TEN4SE7EN: Episode 52

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