April Favourites: Old and New
Lost Lander: Afraid of Summer
With the impending heat-waves spreading throughout Britain (disregard if you are a northerner) this is a great track for all of those not looking forward to the long, tedious, empty summer months. You can listen here and download for free (awsum)
http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Lost_Lander/track/Afraid_of_Summer/embed/
Best Coast: The Only Place
Best Coast are back just in time for summer! Huzzah. A song to make you envious of all Californians, Best Coast are making a cleaner and tighter sound with this premiere. You can listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoPoRuNTo9U and also get this as a free download from http://www.bestcoast.us/presale/.
When The Saints Go Machine- Bittersweet Symphony
Covering Britpop classics can either go one of two ways. It can go as dreadfully as this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX-cZv1MS08 or it can actually sound something like a decent song that you could listen to without the entire contents of a packet of cotton wool stuffed in your ears. The Copenhagen quartet manage to keep the Bitter Sweet integrity of the song, whilst adding their own dimensions to it. Check out and download this and others on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/whensaintsgomachine.
The Cure- Another Journey By Train
Albums of B-sides and “rarities” don’t tend to work for me. The general rule of thumb is bands want to make money without having to record anything new, so release the songs that didn’t quite make the cut first time round. The Cure’s ‘Join The Dots’ isn’t the most remarkable of albums, however with their Reading 2012 headline confirmed, I decided to delve into their back catalogues to find some gems hidden in this album. It takes a bit to find them, but it’s definitely worth it.
Keaton Henson: You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are
The elusive Henson’s debut album was released 2nd April and already is one of my favourites of the year. The man himself is like a little fawn, rarely gigging to many people and generally staying out of the limelight and this tenderness and humility is reflected throughout his whole album. He also has some great artwork to check out too.
Bill Callahan - Heaven Help The Child
Check out Bill Callahan’s beautiful version of Mickey Newbury’s 1971 ballad, Heaven Help The Child.
The track is available now as a split 7” with Newbury’s original version. It follows the 2011 release of Newbury’s An American Trilogy box set - MOJO’s Reissue Of The Year.
Got more sass than Bey
The 11 Albums of ‘11 (3-1)
#3 Tom Vek- Leisure Seizure
To say that you are a self-taught multi-instrumentalist must be a pretty cool thing to drop on people at parties. Unfortunately, to be a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, you have to lock yourself in a room for six years eating nothing but pastrami and taking drugs imported from the middle east. At least I think that is what Tom Vek has been doing, because something weird must have gone on to get an album this good. The modular, glittery, electronic sounds that Vek has created are yet to be rivalled by any of his contemporaries. This album seems to exist outside any genres and labels in its own little universe.
#2 Washed Out- Within and Without
Many music critics have praised (or blamed) American musician Ernest Greene for the rise of “chillwave” artists in the past few years. Whilst Greene is considered a pioneer of the genre, this album is so much more than just another chillwave clone. Whilst Greene employs heavy processing, looping, overdubbing, sampling and many other techniques used in the genre it still isn’t a chillwave album. There are some who don’t like the muffled nature of the lyrics; I see it as Greene being experimental with the way that we view the song- the word used more as just sounds that speak for themselves to help us gain a connection. However, what really sets this album apart from the pack is how emotive Greene’s songs are. You can see from the album artwork that the album takes us to new heights of intimacy with the artist so that the listener has no choice to connect with Greene in an almost sexual way.
#1 The Antlers- Burst Apart
If I had happened to have written the 9 Albums of ‘09 one of the top- if not the- would most definitely have been Brooklyn based The Antlers’ debut album Hospice. The aforementioned is an album full of songs that were packed to the brim with desperation, longing for hope and a bleak melancholy expressed by very little other bands. Had they embarked on writing Hospice Mark 2, I would fear for the emotional well-being of both lyricist Silberman and anyone who happened to thought: “What’s the worst that could happen if I listen to this album?” 2011 definitely was a year of reinvention, with drastic moves seen here in this Top 11 from bands such The Horrors and Metronomy. The Antlers reinvention was the most remarkable though. With Burst Apart, they have written an album that is a lot more uplifting and leaves us with a taste of positivity in our mouths after listening; even if the songs aren’t all about strawberries and orgasms. It takes us to the same depths of sadness, moves within in us in the same way that Hospice did; but this time it takes a step back from itself, embarks in a new direction and brings us something really worthwhile.
First Aid Kit - “Wolf”
An amazing bonus standout track from the heavily hyped Swedish folk-duo First Aid Kit’s sophmore album The Lion’s Roar.
Miike Snow feat. Lykke Li – “Black Tin Box”
Miike Snow joins forces with fellow Swede Lykke Li for their track “Black Tin Box”, taken from their upcoming LP Happy to You. Take a listen below!
I literally cannot wait for their new album. Feburary 13th oh yee
