I've Softened Shipwrecks Right From The Start

Internet hype is a weird thing. Bands seem to come out of nowhere to be the next OMFG-this-is-better-than-if-Jesus-played-in-the-Beatles. The XX are one of those bands and who am I not to rave about them? Exactly. So I'm just gonna go ahead and jump on the bandwagon. They are awesome! Like like like... like Jesus featuring Hot Chip doing indie-ish rock with an R'n'B twist. Now strike the Jesus-reference. Better.

I haven't actually heard the full album yet - creatively titled XX - , but judging from reviews then it looks really interesting. Not being one to jump the gun (right) I'm just gonna go out on a limb and claim this to be one of my favorite albums so far this year... sometimes you just know, okay. Presumptious as I clearly am.

I've had a really hard time (read: scratched my head a few times) trying to pick between their two singles/videos so I took an executive decision and now I'm posting both. Yup, that's a class in Decision-Making 101 for you there.

The songs are called Crystallised and Basic Space, and they're minimalistic pieces of indie-pop brilliance. It's bare-bones kind of stuff with no superfluous effects or anything. Timid voices singing deeply intimate lyrics, sterile sampled drums played live and then great warmth from the weaving dual guitar play. Suffice to say that on the evidence of these songs, I like this band. *Hype Alert*

The XX - Crystallised



The XX - Basic Space

A Crude Art, A Bovver Boot Ballet - Equally Elegant And Ugly

Wild Beasts released one of last years best albums in Limbo, Panto and they seemed to have followed it up with an even better one in Two Dancers. Marvelous. The first single of the album is called Hooting and Howling and it is truly one of the best songs of the year so far.

Personally I'm big lyrics kind'o'guy, and in the case of this song the lyrics are mindblowingly good. Hayden Thorpe not only possesses a great voice and impressively nuanced falsetto (which he puts to great and often use), but also some serious writing chops. Every line is genius, beautifully describing a late night brawl as if it were - to quote the song - "a bovver boot ballet".

It's like reading something by Fitzgerald - simply awesome. Enjoy the lyrics in their entirity below the video.

Wild Beasts - Hooting and Howling



Carry me hooting and howling
to the river to wash off my hands
of the hot blood, the sweat and the sand
Any rival who goes for our girls will be left thumb sucking in terror
and bereft of all coffin bearers

A crude art, a bovver boot ballet - equally elegant and ugly
I was as thrilled as I was appalled, courting him in fisticuffing waltz.
Now I'm not saying the lads always deserve a braying.
And I'm not saying the girls are worth the fines I'm paying.

We're just brutes bored in our bovver boots.
We're just brutes clowning 'round in cahoots.
We're just brutes looking for shops to loot.
We're just brutes hoping to have a hoot

Hooting, hooting and howling

Today Was A Good Day

Nike knows a thing or two about shoes, athletics wear... and ads. I recently saw the full ad for Nike SB (Nike Skateboarding for those not in the know... aka moi until, uhm, recently...), which I immediately fell for. Well, as much as you can fall for an ad. Hard.

Anywho, the ad features some great panoramic shots and a skateboarder called P-Rod (yeah, I don't know him either), but most importantly it evokes memories of Mike Mills awesome video for Air's All I Need. It's that great feeling of serenity that the skating freely and the laidback music gives off. In the case of the ad, Ice Cube's classic Today Was A Good Day (re-mixed to fit the ad... leaving out the AK47 reference was probably wise) provides the musical and storytelling backdrop, which works marvelously. Kudos Nike... now, do I get a free pair of sneakers for this? Pretty please.

Everyone'll Be There At The Burial In Your Head

Going away on holiday without phone or internet so this will be the last post for the next three or four weeks... Gonna get my tan on [and the crowd goes wild].

Anywho, on to more serious matters. The music.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson not only has the longest name in music ever (it is so long that you actually remember it just because it is so long), but also writes great songs. Buriedfed is a dramatic and rousing song that builds and builds in a really captivating manner. It starts out slowly with just the guitar and his raspy-ish voice (great voice too). Slowly and steadily more instruments and other effects are added and it becomes this great big song. It really drags you in.

If I was to do a comparison - and I have to - then I'd say that it sounds a bit like if Bright Eyes and Grizzly Bear had a love child... not only a great visual, but sonically amazing too. I really like this song, and I'm sure you will too.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Buriedfed



The song is available for free and legal download here.

Some Say We Walk Alone

The Horrors released their sophmore album, Primary Colours, this spring and it really surprised me (as it did most others, I suspect). I liked their first album (read: tolerated... I mean, it wasn't great), but this second album is really truly great. From beginning to end a great album, and one I'm quite sure will end up ranking very high on my end-of-year list (my beloved list... Mmmmmm).

I realize this post is slightly (read: very) belated and overdue, but I forgot to write back when I first heard the album (cue: sympathy). I could have just not written anything, but I haven't been able to stop listening to the album since I got it... so naturally a post was needed (yes, life is full of hard choices).

Sea Within A Sea was the first single from the album and still very much a standout track for me. It is one of the best songs, if not the best, I've heard all year and I just can't get enough. The song reminds me of krautrock á la NEU! (which is a massive compliment), while also borrowing from one of last years best songs; The Rip (by Portishead). This is probably much down to Geoff Barrows (of Portishead) producing the album.

Longwinded ramblings aside, this is a great great song which I love love. Yes yes.

The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea



I also heavily recommend listening to second single Who Can Say, which draws a bit more on personal fave's Joy Division. Again, awesome song.

Summer Is Here... This Is It (What!)

Summer is here! Which means that it is time to pause with winter records for a while and start listening to some happy and summer-y music... well, at least to some extent... Right now there are two songs that, for me, really sum up that summer is here. Those two are; Camp Lo's Luchini and The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa.

How can you fail with a beat like this? Luchini has that breezy Dynasty "Adventures In The Land Of Music"-sample that to me just screams summer. I just want to lay back with something cold in my hand and chill in the sun... yup, I chill. [Stop laughing...]

I really really really really like this song.

Camp Lo - Luchini aka. This Is It (What?)



Next song...

The Very Best released a mixtape-y sort of thing last year ( FYI, it is free and legal here) where they did semi-covers... that is, they rearranged, remixed and re-did songs, such as their cover of Architecture in Helsinki's Heart it Races called Kamphoho (one word; awesome). The group consists of Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and French- Swedish electronic duo Radioclit and have in my opinion made one of the best songs of the summer so far. The beat actually surprised the first time I heard it and I had to hear it twice before I really got it. But then it really got me. I'm already a sucker for Esau's voice so with the sunny and happy backdrop it was sure be an instant hit avec moi... oh yeah, the song also features Monsieur Koenig from Vampire Weekend (we like his voice too...).

The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa (feat. Ezra Koenig)

Wouldn't It Be Sweet If She Could Die Of A Broken Heart

I really like this song. The simple use of the keyboard obviously does it for the song, but I have to say that the video really helps me along too. The whole aloofness of the singer (Morrissey fan much?) really adds to the lyrics and the whole feeling of the song. The sepia-tinged colours also says all you need to know about what decade these guys want to look/sound like they're from... I'm still confused by the leadsinger's hair though... but maybe that's just me.

... finally, I really like the backing vocals. Especially the "Zoooh Zoooh"s (or is it "Sue Sue"?), which makes me think of Sympathy for Devil.

Catchy tune. Lovely lyrics. Great song.

Golden Silvers - Arrows of Eros

I Promise That I'll Run Away With You

Speaking of all time favorite songs... I could write endlessly about why this is one of the best songs ever, but I'll just let the song speak for itself. Love it.

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

The Cure - Just Like Heaven

Je Ne Veux Plus Pleurer, Je Ne Veux Plus Parler

I recently bought Jacques Brel's 4 on vinyl and it's been on pretty much constant rotation ever since. The undying classic on the album is of course Ne Me Quitte Pas, which is one of my all time favorite songs. The song is intense and - despite the actual meaning behind the song - very romantic. Really one of my all time favorite songs...

Jacques Brel is cooler than cool. His croon is unlike most others and you can definitely see how others like Scott Walker took inspiration from him.

Jacques Brel - Ne Me Quitte Pas

Pardon me I must say, I'm kinda like a big deal...

New video from The Clipse featuring Kanye West from their forthcoming album. I gotta say I love this. The video is pretty bleh, but the song is awesome. The Clipse are lyrically always vicious, but Kanye actually kills on this song. Great stuff... and the beat is lovely too (yup, am down with the ghetto terminology).

The Clipse - I'm Kinda Like A Big Deal (feat. Kanye West)