Bedroom Funk

Before I go any further I need to give some love to Hot Chip.

They've had plenty of support from other mp3 blogs, so i've been in kind of a dilemma whether to post these. I mean if something has been covered elsewhere does it preclude me from promoting it as well? Should I be striving to only go where no man has gone before? Is this some sort of competition?

The answer - of course - is no. Firstly you may not have checked other blogs and so you may be in the sorry position of having a life without Hot Chip. Secondly I don't remember seeing either of these tracks posted before. And they are fantastic.

I have been deliberating today about what direction to take this blog in... should I specialise in a particular genre? Should I be trying to highlight new releases? Should I be bringing peoples' attention to things they may have missed? The conclusion i've come to is that I shouldn't think about it, and I certainly shouldn't give a toss. All I can do is reflect what i'm enjoying at the moment - be it old, new, electro, grime, indie, soul, funk, reggae, death metal, slovenian hip hop or norweigan dance hall (now that's something i'd like to hear).

And at the moment i'm (still) enjoying this.

I've listened to Hot Chip's album 'Coming on Strong' more than anything else in the last 6 months. It's the way the songs creep up on you unawares so that you don't realise how much you're loving the track until half way through. They invariably begin sparsely with just a drum machine... and then some vocals... and then the harmonies when Joe (or Alexis?) joins in... and then the funk... and then you realise that you have a warm glow inside and that you wish the track would go on forever.

It's been hard to decide which track to post, but I think this sums it up best:

Hot Chip - Crap Kraft Dinner

I was talking about b-sides in my last post, and this next song was inexplicably tucked away as the fourth (!) track on the 'Down With Prince' single. I can somehow imagine them crouched over a drum machine and 4-track recorder in an airy first floor flat in Putney.... making tracks just like 'a-b-c'.

Hot Chip - A-B-C

You will be hearing more Hot Chip on this site...

p.s. according to the fascinating and informative 'Air Guitar Australia', the above move is a 'Hot Chip'. This involves 'Pulling a Rock Head involving concentration and heavy exhale of air'. Why not try it at home.

Short Sharp Shock

I can't stop listening to this.



'Why did we have to meet, on the night I lost my head?'. Indeed.

I reckon a band's b-sides are a good indication of whether they're gonna be sticking around. If you can afford to spare a superb track for a b-side that hardly anyone will ever listen to you're more than likely going to have a few tunes up your sleeve. The A-side on this single, 'The Coast is Changing', is also pretty good - however this is the one that's stuck in my head. So based on my b-side theory you should keep an eye out for this lot.

It's an interesting change of direction for Warp Records as well. They've been dabbling in guitars recently, most notably with !!!, however this is the first time they've released a record by a band with both guitars and haircuts.

All 500 copies of this 7" are long gone, however they're on tour now and there's a new single out at the end of February. Check out their website

Maximo Park - The Night I Lost My Head

Disco. Very?

These chaps have a new album on the way



Unbelievably it's been 4 years since the last one. 4 years! Jeezus. I'm sure I should have been looking forward to this more than I have been. I mean I must own everything they've released or remixed over the years, and i loved. LOVED. Discovery. Somewhere however, the love has gone. In a way Discovery's catchiness was its undoing. Whereas a Boards of Canada album, for example, will reveal something new to you on every listen, Discovery wore its heart on its sleeve so clearly that after listening to nothing else for three weeks I had no desire to ever hear it again. If you can reproduce every note of the album in your head there's not a great deal of point in actually putting the CD on.

'Human After All', for that is the name of the album, is a bit of a mixed bag. I'm certainly liking it more each time I hear it - which is definitely a good sign - however there are some tracks I really don't like. 'Technologic' is, bizarrely, a blatant rip off of the FatBoy Slim abomination 'Slash Dot Dash Dot Slash Shit Crap Delete'. I mean it's clearly far better than that, but anything that brings back horrific flashbacks of a shit record is very hard to enjoy. There is good news though. 'Robot Rock' (of course!), which I believe will be the first single, is great... if not dissimilar to 'Aerodynamic'. 'Television Rules the Nation' has got a killer computerised heavy metal riff, and 'The Brainwasher' will i'm sure cause dancefloor devastation wherever it's played. Overall though i've got to say that this is a bit of a disappointment. Maybe i'm being a bit harsh, and certainly it's not really fair comparing Daft Punk with Boards of Canada, however I can't help but feel that the world has changed a lot in the last 4 years... and Daft Punk haven't.

p.s. those dolls are still fucking cool though

Daft Punk - The Brainwasher

It Came From The Ground

You can download Badly Drawn Boy's set from last weekend's Tsunami benefit here.

I love his live shows... he's so endearingly amateurish. Perfect for sitting in a field in the sunshine, sucking on a fat spliff. Thinking about it though, trying to get the crowd to do a mexican wave was in rather poor taste given the circumstances of the concert !

There's a few other live sets there as well. I'm looking forward to listening to the recording at the Royal Festival Hall last August, since I had a ticket for that gig but couldn't make it in the end. Clearly I'm hoping for it to be awful.

THE Greatest Hit

I promised you disco and disco you will have.'Heartbeat' was by a distance my favourite record last year, and even got voted single of the year in Pitchfork's end of year poll despite not coming out as a single in 2004. Well it may end up topping the 2005 list as well now, as it's finally come out as a single in the UK. I am a bit concerned that I will get sick of it if it takes up its rightful position on top of the charts... however right now i've listened to it a hundred times and it still sounds as great as it did the first time. I am sure Annie will be 'feeling good on Top of the Pops' for real before too long.



This remix is by Alan Braxe, who had a hand in two of the biggest house records of the last few years in 'Music Sounds Better With You' and 'Running / Intro'. He's done a great job here I think, by being wise enough not to mess with the original too much. It's basically a dancefloor re-edit extended and beefed up for da clubs, and I can vouch that pumped out of a proper system this will have you in spasms of delight. Last weekend I headed out to Basement Jaxx's new Brixton hoe-down 'Inside Out', where I got to hear this at the intended volume for the first time. I was unable to stop myself from leaping up and down grinning from ear to ear... and I challenge anyone not to do the same next time you hear it out.

If you like this (and if you don't you clearly have a wooden heart) then you will not be disappointed by the album, 'Anniemal'. It is full of infectious pop and includes previous singles 'Chewing Gum' and 'The Greatest Hit', along with a couple of superb Richard X collaborations. 'Me Plus One' in particular - where the Top of the Pops reference comes from - is another hit in waiting. The album was out last year, but I think it's been deleted in the UK ready for a re-release sometime in March. Make sure you snap it up.

Annie - Heartbeat (Alan Braxe Mix)

As a bonus, if you visit the Annie website, go to 'news' and scroll down a bit, you will be able to download the Royksopp remix of 'Heartbeat'.

If you like this track, please leave a comment... and please buy the record.
If you don't like the track leave a comment anyway!

Special Forces

I should really have kicked things off with something a bit more d.i.s.c.o., however this stunning album has been on my stereo more than most during this cold snap, and really needs a wider audience.



I must admit I had almost given up on Planet Mu after a rash of releases by the likes of Venetian Snares, Hellfish and Shitmat that have been verging on the unlistenable. However as a longtime fan of Mike 'U-Ziq' Paradinas I've stuck with them....and this masterpiece is the reward. The wintery scene on the album cover is certainly in keeping with the music inside - which is hard to describe without using words like 'glacial' or 'icy' - however I get a sense from listening that the ice is beginning to melt, and spring is on it's way. There is a sense of hope and optimism that you often find in music that seems superficially melancholy.... in common with Fane's obvious influences Radiohead and Sigur Ros.

Although I originally thought this track, Safety Man, was the best on the album i'm not so sure now. It's probably the most immediate though, so close your eyes and enjoy. For tomorrow we dance.

Julian Fane - Safety Man

If you like this track, please leave a comment - and please buy the record. If you didn't like it, leave a comment anyway...and come back tomorrow.