Something Else...

Something Old...

With the nights growing colder and darker all we are left with on the TV is X-Factor dominating prime time weekend viewing amongst the plethora of other terrible throw away reality shows on the box. Whilst the radio waves are brimming with awful disposable satanic pop (with added key change) from the reality offspring such as Matt Cardel, One Direction and other equally diabolic noise that makes you want to wrap yourself around a lamppost on the daily commute...Its time to remind the world of dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip.

The hip-hop duo that combine electronic beats with spoken word and intelligent catchy sung chorus. With a name inspired by an intentional misspelling of the Edward Lear poem Scroob and Le Sac take a very wide spectrum of influence from Gil Scott Heron thru to Mogwai. The pair shot to fame in 2008 with their genius debut single ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ and the brilliant album ‘Angles’ before they followed up there debut album with their last single ‘Get Better’ and the album ‘The Logic of Chance’ in 2010.

The debut album includes many brilliant tracks other than ‘Thou Shalt...’, including the moving title track ‘Angles’, the catchy ‘The Beat that my heart skipped’, ‘Look for the woman’ and the track ‘Fixed’ which samples Dizee Rascal and takes a satirical view on the modern hip hop. The track that makes this weeks cut is another track from the debut album. In 2007, still unsigned, they used self promo and the duo created and posted a spoof video on YouTube auditioning for X Factor in front of Simon Cowell et al. The montage of clips of judges' comments are added to their profanity-laden performance of ‘It Ain't No Fun’ by Snoop Dogg. The duo then used this hype as springboard and released a free download of the genius ‘Letter From God To Man’ which includes a sample of Radiohead’s ‘Planet Telex’...

Something New…

“From the mystical, unGoogleable beyond comes a brand new collaboration in the form of Pyyramids”, the duo of OK Go’s Tim Nordwind and singer Drea Smith. “Living in the dark, atmospheric grotto midway between the dance floor and the mopey teenage bedroom of the mind”, their six-song debut ‘Human Beings’ will be available on October 31^st
The band is a reinvention for both players and steps into new, wild territory. For the guy with the bass, beard, and glasses in OK Go, the new expansive textures find him far from the bright indie pop and all-inclusive videos that have made them one of the most recognizable of the digital age. Whilst for Smith, formerly the saucy half of the electro-pop duo He Say She Say - and a stint with Lupe Fiasco - it brings her songwriting into a place of bold new maturity without sacrificing the force of her singular presence. For both, it is an unlikely partnership entirely befitting of the new age.

If you enjoy the alt-rock tension of ‘That Ain’t Right’ you will buy into the promise from the official website that their future is “an inviting one indeed, a long-promised map back to the buried valley of the dance-rock hook”, unfortunately they are so f f fresh their first gig isn't until next week and thus no YouTube vids are available yet so this will have to suffice...

http://soundcloud.com/pyyramids/that-aint-right 

 

Something Borrowed…

Bell X1 have in the last 3 years become one of favourite bands in the world after being introduced to them by better half @I_Blame_Kate. The Irish band from Kildare formed from the ashes of Damien Rice’s 90’s band Juniper have since gone on to release five critically acclaimed albums, including there latest work my album of the year ‘Bloodless Coup’ that includes the tracks the smash hit single ‘Velcro’ the moving ‘Nightwatchman’ and probably my favourite track by the band ‘4 Minute Mile’.

Paul Noonan, drummer turned front man is up there on my list of musical heroes and this week he posted a cover onto the bands facebook. ‘Manic Monday’ was originally written by Prince in 1984 and recorded by the Bangles in 1987, in dedication to my beautiful other half and her ear for brilliant ear for music....

Something Blue...

In homage to the sad news that former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh was found dead this week after tweeting in September "dreamt i died in chicago next weekend...”, I take a quick look back through another one of the bands that shaped my youth and were pivotal in making geek chic cool again.

Led by the king of geeks Rivers Cuomo, who famously got one over on king of goths Marilyn Manson back in 90s by stealing his girlfriend, the band had a very humble beginning opening for Keanu Reeves’ band ‘Dogstar’...9 albums later they are one of the most influential and successful groups on the planet.

They are probably best known for their successful singles ‘Buddy Holly’, ‘Say It Ain’t So’ and ‘Undone (the sweater song)’ from the absolutely brilliant self titled debut ‘(the Blue)’ album that also carries the brilliant ‘My Name is Jonas’, ‘Holiday’, ‘No One else’ and the epic ‘Only in Dreams’.

Weezer's second album weighed heavy on their shoulders and ‘Pinkerton’ inevitably, buckled to the weight of critical and commercial pressure and became a cult success, spawning tracks such as ‘El Scorcho’ and ‘Pink Triangle’ before the band went on a hiatus that would take them to the next millenium.

It was following this hiatus in which the band would find Mikey Welsh and recruited him as their new bassist. In 2001 they were back to their best form again and produced their 3^rd yet again self titled ‘(the Green)’ album that includes the brilliant ‘Hash Pipe’ and ‘Island in the Sun’. Following the albums release, Welsh left the band and was checked into a psychiatric hospital before being replaced.

The band took an experimental approach for the recording process of their fourth album by listening to fans feedback, this process was something of a failure, as the fans did not supply them with coherent, constructive advice. Highlights from ‘Maladroit’ however do include ‘Dope Nose’ and the catchy ‘Keep Fishin’. The bands 5^th album ‘Make Believe’ was more of a push back to bands traditional sound and includes the smash hit ‘Beverley Hills’ and my favourite track by the band ‘We Are All on Drugs’.

The band then released there 6^th album in 2008, again self titled, ‘(the Red)’ album is, as far as I’m concerned their last album worth buying. Much more experimental sounding it includes the brilliant upbeat tracks ‘Pork and Beans’ and ‘Troublemaker’. Following this Weezer released 3 rather poor excuses for albums in ‘Raditude’, ‘Hurley’ (named after a character from Lost) and a compilation of rare and unreleased songs ‘Death to False Metal’.

Anyway in honour of the late Mikey Welsh this is ‘Hash Pipe’, “wooaoooooh”...