Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
On which Indeep's Last Night a DJ crosses swords with Nile Rodgers for some (s)wanky pseudo-funk-pop that showcases Bruno Mars' best James Brown/Prince impression. There aren't enough horns in pop these days - Uptown Funk makes up for this in spades and sounds like a Prince record that Prince should have tried making in the last couple of decades. Suffice to say you'll be shakin' that ass 'til right through the weekend, even if you're stone deaf or the walking dead. It's been a while since Ronson knocked out a likeable slice of club-tastic funky cosmic-slop and he's done it here, albeit in a retro stylee.
Maroon 5 - Animals - ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
From the first few bars of the opening mannered vocal-line, I just know I'm going to hate this. Not content with riddling the airwaves with track after track of insipid banality, Maroon 5 have recently taken to regurgitating the sort of flyaway guff normally reserved for the likes of Olly Murs. Their album V is full of it - twee radio-pop with lyrics that makes X Factor a contender for the Pulitzer. "Baby I'm preyin' on you tonight..." etc etc. That's stalking in any other language.
Butch Walker - Bed On Fire - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
A torch-song crooned by a NYC musician and, more recently, writer of the book Drinking With Strangers, Bed On Fire sounds like it should be soundtracking a bit in a stern-faced but cinematic TV drama (let's say Peaky Blinders in the UK, Fargo in the US) where the main character arrives home to find his lady in bed with another before committing a crime of passion involving petrol, matches and a duvet. Maybe I should write a script with this in mind. Anyway, it's drawled sensitively by Walker and capably arranged to the point where the goth-horror drums and sad-face strings culminate in an emotional outpouring almost on the scale of Guns and Roses' November Rain. Almost, but minus the heavy rock posturing.
Honeymilk - A Scene In Between - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Swedish fuzz-rockers deliver more of the same formulaic psych-pop on this streamed effort that staggers between bar-room Southern rock and feisty Brit-pop without so much as a chorus to speak of. By the time the Oasis-ish bluster dies down, A Scene In Between literally is just that - in between rock and a hard place, an amalgam of so many styles and what sounds like several songs glued together crash-landing in a smouldering heap at the foot of a wall of amps. It's alright, as it goes but Red Paper Buildings was better.
CITIZENS! - Lighten Up - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Pleasant is how I'd describe this taster from their forthcoming album. Breezy discofied electro-pop that's not far removed from Foals if they offered a lift to Chvrches and Hot Chip sometime soon. And considering we're in the grip (well, slight squeeze) of winter, this feels like a summer outing rather than an early night and a cocoa. I'm not sure I'd listen to Lighten Up forever and ever but it's better than most of its ilk.
Peace - Gen Strange - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Tick-tock goes the intro and, as if by clockwork, Peace shuffle forward with a perky enough indie-dance anthem that's straight out of the '90s. World Of Twist meets The Charlatans with a bass-line similar to Shut That Door by Wolfgang Press might sound like the most exciting thing you've heard in ages but the reality is Gen Strange is nothing new but it is rather enticing. I'd happily ask it round for a pie and a pint.
Ryan Adams - Am I Safe? - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Taken from his self-titled 2014 album, Am I Safe? chugs along with some sort of purpose but is hardly Adams' best. There's no intensity, little in the way of menace and is absolutely devoid of the soul of his more acoustic-minded works. Radio 2 must be lapping this up. In answer to your question Ryan, yes you are but not in a sneeringly bad way.
Thriftworks - Ghost Hustler - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Fidgety IDM like Flying Lotus or Patten might not be your bag but now is a very good time to immerse yourself in this brand of electronica. Listening to Ghost Hustler, it's almost like reliving the first moment of opening a William Burroughs book. There are strange druggy tweaks and buzzes, off-kilter snares, unexplainable bubbling noises, harsh glitchy bits, stuttered vocal samples and occasionally the merest hint of discernible melody. Part of a trilogy of recent albums, Thriftworks is nothing if not prolific. With the latest Fadest being the most accessible and Ghost Hustler an obvious highlight, his audience might expand as coverage of his curious music widens.
Bonobo - Flashlight - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
After his recent successful North Borders album and tour, Bonobo returns with something a little more club-orientated and straightforward. Proper disco-ball beats and hi-hats power a funked-up hook and spaced-out spasms that justifies a-side status triumphantly. The rest of the accompanying EP is less essential although Return To Air is rather engaging in a disorientating sort of way.
R Kelly - Ignition (Viceroy Remix) - ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Prior to listening to this risible old bollocks, the most revolting thing I'd ever witnessed was a few years ago, observing a pigeon pecking away at someone's thrown-up curry on Brick Lane. Ignition 2014 style is the aural equivalent. Ignition isn't anything new of course - it first seeped out of the pipe in 2003 and scored a #1 hit. It had some semblance of class even if the intent behind most of Kelly's lyric misogyny remains dubious to this day. For this Viceroy remix however, it's been speeded up a little, had just about every gadget thrown at it to appeal to, well, anyone bored enough to care and smothered in so many cheap synth-effects, I'm wondering if it's been sponsored by Garageband.
Jez Kerr - Control Myself - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
A Certain Ratio's bass-wielding frontman returns with his second stab at solo life, kickstarted by this visceral two-minute blast of crash 'n' bash power-funk that isn't far removed from his previous Play Sumthing Fast single from a few years back. Refreshingly abrupt, Control Myself stays sharp to the bottom of the glass which in its live form will inspire immediate refills and much moshing in the pit. Probably.
LoneLady - Groove It Out - ★★★★★★★★★☆
Groove of the week goes to Manchester's LoneLady. If Factory Floor gave LCD Soundsystem, A Certain Ratio, Liquid Liquid and Ladytron a lift to the station, they'd conjure up something as utterly insistent and foot-tapping as this. Yes it has cowbell, yes it has rhythm by the ship load and yes, yes, yes, it's brimming with neck-nodding whip-crackin' snares. There's also a superb 9 minute dub version doing the rounds which also deserves your immediate attention. If LoneLady can knock out an album half as good as this, she'll be making room on her shelf for accolades and awards. Crisp.
On which Indeep's Last Night a DJ crosses swords with Nile Rodgers for some (s)wanky pseudo-funk-pop that showcases Bruno Mars' best James Brown/Prince impression. There aren't enough horns in pop these days - Uptown Funk makes up for this in spades and sounds like a Prince record that Prince should have tried making in the last couple of decades. Suffice to say you'll be shakin' that ass 'til right through the weekend, even if you're stone deaf or the walking dead. It's been a while since Ronson knocked out a likeable slice of club-tastic funky cosmic-slop and he's done it here, albeit in a retro stylee.
Maroon 5 - Animals - ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
From the first few bars of the opening mannered vocal-line, I just know I'm going to hate this. Not content with riddling the airwaves with track after track of insipid banality, Maroon 5 have recently taken to regurgitating the sort of flyaway guff normally reserved for the likes of Olly Murs. Their album V is full of it - twee radio-pop with lyrics that makes X Factor a contender for the Pulitzer. "Baby I'm preyin' on you tonight..." etc etc. That's stalking in any other language.
Butch Walker - Bed On Fire - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
A torch-song crooned by a NYC musician and, more recently, writer of the book Drinking With Strangers, Bed On Fire sounds like it should be soundtracking a bit in a stern-faced but cinematic TV drama (let's say Peaky Blinders in the UK, Fargo in the US) where the main character arrives home to find his lady in bed with another before committing a crime of passion involving petrol, matches and a duvet. Maybe I should write a script with this in mind. Anyway, it's drawled sensitively by Walker and capably arranged to the point where the goth-horror drums and sad-face strings culminate in an emotional outpouring almost on the scale of Guns and Roses' November Rain. Almost, but minus the heavy rock posturing.
Honeymilk - A Scene In Between - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Swedish fuzz-rockers deliver more of the same formulaic psych-pop on this streamed effort that staggers between bar-room Southern rock and feisty Brit-pop without so much as a chorus to speak of. By the time the Oasis-ish bluster dies down, A Scene In Between literally is just that - in between rock and a hard place, an amalgam of so many styles and what sounds like several songs glued together crash-landing in a smouldering heap at the foot of a wall of amps. It's alright, as it goes but Red Paper Buildings was better.
CITIZENS! - Lighten Up - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Pleasant is how I'd describe this taster from their forthcoming album. Breezy discofied electro-pop that's not far removed from Foals if they offered a lift to Chvrches and Hot Chip sometime soon. And considering we're in the grip (well, slight squeeze) of winter, this feels like a summer outing rather than an early night and a cocoa. I'm not sure I'd listen to Lighten Up forever and ever but it's better than most of its ilk.
Peace - Gen Strange - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
Tick-tock goes the intro and, as if by clockwork, Peace shuffle forward with a perky enough indie-dance anthem that's straight out of the '90s. World Of Twist meets The Charlatans with a bass-line similar to Shut That Door by Wolfgang Press might sound like the most exciting thing you've heard in ages but the reality is Gen Strange is nothing new but it is rather enticing. I'd happily ask it round for a pie and a pint.
Ryan Adams - Am I Safe? - ★★★★★☆☆☆☆☆
Taken from his self-titled 2014 album, Am I Safe? chugs along with some sort of purpose but is hardly Adams' best. There's no intensity, little in the way of menace and is absolutely devoid of the soul of his more acoustic-minded works. Radio 2 must be lapping this up. In answer to your question Ryan, yes you are but not in a sneeringly bad way.
Thriftworks - Ghost Hustler - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆
Fidgety IDM like Flying Lotus or Patten might not be your bag but now is a very good time to immerse yourself in this brand of electronica. Listening to Ghost Hustler, it's almost like reliving the first moment of opening a William Burroughs book. There are strange druggy tweaks and buzzes, off-kilter snares, unexplainable bubbling noises, harsh glitchy bits, stuttered vocal samples and occasionally the merest hint of discernible melody. Part of a trilogy of recent albums, Thriftworks is nothing if not prolific. With the latest Fadest being the most accessible and Ghost Hustler an obvious highlight, his audience might expand as coverage of his curious music widens.
Bonobo - Flashlight - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
After his recent successful North Borders album and tour, Bonobo returns with something a little more club-orientated and straightforward. Proper disco-ball beats and hi-hats power a funked-up hook and spaced-out spasms that justifies a-side status triumphantly. The rest of the accompanying EP is less essential although Return To Air is rather engaging in a disorientating sort of way.
R Kelly - Ignition (Viceroy Remix) - ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Prior to listening to this risible old bollocks, the most revolting thing I'd ever witnessed was a few years ago, observing a pigeon pecking away at someone's thrown-up curry on Brick Lane. Ignition 2014 style is the aural equivalent. Ignition isn't anything new of course - it first seeped out of the pipe in 2003 and scored a #1 hit. It had some semblance of class even if the intent behind most of Kelly's lyric misogyny remains dubious to this day. For this Viceroy remix however, it's been speeded up a little, had just about every gadget thrown at it to appeal to, well, anyone bored enough to care and smothered in so many cheap synth-effects, I'm wondering if it's been sponsored by Garageband.
Jez Kerr - Control Myself - ★★★★★★★☆☆☆
A Certain Ratio's bass-wielding frontman returns with his second stab at solo life, kickstarted by this visceral two-minute blast of crash 'n' bash power-funk that isn't far removed from his previous Play Sumthing Fast single from a few years back. Refreshingly abrupt, Control Myself stays sharp to the bottom of the glass which in its live form will inspire immediate refills and much moshing in the pit. Probably.
LoneLady - Groove It Out - ★★★★★★★★★☆
Groove of the week goes to Manchester's LoneLady. If Factory Floor gave LCD Soundsystem, A Certain Ratio, Liquid Liquid and Ladytron a lift to the station, they'd conjure up something as utterly insistent and foot-tapping as this. Yes it has cowbell, yes it has rhythm by the ship load and yes, yes, yes, it's brimming with neck-nodding whip-crackin' snares. There's also a superb 9 minute dub version doing the rounds which also deserves your immediate attention. If LoneLady can knock out an album half as good as this, she'll be making room on her shelf for accolades and awards. Crisp.