Something Bizarre...

Something Old...

In homage to Britain’s bizarre weather that has had been blathering on about as “an Indian Summer”, which roughly translated means “it’s pretty hot for September” this weeks ‘Something Old’ comes from one of the bands that shaped my youth.

 

Kula Shaker are a British psychedelic rock band led by outspoken front man Crispian Mills. They came to prominence during the post Britpop era of the late 90’s and had great commercial success with the brilliant ‘Tattya’, ‘Hey Dude and an awesome indie-spin cover of Deep Purple’s ‘Hush’ all from their 1996 album ‘K’.

 

But, of course you already knew I would choose ‘Govinda’, drawing inspiration from traditional Indian music, culture and mysticism and even includes lyrics from the Hindu sacred language, Sanskrit. The band's interest in all things Indian was inspired by a pilgrimage to India born out of a love for the Indian influences present in the music of The Beatles...

 

 

Something New...

I know what your thinking, this isn’t exactly brand new but this weeks ‘Something New...’ comes as special request of my aspiring DJ mate @yourlastrolo. As a tribute to one of his heroes, the musical genius that is the bear-esque Joe Goddard best known for his alternative dance work but he is now making a name for himself on the mainstream dance club circuit as a solo artist.

His work with Indie-tronica outfit Hot Chip on the albums ‘Coming on Strong’, ‘The Warning’, ‘Made in the Dark’ and ‘One Life Stand’  including a string of massive tracks such as ’I was a boy at School, ‘One life Stand’  and the massive smashes ‘Ready for the Floor’ and ‘Over and Over’.

He then moved on to his collaborative project The 2 Bears with Raf Rundell and amalgamates aspects of 2 step, house, hip hop and soul, this was the debut single released from there album this year ‘Bearhug EP’, this is ‘Bear Hug’ as released in June, enjoy....

 

Something Borrowed...

Following the dance theme, the Essex dance outfit the Prodigy also known as Liam Howlett, Keith Flint and Maxim; Along with Fatboy Slim and the Chemical brothers shaped dance music for me and I fell in love with big beat and realised dance wasn’t just industrial noise with a women moaning repetitive vocals over the top that was enjoyed by gurning chavs. Drawing influence from the rave and techno scene they packaged it in an intelligent structured form.

 

As I’m sure you already know some of their best tracks include ‘Charly’, ‘Out of Space’ and ‘No Good’ from their earliest two albums ‘Experience’ and ‘Jilted Generation’. This was then followed by there biggest hits such as ‘Voodoo People’, ‘Poison’, ‘Firestarter’, ‘Breathe’, the controversial  ‘Smack my Bitch up’ from there best known album ‘Phat of the Land’.

I was lucky enough to see them in 98 at Reading that was the beginning of there reunion that produced ‘Baby’s got a temper’ and the album ‘Always outnumbered’ that includes the brilliant ‘Girls’, ‘Spitfire’ and my other halves favorite dance track ‘Hot ride’.

Which brings us full circle to their last album ‘Invader’s must die’ that includes the title track alongside the brilliant ‘Omen’, ‘Warrior’s Dance’ and a track ‘Run with the Wolves’ that features the Foo’s frontman Dave Grohl on drums and tediously links us into this. Prodigy’s brand spanking new, absolutely awesome remix of ‘White Limo’ taken from the Foo Fighters last album ‘Wasting Light’....

 

Something Blue...

I hear a lot of people whinging at me recently “why are banging on about hip hop and dance music over the last few weeks we all know your a metal head at heart”, praise be, your calls have been answered and normal service will be resumed from next week on, well actually...starting now!

Up there with my greatest albums of all time alongside Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side’ and Led Zepplin ‘IV’ is this masterpiece, Black Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid’ from 1970. The first side of which includes the brilliant title track and the legendry ‘Iron Man’ alongside the truely epic, 8 minute of genius that is ‘War Pigs’. Written as an anti-war song in protest to Vietnam, G’wan Ozzy, stick it to the man...

 

Something Strange...

Something Old...

This track narrowly missed out on last weeks hip hop special blog and as I promised a few of my best mates that it would feature it has pride of place this week.

Massive Attack are a trip hop duo from Bristol and over the years they have collaborated with many artists including Neheh Cherry, David Bowie, Sinead O'Connor and Everything but the Girl's Tracy Thorn. Best known for the brilliant tracks 'Unfinished Sympathy' from their 91 debut album 'Blue Lines', 'Protection' from the 2nd album of the same name and the moving 'Teardrop' taken from their best known album, the 3rd of their 5 albums, 98's 'Mezzanine'. 

For me, its the track when they collaborated with the genius Mos Def for the Blade II soundtrack that will always be up there as one of my favorite hip hop/dance crossovers, the uplifting, effortlessly cool, 'I Against I'...

Something New...

Alt J (aka Triangle, aka △, aka the band who used to be called Films), like to shy away from the light lime refusing to show us their faces were possible and prefer to let the music do the talking.

The Leeds four piece look freakishly young but have this busy, intricate sound to everything they do that makes you think they're either all Mensa members or about 45 years old. Every song seems to have as many layers as possible – mainly revolving around unusual rhythms, weird jabby bits of guitar and lots of loping dub bass with a brilliant vocal – but it all ends up sounding oddly world-weary and wise. Their debut single is called 'Tessellate' contains the line "Triangles are my favourite shape", genius...

Something Borrowed...

Better late than never, as requested by myself this is my electro DJ mate Stephen Davey's mix track sampling various Mercury Prize artists. Davey is better known as Neoclassic Champion Rockers (NCR) and if you like this you can check him out on soundcloud. A regular contributor to my blog he has been doing well for himself this year after being named as one of BBC Radio Shropshire Introducing and following this he has had extensive play on Radio 1 and 6 Music. 

This mix includes samples from tracks by Ghostpoet's 'Survive It', Everything Everything's brilliant 'Photoshop Handsome' and a sample from PJ Harvey's 'England' taken from her winning album all mashed up alongside James Blake, Katy B and Adele, this is, 'Come Back As Something Else'... 

Something Blue...

This weeks Something Blue reflects on the sad news following R E M announcing there split this week on there website after there career spanning over 30 years (1980-2011) which is tinted with good news that they will forever be remembered for the good music they produced and not outstay there welcome, churning out rubbish like *cough* U2.

Formed by singer Michael Stipe and guitarist Peter Buck they spent years as a underground success before finally achieving mainstream success in 87 with the single ‘The One I Love’. The single is taken from the album ‘Document’ that also features the tracks ‘Welcome to the Occupation’ and ‘Exhuming McCarthy’, which were reactions to the conservative political environment of the 80s under US President Regan. The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 88 and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.

By the early 90s, when alternative rock began to experience broad mainstream success, R.E.M. was viewed as a pioneer of the genre, influencing bands from Pavement to Nirvana. They released their two most commercially successful albums whilst working with legendry producer Scott Litt, namely ‘Out of Time’ in 91 that was followed by ‘Automatic for the People’ in 92. Both of which were inspired by the feeling of turning 30, veering from the band's established sound. R.E.M.'s 1994 release, ‘Monster’ was a return to a more rock-oriented sound. By this time the band had already built up an awesome legendry catalogue of tracks including ‘Orange Crush’ from the late 80s to ‘Losing My religion’ and ‘Shiny Happy people’ from ‘Out of Time’ and ‘Drive’, the moving, smash hit ‘Everybody Hurts’ and ‘Man on the Moon’ from ‘Automatic...’, and the legendry riff ‘What’s the frequency, Kenneth’. My pick for the track of choice has got be my all time favorite REM track has to be the fast paced 'It's the End of the World (and I feel fine)' taken from there breakthru album 'Document'...

Something for Hip Hop...

Something Old...

The Roots are one my favourite hip hop acts, hailing from the US as pioneers of alternative hip hop/ funk/ neo soul movement, the 8 piece band formed in 1987 by Tariq Trotter and Ahmir Thompson in Philadelphia, better known as front man Black Thought and drummer Questlove (who also has the best ‘fro in music). Over the years the line-up has included former world champion beat boxer Rahzel and Incubus’ basist Ben Kenney played guitar for them for 3 years. Originally known as ‘the square roots’ they brought their sound of intelligently structured, perfectly musically executed style of intellectual hip hop that stands the test of time against the mass of badly made ghettos, guns, bitches and bling RnB hip hop that fills the airwaves.

Having collaborated with a wide range of artists from Isaac Hayes to Mos Def; career highlights include ‘How I Got Over’ which reflects the relief the band felt at the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama presidency. Other notable tracks from their arsenal are the brilliant tracks ‘The next movement’, ‘You Got Me’ (featuring Erykah Badu) and ‘Here I Come’ the later featuring in the cult comedy Superbad and the utterly genius ‘The Seed 2.0’ featuring Cody Chesnutt which was featured in the movie Collateral taken and from the bands most critically acclaimed album, 2004’s ‘Phrenology’... 

Something New...

Ghostpoet aka Obaro Ejimiwe is an English singer and electronic producer with definite hip hop vibe with his vocals somewhere between Maxi from Faithless and a laid back Roots Maneuver. He is known for his remixes, including Cocknbullkid’s ‘Asthma Attack’ and Birdy’s ‘Skinny Love’ but it was following the release of his brilliant debut album this February this year that propelled him to the big time.

‘Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam’ features his genius debut single ‘Cash & Carry Me Home’ and the fantastic new single ‘Liiines’. This then lead to a much deserved Mercury nomination, of which he was my favorite nominee but expectedly lost out to the uba talented PJ Harvey as she became the first person to win the award twice (to read my Mercury Prize 2011 blog click here: mercury rising) and he has since gone on to perform at Glastonbury, Sonar, Latitude, Secret Garden Party and Bestival, definitely one to watch for the future...

Something Borrowed...

Roots Manuva, otherwise known as Rodney Smith is a British rapper from South London, he is described as the voice of urban Britain, encompassing dub, reggae, funk and hip hop as it sweeps from crumbling street corners to ganja-filled dancehalls, setting gritty narratives against all manner of warped beats. His warm and recognizable voice can be heard on many songs with other artists such as DJ Shadow, Herbaliser, Gorrilaz, Sainan Supa Crew and Leftfield’s ‘Dusted’. 

He was rewarded for his breakthrough with a MOBO as Best Hip Hop Act and 7 albums later he is still at the top of this game; this mash-up with indie kings Arctic Monkeys works brilliantly. The track used, ‘Witness (1 Hope)’ is probably his best known track taken from his most successful album, 2001’s ‘Run Come Save Me’ that also features the brilliant ‘Dreamy Days’.  The lyrics of both the bands’ work seamlessly as they both have a distinctly British edge in both their strong accents and in lyrical references such as eating cheese on toast and drinking bitter, enjoy... 

Something Blue...

Jurassic 5 were the 1^st group (along with the Beastie Boys) that made me see the other side to hip hop when I was a teenager and realize it wasn’t all guns, bitches and bling...alternative hip hop is much more up my street and delivers a much more intelligent message in both its content and lyrics.

Formed in 93 when rappers Chali 2na, Akil, Zaakir and Mark 7even teamed up with two of the world’s finest DJs; Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist to form J5 and it was their debut, self titled album in 98 and 2^nd brilliant album 2000’s ‘Quality control’ were I fell in love with their intellectual, fast paced style and they will always be one of my favourite albums in history; featuring the genius tracks ‘Concrete Schoolyard’, ‘The Influence’, ‘Jayou’, ‘Improvise’, ‘Action Satisfaction’ and my favourite J5 track ‘Quality Control’. ‘Power in Numbers’ was later released in 2002 featuring the awesome ‘High Fidelity’, ‘What’s Golden’ and ‘Freedom’, this was before Cut Chemist left to pursue a solo career before the 5 remaining members of J5 went on to work with DJ Format on the awesome track 'We know Something'. J5 then went on to release their 4^th album ‘Feedback’ in 2006, featuring a collaboration with Dave Matthews Band on ‘Work it out’ which would be there final single and album proceeding the groups split in 2007 after an argument, making them perfect for this week something blue.

Something Commercial...

Something Old...

90’s US alt rock 3 piece Semisonic are a band I’d almost forgotten about until their music was heavily involved in the plotline of a rom-com I watched with the other half over the weekend, ‘Friends with Benefits’ sandwiched between a Captain America and Hulk movie marathon. Needless to say it made the film bearable for me, even though I secretly enjoyed it truth be told...Mila Kunis is one fine piece of ass!.

 

Probably best known for the singles ‘Closing Time’, ‘Secret Smile’ and ‘Singing in my Sleep’ from their 1998 breakthru album ‘Feeling Strangely Fine’ or the fantastic single ‘Chemistry’ from their final album ‘All about Chemistry’ in 2001 before fading into obscurity.

For me though its there lesser known debut album, 96’s the ‘Great Divide’ that is there best work. Alongside the brilliant pop rock tracks ‘Delicious’ and ‘Down in Flames’ is the brilliant love song ‘F.N.T’, as featured in my girlfriends favourite movie “10 things I hate about you”, enjoy.... 

 

Something New...

I’m not one for buying into a band for hype that is produced following a big debut single and I tend to wait until I get a chance to hear the rest of the album before passing comment. 

 

You will most probably recognise LA’s indie/electronic Foster the People’s debut single from various soundtracks and TV adverts such as O2. But if you haven’t I can assure you they are definitely worth a listen if you like the commercial surf rock vibe of bands like Aussie bands Temper Trap and Empire of the Sun.

The band got there break after with a standout performances on the Hype Machine and at US festival SxSW and since then have been branding with the tag as the US’s next big thing. The bands debut album ‘Torches’ was released at the end of May this year and alongside ‘Pumped up Kicks’ is the fantastic ‘Houdini’, ‘Call It What You want’ and the brilliant new single, with a fantastic max max inspired video, ‘Helena Beat’...

 

Something Borrowed...

I was really excited following the Vaccines debut single ‘Wreckin Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ that has vibes Ramones-esque 70’s punk meets modern pop. I was however, very put off them after hearing the moany, dreary, dare I say Coldplay/Editor’s-esque follow up single ‘Post Break Up Sex’ and therefore skipped the album ‘What did you expect from...’ when it was released in March. The album includes some top tracks such as 'If you wanna' and the brilliant 'Norgaard'.

Shooting to fame last year with the advantage of having a brother in the Horrors and showbiz links galore selling out gigs on their debut tour; to audiences that included members of White Lies and the Maccabees, it only makes sense that they would cover pop diva Katy Perry’s ‘Last Friday night’, and for some reason it works...

 

Something Blue...

The Cure headline the last big official summer festival this weekend, Bestival;  falling into this weeks something blue for 2 reasons, 1. Its rumored to be there last ever live performance and 2. I’m not going to be there :(
They are, in my opinion one of the greatest bands in music history, the band has experienced several line-up changes over the years, with front man, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member.

 

The Cure first began releasing music in the late 70s with its debut album ‘Three Imaginary Boys’. This album, along with the single ‘Boys don’t cry’ and ‘A forest’ from there 2^nd album, placed the band as part of the post punk new wave movement.  In the 80’s they moved into a more gothic phase following the release of ‘Pornography’ in 82 and Smith was keen to move past the gloomy reputation his band had acquired. With the 1982 singles ‘Let’s Go to bed’ and ‘Love Cats’ Smith began to place a pop sensibility into the band's music as well as a unique stage image. The Cure released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career, with their popularity increasing as the 80’s wore on, helped by genius tracks such as ‘Just like Heaven’, 'In Between Days', 'Burn', 'Freakshow', 'Pictures of You', 'Friday, I’m in Love’, the haunting 'End of the World' and possibly my favourite track ever written, the beautiful 'Close to Me'...