Bourgeois Heroes have a new single out. Ole/Hola is a neat little tune, unfussy and uncomplicated. Its natural home is somewhere between the fuzzy vibe of laid back Super Furry Animals and the twee sweetness of Belle and Sebastian. When You’re Dancing is a mantra like fuzzy disco tune, without being a dancer. It just seems made for swaying in a club. A neat little brace of fizzing pop.
Firstly, a confession. I don’t know a terrible lot about African music. Aside from an appreciation of The Four Brothers and The Bhundu Boys in the eighties, and Amadou and Mariam more recently, it is fairly unchartered territory for me.
What I do know is Seun Kuti is the son of the renowned Fela Kuti, and his father was a previous leader of the band that plays on this album, Eqypt 80.
The album may only be seven tracks long, but most of the tracks clock in at about seven minutes, meaning plenty of value for money. African Soldier reminds me of something Pigbag might have ripped off back in the day, an odd reference point maybe, but remember I’m starting from a fairly blank canvas here. Generally guitars are sprightly, rhythms are bouncy and horns and squealing. From the lyrics I can make out, these are songs of the fight for freedom, the fight against oppression and corporations, and inspirational words to his fellow people.
Musically and lyrically Seun has won me over, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this as a good starting point for a foray into African music.
The new one from acid house duo Medicine 8 shows off two disparate sides to their output. Mercury Injection is a futuristic electro babble with hi energy beats and robotic sensual vocal from tattoo artist Leticia La Bruja. It’s a right catchy piece of work, one that would have the less trendy of us attempting pathetic robot dancing in the club. The Hip House remix of Rock Music Pays Off features the idiosyncratic and immediately identifiable vocals of outsider artists Wesley Willis. The vocals take the form a Grammy Acceptance Speech Willis gave on Howard Stern’s show, bent and sliced out of shape. This is pushed forward by hi energy house, like Black Box used to make, along with funky Daft Punk squelches. Whatever you say about them, Medicine 8 know what’s catchy and danceable and have delivered two great slices of it on this, their first single in some time.
Mercury Injection / Rock Music Pays Off is out now on Trashmouth Records
The Medicine 8 facebook page is here
Released to little fanfare here’s a new Gorillaz album. After the opening toodling intro of Phoner To Arizona we get Revolving Doors, a blissed out tune with a reggae vibe, yet not sound. Albarn’s plaintive vocals are present and correct and there’s and a mantra of the title which goes all through the tune. This itself is lovely, but I find myself not even noticing the next few tracks go by. And this is something that goes on through the rest of the album. Apparently this album was written by Damon (and let’s not keep up the cartoon façade) on his iPad during downtime on tour and boy it shows. It’s mostly half-baked and unfinished ideas. Some of the tracks you wonder if he hasn’t booted up the Bloom app, or something similar and randomly chucked items at the screen to make the tunes. I’ve always thought of Gorillaz as more of a singles than albums band, and this is the full proof, if it were still needed. This was originally released on vinyl as a special item for Record Store Day, and before that as a download to fan club members, which is quite appropriate given that it is something for completists only.
Maybe repeated listens would enable the charms of this album to become apparent to me. I somehow doubt it though. The other thing to take into account is my mere passing interest in Gorillaz, and their experimental side more so. But it still remains that this appears to be a mere ragbag of cast offs that wasn’t particularly worthy of a wider release.
Find Gorillaz multi-media extravaganza here
It’s not often you listen to a band and agree wholeheartedly with their own description of themselves, or previous press reviews, but in the case of Not Made In China you have a band who know their identity and make it clear to everyone else. The review description was The Smiths crossed with Paul Simon’s Graceland, while the band themselves note Vampire Weekend as one of their main inspirations. There is also more than a dash of twee influence here, with the cutesy female vocals reminiscent of The Sundays or even Talulah Gosh. The thing that sets them apart from the current slew of overly fey and twee bands is that they have evidently concentrated much more on the melodies than some affected knock kneed stance.
My favourite track is Retro Rejects, about the discarding of childhood toys. It has the twiddly white man take of the African sounding guitar line, great lyrics which include whole lists of toys and a nice attitude. If this sounds too much like I Love the 80s to you, then I’ve failed in my job of describing it. The rest of the EP is rather unassuming yet beautiful, and I can recommend you invest in a copy.
Folkpunk is certainly the name for it. The mini album kicks off with The Age Of Nefarious, a barrelling tune and the wordplay contained within is as good as the title. It has this cool trick of delaying the launch into the chorus, building up and up and up, before finally launching. The sneer and stance of Zero To Hero reminds me of the Clash, with insertions of twanged Duane Eddy style guitar. It collapses into a squawking, squealing end. Take A Look Around You is the nearest the album gets to pop, a straight forward clear melody and some words of advice. Feeling My Way Around In The Dark For You reminds me of Dylan at his best, just gone electric, harmonica wailing and having a whale of a time. She Has Everything is a more stripped back tune, but gritty nonetheless. Then we’re back onto rambunctious form with Instant Coffee Lifestyle. Whenever I Sink My Teeth Into You sees things stretch out, an almost joyous and devil may care climax to the album. It’s like the last track let’s really go for it, throw everything into it, and it comes off rather well.
Although Julius Way has been making music for years now, he now finds himself in the middle of a genre of music that is suddenly in vogue. Think Fleet Foxes, Stornoway, older Iron & Wine stuff and any of the alt folk pastoral artists. Recorded last year in Dartmoor it has certainly taken on it’s surrounding. It may not be a log cabin in the Catskills, but we have places of such beauty here too.
I Will Live leads you in gently to the album, before the joyous clattering and clinking of Jessie’s Yurt, when everything feels so alive. Cradle is a delightful surprise, awash with fuzzy effects to start with, which pop back in now and again. The effects free bits feel a bit fey in comparison, but it leaves you in anticipation of the hazier stuff. Friends is beautifully ethereal, the gorgeous voice of Bex Baxter interweaving with that of Julius Way wonderfully. Enemy goes all medieval on us, then The Dusk does remind me a lot of the aforementioned Stornoway, strong vocals and deft touch. There is a sense that the album is a bit too long at 13 tracks for this type of music to hold your attention, but when you persevere to final track Slow Death, where Bex Baxter is back with her heavenly voice, everything seems worthwhile.
The Voluntary Butler Scheme is, being Rob Jones alone, one of those mavericks that people love unreservedly, when in reality his output is wildly hit and miss. Songs like The BT Tower and The Eiffel Tower are absolute melodic gems, but like many artistes, he is prone to the noodling and avant garde. Unless you enjoy listening to abstract squiggles, this stuff is best left alone.
The EP employs a weird trick of starting with two versions of Do The Hand Jive rather than book-ending the record with them. Having them together merely accentuates how similar they are, although the Go Team remix has a tad more fizz. The tune itself is a weird one, and you can see why the Go Team have been asked to lend their hand to remixing. It’s very much their knock kneed little brother blinking in the bright lights as he steps onto the dancefloor, to their brash exuberant disco dancer. That said, it is interesting and repeated plays might throw it up as a right earworm. To The Height Of A Frisbee employs his cool trick of seemingly nonsensical rhymes and sharp dashes and changes of melodic direction to provide hooks a plenty. Satisfactory Substitute is one of his annoyances, employing well spoken samples to try and come off like the Avalanches, but falling flat and well short. DOPL rounds off the EP with an unsatisfactory pinging instrumental.
If only Jones would write more like Frisbee and his other gems and did less of the messing around, more people could come to love him.
Pris could well be my new favourite band. They don’t have a single out, just a fascinating web presence and some top tunes. Here’s why you’ll love them too;
There you are, the magnificent seven reasons to love them. If you want one more, check out the video for Blue Tack Baby below or find them on Facebook or Myspace
Recently I saw a documentary about New York in 1977. Crammed into an hour and a half was the emergence of disco, The Loft and Studio 54, hip hop, DJs and their street light hotwiring, punk and CBGBs, the Son of Sam serial killer, the blackout, the suburbs on fire and being looted, swingers clubs and chaotic mayoral elections. I’d wager this sensory overload is somewhat akin to an album by The Go! Team. As you’ll see from their third album, the appropriately named Rolling Blackouts, they were born for those times. Most of the stuff here could easily have been made then or soundtracked that documentary. For example Tornado sounds like a cut up blaxpoitation movie, with kids breakdancing outside the movie theatre and cops sirens blaring past, while Apollo Throwdown is like double dutching it around the floor. When the clouds part and some space is allowed in, such as on recent single Buy Nothing Day, it all makes perfect sense. When this happens the hundreds of disparate pieces gel together sweetly rather than elbowing each other for room. It does often feel like there is a tendency to throw everything into the melting pot and see what works, rather than pick and choose and use some quality control. An instance when they do take a step back on Yosemite Theme, things are spacious and less cluttered so they work much better. It’s beautifully panoramic and slow moving. There are good parts to this album, and a good band here, if only the producer or someone would step in with some good advice. One to cherry pick from.
Rolling Blackouts is out now on Memphis Industries
The Go Team! website is here
Cat Matador release their second EP on the 14th March, and while some people will undoubtedly go crazy for this, it leaves me somewhat nonplussed. It has all the shimmering riffs and grandiose gestures you would hope for from a epic rock band, and a coy style to offset any unintended bombast. It's just that I can't help feel this has been done many times before, and much better. I'm sure they have it in them to produce something great, you can sense the promise in the band, but this isn't it...yet. It's also a tad frustrating, as there are bits I find myself getting really into, but then they don't amount to anything and I feel somewhat let down. I'll stick with it though, and you may well find me posting again later about how wrong my initial thoughts were. Stay tuned. Have a listen to the EP on their Soundcloud page though please, I know many of you will love this.
Ok, so I may be late in posting this, but it's worth writing about nonetheless. If you were full of self pity and spite on the day of the lovers, yet still carried yourself with style and grace, this is the song for you. It's the Scottish equivalent of the Ben Folds Five track Song For The Dumped, in which the downtrodden fights back. There's a great knack to what Findlay does, writing tunes that could come across as MOR in lesser hands, but investing them with verve and vigour and more hooks than a cloakroom. With the aforementioned Mr Folds having lost his way slightly recently, it may well be time for Findlay to step up and take his place. The future of caustic radio friendly pop is in good hands.
Secret Rivals continue their progress with their new single Tonight Matthew… It builds on the foundations laid by previous releases, with a touch of Johnny Foreigner to this one. It has a cool, understated melody that bursts into life at points, before settling back down to a simmering intensity. It also evokes to me the less screamy/shouty side of Los Campesinos! So, while there may be nothing shockingly new about what Secret Rivals are doing, it’s a sound that is pleasing enough for us to welcome more tunes of theirs into our homes.
Tonight Matthew… is released on April 4th on Kittiwake Records
Find Secret Rivals here
