Ok, it's approaching the end of the month, and I've got a busy weekend (well, an irresponsibly drunk one, where the only music I hear will be played at a hideous volume, to the point of being unsure of what it actually is) ahead of me, so here is now :) I mean what could I possibly discover in two days? A leaked One Direction single?
10 // LDFD - OUTTACONTROL
Not entirely sure where I got this from, but "Outtacontrol" is a typically 2011 exercise in dusty 4am 2 step-laced electronica, but what I love is that it samples Janet Jackson, and this makes it irresistibly sexy. Those blabbering synths reel you in, and before you know it your legs are in the air.
9 // THE DRUMS - MONEY
I like, not LOVE, The Drums, but there's something charming and cheeky about their energetic and simple pop songs, like a college student seducing their lecturer (it's all sex today isn't it?). "Money" is as catchy as "Let's Go Surfing", and just as angsty, drop out teenager. It sounds a LOT like The Smiths, but to sound that good is an achievement in itself. Objection overruled. I like the 'computer error message' chord stabs in the verses also.
I sort of fancy their lead singer.
8 // MIKE DANIS - FOR YOU
Nothing like a gorgeous three chord progressive trance anthem to depress you on a summer afternoon. Everything about this is, on paper, generic, but the simplicity and open space that the tracks leaves stays with you, and it's actually gorgeous.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE.
7 // WASHED OUT - AMOR FATI
Washed Out's "Within and Without" is one long out of body smile, that succeeds on every level in warming you from the inside out. "Amor Fati" is probably its centerpiece, with its hints at commercial dance, the balearic steel drum synths holding together the floating vocals and whispery pads. In short, a new high.
6 // GHOSTS YOU ECHO - ERIKA
It's not often I sit up and listen to female singers these days, but Ghosts You Echo has an urgency in her voice, and in her songwriting, which is strong, up there with Florence and the Machine, or at the very least, on the way. A regal, foreboding track, "Erika" threatens to explode at any moment, and when it does at 2:44, it's exhilirating, and well worth the build up. I predict bigger and better things however.
I'd like to produce for her. My motto is that things can always sound bigger.
Ghosts You Echo - Erika by StevenWeston
5 // VIOLENS - TOTALLY TRUE
Half-awake indiepop with an interest in shoegaze, Violens just make me fall in love with music all over again. "Totally True" rides a 2 note guitar refrain which spins round and round amidst the gentle cacophony of vocal echoes and 80s guitar clang.
4 // M83 - MIDNIGHT CITY
Shamelessly hooky, and a total revelation, M83 pulls out all the Passion Pit-esque stops to create a sound of their own. Gone is the electrogaze rock and in is a bittersweet 80s New Wave synthpop sound that sweetens with every listen, and every Cut Copy-inspired saxophone note. That solo is pure genius.
3 // NATALIA KILLS FEAT. WILL.I.AM - FREE
I know, I know, I just placed something with Will.I.Am in it above M83, Washed Out AND The Drums. So sue me, "Free" is the sound of Natalia Kills creating a student anthem if there ever was one. It looks great, gleams with perfection, but under the surface, it's a pretty fucked up situation. And as a result, Natalia Kills is the pop star equivalent of American Psycho... I'm sure she'd love that description. A little bit Robyn, a little bit Gaga (not as much as everyone claims on first listen, take a listen to her SUPERIOR album). She is a parody and she doesn't care. She'll still slit your throat if you step on her Jimmy Choos.
2 // ALEX CLARE - WHEN DOVES CRY
If Jamie Woon or James Blake has swagga, they might approach the monster of a sound that Alex Clare has. "Treading Water" is a loser's club anthem if there ever was one, and the bass on "Too Close" could destroy even the sturdiest of speakers, but the genius of his cover of "When Doves Cry" lies in maintaining a level of sex whilst still battering the tune down with doomstep bass growls and industrial sized beats.
1 // KE$HA - SHOTS ON THE HOOD OF MY CAR
This is maybe an over-ambitious and thoroughly misjudged placement for the number one track of July. First of all, it's a leak, for all we know this might never see the commercial light of day. But it's seems doubtful. Ke$ha seems more mature on this track, less a girl, more a woman. One who'll not be vomiting in the toilet at 11pm, but one who sits on the balcony watching all her friends dance in the back garden to this track. As feel good as feel good gets, in my opinion this is 2011's "Teenage Dream": Nostalgic, irresistibly gorgeous and best of all, puts a genuine smile on your face.
I'm sure she'd still drink me under the table though.
Friday 29 July 2011
Tuesday 26 July 2011
WILTT - 26/07/11
TODAY.
An unfortunately uninspiring journey to work soundtracked by Wynter Gordon and Nadia Oh. If you haven't heard of Nadia Oh, you may remember her as the sing song speak voice taunting eeriely on Space Cowboy's massive electro house juggernaut "Egyptian Lover" way back in 2006. Y'know, if you still have a Now 65 compilation or whatever, or one of the first Clubland CDs which probably has it on. Anyway, she's the robotic voice of future dance crazes to come I fear, flirting shamelessly (and explicitly) with Moombahton on "Taking Over the Dancefloor" and dirty 2 Step on "Amsterdam". I can't decide whether her (I say "her", even Britney has more presence on "Femme Fatale"!) record "Colours" is brilliant or appalling.
Luckily, on the way home I introduced myself to what is quite possibly one of the best records I've heard this year, even though it's actually from 2008. Wild Beasts' "Limbo Panto" is the most startlingly OTT record, unpredictable jazz-infused chord shifts and an irresistible, not to mention deliriously camp falsetto from their sickeningly talented singer Hayden Thorpe, lace their indie rock/baroque pop hybrid with a uniqueness that is frankly unignorable.
By far their most immediate record. the composed and simmering "Smother" sounds like a walk in the park next to this crazy yet damn gorgeous thing. Lyrically, I have yet to delve further, but I heard "Cock and balls" at one point, and the lyric of the album has got to be "take these chips with cheese as a peace offering". Only Thorpe could make that sound elegant.
Track of the day?
WILD BEASTS - THE OLD DOG
WILD BEASTS - THE OLD DOG
Monday 25 July 2011
WILTT - 25/07/11
TODAY.
Began with some new party music. Some mornings I feel like playing mood relevant music, others I feel like having a party in my half awake head. Including a rather alarmingly and surprisingly effective mix of the late Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good". Check it out.
That Wynter Gordon track is now in my top 25 most played on iTunes. What else... Oh yes, the new Washed Out record finally grew on me! It's the slow burning intensity of "Amor Fati" that really stands out I think. And whilst we're on the subject of music growing on me, the new Metronomy record FINALLY makes sense as well... for a record that so many people praised en masse, my first listens gave me little to go on apart from some humble beats and mumbled melodies... and this was supposed to be dance music?! But finally I get it. The hooks are there, you just need to stop looking for them, and they find you. Like the twilight zone growls and subtley gorgeous chorus of "She Wants".
But I have a track of the day. Oh yes. Thanks to Pitchfork.com for introducing me to the new M83 track. After assuming they were My Bloody Valentine for the synthpop generation, this newie from (to me at least) out-of-the-blue new record, due in October, totally quashes that. This is no hazy dream. That squawking vocal(?) hook and shamelessly French House beats means that M83 evidently got over their teen angst, and discovered the dancefloor. I GUARANTEE this hook will not leave your head for days. Yes, I am still talking about M83.
So yes... this is my TOTD.
M83 - MIDNIGHT CITY
Began with some new party music. Some mornings I feel like playing mood relevant music, others I feel like having a party in my half awake head. Including a rather alarmingly and surprisingly effective mix of the late Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good". Check it out.
That Wynter Gordon track is now in my top 25 most played on iTunes. What else... Oh yes, the new Washed Out record finally grew on me! It's the slow burning intensity of "Amor Fati" that really stands out I think. And whilst we're on the subject of music growing on me, the new Metronomy record FINALLY makes sense as well... for a record that so many people praised en masse, my first listens gave me little to go on apart from some humble beats and mumbled melodies... and this was supposed to be dance music?! But finally I get it. The hooks are there, you just need to stop looking for them, and they find you. Like the twilight zone growls and subtley gorgeous chorus of "She Wants".
But I have a track of the day. Oh yes. Thanks to Pitchfork.com for introducing me to the new M83 track. After assuming they were My Bloody Valentine for the synthpop generation, this newie from (to me at least) out-of-the-blue new record, due in October, totally quashes that. This is no hazy dream. That squawking vocal(?) hook and shamelessly French House beats means that M83 evidently got over their teen angst, and discovered the dancefloor. I GUARANTEE this hook will not leave your head for days. Yes, I am still talking about M83.
So yes... this is my TOTD.
M83 - MIDNIGHT CITY
Saturday 23 July 2011
Popdar #25/#26 - Gaga Remix & Nicola Roberts.
I was searching for remixes of superior "Born This Way" track "Heavy Metal Lover", something with less subtlety and more OOMPH, more thwack, for want of non-onomatopoeic words. I came across this:
Replacing the hypnotic throbbing of the original with a raging MSTRKRFT-esque onslaught, Youtube Gagamix mastermind 'toMOOSE' raises the roof with a relentless Hi-NRG beat and filthy roar of a bassline.
In fact you should probably check out 'toMOOSE's channel in general. He has remixed a good deal of the "Born This Way" record, and a lot of other 2011 hits. He's also done THIS, amusingly.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In other news, Nicola Roberts goes a bit more commercial dance with this UK-only bonus track to her I-really-hope-its-good upcoming record "Cinderella's Eyes". Entitled, bizarrely, "Disco, Blisters & A Comedown" (reads like a Panic at the Disco! title doesn't it?), it talks about kebab shops and curlers and John Prescott. But don't worry, the song's addictive.
Replacing the hypnotic throbbing of the original with a raging MSTRKRFT-esque onslaught, Youtube Gagamix mastermind 'toMOOSE' raises the roof with a relentless Hi-NRG beat and filthy roar of a bassline.
In fact you should probably check out 'toMOOSE's channel in general. He has remixed a good deal of the "Born This Way" record, and a lot of other 2011 hits. He's also done THIS, amusingly.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In other news, Nicola Roberts goes a bit more commercial dance with this UK-only bonus track to her I-really-hope-its-good upcoming record "Cinderella's Eyes". Entitled, bizarrely, "Disco, Blisters & A Comedown" (reads like a Panic at the Disco! title doesn't it?), it talks about kebab shops and curlers and John Prescott. But don't worry, the song's addictive.
Friday 22 July 2011
FIRST NEW TRACK > "LOVE DELUSION"
Ok, so here you are. The first track I'll play you from the Copplestone Experiment... I present "Love Delusion", a little bit pop, a little bit dubstep, a whole lot of me circa summer 2011.
ENJOY AND SPREAD THE WORD.
THE COPPLESTONE EXPERIMENT.
5/9/11
LOVE DELUSION.
Love Delusion by JoeCopplestone
Thursday 21 July 2011
First tracks from "The Copplestone Experiment" sent to Radio!
On a whim, I have sent a couple of tracks to BBC Introducing... in the hope that maybe someone will hear them, you never know! YOU will hear the two tracks over the next few weeks, as previews leading up to the release of "The Copplestone Experiment" on September 5th!
But for your info, the two tracks are entitled "Love Delusion" and "The One"...
I got a badge so felt the need to share. ^_^
But for your info, the two tracks are entitled "Love Delusion" and "The One"...
I got a badge so felt the need to share. ^_^
WILTT 21/07/11. + Popdar #24: Wynter Gordon.
TODAY.
On the back of discovering "Totally True", I reminded myself just how good at least half of Violens' debut album is, the euphoric volcanic ash cloud that is "Another Strike Restrained" still being my favourite, although I think their best song is probably "Acid Reign", with its rigid machine gun rhythms and that delirious spiralling piano hook. I remember giving their record a pretty hard time in my PopMatters Review last year, but here's hoping their second kicks dust in my eye.
Also, at work I chucked on the greatest hits of Radiohead. It's hard to think of a track more groundbreaking than "Idioteque" was at the time, or my personal favourite, "Everything in its Right Place". "Pyramid Song" also made me weep in public, quite obviously. Radiohead will always be my favourite band; they encourage me to be a better musician every time I hear them. And a more depressing one also. *final chord of No Surprises echoes through my brain*
But wait, what's this...?!
POPDAR ALERT.
What else? Oh yes, amongst a relatively alternative day, one sparkling ray of pop light that pretty much has obliterated every other pop record released this year. You've all heard Wynter Gordon's surreal would-be-filthy-if-it-wasn't-so-classy "Dirty Talk", a veritable triumph of pop dance, but you ALL NEED TO BECOME AWARE, of what is already one of my tracks of the year: The Denzal Park radio edit of "Til Death".
At first it starts like a generic could-even-be-the-Saturdays tune, with an innocently pulsing bass and plain beat that actually suggests this might not be any good. Wait... give it another few lines... "...til death do we party, with the music I die..." aaand BANG! This is hands down the most exciting chorus of the year. There's nothing more exhilarating in pop music than a lyric that suggests you might die on the dancefloor, never mind one that suggests Wynter is actually fine with it: "Help! My mind! I think I'm losing it. Take! My Life! But I'm cool with it." Wynter yelps these lines as if her life depends upon it, with a lust for life and partying, as a synth chord onslaught that puts LMFAO to shame, is so heavy it threatens to bring the track down with it. But as Wynter says "With the music I die". She's not going down alone, and certainly not until this 3 minute gem has slapped you in the face with its final notes. The incredible, notably European, sound of pop revolution in 2011.
FYI. This is a radio remix. If you search for it you'll come across a rather unimpressive original version before this jaw-dropping version comes up. Just goes to show, bigger is better.
On the back of discovering "Totally True", I reminded myself just how good at least half of Violens' debut album is, the euphoric volcanic ash cloud that is "Another Strike Restrained" still being my favourite, although I think their best song is probably "Acid Reign", with its rigid machine gun rhythms and that delirious spiralling piano hook. I remember giving their record a pretty hard time in my PopMatters Review last year, but here's hoping their second kicks dust in my eye.
Also, at work I chucked on the greatest hits of Radiohead. It's hard to think of a track more groundbreaking than "Idioteque" was at the time, or my personal favourite, "Everything in its Right Place". "Pyramid Song" also made me weep in public, quite obviously. Radiohead will always be my favourite band; they encourage me to be a better musician every time I hear them. And a more depressing one also. *final chord of No Surprises echoes through my brain*
But wait, what's this...?!
POPDAR ALERT.
What else? Oh yes, amongst a relatively alternative day, one sparkling ray of pop light that pretty much has obliterated every other pop record released this year. You've all heard Wynter Gordon's surreal would-be-filthy-if-it-wasn't-so-classy "Dirty Talk", a veritable triumph of pop dance, but you ALL NEED TO BECOME AWARE, of what is already one of my tracks of the year: The Denzal Park radio edit of "Til Death".
At first it starts like a generic could-even-be-the-Saturdays tune, with an innocently pulsing bass and plain beat that actually suggests this might not be any good. Wait... give it another few lines... "...til death do we party, with the music I die..." aaand BANG! This is hands down the most exciting chorus of the year. There's nothing more exhilarating in pop music than a lyric that suggests you might die on the dancefloor, never mind one that suggests Wynter is actually fine with it: "Help! My mind! I think I'm losing it. Take! My Life! But I'm cool with it." Wynter yelps these lines as if her life depends upon it, with a lust for life and partying, as a synth chord onslaught that puts LMFAO to shame, is so heavy it threatens to bring the track down with it. But as Wynter says "With the music I die". She's not going down alone, and certainly not until this 3 minute gem has slapped you in the face with its final notes. The incredible, notably European, sound of pop revolution in 2011.
FYI. This is a radio remix. If you search for it you'll come across a rather unimpressive original version before this jaw-dropping version comes up. Just goes to show, bigger is better.
Tuesday 19 July 2011
WILTT 19/07/11. + Popdar #23: NEW Ke$ha. Yes, you read that.
TODAY.
I mainly listened to what I downloaded yesterday. It was mainly chart dirge, including the painful rip of Calvin Harris' "Flashback" that is Example's "Stay Awake" (seriously, how can artists get AWAY with producing an unashamed Soundalike in order to make money? "Yeah x3" was bad enough...) and I still can't believe I gave J-Lo's "I'm Into You" a chance. Has there ever been a duller pop song? I liked "On The Floor" though, so you can still shoot me.
Some Kelly Clarkson leaks were mildly diverting, but this evening I found a piece of chart crap that's actually deserving of a few replays and a bit of secret tube headphone blasting (when everyone thinks you're listening to something cool like Bombay Bicycle Club or, oh I dunno... Flying Lotus).
POPDAR ALERT.
Ke$ha's done her fair share of melancholic pop, look at the teen angst Katy Perry-esque "The Harold Song" or "Hungover", and she's obviously mainly known for her big let's-get-fucked-up-and-be-who-we-are-and-not-what-our-parents-want-maaaan anthems, but it's nice to hear something in between. It delights me to say that the bubbling synths and discopop beats of leaked track "Shots on the Hood of my Car" owe more than a bit to my favourite Swedish pop sensation Robyn.
Although not exactly melancholic, the sing-song melody is more reflective and comforting than bombastic and obnoxious, as are the lyrics, not the drunken scribblings of a drunk teenager, but a young woman reminiscing on the times she's had and the friends she's made along the way. And it's probably the best track she's ever made.
I mainly listened to what I downloaded yesterday. It was mainly chart dirge, including the painful rip of Calvin Harris' "Flashback" that is Example's "Stay Awake" (seriously, how can artists get AWAY with producing an unashamed Soundalike in order to make money? "Yeah x3" was bad enough...) and I still can't believe I gave J-Lo's "I'm Into You" a chance. Has there ever been a duller pop song? I liked "On The Floor" though, so you can still shoot me.
Some Kelly Clarkson leaks were mildly diverting, but this evening I found a piece of chart crap that's actually deserving of a few replays and a bit of secret tube headphone blasting (when everyone thinks you're listening to something cool like Bombay Bicycle Club or, oh I dunno... Flying Lotus).
POPDAR ALERT.
Ke$ha's done her fair share of melancholic pop, look at the teen angst Katy Perry-esque "The Harold Song" or "Hungover", and she's obviously mainly known for her big let's-get-fucked-up-and-be-who-we-are-and-not-what-our-parents-want-maaaan anthems, but it's nice to hear something in between. It delights me to say that the bubbling synths and discopop beats of leaked track "Shots on the Hood of my Car" owe more than a bit to my favourite Swedish pop sensation Robyn.
Although not exactly melancholic, the sing-song melody is more reflective and comforting than bombastic and obnoxious, as are the lyrics, not the drunken scribblings of a drunk teenager, but a young woman reminiscing on the times she's had and the friends she's made along the way. And it's probably the best track she's ever made.
Popdar #22 - Violens.
Not really a "What I listened to today" today or even a "What I listened to at the weekend?" because most of my time has been taken up working on The Copplestone Experiment over the weekend. That and drinking too much. And sleeping.
But this evening I've had a bit of a catch up with what's out there. Finally remembered to download that SoundGirl song "Don't Know Why" (in case you haven't heard of them, they're like a chilled out Mini Viva, and if you haven't heard of them, get off my blog) and a load of Ibiza dance from the latest Oakenfold and Rank 1 compilations. It's good to see that uplifting trance isn't dead, dubstep thinks it's killed it, but it's still pulsating away, just a bit more tech-y since the good old days of euphoric bliss. Above & Beyond, 4 Strings, Paul Van Dyk, JAM & SPOON! (Ok, we're going a bit further back here... I digress) ANYWAY, the point is, I listened to a load of stuff and was happy to find this...
POPDAR ALERT.
Violens have dropped a few online singles since their occasionally brilliant yet heavily flawed indie, stadium rock anthemic shoegaze thing that was their debut, but none really tickled my easily-bored fancy. So it's good to hear them finally drop something as brilliant as "Full Collision" or the wonderful "Another Strike Restrained". With "Totally True" they've continued their 2011 trend of leaving the fuzz boxes to collect dust and take a more organic "Queen is Dead" kind of misty clang, but for the first time, they've managed to drag some of that emotional intensity that made them stand out in the first place, and carried by a lovely guitar arpeggio and bouncy melody, Violens are so much more than a Smiths knock-off. If The Drums read a book and took some Valium, they might sound as euphoric as this.
I can even hear some Ariel Pink in there, brilliant.
But this evening I've had a bit of a catch up with what's out there. Finally remembered to download that SoundGirl song "Don't Know Why" (in case you haven't heard of them, they're like a chilled out Mini Viva, and if you haven't heard of them, get off my blog) and a load of Ibiza dance from the latest Oakenfold and Rank 1 compilations. It's good to see that uplifting trance isn't dead, dubstep thinks it's killed it, but it's still pulsating away, just a bit more tech-y since the good old days of euphoric bliss. Above & Beyond, 4 Strings, Paul Van Dyk, JAM & SPOON! (Ok, we're going a bit further back here... I digress) ANYWAY, the point is, I listened to a load of stuff and was happy to find this...
POPDAR ALERT.
Violens have dropped a few online singles since their occasionally brilliant yet heavily flawed indie, stadium rock anthemic shoegaze thing that was their debut, but none really tickled my easily-bored fancy. So it's good to hear them finally drop something as brilliant as "Full Collision" or the wonderful "Another Strike Restrained". With "Totally True" they've continued their 2011 trend of leaving the fuzz boxes to collect dust and take a more organic "Queen is Dead" kind of misty clang, but for the first time, they've managed to drag some of that emotional intensity that made them stand out in the first place, and carried by a lovely guitar arpeggio and bouncy melody, Violens are so much more than a Smiths knock-off. If The Drums read a book and took some Valium, they might sound as euphoric as this.
I can even hear some Ariel Pink in there, brilliant.
Thursday 14 July 2011
WILTT - 14/07/11.
TODAY.
White Lies again. Their lyrics are really bad. Not funny bad, just generic, meaningless, uncreative toss bad. Just as well "Bigger Than Us" is so anthemic that you can ignore the crap you're singing along to. Ah well, perhaps I'm expecting too much.
Also, who knew how hot their singer was?
I didn't listen to much else today, I've started reading American Psycho. I guess there's a song there though, for those in the know. KNOWWARRAMEAN?
(Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now.)
The book is much better than the film by the way.
White Lies again. Their lyrics are really bad. Not funny bad, just generic, meaningless, uncreative toss bad. Just as well "Bigger Than Us" is so anthemic that you can ignore the crap you're singing along to. Ah well, perhaps I'm expecting too much.
Also, who knew how hot their singer was?
I didn't listen to much else today, I've started reading American Psycho. I guess there's a song there though, for those in the know. KNOWWARRAMEAN?
(Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now.)
The book is much better than the film by the way.
Wednesday 13 July 2011
JOE COPPLESTONE - THE COPPLESTONE EXPERIMENT - 05/09!!!
No what-I-listened-to-today this evening, as all I've been listening to today* has been the full-length album I have been working on, showcasing a more personal side to my songwriting, and a more experimental side.
And today, I finished it.
I cannot describe it as just one genre, but you might hear the influence of dubstep, chillwave and dark electronica in more than a few places, and the mood is considerably less chirpy than the carefree pop of the Sun, Purgatory and Got Through EPs. But I guarantee, that despite all of this, the tunes are bigger than ever before.
This release means a lot to me. It's a release I'm going to take more seriously than previous ones. I'm damned if I don't promote this properly, and I don't mean just on the internet. I want to gig. It might take a while, but if over time I build up a live act and get something, then whoever reads my blog will be the first to know.
But as for the album, I will be releasing it online, via bandcamp as always, on...
SEPTEMBER 5TH 2011.
Mark your diaries.
There will be one or two tracks posted in the 7 weeks before "The Copplestone Experiment" is available to download in full (for free). They will be able to download on their own if you like, via my soundcloud profile. Obviously I'll let you know when they are up, you'll have to just make do with this preview until then ;)
As I said, I'll keep you posted every step of the way, but this is an exciting release for me. And I hope you all download and enjoy it. It's good. Really good. I promise you that.
Love to all.
x
- - - - - -
*Ok, I lied, I listened to a bit of Bon Iver on the train. "Calgary"was actually a big last minute influence on "The Copplestone Experiment".
And today, I finished it.
I cannot describe it as just one genre, but you might hear the influence of dubstep, chillwave and dark electronica in more than a few places, and the mood is considerably less chirpy than the carefree pop of the Sun, Purgatory and Got Through EPs. But I guarantee, that despite all of this, the tunes are bigger than ever before.
This release means a lot to me. It's a release I'm going to take more seriously than previous ones. I'm damned if I don't promote this properly, and I don't mean just on the internet. I want to gig. It might take a while, but if over time I build up a live act and get something, then whoever reads my blog will be the first to know.
But as for the album, I will be releasing it online, via bandcamp as always, on...
SEPTEMBER 5TH 2011.
Mark your diaries.
There will be one or two tracks posted in the 7 weeks before "The Copplestone Experiment" is available to download in full (for free). They will be able to download on their own if you like, via my soundcloud profile. Obviously I'll let you know when they are up, you'll have to just make do with this preview until then ;)
As I said, I'll keep you posted every step of the way, but this is an exciting release for me. And I hope you all download and enjoy it. It's good. Really good. I promise you that.
Love to all.
x
- - - - - -
*Ok, I lied, I listened to a bit of Bon Iver on the train. "Calgary"was actually a big last minute influence on "The Copplestone Experiment".
Tuesday 12 July 2011
WILTT 12/07/11. + Popdar #21: Alex Clare.
TODAY.
POPDAR ALERT.
Newalbumnewalbumnewalbum!!!! Alex Clare's "The Lateness of the Hour", another male solo act from London, but not one fumbling about with claustrophobic beats and breathy vocals. Alex's sound is in-your-face, dirty and thoroughly addictive. Dance music at its core, with Diplo and Switch playing backseat drivers to Alex's crazed joyrider. His voice isn't the timid instrument of crooning that has trended of late, but a cocky, gritty tenor that simply soars on tracks such as incredible lead single "Treading Water". On that track, pulsating dubstep bass and clattering drum and bass beats are the order of the day, as is much of the record. Check out the reggaeton beats and screeching guitars of "Up All Night" to the frankly OBSCENE bass in "Too Close".
But the real highlight? His cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry"
- - - -
What else did I listen to today? Nothing quite as visceral, but I revisited Coldplay's "Parachutes" and was warmed to see that "Yellow" still has the potential to lift my spirits and maybe even believe in love. A true classic can never be overplayed. Finishing the day with a bit of Bombay Bicycle Club in anticipation of the upcoming new record, "A Different Kind of Fix" (out 29th Sept), it's good to see that bands as good as Coldplay once were are far from a thing of the past. My old ASSistant manager once said to me "Music's just no good anymore"... what a load of crap. The way I see it, you stop listening, you'll stop hearing. SO DON'T STOP LISTENING.
Song of the day? Alex Clare aside, an honorary mention goes to...
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - CANCEL ON ME
POPDAR ALERT.
Newalbumnewalbumnewalbum!!!! Alex Clare's "The Lateness of the Hour", another male solo act from London, but not one fumbling about with claustrophobic beats and breathy vocals. Alex's sound is in-your-face, dirty and thoroughly addictive. Dance music at its core, with Diplo and Switch playing backseat drivers to Alex's crazed joyrider. His voice isn't the timid instrument of crooning that has trended of late, but a cocky, gritty tenor that simply soars on tracks such as incredible lead single "Treading Water". On that track, pulsating dubstep bass and clattering drum and bass beats are the order of the day, as is much of the record. Check out the reggaeton beats and screeching guitars of "Up All Night" to the frankly OBSCENE bass in "Too Close".
But the real highlight? His cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry"
- - - -
What else did I listen to today? Nothing quite as visceral, but I revisited Coldplay's "Parachutes" and was warmed to see that "Yellow" still has the potential to lift my spirits and maybe even believe in love. A true classic can never be overplayed. Finishing the day with a bit of Bombay Bicycle Club in anticipation of the upcoming new record, "A Different Kind of Fix" (out 29th Sept), it's good to see that bands as good as Coldplay once were are far from a thing of the past. My old ASSistant manager once said to me "Music's just no good anymore"... what a load of crap. The way I see it, you stop listening, you'll stop hearing. SO DON'T STOP LISTENING.
Song of the day? Alex Clare aside, an honorary mention goes to...
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - CANCEL ON ME
Monday 11 July 2011
WILTT #6: My idea of a party playlist.
TODAY.
I worked, for an unnecessarily long time, on a playlist for a party today. As a result, what I've listened to today has been a bit of a blur, but I think it gives me a reason to list 5 of my favourite party tunes. By no means in order, but you can consider them my 5 tracks of the day.
Carte Blanche feat. Kid Sister
"Do! Do! Do!"
The title pretty much prepares you for how catchy this track is. A ridiculously uptempo hyper-house anthem featuring the relentlessly chirpy Kid Sister.
The Knife
"We Share Our Mother's Health"
Weird, clangy, hypnotic, alternative dance modern classic.
Excision & Datsik
"Swagga"
Quite simply the most revolting dubstep sounds I've come across thus far.
Dillon Francis
"Masta Blasta"
My moombahton obsession continues, and this track, with it's tumbling beats and dissonant siren loops, is the epitome of everything that makes me want to dance. Become aware of this.
I worked, for an unnecessarily long time, on a playlist for a party today. As a result, what I've listened to today has been a bit of a blur, but I think it gives me a reason to list 5 of my favourite party tunes. By no means in order, but you can consider them my 5 tracks of the day.
Carte Blanche feat. Kid Sister
"Do! Do! Do!"
The title pretty much prepares you for how catchy this track is. A ridiculously uptempo hyper-house anthem featuring the relentlessly chirpy Kid Sister.
The Knife
"We Share Our Mother's Health"
Weird, clangy, hypnotic, alternative dance modern classic.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)"
Irresistable enough in its original form, this indie dance number is given the once over by A-Trak, and all of a sudden it's a tour de force of relentlessly funky chord slabs and shattering beats.
Excision & Datsik
"Swagga"
Quite simply the most revolting dubstep sounds I've come across thus far.
Dillon Francis
"Masta Blasta"
My moombahton obsession continues, and this track, with it's tumbling beats and dissonant siren loops, is the epitome of everything that makes me want to dance. Become aware of this.
Talking of Natalia Kills...
First time I've liked something will.i.am has been on since "Check it Out". As with all Natalia's videos, the video for "Free" is unsettling, sexy and bizarre, with it's tongue planted severely in cheek, and the track is much the same. Based around, strangely enough, the melody from Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights", Natalia Kills stalks cockily, and almost satirically around with a sickly sweet vocal more than laced with autotune, but given the nature of the track, it's a perfectly pitched performance.
Sunday 10 July 2011
What I listened to today #5.
TODAY.
Since I've been back all I seem to do is talk indie, and since the blog is actually called Give "POP" A Chance, this morning I felt I owed it to myself to actually give some pop a chance, so I chose Natalia Kills. There's a lot to criticize about her, and given her previous incarnation as sub-Lady Sovereign Brat Verbalicious, it's fair to say her 'horror-pop' reinvention as Natalia Kills is as manufactured as it gets.
And yet, somehow, Ms Kills is convincing as this schizophrenic, shallow, narcissistic and occasionally homicidal character that her album "Perfectionist" portrays, manufactured or not. And yes, it sounds a lot like Lady Gaga's debut, but instead of a diva breaking free from her manufacturers, Natalia Kills seems to be this troubled, suppressed girl, struggling to fight for this fame she obsesses over, even trying to break free of the autotune that traps her voice. One particular highlight is the schlock-horror histronics of "Love Is A Suicide".
At work I treated myself to the Spice Girls and remembered how good "Say You'll Be There" is. Yes, I'm serious. And remember "If You Wanna Have Some Fun"? Nope, didn't think so, it's a lost gem.
On the way home I listened to The Knife's "Silent Shout" record to boost my credibility for the day, but after a day of pop-on-the-brain, thumping album bangers "Like a Pen" and the AWESOME "We Share Our Mother's Health" were the ones that really did the trick. Perfect for dingy, dirty house parties.
Since I've been back all I seem to do is talk indie, and since the blog is actually called Give "POP" A Chance, this morning I felt I owed it to myself to actually give some pop a chance, so I chose Natalia Kills. There's a lot to criticize about her, and given her previous incarnation as sub-Lady Sovereign Brat Verbalicious, it's fair to say her 'horror-pop' reinvention as Natalia Kills is as manufactured as it gets.
And yet, somehow, Ms Kills is convincing as this schizophrenic, shallow, narcissistic and occasionally homicidal character that her album "Perfectionist" portrays, manufactured or not. And yes, it sounds a lot like Lady Gaga's debut, but instead of a diva breaking free from her manufacturers, Natalia Kills seems to be this troubled, suppressed girl, struggling to fight for this fame she obsesses over, even trying to break free of the autotune that traps her voice. One particular highlight is the schlock-horror histronics of "Love Is A Suicide".
At work I treated myself to the Spice Girls and remembered how good "Say You'll Be There" is. Yes, I'm serious. And remember "If You Wanna Have Some Fun"? Nope, didn't think so, it's a lost gem.
On the way home I listened to The Knife's "Silent Shout" record to boost my credibility for the day, but after a day of pop-on-the-brain, thumping album bangers "Like a Pen" and the AWESOME "We Share Our Mother's Health" were the ones that really did the trick. Perfect for dingy, dirty house parties.
Saturday 9 July 2011
What I listened to today #4.
TODAY.
Listened to a little EP by a young singer, alias Ghosts You Echo. Now I lose count of the amount of solo female singers or female fronted dirge pop projects, fragile, folky, female voices not really doing it for me these days, but this girl, real name Victoria Wijeratne (she should have kept her original name I think), has a certain level of creativity and ingenuity that kept me so interested I listened to the whole thing. But "Erika" is the best track, a bombastic folk-tinged (but not led) Florence & the Mo anthem. If you youtube it, don't search for the live version, it's a let down. But then again I hate acoustic sets. Generally.
What else? Oh yea, Foals' first album, "Antidotes", quite perky for first thing in the morning. Got a bit of Wild Beasts in there as well, so was eyeing up people on my way to work, biting my lip suggestively. "Plaything" is the worst for that.
Later on, I treated myself to the majestic caveman post-rock of WU LYF. The vocals are almost unbearably harsh, yet the music is almost unbearably beautiful... it IS almost unbearable. And that's why it's so good. White Lies' "Ritual" followed, it's not nearly as bad as all that, the sheer anthemic blast of those first four songs make me want to STAND ON A MOUNTAIN TOP... I guess I've just got bad taste.
Track of the day? Definately...
WU LYF - L Y F
"I LOVE YOU FOREVERRRR" > Fucking incredible.
Listened to a little EP by a young singer, alias Ghosts You Echo. Now I lose count of the amount of solo female singers or female fronted dirge pop projects, fragile, folky, female voices not really doing it for me these days, but this girl, real name Victoria Wijeratne (she should have kept her original name I think), has a certain level of creativity and ingenuity that kept me so interested I listened to the whole thing. But "Erika" is the best track, a bombastic folk-tinged (but not led) Florence & the Mo anthem. If you youtube it, don't search for the live version, it's a let down. But then again I hate acoustic sets. Generally.
What else? Oh yea, Foals' first album, "Antidotes", quite perky for first thing in the morning. Got a bit of Wild Beasts in there as well, so was eyeing up people on my way to work, biting my lip suggestively. "Plaything" is the worst for that.
Later on, I treated myself to the majestic caveman post-rock of WU LYF. The vocals are almost unbearably harsh, yet the music is almost unbearably beautiful... it IS almost unbearable. And that's why it's so good. White Lies' "Ritual" followed, it's not nearly as bad as all that, the sheer anthemic blast of those first four songs make me want to STAND ON A MOUNTAIN TOP... I guess I've just got bad taste.
Track of the day? Definately...
WU LYF - L Y F
"I LOVE YOU FOREVERRRR" > Fucking incredible.
Friday 8 July 2011
What I listened to today #3.
TODAY.
The Duck Song by Bryant Oden. And it's two sequels. It may be a novelty YouTube song, but it's much sweeter and heartwarming than your average Bruno Mars ballad.
Teenage Fanclub passably soothed my tired head on the way to work, "Shadows" being a pretty, harmless little record to start your day. It's normally Wild Beasts' "Smother", but I don't really like to turn up to work horny.
An early Porcupine Tree release that I'd neglected to listen to thus far, "Up The Downstair" turns out to be possibly my favourite. Like "Voyage 34", which I love, but with the wistful know-it-all tones of Steven Wilson taking charge. It's a shame what Porcupine Tree turned out like: Outtakes from Opeth's "Damnation" performed by Creed.
Ok that's a bit harsh.
But what lightened up the end of another awful day?
My track of the day. Sunlight communicated through remix. Or should I say Remixx.
PHOENIX - LISZTOMANIA (CLASSIXX REMIX)
The Duck Song by Bryant Oden. And it's two sequels. It may be a novelty YouTube song, but it's much sweeter and heartwarming than your average Bruno Mars ballad.
Teenage Fanclub passably soothed my tired head on the way to work, "Shadows" being a pretty, harmless little record to start your day. It's normally Wild Beasts' "Smother", but I don't really like to turn up to work horny.
An early Porcupine Tree release that I'd neglected to listen to thus far, "Up The Downstair" turns out to be possibly my favourite. Like "Voyage 34", which I love, but with the wistful know-it-all tones of Steven Wilson taking charge. It's a shame what Porcupine Tree turned out like: Outtakes from Opeth's "Damnation" performed by Creed.
Ok that's a bit harsh.
But what lightened up the end of another awful day?
My track of the day. Sunlight communicated through remix. Or should I say Remixx.
PHOENIX - LISZTOMANIA (CLASSIXX REMIX)
Thursday 7 July 2011
What I listened to today #2.
TODAY.
I felt like listening to something searingly emotional, and although Explosions In The Sky fit the bill quite nicely, I took a chance on fellow post-rockers Do Make Say Think, and their record "& Yet & Yet". Expected to have my heartstrings and tearducts jerked on the tube, instead was disappointed to hear a Mogwai-esque 40 minutes of passably enjoyable guitar music, that left me feeling frustratingly neutral.
I think I need to realise that no instrumental guitar music will ever match the peaks of EITS's "Your Hand in Mine". Sadly not even their own recent effort "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care". If only they came out with something like THIS again. Or if any band could at least attempt something this textured and beautiful. Saying that, the emo-post-rock of This Will Destroy You is something to check out if you too are searching for something in the same vein as "The Earth is Not A Cold Dark Place".
During and post work, The Radio Dept. were the soundtrack to a dreadful day. I've never heard a band manage to sound so euphoric and depressed at the same time.
Track of the day?
THE RADIO DEPT. - THE ONE
I felt like listening to something searingly emotional, and although Explosions In The Sky fit the bill quite nicely, I took a chance on fellow post-rockers Do Make Say Think, and their record "& Yet & Yet". Expected to have my heartstrings and tearducts jerked on the tube, instead was disappointed to hear a Mogwai-esque 40 minutes of passably enjoyable guitar music, that left me feeling frustratingly neutral.
I think I need to realise that no instrumental guitar music will ever match the peaks of EITS's "Your Hand in Mine". Sadly not even their own recent effort "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care". If only they came out with something like THIS again. Or if any band could at least attempt something this textured and beautiful. Saying that, the emo-post-rock of This Will Destroy You is something to check out if you too are searching for something in the same vein as "The Earth is Not A Cold Dark Place".
During and post work, The Radio Dept. were the soundtrack to a dreadful day. I've never heard a band manage to sound so euphoric and depressed at the same time.
Track of the day?
THE RADIO DEPT. - THE ONE
Wednesday 6 July 2011
What I listened to today #1.
Ok. I'm going to try something new and simple. I'm a busy failing musician and don't have time to be poncy and analytical with every post. So if I've had a day with listening to a lot of music, I'll share it with you. Whether old or new.
Or good or bad. You've been warned.
TODAY.
Been making a party playlist, trying to make it 'hip' and 'now', so there's a short Moombahton section (but don't tell my flatmates, they only like Britney and Abba). Or rather MoombahCORE, a rather predictable (though not unenjoyable) mix of Moombahton and Dubstep. THIS is the best thing I've found so far. Diplo produced rhythm JUGGERNAUT of a track. Though the video's a bit... um...
And I felt suitably melancholic this evening, so wallowed in Bon Iver's "Bon Iver" on the tube, and then cheered myself up with Noah and the Whale.
If I had Charlie Fink I'd never EVER let him go, stupid Laura Marling. She has to listen to Mumford and Sons all the time now HAHAHAHAHAHA. Her bed > GO LIE IN.
Unless she's moved on now? I really don't care.
Track of the day?
NOAH AND THE WHALE - GIVE IT ALL BACK.
Or good or bad. You've been warned.
TODAY.
Been making a party playlist, trying to make it 'hip' and 'now', so there's a short Moombahton section (but don't tell my flatmates, they only like Britney and Abba). Or rather MoombahCORE, a rather predictable (though not unenjoyable) mix of Moombahton and Dubstep. THIS is the best thing I've found so far. Diplo produced rhythm JUGGERNAUT of a track. Though the video's a bit... um...
And I felt suitably melancholic this evening, so wallowed in Bon Iver's "Bon Iver" on the tube, and then cheered myself up with Noah and the Whale.
If I had Charlie Fink I'd never EVER let him go, stupid Laura Marling. She has to listen to Mumford and Sons all the time now HAHAHAHAHAHA. Her bed > GO LIE IN.
Unless she's moved on now? I really don't care.
Track of the day?
NOAH AND THE WHALE - GIVE IT ALL BACK.
Tuesday 5 July 2011
20 ESSENTIAL TRACKS OF 2011 SO FAR (Yes... I'm back)
I cracked. I felt pieces of my brain falling away like a wet cake, as Dylan Moran might put it (name that episode?). I have returned, a mere 3 months later (good commitment there Joe) to GivePopAChance, I needed to write, and quite frankly I missed it. And so much has happened in music this year I just have to comment on it, pretending that my knowledge is all-seeing when in fact I'm still just looking for that wordless pop hook to carry be to a safe place. Every song, still, such a bad habit.
In the time I was away I released this, the 'SUN' EP, a short collection of lazy summer pop anthems, consisting of three musings: sun, summer romances and doing shots, in that very order. I think that is the order those three events generally occur anyway.
Click and download below if you feel warm and fuzzy. Or if you've ever actually looked straight at the sun and regretted it.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME. We need a 2011 catch up, I'm boring.
...unlike Friendly Fires. FUCK ME, "Pala" blew me away. Cut Copy's "Zonoscope" was one thing, but Friendly Fires are not ones to pander around an anthem like my beloved Indie-Aussies. Oh and while we're on the subject of this firmly established indie dance craze, Foster The People's album... a triumph! Check out "Call it What You Want" > CLICKY. Absolute blazing tune. Think Supergrass on cruise control, with a gorgeous bridge.
Bon Iver dropped his sophomore effort, probably the album of the year but SHHHH. A gorgeous yet bizarrely AOR tinged collection of delicate gibberish anthems with even lusher guitar licks than "For Emma", awash with smog pads and walls of falsetto. Owl City released an album which STILL occasionally tickles my guilty pleasure, um, bone, especially the godawful yet godwonderful "Deer in the Headlights": CLICK IF U DARE BLUD> (spot my favourite Canadian poplette in the video as well). And CocknBullKid... well CocknBullKid couldn't have sounded less like an artist called CocknBullKid if she tried. I'll say it again. CocknBullKid. Not a bad album, but not a great one either. Its defining feature is still that she calls herself CocknBullKid, although "Asthma Attack" deserves a listen.
Oh yea, and Lady Gaga released an album. You may have not known that. But to be honest, I suggest you listen to THIS instead.
I think the best thing to do is to present to you 20 ESSENTIAL tracks from the year so far:
ADELE - SOMEONE LIKE YOU
The song that needs no introduction. Although everyone claims to be sick of Adele, this simple ode to lost love will be as heartbreaking in 3011 as it is in 2011.
BLACKFIELD - OXYGEN
You'd never guess this came partially from Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson who created THIS 20 years ago, but Blackfield have never hidden their pop rock tendencies, so this perfectly formed 3 minute pop song is merely a commercial step in the right direction, and that's a step towards EXPOSURE, without sacrificing any of the aching poignancy and melancholy that makes the Blackfield project more than worthwhile.
BON IVER - CALGARY
It's unclear whether this is a guilty pleasure or just simply jawdroppingly beautiful. There's no ignoring the fact that Bon Iver have gone all out with the first single from their self titled second record to pull at the heartstrings shamelessly. We've got a chord sequence that wouldn't be out of place on a Genesis record, a dare-I-say catchy spirally melody, and a distorted climax that simply cries out with sentimentality. But however Bon Iver has gone about it this time, there's no denying that "Calgary" is nothing short of the most beautiful rock (that word used loosely) song of the year, in all its nonsensical glory.
CHAD VALLEY - FAST CHALLENGES
Good old Chad Valley, good to see he's back and with no idea that the summer of chillwave was last year. It's still 2010 in his mind. In fact on the shamelessly 90s-dance influenced "Fast Challenges", it's probably 1992 in his mind. Part "Screamadelica", part "I Luv U Baby" and a whole lot of reverb, along with last year's "Anything" it has immediately become a benchmark of the currently-strangely-absent Chillwave scene. I don't know, it's all this Burial-inspired Dubstep and obnoxious Moombahton rhythms taking over this summer... whatever happened to sunny summer music?
CHARLI XCX - STAY AWAY
WHAT a debut single. Like a female Hurts, Charli XCX is Shakespeare's Sister as an only child, and "Stay Away" is definately her "Stay", with an infectious industrial beat and a deliciously deadpan vocal. Definitely one to soundtrack an underground, candlelit pagan ritual. Without the disturbing sacrificial context.
CHILLY GONZALES - YOU CAN DANCE
Yes, yes you can. It's not like you have a choice. That opening "WHOAAAA" might as well not be there, as I guarantee such a reaction from any such crowd who hear those addictive opening piano chords for the first time, as Boys Noize's beat turns up the heat and disco strings make the whole thing gloriously silly.
CULTS - YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
Cults' album didn't live up to expectations, with only the singles really being the tracks worth hearing, and the whole thing dragging like Best Coast after one TOO many bongs. But "You Know What I Mean" is nothing if not a fist-clenching air-pumping stoner anthem for those who cannot be bothered to specify. So i'll just say... it's just... RAD man... ahhhh y'know what I mean.
CUT COPY - TAKE ME OVER
Another band chilling out and taking it easy and letting their party-perfect tunes do the work, Cut Copy's "Take Me Over" is "Hearts on Fire" at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon as opposed to 2am on a Sunday Morning. Saying that though, if those lo-fi 80s synths kicked in at that time on the Sabbath, it's not like I'd stop in my tracks on the dancefloor or anything... in short "Take Me Over" is 80s new wave bliss.
FRIENDLY FIRES - BLUE CASSETTE
Although it doesn't have the stargazing message of "Paris", "Blue Cassette" could well be the bands' biggest anthem to date. Once the tribal drums crash through the sonisphere, those orchestra hits smack you once, twice, THRICE in the face, and Ed Macfarlane yells "As I hear your voice, it sets my heart on fire!", it ceases to matter that the song is essentially about a grubby tape cassette found buried in the back garden, like some sort of glorified time capsule. Who has a tape player anymore anyway?!
JAMES BLAKE - THE WILHELM SCREAM
The only other track on James Blake's self-titled debut that even slightly resembles the sense of commercial melody of Feist cover (cover!) of "Limit to Your Love", "The Wilhelm Scream" was the obvious choice for a second single. However, radio-friendly tactics aside, the track is the nearest thing on the record that shows us a human side to Mr Blake, and there is an air of desperation in his voice as he (comparatively to the rest of the record) cries "I don't know about my love anymore, all I know is I'm falling, might as well fall in". You can tell that his computer can tell that James is close to breaking out of his robotic façade as the track progresses, when the fader is gradually pushed up until ominous cloud-synth chords have swallowed the track, and Blake's voice, whole. An intriguing, and actually quite emotional, listen.
JAMIE WOON - NIGHT AIR
A few of us heard this last year, and it remains far and away, Woon's one real triumph from the not-quite-amazing "Mirrorwriting". Gorgeously busy beats pitter patter away courtesy of the wonderful Burial, and Woon's voice is so delicate it could shatter.
JOHAN AGEBJORN FEAT. LAKE HEARTBEAT & LE PRIX - WATCH THE WORLD GO BY
I have no idea where this came from (though obviously Sweden), but "Watch The World Go By" is mesmerising, a desperate and heartwarming prayer to run away with a lover, supported by the kind of euphoric dance track that Chicane makes once in a blue moon. "Don't say you understand, just take me by the hand, and we'll watch the world go by". The words read like a ballad, but live and breathe through the medium of dance music.
THE JOY FORMIDABLE - THE GREATEST LIGHT IS THE GREATEST SHADE
Aside from the I-will-not-pass-comment Foo Fighters, there haven't been many bands flying the flag for big, bombastic stadium ROCK in 2011, so thank god for The Joy Formidable. A female fronted alternative rock band who would brutalise Warpaint in a scrap, TJF's debut "The Big Roar" is just that: guitars crash and explode against each other and choruses the size of China are abound. Closer "The Greatest Light..." (annoyingly long title), with its hypnotic 3 note motif and mimicking chorus is epic in epic proportions, and is surely meant to be played on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 5 years time.
KATY PERRY - LAST FRIDAY NIGHT (T.G.I.F.)
Most of us cry "FINALLY!" as this highlight from last years good-for-chart-pop "Teenage Dream" record gets its 15 minutes in the spotlight as the album's fifth (FIFTH) single this summer. The video is a stroke of cringe-genius and the track is obviously totally fucking stupid, and definitely a bad example to Perry's pre-teen audience, but is undeniably as infectious as Mumps. Let's face it, we all love it. SUCH AN EPIC FAIL.
NOAH AND THE WHALE - LIFE IS LIFE
Charlie Fink - ROCK STAR. "Life is Life" sounds like Journey, but after whining and bawling his eyes out for 40 minutes on his last record it's certainly time for Charlie Fink to, as he sings so optimistically in the track, "chaAAAAAnge his ways". It's a message to all of us, if you go through a bad break up, moan about it for a while, and then sing a song about yourself in the third person and give yourself a god complex. Just look at his carry-on in the video, it's not just his posh boy curls that make his head look big.
PATRICK WOLF - THE CITY
Patrick Wolf has tunes! Who knew? No longer the misunderstood artist, Patrick Wolf's "The City" is definitely the breakthrough track of the year, a hearty "top of the morning" to all his current fans and the thousand new ones who fell in love with this from the first "won't let the city destroy our love". An over-eager saxophone and idiot-with-a-hammer drum beat only add to the track's obnoxiously positive charm.
RADIOHEAD - CODEX
Essentially "Pyramid Song" under sedation, "Codex" is quite possibly the most beautiful funereal piano dirge Radiohead has come up with to date, despite all the "King of Limbs" backlash (come on guys, if you were a real fan, you'd pick your favourites and learn to love the rest, stop your winging!). Rather than the disturbingly realistic suicide note of 1997's seminal "No Surprises", "Codex" finds Radiohead, or rather Thom I suspect, flirting with the idea of suicide in a much vaguer and actually much sadder way. The Thom of "No Surprises" already had the gun to his head, ready to pull the trigger on that glistening, beautiful final chord, but the Thom of "Codex" seems stuck in a dream, an underwater dream by the sounds of the heavily filtered piano, where escaping is just that... a dream. It's poignant that in "No Surprises" and its notoriously major key, Thom was perfectly ready to pop his clogs, and yet the message in the infinitely more depressing "Codex" seems to be: 'escape is simply not an option'.
SBTRKT - WILDFIRE
So 2011 it hurts, "Wildfire" is a mix of every 'cool' sound that this year has offered thus far to dance music. Having definitely done his homework, SBTRKT's sound essential combines the trippy/dubby rhythms of Jamie XX with James Blake's depressed daydream melodies, and "Wildfire" even chucks in the jittery vocal runs of vocalist Yukimi Nagano, definately a voice for fans of Katy B. And you know what? It's actually a bloody good track. Well done SBTRKT, A+.
THE VACCINES - FAMILY FRIEND
The one down tempo track on The Vaccine's brilliant, blink-and-you'll-miss-it debut is the perfect comedown from the fast paced and energetic record that precedes it. Saying this, it's a lazy track, recycling its first verse and collapsing into a unplanned, unrehearsed dirge at the end, knocking the chorus up an octave to a range that singer Justin Young can (rather humorously) not reach for shit. But all of this can be forgiven for its heart-warming melodies and lovely, lovely lyrics, particularly the oddly tear-jerking "if you want a bit of love, put your head on my shoulder, it's cool". Over-long, unfinished, perfect.
WILD BEASTS - LION'S SHARE
Album number three, and Wild Beasts are hornier than ever. "Lion's Share" is dark yet subtly erotic, from the pulsing bassline to the delirious falsetto runs of remarkable vocalist Hayden Thorpe, and lines like "I take you in my mouth like a Lion takes his game" being alarming and seductive all at once. It's clear that when it comes to singing about love and sex, no band is anywhere near as qualified as Wild Beasts. Listen to the shivering vibrato in Thorpe's voice... he's done things you can't even imagine. "Boy, what you running from?" Take me now. Just take me.
---------------------------------------------------------------
In the time I was away I released this, the 'SUN' EP, a short collection of lazy summer pop anthems, consisting of three musings: sun, summer romances and doing shots, in that very order. I think that is the order those three events generally occur anyway.
Click and download below if you feel warm and fuzzy. Or if you've ever actually looked straight at the sun and regretted it.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME. We need a 2011 catch up, I'm boring.
...unlike Friendly Fires. FUCK ME, "Pala" blew me away. Cut Copy's "Zonoscope" was one thing, but Friendly Fires are not ones to pander around an anthem like my beloved Indie-Aussies. Oh and while we're on the subject of this firmly established indie dance craze, Foster The People's album... a triumph! Check out "Call it What You Want" > CLICKY. Absolute blazing tune. Think Supergrass on cruise control, with a gorgeous bridge.
Bon Iver dropped his sophomore effort, probably the album of the year but SHHHH. A gorgeous yet bizarrely AOR tinged collection of delicate gibberish anthems with even lusher guitar licks than "For Emma", awash with smog pads and walls of falsetto. Owl City released an album which STILL occasionally tickles my guilty pleasure, um, bone, especially the godawful yet godwonderful "Deer in the Headlights": CLICK IF U DARE BLUD> (spot my favourite Canadian poplette in the video as well). And CocknBullKid... well CocknBullKid couldn't have sounded less like an artist called CocknBullKid if she tried. I'll say it again. CocknBullKid. Not a bad album, but not a great one either. Its defining feature is still that she calls herself CocknBullKid, although "Asthma Attack" deserves a listen.
Oh yea, and Lady Gaga released an album. You may have not known that. But to be honest, I suggest you listen to THIS instead.
I think the best thing to do is to present to you 20 ESSENTIAL tracks from the year so far:
ADELE - SOMEONE LIKE YOU
The song that needs no introduction. Although everyone claims to be sick of Adele, this simple ode to lost love will be as heartbreaking in 3011 as it is in 2011.
BLACKFIELD - OXYGEN
You'd never guess this came partially from Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson who created THIS 20 years ago, but Blackfield have never hidden their pop rock tendencies, so this perfectly formed 3 minute pop song is merely a commercial step in the right direction, and that's a step towards EXPOSURE, without sacrificing any of the aching poignancy and melancholy that makes the Blackfield project more than worthwhile.
BON IVER - CALGARY
It's unclear whether this is a guilty pleasure or just simply jawdroppingly beautiful. There's no ignoring the fact that Bon Iver have gone all out with the first single from their self titled second record to pull at the heartstrings shamelessly. We've got a chord sequence that wouldn't be out of place on a Genesis record, a dare-I-say catchy spirally melody, and a distorted climax that simply cries out with sentimentality. But however Bon Iver has gone about it this time, there's no denying that "Calgary" is nothing short of the most beautiful rock (that word used loosely) song of the year, in all its nonsensical glory.
CHAD VALLEY - FAST CHALLENGES
Good old Chad Valley, good to see he's back and with no idea that the summer of chillwave was last year. It's still 2010 in his mind. In fact on the shamelessly 90s-dance influenced "Fast Challenges", it's probably 1992 in his mind. Part "Screamadelica", part "I Luv U Baby" and a whole lot of reverb, along with last year's "Anything" it has immediately become a benchmark of the currently-strangely-absent Chillwave scene. I don't know, it's all this Burial-inspired Dubstep and obnoxious Moombahton rhythms taking over this summer... whatever happened to sunny summer music?
CHARLI XCX - STAY AWAY
WHAT a debut single. Like a female Hurts, Charli XCX is Shakespeare's Sister as an only child, and "Stay Away" is definately her "Stay", with an infectious industrial beat and a deliciously deadpan vocal. Definitely one to soundtrack an underground, candlelit pagan ritual. Without the disturbing sacrificial context.
CHILLY GONZALES - YOU CAN DANCE
Yes, yes you can. It's not like you have a choice. That opening "WHOAAAA" might as well not be there, as I guarantee such a reaction from any such crowd who hear those addictive opening piano chords for the first time, as Boys Noize's beat turns up the heat and disco strings make the whole thing gloriously silly.
CULTS - YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
Cults' album didn't live up to expectations, with only the singles really being the tracks worth hearing, and the whole thing dragging like Best Coast after one TOO many bongs. But "You Know What I Mean" is nothing if not a fist-clenching air-pumping stoner anthem for those who cannot be bothered to specify. So i'll just say... it's just... RAD man... ahhhh y'know what I mean.
CUT COPY - TAKE ME OVER
Another band chilling out and taking it easy and letting their party-perfect tunes do the work, Cut Copy's "Take Me Over" is "Hearts on Fire" at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon as opposed to 2am on a Sunday Morning. Saying that though, if those lo-fi 80s synths kicked in at that time on the Sabbath, it's not like I'd stop in my tracks on the dancefloor or anything... in short "Take Me Over" is 80s new wave bliss.
FRIENDLY FIRES - BLUE CASSETTE
Although it doesn't have the stargazing message of "Paris", "Blue Cassette" could well be the bands' biggest anthem to date. Once the tribal drums crash through the sonisphere, those orchestra hits smack you once, twice, THRICE in the face, and Ed Macfarlane yells "As I hear your voice, it sets my heart on fire!", it ceases to matter that the song is essentially about a grubby tape cassette found buried in the back garden, like some sort of glorified time capsule. Who has a tape player anymore anyway?!
JAMES BLAKE - THE WILHELM SCREAM
The only other track on James Blake's self-titled debut that even slightly resembles the sense of commercial melody of Feist cover (cover!) of "Limit to Your Love", "The Wilhelm Scream" was the obvious choice for a second single. However, radio-friendly tactics aside, the track is the nearest thing on the record that shows us a human side to Mr Blake, and there is an air of desperation in his voice as he (comparatively to the rest of the record) cries "I don't know about my love anymore, all I know is I'm falling, might as well fall in". You can tell that his computer can tell that James is close to breaking out of his robotic façade as the track progresses, when the fader is gradually pushed up until ominous cloud-synth chords have swallowed the track, and Blake's voice, whole. An intriguing, and actually quite emotional, listen.
JAMIE WOON - NIGHT AIR
A few of us heard this last year, and it remains far and away, Woon's one real triumph from the not-quite-amazing "Mirrorwriting". Gorgeously busy beats pitter patter away courtesy of the wonderful Burial, and Woon's voice is so delicate it could shatter.
JOHAN AGEBJORN FEAT. LAKE HEARTBEAT & LE PRIX - WATCH THE WORLD GO BY
I have no idea where this came from (though obviously Sweden), but "Watch The World Go By" is mesmerising, a desperate and heartwarming prayer to run away with a lover, supported by the kind of euphoric dance track that Chicane makes once in a blue moon. "Don't say you understand, just take me by the hand, and we'll watch the world go by". The words read like a ballad, but live and breathe through the medium of dance music.
THE JOY FORMIDABLE - THE GREATEST LIGHT IS THE GREATEST SHADE
Aside from the I-will-not-pass-comment Foo Fighters, there haven't been many bands flying the flag for big, bombastic stadium ROCK in 2011, so thank god for The Joy Formidable. A female fronted alternative rock band who would brutalise Warpaint in a scrap, TJF's debut "The Big Roar" is just that: guitars crash and explode against each other and choruses the size of China are abound. Closer "The Greatest Light..." (annoyingly long title), with its hypnotic 3 note motif and mimicking chorus is epic in epic proportions, and is surely meant to be played on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 5 years time.
KATY PERRY - LAST FRIDAY NIGHT (T.G.I.F.)
Most of us cry "FINALLY!" as this highlight from last years good-for-chart-pop "Teenage Dream" record gets its 15 minutes in the spotlight as the album's fifth (FIFTH) single this summer. The video is a stroke of cringe-genius and the track is obviously totally fucking stupid, and definitely a bad example to Perry's pre-teen audience, but is undeniably as infectious as Mumps. Let's face it, we all love it. SUCH AN EPIC FAIL.
NOAH AND THE WHALE - LIFE IS LIFE
Charlie Fink - ROCK STAR. "Life is Life" sounds like Journey, but after whining and bawling his eyes out for 40 minutes on his last record it's certainly time for Charlie Fink to, as he sings so optimistically in the track, "chaAAAAAnge his ways". It's a message to all of us, if you go through a bad break up, moan about it for a while, and then sing a song about yourself in the third person and give yourself a god complex. Just look at his carry-on in the video, it's not just his posh boy curls that make his head look big.
PATRICK WOLF - THE CITY
Patrick Wolf has tunes! Who knew? No longer the misunderstood artist, Patrick Wolf's "The City" is definitely the breakthrough track of the year, a hearty "top of the morning" to all his current fans and the thousand new ones who fell in love with this from the first "won't let the city destroy our love". An over-eager saxophone and idiot-with-a-hammer drum beat only add to the track's obnoxiously positive charm.
RADIOHEAD - CODEX
Essentially "Pyramid Song" under sedation, "Codex" is quite possibly the most beautiful funereal piano dirge Radiohead has come up with to date, despite all the "King of Limbs" backlash (come on guys, if you were a real fan, you'd pick your favourites and learn to love the rest, stop your winging!). Rather than the disturbingly realistic suicide note of 1997's seminal "No Surprises", "Codex" finds Radiohead, or rather Thom I suspect, flirting with the idea of suicide in a much vaguer and actually much sadder way. The Thom of "No Surprises" already had the gun to his head, ready to pull the trigger on that glistening, beautiful final chord, but the Thom of "Codex" seems stuck in a dream, an underwater dream by the sounds of the heavily filtered piano, where escaping is just that... a dream. It's poignant that in "No Surprises" and its notoriously major key, Thom was perfectly ready to pop his clogs, and yet the message in the infinitely more depressing "Codex" seems to be: 'escape is simply not an option'.
SBTRKT - WILDFIRE
So 2011 it hurts, "Wildfire" is a mix of every 'cool' sound that this year has offered thus far to dance music. Having definitely done his homework, SBTRKT's sound essential combines the trippy/dubby rhythms of Jamie XX with James Blake's depressed daydream melodies, and "Wildfire" even chucks in the jittery vocal runs of vocalist Yukimi Nagano, definately a voice for fans of Katy B. And you know what? It's actually a bloody good track. Well done SBTRKT, A+.
THE VACCINES - FAMILY FRIEND
The one down tempo track on The Vaccine's brilliant, blink-and-you'll-miss-it debut is the perfect comedown from the fast paced and energetic record that precedes it. Saying this, it's a lazy track, recycling its first verse and collapsing into a unplanned, unrehearsed dirge at the end, knocking the chorus up an octave to a range that singer Justin Young can (rather humorously) not reach for shit. But all of this can be forgiven for its heart-warming melodies and lovely, lovely lyrics, particularly the oddly tear-jerking "if you want a bit of love, put your head on my shoulder, it's cool". Over-long, unfinished, perfect.
WILD BEASTS - LION'S SHARE
Album number three, and Wild Beasts are hornier than ever. "Lion's Share" is dark yet subtly erotic, from the pulsing bassline to the delirious falsetto runs of remarkable vocalist Hayden Thorpe, and lines like "I take you in my mouth like a Lion takes his game" being alarming and seductive all at once. It's clear that when it comes to singing about love and sex, no band is anywhere near as qualified as Wild Beasts. Listen to the shivering vibrato in Thorpe's voice... he's done things you can't even imagine. "Boy, what you running from?" Take me now. Just take me.
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