Thirty years ago, 79p would have got you an album of K-Tel Festive favourites recorded by, I don't know, the Royal Marines or Ken Dodd or some knob in a cardigan. A whole ALBUM. Think about that for a second. Done? Good. Read on. 79p in 2012 might get you one decent song that you can't see. Brilliant concept. Thankfully, some of these songs are free. Some of them certainly should be.
Terry Emm - Gently - 7/10
Accompanied by a twee but endearing animated video, this light fluffy acoustic strumtastic little song comes complete with shinkling* sleigh-bells, lightly fingered guitars and vocals that remind me of Iron & Wine or James Taylor, depending on how much mulled wine I've had. Tonight, due to lack of alcohol, Emm sounds like the former and rather pleasant it is too. I'd rather hear this psychedelic whimsy on my radio than Wham's putrid patronising old dog's toss, I can tell you.
*shinkling = the sound of sleigh bells, of course.
Miss Terry Blue - Hush - 4/10
For a minute while listening to Miss Terry Blue, I was transported back to the early '90s by this sub-funky ramble - it's a bit Galliano, a bit Sneaker Pimps and a bit meaningless, to be honest. OK, singer Isabella Lueen has a neat set of pipes but lyrically it's cobblers - 'we will be the ones to see' and 'harmonies explain philosophy' will not have me rushing for a ticket to a show of theirs anytime soon. Nor will the song. Sorry peeps, I've played this a fair few times and I'm none the wiser as to who would invest their pennies in this in 2012. Or 1992, for that matter. Next!
Enfant - Borders of Mexico - 6/10
Gah - 'crystal stars' 'desert hearts' 'come down to the borders of Mexico' 'ignite the flames of desire'.... what the fuck-on-a-bagel is happening to songwriting these days? The video features animated madness, pigs having their throats slit and NASA footage, but the song is about throwing off your shackles and partying. Eh? Thankfully, they've knocked up a decent enough melody that isn't far-removed from Hurts or Heaven 17. Usual.
Naked Lunch - All Is Fever (Ulrich Schnauss & Adam Peters Remix) - 8/10
Available as a free download, this pre-cursor to the first new album in half a century by ex-Some Bizarre act Naked Lunch is something of a dream-pop revelation when compared to some of the bilge on offer this week. Without even trying, Schnauss and Peters have woven their wintery fabric all over this huge vocal-harmony packed snowy piece of glitchstep*, with little in the way of vocals, just pretty atmospherics and moody tones that shout 'Scandanavia' rather than 'Ibiza'. Yum.
*glitchstep = made-up name for quirky electronica tracks (not yet used by hipsters).
Sone Institute - This Moment Is Already a Memory - 7/10
There are some very weird shenanigans going on during this remix EP package available for free downloading at Front and Follow, namely bizarre sub-Morricone 'Good Bad and the Ugly' drums, manic Roy Harper mumblings, odd Stealing Sheep-style babble and spacey Stereolab-like noodlings. The best of the four versions comes from London freelancer Nick Rundall, a man who clearly knows how to coax warmth and beauty of a mixing desk. The rest of you, see me after class for your medicine.
Section 25 / Stereograph - Split coloured-vinyl 12" - 8/10
New American indie-label Phaneron leaps from the traps with two sides of electro-pop from a pair of established acts from both sides of the Atlantic, pressed as a run of 500. The quality of the music far exceeds the quality of the plastic it's pressed on (mine has a 'splotch' on both sides) but, hey ho, the download works so off we go. Label owner Dan Rutherford's Stereograph are a trio presumably from Baltimore with a Depeche Mode, Tik & Tok and Fad Gadget fixation because, boy, do they sound just like those three acts in one bundle. Falling Through is far and away their best song, the other two are pleasant and good enough to have appeared on Survival Records. Section 25 have had a considerable and recent renaissance in the face of adversity but are now primed to leave behind the dark days. Last year's Colour Movement Sex and Violence and Inner Drive have been majestically transformed into blissed out dubby foot-tappers, not unlike Saint Etienne's '90s output - and there is nothing wrong with that. A vinyl curio well worth seeking out.
Minny Pops - Waiting For This To Happen - 9/10
O Genesis, Tim Burgess's cranky label, just gets better and better and by signing Factory's Dutch electro eccentrics, they have surpassed expectations. Unsettling, insistent, reverential and utterly unique, Wally van Middendorp's dark-wave runts of the Factory litter have cranked up the amps to ensure their first new output in decades sounds as good as their first, if not better. Glistering is nearly superior - eerie shards of guitar pierce through an unworldly mass of electronic chatter and Wally's 'special' baritone. Single of the week.
Punx Soundcheck ft Feral Is Kinky - Heavy Medication - 5/10
If Fatboy Slim was dropped into a blender with Noisia and Swedish House Mafia, it might sound a bit like this - fidgety stuttering keyboards that sound like console games having a seizure, more chopped vocals than you could probably bear in one sitting and run-of-the-mill electro-beats, but minus Norman Cook's ability to hone a tune. Feral Is Kinky delivers rhymes of 'coolio' 'foolio' 'schoolio' and other 'oolios' while remixers give it an electro-bass servicing that makes it all sound like outtakes of Nathan Barley idents. Peace and fucking. Except that it isn't*.
*it helps to have watched Nathan Barley to understand the irony.
Nautic - Fresh Eyes - 7/10
Now then, roll up for this week's '80s revisit, coming courtesy of Bullion's new project. The trio offer up a 7" of reflective syn-drum soaked string-laden soul tracks, the like of which might sit well on Prince b-sides circa Purple Rain-era, or on Grand Theft Auto 34 during the bit where our hero machine-guns a donkey sanctuary or rescues his dealer from a speedboat fire. It's all rather pleasant and reminds me of when 4AD's His Name Is Alive had a crack at the same genre ten years ago. That's to say this is nothing new but it's, y'know, OK.
Merry Christmas, one and all. Except for the producers of The X Factor. You can go suffocate in Santa's sack.
Terry Emm - Gently - 7/10
*shinkling = the sound of sleigh bells, of course.
Miss Terry Blue - Hush - 4/10
Enfant - Borders of Mexico - 6/10
Naked Lunch - All Is Fever (Ulrich Schnauss & Adam Peters Remix) - 8/10
*glitchstep = made-up name for quirky electronica tracks (not yet used by hipsters).
Sone Institute - This Moment Is Already a Memory - 7/10
Section 25 / Stereograph - Split coloured-vinyl 12" - 8/10
Minny Pops - Waiting For This To Happen - 9/10
Punx Soundcheck ft Feral Is Kinky - Heavy Medication - 5/10
*it helps to have watched Nathan Barley to understand the irony.
Nautic - Fresh Eyes - 7/10
Merry Christmas, one and all. Except for the producers of The X Factor. You can go suffocate in Santa's sack.