singles
january '06
blondie vs the doors - rapture/riders
legit 12" release of a mashup bootleg that has been around for a long long time. being one of the best examples of the genre tis great to see go home productions getting more recognition following his blend of sex pistols and madonna, and the legit david bowie cut up where he took an old'un and a new'un and created something rather wonderful. so bizarrely these two drop dead classic tracks fit together brilliantly. smooth funk of blondie with the laid back classic rock of the doors. great stuff. but there is more. on the flip of the 12" is a 10 minute disco mix version of rapture. pure and simple extended version. no laptop trickery, no tacky trance under pinning. just pure pure perfection for a great 10 minutes.
sod the mash, this is the main course..
¡førward russia! - twelve/four
the band that likes to get everyone checking out the symbols function in their word processor release a track that recently was featured on an nme cool list cd. lead track, 'twelve', is all mad clattering drums and clear and crisp guitars duelling for your attention, prior to one of the best (and shortest) handclap breaks ever. 1 minute in, and the brakes are applied and things are held back in masterful fashion before we back onto the racetrack. its a little bit post punk, but in a very refreshing manner making the band somewhat worthy of their recent 'best unsigned band in britain' as declared by the nme. the flip track, yet another number, 'four' has a more awkward, unfriendly appeal. the song will annoy, as many as it will charm, as the manic psycho vocals that open the track will indeed induce cold sweats, however hang on in there as the track morphs into something rather special proving that for all the strangeness the band are at heart wanting to provide their listeners with some seriously manic pop thrills.
harrisons - blue note/shirleys temple
cracking little single of old school pre-britpop indie. guitars do their jam styled thing before the drums come hurtling at you and the bass carries the track along apace. then when the chorus kicks 'the days the days the beautiful days', everything just clicks into place, making the song reside into the short term memory banks with ease, the fact that the chorus is underpinned by a guitar lick straight out of the 'into the valley' by the skids should not prevent anyone from picking up this. gruff masculine vocals, sharp insightful wordplay, and a straight to the heart way with a melody makes the harrisons a band that many people are watching and listening to with interest.
of course, it's a well worn formula, but sometimes that's a seriously good thing on a slow wednesday afternoon.
mogwai - friend of the night
first single from the forthcoming album, 'mr. beast' (early march). cant say i have had any exposure to the mogwai groove, so i cant compare to previous outings, but i am aware of their love of the epic and loud sound, so despite the crap cover art i was rather keen with anticipation before i dropped this in the machine. sorry, but the big piano chords, the dramatic build up and the eventual release of the core of the song is rather a let down. instrumental and probably very lovely when all blue and mellow, but i guess i just aint right for all this post-rock stuff after all. sorry.
fall down boy - sugar, we're going down
probably one of the worst song titles ever, implying this is either a homage to all things saucy, or a last wish for a pilot on a one way ticket to death. so, moving on from that its rather a non-surprise to hear the well polished american radio rock that will be a perfect aural treat for fans of tv shows like 'the oc'. nowt special, but perfectly fine.
arctic monkeys - when the sun goes down
ok, after the massive chaos of the bands debut single i feel kinda sorry for the lads, as things are never going to be easy. i suspect that the back lash is going to be on a par with the darkness, especially as the nme have granted a whopping 10 out of 10 for the album. so does this second single (proper) make matters better? well no, not really. it's quite funny, delicate and bears more in line with the b-side of the previous record. so we get more stories of girls who aren't interested, and lads who get more action than they do (even if its paid for) set to a uptempo guitar riff.
all negativity aside, they are going to have a helluva 2006 that's for sure.
cut copy - going nowhere - the remixes
full review : here
honeyroot - ep1
honeyroot is a new project for heaven 17's glenn gregory and his partner in crime keith lowndes (abc). with the duos background it should come as no surprise to learn that the 3 tracks on offer are gorgeous sounding laidback electronic music. a little trip hop, a little cafe del mar and a lot of melody.
ep opener, 'starshine', has already pricked the ears of some well funded tv advertising execs, dkny, and so the tracks delicate electro loops, synthetic orchestrations and sunset friendly harmonies may be familiar to you, and while the groove may induce certain accusations of genre laziness that cannot be said for 'falling'. on the surface this is more of the same but with a slighter harder electro tinged edge to the sound, but, hang on in there, a certain peter hook styled bassline comes in and takes the track into fascinating new territories, while still maintaining the high levels of chillout factor - excellent. then to close the ep, honeyroot drop the sunkissed vocals from themix, and head straight for the heart of vangelis's back catalogue to make 'blue space' (chiller mix) something very special and totally worthy of inclusion on the next bladerunner soundtrack.
the ep is available via various download stores, justmusic.co.uk, and of course itunes only.
wolfmother - mind's eye
true story : washing up, dropped this single into the machine and really began to enjoy the serious 70's rock throwback heavy groove. to such a degree, that at 2 minutes in i thought 'gosh - all this needs now is a rick wakeman type of keyboard solo before the tempo is ramped up to a grand finale'. a few seconds later (2 minutes and 45 seconds exactly fact fans) - ringo bingo! yes ladies and gentlemen, every well worn deep purple cliche is dusted down and brought back to life, the reach for the skies melodic build up, the macho led zeppelin vocals, the big big fuck off hard-n-heavy sound and of course, that keyboard solo.
of course, on one track alone, i wont be giving any such statements of 'a classic', but this certainly makes me look forward to the album due out soon.
plan b - sick 2 def (acoustic)/no good
plan b, aka ben drew, is being whispered as being a true star of 2006. time will tell. his sound is hip hop, hard hitting, curse heavy, involving some downright unpleasantly violent wordplay over some nice and easy david gray acoustic guitars making your emotions recoil in horror that such a nice sounding record can be filled with such hatred and anger, the man is hopefully taking the whole 'persona on record' to an extreme as opposed to being genuinely full of this much trouble. admittedly, plan b may be stepping into areas that buck 65 and everlast have tried before, but hopefully the acoustic minimalism and rapping formula has plenty of scope for progress, and on the strength of this debut single it looks like the next few months will see a whole new take on the uk hip hop scene, having to be accepted by both the head nodders and the indie rockers. interestingly, the flip, 'no good' has a radio friendly beat and melody, and even lifts a well known hook from the old prodigy track 'no good (start the dance)' while plan b spits his venom. dont expect to hear this on the radio - thus meaning you'd better track this record down properly, it's definitely worth the effort.
honeyroot - ep1
c-mone - second after second/article 5
officially one of the best female mc's in the uk currently, c-mone returns to the release schedule with this slice of hard hitting rock styled rap (produced by 'the marga boys'), c-mone holds up and rides the groove in fine form sounding rough and ready for wordplay action - if radio playlist selectors ever wanted to step aside from the heavily promoted g-unit crap that dominates the audience choices, then they could do no worse than dropping this slab of reality on the airwaves from time to time.
flip the vinyl, for a different take on the gals style. dropping the cutup guitar chords for a more restrained noise of minimal beats and a simple orchestral sample loop, gives c-mone the space to spit more of her street friendly takes on modern life, ('gotta problem when my dark skin seems to be the crime'). thug free, content heavy rap from uk - quality.
the good news is an album is due soon.
the isles - eve of battle/flying under cheap kites
ireallylovemusic's fave melodic label branch out from their northern headquarters, and find this new york band are primed and ready for some well deserved worldwide attention. this debut 7" is a laid back indie guitar pop song that will have fans of teenage fanclub and the beta band in rapture. delicate on the ears melodies (ahem), swoon some strummed guitars and a genuinely lovely sound.
coldcut - man in a garage
full review : here
louis xiv - pledge of allegiance
boy kill boy - back again
dont know much about this debut single other than what is available via the website, but it's 3 minutes of student disco fuzzed up indie rock thats going to make a lot of people who listen to radio 1 in the evening smile. the bass is to the fore, as are the urgent guitars and drums and plenty of epic sounding 80's synth noises. obviously, the killers have obviously been influential in the bands formation and so will suffer from accusations of being a london media hype beast, to replace the best forgotten 'the bravery'. the song isn't at all bad, it has a certain energy and presses all the right buttons. oh, and in the same way as the arctic monkeys, the band have a special website on which are plenty of unreleased sounds available (demos, radio sessions, live tracks etc). are we seeing a new form of marketing to get the message across? hmmm ..
the sunshine underground - commercial breakdown/the way it is
upbeat and in yer face indie brit pop rock. this motley crew from leeds who apparently crafted their debut single out of borrowed gear get the second chance they never expected, and manage to make a fine noise worthy of your pocket money, and in so doing, have managed to make a track that pulls this particular listener back to the glory days of early shed 7 records, which, i stress, is not a slur. passions and melodies collide with ear pleasing results. flip for an extended funk heavy slice of bass driven excellence, that prove you don't need to be produced by either paul epworth or dfa to get a sound that's tight and totally right for the opening weeks of 2006. surely, they have their own instruments now !
jake searson - concrete and street lamps
a surprise this one ! from the name and cover i expected a laid back singer/songwriter type of track. and so when the fury of the guitars and scream-vocals hit the speakers, i literally jumped out of my skin. jake is angry. very. and he wants the world to know (though its not easy to hear what exactly is pissing him off with all the noise). still a fabulous track to clear out the crimbo induced cobwebs. i particularly liked the break at 2 minutes, where the vocals are pulled back and the sound of an police radio intercom provide some kind of narrative to the track - hang on, is this a conceptual track?
ok, i've read the pr, and the answer is yes. the track is basically the soundtrack to a full on car crash, that jake was involved in a while ago - hence the intense build up at the start with the pedal-to-the-metal guitars and then the subsequent abrupt halt to the fury.
i'm sure there are a lot of kerrang readers who will love this.
sarandon - the feminist third
more detail : here