BurnTheJukebox

LoneLady

2010-07-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

I first heard of Mancunian Julie Campbell, aka LoneLady, after her first single, Early The Haste Comes, dropped onto my doormat from the Too Pure Records Singles Club a couple of years ago. Her debut album finally came out in the UK in February of this year and I finally got my hands on a copy this week!

After the sad demise of Too Pure, one of my favourite labels, LoneLady was snapped up by indie stalwarts Warp which seems something of an appropriate trajectory for this kind of angular female post-punk. For those of you who don't know Too Pure was the label responsible for first introducing the public to PJ Harvey and Scout Niblett as well as the bands Electrelane, The Rogers Sisters and Laika (whose very own Guy Fixsen produced LoneLady's debut effort). Warp has, in recent years been expanding its early repertoire of IDM and electronica to include recent post-punk and indie releases from the likes of !!!, Gang Gang Dance and Grizzly Bear.

LoneLady's northern post-punk roots are obvious from the first listen, without the need for quotes like this which describe the recording process in Manchester:

The aesthetics of this ex-mill were a pure joy for LoneLady and invoked the ghosts of bands she loves ... (Joy Division, ESG, Wire, Grace Jones, The Fall, Suicide, PiL) …”grainy black and white images depicting the kind of spaces that have barely changed over the past 30 years."

There has, in recent times, been something of a backlash against the kind of musical nostalgia that Manchester has been cashing in on for the past 15 year (the blog Fuc51 being one of the more amusing and accurate examples) but whilst there has always been one dimension to the city that is forever trying to stay in 1988 and is constantly recreating the Haçienda there has been the other, more hidden, side which has embraced the history, the influences, the aesthetics and, more basically, the logistics of a vibrant music scene (the studios, rehearsal spaces and gig venues) to produce something new.

Nerve Up, is a spiky album where each track feels some how uneasy and claustrophobic (perhaps agoraphobic is more accurate) despite the sparseness of the sound, often just bass, electric beats and a staccato keyboard and rarely together. This all goes to make a refreshing change from the majority of music around at the moment where we seem to be drowning under waves of airy dreampop and shoegaze. This could actually be the most refreshing thing this summer.

LoneLady - Nerve Up

LoneLady - Intuition (LA Session)

LoneLady - If Not Now

The Lisbon Scene (1)...

2010-07-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I ventured once again into the dark world of the Lisbon underground music scene (this time literally as the setting was the ever gloomy Musicbox, situated under a bridge in one of the less salubrious neighbourhoods of Lisbon). On this occasion we were there to see a concert of two of Lisbon's new, upcoming, bands: Os Capitães da Areia and Feromona.

The newer, if not the upcoming-est, of the bands are Os Capitães da Ariea. A band who take their name from the Jorge Amado novel of the same name but who are aptly titled in more ways than one. Both the book and the band prominently feature gangs of children, in the case of the band put together by the proudly lusophone indie label Amor Furia, and the overriding thought as the band take to the stage, near midnight on a Wednesday, is, "do these guys not have school in the morning?". Much the same is thought about the crowd at this point and this reviewer definitely started to feel his age.

The second reasons the band are so well named comes the instant they start to play. Following in the footsteps of the latest movements in surf rock that seems to infuse much of what's going on in indie at the moment it is the Portuguese equivalent of naming your band Surfer Blood/Beach House/Beach Fossils or whatever the beach related band of the moment is named. And completing this impression is the band themselves wearing the pastel jeans, plaited belts and naval accoutrements that have given followers of Vampire Weekend a waredrobe for the past couple of years.

When the music starts the sound unmistakably conjures up the new wave of surf rock doing the rounds but with something of a Portuguese twist but also the gaucheness of youth. This was the second Capitães concert I had seen in around a month and already I had noticed the steep learning curve that playing in a band has on young players. The backing band seemed somewhat tighter and the melodies crisper but unfortunately the band are a bit hampered by their own lead singer. It's not just that he's not a very good singer (even taking into consideration the idiosyncrasies of Portuguese as it is sung) but he also seems particularly clumsy on stage. In a style that craves a bit of suaveness he can't really pull it off, instead lurching about somewhat surprisingly (to the crowd and to the rest of the band on occasion). All this is a bit of a shame because by far the strongest element of the group is the interplay between the guitarist, Tiago, and the keyboardist, Fred. If they could somehow combine to also tame the rhythm section from their wilder and heavier moments (and here to be very pick I think the bassist should be playing with his fingers here, but that's just my opinion) then I think there could be something interesting here.

When Feromona slouch onto the stage they couldn't be more in contrast to the previous band. Seemingly wearing the clothes they woke up in (at least for the 3/4 of the band who were fully dressed) there is really a sense of the confidence that comes with age, ability, and playing your millionth gig of the year. Feromona's classic grunge meets Portuguese rock is at once more direct and definitely tighter and better formed that the Capitães' sound. Their hooks are snappier even if the songs at the beginning of the set quickly start to sound a little samey. The 'Rock out, grungy intro, moving into the more crooney Portuguese verse followed by a rocky chorus' formula is definitely present in more than a few of their songs but that's not to say the band sound really very repetitive. A possible reason for this is the snappiness of the songs, a few of which seem to be over before they've really got going which actually gives the effect of making you want to hear more.

The second half of the set was enlivened by a quick strip show by the band, including the reluctant keyboardist, but was rather more varied than the first in terms of style and this seemed to get the crowd a little more lively. The band were fading noticeably towards the very end and returned rather reluctantly for the briefest of encores, not surprising in the increasing heat and gloom of the Musicbox.

Intentionally or not Feromona are a band who leave their audience wanting more.

It's like waiting for a bus...

2010-06-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

...you wait for ages for one and then a whole bunch come along at once.

I am of course talking about decent albums. After a strong start to the year March through April was a bit fallow but just recently we've had a whole bunch of great new releases. Here are some of my favourites that you should look out for:

Sleigh Bells - Treats [Neat / Mom & Pop]

There's not much left to be said about this album that hasn't already been said in a million reviews which can be condensed into the one word - 'Loud'. This record is very very loud, to the point where I don't actually own a pair of headphones that can successfully deal with the loudness so what I actually hear on the bus is just the impression of incredible loudness which is conveyed by a persistent fuzz that I take as an indication of loudness.

When I get home the loudness continues but it's only here, on a pair of speakers that I can endlessly play around with, and with the aid of several EQs, can I get the distinction between the often sweet vocals and the grinding guitars and drum machines. But then again that isn't the point of this record...it's just about reveling in the fun of noise and that's my simple advice for Sleigh Bells listeners, embrace the noise.

Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em

Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts [Sub Pop]

There's a bit of a buzz going round at the moment about 'nu-grunge' and so I feel the need to plant my flag in this whole discussion. I'm not against 'nu-' anything in principle as long as there is something new about it. There's a lot of nu-grunge bands going around at the moment when they might as well pack up their plaid shirts and jump in a time-machine to Seattle. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with that either (although in many cases they choose the most uninspiring bands to rip off, where are the Love Battery rip offs?) just don't call yourself 'nu-'.

Male Bonding on the other hand seem to take the fuzzy grunge base as a spring board to really cycle through what seems like a dizzying number of styles of guitar based rock. You have some surprisingly pop numbers along with a few (what seems like the now obligatory) surf tracks. The great thing about the album as a whole is that these never feel like experiments or disconnected, the sheer pace of the album, where many tracks come in at under or around 2 minutes, gives a great continuity to the whole.

Male Bonding - Years Not Long

Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork [Barsuk]

When I first heard this album (which is actually only out on 29th June) I immediately thought this is just what a Fleet Foxes / Fiery Furnaces collaboration would sound like. Then I put the album on again, and again...and again. In fact yesterday, for the first time I can remember, I listened to an album 3 times in a row.

For an album with such an impression of experimentalism it's also incredibly warm and listenable. Taking the strange rhythms and harmonies of what (I hate) is often called 'math rock' and placing them in an instantly recognisable setting of folk means that rather than alienating the listener this is a record that invites you in and keeps you interested.

Maps & Atlases - Pigeon

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History (Kitsuné]

OK this album was actually released in the UK on 1st March but I didn't get to listen to it until after the US release at the end of April. After creating quite a buzz in the UK press last year, and given the dubious prestige of being 'a band to watch in 2010', TDCC have actually produced a pretty damn good album.

Tourist History is most definitely a singles led affair with the two strongest tracks being Something Good Can Work and Undercover Martyn but that's not to say the rest is filler. Like Casiotone For The Painfully Alone after a few hearty meals (less depressing and a fuller sound) they could very well be the next big storytelling indie band (If that award didn't so comfortably rest with The Wave Pictures).

Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn

The Drums - The Drums [Island]

Possibly the most hyped debut this year. After a very well received EP last year there were very high hopes for The Drums, a band I recently read as 'The most English sounding American band since the 1980s'. It's either part of some new fascination with English indie or else part of a general rediscovering of 80s new wave/post-punk but considering that this style and era is one of my great passions in music I don't think the Drums will be a lasting presence in this genre. The album is a great deal of fun but for me the best tracks are those which temper the 80s revivalism with a mixture of Beach Boys surfer pop, tracks like Lets Go Surfing and Down By The Water at least display a bit of individual energy that stops the band sounding like a Cars covers band.

They also seem a bit earnest which bugs me.

The Drums - Best Friend

Surfer Blood...

2010-06-03T03:37:00.000-07:00

OK, it's another beautiful day in Lisbon and because of this there can be only one band for me today - Surfer Blood.

This year's Astro Coast was a bit of a slow burner for me (it does seem a little strange to release a surf rock record in January). But now that the sun is out and the opportunity to spend long days by the beach are upon us it seems only right to get this out.

Surfer Blood - Swim

Surfer Blood - Harmonix

Surfer Blood - Twin Peaks

Trouble on the Streets of Lisbon...

2010-06-02T04:58:00.001-07:00

So we leave sleepy Lisbon, where nothing much ever happens, for a few days and when we return a scandal has broken. Beloved indie-punk noisemen No Age were jumped by bouncers as they tried to enter a club in town.

No mention is made of the club in the various reports I've read but wise money points to this being Jamaica (in fact their own facebook page has received comments). Apparently when the Americans tried to enter the club they were informed that the management wished to keep out 'English' and when the band attempted some form of negotiation this happened:

If this is the kind of reaction tourists are getting in Lisbon's nightspots then I think it needs to be publicised more widely until the clubs decide to do something about it and the meatheads they employ get some proper training.

Fuller accounts of the incident can be read HERE and HERE.

When not getting beat up No Age make some pretty amazing music too:

No Age - Boy Void

More Primavera Sound 2010 Vids

2010-06-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

OK OK OK...I'll stop going on about this damn festival, you weren't there, you're crazily jealous, I get it.

But first let me post a few more videos (yesterday I was tired and couldn't be bothered to look beyond YouTube).

Japandroids - Pitchfork Stage

Titus Andronicus - Pitchfork Stage

Matt & Kim - Vice Stage

Beach House - ATP Stage

OK, now I'll shut about it.

Primavera Sound 2010 - The Review

2010-06-01T05:30:00.000-07:00

So Primavera came and went for anther year and, as ever, it was a wonderful mixture of old and new with a couple of surprises and few disappointments. We don't really like to dash about between stages just catching a few songs here and there but nevertheless we managed to catch a quite impressive 28 bands in the 3 days (and that's despite the fact that we're a pair of oldies who didn't manage to stay up beyond 03h00).

Here's the full list of who we saw and my grade for each act.

Day 1:

Bis - B
Reuniting after some time away these indie dance Glaswegians caused a bit of a stir, if only because they returned so evidently 'balder, fatter, older'. It was all the more amusing when you compare them now with the picture in the official catalogue which was from their heyday. They still know how to rock out though even if they did appear to be having more fun than the majority of an apparently nonplussed crowd. Thankfully they did play Eurodisco as a finale and so I left happy.

The Wave Pictures - B
Stuck, as they were, on one of the larger festival stages and pretty early on in the festival I thought the Wave Pictures were pretty successful in getting their witty charm across to the largely Spanish audience. Good stage banter and a surprisingly strong sound, especially considering what was to happen later. Set highlight was Love You Like a Madman.

Surfer Blood - A
First band of the festival to really blow me away and really an omen of things to come from the Pitchfork Stage which was by far the most consistent of the festival stages. They're a band who really suited the sunny and uptempo feel of the festival.

The Fall - B
The Fall is The Fall. You have to love them or leave them. I have a lot of time for the fall on record and their recent output has been some of the best in the past decade but I have to say live they're really not my cup of tea. You see the band looking like automatons whilst Mark goes round fiddling with their kit for no apparent reason other than it's now expected of him. Highlight of the set - Mark's full pockets.

Titus Andronicus - A+
Second highlight of the day and one of the highlights of the festival. The band really brought it with them and I love a strong woman guitarist. They sent the crown wild with their strange mix of punk with its hints of folk. The whole band, and the crowd, looked like they were loving every second of it.

The xx - A-
The xx is a tricky one because we both wanted such a good set from them and to be honest it started out terribly. We got the only bit of rain of the whole period just as they were starting, they looked terribly nervous of playing a huge crowd, and the sound was awful. It's like the sound tech had never hear them before and just put the bass right up. They did however settle into their set but, embarrassingly, my highlight was their mix of F&TM's You Got The Love which came on just after they left the stage.

Tortoise - B+
One of those bands who you have to try and see just once and they played an excellent, intimate, stage (although they would've been good in the Auditorium). We sat down throughout and enjoyed their move into the jazzier reaches of post-rock.

The Big Pink - A
I was looking forward to this so much and I'm really glad they didn't disappoint. One of the themes of the festival was the big big sound that the new bands got out and this was one of the biggest. Plus they played Too Young To Love which was one of my tracks of 2009.

Pavement - B+
The first BIG band of the festival which was, as you can imagine, totally packed out. As a result we stood quite far back. I was never the biggest Pavement fan in the world but I was interested to see how they'd do on this big reunion and they certainly know their stuff. The problem of course with these big reunion concerts is that they're almost too perfect, it's just how you imagine a Pavement set to be and therefore it's pretty hard to be overwhelmed. Highlight was getting Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene up for a song. That was a good way to mix it up.

Sleigh Bells - A+
We didn't stay to the end of Pavement because we were so desperate to see Sleigh Bells and this was probably the best decision of the festival because they were amazing. That girl has so much energy and if this very strongly hyped band are to be just a flash in the pan then they're probably the loudest flash we'll see in a long time. A great mix of noise, punk, hip-hop and RnB. Also one of the very rare occasions I've seen an encore at a (non-headliner) festival.
(I really wanted to show a vid here but i think everyone with decent cameras was at Pavement)

Delorean - B-
By the time Delorean rolled onto stage at 03h00 we were knackered and had the prospect of a long walk back to the hotel so we stuck around for a bit but I have to say they were the first disappointment of the festival. I loved the last EP but the album not so much and I think I let this cloud my judgement of the live show.

Day 2:

Harlem - B+
After getting lost on the way home the night before and doing plenty of walking we were looking for a chilled out start to Day 2. S suggested Harlem whose recent album had got very high scores in the Portuguese press. They were a pretty decent indie-pop/surf band for those who couldn't see the Drums later in the festival.

Scout Niblett - A-
Scout is pretty much a staple now. In 2008 she blew us away in the Auditorium and this year the performance was a bit more restrained but it's never anything less than utterly charming. It's now the 7th or 8th time I've seen her live and so I'm getting to the point where I'm really starting to notice the rarities and thankfully she played one of my favourites - 'It's All For You'. This went down very well with the crowd and it was good to see most people leaving with huge grins on their faces (All except The xx who we saw - those guys never smile).

Spoon - B
Of all the bands we probably got the closest to Spoon, simply through luck, and it was a pretty good place to be. They're not the most controversial of bands and whilst they've been consistently good throughout their career this isn't always a good thing. It was summed up by their set which pressed all the right buttons but there was never really the appearance of passion or fun. They did however play Turn My Camera On which is a damn good track.

Beach House - B
I was expecting a little better from Beach House whose latest album has probably been the one I've listened most to over the past few weeks. Sadly for them they seemed to be a little distracted, as we all were, by the freaky props they'd put up which consisted of what looked like 4 large, white, furry, mushrooms. That plus I'm always a little suspicious of a guitarist who sits down.

Here We Go Magic - B+
Just caught the end of Here We Go Magic who were appropriately noisy and chaotic in a controlled way. We caught Collector which is one of my tracks of the year so far and which made me very happy. I had thought the track quite undancable but apparently its not.

Wilco - B
Day two was the day of the 'big bands'. First Spoon and then Wilco. Again another very competent set from and indie legend but nothing that really blew my socks off. They did play War on War which I very much enjoyed but I have to say I had one eye on the clock because I was just waiting for the Japandroids to start.

Japandroids - A+
Along with Sleigh Bells this was my highlight of the whole festival. Amazing music, amazing energy, amazing chemistry. They had it all. As soon as the first chords came out I could feel the hair on the back of my neck standing up. I'm always pleasantly surprised by the force of noise that just two guys can make. They don't have much stuff released but seemed to play it all and it was one of those great gigs that really messes with time, they seemed to play forever but you didn't want them to stop. Sadly there are no good videos for this concert so I'm just going to put one of my favourite tracks on.

Pixies - B
The Pixies are quite possibly the archetypal reunion band of my generation. That classic band you grew up thinking you'd never see and now you have them. They're note perfect on everything and every Pixies set is like being 15 and in my bedroom again. That said this is the 3rd time I've seen them since they reformed in 2004. They have been reformed for almost as long now as they were active and there's still nothing new. There's a rumour of a fifth album but nothing played live and to be perfectly honest unless there was something new to catch I think this might be last time seeing the Pixies.

(We took a map that night and found our way home easily)

Day 3:

Real Estate - B+
One of S's favourite bands this year and a great, chilled out start to the last day of the festival. I admit that I don't know them very well but they were very catchy (even if some of the songs did start to blur into one another at the end).

Atlas Sound - C+
After quite a few attempts this was my first time actually seeing Bradford Cox in any of his many guises and it was really a bit of a let down. The music was OK even if it was just him and a guitar but he just came across like a complete idiot. We didn't stick around too long for this and I think next time we'll hold out for Deerhunter.

Nana Grizol - C
Bit of a cheat here as we were having a sit down in the main bowl and this was the band that was playing. I didn't know them at all but as I remarked to S they were kind of like a ska version of the Wave Pictures.

The Slits - C+
One of the big (for me anyway) reunions of the festival and we just had enough time to catch a few tracks before F&TM. And what a few tracks they were. It was like watching a car crash, terrible but you just couldn't take your eyes away. Firstly Ari came on stage alone and then claimed she had lost the Slits. She tried to engage everyone in a chant but most people weren't having it. That didn't deter Ari though and she proceeded to give a performance I can only compare to watching your grandma playing rude party games at Christmas. I can however now claim to have seen the Slits play Typical Girls and Shoplifting so I can die happy.

Florence & The Machine - B+
I had expected that this would be one of the performances of the festival. Knowing what an amazing performer and singer Florence is but again this was a bit underwhelming. She put a lot into it but as often happens with these things she just seemed completely detached from her backing band. I really enjoyed You Got The Love and Kiss With a Fist but I think we were stood a bit too far back to get much of the atmosphere. We were also distracted because the cameraman appeared to really fancy a girl in the audience and her face was on the screen almost as much as Florence's.

The Antlers - A+
I bloody love The Antlers and this was definitely the highlight of the 3rd day. Very different from the other highlights of the festival because they managed to fill the space with atmospherics rather than sound. The ghostly dance music was perfect for the last day and I was just sad that S couldn't enjoy more of it but she wanted to get a good spot at Grizzly Bear. Kettering was the haunting highlight but I was also a little disappointed not to catch them again in the 'unplugged' tent.

Grizzly Bear - B+
After the Antlers I did manage to catch the end of the Grizzly Bear set which looked amazing. S tells me that they played a really nice mixture of old and new stuff which I think it important at these festivals - you don't really want someone just banging out the hits, that would lower the tone of Primavera Sound when one of the best attributes it has is that it expects quite a high level of musical knowledge from its audience.

Matt & Kim - A-
Just caught a small bit of Matt & Kim due to my own incredible stupidity but they are now firmly high on my list of bands to watch out for. Absolutely crazy performance from the pair which contained much drumming and keyboarding whilst stood on top of their instruments and also some of the fastest playing I think I have ever seen.

Liquid Liquid - A
The festival closed for us on a really high not for me because Liquid Liquid are just one of those bands you never really expect to see. Perhaps I'm looking into it too much but their set really summed up what was great about this years festival. They managed to do so much with so little. Time and time again we were seeing bands with two or three members making such a noise and really filling the space they had with music and rhythm. Liquid Liquid are percussion and bass yet they make such interesting and funky music that you can feel it flowing through you. It was such a great sight to see the whole crowd really feeling the rhythm and this stage turned into the biggest dance party I saw this time.

BurnTheJukebox #5...

2010-04-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

The biggest news of this week is of course the return (for it's fifth night!) of the BTJ night where you can hear some, all or none of the music I write about in this blog. This will be the second time at the wonderful Bacalhoeiro venue which is definitely one of the coolest places in town.

I'll be playing some tunes from around midnight (most probably a little later) after some live music from Beatriz Portugal.

Here's the flyer again in case you missed it at the top of the page:

MGMT - Congratualtions (2010)...

2010-04-12T05:21:00.000-07:00

So after what has been quite a lively and interesting start to the year the disappointments have been coming in thick and fast. It's no secret that the latest offering by MGMT has been received with rather mixed reviews.

I actually got hold of a copy a few weeks ago and I have been trying my best to find something lovable about Congratulations but it's really not an easy album to love. You do have to admire a band like MGMT who have received a modicum of success with their last album and Oracular Spectacular would've been such an easy album to rip off and put out a 'soundalike' successor. Instead MGMT have gone back deeper into their neo-psychadelic and prog roots which isn't as a big a journey as some reviewers would have us believe. Outside of the jump along singles of Oracular Spectacular (Kids and Electric Feel being the best of these) there was always a buch of tracks which verged on the strange and unlistenable. When I saw them live a couple of years ago this became even more acute...the overriding feeling was that this wasn't a 'singles band'.

Whether this is good or not for the band will no doubt take some time to work out. They have now a legion of dedicated fans who will stick by the band even after the Kids bandwagonjumpers have abandoned ship. I'm not sure in what group I'll be but I think it will take a more interesting album than Congratulations for me to make up my mind.

Anyway, here's something old and something new:

MGMT - Electric Feel

MGMT - Brian Eno (The best track from the new album)

Incidentally here's an interesting opinion piece on the issue of newer bands playing their 'hits' live. It's a subject which many people feel passionate about.

The Guardian - Why are new acts so reluctant to show us their hits?

This week in film...

2010-04-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

This week's viewing has been dominated by one really rather special film. Despite buying a new bazillion inch wide HD TV the other week we decided to have a change from the usual routine (S watching some rubbish American series and me on the computer, ignoring the TV) and go out and do something together. It had been a while since we'd been to the cinema (the last thing we'd seen was Shutter Island) and there wasn't anything on that had particularly jumped out at me and so S suggested Away We Go.

I have to admit I wasn't totally thrilled at the prospect, on the face of it it looks like a pretty typical indie-thirtysomething film - plus the fact that I'm not a huge fan of either Sam Mendes or Dave Eggars. But with the absence of anything else worth watching (and in that category I do include both Alice in Wonderland and The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus!) I thought we could do a lot worse.

The film starts with two typically disfunctional bohemian thirtysomethings, Veronica (Maya Rudolph) and Burt (John Krasinski) finding out that they are going to have a baby. Having thus far made little of their lives and with Burt's parents moving to Belgium they have no ties and decide to travel to see their family and friends and choose a new home in which to raise their child. Here begins the true strength of the movie: an amazing ensemble cast.

The couple experience a wide range of family situations, from the inattentive (Allison Janney) to the over attentive (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and two very different family tragedies. Through their journey they discover what they really want from a family.

The story of self discovery might not be particularly new or original and nor are the dyfunctional thirtysomethings who still haven't figured out what they want with life but the real beauty of this film for me (and maybe this says more about me than the film) was the fact that I saw so much of my own reactions and fears in the film. One of the common criticisms of the films has been that Veronica and Burt come off as superior people compared to their friends and family but I agree with Roger Ebert when he wrote, "well, maybe they are".

Plus Burt is kinda obsessed with boobs, a trait I can totally sympathise with.

Away We Go (2009) - Sam Mendes

And I return...

2010-04-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

I've been away for too long, I know, I apologise but let's get on with it. In my time away you have missed:

Lots and lots of new albums, many of which I'll be talking about shortly;
BurnTheJukebox #4 - I have found myself an excellent new venue thanks to the wonderful people at the Bacalhoeiro Cultural Collective and BTJ #5 will be taking place shortly;
Oh and we have had a new kitchen and bathroom built which was kinda the reason for the absence...

In the time I've been away we've also witnessed the passing of some dear friends, not only Alex Chilton, a pop music great but also two of my favourite website, Bolachas and We Are The Sleepyheads have both fallen foul of those nasty internet police. Whilst they both still exist, at least in name, they are mere shadows of their former selves and so the search continues for reliable new sources of good music.

So what of the music filling my ears, here's a selection of what I've thought is worth listening to lately:

The Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard

Taken By Trees - My Boys (Yeah I know it's old but it's Peter's fault for reminding me how good it is)

The Replacements - Alex Chilton (Obviously)

...and the best pop video I've seen in some time, thank you Peter Serafinowicz.

Hot Chip - I Feel Better

BurnTheJukebox #3...

2010-01-23T08:20:00.001-08:00

Ok so tonight is the third time I attempt to play some tunes for an expectant public. Festivities start at 22h00 and will be going on til the wee small hours (or around 02h00 when I have the electricity cut off or have run out of records to play.

I've got a great selection of old and new cuts ready for your listening pleasure.

I really should advertise this a little better than I do but it's not in me to be the self publicist.

Skhizein...

2010-01-22T07:18:00.000-08:00

One of the nicest little animations I have seen in a long time:

Chew Lips...

2010-01-21T05:01:00.000-08:00

Musical comparisons are invariably cruel to one of the parties, they immediately conjure impressions of unoriginality and derivativeness, yet I think given the obvious factors with Chew Lips (i.e. a girl fronted electro pop group) it's better to clear the La Roux in the air from the off.

Aside from the the most superficial similarities (I notice that Tig is of late no longer a redhead!) the similarities with the angular, gritty, and sometimes abrasive, La Roux can largely be dispensed with. What Chew Lips offer instead is a much softer, more rounded take on synth pop. There are still dancable pop nuggets but there are also a few more instances of introspection.

Tig is an amazing singer and this band deserve some real success this year.

Unicorn by Chew Lips is released on the 25th January by Kitsuné

Chew Lips - Play Together

Chew Lips - Slick

Avatar...what more is there to say....

2010-01-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

So it is there that I start my all too predictable backlash against Avatar. Unless you have been living under a rock, hate the cinema or are incredibly out of touch with the outside world (in which case why are you reading this?) you will have heard of, if not seen this film, apparently a marvel of modern cinema. The film that has wowed audiences across the world, raked in squillions of dollars for the studios and won tons of awards. It also, perplexingly, took seven (7!!!) years to write.

Now, I think before I really get started on this, a small disclaimer is in order - when it comes to films I am a complete luddite - that is I don't care a jot for all these technological advances. It was a step too far for me when they started to show films in colour. In all seriousness though I would say around 95% of the films I watch for pleasure don't use CGI and I really don't see the point of it. If you're watching a cartoon fair enough but I have never understood the point of mixing live action with computer generated graphics. Both make it equally hard for me to dispel my disbelief but with CGI there's always an element of ridiculousness because you know the actors are prancing around in front of a green screen.

Now in the large majority of films that employ CGI (although I take this as read because I haven't actually seen very many but I know this to be true), and Avatar is as much guilty of this as any in recent memory, the vast amounts spent on CGI has been an excuse not to bother with some fundamentals of film making:

Characterisation
Plot
Good scripts

The plot of Avatar is laughably simplistic, an alien planet is discovered which contains a valuable mineral ('unobtainium'...wow...just wow!). The planet is already inhabited by several alien species, one humanoid and seemingly primitive and so rather than blow them away straight away efforts are made to communicate with them by using some incredibly advanced technology that involved implanting the mind of a human into the body of an alien. (the technology is obviously incredibly advanced but can be run from a shack in the jungle with no obvious power source). Predictably the human mole sent in to move the aliens along falls in love with their culture and when the inevitable battle starts he obviously helps the aliens.

Now you could be jealous and say that the (lack of any decent) plot was to allow the audience to focus on the, admittedly beautiful, visuals. But 3 hours of beautiful (computer generated) visuals does not a good film make. I'm a huge fan of David Attenborough's nature shows because although many of the scenes he shows are amazing, beautiful, and even shocking, you know that everything he shows exists and you're reminded that as inventive as fiction is nothing is quite as extraordinary as reality. Instead we're expected to be wowed for three hours by six legged slimy tigers and blue giants who can plug into nature.

Then there was the predictable battle, led by the evil army colonel (who seemed to be based on Guile from Streetfighter), where the typical modern battle convention of jump cuts every .3 of a second seem to predominate. Whether the audiences like this headache inducing style or whether it's to cover for the deficiencies of the technology I don't know but after the headache of the 3D it didn't seem to matter by then. Again it could be me but the whole 3D thing seems like a bit of a waste of time. In no way do you feel you are there, inside the movie, in about 5 or 6 scenes in the whole film it actually adds something to the video and by the end of 3 hours wearing the glasses your nose is aching.

So then, what's left to say, some people will like this film and to be perfectly honest I don't blame them in the slightest, but in terms of my own personal cinematic tastes you couldn't go much further to find a film to offend all of them.

2010, a year of intrigue...

2010-01-20T03:03:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about this year but so far we've been seeing an awful lot of records which have somehow defied expectations. First came the more challenging effort from Vampire Weekend and more recently we've had equally interesting releases from some of our favourites.

Spoon - Transference (2010)

Spoon are one of those bands who, so long as you like their pop rock stylings, will never really let you down. They hit on the right formula for producing catchy, danceable and interesting rock songs some years ago and that has really worked for them. They have an annoyingly good hear for a great pop hook and my party playlists are rarely without a Spoon song but this year they have made something of an enigma. The hooks are still plentiful and Transference is undeniably a good record but it does take a few listens to really identify any stand out tracks. There doesn't appear to be a straightforward equivalent to Turn My Camera On or Don't You Evah but strangely enough that doesn't seem to matter.

The album feels at once a step backwards, an attempt to shake off the overtly 'pop' Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and also a band maturing and moving forward. The one thing you really take from the album is that it is incredibly well crafted and there isn't a bad track on it.

Spoon - Written In Reverse

Scout Niblett - The Calcination of Scout Niblett (2010)

I was lucky enough to get a sneaky peak at many of the tracks from the new Scout Niblett record at her gig in December and in my crueller moments I'm tempted to say that The Calcination of Scout Niblett gives her fans more of the same. This would be incredibly shortsighted of me though because even a short meandering through her back catalogue will show an incredible progression whilst maintaining the intrinsic formula that her fans love.

With Scout there is a central core of vulnerability and unpredictability around which she has crafted a series of almost uncategorisable 'folk songs'. The style has moved on immensely from the shy beginnings of Sweet Heart Fever through the minimal I Am and the almost straightforward 'nu-folk' of This Fool Can Die Now. This new record has more in common I think with my personal favourite, Kidnapped By Neptune, a record that for all of its faults is genuinely unpredictable and raw. It really sounds like each song is an experiment and you can almost feel the faltering footsteps in its making. The Calcination, just like Kidnapped, will take me a few listens to firmly embed itself in my head but I know it will get there.

There, a Scout Niblett review without mentioning Steve Albini or Cat Power...shit!

Scout Niblett - The Calcination of Scout Niblett

Scout Niblett - Lucy Lucifer

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (2010)

Nothing says damn the critics quite like making your follow up to a widely acclaimed debut a concept album about the American Civil War. That said if your debut also contained an injoke from Seinfeld as well as a reading from the Shakespeare play you have taken your name from and a reading from Camus then you're probably not too interested in what the critics say.

Titus Andronicus' The Airing of Grievances was one of my albums of 2008, a perfect lo-fi mixture of punk and shoegaze. The album seemed filled with energy and fire and this does carry over to The Monitor even if the album does have a distinctly less lo-fi appearance. The basic formula is still there, pounding drums, murky guitars and 'shouted rather than sung' vocals but now the songs are lengthened (five of the ten tracks are longer than 6 minutes) and there is a definite 'level up' in terms of production.

This adds up to an album that is possibly an easier listen if not quite as much fun as the debut. That said I still think it's an amazing album from one of my favourite new bands.

(I can't find anything off the new album that isn't a rubbish live version so here's my favourite track from the first album)

Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus

BurnTheJukebox #3

2010-01-19T05:02:00.000-08:00

That time has come around again where I get the uncontrollable urge to get behind the decks and share what I've been hearing lately with all of you.

If you'd care to come down and hear some great music then the next BurnTheJukebox night will be from 22h00 at O Século Centro Cultural. Located at 80, Rua do Século (look out for the green tiles and the kick ass tunes).

Ver mapa maior

To wet your lips here is a playlist I conceived last night to keep my wonderful girlfriend entertained at work today:

The Reindeer Section - 12 Hours It Takes Sometimes
Scout Niblett - So Much Love To Do
Adem - To Cure A Weakling Child (Boy/Girl Song) (Aphex Twin Cover)
Broken Bells - Mongrel Heart
The Gun Club - Sex Beat
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
The Young Gods - Skinflowers (acoustic)
Man Man - Hurley/Burley
Altered Images - I Could Be Happy
Pavement - Date With Ikea
Sparklehorse - Shade and Honey
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Northfield, NM
Late of the Pier - Space & the Woods (Cenzo Townshend Mix)
Memory Tapes - Green Knight
Lindstrom & Prins Thomas - Boney M Down
Lou Johnson - Magic Potion
Slits - Man Next Door
Sleater-Kinney - Words and Guitar
Throwing Muses - Honeychain
Violent Femmes - Kiss Off
Folk Implosion - Nothing Gonna Stop
Husker Du - Could You Be The One?
The Soft Pack - Down On Loving
The Replacements - Seen Your Video
Tapes n Tapes - Just Drums
Fridge - Traps
Arnie Love - Invisible Wind
Passion Pit - I've Got Your Number
Studio - Origin (Shake You Down By The River)
Hot Chip - One Life Stand

Some of these might make the transition to Saturday.

If this is how it starts I can't wait to see what's next...

2010-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

It's been rather a hectic first week of the year, the first couple of days were spent recovering, more from the experience of Singstar Pop Edition (S and I were made to listen to music rather than perform) than the champagne or whiskey consumed. There then followed the resumption of life as usual (broken yesterday by my 26th birthday). This consists of working my way through piles of books and then sitting at the computer for hours regurgitating it back on the page in a different order.

This jolly routine has been made even more pleasurable by the fact that I've managed to get my little hands on a few of the more eagerly anticipated albums due out in the next couple of months and here are my first impressions:

Vampire Weekend - Contra (2010)

One of the sounds of 2008 spent much of 2009 seemingly trying to break the preppy image that they themselves and their first album had landed them with. The shirts and braided belts remained but also came interesting late night collaborations with Fucked Up and interviews in which Ezra claimed no-one really knew who he was and that he was down with the hardcore punk.

First glances at the new album showed something of that harder side, Horchata was more complex and less easy to love than their previous work and yet it remains undeniably Vampire Weekend. There are the tribal afrobeat drums and the vocals almost sighed into the microphone (you can almost see the cheeky grin whilst they're being sung).

This harder edge continues through the rest of the album, even if its via the electronic beats of White Sky, the (sometimes irritating) use of Auto-tune on California English (Ezra is really someone whose voice doesn't need it, even for effect) or the Clash like reggae/punk mix of Holiday.

This is an album that doesn't have the immediate punch of the first album and it really is like they're trying in some way to make themselves less likeable here. That said it is definitely a grower and unlike many a modern album I think that side two is by far the stronger - Run sounding like they've taken some notes from Discovery on mixing electronics with indie pop and I Think UR a Contra is downright weird for VW and a possible way forward for them into their third album.

Vampire Weekend - Cousins

Vampire Weekend - Contra is released on 11th January 2010 by XL.

Los Campesinos - Romance Is Boring (2010)

Los Campesinos' new album marks something of a musical shift for the Welsh seven piece. Gone are sparse pop melodies acting as a backing for some of the most witty and romantic musings on modern (alternative) life this side of the Wave Pictures and instead we're left with this wall of sound, blasting brass and screaching organs where we're searching for a glimpse of those lyrics. And when we do find them they're just not half as good as they once were.

I'm not much of a fan of this new heavier Los Campesinos. It's like they've discovered a distortion pedal and now can't switch it off. They've managed to lose a member in 2009 and end up sounding more cluttered.

There are still some hints of the old band in there and from time to time can still deliver that killer line ("I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock, feels like the build up takes forever but you never get me off." from Straight in at 101 being a point in case) it's just that these moments are rarer and sometimes feel a little forced.

Los Campesinos - There Are Listed Buildings

Los Campesinos - Romance Is Boring is released on 1st February 2010 by Wichita

Broken Bells - Broken Bells (2010)

If the thought of a collaboration between the Shins' James Mercer and Gnarls Barkley's (amongst others) Danger Mouth is mouth watering prospect then you definitely won't be disappointed when this album finally lands on your doorstep.

In an all too rare turn up for the books a collaboration between two creative musical forces has managed to produce an outstanding, interesting and eminently listenable album. A perfect harmony between the lush acoustic arrangements you might expect with quirky and appropriate samples and programming.

The album opener, The High Road, is a great taster for where the album is heading, the computer game samples blending smoothly into guitars and vocals. It was a bit of a dangerous move for these guys and could've ended up being something of a Postal Service ripoff but I think that was me just underestimating them.

The album is filled with little surprises and my highlight was definitely the penultimate track Mongrel Heart which goes from a decent 80s English/Scottish post-punk imitation some way between The Cure and Aztec Camera before embarking on a sampled trumpet interlude, and then bringing it all together.

This album is going to set a pretty high benchmark for those following it this year. (and for future electronic/indie collaborations.)

Broken Bells - The High Road

Broken Bells - Broken Bells is released on 9th March 2010 by Sony.

The week in film...

2010-01-07T07:13:00.000-08:00

For the first of 2010's 'This week in film' I have stumbled across one of 2009's best (and most criminally underrated) films.

Adventureland (2009) - Greg Mottola

I am a total sucker for these indie 'rom coms' and usually I have to explain them away as some kind of dirty guilty secret but with Adventureland I have no apologies to make as this is a genuinely sweet and sincere film. OK it's rehashing of the 'boy meets girl, girl leads him on whilst screwing him over with another guy, so boy gets back with second girl before realising he loves the first' is not the most original story in the book but it manages to portray the ridiculousness of young love and 'courting' to such a great extent that anyone in (or who remembers their) youth can't help but give a wry smile.

The story centres on James, a recent Literature graduate who has just had his heart broken and his dreams of a post-graduation trip to Europe dashed. Finding himself with precious little practical experience in the field of work (an experience I can definitely relate to) he is forced to join the ranks of the crummiest local employer, the eccentric and decaying funfair Adventureland.

At the fair he meets many of the local losers (who surprise surprise turn out to be really quite lovable and cool in their own way) including pipe smoking Joel, funfair diehard Bobby and Em, the girl that James is destined to fall for. The action, such as it is takes place largely on the fair in the succession of smalltown dives the characters hang out in, and is concerned with the attempts of James to get a girl who, outwardly it seems, is much more worldly and cool than he is.

One of the great successes of the film is the balance of humour, which consistently succeeds in never becoming crass and overly juvenile whilst still being fun and silly in parts. The lead actor, Jesse Eisenberg, playing James, is something of a revelation of subtly wry self aware misery. He definitely gives Michael Cera a run for his money as a leading indie lead.

The outstanding feature of the film is however the soundtrack. Rarely has a film soundtrack been so much in touch with my own tastes. The film is set in 1987 Pittsburgh and the music largely reflects this with major featured tracks from the likes of The Replacements, Husker Du, Yo La Tengo and The Jesus and Mary Chain, along with some classics from Lou Reed, Big Star and The New York Dolls. This film is definitely one to check out for any punk/indie fan.

The Drums...

2010-01-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

This music lark is a bit of a double-edged sword sometimes. I listen to so much over the year that sometimes I'll catch a track and think it was pretty amazing but then either not have the time to invest in more research or else it will just get pushed out of my head by the next band that comes along. It could be that I just don't have anything like the attention span I should have, there are people out there who listen to far more than me and who also have the full-time job and other distractions that life throws at you, I shouldn't complain really.

Anyway, the point of this is that I have only, this morning, become fully aware of the brilliantness of Summertime by The Drums (I know, it's January, freezing and pouring down with rain so how apt!).

I had already featured one of the tracks, the sublime Let's Go Surfing, earlier in the year but I can't be bothered going back through my blog to find the context. In my remarkable hangover free state this morning the whole EP has been on repeat and S has been mocking me about how inappropriate the album is but I think something so energetic (and I think joyful and optimistic) is perfect for the first day of the year.

They describe themselves as the bastard child of Sun Records and Factory Records (OK, I paraphrase a little there) but they definitely strike that balance of the bleak 80s pop aesthetic with the energy of the 50s rock and roll. It's a strange mixture but one they pull off very well and they manage to sound comfortingly familiar without being a rip off (although some moments veer quite closely to Smiths-dom).

Here are a few tracks from them:

The Drums - Saddest Summer

The Drums - Let's Go Surfing

The Drums - Don't Be A Jerk, Jonny

The Drums - Submarine

So that was what was and this is what is...

2009-12-31T05:25:00.000-08:00

As we move seamlessly from 2009 to 2010, like an A-Trak mix, I find myself wondering...nay more than that...hoping...the big events of 2010.

Some are more easy than others to predict, we have already heard tantalising news of some new albums and tours in the pipeline and we feel in our bones the tingling sensation of anticipation. Others however are a little more abstract, intangible and down right personal and so will mean more or less to the average reader (or stumbler across) of this blog.

New Liars album - with a suitably enigmatic website and one mp3 already available for download (if Scissor is anything to go by the album will definitely be an interesting release and another big move for a band who are anything but predictable.) one of my big highlights of next year will be getting my paws on this. Sisterworld by Liars is released by Mute on 8th March 2010.
New Arcade Fire album - news of this is as yet rather sketchy but March will be the third anniversary of Neon Bible and we know AF like to keep their cards close to their chest. I've never been the biggest AF fan (I like the dancier of the tracks but always felt they were an Elephant 6 band for the masses - Neutral Milk Hotel do a similar sound much better) that said a new Arcade Fire album is a big indie event and I know one person in particular who is positively wetting herself with anticipation of a supporting tour.
New Scout Niblett album - I think quite likely of all predictions made this is the most likely because barring any unforseen circumstances The Calcination of Scout Niblett will be released by Drag City on the 19th January 2010. Judging from the new tracks she played when I saw her on the 16th December at Zé Dos Bois, here in Lisbon, she has lost nothing of the charm, charisma and wryness that have been present in the last two albums, or the rawness and vulnerability that she has had since the beginning. A new Scout album is always a special event in my diary.
More tours - if 2009 was dominated by the financial crisis then this was definitely felt in the music industry and especially in terms of touring. I could be wrong but stuck here as I am in something of the indie hinterlands (i.e. Lisbon) we are often bottom of the list when it comes to US or Northern European bands touring. 2008 saw quite a few smaller, up and coming, indie bands come to Lisbon but last year, with a few notable exceptions, we were limited to the indie giants or else (overpriced) festival appearances. Gigs are always going to be expensive here (you have to get the bands here) but next year is already starting out quite promising - The Fiery Furnaces and Yo La Tengo are already coming. This takes me to my next hope...
Primavera Sound 2010 - S and I missed last years due to a severe lack of funds but we have spent 2009 filling up our piggybank in the expectation of a stellar lineup for 2010 and we look not to be disappointed. Not only is Primavera Sound widely becoming known as the best European festival but I consider it something of a local festival being across the peninsular in Barcelona (the ones in Portugal tend to have about 10 bands - 50% international bands and 50% Portuguese filler and are way overpriced). Bands already confirmed for Primavera 2010 include Bis, Mission of Burma, Panda Bear, Pavement, Orbital, Pixies, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Low, The XX, Wilco, The Wild Beasts, Wire, The Antlers, The Fall, Delorean, Hope Sandoval and the Japandroids (and they are just the bands I want to see). Primavera Sound 2010 takes place in Barcelona between the 27th and 29th May.
The BurnTheJukebox night to take over the world - well perhaps this is a little over ambitious, maybe I will settle for just getting a few more nights in Lisbon and getting a little more attention via word of mouth. After two (more or less) successful nights in 2009 the BTJ will return early in 2010 with more details to follow but my plans for next year include making it a regular night (and by extension having a regular crowd) and also starting to put on some local Lisbon live music talent (to expose it to a larger audience and to give me more bathroom breaks).

2009 has been something of a strange year, it is the first year I've spent in my adoptive city and it has taken some time to get used to that. It's been a prolonged experience but now I'm settling in. I have my fingers still in many pies and now I can concentrate on making those things really work and become fruitful.

A sign of how much I have settled in is the fact that I have been asked to write for a really excellent group blog, sharing my experiences of the city - SpottedByLocals is by now a pretty well established travel blog where locals write about their own cities and you can find all kinds of hidden gems (most of) which you won't find in the guidebooks. My priority in this blog, other than of course attracting people to come and visit Lisbon, is to be as honest as I can and to get people to put down their Rough Guide and see the city as those who live in it see it.

An alternative top albums of 2009...

2009-12-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

Not being a (complete) musical fascist I do sometimes allow my girlfriend to listen to some music of her own choosing and because of this she's only gone and written up her own Top 10 albums of 2009 which doesn't correspond to my own list. (I might have to consider changing this policy in future years but you live and learn.)

So here is S's top 10. There are some obvious crossovers but I think it's a pretty good list and I completely respect the ordering.

1- Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
2- The XX – XX
3- The Bowerbirds – Upper Air
4- Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5- La Roux – La Roux
6- Grizzly Bear – Vecktimest
7- Handsome Furs – Face Control
8- The Antlers – Hospice
9- Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
10- Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer

Honourable mentions:

VA - Dark was the night (given it’s a compilation…)

My only comments would be that I agree that Dark Was The Night is an excellent compilation and possibly could've made my top 20 but rules are rules and I couldn't let it in. I didn't think the Sunset Rubdown album was that great but then I love Shut Up I Am Dreaming so much that everything by them no seems a little underwhelming, this is my own problem. Everyone raved about The xx this year and I'm looking forward to seeing them live next year but the album didn't grab me immediately.

I was surprised to see the Antlers in S's list because we only listened to them together a couple of times, she must've been off listening to them in private :o(

We both talked about our respective lists at the weekend and there is one album missing from both that surprised us greatly and that was It's Blitz by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. For me it was a real return to form for the band and if such a thing should exist in my top 10 it would probably be my number 11.

So to play us out...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

I love Stewart Lee...

2009-12-14T05:38:00.000-08:00

Stewart Lee is, apparently, the 41st best stand up ever. Or at least that is according to a recent channel 4 poll and consequently the title of his recent UK tour.

There is an argument that since the deaths of Bill Hicks and, more recently, George Carlin there isn't a great deal of angry, effective and funny political comedy. There is a great strain of political satire that runs through British political comedy (from Mock The Week to The Thick of It) and this is still of a great quality but as far as explicit and genuine ideology presented in an amusing way then I struggle to think of anyone and certainly no-one who comes near the ability of Stewart Lee.

As well as being a damn good comedian Lee is also blessed with being a huge fan of The Fall, in fact the one time I have seen him live he was introducing The Fall in Manchester. Lee is the author of the chapter on The Fall in the Wire Primers series.

Stewart Lee on political correctness

Stewart Lee on islamic taboos

Stewart Lee on dreams

Best of 2009…

2009-12-10T05:17:00.000-08:00

After a rather hectic few weeks where the real world took priority over this imaginary world of internets and music I feel it’s just about time to roll out my end of year lists.

This year hasn’t been a classic, those predictions taken a few months ago seem to have been proven right, no earth shattering new album has been released in the past few weeks and I haven’t experienced some epiphanic reappraisal of an album from earlier in the year.

That said I don’t think it was a bad year and my top 10 albums weren’t particularly easy to choose, I had a quick count the other night and I think the total number of albums I heard this year comes to around 150, that includes EPs but not singles, individual tracks, remixes and compilations.

As with previous years I am a little anal over the choice of albums…no EPs allowed and I consciously try to appraise albums on their overall quality rather than being overwhelmed by a couple of stand out tracks.

Disclaimer over and now onto the albums (in reverse order, so as you scroll down you get that buzz), I’ve written at least a little about every band on here so I’ll just say a few words now:

10. The Phenomenal Handclap Band – The Phenomenal Handclap Band

Rather fantastic (the name says it all) retro band. They take that 70s sound and put some new energy into it. I recently saw them live and they were just as good on stage as on record.

9. Discovery - LP

If 2008 was the year of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot and that whole preppy invasion sound then this was the album that screwed all that up and really made people dance. It gave the preppy look a grown up edge and I don't think there's a bad track on the album even if it does sound like it was made in someone's bedroom.

8. Uninhabitable Mansions – Nature Is A Taker

Speaking of bands who sound like they record in their bedrooms...This was something of a late arriver for me but it came around just at that time, at the end of summer, when I'd had just about enough of electronic music and wanted a return to guitars. Very good guitar indie from some usual indie suspects.

7. The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love

A new signing by 4AD (as close to a guarantee of quality as you'll get these days) this electro rock duo manage to produce some wonderful moments of noisy bliss.

6. Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue

I've already said quite a bit about this album. Another great release on the Warp label from a guy manages to make every track sound a bit different and yet still produce an album that holds together. The album mixes sound collages with live instruments to produce tracks that are, at various times, funky, bouncy beautiful and wistful. Oh yeah and he's from Wolverhampton which is weird.

5. The Antlers – Hospice

A hauntingly beautiful album that really seeps into your head. I surprised myself because I think out of all the albums on this list this is probably the one I have listened to most. There is my album for when I'm feeling down or when it's been a hard day because the fragility of the vocals is totally compensated for by the powerful drums that each track builds towards.

4. Magic Arm – Make Lists Do Something

This is another album that I've listened to a hell of a lot and it could be argued that I have been desperately looking for some link back to Manchester for this past year. You could also argue that this is one of the best things to come out of Manchester in the past 5 or 6 years. I'm in the latter camp. It's an incredibly well constructed album that just when you think you've heard everything drops an amazing cover of Daft Punk's Playing At My House on you.

3. The Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

This is going to be the top of many a list this year (including S's) and deservedly so. For me though I felt that there was such a good track on the album (Stillness Is The Move) that it kind of overshadowed the rest. Still an amazing album though and everyone should check out Solange's cover of The Stillness Is The Move.

2. La Roux – La Roux

I's by lying to myself just to look 'cool' if I didn't put this album in. Not only was it one of the most overplayed album of the year (and I'm as responsible for this as anyone) but it was also one of the best with four or five tracks which are destined to be floor fillers and dance classics for years to come. Now hopefully they'll stop playing it in every shop in England.

1. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

I said when this album first came out that it would probably be my album of the year and, after careful consideration, I was right. Other Phoenix albums make plenty of lists of the decade but I don't think any of their work up to now hangs together quite like this. The album not only contained for me the track of the summer (although for the track of the year see below) but was a pleasure to listen to from beginning to end.

So that's the end of the year pretty much, from now until the 31st it will be Christmas carols all the way (speaking of which everyone needs to check out Lindstrom's 40 minute version of Little Drummer Boy, it will either get you through the festive period or send you mad before you get out the mince pies).

Here are the 'Honourable Mentions' for those artists/albums/tracks that didn't (or more likely couldn't) make it into the top 10.

Diamond Rings - All Yr Songs - Track of the year but only a single :(
Handsome Furs - Face Control - An early front runner and excellent live.
Delorian - Ayrton Senna EP - Can't have EPs but I love Delorean

Tomorrow I'll try and find the time to write about my hopes for 2010.

I'm feeling grumpy...

2009-11-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

It's Friday so the party feeling should be pumping through my veins right about now but instead I am in the midsts of what can only be described as a mega grump.

It has just been one of those weeks to forget (aside from the news that I will be getting a contract next year, but that was a mere distraction). It's been one of those weeks where nothing really goes to plan, all my writing this week had been a bit distracted (that's my work writing, not this) plus, in a typical fashion, our landlady has been less than helpful.

I could've probably coped a bit better if I had had some suitable distractions but there haven't been enough good new releases to keep my brain occupied. Is it the financial crisis or are people waiting for Christmas or something? Either this or I just haven't been in the kind of mood for new experiences.

I've had to resort to a few old favourites that never disappoint. There is some kind of logic to their presentation and so a big pat on the back for those of you who can follow it.

Add n to (X) - The Revenge of The Black Regent

Stereolab - French Disko

PJ Harvey - Man-Size

Shellac - Copper

The Wipers - Mystery

Love Battery - Out Of Focus

Buzzcocks - What Do I Get

Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls - Dream Sequence 1

The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet

The Replacements - I Will Dare (Live)

Not bad, all a bit punky but all quite different. Nice Friday playlist.

Out of Africa...

2009-11-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

In recent days I have been (re)enjoying my collection of music from, and inspired by, Africa.

I'm lucky that some of my colleagues are big fans of African music and Afrobeat in particular and so we have been having something of a cultural exchange where they provide me with the classics and I give them some of the newer stuff.

Here's some of what I have been enjoying:

Fela Kuti - Teacher Don't teach Me No Nonsense

The Funkees - The Dancing Time

The Warm Heart Of Africa - The Very Best (feat. Ezra Koenig)

Oumou Sangaré - Seya

Amadou et Mariam - Sabali

Bear In Heaven...

2009-11-09T05:16:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since an album grabbed me as immediately as Beast Rest Forth Mouth by Bear In Heaven has. Even recent acclaimed albums by the likes of The xx and Girls took me a few listens to fully appreciate but here we really do have a contender for that coveted end of the year top 10 list.

Annoyingly Pitchfork got to it before me, imagine my disappointment when I opened up the site this morning and saw their review, but you will have to believe me that tracks from this album have been knocking about for a bit now and I have wanted to write about it for a while. All they did was to spur me on to post this.

It has been quite a year for bands producing electro-influenced psyche pop and this album is up there with the recent releases by The Big Pink, but with a much closer sound with layers of blissful synths providing a base for the guitars and vocals. The album could veer into dangerous territory of getting boring or repetitive but they keep it short enough so that the technique doesn't get tiresome.

(Their name is pretty crap though.)

Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth (2009, Hometapes)

1	Beast in Peace
2	Wholehearted Mess
3	You Do You
4	Lovesick Teenagers
5	Ultimate Satisfaction
6	Dust Cloud
7	Drug a Wheel
8	Deafening Love
9	Fake Out
10	Casual Goodbye

Bear in Heaven - Lovesick Teenagers

Bear in Heaven - Wholehearted Mess

A Retrospective - Liars...

2009-11-05T04:55:00.000-08:00

A bit of good news today, one of my favourite bands, Liars, will be releasing a new album in the new year. Sisterworld will be the band's fifth album and the first since 2007's Liars.

With Liars you should always expect the unexpected. My first experience of them was when they supported Sonic Youth back in 2001 and their funky bass lines and jittery rhythms immediately drew me in. Not to mentioned the fact that they were so loud they burst ear drums.

Their back catalogue is filled with little gems surrounded by some of the weirdest music produced (and listed to) in recent years. They're a band for whom the 'concept album' is not a display of vulgar self indulgence but rather self indulgence is their raison d'être. So here's a bit of a retrospective for the uninitiated:

Liars - They Through Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top (2001)

Beginning in 2001 the band's debut album was something of a revelation. The jittery rhythms, funky post-punk bass and vocals which ranged from the melodic to the hyperactively deranged (not to mention lyrics that would've made Burroughs proud) meant that Liars were instantly subsumed into that fledgling New York art-punk movement of the turn of the century. It's a movement I have touched on previously when discussing the Sonic Mook Experiment.

Liars certainly knew their influences and the first album includes an interesting adaptation of a sample taken from the seminal New York funk group ESG, as well as taking other musical cues from luch post-punk luminaries as The Fall, Sonic Youth and Gang of Four.

The thing that for me really sets this first album apart from the others is that as well as being musically very interesting pretty much every track is dancable. I think over the years, in various clubs, I must've heard pretty much every track played...except the last track...oh yeah...the last track is 30 minutes long.

Track highlights:

Liars - Mr, You're on Fire Mr

Liars - We Live NE of Compton

Liars - Grown Men Don't Fall In The River Just Like That

Liars - They Were Wrong So We Drowned (2004)

After the relative hit of the first album (critically speaking if not commercially) it takes some balls to then wait 3 years before producing a concept album based on obscure German folk law, specifically witches and Walpurgis Night. The tracks alternate between the viewpoint of the witches and the viewpoint of the terrorised villagers.

The album sounds extremely stripped down compared to their first album. The sparse percussion and absence of bass guitar, combined with the reliance on repetition and creation of soundscapes makes the album a challenging listen but I was lucky enough to see them perform the album and 'performance' was the right word. I don't know what the rest of the audience were expecting but I'd managed to get my hands on an advanced copy and I was fully up to the challenge.

The album was originally panned but I think in retrospect it is perhaps underrated. Especially when considered in the context of the kind of band that Liars have become. This is a band finding the confidence to explore sounds and techniques that interest them and not merely continuing with a style that has been successful.

Track highlights:

Liars - There's Always Room On The Broom

Liars - We Fenced Other Gardens With The Bones Of Our Own

Liars - Drum's Not Dead (2006)

An ironic response to one of the criticisms of their previous album, 2006's Drum's Not Dead is often cited as the band's best album to date.

In a departure from the toned down, sparse sound of the previous album this album is (naturally) dominated by percussion, with pounding drums and other percussive techniques used throughout. The result isn't as tiring as it might seem from that description.

Recorded in Berlin the track bears some testament to the musical heritage of that city with some krautrock influences being heard throughout, that said the music is not without its moments of beauty (and that's not to say that krautrock isn't/wasn't either). This is the first Liars album to show a personal degree of vulnerability, whereas the albums before were interesting art projects this sometimes created a barrier between the listener and the band. In this album a few of those barriers begin to come down.

Liars - It Fit When I Was A Kid

Liars - Let's Not Wrestle Mt Heart Attack

Liars - To Hold You, Drum

Liars - The Other Side Of Mt Heart Attack

Liars - Liars (2007)

This album probably represents the biggest jump for Liars to date, a move towards something that might be considered 'mainstream' or at least as mainstream as Liars get. Where the other albums challenged their listeners with dense soundscapes and themes and complex interrelations between tracks this album confounds those who look for them.

This is as near as Liars get to pop and whilst it is mad it is still very very listenable.

Combining what can just about almost be described as something approaching traditional rock tracks along with more dancey electro tracks there is a real feel that the album was made to let off some stream. It's not the most coherent Liars album but its probably the most fun to listen to.

Track highlights:

Liars - Houseclouds

Liars - Plaster Casts of Everything

Liars - Freak Out

So it's with obvious glee that I await the fifth album, Sisterworld, which, from the look of the promotional material, looks like it might be a move towards a more ambient Liars, perhaps with some nice reference to nature...or it could be a big hoax and the new album will be full of brass and swing bands...we will just have to wait and see.

Top 5 Autumn tracks...

2009-11-04T06:12:00.001-08:00

I am one of those people who never know when the seasons start and end. I don't think you can put a time on these things, it's just a feeling that sneaks up on you.

The mornings in Lisbon are starting to become darker and grayer and I would say that the season is now upon us (even though the leaves stubbornly refuse to colour and fall).

In the spirit of a new season here are my favourite tracks of these past few (and no doubt next few) weeks.

1) The Big Pink - Too Young To Love (Delorean Remix)

2) Girls - Lust For Life

3) Deerhunter - Agoraphobia

4) The Drums - Lets Go Surfing

5) Saint Etienne - Spring (Air France Remix)(The Other video with bits from The Wicker man was ace)

The week in film...

2009-11-03T05:06:00.000-08:00

I've had a couple of days away from the blog, the weekend was pretty chilled out even though S was enduring her final days of bronchial captivity. Despite this I had a good night out on Saturday which involved going to Incognito and dancing more than I have in a long time...especially to A-ha!

Yesterday was a European holiday which meant that my office was closed but rather than spend the day in my pajamas, eating food from the jars and watching cartoons I spent the day in my pajamas, eating food from the jars and writing my articles for SpottedByLocals. I am now 5 articles down with another 5 on the way by the end of the week. If anyone can guess the subjects, in Lisbon, of my articles before they are published you will win a shiny marshmallow.

Because S couldn't go out of the house we had a bigger opportunity than usual to watch some films, something that we hadn't had time to do for quite a while and the films we picked were pretty eclectic.

500 Days of Summer (2009) - Marc Webb

Pretty much your typical indie fantasy fare here. How many geeky indie boys like myself haven't hoped that the office hottie will notice the Smiths/Joy Division/Pavement/Obscure Australian Indie Pop (delete where applicable) blaring from your headphones and declare herself a fan before embarking on a wild office romance? Ok...just me then...but Jason Gordon-Levitt (Third Rock From The Sun, Brick, Mysterious Skin) does an excellent job of portraying that paralyzing male self-loathing and overanalysis that I recognise all too well.

The gist of the story is that boy meets girl, he falls in love and she doesn't. Any more than that is completely superfluous to a review.

This film is nothing if not cheesy: marketing itself as an anti-love story when of course it is nothing of the sort, the main guy's friends are your typical bunch of 2D wisecracking losers and the female love interest is as cold as ice )and Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous, The happening, She & Him) seems only to be able to find the mid-tone in her vocal range). But nevertheless I am a complete sucker for these kinds of films. It's the same with High Fidelity, full of clichés and platitudes with a final 10 minutes that make your toes curl because they're so sweet, but at the end of the day these guys like music a lot and go out with hot girls so what's not to like.

Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006) - Guillermo del Toro

I'd seen this film a couple of times now but S hadn't and so we both curled up for it on Sunday. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention to her that this isn't a children's film.

The film is a dark fantasy of a child, Ofelia, who believes she has met a faun who convinces her she is the spirit of a princess, the daughter of the king of the underworld. The faun gives Ofelia challenges to complete to enable her to return to the underworld and her father. This fantasy is set in the backdrop of the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War with the ruthless Falangist Captain Vidal, Ofilia's step-father, fighting in the hills of rural Spain.

The effects in the film are excellent with the costumes being particularly effective (the monster at the feast is particularly scary) and much of the violence is particularly graphic, a fact that I don't think S was particularly prepared for. I'm not usually a big fan of this kind of costumed fantasy picture but I do really really like this film. Not one for the kids though.

Death On The Nile (1978) - John Guillermin

A classic Christie here with Peter Ustinov as the little Belgian Hercule Poirot. Not my favourite Poirot, I think Ustinov hams it up a little for the character. This combined with the fact that he's about a foot too tall means that David Suchet is by far the best modern representation.

Nevertheless this is one of Christie's best novels and this star studded ensemble (Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith and David Niven star, amongst others) keeps pretty accurately to the novel (not always a big problem in adaptations but a bit annoying adaptations of Agatha Christie when the novels are known so well).

Here a Nile cruise is thrown into disarray after the murder of a wealthy heiress and everyone on board seems to have a motive for doing away with her. Typically the explanation is quite ingenious and it's really a fun film to watch and get absorbed in for a few hours.

Going back to the old school...

2009-10-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling a bit restless lately and in one of those moods where all I want to hear is hip-hop. And where hip-hop is concerned it has to be old school. None of this bling wearing, gangsta rubbish.

Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)

Jurassic 5 - Quality Control

Ozomatli - Cut Chemist Suite

DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist & DJ Numark - Pushing Buttons

DJ Z-Trip - Get Down/Listen To The DJ

Lords Of The Underground - Tic Toc

The Herbaliser - Starlight (feat. Roots Manuva)

Jaru The Damaja - Come Clean

Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown

Brand Nubian - Brand Nubian

Jason Manford...

2009-10-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

I spent most of last night working my way through some of the latest batch of UK stand-up comedians. it could just be some affinity with northern humour but my favourite of the lot was Jason Manford.

History Lesson...

2009-10-29T05:38:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I really can't be bothered passing on what I know about music and/or someone has done it much better than I ever could. Here Jeffrey Lewis takes on a couple of my favourite subjects with style, honour, skill and by managing to fit about 40,000 words into every sentence.

Jeffrey Lewis - A Complete History of Punk on the Lower East Side.

Jeffrey Lewis - The Legend of The Fall

New Bibio album...

2009-10-28T07:01:00.001-07:00

It seems that Stephen Wilkinson (a.k.a. Bibio) is a busy boy these days. Not content with releasing one of my favourite albums this year, Ambivalence Avenue, he's going to be releasing a new album called The Apple and The Tooth very soon. The new album contains four new tracks as well as sever remixes of tracks from Ambivalence Avenue.

Bibio - The Apple and The Tooth is released (sometime soon) on Warp.

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Bibio - Jealous of the Roses

Bibio - Haikuesque (When She Laughs)

Bibio - All The Flowers

It's still warm outside...

2009-10-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

...and I'm trying to make the most of it...

Girls - Lust For Life

The xx - Crystalised

Taken By Trees - My Boys

Electrelane - to The East

Th' Faith Healers - Reptile Smile

Phantogram - Running From The Cops

LoneLady - Immaterial

Clinic - Harmony

Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around The Block

Juana Molina - Un Día

Feist - Sea Lion Woman

...in the office.

Scout Niblett...

2009-10-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Almost anyone who knows me well should easily be able to identify my favourite musical artist. It's Scout Niblett.

I've followed the career of young Emma since one fateful night when me and my old housemate will went along to Fibbers, the solitary, tiny, venue in York to see her supporting Swearing At Motorists.

Since that evening where me and Will drunkenly disgraced ourselves by professing our love for Scout (and taking along homemade signs!) I've been lucky enough to see her quite a few times live, most memorably twice last year, once at Primavera and once as part of the line-up of Daniel Johnston & Friends.

Every time I see her it's a pretty magical experience and I'm buzzing with excitement to see her in Lisbon on the 16th December at Galaria Zé dos Bois.

Scout Niblett - Your Beats Kick Back Like Death

Scout Niblett - Wolfie & Baby Emma

Scout Niblett - Kiss (feat. Will Oldham)

Annie(s)...

2009-10-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

Today's post is a tale of two very different but both very good Annies.

Norwegian Anne Strand has been performing under the name Annie since 1999. Her latest electropop effort, Don't Stop, was released on 19 October and the single Songs Remind Me From You is an almost perfect slice of 80s disco pop.

Annie - Songs Remind Me of You

Annie Clark, formerly of the Polyphonic Spree and currently performing as a multi instrumentalist solo artist under the name St Vincent, has produced two excellent albums including this year's Actor. To be perfectly honest I prefer her first album which has just the right levels of tuneful vulnerability, humour and weirdness.

St Vincent - Paris Is Burning

St Vincent - Marry Me

LCD Soundsystem - Bye Bye Bayou...

2009-10-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

As I told you a few weeks ago LCD Soundsystem is (are? oh who cares!) preparing a new single. I had a bit of a brain fart and claimed it was a Suicide cover when everyone actually knows it is a cover off Alan Vega's first solo album. I bet you were all having a giggle at me there.

I've had a quick listen and I have to admit liking what I hear. LCD Soundsystem on top form, nice soulful grooves that are making me drool from the new album which is out in March 2010.

Wedding songs...

2009-10-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are reading this and don't know, S and I are planning a wedding for next year. Now I think I mentioned briefly before that I would try and keep personal stuff out of this blog but this is merely mentioned to set the scene.

I don't know what the etiquette is for this, whether it's like the dress issue - a surprise until she walks down the aisle - or whether I can discuss the matter in an open forum like this, but recently I have been thinking lots about the music for our wedding. If I am wrong about this then expect this post to be taken down pretty sharpish.

Now being not completely evil and self-centred we want everyone to enjoy the day but the choice of the opening dance is pretty much ours alone. So far the front runner is this track, which pretty much every Sunday morning we dance around to in our slippers....aaaaaahhh, I know, how sickening!

The National - So Far Round The Bend

The autopsy...

2009-10-26T06:27:00.000-07:00

So last Saturday was the second BurnTheJukebox night. All in all I would have to say it was a fun evening, sadly marred by a couple of incidents.

Before I arrived I knew there was a private party booked at the venue beforehand but I had been told that they would be finished by 22:30 and then I could start my night. What I wasn't told was that the private party had their own DJ and their own DJ was Vinyl Nazi. My first taste of Vinyl Nazi was when I came to take over the decks at about 23:30 (in Portugal this counts as starting on time). I just use 2 CD decks and he had put out two regular decks out on top of this. I was having a bit of trouble with the mixer and I asked him to give me a hand putting it back to normal. His first response was:

"I don't help guys who use CDs"

I took this as a joke, despite the serious face with which he said it and after a bit of pestering he helped me. I then put a few tracks on, not feeling my most confident with a big crowd of strangers and Vinyl Nazi glaring at me but gradually I got into the swing of things and was just starting to enjoy myself when Vinyl Nazi's friend came up and asked if Vinyl Nazi could go back on the decks. My instinct wanted to say no but I'm not that kind of guy so I said he could have 20 minutes or so, thinking this would give me time to chat to my friends who were beginning to arrive, take a few requests and nip to the loo.

Unfortunately when I thought I had given Vinyl Nazi enough time and my friends were starting to complain about his pounding rhythms I went to try and reclaim the decks and I was rebuffed. He told me that he didn't do it this way, 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there and he wanted an hour. After speaking with the owner he threw a huge tantrum (artistic temperament is a terrible thing) and then started bitching at me in a very loud voice and complaining because I don't speak Portuguese very well. (Something along the lines of, "I should be able to speak my language in my land", a line which S nearly planted him for).

In the end I got back on the decks with my concentration quite shot, I managed to get back some enjoyment and got the people dancing. It was a nice turnout in the end and it was a good evening.

I only relate this story because it kind of proves my point about what I want BurnTheJukebox to be. It's not about ego, it's not about showing everyone how cool you are or how good you are. Vinyl Nazi thought he was great behind the decks and was telling everyone that I didn't know what I was doing and he was right! But what he didn't realise was that everyone was having fun and dancing and it was because of the music.

I want BurnTheJukebox to be the kind of place where everyone feels welcome, where people can come up and speak to me and request tracks (which they did in droves), delve into my CDs and see what I've brought. I want a break from those posey, too-cool-for-school nights and to make something inclusive.

I hope to put something on again soon. Thanks to everyone who came on Saturday.

Now back to the music:

The Strokes - Last Night

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

Santogold - Say Aha

The Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now

...were some of the things that people danced to.

Uninhabitable Mansions...

2009-10-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

Amongst other things this week I have really been enjoying the debut album, Nature Is A Taker from Uninhabitable Mansions.

These guys are a sideproject of members of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (whose frontman Alec Ounsworth also has a pretty nifty solo album out now/soon) and Au Revoir Simone.

The sound is best described as jangly, frenetic indie. When I asked S what she thought she said it was interesting but sounded a bit amateurish...that was what pretty much sold me on them.

Have a listen and see what you think:

Uninhabitable Mansions - Do You Have A Strategy?

Friday list...

2009-10-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

OK so it's Friday again but no ordinary Friday because it's the Friday before the second BurnTheJukebox night and my head is full of tunes to get people on the dancefloor. I never work from playlists other than to have a vague outline of what styles I want to play and also a few tracks that I know I just have to get in there somewhere.

Here are a few of the tracks that might make an appearance:

Ultramagnetic MCs - Ego Trippin'

Tom Tom Club - Genius Of Love

The Waitresses - I Know What Boys Like

The Shangri-las - Shout

Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime

Orange Juice - Rip It Up

Ladytron - Playgirl

Cut Copy - Hearts On Fire

Xiu Xui - Under Pressure (feat. Michael Gira)

Sight and Sound...

2009-10-23T05:51:00.001-07:00

One of the best things about returning to the UK is that it allows me to get my hands on a copy of the latest edition of Sight & Sound. This is the official magazine of the British Film Institute. It always has excellent interviews, articles and (most importantly) reviews of all the mainstream and a significant number of independent films released that month.

The magazine can be found in Lisbon but it's like gold dust. There is one papelaria near me that stocks it but we never get there when they still have it in stock.

This month's edition has a big feature on Wes Anderson who happens to be one of my favourite directors (and yes, I don't care that all his films are basically the same film) and his new flick - Fantastic Mr Fox.

The review of the film wasn't particularly good but I'm still looking forward to seeing it.

Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) - Wes Anderson

The Wire: Adventures in Modern Music...

2009-10-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of the big bonuses of popping back to the UK was that it allowed to me to do a bit of book shopping. There are few things in Portugal as frustrating, as the book lover that I am, than the sight of a Portuguese bookshop. Not only are the books in a language I don't read but they're also hideously expensive.

You should not be paying €20 for paperbacks!

So by risking the 10Kg limit on each of our hand luggage allowances S and I filled our suitcases with some lovely new books from Waterstones and Fopp.

One of my favourites was this one above. A collection of published (and unpublished) Wire primers on modern music.

The book is split into four sections: Avant Rock; Funk, Hiphop & Beyond; Jazz & Improvisation, and; Modern Composition. Within each section are chapters which give a comprehensive introduction to a band or a movement, these include, Frank Zappa, Dubstep, Grime, Tropicália, The Fall, Sun Ra, Musique Concrète, No Wave and many more.

The book is especially useful to me because I don't always have the time to be looking into the extended discographies of quite obscure musicians and this gives a pretty detailed recording history of a lot of bands. I hope it's going to be an interesting and useful acquisition.

Here are a few artists from the book:

Frank Zappa - Bobby Brown
(When I was 16 I used to think this was the best thing I'd ever heard)

The Fall - Rebellious Jukebox
(There are still areas in Manchester where everyone in the pub orders their taxis under the name 'Mr Nelson')

Caetano Veloso - Sozinho
(Beautiful artist who also happens to be S's favourite Tropicália artist)

Rob Base & DJ E Z Rock - It Takes Two

Kode 9 - 9 Samurai

Gang Starr - DJ Premier in Deep Concentration
(Mad mad scratchin', the sort I'm not allowed to do anymore)

Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia
(My 6th favourite Sonic Youth track)

I'm back!...

2009-10-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

OK, So I'm back in Lisbon. This means:

I have a couple of emails inboxes full of emails.
I've barely listened to a note of music since I left Lisbon (I can hardly convince my Grandma that what I listen to is music, let alone have her listen along to it).
I have about a thousand things to do regarding work and other related things.
I have become the new 'Spotter' for Lisbon's Spotted By Locals (My picture's not up yet).
It's pouring down with rain here and my feet are wet.
We have the second installment of BurnTheJukebox in 3 days time!!!

It's not time to panic yet...not yet.

Fela Kuti & Afrika 7 - Zombie

Volto (part2)...

2009-10-13T05:03:00.000-07:00

As promised here's the second part of my dash through the musical history of my city. I will have to take care here and simply say that the dates are mid-80s to present.

New Order - Confusion

The Smiths - How Soon Is Now

Happy Mondays - Kinky Afro
(One of my favourite opening lines)

Stone Roses - Fools Gold

A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray

808 State - Pacific State

Elbow - Independent Woman

Fingathing - Walk In Space

Rae & Christian - It Ain't Nothing Like (feat. The Pharcyde)

Lamb - Goreki

So there we are, there are some noticeable omissions, immediately The Fall jump to mind but I think somewhere down the line I'll do a post just about The Fall.

Wild Beasts - New Single...

2009-10-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I took to a band like I have to Kendal's Wild Beasts. There's just something immensely catchy in that drum beat and I also take a huge amount of pleasure in knowing that they probably get on a load of people's nerves.

Their new single, All The King's Men, came out on Monday on Domino.

Wild Beasts - All The Kings Men

The Flaming Lips

2009-10-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

It seems everyone with ears are, at the moment, raving about the new album by the Flaming Lips. Apparently Embryonic is something of a return to form for these boys. By return to form I mean a return to the wild, bizarre, experamental Flaming Lips that I used to love in the 90s, not the so-so cutesy indie of the 2000s.

It all sounds rather interesting...

Flaming Lips - Convinced of the Hex (2009)

Flaming Lips - The Impulse (2009)

...and I just could help myself putting couple of my old favourites...

Flaming Lips - Be My Head (1993)

Flaming Lips - This Here Giraffe (1995)

Volto...

2009-10-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

And so tomorrow I return to my home town, Manchester, for a week or so. It's been 10 months now since I left and I have a lot of people to say hi to, not least my family.

I'll also be spending a little amount of time no doubt wandering round the record shops that I love and maybe even a bookshop of two (in Portugal books are so overpriced).

Anyway, in celebration of my return this post is entirely dedicated to artists from Manchester or its surrounds.

Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays
(My favourite Buzzcocks song of all time)

Magazine - Definitive Gaze
(I will go out on a limb here and say that Magazine are the most underrated Manchester band.)

Joy Division - No Love Lost
(There's a real rawness that I love on this Joy Division song that sometimes gets lost on the albums)

The Durutti Column - No Communication

Ludus - My Cherry Is In Sherry
(A great 'lost' New Wave band from Manchester)

Pauline Murray & The Invisible Girls
(OK Pauline Murray isn't a Manc but the Invisible Girls consisted of, at one time or another, Pete Shelley, Martin Hannett and Paul Burgess)

Crispy Ambulance - Not What I Expected

A Certain Ratio - Knife Slits Water
(Totally ahead of their time!)

So this is pretty much late 70s and early 80s, I'll do Part 2 - late 80s and early 90s tomorrow.

Friday list...

2009-10-09T05:58:00.001-07:00

It has been a complete mare of a week and so here are some sounds to get you forgetting the office and thinking of the dancefloor.

The Big Pink - Too Young To Love (Delorean Mix)

(Track of the month, no doubt)

Basement Jaxx - Raindrops

Chromeo - Tenderoni

Delorean - Deli

jj - From Africa to Malaga

MGMT - Kids (Soulwax version)

Lykke Li - Little Bit (CSS Mix)

Britney Spears - Womanizer (Justice Mix)

Lady Sovereign - So Human

Taken By Trees - My Boys

In honour of Obama's Peace Prize...

2009-10-09T03:06:00.000-07:00

Too soon?

Too soon.

OK so that one post thing didn't last long!.....

2009-10-08T05:01:00.000-07:00

I kinda jumped the gun a bit with that 'one post today' line ten minutes ago but I heard something that I just had to share.

I got some news the other day that one of my favourite artists, Lindstrom (excuse the lack of line through the 'o') was going to be releasing a new album soon with Christabelle. Cue dancing in the street and preemptive disco-longing.

Well all this Lindstrom love has made me hunt out some of his older stuff that he did with Christabelle (Under the name of Solale).

Enjoy.

Lindstrom & Solale - So Much Fun (Dolle Jolle Mix)

Lindstrom & Solale - Baby I Can't Stop (Aeroplane Mix)

LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations (Lindstrom Mix)
...Oh and LCD Sounsysytem has a new single out soon...a Suicide cover.

Oh and here's the full Aeroplane mix, which is pretty amazing.

Former Ghosts...

2009-10-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

I'm ridiculously busy with work and real life today and so this might be my only post. I had some wonderful treats lined up from last night but I've completely forgotten them (one has the makings of 'track of the month' but I forgot to put it on my pendrive this morning.) so they will have to wait.

Until I can get round to making a proper post you should have a listen to the new project by Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart.

The Former Ghosts is a wonderful synthpop effort with plenty of reverb and an appropriate amount of spookiness.

Former Ghosts - Mother

Memory Tapes...

2009-10-07T06:11:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing that I love more than the mp3 (those little 1s and 0s that let you listen to music anywhere you like) it's the cassette tape.

I didn't own a CD player until I was about 16 and so everything before then was on tape. My first album was bought on tape, my first mixes were naturally mixtapes in the true sense and in my mother's attic there is still a box of old crackly cassettes full of the most random sounds I could get from the radio.

In honour of those tapes of yore here are some other memory tapes:

Memory Tapes - Graphics

Memory Tapes - Plain Material

Memory Tapes - Green Knight

Something old something new...

2009-10-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

Something old:

Erland Oye - Every Party Has A Winner and a Loser

Something new:

The Drums - Let's Go Surfing

Grey day...

2009-10-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

Despite the best efforts of Lisbon it's still a grey, miserable day. I woke up and it was still dark and overcast and the rain was spitting down.

In keeping with this style my mood is also grey... we've just returned to work after a long weekend and the week ahead looks bleak and difficult.

Here's some lovely 70s and 80s post punk to help get you in the mood:

Comsat Angels - Missing in Action

Joy Division - She's Lost Control

Gang of Four - At Home He's A Tourist

Wire - Outdoor Miner

A Certain Ratio - Shack Up

The Fall - Industrial Estate

The Mekons - Where Were You

The Teardrop Explodes - When I Dream

Of course there's a bit of a Northern bias here too :o)

Vampire Weekend...

2009-10-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

So jumping on the bandwagon the news of the week so far is most probably the new Vampire Weekend track, Horchata from their forthcoming album Contra, being released on their website.

After pretty much a year stuck with the same few VW tracks we finally have something new to confirm that they are the best new act around/confirm that they're just a bunch of over-hyped, under talented rich kids*.

On first listen the new track seems a little more pared down and direct that the work from the first album. Those happy-go-lucky pastel wearers have sound a bit more serious after a hard year on the road and facing the backlash of thousands of uber-cool scenesters. The basic recipe is still there, the tribal afro-pop, the whimsical strings and the instantly recognisable vocals but for some reason I imagine the guys playing this track with more of a frown on their brows.

You can download the mp3 here:

Vampire Weekend - Horchata

*Delete as applicable.

Those Dancing Days...

2009-10-05T03:48:00.001-07:00

It's a national holiday today and so rather than spending the day on the internet S and I are off to Mafra to enjoy some 'cultcha'.

I have to get something off my chest...

I am in love with a group of Swedish girls...I've already confessed my love of the Swedish and my love of female artists so it's only natural that I should love Those Dancing Days were recommended to me some time last year by my old housemate Pedro whose ear for a perfect indie-pop tune is as finely honed as anybody's.

Stupidly at the time of his recommendation I was probably in the midsts of some doom laden post-rock phase and had no time for the retro 60s girl group/northern soul vibe of Those Dancing Days and, even worse, because of this I missed seeing them live in Lisbon. (One of those all too rare Lisbon indie gigs.)

Anyway, suffice to say these girls are rarely out of my playlists now and happily enough S doesn't seem to mind my infatuation...weirdly enough she seems to share it...I was always suspicious of those comfortable shoes she wears...

So here are Those Dancing Days - You have to see the video to see just how beautiful these girls are.

Those Dancing Days - Hitten

Those Dancing Days - Run Run

Those Dancing Days - I Know Where You Live

The morning after the night before...

2009-10-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

So last night was the inaugural BurnTheJukebox night at O Século. I had the usual first night nerves but I can honestly say it went better than could possibly have been expected and that's down to one thing - those of you who showed up.

After a bit of a false start (having the first date postponed) I wasn't sure how many would be showing up last night but in the end we had an excellent crowd with a wonderful atmosphere. One of my only regrets was that I didn't have time to go round and speak to as many people as I would've liked.

I was hoping to have some kind of record of what I played last night but it all happened in such a blur (and with no plan worthy of that name) that I can only remember glimpses.

Here's some of the bands/artists I played (in no particular order):

So quite a random selection but it made sense at the time and everyone looked like they were having fun from where I was standing.

The next BurnTheJukebox will be on the 24th October and I'm hoping for even more bodies and more dancing! It will feature a proper suggestions list but you can make track requests in the comments here on at the BurnTheJukebox Facebook Group

Here's the poster for the next one:

Max Tundra...

2009-10-02T04:02:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite artists around at the moment has to be Max Tundra. Not only does he release some of the most interesting electronic music around, swinging between styles with consummate ease but he also releases it so slowly that by the time a new record does come around he has you absolutely gagging for it.

he also doesn't look like your typical rockstar - always a bonus.

Discography:

Some Best Friend You Turned out To Be (2000)

Mastered by Guy at the Exchange (2002)

Parallax Error Beheads You (2008)

Max Tundra - Will Get Fooled Again (2008)

Max Tundra - Lysine (2002)
(My absolute favourite track!)

Max Tundra - MBGATE (2002)

Max Tundra - Merman (2002)
(If this song doesn't make you smile then you have no soul)

Max Tundra - Ink Me (2000)

Phoenix (remixed)...

2009-10-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of Phoenix, I think Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a shoe-in for the album of the year, and I'm also a big fan of remixes. So combining the two I am really looking forward to the Phoenix remix album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Remix Album) coming out. (although it does have the most boring title of any remix album I have ever seen - they at least could've called it Wolfgang Amadeus Remix)

The Devendra Banhart remix of Rome was in my previous post and I've just heard the Animal Collective remix of Love Like A Sunset and it is pretty sweet.

You can download it here.

Full track listing:

01 Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix)
02 Fences (The Soft Pack Remix)
03 1901 Bo Flex'd (Passion Pit Remix)
04 Lasso (2 Door Cinema Club Remix)
05 Fences (25 Hrs a Day Remix)
06 1901 (L'aiglon Remix)
07 Love Like a Sunset (Turzi Remix)
08 Fences (Boombass Remix)
09 Lisztomania (A Fight For Love – 25 Hrs a Day Remix)
10 Fences (Friendly Fires Remix)
11 Armistice (YACHT Remix)
12 Girlfriend (Young Fathers Remix)
13 Fences (Chairlift Remix)
14 Rome (Neighbours with Devendra Banhart Remix)
15 Love Like a Sunset (Animal Collective Remix - Deakin's Jam)

New favourite tracks...

2009-10-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Not much to say today - things are crazily busy at work and it's just 2 days now until the first BTJ clubnight.

I'm hoping everything goes to plan with this, not that there really is a plan, I'm just going to turn up and play some tunes (totally em cima do joelho). If anyone wants to get involved then just let me know.

So here are a few tracks I've been enjoying today despite the workload:

Tracey Thorn - It's All True

Phoenix - Rome (Devendra Banhart Rework)

Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension

Studio - Origin

Lady Sovereign - So Human

Yes Lady, it does feel much better when you've had a better day than yesterday!

Rain Machine...

2009-09-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Some of you undoubtedly heard at the beginning of the month that TV on the Radio are going to be taking a year away from making cool and crazy records and playing those songs to crowds.

All is not lost though - by far the hairiest member of TVotR, guitarist Kyp Malone, released his first solo album, under the name Rain Machine, last week.

Sounding not a million miles away from TVotR, albeit perhaps a little more 'straight ahead' and funky (which is no bad thing) then this could go some way to aleviating your withdrawal. This and the other million and a half side-projects that will undoubtedly be released during the hiatus.

Rain Machine - Give Blood

Music Piracy...

2009-09-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

Anyone who's been reading the music press over the past few weeks should have seen the rush from artists to come out either in favour or against file-sharing and music piracy. Loudest (and most whiney) in the anti-piracy camp have been arch-Mockney hypocrite Lily Allen and, perhaps the man you would be most in favour of pirates as he spends most of his time dressed as one, the lanky-tantrum-thrower Patrick Wolf.

My own opinions should be pretty obvious to anyone, I think that file-sharing (legal and illegal) is hugely in favour of the artist. Frankly there are thousands of artists working today because of it. Wolf and Allen would like to hark back to some imagined halcyon days when musicians were rich and everyone respected their work. Those days were different - there were far fewer artists around trying to peddle their wares, those who were around worked damn hard to promote their own work (rather than letting the myspace hype do it for them), and more often than not they did a few good things and slipped into obscurity (or back to their day job).

Anyway a response to all the toss has been published and it pretty much says everything else I want to say, have a listen:

Dan Bull - Dear lily (an open letter to Lily Allen)

Festas nas favelas...

2009-09-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

Even before I came to Portugal and was surrounded by music from Brazil I was already a big fan. (One of these days I will get round to doing one for Portuguese music)

Here are a few of my favourite Brazilian (and Brazilian influenced) tracks:

Seu Jorge - Tive Razão

Milton Nascimento - Cravo e Canela
(There is a great cover of this by Tortoise & Bonnie Prince Billy but I wanted to have this version.)

Arto Lindsey - Beija-me

Marisa Monte - Diariamente

Os Mutantes - A Minha Menina
(a Tropicalia classic)

Peeping Tom - Caiparinha (ft. Bebel Gilberto)
(bit of a cheat here but this is what started today's list)

Bonde do Role - Marina Gasolina (Peaches Mix)

Tetine - Let The X Be X

CSS - Let's Make Love And Dance To Death From Above

Neon...

2009-09-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

...Indian

We really need more happy stuff around us on Mondays. In this vain I present some Neon Indian for you.

(You'll probably like this if you like: MGMT, Delorean, Air France or Ariel Pink)

Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer

Neon Indian - 6669 (I Don't Know If You Know)

Neon Indian - Should have Taken Acid With You

Neon Indian - Terminally Chill

In memoriam...

2009-09-28T04:21:00.000-07:00

I was going to write a few lines bitching about the new, faintly mediocre, album by Why? Eskimo Snow just doesn't cut it!

Instead I'll try and be a bit more positive, well in a blast from the past kinda way.

P4k is now in the process of listing the top 200 albums of the past 10 years. I haven't yet had a look at their efforts but for me the early part of the last decade was dominated by three things: university, doing those things that most people do at university (but a lot of them) and Sonic Mook Experiment.

For those of you who don't know the Sonic Mook Experament started as a London clubnight which attempted to collect people and music around the rather strange banner of art/dance/punk. It wasn't particularly original, similar and more successful attempts had been made in both New York and Manchester in the 70s-90s, but there was a sense of excitement that surrounded it. It was also a scene that stretch across the nation and abroad. The scene didn't die, it just evolved and many of the people and bands are still around wearing the same clothes and singing the same songs.

What SME did leave us with though were three compilation albums that pretty well summed up that scene.

Here are a few of the highlights from the series:

Add n to (X) - Plug Me In

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Bang <- Still my favourite YYYs track

Fat Truckers - Teenage Daughter <- If you can take all of this track you would've been OK on a Tuesday night at Pigs in Leeds

Liars - Grown Men Don't Fall In The River Just Like That

Electrelane - I Wanna be the President <- Love, just love, the vocals here

Full track lists follow

Various Artists - Sonic Mook Experiment (2001)

Disk 1
1. Swastika Eyes - Primal Scream (David Holmes Mix)
2. Chrome Radio Rocks - The Toes
3. Dirty - Klart
4. The Second - Line Clinic
5. Teenage Daughter - Fat Truckers
6. Dirge - Death in Vegas (Pulp remix)
7. Whipaspank - Christian Vogel (Tube Jerk Mix)
8. Final Call - Guy Called Gerald
9. Naxalite Dub - Asian Dub Foundation (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
10. Plate Core - Squarepusher v Richard Thomas
11. Plug Me In - Add N to X
12. Bring Yourself - Meat Katie
13. Brain drain - Stereolab v Hairy Butter
Disc: 2
1. Neptune City - Death in Vegas (Andrew Weatherall Mix)
2. Street Gang - A.R.E. Weapons
3. Film Music - Electrelane (Jagz Kooner Mix)
4. Open Up - Leftfield (Andrew Weatherall Remix )
5. I Walk The Earth - King Biscuit Time
6. The Turk - Ceephax
7. I Came When I Heard - Hairy Butter (DJ Godfather Mix)
8. Kick My Teeth Out - Disastronaut
9. Make It Happen - Playgroup
10. Extreme Possibilities - 2 Player ( Wagon Christ Mix)
11. No Shit - Con Pro
12. England Sandwich - Earl Brutus
13. Dream Baby Dream - Suicide

Various Artists - Sonic Mook Experiment 2: Future Rock n Roll (2002)

1. Fix It - Fat Truckers
2. Troubled Mind - The Buff Medways
3. Walking With Thee - Clinic
4. Whiplash - Zongamin feat. Mike Sonovac
5. Grown Men Don’t Just Fall In The River Like That - Liars
6. Punk - The Drug Punks
7. Hate To Say I Told You So - The Hives
8. Why You Have To Be Me - WHITEY
9. Rose Giganta - Chicano
10. Burnin’ Up - National Bandit
11. Bang - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
12. Please Don’t Touch - Überwensch
13. Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues - Mclusky
14. I’m The Daddy Now - Joan of Ass
15. Morning Has Broken - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
16. Sid Vicious Is Dead - Some Product
17. God Make Me Destroy Those Infidels - The Martini Henry Rifles
18. I Want To Be The President - Electrelane
19. Medicine - The Toes
20. Primitive - The Parkinsons

Various Artists - Sonic Mook Experiment 3: Hot Shit (2003)

1 Pink Grease - Shake
2 Big Two Hundred - Let It Bleed
3 Whitey - Twoface
4 Chrome Hoof - Opus Of Regret
5 Klang - Outside My Area
6 Mommy And Daddy - Beachy
7 Erase Errata - Other Animals Are No.1
8 Puppy Bucket & Donny Choonara - Cheltenham Flexin'
9 Montana Pete - Das Bot
10 Crack Village vs. Radioactive Man - The Breed
11 Radio 4 - Dance To The Underground
12 Queens Of Noize - Fantasy Jukebox
13 Ex Models - Sex Automata
14 Part Chimp - Cover Me
15 !!! - Feel Good Hit Of The Fall
16 Kings Have Long Arms - Viva The Tongue Sarnie (Lick It)
17 Valerie - Popstar
18 Ed Laliq - Maybe
19 Todd - Good Neighbourhood
20 Groop - Kosmic Sound
21 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Machine
22 Martini Henry Rifles - And Then We Hit A Truck
23 Bane Overlord - Climbing Up The Walls
24 Disastronaut - Coming To Get You

Smile along with Obama...

2009-09-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

Playlist #3 electro/indie...

2009-09-25T05:08:00.000-07:00

I was asked last night for my top Friday songs, to kick off the weekend, and here's what immediately popped into my head:

Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor
Yuksek - Tonight
Night Court - Mux Mool
Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (Erol Alkan Mix)
Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Mix)
Cut Copy - Lights & Music
Discovery - Carby (feat Ezra Koenig)
Peaches - Lose You (Yuksek & Brodinski Mix)

Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor

Yuksek - Tonight

Night Court - Mux Mool

Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers

The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (Erol Alkan Mix)

Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning (Cut Copy Mix)

Cut Copy - Lights & Music

Discovery - Carby (feat. Ezra Koenig)

Peaches - Lose You (Yuksek & Brodinski Mix)

I went a bit remix mad there.

And now for something completely(ish) different...

2009-09-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

Considering he made what I considered the best album of 2008 (For Emma, Forever Ago) and probably the most memorable performance of the year (at, of course, Primavera) it's surprising that I haven't listened to more than a few minutes of Bon Iver/Justin Vernon in 2009. He had managed to produce an album so idiosyncratic and emblematic of a particular time that it was difficult imagining anything as memorable again. The Blood Bank EP that came out at the beginning of the year seemed to go into one ear and out the other. But Vernon is back.

This collaboration with the post-rock group Collections of Colonies of Bees seems the perfect way for Vernon to make use of that instantly recognizable falsetto without it becoming tiresome and 'old hat'. It's used to maximum effect as an accompaniment to the guitar drones and soundscapes and amazingly, just as Vernon's debut will forever conjure images of wintery, wooded landscapes the promo photo above sums up very well the sense of 'warm autumnal sunsets spent with your mates' that this music creates.

Volcano Choir release Unmap on Jagjaguwar soon(ish - depending where you are)

Volcano Choir - Sleepymouth

Volcano Choir - Island, IS

Volcano Choir - Husks & Shells

(And just in case you forgot how good this was)
Bon Iver - The Wolves (Act 1 & 2)

Versions...

2009-09-24T04:56:00.000-07:00

Today Versions brings you four versions of an 80s classic, Olivia Newton John's dancefloor (and gym) filler - Let's Get Physical

Olivia Newton John - Let's Get Physical

The Glimmers - Let's Get Physical

Goldfrapp - Let's Get Physical

RevCo - Let's Get Physical (live)

(I used to love this version when I was 15)

Michacu & The Shapes

2009-09-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

Bit bummed out today because of rescheduling the night and so I'm doing my best to cheer myself up.

This helps a bit:

Micachu & The Shapes - Golden Phone

I used to hate it but after living there for a while I love the London accent now, especially in songs.

BurnTheJukebox #1 IMPORTANT INFORMATION

2009-09-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

***CHANGE OF DATE***

Guys, for reasons beyond my control this Saturday's extravaganza has had to be postponed.

The new date for your diaries is the 3rd October and the new poster to distribute amongst your friends is here:

Huge apologies for this, I'm as sad as you are. I realise this is short notice to change your plans but this has really prompted me to get my ass in gear and BurnTheJukebox #2 is already in the pipeline!!!

Something to put a smile on your/my face...

2009-09-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

Today started pretty well and then quickly descended into the usual pit of irritation and self-doubt.

In a desperate attempt to pull myself out of this I have decided to try that true and method of putting a smile on my face - Los Campesinos!

I have a huge soft spot for witty and twee indie lyrics and these guys are pretty much the reigning kings of it.

(They're also responsible for my current favourite line in music, "And there were conversations about what Breakfast Club character you'd be - I'd be the one that dies - no one dies - Well then what's the point?")

Los Campesinos! - We Are All Accelerated Readers

Oh, these guys also have a new track:

Los Campesinos! - The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future

And you can download the mp3 HERE.

The iPod returns!...

2009-09-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

So tonight I will be setting off for Colombo to get my iPod back. I have no idea what state it will be in or whether there will even be any music on it and to be honest at the moment I'm far too busy to be putting everything back on there.

But this does mean that my days of internet radio will shortly be coming to an end...or not as the case may be. I've become a little attached to Oxigénio by now, especially hearing this track 10 times a day:

Laughing Light Of Plenty - The Rose

The Stillness Is The Move...

2009-09-23T03:13:00.000-07:00

(Don't bands wear shoes anymore?)

Disaster overtook us last night - we were without internet which meant that S and I had to...shock and horror...talk to each other!!

It wasn't all bad though, I did get some time to actually think about what music I already have to put on on Saturday rather than spending my evening looking for new stuff.

One of my favourites from this year sparked a bit of a debate this morning. Both me and S love the Dirty Projectors recent album, Bitte Orca, especially the track Stillness is the Move. We do however differ on whether the track is actually dancable.

To prove our point we decided to sing and dance to it on our way to work which, as usual, got us some funny and disapproving looks.

The results are still pending.

The Dirty Projectors - Stillness Is The Move

Hockey cokey...

2009-09-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

After something old, something new.

Hailing from that indie hotbed, Portland, Hockey (yeah, makes Google a bloody nightmare) are going to release their debut album, Mind Chaos, on Virgin on the 28th September.

(The guy on the far right looks like Robert Webb!)

I got a bit of a sneak preview last night and it's a really nice album, walking that fine line between Strokes guitar anthems and the latest wave of understated electro-pop (I suppose that means they come out as something like Phoenix and that wouldn't be far off the mark). It's a very reassured and confident debut that is sure to have a few dancable singles. That said I'm not sure about their choice of Learn to Lose as a single, I prefer the funkier tracks like Too Fake and Curse This City.

Hockey - Too Fake

Hockey - Song Away

Hockey - Learn To Lose

Hockey - Curse This City

Soul love...

2009-09-22T04:02:00.000-07:00

Lyn Collins - Think

Lyn Collins - Ain't No Sunshine

Lyn Collins - Never Gonna Give You Up

Lyn Collins - Rock You Again & Again & Again
(You'll hear this one on Saturday)

Warp20...

2009-09-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

One of the easiest ways to discover new music and expand your musical knowledge is to become that symbol of geekiness...the label spotter.

It was a trait I developed early in my days of fandom when, without a soul to turn to for advice and still a relative newbie in the intertubes, I could safely rely on a small number of record labels to release consistently good and interesting music.

Thankfully many of them are still around releasing great stuff (for example 4AD and Mute) but some are sadly not (either existing or releasing interesting stuff).

One of the very finest, Warp, celebrates 20 year of bringing the weird and wonderful to our ears. Not only can they be immensely proud of bringing us artists such as Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Battles, Grizzly Bear and yes, Boards of Canada, but they have also managed to collect these guys in probably the most achingly beautiful box set I have seen:

Here are a few of my Warp favourites:

Squarepusher - Come On My Selector <- horrible audio but the video is still a classic.

Squarepusher - BBC interview & absolutely amazing live bass solo

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks <- Still one of the tracks of the year

Aphex Twin - Girl/Boy Song

Battles - Atlas

Music in the key of Joy Division...

2009-09-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

Most people know my love of interesting cover versions by now and so here, for a lazy Monday post, are a few versions of one of my favourite tracks.

(And possibly one of the most over played tracks.)

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart ('Original' version)

Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart (BBC version) <- My favourite Joy Division version, noticeably faster sounding.

Swans - Love Will Take Us Apart <- Another of my favourite bands playing one of my favourite tracks, it can't be bad!

Arcade Fire & U2 - Love Will Tear Us Apart <- Love Arcade Fire, hate US, what to do?!?!

Nouvelle Vague - Love Will Tear Us Apart <- I'm not a fan at all but it's pretty much obligatory

Broken Social Scene - Love Will Tear Us Apart <- A pretty recent one from a film I will never see about a book I will never read.

Squarepusher - Love Will Tear Us Apart <- Perhaps not quite what it could've been but still my favourite of this bunch.

La Roux...

2009-09-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

I have a terrible hangover this morning and one of the few things to make me smile was S giving it all to the new La Roux video

La Roux - I'm Not Your Toy

New No Age...

2009-09-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

Other than Primavera Sound, which given enough time I tend to bend everyone's ear over, quite possibly the best gig of last year was No Age at Galeria Zé Dos Bois in Lisbon. Hearing the noise and intensity created by those two in such a tiny space was amazing and probably a leading contributory factor to this ringing in my ears now.

It was also amazing seeing Randy crowdsurfing on probably the most reluctant crowd I have ever seen - 15-20 guys looking rather uncomfortable as they lift this American who is wailing away on his guitar! Priceless.

Anyway, they have another record out soon and they're continuing the good work of making us wonder what My Bloody Valentine would sound like playing Black Flag Covers (or Black Flag playing My Bloody Valentine covers.).

Enjoy:

No Age - You're a Target

(Also the cover is probably my favourite of the year so far.

The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love...

2009-09-17T10:50:00.001-07:00

Nice album that came out the other day.

The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love from Ivan Shumaker on Vimeo.

Bibio...

2009-09-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

I nearly never read the comments on YouTube (they lead to you wanting to stab yourself in the face with a fork) but this made me smile:

"It's like ratatat, the beatles and boards of canada had a baby"

Bibio - Ambivolence Avenue

Bibio - Jealous of The Roses <- my fave!

Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to...

2009-09-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

My office has just moved to a lovely new building with excellent views of the Tejo and to celebrate this there is to be a little cocktail event. I was asked to help with the music and instead of forcing my own tastes on this rather eclectic crowd I thought it better to give everyone the opportunity to choose their own music. The selections have come flooding in and strangely enough, this being a drugs agency, a good few of them were drug related.

Sadly none of them were from my favourite drug related songs:

New Order - Ecstasy
Roxy Music - Love is the Drug
Ian Dury - Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll
Placebo - Special K
The Fall - Totally Wired
Butthole Surfers - Bong Song
Redman - How To Roll A Blunt
Grandmaster Flash - White Lines
The Velvet Underground - Heroin
Spacemen 3 - Come Down Easy

New Order - Ecstasy

Roxy Music - Love is the Drug

Ian Dury - Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll

Placebo - Special K

The Fall - Totally Wired

Butthole Surfers - Bong Song

Redman - How To Roll A Blunt

Grandmaster Flash - White Lines

Velvet Underground - Heroin

Spacemen 3 - Come Down Easy

On my radio...

2009-09-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

It used to be the case that the only radio I ever listened to was those precious few hours of John Peel but since the sad departure of Peel there hasn't been much on the airwaves to keep me interested...

...or so I thought. The enforced separation of me from my iPod has meant that I'm more than a little desperate to listen to music at work and what better way than internet radio. Most of the guys in this office, because we live essentially isolated lives, have their headphones on and so it's only natural here.

My usual station is Oxigénio, a Portuguese station that is more on the electro/hip-hop/soul side of things. It's great for hearing new Portuguese (as well as other lusophone) groups and also some old classics. The music is of a generally excellent standard and I rarely feeling like switching over.

If I am forced by mood or whatever but want to stay in Portugal then I check out Radar. This is your one stop shop for everything indie. They also have a good mixture of old and new stuff but my only criticism here is that, personally, I feel that Portuguese indie/rock isn't as good as their hip-hop/electro. There could be something in the language barrier (but I don't think that's it), I just feel what's going on in the, what you would euphemistically call, 'urban' scene is just a bit more innovative and original sounding. Anyway, Radar does tend to play a lot of Portuguese stuff that I don't really dig so I tend to flick from that.

This morning Oxigénio didn't appear to be working and I was in somewhat of a quandary to think what to listen to until I suddenly remembered an old friend of mine. Now I didn't listen to the radio per se but I did used to regularly download the podcasts of a wonderful American station, KCRW, who had a great show - Morning Becomes Eclectic. They've grown in popularity a great deal since I first heard of them and in fact anyone reading this probably already knows of them, they are one of the biggest and most well known names in indie radio.

What KCRW does is provide a great mix of new stuff from big and small indie bands all the while mixing it up with a genuinely eclectic mix of styles, already this morning They introduced me to a great Tropicalia influenced, London based band called Zeep (I'll put a track here but it's not the one I heard on the radio, the name of which I can't remember, which was amazing!).

KCRW has a great range of programs from news to arts and culture and politics but what they do best is music which is why I would seriously recommend heading over to their 24 hour music channel.

Listen to Oxigénio here

Listen to Radar here

Listen to KCRW here

Zeep - Super

A weakness for women...

2009-09-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

I have to confess one of my big weakness here...it's a weakness for women.

Often introduced to these sirens by the wonderful of work done by Helen of Troy, a Manchester based blog that focuses on female musicians and artists.

Here are a couple of recent favourites:

Amanda Blank - Might Like you Better <- Sleezy glam electro who has prompted a huge backlash against vacuous artists. Obviously I love it.

MPHO - Box N Locks <- South African born, UK raised. Poppy RnB, S wasn't convinced at all when I played her this track a few months ago but I got the album and there's some good dancable tracks on there.

You're Only Massive - Under The Neon <- HoT said it best, CSS meets Peaches in a lo-fi disco shoutathon.

Shake Some Action...

2009-09-15T05:11:00.000-07:00

Modern English - Gathering Dust (1980)

Life Without Buildings - The Leanover (2000)

Ikara Colt - Wanna Be That Way (2004)

James White & The Blacks - Contort Yourself (1979)

The Marvels - Rock Steady (1971)

Obama vs. Kanye West...

2009-09-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

The year's most obvious (but still funny) mashup:

Synth Britannia...

2009-09-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'm really looking forward to getting hold of this BBC4 documentary somehow. BBC4 is excellent for music documentaries (like that Detroit one - Motor City's Burning, Detroit from Motown to the Stooges) and this one charts the story of British electronic music.

The BurnTheJukebox night...

2009-09-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

So I just dropped that news on my blog without really expanding on it and I want to pen something of a manifesto/disclaimer.

One of the things about moving to a new city is that each place has its own atmosphere and this takes some getting used to (and when I came to Lisbon I unfairly blamed the problem on Lisbon when most of the problems were with me). I was used to a very specific kind of clubnight in Manchester (and to an extent in London) whereby a group of people would want to inflict that music on others. They would group together, find some dive of a bar or pub (basically anywhere that served alcohol), get some CDs or mp3 and play them. If they were lucky then people showed up ( my favourites were Smile, Spiral Scratch and How Does It Feel To Be Loved) and sometimes people didn't. If they were very lucky they became a highlight of the weekend, they put on bands and people traveled to their clubnights. The point was to have fun and have a dance.

I'm not saying that this idea doesn't exist in Lisbon but for me the language barrier was/is a big problem and it took me a while to make the contacts and to get up the courage to talk to people. Also there is something of a different bar/club culture, with many things based around Bairro Alto where the point seems less to go to a place for the music and more to talk to your friends on the street.

My hope is to have a place for people to listen to the music they like. Have a dance and come and speak to me. I'll try and play any requests I get. The idea is not to have a completely rigid music policy, my taste wouldn't allow it, whilst at the same time not being completely random and disjointed.

I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself now, we haven't even had the first night yet but I have some idea for this, there's a lot of potential so we'll just have to see. If the first night goes well then this could be a regular thing, otherwise I can always leave town in shame.

If you're reading this and live in Lisbon then pop in on the 26th and say hi - I'm going to be so nervous on that first night that all I'll be able to do is grunt but your presence is appreciated.

Once...

2009-09-14T04:03:00.000-07:00

Last night's film was firmly S's choice. After enduring a week of being called a 'film bully' I finally caved in and sat down determined to thoroughly hate her choice of film. Instead 2006's Once was something of a revelation.

Once (2006) - John Carney

I was expecting something of the cloying, sickly sweet romantic comedy but instead I was thoroughly charmed. The film looks and feels almost homemade, it had a tiny budget (the film was made for $100,000). But rather than looking unprofessional or distracting from the story it creates this intimate link between you and the characters, as if you're intruding on their love story.

The film tells the story of a young Irish busker and a Czech immigrant who meet on the streets of Dublin. Both poor, lost and lonely. In a similar fashion to Before Sunrise, the couple have a limited time together and face an unsure fate but we are shown their love story through the music they write and record together.

Yeah, putting it in words like that does make it sound a bit soppy but it's not. It's funny and heartwarming and bittersweet. The performances are wonderful and the music they make together is truely moving, if not exactly to my taste. In fact the film is probably best remembered for winning the 2008 Academy Award for best song for Falling Slowly.

So all in all good pick S!

Our first night....

2009-09-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

A snub?...

2009-09-11T06:54:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling snubbed, one of my favourite bands of 2008, Loughborough's The Wave Pictures are embarking an an European tour. They'll be bringing their wry lyrics and indi-pop sensibilities to Spain but aren't crossing the border.

Listen to these tracks, and remember it might be as close as you get in 2008.

The Wave Pictures - I Love You Like A Madman

The Wave Pictures - Kiss Me

The Wave Pictures - Instant Coffee Baby (live)

Young Galaxy...

2009-09-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

I was also enjoying the new album by Young Galaxy, Invisible Republic, last night. It has some really quite beautiful tracks.

Young Galaxy - Long Live the Fallen World (2009)