09 Arctic Monkeys - The hellcat spangled 'Shalalalaa'
10 Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle
top 5 albums I checked out in 2011 that I plan to keep on spinning come 2012 (some of which may have been released before 2011)
1 Los Campesinos - Romance is boring
Third album for these guys and a giant step forward in terms of scope and ambition. For fans of dynamic, alternative pop with witty, eloquent and verbose lyrics.
2 Metronomy - The English riviera
I've always considered Metronomy to be a well thought out bandname , so I picked this up at the library not expecting a whole lot, but this album is a clear winner, ranging from bass-driven guitar tracks ("She Wants") to eighties sounding tracks with cheesy synths (like "Corinne"). Think Hot Chip.
3 The Sword - Warp riders
Stoner rock. IN SPACE. For fans of: Kyuss, Black Sabbath, and just riffs in general.
4 The Vaccines - What did you expect from The Vaccines?
Most people probably heard the radio singles from this album, so you can pretty much figure out for yourself whether this is your cup of tea. I just wanna add a random snippet of information: Justin Young used to be a solo folk artist, under the name of 'Jay Jay Pistolet'.
5 Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow stairs
Overall it's pretty gloomy. Better than 'Plans'!
6 Het Zesde Metaal - Akattemets
Snijdt dieper dan de Nederlandstalige concurrentie.
best movie I saw this year:
missed Drive (bummer!) and can't even remember going to the cinema after seeing Rundskop in February, so I'll have to go for that one
worst movie I saw this year:
Frits & Freddy by a long shot
best series I saw in 2011:
The Shield (can't remember which season, but doesn't matter because they're all good)
Curb Your Enthusiasm s8 (probably best season since season five)
Mad Men s4
Nip/Tuck s7
Entourage s4-s8
Party Down
Tell me you love me
Big Bang Theory s4
Modern Family s1
Haircut extravaganza in a series award:
Kelly Carlson/Kimber in Nip/Tuck
Best female off-beat comedian in a series:
Lizzy Caplan/Casey in Party Down
Best MILF character in a series:
Perrey Reeves/Mrs. Gold in Entourage
worst series I saw in 2011:
True Blood s4 was just painful (but still only 0.75 on a scale where 1 equals the last season of Lost)
guilty pleasure of the year
Rihanna - Man down (and pretty much any Rihanna track for that matter)
best use of double-sided sticky tape in a music video (and coincidentally also the winner of the "music video that only gets better when muted"-award)
Beyonce - Love on top (and pretty much any Beyonce video for that matter)
Arctic Monkeys - The hellcat spangled Shalalala/Suck it and see
So, I wasn't really enthralled by the heavy sound of the first single from the "Suck it and see"-album, but Alex and his lads are back with a vengeance, because single two and three off the same album sound a lot more poppy and light as a feather. Also digging the more crooner-style vocals on these songs. I was also mocking the weak-ish lyrics on "Don't sit down because I've moved your chair", but this time around, I can only sheepishly admit that "that's not a skirt, girl, that's a sawn-off shotgun" is a real good line indeed. You will mostly see drummer and co-songwriter Matt Helders in the latter video, and if I'm not mistaken, there's also an uncensored version with some LSFW parts floating around here or there.
Jamie Woon - Shoulda
Previous single "Lady Luck" was more up-tempo and even garnered some Justin Timberlake references, but this third single is back to where it all started for Jamie Woon with debut single "Night air": very subtle, light, electronic pop.
Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle
The guys in BBB are releasing their third full album soon, and this is the first single. First album "I had the blues but I shook them loose" was indie-rock with some dark edges, second album "Flaws" was filled with acoustic tracks, third album "A different kind of fix" promises to be more up-tempo and poppy, judging on the first single. Really infectuous piano-riff, and all-round feel good track.
Gotye feat. Kimbra - Someone that I used to know
You knew this one already. Not that many youtube videos by a Belgian (well, born in Belgian or Dutch-speaking is closer to the truth I guess) artist (will ever) exceed six million views, so very well done indeed. Minor criticism, I have no problem with the first verse being quite long and the chorus only starting at the 1:30-mark, but the second verse (by Kiwi vocalist Kimbra) feels a little short in comparison. "He said, she said"-type lyrics are usually a winner in my book (see also: "Don't you want me baby" by The Human League and "Nothing better" by The Postal Service).
Gypsy and the Cat - Jona Vark
It must be the first time in history that this many hip bands are emerging from Australia/New Zealand and try to conquer the world. Temper Trap, Empire Of The Sun, Tame Impala, The Naked And The Famous, and there's more where that came from. First up, we have Gypsy & The Cat. I like the wordplay in the title, but the song itself is a little repetitive.
Miami Horror - Holidays
Also hailing from Melbourne are these guys, their previous single "Sometimes" was already featured in a previous blog post. This track reminds me of Junior Senior, and there's some Chromeo in there too, and I hope to shaking my bootay to it somewhere real soon. The video is about some kind of real life Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama roadtripping it up with his ladyfriend. Highly recommended.
Wolf Gang - The king and all his men
Another new band, not the be confused with OFWGKTA. The track has some things going for it, but the singer seems to venture very close to the Mika-realm in the bridge before the chorus, which is something I'd try to steer away from, if I were them.
Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds - The death of you and me
Now that the Beady Eye (which equals Oasis minus Noel) singles have evaporated from the radio waves, time for the elder Gallagher brother to step up to the plate and present his post-Oasis project. Has a higher "singer-songwriter"-vibe, and isn't even half bad.
The Vaccines - All in white/Norgaard
Bands that specialize in up-tempo tracks usually fall flat when try to tone it down, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the "All in white"-track by The Vaccines. The bass keeps it all together and the track never gets boring. Good stuff. Follow-up single 'Norgaard' returns to the short up-tempo song formula of breakthrough debut single "Wreckin' bar". Reminds me of the time when The Pigeon Detectives were a young and promising band. Putting some thought into checking the whole album after hearing this. Singer Justin Young (who seems to be going for the "eighties Morrissey with thick-rimmed glasses"-look in the latter video) recently underwent some vocal chord surgery, so they were forced to cancel a couple of months worth of shows.
The Big Pink - Stay gold
Some time ago, The Big Pink stated in an interview that their new album was going to be a hip-hop influenced album. Definitely not hearing that a lot on their new track, the melody has a slight bagpipe feel and inevitably makes me think of Glasvegas, whereas the chorus reminds me of their single 'Dominoes' a little. Nevertheless, I was a fan of their first album so my hopes are still up for this one, although I'm sincerely hoping that the lyrics on the album won't get much cornier then "Shine a light for love to follow".
Duos
A duo is the new band. A decade ago, The White Stripes were seen as revolutionary by having only 2 members in the band, and there were The Raveonettes, The Kills and a couple other shortly after, but now, the whole 2-man band niche is exploding. The Black Keys, The Black Box Revelation, Jenny & Johny, She & Him, Angus & Julia Stone, ... the list goes on. Presenting to you, 2 more duo's to look out for.
Cults - Go outside
Cults are a band from Brooklyn. This really mellow track is hitting the radiowaves nowadays, but personally, I'm more inclined towards this more up-tempo song.
Summer Camp - Better off without you
As stated previously, not to be confused with the nineties indierock outfit, this duo hails from Britain. Some of their previous tracks (see a couple of posts back) had a really purposely lo-fi, fuzzy and slightly abrasive production, this one sounds much cleaner and is a clear winner, and I'm also a fan of the double tracked/overdubbed vocals and their retro music videos. The intro made me think of this. Oh, and in case you were wondering, it's not a cover of the eponymous Terror song.
Female
SBTRKT feat. Little Dragon - Wildfire
OK, so SBTRKT is a male producer, but the true star of the track is Yukimi Nagano, so I thought I'd put it in this section anyway. Just the dry, staccato bass drum intro is already great, but the real party starts when the vocals kick in.
Little Dragon - Ritual union
Yukimi Nagano happens to be the singer of Swedish band Little Dragon (learned from wikipedia that the band name isn't a reference to Yukimi's complexion, but to her temper). She is the progeny of a Japanese father and a Swedish-American mother, and gifted with a jazzy and truly amazing voice. The rest of her band acknowledge this by letting her vocals take the forefront, and simply adding a basic but effective rhythm section, and some sparse and subtle synthesizer touches.
Robyn - Love kills
I think we can now safely regard Robyn as a true European elektropop powerhouse, and a ruthless hit machine. This track even surpasses hit-status, it's a true anthem! Saw a large chunk of her Werchter performance, awesome stuff.
Feist - How come you never go there
It's a been a long wait for some new Feist material, who gained popularity during her absence because of the 'Limit to your love' cover by James Blake. This comeback single brings no big revolutions on the production or songwriting front, just another sober mid-tempo pop track in which Leslie Feist can fully showcase her vocal capacities.
Lana Del Rey - Video games
This song was a moderate hype the last couple of weeks, and admitted it's really good. Lana Del Rey is actually the alter ego of Lizzy Grant, about whom I honestly can't tell you a lot. And I'll let you discover the song yourself, but I might add that if you're going to get married sometime soon and you're still looking for a track to accompany the opening dance, this is a possible contender.
Kreayshawn - Gucci gucci
The least you can say about Natassia Gail Zolot is that she doesn't shy away from the b*tch-word (and other swear words). Kreayshawn is a female hip-hip artist from L.A. . Even though she only has a handful of songs out, she was nominated for best new-comer at some award show but lost out to Tyler, the creator. The same night of that award ceremony, her twitter account got hacked and some LSFW pictures hit the internet. To this day, I'm still suspecting some kind of premeditated stunt to the timing of these events. Kreayshawn has got her own female-only crew (White Girl Mob, of which you can see Lil Debbie in the video with the eyecatching spectacles), and she even has got some beef going on with Rick Ross, a hip-hop artist I've yet to hear of. These two facts prove that she's working hard on her street credibility. Anyway, this song has a pretty good flow and a catchy chorus, and some dubstep-like influences in the beat, which makes it really contemporary. Also appreciating the fashion-style, gotta love that pink Minnie Mouse diadem.
Nicki Minaj - Super bass
Nicki Minaj is a Trinidadian (I read that word and I just had to use it!) urban artist, that seems to be more inclined to rap music than her fellow Carribean artist Rihanna. She has a over the top on-screen persona, not unlike a cartoon character. I checked out some of her previous singles and couldn't really get into it, but this song has got me hooked. Not only the video with its bright colours and ... well ... Nicki's bodacious appearance, but it's also not a coincidence that videos have emerged of other comtemporary pop stars (Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift) playbacking the rap part in the song. There's something really infectious about it, especially because Nicki adds some (at times seemingly ironic) intonation to the rhymes. Lyrically however, this is just another song (see also: Soldier by Destiny's Child) that proves that the vision of the ideal partner among females is just as monotone and one-dimensionally superficial as the female counterpart with men, you just swap 'looks' for 'money/power/influence' and there you go...
Katy B - Easy please me
Looks like Katy B has a more realistic view of who she wants to date, in this track that feels like it comes right from the heart, she describes her vision, which has a lot more nuance to it. Go Katy!
Can't get into
Geike - Rope Dancer
The first solo single by the ex-vocalist from Hooverphonic fails to hit the spot. Alex Callier was a pretty strict producer that liked to keep things simple, and as reaction, it seems like Geike tries to break out by bouncing in several directions at the same time. The timing and rhythm of the vocals are off, the chorus doesn't stick and there's just too much going on in the background. Sorry Geike, but this is a mess.
M83 - Midnight city
I still like the M83 sound, but this single seems to lack a little substance and subtlety.
You might remember the "I'm in Miami, b*tch"-track from a while back from these guys. A title like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Might have been even better without the part with the female vocals. The video complements the track really well.
Jakwob feat. Smiler - Right beside you
Dubstep seems to be at it's prime right now with even Britney Spears and Martin Solveig using dubstep elements/breakdowns in their recent singles. Jakwob is another dubstep producer and this is a nice, poppy track.
Magnetic Man - Anthemic
And just the round off the obligatory dubstep chapter, it's pretty hard not to move to the sounds of the new Magnetic Man track too.
Benelux
Das Pop - Skip the rope
Excellent jumpy, poppy track by Bent and his buddies. The video was shot with a hundred or so camera-phones, but the end result isn't that spectacular, really.
Sherman - Days go by
As much as Sherman personally prefers the solo acoustic performances, I hope he continues the fine string of pop singles he's made so far. Bonus points for the immediately recognisable opening seconds.
Selah Sue - This world
Selah Sue seems to generate a lot of animosity, and apart from the artificial Jamaican patois, I can't really grasp what puts people off. Might be one of the best singles so far, starting with a bassline reminiscent of the "Stan"-track by Eminem, culminating in the chorus.
Hooverphonic - One, two, three
The new Hooverphonic is nothing really special, but bonus points for the great retro, asymmetrical marine-outfit by Noemie. Impossible not to think of the following track while hearing the chorus lyrics.
Pop
Rumer - Am I forgiven?
I've been checking out most festival coverages (Pinkpop, Glastonbury, Rock Werchter, T in the Park), and a lot of bands really failed to make an impression, but one pleasant discovery was Rumer, a English singer who looks a bit like a cross between Adele and Emily Deschanel, and who specialises in melodic, orchestrated pop with a retro touch. Ideal lazy afternoon, Radio 2-material, and there's nothing whatsoever wrong with that.
Alice Gold - Runaway love
One of the more recent pop princess wannabe's is Alice Gold, and I have no objections, your honor.
Katy Perry - Last Friday night (T.G.I.F.)
Never really got into her previous "E.T."-single, but this one really hits the spot. The outfits and haircuts in the video are a bit like "Hot Tub Time Machine", and the song and lyrics are pretty funny as well ("think I'll have a ginger ale/that was such an epic fail").
Kaiser Chiefs - Little shocks
I was really unimpressed with recent Kaiser Chiefs performances, and the new single is just no fun.
Rock/Indie
Cold War Kids - Finally begin
Seems like somebody slipped these guys a Vampire Weekend cd, the African-inspired guitars polishes their once edgy sound into the realms of all things pop.
The Naked And The Famous - Young blood
It doesn't happen that often that a band from New Zealand attempts an international breakthrough, but these kiwis with their bombastic, electronic sound might just have a shot.
Death Cab For Cutie - You are a tourist
The main selling point of the new DCFC single is the repetitive cheerful guitar riff. Ben Gibbards haircut may induce temporary blindness and should be punishable by law.
The Horrors - Still life
The Horrors are back, once again with a new sound, slower and less eerie and abrasive than the "Primary Colours"-record.
Bon Iver - Calgary
Nothing wrong with the new Bon Iver single, choosing a less acoustic and more electronic path than the "For Emma, forever ago"-album. Almost has a sacral, religious vibe to it.
The Shoes - People moving
Two brothers from France, recommended for "Tv On The Radio"-fans, because the vocals sound very similar.
The Joy Formidable - Whirring
Hitting the radio waves from Wales, this female fronted three-piece and their bombastic indie rock. The frontwoman is called Ritzy, if someone was looking for baby names inspiration. I'd never heard of the word 'abacus', but with a little help from my trusted friend wiktionary, I'll go ahead and guess it's used here in it's architectural meaning: "The uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, immediately under the architrave."
The Joy Formidable - A heavy abacus
Glasvegas - Lots sometimes
There's not a lot of buzz regarding the latest album by these Scots, but anyone with a lost adolescent crush will be able to relate to the lyrics here.
Warpaint - Bees
Saw this track in the Glastonbury coverage and it blew me away. Great, compelling bass sound. Fabulous song structure. Eerie guitar riffs. The post-rock influence in the riffs bar the usual obligatory endless repetitiveness. The fun thing about this band is trying to ascertain which band member is the hottest. The main vocalist used to be/is a model, and the main guitarist dated John Frusciante once upon a time, but the slightly boyish bassist is also a force to be reckoned with, and we all know there's nothing sexier than a female that knows how to play the drums. Really tough call.
Yuck - Holing out
Album review coming up, this London outfit is succesfully reviving the nineties alternative rock/grunge scene. They seem to have a thing for videos that aren't quite suited for work, and this track features pretty much the same guitar solo twice because it's that good.
This a repost of a rough version of the post because the one I made disappeared...just like that. Not cool, blogger.com! This was the second to last edit, so there may still be some slight typo's or grammatical errors, I don't feel like correcting them for the second time around, so you'll have to bear with me.
Dance/Elektro
Katy B - Lights on
Katy B is - or so I'm told - the comtemporary queen of commercial dubstep-influenced music. Really digged the "Katy on a mission"-single and the collaboration with Magnetic Man, and here comes the second single. Ms. Dynamite is kind of annoying here, and Katy only barely pulls off a Beyonce-style vocal in the second verse, but all in all, another good track, even though the version I hear on the radio seems to have the little bit of punch that this youtube version is lacking. Lyrically, this is the English counterpart of "Nein Mann". Funny thing is, they try to make a glamourous video with lots of flashy lights, but we see Katy mostly in oversized sweaters and simple tank tops. Oh, and for someone from a dubstep origin, I expected her dance moves to be a lot better, I must say.
Robyn - Call your girlfriend
Yet another excellent elektro-pop track by Robyn, she's clearly on a roll with her string of Body Talk Ep's and albums. Although I was a little disappointed when I saw she performed with a voice track running in the background on Jimmy Kimmel.
Poolside - Do you believe?
Nice and superchill track based solely around a piano-riff. Could just as well have been a Chilly Gonzales track.
Morning Parade - Under the stars
I've heard some people say this is a promising band and this song has a nice build-up. Unfortunately, this is all very untrue. The structure of this track is just a mess, the elektro parts of this track have been done a lot better by Animal Collective and Delphic, and to make matters even worse, the singer sounds a lot like the one from Linkin Park on certain song parts. Skiiiip.
Miami Horror - Sometimes
And now for the New Order adepts of the week, Miami Horror. Decent enough track, the video has a distinct Lost-feel.
UK
Arctic Monkeys - Don't sit down 'cause I've moved your chair
On their previous album "Humbug", we got to know the slower, heavier side (reminds me of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club a little) of the Arctic Monkeys, and looks like they're trying to develop that side even more on the new album. To me, it sounds a little generic and boring, and lyrically, Alex Turner seems a little lost here too. "Do the macarena in the devils lair" is a disappointing line from the man that once poignantly described contemporary British youth culture. And besides, Mauro is the only person I know that can pull that style of nonsensical lyrics off.
Miles Kane - Rearrange
Incidentally, the other member of Last Shadow Puppets is also back and recently released his first solo single (without his - now defunct?- band The Rascals). Definitely closer to Last Shadow Puppets than Alex Turners latest endeavours. Not the kind of stuff that has me running to the music/iTunes store, but this is well orchestrated pop, perfect radio material. Oh, and Miles, I just got off the phone with Sir Paul McCartney, and he wants his sixties haircut back, sorry matey!
Adele - Set fire to the rain
So I wasn't too found of Adele's first single of her "21"-album. I like this one better. I read somewhere that she's a good and loose performer so I checked out her performance in the Jools Holland show, I found her to be a little too static.
Everything Everything - Schoolin'
And now for something completely different, how about some prog-rock people? A modest hype in the UK, but I doubt this is material continental Europe is going to fall for. Really rhythmic with some slight African influences, I guess you could make a Talking Heads reference? Summarizing: if you decide to check this out, chances are you will be horrible annoyed by this track, but I can guarantee it won't bore you.
Cat's Eyes - Face in the crowd
Faris Badwan from The Horrors pairing up with a female opera singer to make girl group influenced record (well, an EP to be exact). That's interesting to say the least. Luckily, it's not one aria after another on the debut single, Badwan sings most of the verse and Rachel Zeffira sings the chorus, the tempo of the latter being the main appeal of this song. Fans of The Raveonettes should normally dig this. The director of this video might just be a big fan of the "Bohemian Rhapsody"-video.
The Vaccines - If you wanna
Yet again, the new single by The Vaccines fails to really deliver a surprise, but it's a poppy up-tempo track and the singers voice is a lot less annoying on this one so I can dig this. The video is a simple performance video.
Belgium
Hooverphonic - Anger never dies
This is Hooverphonic in full "James Bond soundtrack"-mode, pretty much what they are best at. A lot of strings, a functional rhythm section and some subtle, well dosed guitar licks, and a track that fits the new vocalist better than the previous one. Most played track on Italian radio this week, and in fact, most video comments seem to be in Italian. The video featured Noemi Wolfs performing in a club (gentleman or sailors, I can't really tell), dancing away, alternating between Japanese martial arts stances (I definitely see the cranebird at some point) and Vanessa Chinitor "Like the wind"-esque moves.
SX - Black video
Already featured this song in the previous post, but they played an excellent live version at the radio studio so here they are again. Also caught their live set in Roeselare a couple weeks back, but that was mildly disappointing, to be honest. Couple of good ideas, but not enough to fill a half-hour set, and the soundmix was also sub-optimal. Check the live version of Black Video here.
Amatorski - Soldier
I can be really short here, the Portishead "Three"-album influence here is inevitable. Good thing they are evolving into new areas, but you really can't top Portishead - Machine gun when it comes to eerieness.
Hong Kong Dong - Lesbians are a boy's best friend
(First of all, let me warn you now that the video below contains some (albeit non-vulgar, I might add) display of body parts that are usually kept (and hidden from sight) in a brassière and should therefor be watched in a discrete non-working environment.) Hong Kong Dong is a Ghent-based band with Sarah Yu and Boris Zeebroek (siblings and comedian Kamagurka's human progeny) sharing vocal duties, although you will be hearing mainly Boris on this one. This is arty(-farty), alternative rock, and does a good job at sounding different. This is sexy and catchy, and stands out because of the high-pitched falsetto vocals. Boris is sporting white shoes and ditto pants, and a bright pink shirt and ditto bathrobe. In a Belgian music video environment where the only way to look pimp is to wear a costume (Triggerfinger, Customs and Hooverphonic spring to mind) or be a hipster (hello Bent from Das Pop), we've reached a whole new level of super-pimp right here. Good stuff.
My homies in Hessian made a video for a song of their debut EP. Get ready to be blown away, video's really well done as well. Heavily metal-influenced hardcore (don't expect any mosh parts), the guitar sound brings Entombed to mind.
Other
Foo Fighters - White Limo
Well, Dave and his mates (teaming up with Pat Smear from Nirvana and The Germs fame) released yet another seemingly mediocre record, but at least this advance single was lots of fun. Big thumbs up for the nineties performance video parody and the Andrew WK headbanging moves.
Jonathan Jeremiah - Happiness
Hearing the song on the radio, I expected a Barry White-shaped Afro-American, but turns out Jonathan Jeremiah is bearded,slim Caucasian. Nice little track, not too much more I can say about this. For fans of: Ray Lamontagne.
Crystal Fighters - At home
Crystal Fighters is Spanish-English band. They use some traditional Basque instruments and elements, but luckily, they don't sound too folky. This track has a distinct eighties feel, and truthfully, when I first heard it, I really heard Asian influences.
Lykke Li - I follow rivers
This is a really simple song, but the playful production with the fun bongo sounds make it a fun song nevertheless. The same playfulness Lykke Li seems to have lost a little, judging from her Jools performance. Stale and boring, nothing like the Pukkelpop performance a couple years back when she actually moved around on stage and did Vampire Weekend-covers.
Foster the people - Pumped up kicks
This is a strong candidate for the "summer hit 2011"-award. Still not that sure if the song is really about shooting kids, but this laid-back track is hard to resist and the chorus is likely to be lodged in your skull for several days to come.
Smith Westerns - Weekend
In every interview I've read with this band, the interviewer tends to focus on the young age of the band members. They're the American counterpart of Freaky Age, so to speak. If you're having Hanson flashbacks right about now, don't worry, it's not that bad. This is a supermelodic, dreamy track with a lot of "ooh ooh" backing vocals, a lot of good influences and an fairly obvious Beach Boys-reference in the short intro. "Do you think it's normal/to go through life oh so formal?"
Best Coast - When the sun don't shine
I shot a couple of videos at the nearby Best Coast concert a couple of weeks ago. They don't have the best live reputation, but the set left little to be desired. No shortage of "oooh-oooh-oooh"-type vocals to say the least. Bobb Bruno (on the right) was wearing a shirt by some obscure black metal band. That guy rules. Check the video below and you can easily find the other ones I also uploaded.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Heart in your heartbreak
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is back with their second full length album called 'Beyond'. "Heart in your heartbreak" is another fresh, poppy track that does not disappoint for a second. In the video, the band is wearing whigs and helping out in a music instrument store.
Random nineties
Sugar Ray - Mean machine
Sugar Ray's first couple of singles were pretty cool, but then the band chose a commercial pathway and things got less interesting. This song still sounds as awesome as it did 15 years ago, I just love the attitude. The singer is going for the Bobby "Twin Peaks" Briggs look, the bass player is going for the Scott "red hair phase" Weiland look, the guitarists moves are just plain awesome and there's also a bulldog in there.
LOL
Rebecca Black - Friday
Closing off with the LOL song of recent times, you probably saw this video already.. Plenty of laughs in both the lyrics and the awkward dance moves-department, although I must say I kind of enjoy the particular language accent."Gi'in down on Friday!"
As you may have heard, Beth Ditto from Gossip recorded a solo EP with the help from Simian Mobile Disco. First single has an interesting theme, and sounds like a more electronic, slowed down en toned down version of the Gossip. The video is stylish in black and white, apple cheeks!
The Strokes - Under cover of darkness
In one way or another, the media always treat a new The Strokes single like we're back in the year 2001 and The Strokes are still the next best thing in rock, whereas in real life, following the lackluster succes of their Room on fire album (their best), the big masses have long moved on to other bands and genres. So turns out, The Strokes aren't going to save rock and roll, but this up-tempo single is their most infectuous track in a long time.
Noah And The Whale - L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.
The verse from this band's new track undeniably has a melody and rhythm similar to this or this. And the melody in the "and you're going your own way"-line is also something I recognize from something.
Glasvegas - Euphoria, take my hand
The new Glasvegas album is entitled "EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\" with the slashes and backslashes symbolizing the emotional rise and fall of a love crush. Man, that's real deep. Wasn't all too convinced of their debut album, on the new album, the vocals seem to get even more productional emphasis, not really my liking. The Scottish accent also seems to have increased, rendering the lyrics even more non-intelligible. Also, the guitars on this track have a slight bagpipe feel, which has been done better in the past (see Big Country below) . This video looks quite expensive, unfortunately, we don't get a good peek at the new percussionist.
The Raveonettes - Recharge & Revolt
Their new track isn't really exciting. There, I've said it. It's long, it drags on, nothing much happens. This being said, I'll probably end up buying their new album anway, because I'm a fanboy like that. The video makes it painfully clear why Sune Rose tends to wear his sunglasses. I'm estimating he's at 0.8 Robert Smith on the scale of facial puffiness.
Dance
Chilly Gonzales - You can dance
Straight males and females of the lesbian persuasion should have no problem whatsoever keeping their focus on this video. I like the disco touch and the overall simplicity of this track a lot.
Nero - me and you
Looks like Nero used to be a Streets of Rage and Out Run fan. S to the Ega.
Chase And Status - blind faith
Another comtemporary dance track by drum and bass heroes Chase and Status. I like both vocalists.
Gyptian - Hold ya
You'd think that to accompany this emotional, heartfelt reggae track, they'd stray from the standard reggae music video concept. But you thought wrong, this is buttgrinding to every imagineable nearby surface once again. Shame.
Biffy Cliro - Folding Stars
This track dates from a while back, but I saw it on the new Xite music video channel, and boy, does this track sound a lot like Foo Fighters "The Colour and the shape"-era or what? Even the frontman's beard reminisces of the late nineties Dave Grohl.
Compatriots
SX - Black video
Spectacularly good and atmospheric track by a new band from Kortrijk. Very promising stuff. The video features a nerdglasses-adorned blonde girl with freckles, which just so happens to be the singer. In other words, you have no excuse not to check this out.
Intergalactic Lovers - Delay
I already mentioned Intergalactic Lovers a couple of blog posts back with their debut single. A lot has happened for the Aalst-based band since then apparently, they signed to a major record label, and return with a new single, which sounds bigger and more mature (even though I appreciated the naivety in their earlier work). It took me a couple of listens to get used to the rock sound meets jazzy vocals formula, but the chorus definitely sticks. Not sure if this is special enough to break through internationally. The music video seems to have been delayed (get it?), until the international release, I'm guessing?
Marble Sounds - Sky high
Nice, fragile track from the dude that used to be in Plastic Operator .
Mastercab - Strange
I used to think this band (featuring a radio station producer on vocals) was just a hobby project, but this single reveals their ambitions lie beyond that. As ambitious as the cleavage in this video?
Teddiedrum - Miami
It took some time, but we finally have a (slightly less funky) Belgian response to Chromeo . The lazy phrasing of the vocals kind of reminds me of Balthazar. Excellent moustaches too. Good stuff.
Das Pop - The game
Packaging your new album with a magazine for an interesting fee, that's nothing we haven't seen before. But Das Pop found a new edge to that concept, by selecting horrendously ugly cover art for the pre-release. I guess people that like the discount won't mind too much, but it's definitely not an album you'll put in a prominent physical position in your cd collection, I'm guessing. Usually, the waiting period for a new Das Pop album is quite extensive, but this time around, seems like things moved pretty fast, even though the album was recorded/mixed/mastered pretty much everywhere (being able to record your album in exotic locations is pretty much what separates the little fish from the big boys in the Belgian music industry). Song itself isn't bad, and does sound a little different than we're used to.
Lady Linn & Her Magnificent Seven - Cry Baby
So apparently, Lady Linn wants to conquer the French market now? Professional track (Lien masters the whole sixties American accent and song buildup, the song does lack a bit of a punch and excitement however, don't you think?), professional (and leggy!) video. Lien rocks a pro asymmetrical haircut (kinda makes her look Joke Devinck -> bonus points) and a light purple blouse that seems to be just a teensy bit too tight.
The Bony King Of Nowhere - Eleonore
Like this track, but I probably couldn't bear listening to a 20 minutes (live or record) of this however. Nice job on the Boudewijn De Groot haircut, man. #irony
Random eighties
Prefab Sprout - King of rock 'n' roll
A track that regretfully didn't come to mind when I was feverishly making eighties compilations (I did get Cars and Girls by the same band though) a while back. Came across this music video while flipping through some channels and I got the kind of goosebups you get when you hear a track you used to know again for the first in 15 years. I have literally watched/listened to this a hundred times in the last weeks. Flawless track (the guitar licks!, the question-response mechanics of the verse melody!, the speedup in the chorus!, the la-la-la-la backing vocals!, the utterly nonsensical chorus lyrics!) and a completely silly video to top it off. "Now my rhythm ain't so hot/but it's the only thing I've got/all the pretty birds have flown/now I'm dancing on my own/I'm the king of rock and roll/completely". See for yourself if you can resist the blue-eyed, spectacled ginger singer!
Big Country - In a big country
I know, trying to make guitars sound like bagpipes is a scary prospect, and brings nightmarish folkrock-visions like The Levellers to mind, but this track actually succeeds in making it sound cool. Of course, eighties Top of the Pops videos are always cool. Check out the haircuts and pants in this one. I think this track also contains my favourite pronounciation ever of the word 'Desert'. Kinda sounds like "Deeeeseeeeuuueueurt". The bass player is really feeling it, too.
A new year, a new BBC's Sound of 20xx list. The list has become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, because it only features artists that are releasing singles or albums in the first couple of months of the new year. Still, we can check out a couple of artists, now can't we?
Jessie J - Do it like a dude
Jessie J won, but I'm not feeling her style at all.
The Vaccines - Post break-up sex
The Vaccines came in third. They sound like The Strokes with some girl group influences. Not really fond of the way theee siiingeeeeer prooolooongs hiiiis voooweeeeels while singing. Really, this is nothing new, I'm missing something.
Anna Calvi - Jezebel
Anna Calvi didn't make the top 5, but I like the bravado she displays. Looks like she's a solid live performer as well. Getting rave reviews everywhere, keep an eye out for this.
Ozark Henry - In the air tonight
I'm not going to say bad things about the new Ozark Henry single, it builds up nicely, and the lyrics are luckily less obvious than the horribly boring "this one's for you/this one's for me"-line from the previous single from the Hvelreki album. The reason why I'm including this track, is because of the uncanny resemblance between the opening melody of this track, and the opening melody of Melee. Not saying this is plagiarism or anything, but still...
Sherman - I'm on your side
Sticking with Belgian artists that like to live abroad for a while, I featured the Sherman single before, but now the official video is out (HD, so full screen is an option). Steven is looking good in this one (no homo), and the same can definitely be said about the female protagonist. Simple idea, executed well. GG.
Eliza Doolittle - Skinny genes
Eliza Doolittle has great legs. Or at least, she seems to think she does, since she's wearing hotpants seemingly everywhere she goes/shows up. I find the image she likes to present of herself highly confusing: her music has a distinct bubblegum pop-vibe that can appeal to the younger folks, on the other hand, the outfits sometimes seem to target a more adult audience. Check out the sleeziest purple halter top you'll see in a video this year (and the resulting sideb00b) in this video. I like the wordplay in the title though.
Cold War Kids - Louder than ever
Music critics overall lament the more poppy direction in which Cold War Kids are heading on their new album, however, I like the new single. It's catchy.
Agnes Obel - Riverside
Think Duyster. Something in the realm between Emiliana Torrini and Hanne Hukkelberg. Danish.
Kidda - Strong together
Nothing too special about this one, but it does have the "cheer you up" (if you were thinking about the pin up club right about now, that's your perverted mind, not mine!) quality.
A lot of singles seem to hit the radio waves these days that are just bland and don't bring anything fresh in terms of lyrics or melodies. I'd urge you to stay away from the ones listed below. Either the music selectors @ stubru are slacking, or maybe the prospect of turning thirty in a couple of months is making me jaded, I don't know.
Fenech Soler - Demons
Band is called Fenech Soler. Pretty much says it all.
Neon Trees - Animal
This track by Neon Trees has an annoying chorus, and I feel I have to warn you about a band called The Plea (can't find a youtube link for this one), a new four-piece from Ireland that seem to think that there is not enough U2 to go around.
The Smiths special
I recently rediscovered the The Smiths...Best I & II compilations we got lying around here, and whereas previous attempts to really get into all the tracks had failed, this time, thanks to the World Of Warcraft "albums on endless repeat because I'm too lazy to alt-tab out and switch cd's and really, I hadn't noticed this was the fifth consecutive time the same album was playing anyway"-marathon-playing-session-haze, I'm finally hooked. I read somewhere that some people find the track selection of this double "best of" album to be random and ill-picked, I myself can live with it. Maybe the problem is that The Smiths had so many good tracks even 2 albums doesn't suffice to include them all.
So first of all, I strongly urge you to check out this (or any for that matter) The Smiths "best of" album you can get your hands on. Really, this is elementary and über-influential listening material, right up there with Pornography and Disintegration by The Cure and Unknown Pleasures and Closer by Joy Division.
I also want to share some The Smiths facts that I was unfamiliar with before:
I guess I only knew the poppy side of the Smiths before, but actually they started out with some post punk influences, which you can hear on their earlier tracks. Usually the lyrics by the Mozzer and the guitar work by Marr get the most praise, but there's actually some pretty good basslines going on as well in the earlier days, when the bass player wasn't doing too much drugs and stuff.
As far as music videos go, there's not that much going on, I'm afraid. Most videos start with white letters on a black background stating the song in question, and then the rest of the video usually comprises of a The Smiths performance, with the Moz performing open-shirted (which tends to get pretty boring, probably even for the male chest enthusiasts out there), usually donning some flowers of some kind. Notable exception however would be the video for Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.
Anachronisms. Morissey seems to like to include some deliberate anachronisms into his lyrics. "As Anthony said to Cleopatra, as he opened a crate of ale" from "Some girls are bigger than others", to "And now I know how Joan of Arc felt/As the flames rose to her roman nose/and her Walkman started to melt" from "Bigmouth strikes again". There's probably more where that came from, but these are the only ones I found.
I also checked out some tracks that didn't make the best of (mostly the ones with the most interesting sounding titles, because that's how I roll), here's a rundown of some I liked:
Barbarism begins at home
A prime example of a track that's more funky than I used to accredit The Smiths for. Lyrically, a not so distant cousin of "The Headmaster Ritual". Corporal punishment was one of young Morissey's most pressing issues apparently. Musically, reminded me a little of the next three tracks.
Meat is Murder
Definitely a factor that contributes to the popularity of The Smiths within the hardcore scene to a greater or lesser extent is the fact that Morissey is a long-term vegetarian, and he explains why in the title track of their second album. The least you can say of this live rendition is that it's heartfelt.
Pretty girls make graves
Eerie guitar riff on this one. There used to be a band that went by the name of this track.
Cemetary Gates
Remarkably (given the title), this song has a light, poppy feel that reminds me of The Sundays. The intro to this track and the one to Sheila, take a bow seem to be identical.
Still ill
This probably is my favourite track on the compilation of the ones I didn't know already. Has the early post-punk vibe, and some great lines among those lyrics as well.
Girlfriend in a coma
Yet, this will probably be my all-time favourite track. Great intro, great contrast between music and lyrics, and I just love the ambiguity in the lyrics. And very concise as well.
Some girls are bigger than others
Morissey always had a great knack for picking epic song titles, but as far as I'm concerned, this one has to take the cake. Might just be the most intelligently phrased insult ever. Excellent guitar riff, lyrics are pretty poor overall on this one except for the splendid title. Oh, and there's nothing wrong with your audio system. The fade-in and fade-out in the intro are fully intentional.
