Mountain Bird
Don't Mind
Self released
January 27th 2014
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Big swirly guitars from Sweden - it could be a name for a band. Instead, it's the latest single from Mountain Bird whose influences (according to the You Tube posting) include Sigur Ros and Explosions In The Sky, though I'd wager there's an element of Arcade Fire involved in here too. Don't Mind is rather bracing and a decent enough hunk of rock bluster to inspire you to throw open the curtains, ramp up the stereo and play it loud to anyone who can be bothered to listen - which might be a fair few people if there's any justice. Good effort.
Don't Mind
Self released
January 27th 2014
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Big swirly guitars from Sweden - it could be a name for a band. Instead, it's the latest single from Mountain Bird whose influences (according to the You Tube posting) include Sigur Ros and Explosions In The Sky, though I'd wager there's an element of Arcade Fire involved in here too. Don't Mind is rather bracing and a decent enough hunk of rock bluster to inspire you to throw open the curtains, ramp up the stereo and play it loud to anyone who can be bothered to listen - which might be a fair few people if there's any justice. Good effort.
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Modern Life Is War
Sadsa Records
March 10th 2014
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Now here's a case of a band discovering itself before it was close to being too late. After a frankly juvenile self-titled debut, Select All... have been embarking on something of a musical odyssey through a maze of grunge/rock/new-wave influences (let's say Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses and Pavement for starters) and knocked up a ditty that takes just over a minute to get started, before turning into a sublime effort. The new album Ultra Cultura will appear in April and, judging by this, might deserve more than the one star the first one got in 2011. Good.
Real Estate
Talking Backwards
Domino
20th January 2014
★★★★★★★★★☆
Thank crikey for Real Estate - jingle-jangle in a M Ward/Triptides/Byrds stylee, perfectly produced, beautifully written, neatly played and deftly pieced together in time for the release of parent-album Atlas which will surely be on a few people's shopping lists when it appears in March. Surf-pop is nothing new and it doesn't have to be - music is at its most potent and interesting when bands like this take the past and turn into something enjoyable. Single Of The Week.
Real Estate
Talking Backwards
Domino
20th January 2014
★★★★★★★★★☆
Thank crikey for Real Estate - jingle-jangle in a M Ward/Triptides/Byrds stylee, perfectly produced, beautifully written, neatly played and deftly pieced together in time for the release of parent-album Atlas which will surely be on a few people's shopping lists when it appears in March. Surf-pop is nothing new and it doesn't have to be - music is at its most potent and interesting when bands like this take the past and turn into something enjoyable. Single Of The Week.
Ed Zealous
Diamonds For Eyes
Soundcloud
Soundcloud
February 3rd 2014
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
It's time for some electro-indie-disco kids in the form of Ed Zealous whose out-of-the-traps attitude could be levelled at the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, Bombay Bicycle Club and Bloc Party (its producer Eliot James has dabbled with at least two of that trio's catalogue in the past). I'm eternally nonplussed by music like this but Ed Zealous make a game effort of it with some upfront vocals and a chorus of punchy synths throughout. Mind you, Diamonds For Eyes isn't anything ground-breaking, merely the type of thing Zane Lowe might plug on his R1 shows - hit, maybe?
Menace Beach
Fortune Teller
Memphis Industries
January 20th 2014
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
If I'd been sent a cassette of Fortune Teller, I'd have checked to see if there was a fault due to the wavering out-of-tune squall of noise at the beginning that veers drunkenly across the octaves. Menace Beach have basically sourced ideas from Loveless by MBV, thrown in some psychedelic shoegazey-type sounds, piped in their own inimitable take on the Breeders' template and made lo-fi their own - for one EP's worth at least. Possibly the most interesting signing on Memphis Industries for a while.
Leyland Kirby
Breaks My Heart Each Time
Apollo/R&S
February 17th 2014
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Swift detective work reveals this to one James Leyland Kirby of tricky sound-terrorists V/Vm fame and The Caretaker's real alter-ego. Now residing in Poland's Krakow city region, Kirby marks his Apollo debut EP with a mixture of intense slab-beats and musique-concrete (the title-track), bonged-out trap (Last Ditch Legacy) and blissed-out hallucinogenic ambience (Diminishing Emotion). It recalls the not-dissimilar Locust, an Apollo signing in the '90s, although the last track boasts free-electro jazz in the vein of Carl Craig or Juan Atkins. All-in-all, rather an enjoyable sub-techno fug.
Lacrosse
50% Of Your Love
Tapete Records
January 27th 2014
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
After recently reviewing this Swedish band's recent dismissible album and giving it a hammering in the process, this single does little to reverse my opinion of it. If anything, 50% Of Your Love is making matters work. Sugary, twee indie pop can only be served up with a sprinkling of melody - think Allo Darlin, Camera Obscura and Teenage Fanclub - but Lacrosse really don't have anything of the sort here. It's all delivered in a chaotic almost amateurish way that recalls high school battle-of-the-bands competitions at their worst.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Swift detective work reveals this to one James Leyland Kirby of tricky sound-terrorists V/Vm fame and The Caretaker's real alter-ego. Now residing in Poland's Krakow city region, Kirby marks his Apollo debut EP with a mixture of intense slab-beats and musique-concrete (the title-track), bonged-out trap (Last Ditch Legacy) and blissed-out hallucinogenic ambience (Diminishing Emotion). It recalls the not-dissimilar Locust, an Apollo signing in the '90s, although the last track boasts free-electro jazz in the vein of Carl Craig or Juan Atkins. All-in-all, rather an enjoyable sub-techno fug.
Lacrosse
50% Of Your Love
Tapete Records
January 27th 2014
★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
After recently reviewing this Swedish band's recent dismissible album and giving it a hammering in the process, this single does little to reverse my opinion of it. If anything, 50% Of Your Love is making matters work. Sugary, twee indie pop can only be served up with a sprinkling of melody - think Allo Darlin, Camera Obscura and Teenage Fanclub - but Lacrosse really don't have anything of the sort here. It's all delivered in a chaotic almost amateurish way that recalls high school battle-of-the-bands competitions at their worst.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Relax (reissue)
ZTT
February 10th 2014
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
A 2014 vinyl upgrade for one of the nation's biggest-selling 12" singles of all time and certainly one of the most controversial - just ask Mike Read. OK so there's nothing forward-thinking about trawling out yet another re-release straight from the archives but Relax still sounds as remarkable as it did thirty years ago. DJs of a delicate disposition baulked at the immortal line, "...relax, when ya wanna cum..." but these days it's almost quaint. Not quite in an Andrews Sisters, National Trust, Bake-Off kind of way but compared to Azealia Banks, it's pure John Lewis. You get the Sex Mix, an instrumental and the FGTH cover of Ferry Across The Mersey all dressed up in a pinker sleeve than I remember.
Paloma Faith
Can't Rely On You
Sony
February 10th 2014
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
In which our kooky pixie eschews her more bombastic pop-swaggering for something that's, well, very lightweight and, frankly, dull. In fact, after three full listens, I'm none-the-wiser as to whether Faith has kept the faith with crafting a tune or not. There's a sassy rhythm going on but, in the words of the much-sampled vocal, I just don't know what this world is coming to when music like this rules and others in this round-up won't get a look-in. Hey ho.
Robert Lonsdale
Fight The Fight
iTunes
Out Now
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Taken from Tim Rice's new wartime musical (I know, those two words slot together like vanilla and crabs, lawn and rabies, JLS and longevity), Lonsdale's cheek-bones should shift a few copies of this rather bland chirrup if nowt else. Imagine a Snow Patrol orgy whereby everyone at the party jerks off to Chasing Cars - the resultant audible mess is this (along with a few sobs). In the context of a stage-show it probably makes perfect sense - as a standalone single, Fight The Fight's destiny could be earmarked for an occasional rendition on Britain's Got A Voice and the like but, more likely, it'll be forgotten within a week. However, it's not the worst song this week by a country yard.
Liars
Mess On a Mission
Mute/Soundcloud
Out Now
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Taken from the band's much-anticipated new album (simply entitled Mess) out in March, this first excerpt from the album continues Mute's unerring tradition for insistent brash electronic pop that sounds like a homage to the likes of Fad Gadget and Wire, both previous Mute legends. Its relentless lyrical hook of 'facts are facts and fiction's fiction' goes on a bit - hey, if a sentence is worth repeating, it's worth repeating endlessly - and the music is as uncompromising as previous Liars music, but I've a feeling 6 Music will be all over this, given time.
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
A 2014 vinyl upgrade for one of the nation's biggest-selling 12" singles of all time and certainly one of the most controversial - just ask Mike Read. OK so there's nothing forward-thinking about trawling out yet another re-release straight from the archives but Relax still sounds as remarkable as it did thirty years ago. DJs of a delicate disposition baulked at the immortal line, "...relax, when ya wanna cum..." but these days it's almost quaint. Not quite in an Andrews Sisters, National Trust, Bake-Off kind of way but compared to Azealia Banks, it's pure John Lewis. You get the Sex Mix, an instrumental and the FGTH cover of Ferry Across The Mersey all dressed up in a pinker sleeve than I remember.
Paloma Faith
Can't Rely On You
Sony
February 10th 2014
★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
In which our kooky pixie eschews her more bombastic pop-swaggering for something that's, well, very lightweight and, frankly, dull. In fact, after three full listens, I'm none-the-wiser as to whether Faith has kept the faith with crafting a tune or not. There's a sassy rhythm going on but, in the words of the much-sampled vocal, I just don't know what this world is coming to when music like this rules and others in this round-up won't get a look-in. Hey ho.
Robert Lonsdale
Fight The Fight
iTunes
Out Now
★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆
Taken from Tim Rice's new wartime musical (I know, those two words slot together like vanilla and crabs, lawn and rabies, JLS and longevity), Lonsdale's cheek-bones should shift a few copies of this rather bland chirrup if nowt else. Imagine a Snow Patrol orgy whereby everyone at the party jerks off to Chasing Cars - the resultant audible mess is this (along with a few sobs). In the context of a stage-show it probably makes perfect sense - as a standalone single, Fight The Fight's destiny could be earmarked for an occasional rendition on Britain's Got A Voice and the like but, more likely, it'll be forgotten within a week. However, it's not the worst song this week by a country yard.
Liars
Mess On a Mission
Mute/Soundcloud
Out Now
★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Taken from the band's much-anticipated new album (simply entitled Mess) out in March, this first excerpt from the album continues Mute's unerring tradition for insistent brash electronic pop that sounds like a homage to the likes of Fad Gadget and Wire, both previous Mute legends. Its relentless lyrical hook of 'facts are facts and fiction's fiction' goes on a bit - hey, if a sentence is worth repeating, it's worth repeating endlessly - and the music is as uncompromising as previous Liars music, but I've a feeling 6 Music will be all over this, given time.