I’m still sick, lying in bed, catching up. I went to work today, but was too tired to wait for a bus, so I cabbed it from the station. The kind of tired where I forgot the name of my road for a moment. The tired where I tripped getting out, grazing my knee and ruining my beloved shoes.
Luckily the Bowie song I’ve been putting off hearing in case it’s crap turns out to be good.
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Here is Thom Yorke dancing again in Atoms For Peace’s new video, Ingenue: Continue reading
This made me laugh a lot. See, I can sympathise. My own attempts at fan art have suffered a little in the execution. For example Continue reading
Remember Atoms For Peace from a couple of weeks ago? That collaboration between Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich and a few others?
This was how I discovered Necessary, via an interview at The Quietus: Necessary had given away their second album, Galgeberg/Gimle, for free, which was fortuitous for my ears, if not for their wallets. It was one of the best pieces of music I heard that year.
I’m not sure which words persuaded me to click on the link: “heavy breaks, turntablism, bass music, hauntological synth work, drum and bass, hip hop, chopped and screwed rap, industrial, choral and funk” … “combined in surprising, provocative and unsettling ways.” Maybe it was the occult chanting, the Persian singer, the Ligeti reference, grime, hip-hop, black metal and doom. Perhaps it was the Spanish civil war samples, the Chilean rapping, dub, goth, world music, or the “Post-Dictatorial Troll-Hop”.
I think it’s necessary for you just to hear it.
If I’ve gone quiet, it’s because I’m trying to create a Spotify playlist of my top 50 tracks of the year. Trouble is, there have been so many songs in 2012 that I’ve enjoyed that narrowing it down is simply impossible. Just to take the acts I’m really struggling with, which is the best Bat For Lashes song out of this Continue reading
I just happened on this over at Line of Best Fit, where they interviewed this intriguing Dane, Karen Marie Ørsted. Part glitchy electronica, part earnest warbling, she’s certainly someone to keep an ear out for. Continue reading
I don’t know why I picked this song. It must have been on the original list that inspired my original post, and I just ranked it in the best position, but it’s not even my favourite Stooges song let alone my 71st favourite song of all time. It is a good song, though. Continue reading
Like most people, I had a goth phase. At the time – the mid-90s – we had Poppy Z Brite instead of Twilight, which was effectively the same thing but with softcore homoerotic porn for heterosexual girls. The improbably beautiful industro-gothic boys in the book lived in New Orleans and listened to jazz, and so I found myself setting my alarm clock radio to Jazz FM, which woke me up at 7am every morning to Lullaby of Birdland. That is the beginning, middle and end of my knowledge of jazz.
People who do know about jazz have probably heard of experimental world-fusion cornetist Don Cherry, Neneh’s father. She covers his material here, along with songs by Suicide and Martina Topley-Bird and others. You might think an album of jazz covers would result in sterile coffee-table music, but it’s actually a warm, inviting sort of a record with lots of interesting twiddly bits for those that like that sort of thing. If you’re like me with little patience for noodly meanderings, Cherry’s rich voice will be the point of focus, along with that wonderful vibrant double bass. Continue reading
I was beginning to think I would only ever like one song by Azealia Banks, but the 212 star has returned with another super-catchy video. Continue reading
Reinspired 