Pet Shop Boys:
Thursday:
November 4th:
★★★★
There's no doubt about it, 'Thursday' is a stonker and recalls the time when PSB could knock out big, bold, brash and brassy hits like Rowntrees knocked out Kit-Kats. It's a hybrid of 'Love Comes Quickly', 'West End Girls', 'Paninaro' and 'Domino Dancing' that screams summer holidays, yet looks like being a soundtrack for the dank autumn nights instead. Simplistic in its delivery, 'Thursday' isn't a prize-winning lyrical pilgrimage beyond the realms of 'making it right' and 'staying for the weekend', but it's harmless fun and supersedes the duo's half-hearted 'Elysium' era. Even with Example babbling on like a night-bus victim, the mood cannot be spoilt - the weekend does indeed start with 'Thursday'.
Public Service Broadcasting:
Night Mail:
November 4th:
★★★★★
The other PSB continue their considerable journey into sound with another track lifted from the super 'Inform - Educate - Entertain', perhaps the single that should have followed 'Spitfire', such is its attraction. 'Night Mail' features the W.H. Auden commentary that intones 'the night mail crossing th border, bringing the cheque and the postal order, letters for the rich, letters for the poor, the shop on the corner and the girl next door', the nifty bit of drumming throughout and a lovely bit of indie-rockin' riffing towards the end that puts some of the cack I hear on the radio to shame. Engaging, imaginative and memorable, 'Night Mail' is anti-pop for pop-music lovers everywhere. Single of the Week.
Radkey:
Devil's Fruit:
October 18th:
★★★1/2
Coming on like a cross between Minor Threat, Inspiral Carpets, Husker Du and tour-mates Drenge, U.S. sub-punk outfit Radkey have already had a spot of exposure on Later With Jools Holland recently and look to follow this up with product. In this case, 'Devil's Fruit' comes stamped as a four-track red-vinyl 12" single which has 'sorry we've run out' written all over it, mainly due to it sounding like every credible new-wave band of the last few decades. I can't hear anything on here that I haven't heard before - it's possible that Noah waved this lot goodbye from his ark, so old are the riffs. Still, despite half their name being comprised of the word 'rad' (FFS) and me inserting FFS into one of my reviews, 'Devil's Fruit' is rather good and gets better the more it progresses - 'Little Man' is good fun, for example. Rowdy Radkey might just have the tunes to see them past this bash-bash-bash stage. Good.
Beck:
Gimme:
October 11th:
★★
Frankly, short on length and surprisingly short on ideas. 'Gimme' isn't the mind-boggling return we'd all hoped for because Beck, bless his hipster arse, forgot to slip a tune in here. Comprised of minimal fidgety sub-tribal clattering and processed vocals straight out of the school of PWL, 'Gimme' is tortuous and so forgettable, I've forgotten how angry it's made me and I'm already onto the next one...
Mala:
Como Como (Theo Parrish Mix):
October 18th:
★★★★
There is absolutely no reason on this Earth why you shouldn't possess the wonderful 'Mala In Cuba' album, released last year on Brownswood Recordings. 'Como Como' is perhaps one of the most traditional tracks from that album, given a soulful re-rub on this 10"/download by Theo Parrish for no other reason other than it's bloody lush. A little dubby, a little spacey and mildly jazzy, Parrish coaxes the sweet-spots from the original and arranges them with respect and compassion, bringing the vocals to the fore and the vibe to a head. Do I detect an entire album of remixes in the near future?
Pylo:
Bellavue EP:
Out now:
★★1/2
This continuing fad of releasing one song, then another, then one more then, oh, an EP containing the same songs, is starting to wear thin and every ruddy band on the fringes of very little, other than obscurity, are doing it. Pylo have already issued the admittedly fine 'Enemies' (well, fine if you like teary Snow Patrol-type blubfests) and the disappointing 'View' (well, disappointing if you hate teary Snow Patrol-type blubfests) that it hardly seems worth bothering with the other two efforts on this four-track resume. But I will, I'll try. 'Crying On Land' is, um, a teary Snow Patrol-type blubfest and 'Bare Eyed' is a bit faster and a teary (that's enough - Ed).
The Grand Opening:
Towards Your Final Rest:
Out now:
★★
From the same miserable world that Pylo occupy, The Grand Opening's suicidal acoustic-pomp is only slightly less glum but no more interesting. Having already dozed off while reviewing the recent album from where this radio edit has been plucked, any surprise element bottled up on 'Towards ... ' has already been dashed. It's pleasant enough but woe betide anyone chancing a listen during, say, a long-haul ferry journey from Chile to Sweden or while sitting in a traffic-jam on the M25. In fact, if its the former situation, there's always the danger that The Grand Opening could be travelling on the same ferry - or worse still, booked as the in-house entertainment.
Clara Hill:
Lost Winter:
October 21st:
★★★
Much better from the Tapete Records stable is this slice of haphazard psych-pop from the Berlin songwriter's upcoming album, 'Walk The Distance'. If Laura Marling and Rose Elinor-Dougal met Goldfrapp for a drinks party atop Glastonbury Tor, Clara Hill's modest stab at filmic trippy folktronica might be the result. 'Lost Winter' takes the genre a step further by reminding me of Attica Blues who used to mine a not dissimilar seam on Mo Wax some years ago, a strange blend of roots music dressed up in a breakbeat bandana and show the door by critics. I like 'Lost Winter'.
Jungle:
The Heat:
Out Now:
★★★★
Mysterious, as in Burial, Jai Paul or Banksy, London's Jungle are a production duo who create a marketable electro-funk blend that has already borne fruit - earlier single 'Platoon' has racked up over 100+ hits on You Tube and no doubt already encouraged young tots to start tumbling and breakdancing as soon as they leave kindergarten. Better is 'The Heat', a more upbeat blend of modern soul and Dam-Funk-esque minimalism, topped off with some warm vocals, straight from the school of Prince and Brit-funk. I might be over-egging this a bit but Jungle's album promises to be something of an event.
Society:
14 Hours:
October 14th:
★★★1/2
Not that Society but yet another one, this achingly hip part-soul, part-'60s pop, part-downbeat and trip-hop 7" bears all the hallmarks of an in-demand tune from start to finish. It's a simple slice of head-nodding whimsy, piled high with soulful vocals and soundbites, a deep down Stax backdrop and precisely no chorus to speak of, merely a hook - but a hook that ingrains itself in your cerebellum, nonetheless. Hit. Or not, as the case probably will be.
PP
Thursday:
November 4th:
★★★★
Public Service Broadcasting:
Night Mail:
November 4th:
★★★★★
Radkey:
Devil's Fruit:
October 18th:
★★★1/2
Coming on like a cross between Minor Threat, Inspiral Carpets, Husker Du and tour-mates Drenge, U.S. sub-punk outfit Radkey have already had a spot of exposure on Later With Jools Holland recently and look to follow this up with product. In this case, 'Devil's Fruit' comes stamped as a four-track red-vinyl 12" single which has 'sorry we've run out' written all over it, mainly due to it sounding like every credible new-wave band of the last few decades. I can't hear anything on here that I haven't heard before - it's possible that Noah waved this lot goodbye from his ark, so old are the riffs. Still, despite half their name being comprised of the word 'rad' (FFS) and me inserting FFS into one of my reviews, 'Devil's Fruit' is rather good and gets better the more it progresses - 'Little Man' is good fun, for example. Rowdy Radkey might just have the tunes to see them past this bash-bash-bash stage. Good.
Beck:
Gimme:
October 11th:
★★
Frankly, short on length and surprisingly short on ideas. 'Gimme' isn't the mind-boggling return we'd all hoped for because Beck, bless his hipster arse, forgot to slip a tune in here. Comprised of minimal fidgety sub-tribal clattering and processed vocals straight out of the school of PWL, 'Gimme' is tortuous and so forgettable, I've forgotten how angry it's made me and I'm already onto the next one...
Mala:
Como Como (Theo Parrish Mix):
October 18th:
★★★★
There is absolutely no reason on this Earth why you shouldn't possess the wonderful 'Mala In Cuba' album, released last year on Brownswood Recordings. 'Como Como' is perhaps one of the most traditional tracks from that album, given a soulful re-rub on this 10"/download by Theo Parrish for no other reason other than it's bloody lush. A little dubby, a little spacey and mildly jazzy, Parrish coaxes the sweet-spots from the original and arranges them with respect and compassion, bringing the vocals to the fore and the vibe to a head. Do I detect an entire album of remixes in the near future?
Pylo:
Bellavue EP:
Out now:
★★1/2
This continuing fad of releasing one song, then another, then one more then, oh, an EP containing the same songs, is starting to wear thin and every ruddy band on the fringes of very little, other than obscurity, are doing it. Pylo have already issued the admittedly fine 'Enemies' (well, fine if you like teary Snow Patrol-type blubfests) and the disappointing 'View' (well, disappointing if you hate teary Snow Patrol-type blubfests) that it hardly seems worth bothering with the other two efforts on this four-track resume. But I will, I'll try. 'Crying On Land' is, um, a teary Snow Patrol-type blubfest and 'Bare Eyed' is a bit faster and a teary (that's enough - Ed).
The Grand Opening:
Towards Your Final Rest:
Out now:
★★
From the same miserable world that Pylo occupy, The Grand Opening's suicidal acoustic-pomp is only slightly less glum but no more interesting. Having already dozed off while reviewing the recent album from where this radio edit has been plucked, any surprise element bottled up on 'Towards ... ' has already been dashed. It's pleasant enough but woe betide anyone chancing a listen during, say, a long-haul ferry journey from Chile to Sweden or while sitting in a traffic-jam on the M25. In fact, if its the former situation, there's always the danger that The Grand Opening could be travelling on the same ferry - or worse still, booked as the in-house entertainment.
Clara Hill:
Lost Winter:
October 21st:
★★★
Much better from the Tapete Records stable is this slice of haphazard psych-pop from the Berlin songwriter's upcoming album, 'Walk The Distance'. If Laura Marling and Rose Elinor-Dougal met Goldfrapp for a drinks party atop Glastonbury Tor, Clara Hill's modest stab at filmic trippy folktronica might be the result. 'Lost Winter' takes the genre a step further by reminding me of Attica Blues who used to mine a not dissimilar seam on Mo Wax some years ago, a strange blend of roots music dressed up in a breakbeat bandana and show the door by critics. I like 'Lost Winter'.
Jungle:
The Heat:
Out Now:
★★★★
Mysterious, as in Burial, Jai Paul or Banksy, London's Jungle are a production duo who create a marketable electro-funk blend that has already borne fruit - earlier single 'Platoon' has racked up over 100+ hits on You Tube and no doubt already encouraged young tots to start tumbling and breakdancing as soon as they leave kindergarten. Better is 'The Heat', a more upbeat blend of modern soul and Dam-Funk-esque minimalism, topped off with some warm vocals, straight from the school of Prince and Brit-funk. I might be over-egging this a bit but Jungle's album promises to be something of an event.
Society:
14 Hours:
October 14th:
★★★1/2
PP