singles
april
second single from this new pop hopes on the regal imprint following their limited ep last year. 'love and pain' is a wonderfully mad, addictive little track that avoids all demands for seriousness with it's sharp spiky synth and guitars (yes yes - devo - but it's about time we moved on from the gang of four). the song has a sonic bite and means business, and sounds like the sort of song a listener may suffer from if the track becomes over exposed, but i have spun this track so many times and yes still i have yet to tire of the nerds-on-revenge vibe. b-sides 'tough love' and 'you'll change' continue with the bands passions for guitars and old school 80's styled synths, with 'tough love' being an uptempo groove and 'you'll change' being a more mellow take on the bands style. roll on the album !
coming soon : interview
raw bud v roni size - rise up
an underground bootleg mix gets an official airing. pairing roni size drum-n-bass excess with some over the top guitars and bass noise with sweet irie doing his thing. fantastically energetic, frantic mash of rock noise and beats. originally a non-legit 'anti-mix' this was then heard by roni size who tracked down the collision perpetrators and sorted out this proper release. dig in deeper however and all is revealed, this aint the work of some 17 year old bedroom sampler, nah. its dubwar ! a band who were well used to mashing dance beats and guitar excess in their glory days. however, putting this aside, this is still a superb track and could indeed scare the neighbours to within an inch of their lives. the package includes remixes by nightbreed (drums and sci-fi effects to the fore !) , as well as the original roni size versions. glorious stuff indeed.
ryan adams - let it ride
after a lifetime of silence from ryan we are now in for a surge in activity. from the details provided it sounds as if the young upstart has calmed down, chilled out a little and decided to get on with what he does best - make some fine music. a little bit of country rock never hurt anyone, and this upbeat happy sounding track has some lovely twang, a nice slide guitar and is totally wonderful. download only from the official site
the departure - lump in my throat
new single from this highly funked up guitar toting noisemakers who are destined for a fine year with the release of their forthcoming album - especially if it lives up to the promise of this and previous singles. having toured recently with the godfathers of the current punk-funk scene - the revived gang of four - it's clear to all where this bands intentions lie, clean guitars sparkle in their chopped up manner and solid bass lines propels the song along nicely, as before the excellent spacious production from steve osbourne makes this jump out from the speakers and makes you take notice. i especially like the doubled up vocal interaction towards the end where they declare they are trying to get some sleep - you're in the wrong business guys if that's true !
i'm looking forward to the album, which is surely the point of this?
update : the james ford remix is superb. maintaining the strong song throughout, while driving a serious groove for the dancefloor. recommended.
luxury car - heart of the matter ep
new single. full review here.
millencolin - ray
hailing from sweden - this is the first single to be released from the forthcoming 'kingwood' album. its skateboard punked up pop, that's a lot of fun and easily digested. the band are due to tour with the good charlottes - a perfect partnership by all accounts, as the fans will not get anything that deviates from their expectations.
razorlight - somewhere else
following a recent bout of knock backs including cancelled gigs and rumours re band fallouts, all of which is probably natural considering the full on, jam-packed 12 months action the band have experienced. however, this non-lp track certainly raises the stakes higher for the confidently assured songwriter johnny borrell. using a more mature level of instrumentation (piano, crowd noise, acoustic guitars and subtle strings) than on the album, these new ingredients all gel brilliantly, to make a drop dead classic festival singalong epic.
a great single that should propel the band into many previously hardened hearts.
kylie - giving you up
the conversion by kylie to the words best cool pop icon has surprised me more than most, having been part of the 1st generation that watched neighbours while being a hard working student, i would never have believed that all these years later i would love her stuff more than ever. obviously, 'body language' was the turning point for me, all twitchy electro pulses and icy grooves with little in the way of the typical mush that accompanies pop albums. luckily for me, the 2 new songs that were included on the recent singles compilation have both been lifted for individual exposure. 'giving you up' sees kylie team up with the current pop masters - xenomania, to create a totally addictive electropop classic that wooshes and swooshes in all the right places. the full remix package includes riton (broken up vocals and hard club beats), and alter ago (kylies breathy vocals spaced out over a trance monster), the video and a rather nice poster. oh, and she's on tour. but it's all sold out.
tom vek - i aint saying my goodbyes
a lot is riding on the success of tom vek, people in all the right places have high hopes that this guy hits all the right spots as this being his first high profile release (go beat/island are on board for this one) it's great to see that tom has kept his ramshackle production, thin beats, scruffy guitars intact and not polished it all up for the masses. coming on like a demented mix of funked up talking heads, distorted xtc demos and spliced in with some modernised dfa production styles its the hook line that will drive the masses to distraction should this track hit the airwaves during the rush hour. excellent stuff.
mama scuba - el shake
yet more fine classic indierock from leeds. must be something going on up in that lovely city. what with wrath, dance to the radio, kaiser chiefs and now mama scuba. having spun the album several times over the last few weeks i think it's safe to say that this pre-britpop style of guitar based pop songs are very welcome and refreshing. sometimes the guitars are all fuzzed up to the max, sometimes they are quiet and delicate, and sometimes they are twisted into new shapes recalling long forgotten names such as kingmaker may put some folks off - but its kinda fun. with songs are as direct as the lead track (and album highlight) 'el shake' then surely its not going to be long before people sit up and take notice.
countermine - letters
proper hard copy single this time round for the bath based band, with the previous release shifting quite a few megabits from download site wippit.com. a familar brand of emotional epic guitars/piano/strings setup and heartfelt passion. while its all very impressive sounding and suchlike, but with embrace making their return to the fray recently i suspect countermine might have had their thunder stolen. it's large, dramatic, and will sound pretty good on the radio. but doesn't grab me.
yacht club - yc-001
superb 4 tracker that took me on a trip to leeds 1986. its standout track 'yacht one' is dark gothic styled pop music. basic drum machines, echoed guitars, and chanted/looped vocals - a lot like old sisters of mercy dub version b-side mashed up against suicide's bar tab. - i expect (nee hope) to hear more from this lot. in other places there are echoes of funk'd up sonics by james murphy's dfa gang hidden within these freaky experimental pop songs.
good stuff.
demon summer - burn
down beat drums, epic guitars and heartfelt lyrics. oh yes, the impact of embrace and coldplay lives on in 2005. not a bad track as such, just that this has been done a lot in recent years. b-side 'no feelings no pain' sizzles with intensity for the opening 30 seconds, with production by mike hunter really bringing out the largeness in the sounds, and then builds nicely for the next 5 minutes.
the morenas - it shouldn't mata
often with guitar based indie pop it all depends on the vocals. if they don't fit then no matter how good the sonics are my head just cant get past the vocals. unfortunately this is my issue with this single. ambitious production (strings, brass and the kitchen sink) and impressive styles doesn't make up for the fact that the singer style is over wrought and close to annoying. but for those who like matt 'muse' bellamys' full on vocals, the morenas will not pose any problem.
idc - paylola
second single proper from the bootlegging maestro continues blending rock vibes with a funked up dance groove. based on a looped vocal sample ranting on about the music industry. the phrases 'i tell the djs what to play' and 'i make hits' are set to the floor filling beat monster prior to a electronic guitar solo like some cyber infused throwback to the 70's. while the melody is simplistic and direct, the bass line pumps the woofers to destructive effect, and the phased synths clash against sci-fi sound effects, driving the track along to its rather wonderful conclusion. fans of noisy dance (chemical brothers, prodigy etc) should definitely investigate this one.