Better Late Than Never?

So about a year ago French Kicks made their single Abandon available for download and now (yes, now... 1 year later) the video is out.... Better late than never, I guess.

The song was one of my definite favorites from last year and it was pretty much a constant feature on my iPod. The only reason it didn't make my year-end list was that I wasn't sure it was from 2008 (how cool am I?). Definitely one of the very best indie rock songs 0f 2008.

French Kicks - Abandon



The song can still be downloaded (legally) from stereogum here. Do it!

Love Is A Boat And We're Sinking

I've been loving Dinosaur Pile- Up for a while now and I thought it was about time that I gave them some bloglove too. Their music is a mix of the indie rock á la The Strokes and grunge. Remember grunge? Yeah, it's become a much maligned term, but who cares when the music sounds great... and worry not, I haven't seen any flannel shirts. Yet.

"Love is a Boat and We're Sinking" is great indie rock (almost poppy), while "My Rock'n'Roll" is very reminiscent of Foo Fighters circa The Color and The Shape (an album I'm especially partial to). Enjoy!

Dinosaur Pile- Up - Love Is a Boat and We're Sinking



Dinosaur Pile- Up - My Rock'n'Roll

Now We Can See

So simple. So good. 'nuff said.

The Thermals - Now We Can See

I Need Wheels!

Best rap song ever (ever!). A 13-year-old kid rapping about needing a car so he can see his girls... how can something so wrong seem so right?

Lil' Mac - I Need Wheels

April Fools

The best joke I've seen this year's april fools has got to be the one done by Qualcomm. Wireless Convergence has been taken to the next level!



The site is also well worth a visit. Someone has really put an effort in to it... I love it.

Vlad the Impaler

The first song and video from Kasabian's forthcoming album has just been revealed and it's quite something. The song is a return to the more electronic- feel of the first album. Heavy bass-y sound (as on both their albums), but less of a indie rock sound - which you sort of had on the last album. I really like this song, but you can't really say that it's a radio hit pop song.

... the excellent video with Noel Fielding (Mighty Boosh remains one of my favorite tv shows... eels eels!) should however give them plenty of views.

You can download the song for free at Kasabian's website... in exchange for your email... here!

Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler


Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler from Kasabian on Vimeo.

Epic! Simply Epic

A masterpiece...

Village People - Sex Over The Phone



A natural follow-up to Beta Satan's 666?

... and why do people feel the need to write malicious things under videos on youtube? They're a bunch of eff's and cee's those people, if you ask me...

Current Favorites

Great Music. 'nuff said.

Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game



Just that synth-y fuzz and the lovely swirling guitar riff alone make it brilliant. Love it!

Heartless Bastards - The Mountain



Loving Erika Wennerström's great voice and the way it becomes increasingly intense. I'm also really partial to the pace of the song. Great song.

Winter Gloves - Let Me Drive



Reminds me of Elle s'appelle who I really really liked... why do great bands have to split so early? Not to take anything away from this song... just another reason why I like it.

Pop Gone Afro

Afropop and afrobeat have been around ever since Fela Kuti and Tony Allen sat down together and produced those wonderful songs way back when... Talking Heads and Paul Simon then took influence from it and created some fantastic music on their respective albums Remain in Light and Graceland album. However, since then there have been scant with pop bands referencing afrobeat. Yes, Manu Chao and Amadou & Mariam* have had a fair amount of success, but it wasn't really until Vampire Weekend last year - and to some extent TV on the Radio, The Foals and Yeasayer - that there were succesful indie bands who explicitly pointed to afrobeat as a direct influence.

* Amadou & Mariam's Damon Albarn produced Sabali is by the way one of 2008's definite highlights

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa



Lo and behold, now it seems that afrobeat influences are cropping up in pop and it's great. Afrobeat has such a happy sound to it which really fits pop and makes for great infectious happy music. Two recent examples - and personal favorites, of course - are Slow Club and Jack Peñate's recent singles.

Sidebar: Knowing Peñate's last output this new direction is markedly different and so much better than the Wham!-inspired pop he did before (Wham! as inspiration... Wtf?).

Anywho, enjoy these bits of afrobeat-tinged pop:

Slow Club - Because We're Dead



Jack Peñate - Tonight's Today

Kool Kovers

Sonic Youth - Eternal (left) and Choir of Young Believers - Burn the Flag EP (right)

Now chances are very slight that Sonic Youth was inspired by Choir of Young Believers, but you have to agree with me that the concepts of the album art are not entirely dissimilar. Actually, the concepts are close to identical - the fonts even look the same... so maaaaaybe...

...naaah...

This is as good an excuse as any to put this up though:

Sonic Youth - Kool Thing ("on post-modern MTV"... simply brilliant)