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]

Music For Horses no. 26

There are times when I listen to a song and immediately know that it belongs in this playlist. But when it’s as good as my first choice today it needs an equally superb companion. It took a while, but I was able to find the perfect ‘part 2’. Anyway, I’ll stop talking about myself and start on the music. We begin this evening with SBTRKT’s ‘Wildfire’, which features the vocals of Little Dragon. The laid back, synthy bass that drives the song gets in your head, while the vocal melody floats above it in a way that I’m struggling to find words to describe.

It’s not a new song, but that doesn’t take away from it’s pure class.

SBTRKT – Wildfire Feat. Little Dragon [Buy]

Our next song is well worth getting excited about.

Music For Horses no. 25

Considering I only ever planned to have this feature go for maybe a month or two, it’s surprising that we’ve now been running it – infrequently, I should point out – for over a year now. Hopefully there have been enough good songs in here to make it worth coming back to. And hopefully today’s two choices will work for you too. It’s a Sunday, so we all deserve to chill.

First up it’s a remix of Gang Colours’ ‘Fancy Restaurant’, taken from his forthcoming EP of the same name. Spacy and laid back, it’s bassy enough to warm your cockles without shaking the glass in the windows. Ifan Dafydd has done a sweet job on this. It’s video only sadly, but the EP will be out to buy on Monday, quickly followed by his first album on the Brownswood label, due out the week after. Check out links for both of them here.

Music For Horses no. 24

Todays Music For Horses songs are very good. Not that they usually aren’t, but I reckon these are up there with the best. One is new and one is old. Let’s get it started with the new song. I was sent this a couple of days ago and I’ve been listening to it a lot. It’s got a Radiohead feel to it, with a delicate vocal over the top of a distorted electronic trip-hop influenced instrumental. It’s sophisticated, grown up and really good. And you can download it for free from his website for a limited time. Just click on the song title below.

Mr Fogg – Stay Out Of The Sun

Music For Horses no. 23

Another Music For Horses, another Four Tet song. Granted, he’s only featured four times, but I’ve had him on the shortlist plenty more. And there is a very, very good reason for that: he makes a superb song to chill out to. The rolling percussing that Kieron Hebdon likes so much, as well as the bleeps and glitches that serve to flutter around like little butterflies combine with the samples and stems from the original song to create something that is both chilled and engaging. Which is no small task. This old remix of his of Thom Yorke is a perfect example of what they both do so well.

Thom Yorke – Atoms for Peace (Four Tet Remix) [Buy]

Music For Horses no. 22

Blur // Big Spider’s Back

I’ve been trying to think of a good second song for this post for a little while now. I wanted something pretty guitar-based and from a band people would know, although a song they wouldn’t. Anyway, I ended up hearing todays second song and thinking that my previous brief could sod off.

The first song is a classic from Blur, and it’s so laid back it’s horizontal. It’s one everybody knows and one that nobody worth knowing dislikes. The song is so effortlessly cool. Damn, I love it!

Blur – Coffee & TV [Buy]

The second track (the one I mentioned above) is ‘Black Chow’ from Big Spider’s Back.

Music For Horses no. 21

Little Loud // Claude Debussy

Hi there. I shan’t keep you too long today, but these are two songs which are worth a minute (actually, back-to-back it’s about 12 minutes) of your time. They’re pretty good to have in the same post too, as one is originally from the 1940’s and the other is very contemporary. Anyway, we’ll start with the new one.

It’s from a Brighton-based producer/remixer called Little Loud. This song is the 80’s like you’ve never heard it before. It took me a while to realise it, but this is a reworking of Springsteen’s ‘Dancing In The Dark’. Obviously, Will Phillips has taken away the bombastic 80’s-ness that The Boss writes and this is instead a slow, pulsating cover. The real clincher is when the hook from the original song – that gentle synth in the background – is replicated so perfectly here.

Little Loud – Dancing In The Dark

Now onto what has, thanks to R-Patz, become a mainstay for emo/vamp thirteen year old girls. It’s a real shame, as it is a bloody good song.

Music For Horses no. 20

The Antlers // Amanda Mair

Good morning. Welcome back to the playlist that just keeps on giving chilled songs! This installment starts with The Antlers and a song off their brand new album, Burst Apart. It’s got something of old Phantom Planet about it (yes, they did more than just that one song), not to mention the obvious Radiohead nod. It’s moody, atmospheric and fantastically performed. The emotion in singer Peter Silberman’s voice is startling, yet the song never overloads you. This really is a cracking good ‘un. And if you like it then you can listen to some other Antlers stuff we’ve posted before.

The Antlers – Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out [Buy]

Next is a new artist from Sweden called Amanda Mair. She is all of sixteen years old, not that you’d know it.

Music For Horses no. 19

Chairlift // Feist

It has been a really long time since we’ve done an update on this playlist. Been slacking lately with my chilled music listening, largely because things haven’t really been chilled. Then I was listening to my iPod on shuffle and this song came on. Yes, it may be three years old now, but who cares?! With a vocal that pretty and a bassline that fun it is a cracker. And you can just close your eyes and imagine you’re somewhere so much nicer than wherever you are right now. Unless you’re already somewhere nice. In which case just enjoy the damn song.

Chairlift – Bruises [Buy]

Unusually, this installment is going to be two ‘Indie’ songs… no remixes in sight.

Music For Horses no. 18

Bombay Dub Orchestra // Netsky

This installment is a couple of songs that have been recommended to me by people at work. The first is from Bombay Dub Orchestra. They manage to fuse cinematic classical music with traditional Indian instruments and melodies in a way that doesn’t patronise either genre. They also draw influences from Trip Hop, electronic, ambient / lounge and – if some of the promo for the next album is right – reggae. It’s a good long song too, coming in at just under seven and a half minutes, so you can just sit back and enjoy this instrumental.

Bombay Dub Orchestra – Amina [Buy]

The second song is a Drum & Bass song.