Category: music

Hey up Jude

We all know The Temptations. We all know their hits too. My Girl, Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, Ball of Confusion, Cloud Nine and Just my imagination to name a few. Dig a little deeper though and snuck away on their 1969 album is a frankly spanking cover of The Beatles’ Hey Jude. Have a listen. If you don’t like it then fair enough. You can’t please all the people all of the time.

Also on the album is the politically minded Message From A Black Man which RZA sampled for his recent You Can’t Stop Me Now. That’s right fact fans.

My Mercury`s in Retrograde

Just nipped over to the Bloc Party site to check the new single out. After previous single Flux they could have gone two ways and it looks like the electronics have won out. It seems strange to completely abandon the Gang Of Four punkiness that made them so popular in the first place. Maybe they’ve all got ADD? Maybe Kele got a sampler for his birthday?

I like it though. I enjoyed their first album but I never got round to getting the 2nd album because what I heard of it sounded like more of the same. After this I’m interested to see what they end up doing.

Personally I’m all for bands throwing a curveball and doing what the hell they want. It’ll make fans, lose fans, create reactions of “meh” but you can’t fault a band for trying something new.

Remi Gaillard & Hot Chip

Remi Gaillard (what do you mean you’ve never heard of him? Me neither….) is according to Wikipedia, a French Prankster. At first I thought that that was a contender for oxymoron of the year. However, after watching this video it seems that Remi can prove us wrong after all. This following video of his football skills is great. I showed it to my mate Paul who said “he goes through some balls”. Yes he does but he also has balls of steel. Check it….

Also, I may be behind the times on this one but I’ve only just come across Hot Chip’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing. A fine fine cover of a classic. You can hear the full track at last.fm – http://www.last.fm/music/Hot+Chip/_/Sexual+Healing

Drop us a line and let me know what you think. I think it’s quality.

Long Time No Blog

Yeah well. I’ve been a busy lad going out and doing fun things such as drinking beer, watching Queens of the Stone Age live at Leeds Uni, watching United win a lot. I’ve also been doing things which aren’t so much fun such as visiting hospitals, working and sleeping but they’re necessary evils and there is sod all I can do about them.

In other news, musically this year is shaping up just fine. There are a few new releases over the next couple of months, which if you don’t check out, you’re missing out.

Out this week is the long awaited Saturnalia album from The Gutter Twins.

A dark, brooding, swirling mass of gothic guitar, collaboration between The Afghan Whigs Greg Dulli and everyone’s favourite whiskey drenched Leonard Cohen alike hired gun Mark Lanagen.

You can hear the brilliance in it’s entirity onine but not sure for how long though.

Next week, 10/03/08, sees the UK release of MGMT’s debut, Oracular Spectacular;

Can the album meet the expectations set out by the “Flaming Lips-on-acid” single Time to Pretend though?

Also out on the 10th is Hercules and Love Affair.

New York based DJ Andy Butler pulls in Anthony (and the JOhnsons) Hegarty and Tim Goldsworty (of DFA and LCD Soundsystem) to create a sound with more than a nod to 70s Disco. Lead single Blind gives you a taster of what to expect…

The 24th of March ushers in a couple of noteworthy releases. Firstly, oddly monikerd young noisy electro upstarts Does It Offend You, Yeah? release their debut album, You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into.

Expect more noise in the same vein as We Are Rockstars.

I’ll be going to see them at Leeds Cockpit on the 28th so expect some photos and shit. See you there?

Second release, is new album Diamond Hoo Ha from old hands Supergrass.

A return to the upbeat old Supergrass following 2006 expectedly low-key underated Road to Rouen. New track Bad Blood would suggest that’s the battle plan;

Also, props must go to United in seeing off Lyon to progress through to the next stage of the Champions League. Is this year a repeat of 99? Heres hoping….

Monday, bloody Monday

Mondays are generally nothing to write home about. Judaeo-Christians say Sunday is the first day of the week but that’s nothing to celebrate either. Sunday is shit too as it’s just a build up Monday.

Once in a while though you have a Monday which is actually pretty decent. Work is a laugh, you manage to get off your arse and do some excercise to rid the Christmas pounds, you make yourself a really decent bit of scran for tea, and you find out that Jaime Lidell is back in the studio. A new video has surfaced on YouTube of him and his and his cohorts performing an untitled track.

If you’ve not heard Jamie’s stuff before I urge you to pick up his 2005 album Multiply. Hopefully with the promise of a new album comes the promise of live dates. I managed to see him at Glastonbury 2005 and he blew my wellies off and it would be great to see him again.

Another thing that has perked up my normally mundane Monday are Bag Raiders. Coming across like a less Gallic, (they’re Aussies after all) Daft Punk Justice Ratatat crossbreed, I hope they make an album as good as their Fun Punch EP.

Available to download at Juno. Just buy it alright. Go on. It’s cheaper than a pint FFS.

Saturday is Classic Saturday #4

This saturday calls for an absolute rare groove classic. Miracles by the Jackson Sisters from 1976. No relation to that scary Micheal bloke though. Available on the self titled album Jackson Sisters also released in 1976.

I make no apologies for the video, as there isn’t really one but who needs a video when the track is so good?

If you like this you should listen to Norman Jay’s Giant 45 show every Sunday 18:00 – 20:00 on BBC London. Don’t worry if you don’t live in London. As is the case with the majority of BBC shows there is an Listen Again option.

Big in 08?

As a child of the Eighties, Late of the Pier strike a chord in me somewhere. Already making waves in the music press, the only way is up. If you like your music with more than a hint of Gary Numan, Human League, (insert synth driven pop here), and more recently Klaxons you should dig em;

The Zarcorp Demo album has been put online.

Grab it and see what you think. Don’t know about you but it makes me want to break out the Atari !

If all that is a bit too Electro Boy for you, you could do worse than check one of the member’s “more dance” based side project, LA Priest. Do it. You’ve got sod all else to do for the next 10 minutes otherwise you wouldn’t be here would you.

A mention should also go to Friendly Fires. Coming across like a Rapture influenced Hot Chip produced by DFA, I fully expect this to dent the UK collective headspace via radio, TV, interwebs early next year.

Not sure about the going to Paris bit though… Yes it’s a lovely city but it’s full of the French ; )