El May - I Played a Role - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Aussie songwriter El May - real name Lara Meyerratken - has recently unveiled her second album set for release in September. Until we get to hear any of it, here's the summery I Played a Role as a taster. It's insanely catchy, minimal in delivery, sweetly orchestrated with 'steel-pans' to add a carnival flavour and stars El May who is due to support The Pierces on their next tour (in the UK at any rate). A gale-force wind would blow I Played a Role away to be honest but after five spins, I'm convinced this fiery-haired lady might buck the trend for music like this and swing a UK audience in her favour. Not enough songs have a middle-eight these days - all hail someone with the guts to include one. Hit.
The Lost Brothers - Gold and Silver - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
The Irish pairing continue to pour out their emotions with another album, their fourth entitled New Songs Of Dawn and Dust due in the autumn. The tradition of simplistic songwriting a la Loudon Wainwright, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot and the more recent Josh Bray and Jon Allen isn't lost (sorry) on these two - they've nailed it on Gold and Silver, a gently eddying acoustic-folk vignette that offers a short peek into the duo's next box of jewels. Splendid.
Franz Ferdinand - Leaving My Old Life Behind - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
After their rather bland last offering, the album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions, things get back on track with this predominantly acoustic offering. Featured on Franz Ferdinand's Late Night Tales album project, this is a cover of a little-known Jonathan Halper song from the 'cult' silent-movie Puce Moment directed by Kenneth Anger, doncha know. The original is trippier by far but Kapranos and co have done a decent job on this by keeping it on the rails. I reckon they'd make a good fist of another Anger-related tune - the slightly bonkers It Came In The Night by A Raincoat from the quirky Rabbit's Moon. See to it, boys.
Lykke Li - Gunshot (FAUL remix) - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Minimal tech-house from Paris-based FAUL transforms an otherwise average Li floor-filler into a 4/4 anthem that's sure to grace a few Ibiza bars in the coming weeks (if it hasn't already). If nothing else, FAUL has remixed it by numbers with a lengthy intro, tight beats, some of the original vocal interspersed throughout and the requisite fade-out towards the end, leaving you plenty of time to slip in another Hed Kandi style anthem and head to the loo for another six minutes.
The Knocks - Classic (feat Powers) - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
And here come the Chic clones. This is Lose Yourself To Dance and Thinking Of You combined by two NYC outfits, The Knocks and Powers, both of whom have issued catchy pop-singles prior to this, although this has The Knocks written all over it. They've clearly got Jacko, Prince and Nile Rodgers under their collective skins which is no bad thing if you can scribble down tunes like this in your sleep.
The Drums - Magic Mountain - ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Being compared to the '80s-era and certain Factory Records artists (The Wake) seems futile after listening to this - it's awful. No song to speak of, shouty vocals, muddy confused production, fucking hell - what went so wrong in a few short years? Their first two albums were reasonably enjoyable and I could see the connection between The Drums and their peers but this is cat-piss. On this non-single single, I can't see the point in The Drums anymore. Very disappointing.
Mazes - Salford - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
It takes two minutes of lo-fi thrash garage-pop from London's Mazes to blow the dust from inside my glass and inspire me to replace it with a stiff bourbon and coke and enjoy their sub-Fall rant-'n'-riff splutter. No mention of Booths, the Lowry or the BBC won't make this the local tourist board's theme-tune of the year but Salford is edgy, ragged, historic and full of character, much like the city itself.
TEED Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Feels Like - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Apart from the wacky name, there's little to discern TEED's pumping tech-house theatrics until about 30 seconds in when Feels Like 'takes off' with its bouncy ceiling-splitting bassline and stuttered and distorted synth hook that threatens to tear the whole tune apart. That is until guest warbler Anna Lunoe appears with some calming trilling and a vague sense of direction. Feels Like feels like a punch to the guts during a summer picnic, followed by a 'there-there' and a 'kiss it better' from your favourite object of desire.
Sinden feat The Crystal System - Got Me Moving - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
After a minute of squelchy wobbles and musical farts (translate as pressing every last fricking button on a synth), Got Me Moving develops into a vocalized chunk of tech-funk that wiggles its arse and does little more. Attendant remixes vary from the slinky (Sonny Fodera) to the old-skool garage (Mickey Kojak), passing the busier but less absorbing Odysseus and Pilo reworkings that may or may not float your boat (or spark up excitement on your dancefloor). The Kojak mix is rather special, the Fodera inviting, the rest a bit timid.
Aussie songwriter El May - real name Lara Meyerratken - has recently unveiled her second album set for release in September. Until we get to hear any of it, here's the summery I Played a Role as a taster. It's insanely catchy, minimal in delivery, sweetly orchestrated with 'steel-pans' to add a carnival flavour and stars El May who is due to support The Pierces on their next tour (in the UK at any rate). A gale-force wind would blow I Played a Role away to be honest but after five spins, I'm convinced this fiery-haired lady might buck the trend for music like this and swing a UK audience in her favour. Not enough songs have a middle-eight these days - all hail someone with the guts to include one. Hit.
The Lost Brothers - Gold and Silver - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
The Irish pairing continue to pour out their emotions with another album, their fourth entitled New Songs Of Dawn and Dust due in the autumn. The tradition of simplistic songwriting a la Loudon Wainwright, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot and the more recent Josh Bray and Jon Allen isn't lost (sorry) on these two - they've nailed it on Gold and Silver, a gently eddying acoustic-folk vignette that offers a short peek into the duo's next box of jewels. Splendid.
Franz Ferdinand - Leaving My Old Life Behind - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
After their rather bland last offering, the album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions, things get back on track with this predominantly acoustic offering. Featured on Franz Ferdinand's Late Night Tales album project, this is a cover of a little-known Jonathan Halper song from the 'cult' silent-movie Puce Moment directed by Kenneth Anger, doncha know. The original is trippier by far but Kapranos and co have done a decent job on this by keeping it on the rails. I reckon they'd make a good fist of another Anger-related tune - the slightly bonkers It Came In The Night by A Raincoat from the quirky Rabbit's Moon. See to it, boys.
Lykke Li - Gunshot (FAUL remix) - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Minimal tech-house from Paris-based FAUL transforms an otherwise average Li floor-filler into a 4/4 anthem that's sure to grace a few Ibiza bars in the coming weeks (if it hasn't already). If nothing else, FAUL has remixed it by numbers with a lengthy intro, tight beats, some of the original vocal interspersed throughout and the requisite fade-out towards the end, leaving you plenty of time to slip in another Hed Kandi style anthem and head to the loo for another six minutes.
The Knocks - Classic (feat Powers) - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
And here come the Chic clones. This is Lose Yourself To Dance and Thinking Of You combined by two NYC outfits, The Knocks and Powers, both of whom have issued catchy pop-singles prior to this, although this has The Knocks written all over it. They've clearly got Jacko, Prince and Nile Rodgers under their collective skins which is no bad thing if you can scribble down tunes like this in your sleep.
The Drums - Magic Mountain - ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Being compared to the '80s-era and certain Factory Records artists (The Wake) seems futile after listening to this - it's awful. No song to speak of, shouty vocals, muddy confused production, fucking hell - what went so wrong in a few short years? Their first two albums were reasonably enjoyable and I could see the connection between The Drums and their peers but this is cat-piss. On this non-single single, I can't see the point in The Drums anymore. Very disappointing.
Mazes - Salford - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
It takes two minutes of lo-fi thrash garage-pop from London's Mazes to blow the dust from inside my glass and inspire me to replace it with a stiff bourbon and coke and enjoy their sub-Fall rant-'n'-riff splutter. No mention of Booths, the Lowry or the BBC won't make this the local tourist board's theme-tune of the year but Salford is edgy, ragged, historic and full of character, much like the city itself.
TEED Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Feels Like - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Apart from the wacky name, there's little to discern TEED's pumping tech-house theatrics until about 30 seconds in when Feels Like 'takes off' with its bouncy ceiling-splitting bassline and stuttered and distorted synth hook that threatens to tear the whole tune apart. That is until guest warbler Anna Lunoe appears with some calming trilling and a vague sense of direction. Feels Like feels like a punch to the guts during a summer picnic, followed by a 'there-there' and a 'kiss it better' from your favourite object of desire.
Sinden feat The Crystal System - Got Me Moving - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
After a minute of squelchy wobbles and musical farts (translate as pressing every last fricking button on a synth), Got Me Moving develops into a vocalized chunk of tech-funk that wiggles its arse and does little more. Attendant remixes vary from the slinky (Sonny Fodera) to the old-skool garage (Mickey Kojak), passing the busier but less absorbing Odysseus and Pilo reworkings that may or may not float your boat (or spark up excitement on your dancefloor). The Kojak mix is rather special, the Fodera inviting, the rest a bit timid.