularly chilled songs which you may or may not have heard but I had to share:

Just Jack - The Day I Died
Just Jack's music spans a whole range of genres and so intrigues a wide audience, including you, I should hope. This track off his sophomore album is no different and is guaranteed to make you lay back in a metaphorical deckchair on a hot day with a cool drink. Sounds a little like Just Jack's been listening to Jason Mraz for a long time, which by no means is an insult - it makes for a great, easy-going summer chiller with guitar twangs, claps and cute, quirky lyrics.

The XX - Basic Space

Now, The XX are a fairly new, arty (you can tell from the name can't you?) little quartet hailing from Southwest London. They're all in their teens though you may find that hard to believe as their style sounds really quite mature. Amongst the band's influences are Rihanna, The Cure and The Chromatics, so you may be stumped as to what to expect but don't worry, it's minimalistic, effortlessly cool art rock - highly recommended for fans of The Kills, although slightly more passive in their style than Mosshart and Hince. Basic Space is an almost timid track. It's not pretentious and it doesn't try too hard. The XX's message is clear and maybe music is lacking the beautiful simplicity that this track encompasses.

'Til next time, ta.

Lick The Fake Blood From Your Fingerrrr

I've been so busy lately so I won't be posting so frequently. Apologies but there's just too much to keep up with!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, Calvin Harris's new single 'Ready For The Weekend' (which I most certainly am now) received the remix treatment -already- from two pretty damn big names in club music - Fake Blood, who's identity was shrouded in mystery last time I heard, has he revealed it yet?.. and High Contrast, who has curly hair.

Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend (Fake Blood Remix)
Okay so, in my opinion, this one's the better of the two. It's just so much fun! Not a hell of a lot of the original has been kept in this remix mind you; sorry to disappoint if that's what you were hoping for. Some elements of the track remain but it seems almost as if it belongs to Fake Blood with Calvin Harris co-starring to raise the hype. You know what I mean? Sort of like when someone whacks a 'Where's my money?' into a song totally unnecessarily. Anyway, if you like thumping drums and bouncing bass, this is your thing. Oh and there's a cheeky little 'hands-in-the-air' trancey piano breakdown which everyone always loves, no matter how cheesy they get :) All in all, a very uplifting track.

Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend (High Contrast Remix)
After all my praise of Fake Blood's rendition, you might not be expecting this to be much good. It's still pretty good. At first, it seems as if we've lost the good times vibe of the original with the intro and the weird vocal tweaks but we're reassured as soon as the piano kicks in after being teased with that drum beat surfacing out of the depths. The first half of the track, in my opinion, is fairly mediocre. However, you'll (quite obviously) notice that halfway through, the driving bassline drops again and gathers a lot of more power. I found the momentum of this was satisfying enough to take me through the rest of the song without any qualms. Enjoyable.

Bonus Track:

Discovery - Osaka Loop Line

Introducing Discovery - one half is the keyboardist of Vampire Weekend, Rostam Batmanglij, the other being the lead singer of Ra Ra Riot, Wes Miles. Together, they make synth-abundant electro pop. Osaka Loop Line is my favourite off their new LP. We start off with deep, booming (yet not aggressive) synths with a dreamier, playful layer swirling about the track. Pair this with the sing-song vocals of Wes Miles and you've got a very addictive listen. Eventually, we progress into a glitchy breakdown and a melancholy conglomeration of various sounds to finish.

Wonderful, enjoy all your summers.

Kid British, Mr Hudson & Calvin Hazbags

Afternoon. You may have noticed there's been a fair amount of commercial music in my last few posts. It's not because I'm getting too lazy to search for the most indie-est bands on the globe, it's simply because there's been a stream of new releases, and now you will experience the audiovisual delights of a few of them below:



Kid British - Our House Is Dadless
Manchester-based hip-hop group Kid British's new single has a most british air about it, unsurprisingly. It's a good-times, sing-a-long tune partly due to the sampling of Madness but also because of the light-hearted, humourous verses. I'm not sure about you guys, but the video took me on a trip down memory lane when life was simpler. How nice was it to wake up on a saturday morning without bleary eyes and a headache? Just flicking on SM:TV live and eating a bowl of coco pops?



Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend
The scotsman's second release off the upcoming album (named 'Ready For The Weekend', incidentally) is a good few steps away from the club feel of 'I'm Not Alone' and for some it takes a while to get used to. The track's got a definitive air about it - it might be a bit too forward to call it the definitive pop sound of 2009, but it seems like a contender, what with most of pop being based around electronic equipment now.

If you were hoping for something to match the energy of 'I'm Not Alone', keep your eyes and ears peeled for remixes from Fake Blood and High Contrast, which I would post but I could only find radio rips. I'm always reluctant to post radio rips, they just seem so sloppy and corny when you've got a DJ talking about his mad night out when this beat got dropped and the club went mental; you understand what I'm getting at, I'll stop before this turns into a rant.

Mr. Hudson - Everything Is Broken (feat. Kid Cudi)
Mr. Hudson's second album, 'Straight, No Chaser' is out October 5th this year with executive production from Kanye West. The album aims to be less ornate and more direct, which is more than apparent in this track. We've got no intricate, fiddly little layers of anything and Mr. Hudson's vocal and instrumental style on this number lets us know that he understands the importance of simplicity. As he rightly explains about the album, "It's not trying to reinvent the wheel. It's straight, no chaser."