#196 – La La La

I’m fairly confident you’ll have heard the news that Snoop Dogg is no more: he is now Snoop Lion. Swapping one cool animal moniker for another cooler one (animal, that is), could it be that his music is taking a step in the same direction?

#195 – Just A Few Songs

There’s nothing groundbreaking here today, just a few songs I’ve been enjoying this week that you really ought to listen to. The first is from R Stevie Moore, the madly prolific Lo Fi artist. This is the first song on his latest album, called Lo Fi Hi Fives. ‘Pop Music’ isn’t all that Lo Fi to be honest with you: it’s got a classic vintage pop sound, albeit with some Nashville influences (listen out for the slide guitar and honky-tonk piano). It’s a feel-good number for a Friday evening. You may know him for this cover of The Vaccines’ ‘Post Break Up Sex’, or their cover of his song ‘Why Should I Love You?’. If you like what you hear you can get his new album now.

#194 – Collectors Club

The North-East is currently producing a healthy crop of artists. We recently featured Little Comets, who hail from Jarrow and Tyneside; today it’s the turn of Middlesborough’s Collectors Club.

#193 – Folk You

What a pun. That’s my day job actually, writing them.

Moving swiftly on, here are two acts who have dropped song in the inbox over the past few days and they’ll work rather nicely back-to-back. Firstly we’ve got a Welsh artist called Osian Rhys, who’s releasing his debut single ‘Long Time Gone’ on Backwater Records at the end of this month. It’s a simply orchestrated ‘proper’ folk song (no Mumford and Sons here, thanks), which relies on his voice and the really close melodies to keep the listener engaged. The B side is a song called ‘A oes ‘na le (i oeri gwres fy nghalon)’, which is another simply orchestrated and beautifully sung record. You can listen to ‘Long Time Gone’ below. Head over to his Soundcloud for the B side.

Music For Horses no. 27

Once again I find myself writing a post for this Music for Horses playlist, which, considering it was an in-joke that I expected to last all of about three weeks, I find a little surprising. It’s now been running almost as long as this blog, but I still find songs that I want to include.

Moving on to the good stuff though. The first song is a beautifully engineered piece of electronic music; dark, moving and sophisticated, it’s got all the ingredients for a good song. The song begins as a quiet drone and quickly builds as the different layers come in to play. The main melody flicks between guitar and piano and could be a case study in simple perfection. It comes from his 2006 album The Humbucking Coil, and the song is called ‘Phones And Machines’.

B. Fleischmann – Phones And Machines [Buy]

#192 – Review: Electric Guest – Mondo

The debut by LA four piece Electric Guest is a lesson in how to put a host of sub-three minute pop songs (one or two exceptions notwithstanding) into a 40 minute slice of fun pop that’s perfect for the summer.

While the band generally stick to three minute songs, they are by no means conventional. Opener ‘Holes’ is a slow, synthy start to the record where singer and front-man Asa Taccone gets a chance to put his vocals to the fore. In contrast the next song and lead single ‘This Head I Hold’ is pop bliss. That’s pop influenced by the Beach Boys and the Beatles, not the R&B/David Guetta pop that’s taken over the top 40.

#191 – Little Comets Pre-order For Life Is Everywhere

The temporary cover for Life Is Elsewhere

Little Comets have recently announced that their sophomore album, to be titled Life Is Elsewhere, is going to be released on 20th August. You can pre-order it here.

The band’s debut, In Search Of Elusive Little Comets, was a treat

#189 – Urban Cone

Stockholm’s Urban Cone make some really, really delightful music! It’s the kind of thing that goes down a treat when laying in the sun in Greenwich park, with a frisbee and some once-cold bottles of cider. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I intend on doing this weekend, weather permitting.

But back to the music. The song I’ve been listening to on repeat (a mere year late…) is the infectious ‘Urban Photograph’. It’s got a beat that skips along with a synth part that’s more than a little reminiscent of a certain song by fellow Swedes The Caesars, while the vocals have got a really endearing quality to them. You can stream it here, and download it (for free!) over at the Universal Music Sweden Soundcloud page. To find out more about the band pop over to their Facebook page.

Urban Cone – Urban Photograph

The next song brings us up to date with their newest release, which is called Our Youth Pt. 2 and came out at the start of May this year. The song I’ve chosen from it is called ‘We Should Go To France’, and while it’s a bit of an evolution from ‘Urban Photograph’, the main ingredients are still there. It feels a little “blissed out”, to use an expression I don’t fully understand but seems to apply. You’ll get what I mean when you hear it.

Urban Cone – We Should Go To France [Buy]

#188 – Secret Diaries Remixes Stubbon Heart

Secret Diaries, the producer we featured a little while back for his Stock-71 double-mix has just let loose this remix of Stubborn Heart’s recent song ‘Knuckledown’. The original starts with a soundscape that makes you feel like you’re on a haunted beach before the warped, melancholic vocals drop in with a mournful lyric.

Secret Diaries has managed to capture all of the emotion in his remix

#187 – Fear Of Men To Release Limited Edition 7″

The ‘Green Sea’ loosely sketched here by these London/Brighton pop-kids is closer to a man-made lake: cultivated, non-tumultuous and pleasant. The occasional flecks of gentle tape distortion (it could be accidentally generated, but I’d bet against it) suggest hidden depths made unattainable and irretrievable through the misfortunes of recording on the cheap – how cheap exactly would be my question. This lo-fi sleight-of-hand demonstrates that the band believe they have something to hide: the listener is required to believe it’s worth seeking.