I'd like to post up something from the new album by The Rapture, but, well there doesn't seem a lot of point.... if you want to hear tracks i'm sure you can find all you need right here.
From what i've heard so far, "Woo! Alright Yeah.... Uh Huh" (or "WAHUH!" as it was formerly known) is by far and away my favourite. I've been loving it since hearing the demo version way back in the spring, and it's great to hear the final version at last. I'm a bit puzzled as to why it wasn't the first single to be honest, but i'm sure its time will come.
In the absence of any Rapture mp3s, I have a couple of other things that mine the same sound and will shake your hips just as much.
First up The Sunshine Underground, who i've had kind of an eye on since hearing the superb 'Put You In Your Place' on Big Stereo way back last year. I'm now a bit puzzled though, since they seem to have been lumped in with this NME-sponsored 'Nu Rave' fiasco, despite not sounding very rave at all. In fact i'm totally at a loss as to what qualifies a band as a nu-rave band. Most of them seem to have been around for ages and sound just the same now as they did two years ago.
But anyway without worrying about which genre they belong, after a few excellent singles The Sunshine Underground release their debut album 'Raise The Alarm' this week. Other than 'Put You In Your Place', my favourite track is probably this one - 'The Way it Is'. Both tracks are from the first half of the album, which on the whole sounds a lot like The Rapture to my ears. And as such I really like it. Unfortunately in the second half of the album the band seem to lose the funk a bit, and the songs start to become more and more like The Killers. Come on guys.... more cowbell!
Something I should have posted AGES ago, but which fits nicely into this Rapture tribute post, is this excellent track by Portuguese duo X-Wife. It sounds again like a really good Rapture single... irresistably danceable; slightly out-of-control vocals and plenty of electronic backup for the guitars.
It's also insanely catchy. The only downside is that it doesn't appear to be a tribute to Desmond Douglas.
I'm fuckin' annoyed with myself right now, since i've just realised that the iLiKETRAiNS gig I was massively looking forward to was in fact last week, and I forgot about it. GAH!!!! What a doughnut!
I was sure it was in September :-(
I did manage to catch some bands at the weekend though... namely The Research and Hot Club de Paris at the Lock Tavern.
I've posted 'Shipwrecked' by Hot Club de Paris already, which has become a storming set closer, and is what I suspect will become something of a breakthrough single for them at some point. In the meanwhile take a listen to their forthcoming new single. It's called 'Everyeveryeverything' and it's out on 25th September. I must admit it didn't grab me on the first go, but give it a few listens and i'm sure you'll succumb to its beguiling charms. I still can't help but compare them to the Futureheads, but i like these guys much more. HOT CLUB DE PARIS - EVERYEVERYEVERYTHING
I vaguely recall seeing The Research once before, but i'm afraid this will have to remain a vague memory as well. It ended up being a pretty long weekend what with carnival as well. All I can remember is that I love chicks banging drums. And that I still adore this record of theirs I heard last year.
There's not much to say about it. Except that "It's not that I don't love you, i'm just scared i'll fuck it up" is a sentiment that i'm sure most of us have felt at some point.
Or is it just me?
I'm finding it a bit tricky to post right now as once again I have a case of the dodgy internets. It stays off all evening then suddenly springs to life at about 11:45pm. Unfortunately 'springing to life' is not something that you could ever accuse BT of.
So, i'm sure you're all wondering about Lowlands....
No?
ah, well that's tough cos i'm giving you a run down anyway....
Who Was Good:
Mew were the first band I caught, and were far far better than the slightly disappointing show last time I saw them. Jonas' voice is quite extraordinary, and their style of Prog rock is ideally suited to listening outdoors with a bag of Super Silver Haze. They seem to be having a strange surge in popularity in the States right now.... but if you're new to the band i'd really urge you to check their majestic third album 'Frengers'.
I've posted this track before, but it was breathtaking live. It's from their most recent album, 'And The Glass Handed Kites'. I'm still finding the album patchy as a whole, but this is tremendous. Truly.
Hot Chip were strangely the only band I saw all weekend where the tent wasn't completely packed. In fact it was pretty empty. This was great as it meant I could take off my sopping wet shoes and have a dance round barefoot revelling in the sensation of having dry feet. In a choice between taking an air matress or wellies I decided on the former (**rock & roll**!) and came a cropper on the Sunday after it lashed it down with rain for hours. I've banged on about Hot Chip quite enough here... but it's worth noting that the 2 or 3 new songs they played sounded ace! There's one with a chorus going 'Wobble. Wobble. Wobble.' (or something) and another one equally disco. Both were amongst the best things they played, so something to look forward to there....
No idea what it is, but it's tomorrow night, it looks interesting, and i'm hoping to be there. Perhaps i'll pluck up the courage to ask about the new tracks.
I watched Arctic Monkeys from outside the tent, with one eye on the dozens of people sliding down the big muddy slope. I was feeling a bit weary by then, so didn't manage to get down with the kids.... but they sounded *really* great from where I was. In fact they seemed totally revitalised after getting a new bassist and spending some time in the States. At times they even seemed to be enjoying themselves. Their last single ('Leave Before The Lights Came On') was really good dontchathink?
Visually, The Knife were one of the best bands i've ever seen. They came across a bit like Kraftwerk, with their identities disguised by neon-laced balaclavas. A net curtain fell in front of the stage, displaying some pretty twisted projections - with another screen behind. I have to say that the music didn't always live up to the visual experience, but I feel quite priveledged to have seen them, what with the scarcity of their live performances.
The pictures didn't come out too well, so you'll have to take my word for it about it looking good:
I've not posted anything by The Knife up here before, which seems rather an oversight. This is the brilliant 'Kino' from their 2001 debut album. According to my Boomkat newsletter it's being re-released next week...
But the band of the weekend? Well it's between !!! and Iggy & The Stooges. And Iggy wins it by a mile. Christ (t)he(y) was awesome. A couple of songs in he leapt onto a speaker stack like a panther, and lay there in a pose as it rocked back and forth on the verge of collapsing. It didn't of course, so he jumped to his feet and rocked it some more. There was no blood or cock... but give the guy a break, he must be getting on for 70!
He dragged a load of people up on stage at one point, all of whom predictably went fuckin' apeshit for a couple of songs! But the biggest fascination for me was Iggy's trousers! Quite how he managed to have them sliding gradually down his hips throughout the show - without ever ending up with them round his ankles and Iggy flat on his face - was quite an education.
See.... that's what makes these old fellas proper rockstars!
!!! were also incredible, despite not playing any of the tracks i'd expected to hear (well, not that i recognised anyways). In fact the only thing I recognised was 'Hello! Is This Thing On'. So no 'Guiliani', 'Get Up', 'Feel Good Hit of the Fall' or 'Pardon my Freedom'. They may have finished with 'Intensify' (which I think they usually do?) but I can't say I recognised it all that well.
What they did have was a bongo onslaught, a frontman going more than slightly apeshit, and a band doing their utmost to funk it up like a white Parliament. I decided not to go & see them a couple of weeks ago as I was going to see them here... and i'm regretting it now. They were fuckin' great. A demented, yelping torrent of funk.
This track was from the 1-sided promo that came out on Warp a couple of years ago. At the time I found it a little disappointing, but having not listened to it for a while i'm really enjoying it. It's basically 'Guiliani' with loads of 'Freak' noises in the background.... but since when is that a bad thing?
I saw Razorlight against my better judgement. Christ they were boring. Won't be making that mistake again.
Not knowing anything by them, i'd been looking forward to seeing Broken Social Scene. But i'm afraid to say they didn't make much of an impression on me. In fact I stood through their whole set and can barely remember a thing about it. I certainly wouldn't be able to hear something now and immediately recognise it as a Broken Social Scene song. Perhaps it would have been different if i knew some of their songs... it does sometimes make a difference & I know they're supposed to be good.
I tried dancing to Tiga for a while, but found his tunes pretty dull as well. Quite minimal and characterless, which doesn't really get you going after a long day. I do like my dancing tunes to be, well, tunes....
The Raconteurs were far too self-indulgent for my liking. Although they got a rapturous reception for doing a cover of Nancy Sinatra's 'Bang Bang', I couldn't quite see the point of it myself. Maybe it didn't help that I was standing at a point where I got deafened by the speakers while not being able to see very much. But I didn't hear much that was very inspiring.
I should perhaps talk about some non-musical highlights as well, but I can't really be bothered. Perhaps i'll upload some photos shortly which should give you a taste.....
This post will probably be a dial-up killer. If I was clever i'd say something like 'check the photos after the jump'. But i'm not sure how to do that.
I'm a bit bleary headed from the weekend still, however i've been woken up slightly by being sent something so hot that if it was played on the radio it would be accompanied by a sound effect. Maybe saying 'ex-ex-ex-ex-exclusive' with a ton of echo.
Erol Alkan had planned to release this track on the next 'Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve' album - his project with Richard Norris (from The Grid) producing re-edits of psychrock classics. Since Arthur Lee's death, they decided that it could be construed as cashing in to include this on the album, so at the moment there are no plans for it to see a proper release.
Being a re-edit, it's not a massive departure from the original - the main difference being the addition of some funky-assed drumming that eventually turns to an acid-washed instrumental freakout.
It'd be a shame if this doesn't get released as it's kinda great. As Erol says, 'the biggest joy to doing the BTWS edits is seeing kids absorb this incredible music, some of which was made 40 - 50 years ago'. It'd be great to see a dancefloor losing it to this....
Also, I know it's been on a few blogs already, but here's the Wizard's Sleeve remix of Peter, Bjorn & John - adding a squeeze of psychedelia to one of the anthems of the summer.
Here's the video for the original version, which is surely going to be crashing the charts soon? I must admit i've not heard any of the other remixes. Do any of them turn this into the housed-up monster that threatens to emerge from the song? I'm quite curious about the Tomas Andersson version, but i've not heard anyone singing its praises.
You can grab a couple of the other remixes from here and from here.
If you're after something else by Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve, over at XXJFG you should be able to find 'I Swim Around' - a version of Hallo Gallo by Neu!, and the best track from the last LP ('Spring').
I was hoping to do a proper post before leaving for Holland.... however I don't have time. So i'll just leave you with another mix in case you're short of listening material (is that possible in this mp3-filled world of ours?).
The title is a slight misnomer, as although this was what I was planning to play at Turnmills I only got 4 songs in before we started just taking it in turns on the decks. However this is what I was planning to play!
It's not the most original selection in the world, and i'm sure most tracks have appeared on previous mixes of mine, which is why I didn't post it up before. However i've just been listening to it while doing my packing and i've decided it's pretty good! So post it up I shall.... HEADPHONESEX - AT THE BOUTIQUE (KIND OF)
Tracklisting:
Flowered Up - Weekender (Heavenly, 1992) Test Icicles - What's Your Damage (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Mix) (Domino, 2006) Justice - Let There Be Light (Ed Banger, 2005) Daft Punk - Burnin' (Virgin, 1997) Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Van She Mix) (Kitsune, 2006) Donoldo - Dragon (Shit Robot Mix) (Tiny Sticks, 2006) The Rapture vs Cosmos - House of Jealous Lovers (White Label, 2003) Simian - Never Be Alone (Source UK, 2002) Yello - Bostich (Stiff Records, 1981) Inner City - Big Fun (Octave One Remix) (Concept Music, 2002) Davina - Don't You Want It (Underground Resistance, 1996) Uberzone - 2 Kool 4 Skool (Rennie Pilgrem Remix) (City of Angels, 1999) VHS or Beta - Night on Fire (Carlos D Remix) (Kitsune, 1995) Ladytron - Seventeen (Soulwax Remix) (Telstar, 2002)
Contrary to appearances, I do try and listen to bands who send me friend requests on myspace. I don't always succeed as I have a 'bit' of a queue at the moment.... but i'm surprised at how often it comes up trumps.
If you've visited my own page in the last few days you'll have noticed that I have fallen in love with this tune by Cardiff's Yossarian - to the extent that it's now gracing my homepage. The suspicious amongst you may be thinking that my critical faculties have failed me in the face of a band whose singer is a Wycombe fan.... but no. That's just a bonus. I'd love this even if he supported Colchester United. (spit).
More than anything it reminds me of Nizlopi's 'JCB Song' (which, admit it, was great the first 1,000 times), and i'm sure if there wasn't so much fucking swearing it could be a chart smash as well. As it is it's got slim chance of much radio play!
Singing about the mundanities of life (having nothing but tins in the cupboard; running out of milk; settling down to watch the footie on Grandstand only to find they're showing fucking horse racing), whilst celebrating the joy of escaping a hangover.... it's a celebration of life's simple pleasures (and annoyances). It's also the first time I remember the phrase 'lactose intolerant' cropping up in a song. And not before time!
I love this. I really really do. And if it doesn't make you smile you're dead inside.
Another myspace discovery was this remix of headphonesex fave Metronomy by his shady Brighton neighbours South Central.
It starts off glitching away like SebastiAn has got his hands on the tapes, before the bass and vox kick in and give the dancefloor something to hold on to. I posted the original of this track back in January, but this mix has completely revitalised it. It's just damn damn good. Trust me, you'll love it.
Apparently it's out this or next week on a 12" promo limited to 500 copies. The ever excellent Pure Groove would be the best people to hassle for a copy.
****
Now for some reason I didn't bother listening to the Thom Yorke album. Should I?
Perhaps I should for DJ Bhagwan has remixed the title track, 'The Eraser', and it sounds great. In his own words,
In DJ Bhagwan one sees the flowering of what was still lying dormant as a seed in oneself. Hearing him spin is like listening to the music of a mountain stream as he gives words to your innermost thoughts and feelings.
Like the sound of that?
I don't. Fucking hippy. But you should listen to it anyway!
EDIT: I've now listened to the original & this is better, innit. For it has more phwapping noises.
****
Finally I enjoyed this electronic groove from California's Tonegent Music. It sounds a bit like those early 90's Detroit influenced electronic artists - such as Stasis, B12 & Kirk Degiorgio. And I loved all that shit. Melodic sounds that also throw down a tough beat and some mind-scrambling squiggles and drums. I'm particularly taken by this track - 'Big Chocolate Bunny'.
Maybe I might become one of those bloggers who posts things as soon as they get them rather than one of those bloggers who listens to things for a couple of weeks thinking "yeah, i really ought to write about this" before either forgetting about it; discovering it's been on 100 blogs already; or getting my interest piqued by something else entirely.
So let's try the former for a change. For this has just popped into my inbox, and for a change (a) I listened to it and (b) I rather like it.
I remember about a year ago reading about Brazillian Girls on loadsa blogs. Somehow it appears that I never got aroused enough to download any of their tracks though, since I have none on my computer and I realised that I didn't actually know what they sounded like.
But look, the singer has great legs!
This then, is the first single from the band's second album... 'Talk to La Bomb'. And it's called 'Jique' It's not all THAT catchy, perhaps because it seems to keep shifting on to different songs (and languages!) like an ADD DJ set. If you lose concentration for a minute you'll be checking what your itunes has thrown up for you. The arpeggiated synth reminds me for some reason of that scene in Kill Bill when Uma Thurman drives along in a convertible while a 1950's style backdrop jerks along behind her. It has that certain air of freedom about it.
Not a GREAT single then, but an excellent tune to throw into a mixtape i'd say. BRAZILLIAN GIRLS - JIQUE
Wow, that wasn't all that hard after all. I could do with a lie down though....... I don't normally move that fast.
You'd have thought after 15 years and about ten thousand songs i'd be bored of skinny blokes making an angsty racket with guitars. But no, time and time again another cracking debut single comes out and i'm like YAY! GIMME INDIE ROCK!
So these new young punks are called Elle Milano. That's french for 'Chip Butty'. Er, I think.
(and why has Miss Betty K not been issued with any superhero noises?)
So yeah, they're from the suburbs. And they don't like it. Well i'm from the suburbs and I don't like it either. The suburbs are shit. That's why there will always be bands coming from the suburbs singing about how shit they are. And why people will always buy records by bands........ ah, you get the idea.
I should have written about this a few weeks ago when you could actually buy copies. As it is you might have a job as it was pretty limited and pretty much sold out.
Just in case you do see it poking out from the racks, the cover looks like this, and it is about 10 inches in diameter....
Someone else who's new, kind of, is Macaca Mulatta. I say kind of, as it's Chris Chinchilla's new band. He used to be in Art Brut you know. And he wrote some of the songs which you have probably sung along to in a quiet moment.
I don't know why he left the band. Perhaps given Eddie Argos' apparent resemblence to Phil 'The Power' Taylor it was a break-up reminiscent of the 'great darts split' of 1992. Maybe one band will take the BBC and the other will take Sky? I have to say Chris doesn't look much like a darts player though, so perhaps this is just speculation.
Anyway he has written some new songs, recorded with Fruitbat from unlikely 90s superstars Carter USM. Unsurprisingly they sound in places like Art Brut... and in terms of subject matter this first track has a bit of Arctic Monkeys' 'Fake Tales of San Francisco' in the mix too. Although Chris doesn't quite have Eddy's vocal charisma, i've found the songs on the demo CD very listenable indeed... and it's been getting a lot of play in my car.
Now I mention Art Brut, I was recently sent a live version of one of their popular sardonic ditties. I have to admit that the intro would probably have been more amusing if you were there, and under the influence of a couple of dry sherries.... but hey, they're still number 1. They're still Top of the Pops. And i'm still dreaming of drinking Hennessy with Morrissey. ART BRUT - MOVING TO LA (LIVE)
But rather than carp on about their frankly embarassing write-up, just enjoy the fact that you can from 9am tomorrow get tickets for Klaxons, Shit Disco and Datarock. On tour.
You won't usually find me trotting out the obituaries for dead rock stars... for a start most people can do it much better than I can. But also I don't normally mourn the passing of musical legends too much. Somehow although they often have revealed much about themselves in song or biography it still feels like someone a bit unreal who I don't really know.
And besides... who wants to see your heroes drinking through a tube while staring out of the window of a nursing home?
But somehow I feel a bit different about Arthur Lee than many of the others who've passed away recently. For a start having seen him live a couple of years ago, he looked so.... rejuvinated. As though he was really starting to get shit together after the prison, mental problems and drug abuse. His voice and his energy were just astonishing for someone who'd been through so much, and I left just feeling blessed to have seen such an (albeit underappreciated) musical hero in a relatively intimate show.
Of course my sadness is also linked to the fact that Arthur created what is probably my favourite album of all time - 'Forever Changes' of course.
What makes it so special? Well I guess musically it's because the traditional verse-chorus-verse structure is largely rejected, with the tracks instead veering off on wild tangents. This gives the album a lot more staying power than a lot of others that come and go out of your favourites in a pop frenzy. Musically the arrangements are just astounding from start to finish. Perhaps this is why an album that captures so vividly a particular moment in time can still sound so fresh.
It's also lyrically absorbing. Arthur of course wrote the album as his epitaph (believing he would soon be dead), but it charts not only his own demise, but that of the whole hippy dream. Despite this I don't find it as bleak as most people seem to. There are always chinks of light and hope within the songs. And none more so than in album closer 'You Set The Scene'.
The message I get is that yes, the world might mainly be shit. But if you take it upon yourself to change things you can do. And this is backed up with a volley of magical horns, which fill me up & make me feel like anything's possible.
This second track is from the 2001 remastered edition of 'Forever Changes'... a song that was left off the final album, supposedly because it was too cheerful. It's just a deliciously uplifting pop song, and it seems astonishing that anyone could write something this good and then not release it!
This last one is from 1974's 'Reel to Real' - and can also be found as the closing track on Optimo's 'How to Kill the DJ' mix. Just amazing, and best appreciated after the lights come on, with a beer in your hand & your arm around your best mate.
I've become a bit rubbish at posting music up. And I do have lots of things I want to share with y'all. Personally, I blame the heat. Even though it's not that hot right now. I think i'm just waiting for my core temperature to stablilise.
I may finally satisfy you with the gift of music in the next few hours... provided I don't get any more drunk (and I do have a fridge full of beer). But in the meantime here's another funny Darth Vader moment...
The stare-out is very amusing.
Also, yes I have checked, and yes it does appear that I am djing at Turnmills tomorrow.
?
!
If you're coming along, then make sure you pop up to the 'mezzanine'. And then stay there and get drunk with the uk blogger disco assault squad.
Yes, I know, i'm a Banksy bore. But he's been busy again & I thought i'd share the new pics. I'm not overly keen on the first two, however the new one in New York (Brooklyn apparently) is great.....
London:
It's a replacement for his classic 'Pulp Fiction' picture that got defaced...and on the same site. There's a story about it here should you be interested...
