Getting ready for 2011 part 1: Mogwai

mogwai-hardcore-will-never-die

OK, so end of year lists will soon be up, I’m having a whole heap of fun doing Christmas/Winter/snow related posts, but that doesn’t mean I’ve taken my eye off the ball regarding what is happening next year.

Mogwai will release their seventh studio album, entitled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will in February 2011.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. White Noise
2. Mexican Grand Prix
3. Rano Pano
4. Death Rays
5. San Pedro
6. Letters to the Metro
7. George Square Thatcher Death Party
8. How to Be a Werewolf
9. Too Raging to Cheers
10. You’re Lionel Richie

Additionally, according to their website, there will also be a Limited Edition version of the album, which includes a bonus CD featuring a 26 minute long piece called ‘The Singing Mountain’ recorded for Douglas Gordon and Olaf Nicolai’s ‘Monument for Forgotten Future’ installation in Essen, Germany.

The first track to be released as a promotional track is ‘Rano Pano’ which can be downloaded here, and it shows that Mogwai have certainly lost NONE of their fiery power…

Mogwai -‘Rano Pano.’ mp3

Christmas posts part 8

rundmc

Today’s posting is all about contrast from America.

So we have the alt-rock of Liz Phair, the 80s Hip-Hop of pioneers Run DMC and the alt.country of Giant Sand.

Liz Phair -‘Winter Wonderland.’ mp3

Run DMC -‘Christmas in Hollis.’ mp3

Giant Sand -‘Thank You Dreaded Black Ice, Thank You.’ mp3

And if you’re looking for more Christmas songs, may I suggest that you try my friend Jim’s blog, Aye Tunes. He’s posted stuff from the likes of Frightened Rabbit, How To Swim and several others. You should be checking this blog regularly, anyway, mind you…

Album review – The Felt Tips

felt-tips-living-and-growing_cover2-300x300

The Felt Tips -‘Living and Growing’ (Plastilina)

There are some songs that you listen to and you think, ‘Yes, I’ve been there.’ And there are others where you feel like saying ‘Dammit, how dare you read my diary?’ And then there are songs by the Felt Tips in which they take insight to a whole new level where, in their own words “…like that time you fumbled around with a condom in your darkened bedroom while trying to keep the mood alive -well, The Felt Tips were there watching you.” Blimey. Is that insight, voyeurism…or stalking?

Glasgow’s The Felt Tips play their own brand of classy jangly indie-pop (they’ve released records thriugh Cloudberry in the US and played Twee As Fuck, if that gives you an idea). Their music acknowledges its’ debt to the likes of Orange Juice, The Smiths and Belle and Sebastian, but also builds upon ts’ influences to go somewhere with them. The lyrics are particualrly biting and insightful ‘How can you prove yourself when there’s nothing standing in your way?’ they question on opening track ‘A Life More Ordinary.’ The second track ‘Boyfriend devoted’ delivers a frustrated riposte to someone who won’t be open about their feelings and sex behind closed doors because of a professed religious belief ‘Do you understand what it is like to have you say that I am just a friend?…put down your old testament and come to bed with me!’ And Dear Morrissey deals with the feeling that the Moz has soundtracked many of our lives but leaves us slightly worried just the same: ‘We’ll leave to your slightly questionable way,’ they decide.

There are some people who have never got twee-pop, and I feel pity for them. The Felt Tips have demonstrated that you can be nakedly personal and yet be funny instead of using histrionics.

Enjoy!

****

Living and Growing is out now on Plastilina

Felt Tips -‘Lifeskills.’ mp3

Stream more songs here

Christmas posts part 7

camera-obscura

Hello again.

Snow still on the ground here in Edinburgh -but it’s getting easier to get around, thankfully.

These two tracks I’m posting today have appeared here before -but I thought you might like to hear them again…

Camera Obscura -‘The Blizzard.’ mp3

Camera Obscura -‘Little Donkey.’ mp3

Hope you’re enjoying these Christmas posts -feedback welcome, as ever (like the 111 folk who have downloaded Idlewild so far and left no feedback whatsoever!)

Album review – Twin Shadow

twinshadowforger

Twin Shadow -‘Forget’ (4AD)

It’s an interesting example of how labels have evolved, people’s notions of what is cool and not, and what might be perceived as art rock have changed over many years. The debut album from Twin Shadow (the nom de plume of Dominican-born George Lewis Jr) is out on 4AD, the seminal British art label who have given us a whole host of great names over the years, including Bauhaus, The Cocteau Twins, Throwing Muses, Pixies and in more recent years Broken Records and Camera Obscura. Twin Atlantic’s sound is rooted in the 80s, particularly the production, and less than ten years ago would have been considered a throwback. I love what 4AD have produced over the years -and yet even I can’t help wondering if they would have released this album ten years ago.

Yet just as much stuff becomes re-evauated so the advent of artists like Neon Indian, Emeralds and Ariel Pink’s Huanted Graffiti (the latter labelmates of Twin Shadow have started a seachange in thinking about 80s AOR, particularly when filtered through a post-noise and shoegazing filter. David Keenan wrote an article in The Wire last year that examined the concept and lead to a whole lot of discussion of whether the term is fair or not, and whether totally different bands are being shoehorned into the type of movement-making more commonly associated with the NME.

Whatever. If asked to sum up the album in one word, that would be ‘dreamy.’ Or possibly ‘dreamlike.’ Sure, he knows his heritage -and on closer listening, classic 80s indie is just as important to the evolution of the sound as the aforementioned influences – but this should not be understood as simply an exercise in nostalgia. There’s a number of great songs on here Castles in the snow’ ‘When We’re Dancing’ ‘Slow’ and album opener ‘Tyrant Destroyed’ which make this album very definitely worthy of investigation.

Will hypnagogic pop turn out to be a label as important as ‘dubstep’ or a laugh in the footnotes of history like ‘new grave’ or ‘stool rock?’ (well, exactly). The fact is, it really doesn’t matter: this is a very strong album which deserves to be heard, savoured and appreciated.

****

Forget is out now on 4AD.

Twin Shadow -‘Castles in the snow.’ mp3

Twin Shadow -‘Slow.’ mp3

Christmas posts part 6

coldplay

As Christmas approaches, are you dreading who might be the Christmas no.1?

Last year, Rage Against The Machine managed to stop X-Factor’s Joe McElderry getting to no.1, and we had the delightful reality of an angry song with no less than 17 expletives getting to No.1. Is this childish? Well, if you think that the word ‘fuck’ is more offensive than the music industry being held to ransom by Simon Cowell, than that’s a matter for your conscience.

It might, on the other hand, be Coldplay who are due to return with their fifth album next year, and that’s a much more attractive proposition, IMHO opinion. The Christmas song has had a revival in recent years (the Killers have done no less than 3) and this is another fine addition to the canon.

Coldplay -‘Christmas Lights.’

Go and buy it if you like it!

BONUS: this is a cover that Coldplay did of the Pretenders’ hardy Christmas perennial ‘2000 Miles.’

Coldplay -‘2000 Miles.’ mp3

Album review – Yusuf Azak

turnonthelongwire

Yusuf Azak -‘Turn On the Long Wire’ (Song, By Toad Records)

This year I have felt like I have been drowning in singer-songwriters of both sexes. What has been utterly dispiriting, frankly, has been having to write reviews of albums that are dull, dull, dull and even worse, that people have poured their heart, soul and more often than not, their life savings into. So when so give it the thumbs down, you’re left feeling like a VERY NASTY PERSON.

So it is fantastic to be able to report that, follwoing own from his own self-released EPS Gazelle and Light Procession (still available from his myspace page) that the Aberdeen-born, Glasgow-based’s singer’s debut is an utter delight from start to finish. Many singer-songwriters dream of people mentioning them in the same breath as Nick Drake or Bob Dylan, when all they have done is fail to find their own voice. This album shows, however, that Mr. Azak’s found his own voice and taken influences from both. The album’s strings were scored by the man himself. There’s not a week track on here, though standouts have to be ‘The Key Underground’ and ‘Thin Air’, though today my favourite is ‘Eastern Sun.’

At 27 minutes, some may argue that it’s short for an album…whatever. Not a note is wasted.It’s a beautiful and dreamy collection of songs that deserves to be heard.

Make sure you do.

Turn On The Long Wire is out now on Song, By Toad Records.

Yusuf Azak -‘The Key Underground.’ mp3

Yusuf Azak -‘Eastern Sun.’ mp3

Christmas posts part 5

miaoux-miaoux

I did say a few days ago that it was my intention this year to post December/Christmas related tracks and and aim to post a few that I haven’t done before.

Today’s offering was released just yesterday by Glasgow’s Miaoux Miaoux, entitled (with painful accuracy) ‘Snow.’ This originally appeared on his March EP, Blooms. I also played his excellent track ‘Knitted’ on my radio show in August.

This is excellent -as is the remix.

And do let me know what you think…

Album review – Neil Young

neil-young-le-noise

Neil Young -‘Le Noise’ (Reprise)

nail Young is now into his fifth decade as a musician. In an alternative universe, his early seventies albums After The Goldrush and Harvest would still be seen as his career high points and he would be continuing to churn out albums that sounded a bit like them, only not as good.

However, we live in the best of all possible worlds, and one of the many things Neil Young has shown himself capable of is working within different genres. Sure there have been others too (Elvis Costello and David Bowie) but young manages to keep his musical mind active and his audiences on their toes. It’s not to take away from Harvest and Goldrush, but Young is at his most exciting when he’s investigating other areas.

What makes Le Noise so special is that the album is just Young and his electric guitar, and being fantastically well produced by Daniel Lanois.Lanois has channelled the voice and guitar so that bass, drums, keys (whatever) do not feel conspicuous by their absence, but instead this feels like a warm album, intense in the best possible way.

And the approach that Young and Lanois have taken should not detract from the fact that the songs are pretty awesome, too. Highlights are the openiong ‘Walk With Me’ and the quite possibly autobiographical ‘The Hitcher’ where Young reflects on drug use. Young has been pretty prolific over his career, and I still feel that this is one of his best albums for some time, certainly superior to recent offerings like Fork In The Road and Living With War. The Wire‘s review suggested that he do something similar, produced by Sunn o)))’s Stephen O’ Malley. Sounds good to me, too…

****

Le Noise is out now on Reprise

Neil Young -‘Walk With Me.’ mp3

Neil Young -‘Hitchhiker.’ mp3

Christmas posts part 4

edinburgh-snow

It is now December, the first door on the advent calendar is opened, and I couldn’t get into work today.

I guess to people who live in climates where it snows heavily every year are used to it, but here in the UK we tend to get mild winters (most of the time) and thus things like chains on your wheels or snow tyres are not legal requirements.

Whether these songs are Christmassy or Decembery (!) may be a moot point -but what the heck!

Teenage Fanclub -‘December.’ mp3 (from Bandwagonesque)

Kate Bush -‘December Will Be Magic Again.’ mp3

There will be more songs tomorrow…