The sounds of early 2008
Saturday, February 23, 2008Here are a few things I’ve been listening to so far this year – I’m on the look out for some new aural stimulation, and trusty last.fm recommendations can only go so far before you need a bit of good old word-of-blog, so if you have a minute let me know what’s been floating your musical boat in the comments…
The Fourers
Sing-along pop/rock – Next To Nothing has me adding my own questionable vocal harmonies. In the shower. Whilst my housemate’s friends cower in the bedroom next door. They do fall into the indie four beats / four chords trap occasionally but hey, they’re called The Fourers, and they normally manage to save themselves from oblivion with unexpected synths and the odd melodic turn.
Thomas Truax
The whole world should go and see Thomas Truax. With some unlikely raw meterials such as motors, spoons, wheels, spokes, a comb, some strings, ducting, dogs and moons, this man creates nothing short of a genius. He’s playing around the UK in March and April. Book it, book it, book it now. Diddly-do.
The Feeling
What’s their new single about, exactly? The thing I liked about The Feeling last year was that they had an instant, viral appeal. I couldn’t stop listening to the ebola-esque 12 Stops And Home, but it really wiped me out after a few weeks. On this single, they’ve pulled out considerably more than 12 stops: more is more, apparently, and I personally think they could’ve done with paring things down a bit, and perhaps lending a few of the extraneous leftovers to…
Hot Chip
…, who have really excelled themselves with the yawning void that is Ready For The Floor (listen). It sounds like exactly the sort of thing you’d be stuck in front of on the nightbus when trying to sleep. Not really a desert island disc (though it’d be fun to watch Joanna Lumley reprise her role as Girl Friday with this as a looping soundtrack).
Rod Thomas
Repeaters have more fun with Rod Thomas. First heard at Glastonbury last year, you can often hear him around various underground stations putting his Welsh-valley lungs to good use. His voice is incredibly strong, and he’s a master both of layering up great pop songs and making his audience fizz. Great stuff.
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wo-wo-wo-wowww!
rrrrrobin
on February 23rd, 2008
Kylie’s strictly confined to Friday afternoons in our office though, Robin. Need suggestions for the rest of the week!
Simon
on February 23rd, 2008
It was released late last year rather than 2008 but I really quite like Most of the remixes we’ve made for other people over the years except for the one for Einstürzende Neubauten because we lost it and a few we didn’t think sounded good enough or just didn’t fit in length-wise, but including some that are hard to find because either people forgot about them or simply because they haven’t been released yet, a few we really love, one we think is just ok, some we did for free, some we did for money, some for ourselves without permission and some for our friends as swaps but never on time and always at out studio in Ghent. by Soulwax.
Wrighty
on February 25th, 2008
Woooooo Truax. I’ve been a bit crap at buying stuff so far this year, but the British Sea Power and Magnetic Fields albums are both very good. And I’m excited about new ones from Nick Cave and Tindersticks in March.
Martin
on February 25th, 2008
Los Campesinos! The saviours of ‘proper’ indie. Any band that references Sarah Records can do no wrong in my eyes.
Matthew
on February 27th, 2008
Quite digging the Soulwax remixes but not listened properly yet. Managed to get hold of the new Elbow album too, which sent me right to sleep from East Acton to Tottenham Court Road on the central line today. It’s quite inoffensive…
Simon
on March 2nd, 2008