Weekly Last FM Chart
I’ve just finished reading Bryan Talbot’s engrossing ‘Alice In Sunderland’ (Nice how it syncs up in part’s with Channel 4′s unmissable current drama about the English Civil War called ‘The Devil’s Whore’) and I’m now fully ceased of the idea that Sunderland is the greatest cultural focal point in all Christendom! I haven’t just been reading though, I’ve also been listening and here’s ten things my ears were enjoying:
If like me, you loved Fisherspooner’s first album (But thought everything they’ve released since then has been a big pile of wank) then I can highly recommend Boy Crisis’ ‘L’Homme’. Featuring superb lines like “I’m feeling like a monster truck at the botanical gardens”… well haven’t we all?
‘Rock Dat’ is a sunshine drenched, sample cutting, Drum-break-alicous Funk cut from Parker Vs P Zilla (Shame it’s the middle of winter though!). It’s on the near faultless Goodgroove Records, home of The Breakbeat Junkie, Sampology and of course Smoove (Among others).
Here’s some bowel shaking deep bizarro sounds from D-Frost Beats. ‘Big Bwoy’ sounds like a Beyonce style production… after a full blown psychotic episode. Each second contains more invention than all this years chart music put together.
This is the second time I’ve put up a track by Indie stars Down The Tiny Steps. ‘Daylight Robbery’ is from 2007 but I just heard it and can’t stop listening to it’s brilliant combination of Lo-Fi Folk and Hip-Hop.
New York singer Headless Heroes has recorded a beguiling cover of The Jesus & Mary Chain’s ‘Just Like Honey’, dropping the Fuzzy Velvet Underground vibe of the original and adopting an icy Velvet Underground & Nico vibe instead! The heartbreaking way she sings “I’ll be your plastic toy” gives me goosebumps.
I heartily enjoyed North Sea Radio Orchestra’s 2007 EP ‘The End Of Chimes’ so I’m excited to hear their new full-length LP. ‘The Angel’ is proper old-style English Folk music ala Fairport Convention.
Old Primal Scream collaborator Andrew Weatherall has turned in an excellent (More than nine minute) Remix of their song ‘Uptown’. It’s not as good as ‘Loaded’ or anything (By god that was a very special tune) but don’t hold that against it. Just bask in it’s intoxicating hypnotic Morricone groove.
Q-Tip’s new ‘The Renaissance’ LP is rather wonderful and ‘Johnny Is Dead’ has to be my favourite cut. Jazzy, Funky and already sounding like a bit of a classic.
I’m just catching up with The Bellrays latest LP and ‘Coming Down’ stands out like a jagged little nail. It’s business as usual, Lisa Kekaula wails like a particularly soulful banshee while The Bellrays kick out some thrilling Rawwwk.
To round off the ten here’s some wonderfully trashy Garage goodness song from Brooklyn Punks The Sweet Ones. Stick ‘Busses’ on, Pogo about and shout along, it’s a blast.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A ZIP WITH THE TEN SONGS INSIDE!
Boy Crisis MySpace / Purchase
P Zilla MySpace / Purchase
D-Frost Beats MySpace / Purchase
Down The Tiny Steps MySpace / Purchase
Headless Heroes MySpace / Purchase
North Sea Radio Orchestra MySpace / Purchase
Primal Scream MySpace / Purchase
Q-Tip MySpace / Purchase
The BellRays MySpace / Purchase
The Sweet Ones MySpace / Purchase
Here’s a vid for The Sweet Ones’ song ‘Pill Popper’:
On ‘Sabali’, hugely successful African musicians Amadou & Mariam let producer Damon Albarn mess with their sound to create something akin to Jean-Michel Jarre. This defies all expectations of what you’d imagine a “World Music” record would sound like.
Benji Hughes is an ambitious chap since his debut album ‘A Love Extreme’ is a sprawling double LP taking in Folk, Synth-Pop and Beatles-esque-Songcraft. It’s a richly varied affair but for me the highlight is the melodic, warm, bouncy-Bass-Guitar Pop of ‘Tight Tee Shirt’. Clap along and shake yo hips!
In the expert hands of Erol Alkan, Fan Death’s ‘Veronica’s Veil’ takes you on Kaleidoscopic journey through Disco, Prog, Folk and Electronica (Or more simply, it sounds a bit like Boney M’s ‘Rasputin’).
Florence & The Machine’s first single featured in my first TEN4SE7EN and they’re back with a soaring cover of The Source & Candi Staton’s already stratospheric ‘You Got The Love’. They seem to have nicked the strings from Manic Street Preachers’ ‘Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky’. I’m thoroughly addicted at the minute.
The Invisible’s ‘Monster’s Waltz’ is a bit like a much weirder, much Funkier, much more Indie Foo Fighters. On second thoughts, it’s nothing like the Foo Fighters but it’s brilliant none the less.
Jegsy Dodd is a man seemingly incapable of recording a bad track, so I leapt for my wallet when I saw his new LP was available for pre-order. It’s in the post but in the meantime he’s shared a rather wonderful track called ‘Liverpool (So Good They Named It Once)’ that he felt didn’t fit onto the new album. Once more his band The Original Sinner’s have created a superb backing track for Jegsy to recite his typically hilarious poetry about his native Liverpool over.
Producer and Remixer Kwes is all over the place doing his thing for other artists like Hot Chip and Mr Hudson. ‘Hearts In Home’ will be his first solo single and it’s something truly special. Melancholic yet celebratory, Electronic yet organic and serenely beautiful. The B-side ‘Tissues’ is nearly as good, so go get a copy when it hits the shops.
It won’t be long before you spot the huge sample employed on Nadastrom’s provocatively titled ‘Pussy’. It’s pounding sexy Dance music from this Washington DC based Duo.
Berliner Trost (aka Annika Line Trost) brings us a quite unusual Surf influenced tune called ‘Cowboy’. It’s like some peculiar 60s Pop song that would’ve appeared on the German version of the “Nuggets” compilation.
Lastly, Soul legend Mavis Staples brings us a searing live rendition of civil-rights song ‘Eyes On The Prize’ (A song she already recorded for her 2007 ‘We’ll Never Turn Back’ album). She roars the words while her band smoulder away and you can really feel the fire in the bellies of the performers. It’s from her new ‘Mavis Staples Live: Hope At The Hideout’ LP which I’d highly recommend (She has the crowd eating out of her hands).
‘No Lower Case Kisses’ is from Big Strides’ ‘Super Custom Limited’ long player. They fuse intergalactically funky Indie with off the wall Rap. As if that wasn’t enough, they throw in some squealing Blues sounds on the Guitars and Harmonica.
‘Born In The 80′s’ is near perfect Pop-Rock from Australia’s The Boat People. It’s so fun, summery, catchy and gorgeous, it almost hurts.
To save you that head scratching and annoying “Where have I heard that?” feeling I’ll tell you Diplo’s ‘Must Be A Devil’ is inspired by Pixies classic ‘Hey’. It retains that awesome Spanish Guitar (Diplo’s upped the Spanish flavour with the use of the little heard Castanets) but drops Black Francis’ rants about “Whores in my head” and injects some Electro finery.
I just picked up London rap-superstar-in-waiting Example’s new 10″ ‘Girl Can’t Dance’ (A limited sample of his forth-coming material). He’s up to his usual tricks, laying down rhymes about girls over shoplifted samples from unlikely sources (This time it’s R.S.I legends The Quo).
The vocal samples employed on Golden Bug’s Kraftwerk inspired track ‘Midnight Rabbit’ are the kind of thing mix makers would kill for. The “My name is white rabbit…” one has me doing robot dances every time.
Howling Bells’ ‘Into The Chaos’ explodes out of your speakers and plunges into a moody Blues-Rock groove. I’ve liked what Howling Bells have done in the past but this takes it to a whole new epically produced level.
If you’re pining for a new Eels release since 2005′s superb ‘Blinking Lights & Other Revelations’ then Little Trooper are just what you need. ‘Wasn’t Ready’ is sprightly, fun Indie with an infectious sing-along ending.
Menahan Street Band are an instrumental group from the Daptone label incorporating members from various bands. ‘Home Again!’ is a warm and soulful Jazz cut that envelopes your ears in honey (But that Guitar has got something beautifully mournful about it). There’s no words but this really speaks to me.
‘Jailbreak’ is a Kate Bush style cover of the Thin Lizzy single from Norway’s Susanna Wallumrød. It must be all the Ice that makes Norwegians capable of creating tracks of such haunting ethereal beauty. Susanna’s ‘Flower Of Evil’ album combines similarly brilliant covers and her own original songs.
As a ravenous meat eater it’s a little perverse that I love Beatnik Filmstars’ ‘Animal Crackers’, with it’s declarations of “All you animal farmers are going straight to hell”. It sounds like a lovely little Indie song on the surface but the lyrics are seething with anger.
Daniel Martin Moore’s ‘Stray Age’ is an acoustic song of rare beauty like something from another time. His calls of “Come be close and be rested” envelope your ears like a big warm blanket.
‘Rivers & Rainbows’ sounds like a gaggle of Monks kicking off the dust of the Monastery to lay down some brutal Blues based Rock ‘n’ Roll. Detroit Social Club should be listened to with the volume loud and the Bass heavy.
Eagles Of Death Metal are not a band that I’d naturally get excited about but they do come up with some great tunes. ‘Wannabe In L.A.’ is a fuzzy Pop-Rock paean to the hypnotic bright lights of Los Angeles.
‘HappY’ is a lyrical carousel ride through war, politics and jealousy. FrYars make joyous Phychedlic-Pop that’s so very, very strange.
Unpronounceable name aside, Ninja Tune’s K-The-I??? makes faultless brooding Rap. ‘Lead The Floor’ is the peak but you really should check out the whole of his ‘Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow’ LP.
Pontiak bring slowly grinding freak-out Blues on ‘Shell Skull’. A little like the kind of searing Rock BRMC used to do so well.
On Ryan Adams’ ‘Magick’ (From his tenth solo LP in just eight years) he’s detoured from the Country sound back into the straight up Rock he recorded for his ‘Rock n’ Roll’ album. Any song with a chorus of “Turn the radio up and get down” is always going to work.
Stanley Brinks is his name and ‘Stanley Brinks’ is the track. It’s a meandering autobiography that fascinates and delights in equal measure. To find out more about this gifted storyteller simply listen to the rest of his ‘Dank U’ LP.
Expect this new tune from Wiley to go stellar when it gets a single release next year. It’s produced by somebody called Mark Ronson (Who?!?). ‘Cash In My Pocket’ is a jaunty Hip-Hop plea for the recession to come to a swift end.
Cashier No.9 bring shimmering danceable Indie-Rock to brighten your day packed with interesting production flourishes. It was a hard choice to recommend just one track but in the end I went for the funky, rifftastic and lyrically hook-laden track ‘To The Death Of Fun’. You’ve gotta love the Beach Boys sighing Drum-break bit in the middle (It reminded me of vintage Jim Noir). They’ve got a new single out and an album in the pipeline.
Death Of The Neighbourhood employ a wonky Electronic-Jazz backing and strange verses to create one of the weirdest Rap tracks I’ve encountered called ‘Cokeholes’. Respect when you can get away with rhyming “Double chin” with “Wheelie bin”.
I loved an insane Fight Like Apes track from a while back called ‘Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues’. They were never gonna get played on the radio with track like that (More’s the pity). Luckily they’ve got super-catchy bizarre Electronic-Pop singles like ‘Jake Summers’ to reel in the punters. Lyrics don’t get much better than “Hey you! Know your place, you’re like Kentucky Fried Chicken… but without the taste”. They even find time for a beautiful interlude bit before thrashing out the finish.
Here a bit of gorgeous, atmospheric, bluesy Rock in the shape of ‘Time The Conqueror’. It’s the combination of the rich Guitar sound and Jackson Browne’s (Of ‘These Days’ fame) well worn vocals that really gets me.
I never got round to checking out Jenny Lewis’ hugely successful last album ‘Rabbit Fur Coat’. Clearly a huge mistake as I’ve fell in love with ‘Carpetbaggers’ from her new album ‘Acid Tongue’. It’s velvety and warm Country-Rock blessed with a guest vocal from the bespectacled genius that is Elvis Costello.
I always look forward to something new from Marvin The Martian. He’s got a great ear for catchy samples to ride his rhymes over and this time it’s G-Unit’s ‘You So Tough’. It’s his and DJ Jack Nimble’s brand-new and totally free-to-download ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’ Mixtape. Yes, you did hear right, he did just spit out the lines “You wanna fuck wid us, you wanna scuffle us, I can’t think of anybody out der that’s tough enough, dey never rough enough, Marvin’ll rough ‘em up, I’m little as Elmo, strong as Snuffleupagus”
Get your air-slap-Bass and booty-shake ready for Mindless Boogie’s supremely funky ‘Pudding (Rubber Room Rerub)’. Only Jimmy Smith and his band make music as bad-ass as this. Unlike Jimmy’s 10-minute-plus Jazz odysseys, this is sadly only five minutes long.
When, oh when are Misty’s Big Adventure gonna take over the world with their unique brand of British Psychedelic-Pop. ‘The Rainbow & The Cloud’ is from their new album ‘Television’s People’ and once again Grandmaster Gareth and Co. pull off another catchy potential hit single.
‘Pimp’ is perhaps a rare Steel-Drum gem from the little known 1970s Trinidad & Tobago group The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band that inspired 50 Cent’s ‘P.I.M.P’. It’s also perhaps a newly recorded Steel-Drum gem cooked up by the guys at Mocambo Records with a little truth-stretching press-release to wet out appetites. Either way it’s genius and is equally suited to chilling in the sunshine or rocking the clubs (Props to 
The last track is called ‘F.U.N.K’ which pretty much sums up this James Brown sampling cut from The Breakbeat Junkie. If you liked the Fantasy Funk Band track I had a few weeks back, then this is going to be right up your street.
I greeted Jarvis Cocker’s 2006 solo album with unbridled excitement because the drought since the last 
of material for other artists like 
These fourteen tracks (Fourteen was an appropriately LP-length number) represent the tip of the Iceberg. There are none of his tracks sung by other artists, spoken word poetry, live trac
ks or jarring mutant-Electro (I could fill another whole CD with those. Maybe I will at a later date). It’s just the kind of spellbinding Pop/Rock songs you’d expect to hear on a Jarvis Cocker or Pulp record. Spend a pleasurable hour in the company of Jarvis Cocker and his friends. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how this disparate group of songs sound so good together (Well, that was my plan after all!).
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To conclude, here are some links you might find useful:
