Monday 29 November 2010

David Lynch - Good Day Today - Single



Godfather of weird and purveyor of all things cult David Lynch has a single out. Yeah you heard! The director has long been into his music, soundtracking his films and collaborating with composer Mark Frost and other musicians including his recent Dangermouse/Sparklehorse collaboration 'Dark Night of the Soul' so it's no biggie to hear he's produced his own single finally.

Until you hear it of course...as it's nothing like the echoey scrapes and experimental rattles of his previous output, this is a full on Electo-beat pop/dance single complete with (heavily treated) vocals from Eraserhead himself.

Listen via the Guardian here and purchase via iTunes now.

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And stop the presses here's another new tune from Mr Lynch named 'I Know', courtesy of Rob da Bank's Youtube Channel Sunday Best Recordings

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Top Ten Albums of 2010



1. The National - High Violet

The National spent far too long on the peripheries, gaining their widest exposure with 'Boxer' back in 2007, but it's taken High Violet to push them into the mainstream completely. Ohio Bloodbuzz also claims my best single top spot too by virtue of being a simply brilliant slice of bitter sweet love pop. The gloom and laconic humour combine perfectly here to finally bring these guys the plaudits they've deserved for years.



2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

After a build of extraordinary anticipation (in my head at least) Montreal's greatest exponents revealed another beautiful slow burner of an album. They have an awful lot to live up to musically and The Suburbs saw them touch on those magic moments from Funeral and Neon Bible once again.



3. Salem - King Night

Okay so that's mainstream well and truly covered. Salem take third place due to the perverse music they make, the weird shit they say, the way they're seemingly so anti band sometimes and yet manage to create stunningly original tunes with a dark centre. Witch-core is the worst descriptive term ever but they have a black voodoo in their hearts and this time next year they'll either be dead or lauded as Gods.



4. These New Puritans - Hidden

Just like Salem, These New Puritans don't give a flying fuck about scenes, what's hot or not, they just rip music a new asshole and pile up the tunes laden with Taiko drums and Samurai blades clashing over haunted vocals. Rumbling echoes in the darkness. This album creeps you out and draws you close simultaneously. Remarkable. The most exciting new band of 2010 without doubt.



5. Liars - Sisterworld

From newcomers to established old hands (sort of) Liars have been around for a decade anyway and with Sisterworld they smoothed out the uncomfortable sounds of earlier albums to deliver an abrasive album you could still cosy up to. Just be wary of the knife behind their back.



6. Glasser - Ring

A sparkling debut from Cameron Mesirow in the Fever Ray, Florence Welsh, Bat For Lashes vain, i.e. stunning vocals, weird visuals, thrilling sounds. It may struggle to maintain it's own high standards throughout but as a debut album it showcases her innumerable talents and points the way to greater things to follow. She's also on True Panther Sounds the coolest label anywhere right now.



7. Jonsi - Go

Stepping out from the shadow of epic tunesmiths Sigur Ros, Jonsi benched his dreamy, mysterious vocals and opened up a bit, singing more clearly on his newest songs. He took the album on tour with a visual/audio extravaganza, dressed as a native American Indian, looked like he was having the best time of his life and pulled (No. 6) Glasser along for some of the ride. This is sublime pop music despite the artsy context and the songs from 'Go' stack up very well against anything his revered back catalogue might muster.



8. Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be

Girl rawk made a return this year - it probably never went away - and Dum Dum Girls brought some of that nostalgia for 'chicks' and guitars (Runaways, Raincoats) and the 60's girl groups with the Spector sound - particularly The Ronnettes. But 'I Will Be' is about as far from a cliche as it's possible to be, this album upped the ante with bitchy and ballsy songs in full effect. Essentially a solo project expanded to play live Kirsten Gundred aka Dee Dee Penny kicked monumental ass on stage and on record. Bow down fey indie boys and worship.



9. Effi Briest - Rhizomes

By virtue of being completely uncategorisable in any genre Effi Briest make the top ten with their debut album. They're pop, they're rock and they're weird, in the best possible sense. The only way to know what the fuck they're like is to listen to Rhizomes, a lot. It's a remarkably rewarding experience.



10. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire

From the ashes of former dream-electronica outfits On! Air! Library! and Secret Machines this trio of twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and Ben Curtis shine on 'Disconnect From Desire', their second album. It coalesces the promise of their debut into a more direct set of songs with actual radio play hit potential. Unusual and unorthodox but ethereally beautiful too.

Honorable mentions: Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago, Errors - Come Down With Me, Beach House - Teen Dream, LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening, Gayngs - Relayted, Zola Jesus - Stridulum II.

Monday 22 November 2010

Laboratory Noise - When Sound Generates Light



Post-rock. Shoegaze. Noise pop. All descriptive terms which have pretty much had their day. They all, seemingly, belong to another era. At least they do if you're me and have lived through them numerous times before in the inevitably cyclical musical landscape, so I’m like 'Oh, yeah, Lab Noises why don't you just evoke the re-invigorated spirit of My Bloody Valentine or Ride or Spacemen 3 or the blissed brutality of A Place To Bury Strangers - see if you can do that for me...'

And you know 'When Sound Generates Light' starts promisingly enough with 'Mae' warping it’s distorted guitars and reverbed vocals all over the place like a disoriented drugged lurch. My woozy head of uncertainty swirls into 'She Dies Screaming' and the drugs are feeling like they’re beginning to work, yes thank you - pretty vocals only temporarily bursting my tremolo created bubble.

Okay enough drug talk, because it's not big or clever, but as analogies go never was anything more apt because midway through third song 'Lost in Battles' the chemical balance is perfect and you know it could be these new headphones I bought for my MP3 player which make the drumming sound so intense and the guitars chime with the clarity of church bells on an autumn evening. Or more likely it's the brittle contrast of light and shade in this song that fills my heart with joy. But something has happened. I am changed.

Barely ten minutes in I'm sold. I want to hear everything Laboratory Noise will ever create, witness every gig they'll play. This album has been on repeat for almost a week. It’s intoxicating, unashamedly, uncomplicatedly, L-O-V-E, LOVE.

www.myspace.com/laboratorynoise
www.mekongdelta.co.uk

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