#151 – Some Songs By Destroyer

I like Destroyer. The Canadian producer/band (I’m not sure even he knows quite what the make-up of the project is as it changes members so much) makes slightly spacy, intelligent and really good music. Last year he released Kaputt, which was great. As I liked it so much I’m going to share a couple of my favourite tracks from it in the hope that you’ll like them enough to go out and buy it and listen to it lots. He’s also a key member of The New Pornographers, so if you like this you’ll like them, and vice versa.

Review: Tribes – Baby

The current trend in ‘Indie’ music is to write songs that sound like they’ve stepped out of a Delorean from the 80’s. Knowing this (expecting it, even) makes the opening of Tribes’ debut rather surprising, as they draw influence from bands of the following decade like Nirvana and Pixies rather than Huey Lewis and Steve Winwood.

#150 – Remembering Etta James

It’s been about a week now since Etta James, one of the most talented and recognisible characters in the Rhythm and Blues scene of the 50’s and 60’s, passed away. She had a sound that blended Jazz, R&B and Rock & Roll and Gospel in equal parts with a voice that stands head and shoulders above her peers.

#149 – Tennis ‘Origins / Deep In The Woods’

That’s the band Tennis. Not this (obviously!). They’ve been working on a new album called Young & Old which is a couple of weeks away from being released. Judging by the two songs on this page, we’ll have more of the same. So three and a half minute slices of fuzzy, pretty, sun-infused, piano/guitar pop songs with Alaina Moore’s delightful singing over the top.

#148 – Mr Fogg Told Me To

Mr Fogg is good. Not only is his song ‘Stay Out Of The Sun’ superb, it’s got a great video (as seen above) and you can get it for free from his website. I asked him to choose a few songs that he likes to listen to and these are the ones he came up with. Listening to them gives you an insight into how Mr Fogg has come to sound the way he does. It’s enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable. So without further ado, here is Mr Fogg’s selection…

#147 – What’s Up With Hot Chip?

It’s been a while since I’ve listened to them, largely because I don’t think there’s been much new stuff of theirs floating about. They are due a new album though, which is going to be released at some point this year. For now we’ve got a new song to listen to called ‘No Fit State’. It’s classic Hot Chip, with a four-on-the-floor beat, Alexis and Joe Goddard trading vocals and the synths sitting very nicely in the track thankyouplease.

Hot Chip – No Fit State

#146 – Ben Leftwich’s ‘Pictures’ Gets Remixed

I would not put myself on record as being a massive fan of Dubstep. But that’s probably not fair, as it’s not all ‘quiet bit, quiet bit, quiet bit, pause…… DROP’ (kind of like this). I suppose the following is probably a Dubstep remix, but I like it. It’s from the up-and-coming Benjamin Francis Leftwich, who has been making waves of late and who looks like making it big this year. I’ve heard a fair bit of his stuff, and on the strength of his original stuff he deserves too. And if he’s going to get more songs remixed like the one below, then surely the next logical step is superstardom. It’s laid back, soaring stuff from a quality Welsh producer called GZUS. I don’t know an awful lot about him, only that he’s also worth checking out, especially if you’re more of a dub-head than I am.

#145 – Tourist

The gentleman in the picture above is Tourist. In a previous life he was known as Little Loud, but that moniker is now dead. Which is a shame, because all of us here at the blog were fans. Luckily the name change hasn’t meant his new material is any less exciting. The material in question is a song called ‘Placid Acid’, which is going to be on an EP released on Make Mine in March. It starts off quiet and almost – so very nearly! – sounds like it’s about to drop into a garage influenced beat. That is just a teasing moment though, as the song slides  into a laid-back, 80’s influenced synth driven groove that doesn’t go on long enough.

#144 – Let’s Make Lemonade

Today it’s the turn of Seattle-based, electro/soul duo Fly Moon Royalty to grace our pages. Although that could be me being a little big-headed… AdraBoo and Action Jackson have been making music together for about two years and they seem to have crafted something polished, delightfully pop-y and really, really listenable. The new  album Fly Moon Royalty is out on February 6th on Sportn’ Life, a local label. Their sound is a mash of funk, soul and electro in the vein of Gnarles Barkley (an obvious comparison, but no less valid because of that), Janelle Monaé and, to my humble ear, a hint of Robyn.

‘Lemonade’ is a slice of  summery pop

Review: The Maccabees – Given To The Wild

For me, the new Maccabees record was always going to be a big one. I’ve enjoyed their last two albums so much that I had high expectations of album number three. I remember reading reviews of Wall Of Arms describing how much the band had ‘grown up’ since Colour It In, which is probably true. So, have they done the same thing again and further refined their sound? And is it good?