Monthly Archives: May 2009

Music from my inbox…autoKratz, Rosie Taylor Project, Left With Pictures

Posted on by
2

autokratz

At the moment, my inbox seems like it’s crammed to the brim with new music, and I’m struggling to digest it all, never mind be able to blog on it all. I was very impressed with Matthew over at Song, By Toad gathering all of his outstanding stuff into a podcast to do that with, I have yet to learn how to put a podcast together, but for now, here are three great tracks that I have managed to listen to.

autoKratz are signed to the violently cool, eighties electro influenced Kitsune, who have also put out records by the likes of La Roux and the Klaxons. They released a mini album last year entitled Down And Out In Paris And London and their full-length proper album Animal will be released in June. They’ve made available as a free download their cover of Primal Scream’s rather wonderful ‘Swastika Eyes.’ What I like about this cover is at first it sounds quite similar to the original, and as you listen to it, you relaise how different it is. Very clever, folks!

autoKratz -‘Swastika Eyes.’ mp3

rtp-jumping

Last year, I raved about the debut album from The Rosie Taylor Project, entitled This City Draws Maps. Record company Bad Sneakers have asked me to post the first new material from theri forthcoming second album, as yet untitled. This track is called ‘Lovers Or Something Like It.’ It bodes very well…and this will be released as a single in June.

The Rosie Taylor Project -‘Lovers Or Something Like It.’ mp3

left-with-pictures

Meanwhile, I was emailed in April about Left With Pictures, and to my shame, it’s taken me this long to get round to writing about them. Their double A-side single Every Stitch every Line / Her Father’s Nose is released next week, this is the AA side, which I have played three times today and am really enjoying. They describe themselves as Chamber pop, I’m enjoying their sense of humour and lightness of touch. I think you will too:

Left With Pictures -‘Her Father’s Nose.’ mp3

As always, as well as downloading the music, please let me know what you think of the music, and go and make friends with them on their respective myspace pages! (Follow the links…)

Update: yes, I have changed the picture of the Rosie Taylor Project, as the record company politely got in touch to say could I update it with a photo of the current band. Yes, I could – and I did! Apologies to Bad Sneakers Records and to the Rosie Taylor Project.

…Does there have to be a reason?

Posted on by
Reply

black-box-ride-on-time

On New Year’s Eve, a friend turned round and said to me ‘Do you realise it’s now twenty years since Madchester?’

He’s right. I’d love to pretend that I went to Spike Island, and the famous Alexandra Palace gig, but the truth is slightly different. I knew the records but i was still a pop kid reading Smash Hits and enjoying records like this one.

Still think it’s a good ‘un, though…

This was described as Italia House, and if I’d been going out at this age, maybe it would have been tearing up the dancefloors. Either way, it was sure as heck tearing up the charts, and selling a lot of records. If memory serves correctly, it went to no.1 after Jive Bunny with their updated take on the Stars on 45 approach to record making went to no.1.

However, this was where sampling was being used to almost comical effect. The voice did not belong to Katrin, but was the sampled voice of Loletta Holloway. Two years later she’d be singing with,erm, Marky Marky (now better known and more respected as actor Mark Wahlberg, do keep up). This was a ‘cool’ record at the time – I remember reading an interview in Smash Hits with Graham Massey (I think) of 808 State, who said that they’d had ‘Ride On Time’ about six months before anyone else at the violently cool record shop Eastern Bloc.

Was this cut and paste? Well, not in the way that Grandmaster Flash or DJ Shadow might be. But then and now, it’s sure as heck cooler than sodding Jive Bunny. Don’t tell me this doesn’t bring a smile to your face…

Black Box -‘Ride On Time.’ mp3

…and here’s the video

The return of Tortoise

Posted on by
2

tortoise-beacons-of-ancestorship

Yup, those seminal post-rockers Tortoise are back next month with their sixth LP, Beacons of Ancestorship. This will be the Chicago band’s first album in five years (not including the covers-collaboration with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy/Will Oldham, The Brave and the Bold).

I say post-rockers, but there’s also elements of Krautrock, dub and jazz here. This is a very good thing, and I’m hoping that The Wire magazine will do a feature on them very soon. If you liked Battles’ album a couple of summers ago, then Tortoise will blow you away.

Two tracks have been made available to download ahead of its’ release on June 22 (or June 23 if you live in North America, where i understand that releases come out a day later, generally speaking). These are both absolutely fabulous tracks which you should download and listen to, and then go and buy the album when it comes out. If you feel that you should also be investigating other Tortoise records (which you should be), then may I recommend Tortoise, Millions Now Living Will Never Die and Standards.

The tracklisting for Beacons of Ancestorship is as follows:

1. High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In
2. Prepare Your Coffin
3. Northern Something
4. Gigantes
5. Penumbra
6. Yinxianghechengqi
7. The Fall Of Seven Diamonds Plus One
8. Minors
9. Monument Six One Thousand
10. de Chelly
11. Charteroak Foundation

Tortoise -‘Prepare Your Coffin.’ mp3 (made available through Drowned In Sound and Pitchfork

Tortoise -‘High Class Slim Came Floatin’ In.’ mp3 (made available through Stereogum).

Tortoise’s official website/Tortoise site at Thrill Jockey Records

As always, please let me know what you think!

Album Review: The Horrors

Posted on by
5

horrrors-primary-colours

The Horrors -‘Primary Colours.’

Dear Horrors,

umm, this is a bit embarassing, like, but I think I owe you an apology.

See, three years ago, when you came along with the ‘Sheena Is A Parasite’ single, I wrote you off as a bunch of Cramps copyists. In London at the Rough Trade store, I told the man in the shop I thought so, too. Maybe it was jealousy on my part. Hell, I hate it when people keep comparing Aberfeldy to Belle and Sebastian.

Over the course of a couple of singles ‘Count In Fives’ and ‘Gloves’ I started to change my mind, though I haven’t bought your first album Strange House yet. I will, though. Then this year, the word started to circulate that your second album was a complete quantum leap forward, and that you’d gone shoegazing.

Well, people can say what they like, because I’m blown away by your sophomore album. Yes it evokes Loveless, and that’s a good thing. It evokes so much good music, and yet I realise you’ve put your own spin on it. There are so many excellent tracks on this album, which I’ve played twice today already. The video for ‘Who Can say’ reminds me of many of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ videos, and how they draw on that final scene of Wings of Desire (have you ever seen that film?!) And the final track ‘Sea Within a Sea’ is one of the tracks of the year. It’s a perfect finish to an excellent album, as good a final track as ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ or ‘Hymn To The Big Wheel’ or ‘Shoot Speed Kill Light.’

Look, I’m sorry, I was rash and hasty, and I said something I shouldn’t have said. I’m kicking myself, if it’s any consolation.

Umm, can we be friends, please?

Yours,

Ed Seconds

****

The Horrors -‘Who Can Say.’ video

The Horrors -‘Sea Within A Sea’ video

The Horrors website/The Horrorsmyspace

These will take you to where you can sign up to get a free mp3 of the album’s closing track ‘Sea Within A Sea.’ You won’t regret it…

Presenting…The Gothenburg Address

Posted on by
13

the-gothenburg-address

As regular readers will know, I do my best to try and write about upcoming acts I think people will like, and that they should be checking out.

One such act who deserve your attention most definitely are The Gothenburg Address. Despite the name, the band are not a bunch of Swedish twee indie-popsters (though we’re quite found of a few of those around here at 17 Seconds Towers), but a band who hail from Edinburgh.

The Gothenburg Address are David ‘Jeansy’ Jeans on drums, bassist Rob Doig bass, and guitarists Chris Bathgate and Luke Joyce. That’s right: no vocalists. This Edinburgh band bridge the gaps between what is often labelled post-rock and shoegazing. They sound pretty amazing on their own terms, though I’d be willing to say that if you like bands like Mogwai, Sigur Ros and Mono, then these guys will appeal. Chris and Jeansy had played together before in both Arab Strap and the Zephrys, so they have earned their stripes on the scottish indie scene.

They’ve just released a limited CD and download of the two tracks I’ve posted youtube links to below ‘A Lesser coming Home’ and ‘The Modern Dilemma.’ Two tracks which are certain to make my end of year Festive Fifty.

The Gothenburg Address – A Lesser Coming Home

The Gothenburg Address – The Modern Dilemma

The band are playing the following live dates around Scotland:

May 28th – Bongo Club – Edinburgh
June 21st – Sneaky Petes – Edinburgh
June 24th – 13th Note – Glasgow
July 18th – Sneaky Petes – Edinburgh
July 25th – The Wickerman Festival
August 29th – The Greenside – Leslie

The Gothenburg Address website/The Gothenburg Myspace

As always, please let me know what you think, and if you like what you hear, please go along and make friends with the band at their myspace!

The single should be available to download on iTunes, eMusic (where I got it from), as well as Rhapsody, Napster and Amazon.

UPDATE: I got in touch with the band to say that I couldn’t find the track on iTunes. The band are chasing this up and are grateful for the support. Thanks to everyone who’s fed back on this, it feels like on of the most successful Presenting…ever!

Ed

Album Review: TV21

Posted on by
7

tv21-forever-22

TV21 -‘Forever 22’ (Powbeat Records)

It’s been well-documented how long some bands have taken to make records. It took The Stone Roses five years to follow up their eponymous debut with The Second Coming. In a twenty-five year career, The Blue Nile have made only four albums. To date, Mary Margaret O’Hara has made only one album.

Whether TV21 should be added to this list or not is perhaps a moot point. After all, it has been twenty eight years since their debut A Thin Red Line. Then again, the band split up in 1982, the day after they supported the Rolling Stones at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. They reformed for a John Peel memorial gig in 2005 and have been gigging ever since, with three of the four original members (the newcomer on the drumseat is Simon McGlynn).

So…having been playing live over the last four years, the band release their second album. Is it any good? In a word, yes. Put this way, since it arrived earlier in the week, I’ve played it at least four times, twice of which were today. Back to back. That’s a vote of confidence, I think.

It’s an album of two halves, eleven new tracks and eight tracks from the first part of their career. It doesn’t re-write the rulebook, but it doesn’t set out. It’s just a hugely entertaining album, with great songs. These actually seem to work well back to back. As the repeated plays might suggest, I find it rather addictive. And there’s many bands from today who would benefit from listening to this lean, well-oiled machine before feeling the need to go completely OTT. ‘Too Late For me Now’ ‘Look To the Sun’ and the title track particularly strong songs that more than hold their own with many of the younger generation. ‘Through Different Eyes’ suggests that both they and Franz Ferdinand have been borrowing from each other.

I’ve only heard bits of their stuff in the past, so I’m not in a position to compare them to how they were the first time around. I am convinced, though, that this set is strong enough to win them new fans.

Welcome back, folks.

****

TV 21’s Myspace (five of the songs can be streamed here)

The album is available on CD now, from Avalanche Edinburgh or here

Some quality electronica for Monday

Posted on by
Reply

jackson-pollock-me

Not that there is anything particularly electronica about Mondays per se, but I thought these were rather nice tracks to share with you all…

This is out on DFA, the very cool New York dance label. OK, it was painfully trendy for a time, but I still think if i had to narrow down a pile of 12″ singles to listen to, stuff coming out on DFA would always get a listen. This grows on me with every hearing…

Capracara -‘King of the Witches (age of steam edit).’ mp3

It’s now over a decade since Miss Kittin and the hacker were signed, at a time when it seemed like the eighties would never be trendy again. But never say never where the music business is concerned. This is from their forthcoming album, entitled Two.

Miss Kittin and the Hacker -‘Electronic City.’ mp3

Mrs. 17 Seconds taught me a lot about electronica. Whilst she still likes the first Royksopp album best, I think the latest album Junior has some great moments.

I love this remix too…

Royksopp -‘Happy up here (Holy Fuck remix).’ mp3

Royksopp

The return of Dinosaur Junior!

Posted on by
2

dinosaur-jr_l80409

Yup, having returned a few years ago with their original line-up and an rather good album entitled Beyond, Dinosaur Jr return next month with a new album entitled Farm. J Mascis may have long white hair instead of long dark hair, goodness only knows whether he and Lou Barlow and Murph have really patched things up…but they’re still sounding great.

They have released a free download single ‘I Want You To Know’ as the first track from it…and it’s rather fine.

To download it for free, click here

Dinosaur Jr website/Dinosaur Jr. Myspace

Long may they run. Remember to leave feedback!

A musical…no wait, come back!

Posted on by
2

god_help_the_girl

The musical in some forms is absolutely great. Think Guys and Dolls, High Society, Annie Get Your Gun…and try not to think about certain people who have ruined it. Or bands whose publishers have made the bizarre suggestion that a flimsy plot could serve as a link for their greatest hits…it’s happened too many times. I’ve not seen any of these, with the exception of the film version of Mamma Mia. (I have also never burnt in hell for eternity, been to see Celine Dion in concert or been bitten by a poisonous snake, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to).

When I heard that Belle and Sebastian were writing a musical, I was slightly cynical, though I suppose there are all sorts of fun that could be spent conjuring up what it might be called and what the plot might be…fey indie boy ignored by girl with cutesy hairgrips around Glasgow’s West End?

But God Help The Girl is not a musical of Belle and Sebastian songs. Rather, it’s a story set to music. Stuart Murdoch, the band’s mainman started writing songs whilst touring Dear Catastrophe Waitress and found that he was writing songs that he couldn’t envisage singing with the band…you can read all about it here. He is still writing the script but he has recruited most of the cast and recorded the soundtrack album.

So…the album will be out in June, and this track is available as a free download:

God Help The Girl -‘Come Monday Night.’ mp3

This is really gorgeous.

…and this is footage of Stuart talking about the record:

Please let me know what you think…