There are so many great new releases out right now, that it is hard to know where to start. But, here are some - in no particular order.
1. The Warning by Fujiya and Miyagi
The kraut rock revival keeps on rumbling along. I really didn't think there was much more juice to be squeezed out of the genre, but, lo and behold, there is! This cd walks a fine line between blatant stealing and re-interpretation of some Can and Neu's greatest moments. By and large, they get away with it, and the end result, whether you know the originals or not, is some of the best driving music in town.
2. See Mi Yah Remixes by Rhythm and Sound.
This is a fantastic selection of remixes on Basic Channel. Classic reggae meets super-minimal house. It's polished to perfection - the sheen of the 21st century is on every track.
3. To Find Me Gone - Vetiver. Devendra Banhart's right hand man has released a stunning new cd. It's as good as Banhart's Cripple Crow, while being a little more influenced by the classic West Coast sound of Creedance and Buffalo Springfield. It's simply beautiful...... now, has anyone seen the brown acid?
4. Happy New Year by Oneida. When I was a mere stripling getting involved in the London music scene for the fist time at the hight of the post-punk explosion there were three bands who where absolute gods. 1. Can - see above, 2. Throbbing Gristle - like nothing before or since and 3. This Heat - a strange mix of wired jazz, avant folk and industrial noise. Onedia, it seems to me, are the natural descendants of This Heat. They defy categorisation. Onedia are in someways similar to the dense baroque sound of Architecture In Helsinki and Arcade Fire. But they are more than that, too. I can only recommend you buy this and listen to the in sound from way out.
p.s. A box set re-issue of This Heat's old material is just out. If anyone thinks post-punk sounded like Franz Ferdinand, or Razorlight, or any of the other myriad of "interpreters", then they need to listen to this. It is worth the price for their stunning 1980 single 'Health and Efficiency', alone
Mon, 31 Jul. 2006With the mixtape phenomenon making millions in the US, it seems like every cat with a bunch of turntables (or even a laptop these days) call himself a DJ and wants to release an album. Although many go unnoticed for being dire, Clinton Sparks enters the game with a fresh outlook, producing all the tracks himself. Standouts include “Roc Café” featuring Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel and Joe Budden (ending the rumours of Budden’s signing to Roc-A-Fella), the Clockwork Orange sampling Okay Dun (by Mobb Deep) and of course Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Pop Shots. Though the skits can sometimes seem monotonous, overall this is about as good as Hip Hop compilation gets covering all aspects of the culture: Bling (Run This City by P. Diddy), to introspective (Joe Budden’s Whatever It Takes).
Sun, 24 Jul. 2005Due to the success of Kanye’s debut LP, The College Dropout, Mr West hits us back with 20 unreleased, remixed or demo versions of tacks that were supposed to make the album but got left on the cutting room floor. It’s easy to see that most of the tracks on this CD did not make “Dropout” because of licensing issues, especially the original version of All Fall’s Down featuring sampled vocals of Lauren Hill from her live album, though there are some real gems on here for hardcore Kanye fans. His signature sped up soul samples shine through tracks like “My Way” and the old time sounding, “Home”. Keep The Receipt featuring ODB is definitely a treat seeing as though tracks with Ol’ Dirty’s are going to become sparser since his passing in 2004. With much cockier vocal than his debut LP, Freshman Adjustment is an interesting introspective to a young Kanye West.
Sun, 24 Jul. 2005In today’s musical state of boredom, Patrick Wolf delivers an album that stands out in the midst of a mediocre market. With dance music starting to make a comeback via electro-clash, indie-clash and emo-clash, Wind In The Wires sounds like a breath of fresh air with orchestral harmonies, glitchy backdrops and soothing vocals all joining together for an interesting and enjoyable listen. Favourite tracks would have to be “The Libertine” and melodic treat “The Gypsy King”, complimented well by the string interludes throughout the album.
Sun, 24 Jul. 2005To be honest, I had not even noticed this album until my connection back in Sydney sent it over (thanks Marty @ Shock). I have always liked Thievery, even though I find some of their music to border on lounge (or what the mass media calls lounge anyway), and that's not really usually my cup of tea. Having said that, The Cosmic Game is a beautifully constructed album drawing a strong influence from dub and world music. Though not breaking the barriers creatively, tracks like 'The Heart's A Lonely Hunter' featuring David Byrne (of Talking Heads Fame) mixes a futuristic Brit-pop sound with Spanish sounding conga backing. Other highlights are 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' and 'The Supreme Illusion' both featuring Gunjan.
Thu, 2 Jun. 2005