Part 3 of a three-part series, pointing you in the direction of some special gifts donated by artists this Christmas. All in all, hopefully a bit more satisfying than The Matrix Revolutions.
MC Lars
My favourite artist at Truck festival 2004, MC Lars is a pretty funny bloke. Well, it's not like you can really take his "post-punk laptop rap" seriously anyway. His 'Laptop EP' was awesome, full of silly lyrics and bopping beats. 'Gary The Green Nosed Reindeer' is about Rudolph's bullied cousin, who goes onto save Christmas. Yeah, Lars (his real name's Andrew) is a bit weird.
MC Lars - Gary The Green Nosed Reindeer [Yourfilehost download link]
Download the song and others at MC Lars' [MySpace].
Kula Shaker
Kula Shaker were a bit mental. I obviously mean Kula Shaker are still a bit mental. Their Christmas freebie is a tea drinking propaganda message ("Drink tea for the love of God!" etc). But I like tea, so that's fine by me. It's like Blur's 'Park Life' in a parallel universe. Oh and possibly one of the most amazing moments of my life was when I managed to get a priest to play 'Govinda' (see the embed below) in a Hindu temple in India a good few years back. Everyone I played it to in India loved it, by the way.
Kula Shaker - Drink Tea [Yourfilehost]
You can also pick up the track at [drinkteafortheloveofgod.co.uk].
Mi Mye
Mysterious bunch are Yorkshire's Mi Mye. Based around some bloke called Jamie but with guest appearances from Russell of The Research (see below) and Whiskas of Forward, Russia! (who somewhat surprisingly added my blog as a myspace friend the other day. CRAP BOAST OF THE DAY.), amongst others. Apparently, anyway. Could do with a biography! And leaving Wakefield once in a while. But at least they have a warm, fuzzy, folky pop sound. Have a listen on [MySpace], where you can also download the track below.
Mi Mye - Sleep Alongside [Yourfilehost]
The Research
The Research are quirky pop trio from Wakefield, fronted by Russell The Disaster (see above) flanked by the lovely Georgia and Sarah. While it doesn't look like signing to EMI worked out as well as hoped, the band are still cracking out fantastic pop tunes. Here's their "superfree christmas down load music song" (it's super good to boot):
The Research - For Christmas I Got Pityriasis Rosea [Yourfilehost]
Listen to the lo-fi version of ace single 'Lonely Hearts Still Beat The Same' on their [MySpace], where you can also download the Christmas track.
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For some other snazzy Christmas tracks (I recommend in particular the Maps version of East 17's 'Stay Another Day'), consult this rather helpful Christmas download guide from [The Guardian's Chris Salmon]. Hope you all had a good Christmas/Hanukah/Eid etc etc!
on Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Okay, just a quickie. I somewhat erroneously forgot to post the new track by The Futureheads in my earlier post [link]. Following the recent freebie download release of a new track ('Broke Up The Time'), the Sunderland lads have gone and done it again with 'Crash'.
More of a vitriolic onslaught than 'Broke Up The Time', they seem to have "evolved" yet again. More comparable to the first album than second album yet still a departure from past material. This is The Futureheads at their most deranged. Although it does kinda sound like 'Le Garage' when he goes 'C-c-c-c-crash'. But maybe that's just me. The forthcoming album is definately going to be an interesting listen.
The Futureheads - Crash [Yourfilehost download link]
Also available for download via The Futureheads [website].
Part 3 coming soon....
More of a vitriolic onslaught than 'Broke Up The Time', they seem to have "evolved" yet again. More comparable to the first album than second album yet still a departure from past material. This is The Futureheads at their most deranged. Although it does kinda sound like 'Le Garage' when he goes 'C-c-c-c-crash'. But maybe that's just me. The forthcoming album is definately going to be an interesting listen.
The Futureheads - Crash [Yourfilehost download link]
Also available for download via The Futureheads [website].
Part 3 coming soon....
on Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas! Hope everyone is having a good day. 'Finding Nemo' was on earlier and I've had some yule log so today is going well for me. My dad is looking forward to watching 'Speed' later for some reason - I assume everyone else on the planet has seen it at least once? Anyways, as promised in the last post, here are a multitude of Christmas freebies from artists all over the place. Part 2 will be arriving shortly....
Oceansize
When I saw Oceansize in 2004 or so, they gave me a headache. Their proggy, post-rock wall of noise was too much for my tender teenage ears to take. A few years on and I have a slightly greater appreciation for their stuff. They even had a song on The O.C! And who can resist an instrumental cover of 'Walking In The Air' from the rather good, yet rather sad Christmas film 'The Snowman'? Not me.
Oceansize - Walking In The Air [Yourfilehost download link]
The cover is also available on the Oceansize [MySpace]. And for those unfamiliar with the original, acquaint yourself via the Youtube embed below:
Lightspeed Champion
Lightspeed Champion, aka Dev, was one third of crazed beatniks Test-Icicles but if you heard his current material, you'd never have guessed. His folky pop seems to betray his roots somewhat but when he plays Weezer covers and writes songs about comic supervillains (see 'Mr Fisk'), you can't help but embrace his new persona. Plus, it's actually quite good. Here is one of the tracks from Dev's Xmas EP:
Lightspeed Champion - Another Song About Being Alone At Xmas [Yourfilehost]
Download the whole EP at lightspeedchampion.com. Apparently Dev turned 22 the other day - I turned 21 last week and doesn't some bloke called Jesus have a birthday around now? Talk about birthday season....
Rivulets
Keeping on the singer songwriter theme, but this time in America, we find an old compilation track from Nathan Amundson, under the guise of Rivulets. And by old, I mean seven years old. Mr Amundson considers Rivulets to be an "organic shoegaze" project, although to a simpleton like me, it's quite folky. Despite a favourable [Pitchfork review] and working with Shellac/Mission Of Burma member Bob Weston, Rivulets seems to have lacked much recognition at all. Which is a bit sad. But there's hope for better times. Like in this track.
Rivulets - This Christmas [Yourfilehost]
Download this track and the rest of the Silber Xmas 2000 comp at [archive.org]
Oceansize
When I saw Oceansize in 2004 or so, they gave me a headache. Their proggy, post-rock wall of noise was too much for my tender teenage ears to take. A few years on and I have a slightly greater appreciation for their stuff. They even had a song on The O.C! And who can resist an instrumental cover of 'Walking In The Air' from the rather good, yet rather sad Christmas film 'The Snowman'? Not me.
Oceansize - Walking In The Air [Yourfilehost download link]
The cover is also available on the Oceansize [MySpace]. And for those unfamiliar with the original, acquaint yourself via the Youtube embed below:
Lightspeed Champion
Lightspeed Champion, aka Dev, was one third of crazed beatniks Test-Icicles but if you heard his current material, you'd never have guessed. His folky pop seems to betray his roots somewhat but when he plays Weezer covers and writes songs about comic supervillains (see 'Mr Fisk'), you can't help but embrace his new persona. Plus, it's actually quite good. Here is one of the tracks from Dev's Xmas EP:
Lightspeed Champion - Another Song About Being Alone At Xmas [Yourfilehost]
Download the whole EP at lightspeedchampion.com. Apparently Dev turned 22 the other day - I turned 21 last week and doesn't some bloke called Jesus have a birthday around now? Talk about birthday season....
Rivulets
Keeping on the singer songwriter theme, but this time in America, we find an old compilation track from Nathan Amundson, under the guise of Rivulets. And by old, I mean seven years old. Mr Amundson considers Rivulets to be an "organic shoegaze" project, although to a simpleton like me, it's quite folky. Despite a favourable [Pitchfork review] and working with Shellac/Mission Of Burma member Bob Weston, Rivulets seems to have lacked much recognition at all. Which is a bit sad. But there's hope for better times. Like in this track.
Rivulets - This Christmas [Yourfilehost]
Download this track and the rest of the Silber Xmas 2000 comp at [archive.org]
on Sunday, December 23, 2007
The UK singles chart is looking a bit odd at this time of year: Rihanna is featured three times in the top 40 (#30, #37, #38) and Mariah Carey and The Pogues have returned to the top ten. Not to mention that Wham, Chris Rea, Wizzard and Slade are about. Yes, it's the Christmas #1 week. And yes, the winner of X Factor has unsurprisingly come out on top, selling more singles than the top ten combined. I'm going to take a quick look at some of the Christmas #1 contenders anyway.
Leon Jackson (#1)
The winner of X Factor was quite obviously going to be Christmas number 1. But not many suspected that Leon Jackson would beat odds on favourite Rhydian, a Welsh singer whose "biggest phobia is getting fat". The producers could well have rigged the vote because Leon seems almost impossibly inoffensive to Rhydian's atypical popstar voice and image. Nice enough single though, a slightly altered cover of Mariah and Whitney's 'When You Believe'. Watch the horrendously bad video on [Youtube].
Soulja Boy Tellem (#5)
Massive club hit crosses over to mainstream success. Apparently, 'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' has an accompanying dance that has taken America by storm. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not - remember the Macarena? The Travis Barker "remix" is worth a listen, check it out on [Youtube].
Malcolm Middleton (#31)
Malcolm recently noted that the Christmas #1 was a "battle between good and evil" (i.e the world vs manufactured artists). William Hill originally offered odds of 1000/1 for 'We're All Going To Die' to be Xmas #1 (the longest ever odds on such a bet) before going as low as 12/1. My favourite track off his third post-Arab Strap album, it fell disappointly short. You can listen to its greatness on the single tie-in website [wereallgoingtodie.co.uk].
Malcolm Middleton - We're All Going To Die (BBC Radio 1 Session) [Yourfilehost download link]
Malcolm Middleton - Burst Noel (BBC Radio 1 Session) [Yourfilehost]
The whole of Malcolm's recent Radio 1 session is available to download on his [MySpace].
Reuben (disqualified)
'Christmas Is Awesome' was meant to be Reuben's breakthrough hit and a shining beacon in the battle between good and evil (see above). Nice idea, except they went and got themselves disqualified from the charts by registering the wrong song! But is a manufactured single really any better than a manufactured band anyway? Nonetheless, this meaty ode to Christmas is good. Check out the christmassy vid on [Youtube]. In fact, while you're there, listen to 'Freddy Kreuger', their career highlight for me.
Hot Club de Paris (#?)
With only 300 copies of 'Will You Still Be In Love With Me Next Year?' available, this was hardly going to make inroads in the chart. That doesn't mean that this isn't a Hot Club classic, its melancholy lyrics doused with wonderful harmonies and sleigh bells and glockenspiels. Magical. Listen to the single on their [MySpace]. Order the 7" from [Banquet Records].
Klaus Says Buy The Record & Jose Vanders (#?)
Jose Vanders is somewhat of a MySpace sensation (575,000 plays and counting) and she's collaborated with Brighton lad Jon Mills (aka Klaus Says Buy The Record) to produce the rather snazzy 'Winter Wear'. Unashamedly novelty Christmas pop, 'Winter Wear' really could have been a Christmas #1. Ultimately, this remains a hidden gem. Below is a 2.30 preview of the single but listen to it in full, then buy at [Indiestore.com]. Think of it as a Christmas present to independent record label, Riddlestone.
Klaus Says Buy The Record & Jose Vanders - Winter Wear (2.30 preview) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
So that's that then. Evil won out. At least there have been some good Christmas singles this year. I'm still a bit sad that Malcolm Middleton didn't quite make #1 but I'll cheer myself up by looking at some ace Christmas freebies offered by bands recently in my next post.
p.s sorry for not posting so much these days, I've had a ridiculous amount of work at uni and I turned 21 a few days ago so life's been a bit mad recently!
Leon Jackson (#1)
The winner of X Factor was quite obviously going to be Christmas number 1. But not many suspected that Leon Jackson would beat odds on favourite Rhydian, a Welsh singer whose "biggest phobia is getting fat". The producers could well have rigged the vote because Leon seems almost impossibly inoffensive to Rhydian's atypical popstar voice and image. Nice enough single though, a slightly altered cover of Mariah and Whitney's 'When You Believe'. Watch the horrendously bad video on [Youtube].
Soulja Boy Tellem (#5)
Massive club hit crosses over to mainstream success. Apparently, 'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' has an accompanying dance that has taken America by storm. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not - remember the Macarena? The Travis Barker "remix" is worth a listen, check it out on [Youtube].
Malcolm Middleton (#31)
Malcolm recently noted that the Christmas #1 was a "battle between good and evil" (i.e the world vs manufactured artists). William Hill originally offered odds of 1000/1 for 'We're All Going To Die' to be Xmas #1 (the longest ever odds on such a bet) before going as low as 12/1. My favourite track off his third post-Arab Strap album, it fell disappointly short. You can listen to its greatness on the single tie-in website [wereallgoingtodie.co.uk].
Malcolm Middleton - We're All Going To Die (BBC Radio 1 Session) [Yourfilehost download link]
Malcolm Middleton - Burst Noel (BBC Radio 1 Session) [Yourfilehost]
The whole of Malcolm's recent Radio 1 session is available to download on his [MySpace].
Reuben (disqualified)
'Christmas Is Awesome' was meant to be Reuben's breakthrough hit and a shining beacon in the battle between good and evil (see above). Nice idea, except they went and got themselves disqualified from the charts by registering the wrong song! But is a manufactured single really any better than a manufactured band anyway? Nonetheless, this meaty ode to Christmas is good. Check out the christmassy vid on [Youtube]. In fact, while you're there, listen to 'Freddy Kreuger', their career highlight for me.
Hot Club de Paris (#?)
With only 300 copies of 'Will You Still Be In Love With Me Next Year?' available, this was hardly going to make inroads in the chart. That doesn't mean that this isn't a Hot Club classic, its melancholy lyrics doused with wonderful harmonies and sleigh bells and glockenspiels. Magical. Listen to the single on their [MySpace]. Order the 7" from [Banquet Records].
Klaus Says Buy The Record & Jose Vanders (#?)
Jose Vanders is somewhat of a MySpace sensation (575,000 plays and counting) and she's collaborated with Brighton lad Jon Mills (aka Klaus Says Buy The Record) to produce the rather snazzy 'Winter Wear'. Unashamedly novelty Christmas pop, 'Winter Wear' really could have been a Christmas #1. Ultimately, this remains a hidden gem. Below is a 2.30 preview of the single but listen to it in full, then buy at [Indiestore.com]. Think of it as a Christmas present to independent record label, Riddlestone.
Klaus Says Buy The Record & Jose Vanders - Winter Wear (2.30 preview) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
So that's that then. Evil won out. At least there have been some good Christmas singles this year. I'm still a bit sad that Malcolm Middleton didn't quite make #1 but I'll cheer myself up by looking at some ace Christmas freebies offered by bands recently in my next post.
p.s sorry for not posting so much these days, I've had a ridiculous amount of work at uni and I turned 21 a few days ago so life's been a bit mad recently!
on Saturday, December 01, 2007
Black Kids. Yeasayer. Vampire Weekend. I don't think you can move around in the blogosphere without seeing one of these bands mentioned. Do they deserve it? Possibly. One band that should have had similar blog success is Birmingham three piece Johnny Foreigner.
Thankfully, critical acclaim has not eluded them. Appearances in the NME and Rocksound have been followed by Radio 1 and Kerrang sessions. Not to mention their rise to minor indie celebrity status thanks to their progress in the Road To V festival competition, televised on Channel 4 this summer. Myself, and a few other bloggers (Another Form Of Relief and clicky clicky music blog, in particular) have supported them also, for a long time now. In fact, they're the only band to be featured on two of my podcasts. Which you should obviously go listen to if you haven't already [#1 and #3]
"Lo-fi, pop-punk, speeded-up-Americana, boy-girl vocal sparring, the occasional gem of a lyric and you know you're onto a winner." That's a quote from a post back in February [link]; it can be summarised to Johnny Foreigner = ace.
The 'Arcs Across The City' EP (mini-album?) features seven of their tracks, with only one of them being previously released. And almost all of them are pretty great. They may be a bit less lo-fi now but the charm is still there. Opener 'Champagne Girls...' exhibits Johnny Foreigner's animated scuzzy pop perfectly, and the vivacious mood continue throughout until 'This Band Is Killing Us', where the band mellow. To be honest, this track isn't even needed with the magical 'All Mosely Gardens' appearing at the end of the EP as a secret track. This is the highlight of the EP, a refreshing delicate facet to the typically frenzied nature of Johnny Foreigner. Add to that past gems 'Sofacore' and 'Yes! You Talk Too Fast' and we find ourselves with an infectious release, which is better than most ALBUMS. Then again, I'm not much of an album man anyway. It's still a fantastic EP and one worthy of your immediate attention.
Johnny Foreigner - Champagne Girls I Have Known [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
Johnny Foreigner - This Band Is Killing Us/All Mosely Gardens [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
Johnny Foreigner are currently recorded their debut album in America with some bloke called Machine. Apparently, he's produced Fall Out Boy and Eighteen Visions stuff. If they can build upon new stuff like 'Salt, Pepa And Spinderella' below, I predict awesomeness.
'Arcs Across The City' is out now (released 26/11) on Best Before Records. Buy from [HMV].
Thankfully, critical acclaim has not eluded them. Appearances in the NME and Rocksound have been followed by Radio 1 and Kerrang sessions. Not to mention their rise to minor indie celebrity status thanks to their progress in the Road To V festival competition, televised on Channel 4 this summer. Myself, and a few other bloggers (Another Form Of Relief and clicky clicky music blog, in particular) have supported them also, for a long time now. In fact, they're the only band to be featured on two of my podcasts. Which you should obviously go listen to if you haven't already [#1 and #3]
"Lo-fi, pop-punk, speeded-up-Americana, boy-girl vocal sparring, the occasional gem of a lyric and you know you're onto a winner." That's a quote from a post back in February [link]; it can be summarised to Johnny Foreigner = ace.
The 'Arcs Across The City' EP (mini-album?) features seven of their tracks, with only one of them being previously released. And almost all of them are pretty great. They may be a bit less lo-fi now but the charm is still there. Opener 'Champagne Girls...' exhibits Johnny Foreigner's animated scuzzy pop perfectly, and the vivacious mood continue throughout until 'This Band Is Killing Us', where the band mellow. To be honest, this track isn't even needed with the magical 'All Mosely Gardens' appearing at the end of the EP as a secret track. This is the highlight of the EP, a refreshing delicate facet to the typically frenzied nature of Johnny Foreigner. Add to that past gems 'Sofacore' and 'Yes! You Talk Too Fast' and we find ourselves with an infectious release, which is better than most ALBUMS. Then again, I'm not much of an album man anyway. It's still a fantastic EP and one worthy of your immediate attention.
Johnny Foreigner - Champagne Girls I Have Known [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
Johnny Foreigner - This Band Is Killing Us/All Mosely Gardens [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
Johnny Foreigner are currently recorded their debut album in America with some bloke called Machine. Apparently, he's produced Fall Out Boy and Eighteen Visions stuff. If they can build upon new stuff like 'Salt, Pepa And Spinderella' below, I predict awesomeness.
'Arcs Across The City' is out now (released 26/11) on Best Before Records. Buy from [HMV].
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