A new song from Congratulations, ‘Flash Delirium’ available now from WhoisMGMT.com or via this link.
It’s got a flute solo, a psychedelic soul and I’ve a feeling it won’t help them win any new fans. Tickets for their Academy show on March 20th appear to be sold out.
Made up of members of Coldplay, A-ha and Mew, Apparatjik have quietly released themselves into the music world of late. It sounds like a mix which shouldn’t work so well but the songs and Bauhaus and quantum-theorist-inspired live shows are the mark of musicians checking out of their day job for a while and collaborating on some cool multimedia stuff in the process.
Taken from their independently released album We Are Here, ‘Antlers’ is another fine slice of Scandavian-centric electro-fuelled swirling pop.
MP3: Apparatjik – Antlers
We Are Here is available now from the band’s website.
The only band at CMJ ‘09 I actually went back for second helpings of last year during the festival was Long Beach’s Crystal Antlers. The first reason is because live, they absolutely rock. Like sweaty, throw yourself around rock. The second reason is because I dig their particular brand of noisy organ-led psychedelia .
Good to hear then, that the band have two new tunes available, one ‘Dead Horse’ which pretty much follows the above vein and another ‘Little Sister’ which is of gentler persuasion but still boogie-woogie awesome.
MP3: Crystal Antlers – Little Sister
Download the songs via the widget after the jump or buy the 7″ via the band direct through Paypal. More..»
Occasionally Barry Healy pops up to recommend three albums that may be under your radar. Here are his latest selections.
Tu-Ki – Pre: Seed
Tu-ki’s pedigree as a DJ is pretty formidable. His achievements and reputation as a turntablist DJ speak for themselves. He’s a four time Irish DMC champion, winner of the 2007 Molvida World Mixing Championships, which makes it all the more embarrassing that this chump hadn’t been aware of him until now. All that aside, this is one hell of a mixtape which pays particular homage to old skool electro and hip-hop which are also represented on this 80 minute jaunt.
The age of mixtapes (albeit on CD) is certainly alive and kicking and it’s all the more valuable today as we have such easy access to a lot of mixes and podcasts etc. which are often pretty lacking in skill and record collection depth. This mixtape doesn’t suffer from the aforementioned afflictions. It sounds organic and natural managing to keep an astonishing flow and continuity while drawing from a vast vault of tunes from decades with apparent effortless ease.
It’s difficult to single out any one of the many high points on here but ‘Inspection Dirt’, Leftfield mixed with Wu-Tang gets the thumb’s up every time. The sheer brilliance of this turntable mastery will either inspire you to DJ in a hope of reaching this level or on the other hand like me, leave it to the masters and just enjoy their work.
Belfast dance-punk trio Not Squares have released their latest single Richter Collective-released ‘Asylum’ for free on their Bandcamp site. It’s a 4 minute slice of hyperactive calls and shouts set to a rollicking, frenetic beat.
I previously posted the video.
MP3: Not Squares – Asylum
Four years after they recorded their debut, Humanzi are back. Tomorrow sees the release of their second album Kingdom of Ghosts, an album long in gestation. The band decamped to Berlin for the last couple of years and the result of that city’s surroundings bears down on this record. After the band endured a perhaps unfair critical backlash, it seems they’ve come out of it stronger and more resolved.
Kingdom of Ghosts is certainly a darker record, a grittier record, a more unique record. It still draws from Humanzi’s classic rock and roll influences but there’s a greater depth here. It’s reminiscent of the likes of War Stories-era UNKLE and Queens of the Stone Age. No bad thing in my book. It is defined by Shaun Mulrooney’s seething, bellowing delivery and the fact that the band are clearly much more at home playing their instruments than ever before. It’s not arrogance, it’s belief in their abilities and it permeates the whole record. The big-sounding production (by Rob Kirwan) does a great job of showcasing this expansion. The album is out on The Firstborn is Dead recordings. Listen to the first song from the album ‘Hammer’ and watch a documentary of the making of the album after the jump.
MP3: Humanzi – Hammer
A perfect Sunday song from San Francisco’s The Morning Benders courtesy of Yours Truly once again. Download the MP3 below from the band’s forthcoming album Big Echo which was co-produced with Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor. It’s out on Rough Trade in March. You can spot Christopher Owens, the singer from Girls in this too.
Forgiveness Rock Record album art
Forgiveness Rock Record is that odd title and the free download is ‘World Sick’, what you may have come to expect from the band: a seven-minute sprawling loose big tune.
Bring on SXSW!
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Jason Buehler and Mark Shirazi aka Nice Nice and their brand of “post-everything modern music” has been stunning the socks off me this past week. Their album Extra Wow is a must-have for anyone who digs an eclectic melting pot of sounds from fuzzy, fast-paced guitars to ambient drones to whistling-past-your-brain experimental electronics to squalls of feedback and big drums. It’s not out until April though it must be said.
‘See Waves’ is the perfect introduction to them though it requires maybe a few listens to truly love. It’s indicative of the album as a whole; dizzying tribal rhythms and a nod to a now Warp Records staple, label mates Battles. It’s only February but already Warp is on course for another great year with albums from Gonjasufi, Jamie Lidell, Autechre, Flying Lotus and Lonelady.
A Warp Nice Nice Player is below with some live video and more tunes from the record. You’re going to be listening to more of Nice Nice this year so you may as well start now. Download a couple of more tracks from Warp 2010 here.
I’m giddy like a Japanese schoolgirl about the imminent return of Broken Social Scene. A new as yet untitled album is due on May 1st on City Slang / Co-Op and they’ll be playing SXSW next month which I hope to catch. I’ve fond memories of all their Dublin shows particularly the Temple Bar Music Centre gig in 2006 and their two albums You Forgot in In People and Broken Social Scene are amongst my favourite albums ever. ‘7/4 (Shoreline)’ is one of my favourite tunes ever too.
The new album was produced by Tortoise’s John McEntire mainly in Toronto and Chicago and features the usual guests Feist, Amy Millan, Emily Haines, Jason Collett and loads more. The core group is now Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman, Sam Goldberg and Lisa Lobsinger. That’s four guitarists, a bassist a drummer and three vocalists. You can read more about the new album in a Kevin Drew interview with Pitchfork.
MP3: Broken Social Scene – 7/4 (Shoreline)
This tune was sent to me late last night by a mate wanting to know more. Unfortunately, there is very little to know about the cryptic Selfish Replicators at the moment apart from the fact that this song was disseminated amongst a small number of music blogs (hello MP3hugger) and that the band are possibly from Norway.
Describing them as a Scandinavian Grizzly Bear means you probably won’t need to know much else. ‘Strands’ is definitely reminiscent of the Bear in its delicately arranged percussive timbres and its guitar line particularly. Whoever this band are it’s an awesome introduction.
