House Music

I’m moving house and there’s gonna be no time to update this blog, so instead here are twenty tracks that I’m addicted to at the moment:

Four brand new Hip-Hop cuts:
Akala – Electro Livin’ mp3
Arrested Development – Miracles mp3
Lupe Fiasco – Superstar (Feat. Matthew Santos) mp3
Taggy Matcher – Rapoors Delaught mp3

Two Soul tunes, old and new:
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (Truth & Rights Remix) mp3
The Rumble Strips – Time mp3

Four tracks with an electronic flavour:
David E. Sugar – I Still Like Your Clothes mp3
Hot Chip – Shake A Fist mp3
Prinzhorn Dance School – You Are The Space Invader (An Optimo (Espacio) Mix) mp3
Sonny J – I’m So Heavy mp3

Three songs from gifted songwriters with gorgeous voices:
Laura Marling – New Romantic mp3
Luke Toms – Peace By Myself mp3
Richard Hawley – Water Boy mp3

Three exciting Indie recordings:
The Pan I Am – The Final Ecstasy Of Jeremiah Ghost mp3
Simply Luke Leighfield – The Rain Will Come Again mp3
Battle – Demons mp3

Two violent Rock-n-Roll monsters:
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster – In The Garden mp3
The Wallbangers – Kick The Drugs mp3

And finally two oldie/goldie mp3s, one’s a song the other is a riotously funny standup routine:
Chuck Berry – Too Much Monkey Business mp3
Bob Newhart – Driving Instructor (Pilot Script For A New TV Series) mp3

That should keep you going. If you like the tracks go to Amazon, HMV, Rough Trade, 7Digital etc and buy some of their CDs (Xmas is approaching!).

WOJTEK GODZISZ – The Moon & The Yew Tree (7″ Single)

Tigertrap Records GRRR15: 22nd October 2007
1. The Moon & The Yew Tree
“Down we go, into the fog below, yeah down we go, so keep your head down low”
2. Time Of The Wolf
“I feel that we can be, what we should be, there’s more to you and me”

‘The Moon & The Yew Tree’ is an eccentric shanty with all the muscular force of Elbow combined with the aggression of The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster. ‘Time Of The Wolf’ is like Foo Fighters exploring their Psychedelic side. This is a single for those that like their Folk with added violence or those who like their Metal to sound that extra bit weird.

Click here to buy ‘The Moon & The Yew Tree’ from HMV.

Wojtek Godzisz – Light Over Dark Earth mp3
Wojtek Godzisz – December Will Be Magic Again mp3
Wojtek Godzisz – A Rush & A Push & The Land Is Ours mp3 (Smiths cover)

Click here to watch the wonderfully bizarre video for ‘The Moon & The Yew Tree’ on YouTube.

Wojtek Godzisz MySpace / Tigertrap Website

MP3 OF THE WEEK: Pulp – Cocaine Socialism mp3

“I thought that you were joking, when you said I want to see ya, to discuss your contribution, to the future of our nation’s heart and soul, six o’clock my place Whitehall”

Pulp’s ‘This Is Hardore’ album is easily one of my all-time favourite LPs and track eleven, ‘Glory Days’ is one of the best songs on it.  ‘Cocaine Socialism’ is the lesser known cousin of ‘Glory Days’ and shares the same tune with added flamboyant Springsteen style Brass.  Because it was a B-side and because it faced stiff competition from ‘Glory Days’ it’s only now that I’m realising what an amazing song it is.

Ten years on and it seems to totally sum up the Blair years and the Nineties in general, chronicling the arrival of spin led politics and the rise of the celebrity in our culture.  The lyrics are bursting with quotable gems, like “I’ll get down to the jist, do you want a line of this, are you a Socialist?” and “Just one hit and I feel great, and I support the well-fare state”.  ‘Cocaine Socialism’ is a towering work of popular art.

Pulp – Cocaine Socialism mp3

Click here to buy ‘This Is Hardcore’ from HMV for only £7.99 (You have to get a copy of this album!)

Click here to watch a live clip of ‘Glory Days’ (Featuring Richard Hawley on Guitar) via YouTube.

Pulp MySpace / Jarvis Cocker MySpace

AL FINGERS – What’s Going On / War (7″ Single)

Al Fingers SF001: 22nd October 2007
1. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (Truth & Rights Remix)
“Father, father, we don’t need to escalate, you see, war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate, you know we’ve got to find a way, to bring some lovin’ here today”
2. Edwin Starr – War (The Buzz Remix)
“War I despise, ‘cos it means destruction of innocent lives, war means tears to thousands of mother’s eyes, when their sons gone to fight and lose their lives”

‘What’s Going On (Truth & Rights Remix)’ is a clever mashup of the vocal from Marvin Gaye’s eternal Soul anthem ‘What’s Going On’ and the melodic Reggae music from Johnny Osbourne’s ‘Truth & Rights’.  It’s a blend so inspired and seamless that I even started imaging Marvin’s voice had had a Jamaican accent all along.  It’s not dissimilar to ‘Police & Thieves’ and perhaps even better than Marvin’s original, which is some achievement!  ‘War (The Buzz Remix)’ isn’t better than the original or as good as the A-side but it’s still a damn fine bootleg.  Edwin Starr’s muscular vocals are laid over a funky instrumental called ‘The Buzz’ (From a compilation of the same name).

Click here to buy the 7″ from Juno Records.

Here are the ingredients of this delicious recipe:

Johnny Osbourne – Truth & Rights mp3
Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On mp3
Troy Rami – The Buzz mp3
Edwin Starr – War mp3

Click here to buy the ‘What’s Going On’ album from HMV for the criminal price of £3.99.

Click here to buy this great Edwin Starr double CD (Featuring ‘War’) from HMV.

Click here to watch a truly spellbinding performance of ‘What’s Going On’ via YouTube.

Click here to watch a video of Edwin Starr’s ‘War’ on YouTube.

While you’re at it, check out this superb mashup video featuring Edwin Starr.

Al Fingers MySpace

THE INDELICATES – Sixteen (CD Single)

Weekender Records WEEK0046: 15th October 2007
1. Sixteen
“Drop ace drum ‘n’ bass feat Hitler and Chairman Mao, if we don’t do it now then someone else will, it’ll be so funny, it’s the power not the money”
2. The Sequel To Peter Pan & Wendy
“The ghosts scream at the sound, as your body hit the ground”
3. Fun Is For The Feeble Minded
“You can’t have the sixties, without the war, you can’t have the rose, without the thorn”

A different version of ‘Sixteen’ first appeared as a B-side on March’s ‘The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll’ EP. I described it as “Sparkling Pop” and an “Assault against cynical bands who aim their music at the lucrative teen market”. It’s a song addressed to every act that ever pandered to “Disaffected” youth, exploited a teenage trend or filled their videos with American kids (Despite being in their thirties and from Pontypridd). ‘The Sequel To Peter Pan & Wendy’ has a similar sound to the ‘The Last Significant Statement To Be Made In Rock ‘n’ Roll’ single with added delicate Piano. ‘Fun Is For The Feeble Minded’ is an angelic ballad about our tendency to rose-tint the past and the Spanish-Guitar style solo is gorgeous. The Indelicates are steadily amassing an essential discography, and I can’t wait for the album (Or failing that another brilliant single).

Click here to buy Indelicates records from HMV.

The Indelicates – Fun Is For The Feeble Minded (Demo) mp3
The Indelicates – Vladimir (Demo) mp3
The Indelicates – New Art For The People (Demo) mp3
The Indelicates – Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die (Demo) mp3

Click here to download a whole albums worth of alternate versions of ‘Sixteen’ (They did the same for last single ‘Julia, We Don’t Live In The ’60s’)

Click here to watch the video for ‘Sixteen’ on YouTube (Or click here to watch the making of).

The Indelicates Website / The Indelicates MySpace