#179 – Anchorsong Told Me To

If you’ve visited the site recently you may have heard us – specifically our newest contributor Max – raving about Anchorsong. Max saw Anchorsong supporting Belleruche last month and was blow away. Some people apparently describe the show “like watching a painter drawing on a white canvas”; Max said he’s pretty sure the guy uses some kind of black magic to make his live show work. Whatever it is, you’ve got the chance to see him touring his awesome debut Chapters, starting in London’s Cargo on March 22nd.

In support of this Masaaki (that’s what his mum calls him. Well, she almost certainly doesn’t call him Anchorsong!) was good enough to contribute to this regular feature, picking a few of his favourite songs and explaining why. It’s enlightening and his choices are thoroughly enjoyable (I’m a particular fan of the Pumpkins song he’s chosen). If you want to hear a little more of his music, then read Max’s previous post. And if you want to buy tickets for the 22nd March, then you can get them here. I’ll be there at the front and hopefully some of you will join me. If you’re quick you can get your tickets for a fiver too…

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Fiona Apple – The First Taste [Buy]

#156 – Belleruche Told Me To

Belleruche live… unbelievable. The Jazz Café in Camden is always a great venue but it takes someone truly special to get the crowd going to the extent that they did. Great songs, great vibe and a fantastic performance made for a really unforgettable evening. I’ll be buying the new album as soon as it comes out in March and I’ll most definitely be seeing them when there UK tour makes it down to Scala on the 31^st of May. I liked them so much that I asked them to send over a few songs that they like (because it’s not all about me) and this is what they sent.
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Curley Moore – Don’t Pity Me (DJ Modest’s selection)

#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…

#119 – HepCat Matt Told Me To

HepCat Matt is an old friend of mine, from back when we were both at school playing our respective instruments together (his is guitar). Since the good old days we’ve both been at uni discovering all sorts of music and he’s become quite the connoisseur of Rock & Roll. So much so that he runs two nights down in Brighton playing said style of music. By all accounts there’s hair gel, tweed and crazy dance crazes wherever you look. Anyway, he’s been kind enough to tell us about a few of the songs he most enjoys playing and listening to, so here they are…
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Screamin’ Joe Neal – Rock & Roll Deacon (Shippings, 1959)

OOOOOWWWW! This guy makes Little Richard sound like Cliff Richard… According to St. Louis guitarist Billy Peak, “He got his name from crawlin’ around the audience on his knees – he would creep up on women and scream at ’em! Scare the shit outta them!” Play very loud.

#107 – Little Foot Long Foot Told Me To

These guys are Little Foot Long Foot and they’ve taken our “Suchandsuch Told Me To” feature and added a little twist to it, by giving us a brief walkthrough of their new album called Oh, Hell. It’s pretty enlightening to hear the process that went into making the songs/choosing the names/general anecdotes about the band. The fact that it’s a cracker to listen to doesn’t hurt either: punky, angsty in all the right places, heavy and there’s a fair bit of good old-fashioned rock organ in there too. Keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of weeks for a full review, but for now this will get you salivating a little. You can listen to their lead single, ‘Sell Out While You Can’ here, and read about it at the bottom. Although you can probably figure it out from the title. If you want to listen to the songs they’re talking about, do that here.

Little Foot Long Foot – Sell Out While You Can

Neko Case Hate Fucks Kurt Cobain

#101 – Animal Farm Told Me To

Have you heard of Animal Farm? And no, I’m not talking about the controversial (one-time banned) George Orwell novel. I’m talking about the Hip Hop group out of Portland, Oregon. If not then fret not. We have got a bit of a treat for you, as the five of them have kindly taken the time to do our little musical interview. But before you get to their choices, listen to their track ‘Test Of Time’ which features Talib Kweli who is easily one of my favourites. This song came to my attention thanks to the daily RCRD LBL mailout some time ago and it’s been getting a steady rotation since. A funky sample and a great lyric/flow adds up to a song that you will listen to plenty! We actually featured it a little while back, but seeing as we’re so generous here’s another listen.

Animal Farm – Test Of Time Feat. Talib Kweli

The guys have just released their newest single and you can listen to it here. If you like it, then follow the link to their Soundcloud page and get it free.

Animal Farm – Culture Shock Feat. Rob Swift

Just after the drop we’ve got the guy’s choices and there are some right good eggs in there. I reckon my favourite is probably Fury’s choice. But I’m a sucker for Q-Tip…

#98 – Lanu Told Me To

Lanu is the solo project of Lance Ferguson, who some of you may know from Australia’s The Bamboos. They are responsible for all kinds of sweet funk and soul. A couple of our favourite tracks from them include ‘Step It Up’ which features Alice Russell and their cover of the Kings Of Leon song ‘King Of The Rodeo’ (which we blogged a while ago). He recently released his second album under the Lanu moniker called Her 12 Faces on Tru Thoughts which is a blend of pop, indie, jazz and a bit of breaks for good measure. The second single off this album features Megan Washington on vocal duty, who is also responsible for singing on the Kings Of Leon cover. If this sounds like a good mix then, rest assured, I can tell you it is. Stream the song below and you can download it from Lanu’s bandcamp page for absolutely nothing.

As well as sending us this rather delightful song, Lanu also sent us a couple (three, actually) of songs that he likes and told us a little something about them. Here he is…
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DJ Shadow – Changeling [Buy]
From ‘Endtroducing’ 1996 (Mo’Wax)

#58 – Nostalgia 77 Told Me To

Ben Lamdin, better known as Nostalgia 77 and head honcho of the Nostalgia 77 Octet has kindly decided to tell us about three of his favourite songs. The new album, called The Sleepwalking Society, is due out on Monday 21st March on Tru Thoughts and the lead single is just below. As well as making records he also manages to find the time to run his own record label called Impossible Ark Recordings. They are a small label who seem to like to do things the old fashioned way, with a small roster, vinyl releases and concentrating on getting some really good music out there. You can have a look at the website here and you can go and buy the new album from here. Anyway, on to the music.
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#54 – X-Force Told Me To

This time it was a deejay called X-Force’s turn to tell me a little about music. He is a bit of a Hip Hop mixologist / aficionado / fan and his first single is out now from all good online retailers. Anyway, anything I can say about him will be bettered by him talking. You can listen to his single up here and then scroll down to listen to his choices…

X-Force’s Theme [Buy]
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Here are my three songs – I could probably name 50 more but these are the main ones that spring to mind! Enjoy.

Public Enemy – Welcome To The Terrordome [Buy]

When I first starting getting into deejaying as a teenager I was buying rooting through some vinyl sleeves when I came across ‘Fear of a Black Planet’ by Public Enemy. I was mainly in to a combination of techno, house and hardcore at the time (around 1992) and the first thing that drew me in was the band’s logo and album artwork. I thought – this just looks badass – lets see if it sounds as good as it looks. Now I’d heard Bring The Noise with Anthrax courtesy of my older brother and loved that and swiftly took the sleeve to the shop owner to play the record for me. Cue best intro ever on an LP, cue Welcome to the Terrordome…WOW… “I got so much trouble on my mind/Refuse to lose!” – my hip hop love affair started at that moment. I think I waited about 20 seconds and I quickly pulled the money out of my pocket fearing someone else in the shop might snap it up before me. For me PE ARE hip hop. No question, no sellout.

#50 – John Told Me To

Another person has decided to tell me something about music. John McKenzie is one of the most accomplished session bass players around. His CV reads like a who’s who of popular music over the last three decades; from Bob Dylan to David Bowie, The Eurythmics to Shakira and some Lionel Richie on the side, you start to realise just how good this guy must be. Here are a few of his favourite songs…
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Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe [Buy]

My sister bought the single in 1966 and I just remember being dumbstruck by it! Everything… The vocal, the story ( “Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand…” quite in your face in the 1960’s) the guitar playing… To die for! I had just started getting into guitar, and this record left me dizzy with excitement; it opened my ears to rock music…… I became instantly addicted. My sister went crazy as I kept pinching it, and would play it over and over again……… The guitar solo when it comes, is almost orgasmic! Wonderful music.