Weekly Last FM Chart
I’m still buzzing from seeing Kick-Ass at the cinema and went on a Mark Millar Comics spree as soon as I got out of the theatre. First I read the twisted humour of ‘Wanted’ (So much better than the lame film adaptation), then on to the fascinating ‘Red-Son’ which is about what the world would be like if Superman was a Soviet instead of a blue-eyed American son, and now I’m halfway into ‘Kick-Ass’ itself. It hasn’t all been Superheroes and Supervillians this week as I’ve found another ten delightful tunes:
The Candle Thieves’ new LP ‘Sunshine & Other Misfortunes’ is full of prime Pop music for fans of The Beach Boys, Weezer and of course Eels. The title of ‘Sharks & Bears’ sums it all up, the music is delightfully cutesy Care-Bear Pop and the lyrics have a certain shark toothed bite.
Darwin Deez sound like The Strokes given a carefree air by a dose of Acid. ‘Radar Detector’ is a fidgety, catchy little Pop song that’ll wet your appetite for their forthcoming self-titled LP.
The Dead Weather’s new LP ‘Sea Of Cowards’ is due to drop less than a year since their debut and it’s Jack White’s eleventh major album since The White Stripes debut in 1999. With all the other Producing, touring and acting jobs he does I’m guessing he enjoys the same mastery of time as Father Christmas (Think about it, red and white…. ?). ‘Die By The Drop’ has the same raw and fuzzy Garage power of their last LP’s finest moments.
UK Hip-Hop trio Invisible Inc’s ‘Paradise’ has the chilled flow of a great Ty track. This cut features on Jus Like Music’s new free compilation. An album is in the pipeline and judging by the tracks you can hear on MySpace it’s going to be something special.
The Magic Theatre’s ‘London Town’ is a magnificent Pop concept album about a time travelling romance. It was hard to choose just one track but in the end I went for the theatrical title track.
I just treated myself to the definitive extended “Untitled” cut of Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographal masterpiece ‘Almost Famous’ on DVD (The very personal commentary by the director and his mum is worth the price alone). One of the extras was the full video of Pete Droge performing an acoustic version of his song ‘Small Time Blues’ in a scene paying tribute to Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.
One of the songs on the Kick-Ass soundtrack really caught my attention. When I got home I was surprised to see that it’s chunky Brass, and beefy Drums were courtesy of The Prodigy. ‘Stand Up’ sounds nothing like ‘Firestarter’ and is all the better for it.
Owen Pallett’s ‘Lewis Takes Action’ is a graceful Orchestral Pop song. If you’re missing Fleet Foxes this will be just what the doctor ordered and his new LP’s title of ‘Heartland’ is sooo much better than his debut’s title of ‘He Poos Clouds’.
Another track for Fleet Foxes fans is Cast Spells’ shimmering ‘All Brass’. This Illinois band’s music has a lovely English Folk lilt to it.
Superb, a seven minute House Remix of Hot Chip’s ‘I Feel Better’ featuring extra verses by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. The newly titled ‘I Feel Bonnie’ is a journey from Electronica to Folk stopping off on spoken word with an air of Roxy Music.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A ZIP CONTAINING ALL TEN MP3s
Cast Spells MySpace / Purchase
Darwin Deez MySpace / Purchase
Hot Chip MySpace / Purchase
Invisible Inc MySpace / Download
Owen Pallett MySpace / Purchase
Pete Droge MySpace / Purchase
The Candle Thieves MySpace / Purchase
The Dead Weather MySpace / Purchase
The Magic Theatre MySpace
The Prodigy MySpace / Purchase
Andrew W.K.’s High-Energy/Metal ‘I Get Wet’ album is possibly one of my all time top 10 LPs. Since then he’s done Power-Ballads, Eighties-Rock, produced Lee “Scratch” Perry and even released an instrumental Piano music album. His new compilation of unreleased recordings called ‘Mother Of Mankind’ features many different sounds. My favourite is the very daft Funky Reggae of ‘We Got A Groove’.
Again, Chris T-T’s ’9 Red Songs’ LP is a personal favourite featuring some of the best political songs ever written like ‘A Plague On Both Your Houses’ and ‘The Huntsman Comes A-Marchin” (
Dominique Young Unique’s ‘Show My Ass’ is abrasive Pop-Hop for all M.I.A. fans (Or even old-skool fans of Salt ‘n’ Pepa). Try not shaking your booty when the Drums hit at 0.44 or dancing round the room when the dance beats comes in at 1.18.
I’ve been waiting for Guillemots front-man Fyfe Dangerfield to release a solo record since hearing his unspeakably gorgeous solo cover of Larrikin Love’s ‘Well, Love Does Furnish A Life’ back in 2007. ‘Fly Yellow Moon’ has many fine songs to reccomend it but my pick has to be the haunting Piano ballad ‘Barricades’.
Gypsy-Punk rascals Gogol Bordello have just made their new song ‘Pala Tute’ available to download free as a taster of new LP ‘Trans-Continental Hustle’. It’s the usual exhilarating mix of Acordian and Funky dance rhythms that we all love.
I just watched Hugh Cornwell’s (Of The Stranglers fame) 
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I adore the bonkers Indie music of Los Campesinos! and new album ‘Romance Is Boring’ is no exception. The Pixies-esqe thrill of ‘We’ve Got Your Back’ is my pick but it was a hard choice.
I’ve loved every new Ty LP twice as much as the last, so considering 2006′s (Has it really been that long!) ‘Closer’ was the best Hip-Hop album of that year I was very excited by the prospect of his new set ‘Special Kind Of Fool’. My favourite so far is ‘Phantom Of The Opera (Feat. Anthony Mills)‘ and to quote the lyric, “The elephant man is back, also known as the intelligent strand of Rap”… hell yes!
I just got sent a promo of We Are Standard’s self-titled LP. Upon hitting play, I was instantly excited by the crunching Punk-Funk of ‘Bye Bye Bye’. I love that Bass-line!
Broadcast 2000′s ‘That Sinking Feeling’ is wonderfully melodic Folk with some quirky production flourishes. The string section is at once powerfully punchy and also sweetly graceful.
The thought of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim working together on a double concept album is almost too good to be true. The first track I’ve heard is the Disco delight ‘Here Lies Love’ featuring a great guest vocal from Florence Welch. I don’t mean it as insult when I say I could see it working in an Andrew Lloyd-Webber show.
A new Eels album is always something to treasure. Opening song, ‘The Beginning’ is one of the best things that Leonard Cohen never wrote. It’s essentially a celebratory love song which E gives a biting twist by adding the line “…in the beginning” to the end of every verse like an emotional gun shot.
I saw Musée Mécanique perform a gorgeous set at Puregroove last week. They were lacking their Drummer (And Bass player) so cleverly split the drum set up between the three of them! Their sound reminds me of shades of Simon & Garfunkel, The Beach Boys and Sufjan Stevens. ‘Sleeping In Our Clothes’ is my favourite and if the opening lines of “Three cheers for romance, standing in her robes, out on the highway side tonight” doesn’t melt your heart, there is clearly something wrong.
Oh No Ono’s have the left-field Orchestral Pop sound of The Hidden Cameras. ‘Icicles’ combines lush Strings, falsetto vocals, and dreamy Pop melodies into one dazzling confection.
I saw Scary Mansion do a great little set the other week with Leah Hayes’ handmade Guitar being very impressive. One standout track was the haunting ‘Look Through Your Eyes’. It’s a gorgeous piece of moody Electronica.
The spine tingling highlight of She Keeps Bees’ set at The Old Blue Last was when Jessica Larrabee performed the semi-acapella song ‘Ribbon’. Her vocals bring to mind PJ Harvey and the fact that they’re a stripped down Blues duo inevitably makes me think of The White Stripes.
The B-side to The Black Belles’ Jack White Produced single ‘What Can I Do?” is one of the best songs so far on his label. It’s a cover of The Knickerbockers’ classic ‘Lies’ given a girl group twist and a roaring primitive Garage sound.
I so almost had The Morning Benders inspired cover of ‘Lovefool’ on TEN4SE7EN last year. Now they’re back with a new album with ‘Promises’ being just one highlight. It’s exhilarating Indie with a big chunky Guitar sound and Pop vocals.
I got sent this awesome Joe Goddard Remix of YACHT’s ‘Psychic City’ a while back. Joe Goddard’s enhanced repetitive chorus of “Where ya been darlin’, darlin’?” is so, so addictive.
On a trip to HMV I found they were selling last year’s über-deluxe Chris Rea triple-cd/double-vinyl/book ‘The Return Of The Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes’ for the insane price of £8 English pounds. I’m never really listened to the guy before but at that price it was worth a punt. It’s chock full of classy Blues numbers and clever Shadows tributes. The smouldering Blues of ‘Talk To God, Act like The Devil’ is just one highlight.
I just got a copy of Archie Bronson Outfit’s new LP ‘Coconut’. As before, the new songs are ear destroyingly ferocious swamp-Blues cuts, like album opener ‘Magnetic Warrior’. The album comes with a bonus DVD with videos specially made for every song… bargain!
Aussie Bertie Blackman’s last LP is a brilliant delight for Florence Welch/Natasha Khan fans everywhere. The Glacial beauty of ‘Valentine’ is truly haunting.
It’s been a long wait since I was blown away by David E. Sugar live (When I saw him supporting Example), but his debut album is finally on the way. I just got it on promo and the unashamedly Kraftwerk cribbing ‘Also Moved’ is pure Robo-tastic majesty.
New album’s by the legendary Gil Scott-Heron don’t come along very often. So I was pretty damned excited by his new set which is packed by the kind of Socially conscious songs he’s famous for. It’s also got delightful love-songs like ‘I’ll Take Care Of You’, complete with gorgeous croaky voiced Soul vocals.
Last year I saw the mind-blowing Soul/Beatbox/Poetry/Rap/Comedy of Reggie Watts (Sell your Mother for tickets when he comes to town). Finally I found a live mp3 of my favourite song of the night, the Gangsta-Rap parody ‘Fuck Shit Stack’. Take note, every sound you hear comes from Reggie’s mouth, backing vocals, raps, beats and all!
Having enjoyed Keb Darge’s (And Cut Chemist’s) last ‘Lost & Found’ Rockabilly compilation I had to get the next entry in the series. This time he teams up with Paul Weller to bring us 28 rare Soul nuggets. The Tempos’ ‘(Countdown) Here I Come’ is just one magnificent example of what’s on the record.
Featuring the voice of Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner, ‘Gangs Of Rome’ was always going to be good. It’s taken from Ashley Beedle’s ‘Mavis’ project that also employees the talents of luminaries like Candi Staton, Cerys Matthews and Ed Harcourt.
I just watched the brilliant documentary ‘Dennis Wilson: The Real Beach Boy’ on BBC4 (It’s on iPlayer for a few more days). I then finally went out and got the deluxe re-issue of Dennis Wilson’s ‘Pacific Ocean Blue’. Bonus track ‘Holy Man’ was a sublime unfinished Instrumental until Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins stepped up to the mike to create something very lovely indeed. Taylor’s vocals and Dennis’ dreamy production bring to mind early Mark Everett at his best.
I recently saw Robert Glasper’s Jazz trio at Gilles Peterson’s superb Worldwide Awards show. Every bit of his set was exhilarating but the moment when I realised he had just gone into Radiohead’s ‘Everything In It’s Right Place’ was magical. This studio recording of the cover can be found on his first LP.
Black Noise’s ‘Knock You Out’ holds nothing back, incorporating a neck-cracking Dance-beat, scratching, sampling and several genius rap breaks. You’ll love it.
The Boy From Space’s new EP features a delightful song called ‘Come Home’. A warm vocal, rich Brass and bird song all compete for your heart.
I saw The Cribs live in Rough Trade last week and I was struck by two things, how many great songs they’d already written and how good the new ones sounded compared with them. A highlight of a faultless set was the roar of squealing feedback they created on new epic ‘City Of Bugs’.
I love the bonkers sound of Dan Deacon’s ‘Woof Woof’. It sounds like a recording of an acid fuelled party where The Flaming Lips met the looney tunes.
The distinctively named Fukkk Offf bring music for fans of Kid Sister and her many collaborators. ‘More Than Friends’ is a super-catchy Rap-Dance cut.
Jamie T’s new album ‘Kings & Queens’ is even better than his first (It could even be album of the year!), which took some beating. ‘Castro Dies’ is one of my favourite tracks, featuring his trademark lyrical tongue-twisters and inventive beats.
This blog has always been eager to hear everything by David Shah and The Melting Ice Caps so I was excited when I found out that David had put a load of extra songs up on his site that weren’t on his singles. ‘A Good Night’ is the best, featuring an addictive Dance-beat and a spoken-word vocal describing a night spent “Dropping” Bakewell-Tarts in Brick Lane. When the ethereal beauty of the chorus comes in at the end you may just think you’ve ascended to heaven. This is surely gonna be pretty high on my tracks of the year (Unless David comes up with something even better) so roll on a Melting Ice Caps long-player.
Sharon Von Etten’s ‘For You’ is a dreamy Folk song featuring the windswept splendour of a great Joni Mitchell recording. The subtle production is haunting which compliments the quite power of the vocal.
Transit are the resident Soul-Band of the Nashville Metro Transit Authority. The Jack White recorded ‘C’Mon & Ride’ is velvety smooth Soul with a Saxophone and vocal to soothe even the weariest of travellers.
The hypnotically cool vibe of Matty G’s ‘Keep Walking’ was created by craftily cutting up the best bits from the already magnificent ‘Walk On By’ by the late Isaac Hayes. When the guitar drops in halfway through you’ll be totally hooked.
While MCA is being treated for cancer the new Beastie Boys album is on hold. While we are all wishing him the best, the boys have just dropped a hot new 12″ to tide us over called ‘Too Many Rappers (Feat. Nas)’.
Camera Obscura’s ‘French Navy’ is the kind of perfect Pop song that within one listen has you feeling like you’ve always known it. Strings take flight, Spector-esque Drums crash and Tracyanne’s voice is sheer beauty.
I’ve been seeing Dirty Projectors’ album everywhere and I thought it was about time I checked it out. The Indie-Pop within is worth all the praise, but my favourite track is the handclap-tastic ‘No Intention’.
I’ve been listening to Dizzee Rascal’s new single ‘Holiday (Feat. Chrome)’ for the last fortnight but I’ve only just decided it’s bonafide genius. I can’t understand why I didn’t adore the pumping Dance production and smart Rhymes from the first second.
Fort Know Five keep on releasing fresh remixes of their ‘Radio Free DC’ LP and I’m yet to hear one I haven’t loved. The clattering Drums and funky beats of ‘Insight (The Nextmen Remix)’ rises above even their high standards.
Jakwob’s superb remix of Killa Kela’s ‘Everyday’ takes it into brutal Dubstep territory. It’s the best Dubstep rework since Skream’s remix of La Roux’s ‘In For The Kill’.
I’ve been waiting with baited breath for the official release of Pase Rock’s intergalacticly awesome track ‘So Fucking Disco’ for the last year. Then today I was thrilled to discover it had been quietly released on iTunes a while back and what was even better, it was paired with another amazing Rap cut called ‘Get Money Kids’.
The jangly Indie of Phoenix’s ‘Lisztomania’ is an absolute delight. The rest of their ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix’ LP is almost as good.
Sabbo’s ‘Spanish Fly (Feat. MC Zulu) (Noiz In Zion Mix)’ is a cracking a Dancehall cut. It’ll have your neck snappin’ within seconds.
Toddla T’s superb album is a crazy collision of genres from Indie to Grime and I love the way each track segues into the next. My favourite track is a bouncy-celebration-of-food called ‘Rice & Peas (Feat. Mr Versatile)’ and the lyrics will leave you feelin’ ravenous.
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears’ new album is magic Soul/Funk/Blues from start to finish and I’d urge you to pick up a copy. ‘Sugarfoot’ is my favourite track, capturing all the energy of a live Soul band in full swing.
I love the joyous mix of plucked Guitar strings and understated Electronica on Run Toto Run’s ‘Good Coat’. It comes from their debut EP ‘Plastic Gold’ which is out now and is rather wonderful.
A La Fu’s ‘Bazouki Joe’ is a curious collision of scratched-up Hip-Hop and Greek-Folk. Scribe Sayar’s superb guest rhymes bring it all together.
I just got Cookin’ On 3 Burners’ album and loved it instantly but by far the most fun cut is their inspired cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’. They turn it into a Funky groove that’s beyond irresistible.
I just picked up a brilliant Dan Black track called ‘Junk Food’ on a sampler CD. His Pop-tastic debut album (Packed with all his ace Electro-Pop singles) is also out now.
If you’re waiting for that elusive new Postal Service record then Discovery’s new album just might be up your street. The twinkling Indie-Electronica of ‘Orange Shirt’ is my favourite track.
Lushlife’s ‘Cassette City’ LP is one of the best Rap albums all year. My favourite song is the trippy Folk of ‘The Songbird Athletic’ featuring Greg Saunier from Deerhoof.
The irrepressible Pop of Mika is back with a bang, on his new celebratory single ‘We Are Golden’. As if the original wasn’t good enough, Calvin Harris has gone all high-energy-house with his Remix.
The title of Superthriller’s new single ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ might lead you to imagine it’s a cover of Duran Duran’s lame hit-single. But in fact it’s a brilliant squelchy Robo-Funk original and the b-side ‘Today Was A Good Day’ is amazing too (Which isn’t a cover either by the way!).
The Duke & The King’s ‘If You Ever Get Famous’ is an almost unspeakably gorgeous Rock ballad. The production is delightfully sparse with the band wringing every ounce of emotion out of each note.
Brazilian duo Sabo & Zeb’s ‘Sangueboom’ is a favela-funk-fusion of frenetic Drums and sweet Latin vocals from Andrea Monteiro. The Organ solo halfway through is on fire.
Stacy Epps reminds me of a female Lupe Fiasco with rhymes that hit just as hard. The production on ‘Cold Times’ is a subtle mix of Jazz, Funk and Dancehall flavours.
‘If You Were A Fruit’ isn’t a horribly misjudged gay-rights anthem, it is infact a wonderfully skewed nursery-rhyme-Indie song in the vein of The Vaselines. The Lovely Eggs will charm you with lines like “If you were an apple I’d wanna be at your core”.
David Shah (aka The Melting Ice Caps) is on superb solo single number five now and much to my disbelief he still hasn’t been crowned King of the universe. ‘Being No One’ like a classic Pet Shop Boys song from back in the day, complete with high-energy Strings and angelic choirs.
I just got The Rumble Strips second LP this week and ‘Not The Only Person’ immediately stood out. The rich Brass sound stands out as bold as, well… brass.
Can you improve on perfection? Well it looks like the legendary remixing skills of Akira The Don has done just that with his version of The Voluntary Butler Scheme’s ‘Tabasco Sole’. It’s like The Banana splits covering The Jackson 5… yeah!
Part symphony, part Rap spectacular, part Dance masterpiece, ‘Ultrafunkula’ is six minutes of bliss from Groove Diggerz.
‘The Modern Sound Of Harry Beckett’ LP brilliantly combines Harry Beckett’s sumptuous Trumpet Jazz with Hip-Hop productions. ‘Ultimate Tribute’ is my highlight, being as cool as when that word was first coined in the Jazz-Clubs of the 50s.
Kid Sister has been inching towards the big-time with every great single. ‘Right Hand Hi’ is no exception and rivals Dizzee in the Dancefloor-ready-Hip-Hop stakes.
‘I Don’t Know’ has the intimacy of Joni Mitchell and the warmth of Badly Drawn Boy’s first album. Which is appropriate as Lisa Hannigan’s debut LP has just been nominated for the Mercury Prize too.
Gatto Fritto’s ‘Invisible College’ is an epic 12 minute Spanish-Guitar-South-American-Folk-Electronica-Prog-Disco masterpiece. You’ll be clapping your hands, clicking your fingers and generally feelin’ the groove.
The searing emotion of Mumford & Sons’ ‘The Cave’ will carry you away. Towards the end it takes flight to heights that most other Folk-Rock songs just can’t reach.
My beautiful vinyl copy of The Dead Weathers debut LP just arrived on my doorstep (I unwrapped it with all the glee of a kid at Christmas). As soon as I put it on my turntable I was entranced by the wailing Phych-Blues of the first track ’60 Feet Tall’ which is like the best thing PJ Harvey has done in years.
‘Downtown Barkings’ the new cut from Soul stars The Dynamics comes in four versions on the EP. The Funky Bass and sweet Organ sounds of the ‘Afrosoul Edit’ had it by a nose over the smooth ‘Reggae Edit’.
Tombee’s ‘Godfathers’ namechecks the originators of Hip-Hop. Black Grass’ Remix channels all those sliced ‘n’ diced James Brown samples to thrilling effect.
‘Esta Si, Esta No (Asi Me Gusta A Mi)’ was a great rave cut from Spain’s Chimo Bayo. The Glimmers’ new version is harder, faster and has the Bass heavy heart of a Harley Davidson engine.
Kaito’s ’2 Say’ is a bit like Souxsie Sioux dabbling in Dubstep. It recalls the feral Funk spirit of all those great records that came out in the wake of Punk.
‘All For The Best’ is a cover from a new tribute album to Mark Mulcahy (It’s for a good cause, so a super-low quality mp3 is all you’re getting… without digging out your wallet) performed by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. At first it’s like a calm summers day and then the thunder storm crashes half-way through.
I love the shimmering Dance sounds of Filthy Dukes’ ‘Messages (Filthy Dukes Kill ‘Em All Remix)’. It’s the Rave pianos that come in halfway through that really get me.
The misanthropic lyrics of Forest Fire’s ‘Fortune Teller’ bring a wicked smile to my face. The sound brings to mind a darker incarnation of R.E.M.
