Right now, there is a veritable minefield of digital exclusives and special downloads doing the rounds, so here's a round-up of a few that have caught my ears for all the right (and wrong reasons).
Click on the track-names to hear....
Blancmange:
Living On The Ceiling
★★★★
Take one moderately successful electro-pop duo's biggest hit and merge it with the dextrous disco-fingers of one Vince Clarke and you get a cracking hi-energy re-working of Livin' On The Ceiling. Pepped up and reborn, this Soundcloud exclusive doesn't have the wonderful charm of the original but, as a serviceable and respectful re-jig, Clarke has achieved near perfection.
Carousels and Limousines:
Alive (exclusive demo)
★★1/2
Y'know for a second, this sounded like The National. At least until the singer's nicotine-ravaged tonsils kicked into gear and ravaged what promised to be a good tune. Sadly, C&L sound part Guns and Roses and part Springsteen on this version of a new song that suggests they've already left behind their recent album 'Home To Andy's'. It suffers from being the wrong side of those two previous rock-legend comparisons by sounding anything other than the fact they're from Bath, not L.A. or Brooklyn.
Click on the track-names to hear....
Blancmange:
Living On The Ceiling
★★★★
Take one moderately successful electro-pop duo's biggest hit and merge it with the dextrous disco-fingers of one Vince Clarke and you get a cracking hi-energy re-working of Livin' On The Ceiling. Pepped up and reborn, this Soundcloud exclusive doesn't have the wonderful charm of the original but, as a serviceable and respectful re-jig, Clarke has achieved near perfection.
Carousels and Limousines:
Alive (exclusive demo)
★★1/2
Y'know for a second, this sounded like The National. At least until the singer's nicotine-ravaged tonsils kicked into gear and ravaged what promised to be a good tune. Sadly, C&L sound part Guns and Roses and part Springsteen on this version of a new song that suggests they've already left behind their recent album 'Home To Andy's'. It suffers from being the wrong side of those two previous rock-legend comparisons by sounding anything other than the fact they're from Bath, not L.A. or Brooklyn.
Life:
I Wanna Forget
★★★
Formerly The Neat, this spikey spunky Hull quartet exude more energy in their ballbags than half of today's chart acts put together. OK, 'I Wanna Forget' is DIY punk-pop but not the type that involves slack-arsed jeans being slung around a pair of milky-white arse-cheeks in the autumn rain. No this is the punk-pop we should be championing - memorable chorus, keen-to-please hooks and a cheap daft video that doesn't look as cheap and daft after a couple of viewings. Birthday Records have cause to celebrate Life - it's out as a 7" apparently.
★★★
Formerly The Neat, this spikey spunky Hull quartet exude more energy in their ballbags than half of today's chart acts put together. OK, 'I Wanna Forget' is DIY punk-pop but not the type that involves slack-arsed jeans being slung around a pair of milky-white arse-cheeks in the autumn rain. No this is the punk-pop we should be championing - memorable chorus, keen-to-please hooks and a cheap daft video that doesn't look as cheap and daft after a couple of viewings. Birthday Records have cause to celebrate Life - it's out as a 7" apparently.
Ed Harcourt:
The Saddest Orchestra (Only Plays For You)
★★★★
Seriously though Britain - when the fuck-on-crackers are you going to make Ed Harcourt a household name? Oh I see - you're busy tossing off to Strictly X Factor Got Talent Saturday Plebbery Flange (exclusive to Channel Dumb), is that right? It's OK - the rest of us will enjoy Ed riding the rollercoaster of melancholia once again, casting his alliterations and literacy all over the place like the big, bold bearded poet he is. This swoonsome beauty is from his next album that you will choose to ignore so I won't bother telling you about it. It's called 'Time Of Dust' and it's out in January. Sorry, couldn't help myself.
The Saddest Orchestra (Only Plays For You)
★★★★
Seriously though Britain - when the fuck-on-crackers are you going to make Ed Harcourt a household name? Oh I see - you're busy tossing off to Strictly X Factor Got Talent Saturday Plebbery Flange (exclusive to Channel Dumb), is that right? It's OK - the rest of us will enjoy Ed riding the rollercoaster of melancholia once again, casting his alliterations and literacy all over the place like the big, bold bearded poet he is. This swoonsome beauty is from his next album that you will choose to ignore so I won't bother telling you about it. It's called 'Time Of Dust' and it's out in January. Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Sons of Kemet:
Inner Babylon (Vince Vella Dub)
★★★★
The idea of blending avant-garde bonkers contemporary jazz with wub-tastic dubstep could either be the mark of genius or the result of far too much crack at the weekend. As it goes, Sons of Kemet's ridiculously catchy highlight from their recent album 'Burn' suits the rub-a-dub lunacy conjured up on this organic re-working. If this doesn't make you cruise the streets of your local suburb, driving a varnished Subaru and shouting ''Ear me now!..' as loud as you can then I don't know what will. Naim Jazz ought to stick this out on an anonymous white-label 10" dub-plate - it'd fly out!
★★★★
The idea of blending avant-garde bonkers contemporary jazz with wub-tastic dubstep could either be the mark of genius or the result of far too much crack at the weekend. As it goes, Sons of Kemet's ridiculously catchy highlight from their recent album 'Burn' suits the rub-a-dub lunacy conjured up on this organic re-working. If this doesn't make you cruise the streets of your local suburb, driving a varnished Subaru and shouting ''Ear me now!..' as loud as you can then I don't know what will. Naim Jazz ought to stick this out on an anonymous white-label 10" dub-plate - it'd fly out!
Chk! Chk! Chk!
Broadway (Gimme The Lights On)(Jim Eno Mix)
★★★1/2
You can't accuse !!! of not trying and here they reveal their commercial dance side with a natty remix by Jim Eno. It's taken from an upcoming EP entitled 'R!M!X!S' and doesn't come included on their most recent album 'Thriller'. All of which makes you realize why !!! aren't a household name - this is a belter and it's tucked away on an EP - madness. For some reason, 'Broadway' recalls Heaven 17 if only for the '80s instrumentation - the beats are LCD Soundsystem territory, mark you, and the whole thing would sound great cranked out of a bass-hungry system after a few hefty high-grade brews.
David Bowie:
Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy)
★★★★★
Talking of LCD Soundsystem, here's mainman James Murphy incorporating American composer Steve Reich's glorious clapping sequence from 1972's 'Clapping Music' (sort of) with a track from Bowie's superb The Next Day album, some minimal electronica and then, for the final six minutes or so, a subtle change into a pounding epic of gargantuan proportions. He's great at this is Murphy. Like other progressive minds such as Kleinenberg, Sasha and Underworld, the whole thing builds and builds, slows right down and then settles gracefully into one of the best remixes of a Bowie tune this side of Leftfield's 'Jump They Say'. You've gotta love the cheeky sample of 'Ashes to Ashes' 6 minutes in, making this a rather remarkable work. It'll be on the 'New Day Extra' box-set but for now, cough one up to it on Soundcloud.
★★★1/2
You can't accuse !!! of not trying and here they reveal their commercial dance side with a natty remix by Jim Eno. It's taken from an upcoming EP entitled 'R!M!X!S' and doesn't come included on their most recent album 'Thriller'. All of which makes you realize why !!! aren't a household name - this is a belter and it's tucked away on an EP - madness. For some reason, 'Broadway' recalls Heaven 17 if only for the '80s instrumentation - the beats are LCD Soundsystem territory, mark you, and the whole thing would sound great cranked out of a bass-hungry system after a few hefty high-grade brews.
David Bowie:
Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy)
★★★★★
Talking of LCD Soundsystem, here's mainman James Murphy incorporating American composer Steve Reich's glorious clapping sequence from 1972's 'Clapping Music' (sort of) with a track from Bowie's superb The Next Day album, some minimal electronica and then, for the final six minutes or so, a subtle change into a pounding epic of gargantuan proportions. He's great at this is Murphy. Like other progressive minds such as Kleinenberg, Sasha and Underworld, the whole thing builds and builds, slows right down and then settles gracefully into one of the best remixes of a Bowie tune this side of Leftfield's 'Jump They Say'. You've gotta love the cheeky sample of 'Ashes to Ashes' 6 minutes in, making this a rather remarkable work. It'll be on the 'New Day Extra' box-set but for now, cough one up to it on Soundcloud.
Various - Soul Jazz Records:
New Orleans Funk 3 Megamix
★★★★
To be honest, the marvellous Soul Jazz Records would need to release a Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville dubplate for me to question their ethics - here is another exemplary slice of funked up soul-gumbo, segued into a concise and tempting ten minute promo megamix for the third volume of the wonderful New Orleans Funk series. Basically it's a rough old mix from vinyl and even includes some authentic (and possibly accidental) jumps and skips, as well as bangers from Diamond Joe, The Explosions and many more. Who cares about the clunky upload - the music is for real.
Paul Pledger
New Orleans Funk 3 Megamix
★★★★
To be honest, the marvellous Soul Jazz Records would need to release a Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville dubplate for me to question their ethics - here is another exemplary slice of funked up soul-gumbo, segued into a concise and tempting ten minute promo megamix for the third volume of the wonderful New Orleans Funk series. Basically it's a rough old mix from vinyl and even includes some authentic (and possibly accidental) jumps and skips, as well as bangers from Diamond Joe, The Explosions and many more. Who cares about the clunky upload - the music is for real.
Paul Pledger