Jumpstart Trainershoe - new music musings

Something for everybody....?

I doubt it but here's a v quick post with some of the tracks that I've played tonight - bear in mind that my bad head cold means I have a lot of snot in my ears which may be to your advantage...

Fenech-Soler - I'd not heard of these until hearing that they were the new Late Of The Pier in Artrocker - they're much less 'clever' than the (really rather complicated) LOTP but given they're only wee bairns, these 80s inspired synth tracks definitely have their moments.  I am reminded a bit of early Les Rhythmes Digitales - but then he was incredibly far ahead of his time in my opinion...  The press coverage of them would have them up there with Klaxons and Friendly Fires in no time at all..

Le Corps Des Minces de Francois - across all the myspace tracks, many girl bands come to mind - perhaps Bananarama and 4 Non Blondes dancing to CSS and Peaches on this particular track.  Great fun though and I like the fact that  they use interesting rhythms and beats to stop it ever getting too twee - kind of like M.I.A without the heavyweight producers. (Anyone who can tell me what the track 'Pollution' really reminds me of gets a prize.)

Another lovely girl is up next - Marina & The Diamonds.  She does have a Tori Amos 'singing/talking over plinky plink piano' vibe about her harmonies and vocals occasionally but she is also distinctly Marina and bloody attractive she is too.  Which will probably help.  There are hints of Florence & The Machine in this track and you can see a videos of her performing here.

Gay Blades are up next and I cannot work them out at all - I'm not the first to point out that nearly every track seems to be different but I think I could grow to like them very much even if their name is truly awful. There is a bit of We Are Scientists about them (particularly on 'Hey She Say') in that they write great tunes but with a hint of irony and pastiche in all of them.  Am a bit gutted to have missed them in the UK... 

Wavves are my 'dirgy' band for the day, let's face it, it wouldn't be a blog post without one... The sound is just awful, I have no idea what the hell is going on with it - it's like someone playing out a Pixies cassette that they've played in their Fiesta for nigh on 20 years, IN that same Fiesta, after they've dropped the tape in a coffee cup.  But you can see how that might also be appealing right?  

Finally (yes! you exclaim!), here is more dancy stuff from The Golden Filter.  It's sophisticated electro pop with female vocals and at first I thought it was lacking in substance and could do with some remix treatment, but this track does build very nicely - although that could just be the snot numbing my faculties... Check them out just in case all the talk about them is correct.

I can never think of good headings...

Quick post to sing the praises of a couple of tracks I am playing lots - 'Gifted' by N.A.S.A which features Kanye and Santogold so it surely reaches 11 in the 'cool' stakes but it has a gratuitously cheesy chorus thanks to the chirrupy tones of Lykke Li.  Very, very catchy and any album that features David Byrne, Tom Waits, Chuck D and Karen O is worth checking out, which I intend to do more fully asap.  Hear the whole album on their MySpace.

On a totally different note, crawling out of some kind of 70s swamp, here come The Tap Collective.  NME thinks they are like Bo Diddley meets Nirvana and I can see what they mean - somewhat shamanistic drums and guitars under a Cobain style vocal - there's definitely something about their sound that has intrigued me as I keep revisiting these tracks... 

Saw Flashguns and Hockey live this week at Dublin Castle - there is no doubt in my mind that Hockey will reach meteoric levels of fame. Even if it's not really my bag overall, that doesn't mean anything (see The Killers for starters). Flash Guns are more up my street definitely - a sort of math-rock Smiths - and on stage they demonstrate a musical sophistication that seems way beyond their very young years and isn't necessarily conveyed on record.

Have added lots of stuff to iTunes this week so hope I have more to report soon. I now have 70 days of music on there - this and the advent of Spotify are making me reassess the value of ownership quite a bit - although not enough to chuck out the vinyl and cds yet, NO WAY.

Kings Of The Stone Age?

Currently can't get enough of Brody Dalle's new band Spinnerette and their track 'Ghetto Love' - it's rock with a credible pop twist, just as hubby Josh (off of QOTSA) would play it - to the point where you can 't help but wonder how much involvement he had in the track, actually... Unfortunately Brody does sound a bit like Courtney Love when she sings - I say unfortunately because I think she's interesting enough in her own right and could do without opening the gates to obvious comparisons.  Anyway, it's ace and it'll stick in your head til the morning 

I also played The Virgins' album today at work and whilst there was the usual situation of not really being able to pay proper attention to it, I ended up playing it three times because a number of the tracks had a hook that 'bit'. I've not spotted a particular stand out track yet but it's the overall feel of the album that made me think it was promising - Strokes meets Elvis Costello vocals meets Haircut 100.  Or something like that.  

Bits and bobs

OK, so tonight I'm trawling through old NME and Artrockers to find *stuff* whilst keeping an eye on the BAFTAs and waiting for Ross to say the word 'salad' (it's a Twitter thing).

Anyway, I might be behind the times but I've just heard the new Doves track (available for free from their website) and on first listen, I am really impressed even if it is a bit...er...'big' in places. You know, like U2 'big'.  Given I'd totally fallen out with Doves after going to one of the worst gigs ever at Brixton at the end of one of their tours (their hearts weren't in it, so mine certainly wasn't either), this is a great return to form - and I mean 'Lost Souls' form which to me was the best one they had. That said, NME informs me that they plan their new album 'Kingdom Of Rust' to be a replacement soundtrack for Blade Runner.  To put it bluntly, I wasn't aware it really needed replacing...

Whilst I'm here and before Slumdog wins every award going, another couple of worthy mentions:

Chew Lips - The Guardian were right back in November when they say that they aren't beating off their many rivals yet (they're one of a splurge of female fronted synth acts), but their MySpace tracks have kept my attention and given they're not signed yet, they're definitely promising...  

Abe Vigoda - all round murkiness from this lot, although apparently they're no longer 'no-wave' but 'tropical punk'.  That description in no way describes this track for me, but check it out anyway... 

In other news, I've just got back from a wedding where the musical highlight was dancing to this amazing record... given Ian was at the bar at the time, I had to drag my mate Filkin up to dance with me and he didn't know the routine but he coped ok.  For a 'pop' record, it has totally bonkers rhythms which were still bouncing around my head when I woke up the next morning, making a flight home after little sleep almost bearable.  I can't easily find the embed code for the video but over 38 million people have checked it out, so I suggest you do too - although this could be just 38 young girls watching it a million times to learn the dance routine...