#185 – The Bravest Man In The Universe

Bobby Womack is back! And his new song, ‘The Bravest Man In The Universe’, is a class bit of work. His voice sounds as rich and as emotive as ever, while the production (from Damon Albarn and XL head-honcho Richard Russell) adds a depth and groove that gives a great modern spin on the Bobby Womack of old. It’s funky, edgy and, above all, really, really good.

#176 – Escort

This the band Escort, originally a production duo that has grown into a seventeen piece live band, who make some awesome ‘nu-disco’. Except it’s all done live, by such a large group that their tour bus is probably a double-decker bendy bus. And I can imagine that booking them isn’t all that easy, as it means finding a backstage area enough to hold them all as well as putting them all on stage at the same time.

However, if we stop concentrating on the minutiae, you’ll see/hear that they are really bloody good. I stumbled across them on my iTunes library, while listening to some Errors and spotting the song ‘Cocaine Blues’, which I got about two years ago from RCRD LBL. One listen and I was kicking myself for having missed it first time ’round. This song is a cover of Dillinger’s 1976 song ‘Cocaine In My Brain’, only instead of being a chilled reggae song it’s been turned into a funky slice of disco that sounds like it’s from the 70’s itself.

Escort – Cocaine Blues [Buy]

#155 – Turn The Lights Down Low

This song oozes funk from its every pore. It’s American in its nature, with some extra African flavouring added thanks to the band living in an area of Paris that was largely an African immigrant one.

#134 – New Belleruche Single ‘Stormbird’

I was tottering about on the internet today and all of a sudden this song appeared on my Soundcloud. I’m a big fan of Belleruche (I wrote this a little while ago) and thoroughly enjoyed their last album 270 Stories.

#120 – Unknown Mortal Orchestra

The fantastically named Unknown Mortal Orchestra, from New Zealand via Portland, OR, are pretty fantastic. The song Ffunny Ffriends (listen below) made waves about a year ago for all the right reasons. It’s part trippy, part funky and part lo-fi. The vocals remind me a little of that crunchy, compressed sound that Foster The People use, and they are probably a good band to compare this UMO’s sound to. The eponymous debut album came out earlier this summer on Fat Possum, the record label of Yuck, who are massive fans. In a feature on Noisey, they come across as people who like the band a lot. (Watch the video and count the number of “likes”, seriously.)

#115 – Songs About Athletes

This is a little bit of light writing, if I’m going to be honest. I was listening to Mother’s Milk yesterday and I heard the song Magic Johnson and thought to myself “I wonder how many song there are that reference sportspeople”. It turns out there are, rather predictably, tons. These three are ones that I could think of without too much effort, so they are what you get. Luckily, they all happen to be pretty good. As far as the Weezy goes, any opportunity to put him on the blog is embraced with open arms. So, without further ado, here are my three lazy sportspeople referencing songs…

Lil’ Wayne – Kobe Bryant

#76 – Because It’s Sunny Out

Well, it is. And it has been for rather a long time. While it makes me wonder what on earth is going on with the seasons, ultimately it works out pretty nicely for me. Here are some songs that should be listened to while drinking a (fancy) cider in one of the Queen’s Parks with your friends. Maybe even in one of the sun loungers, if you’re prepared to get fleeced.

Toots & The Maytals – Take Me Home Country Road [Buy]

Barrington Levy – Here I Come [Buy]

I think I fell in love with this song because of Anchorman. In fact, I know I did. So, Mr Ferrell & co, thank you.

#70 – Charlie Blacksmoke

Actually, it’s Charlie Blacksmoke and The Swamp Energy Mass Choir, but that looked a bit messy as a title. It’s the latest project of Memphis-ian Mr Blacksmoke and the single he’s put out off his soon-to-arrive EP is a cracker. It’s called Hippy Glue and it’s a great song that’s got a lot of Jamie Lidell about it; soulful and funky while playing with electronic sounds in a way that messes with genres. All in all, it makes it very difficult to pigeonhole. The vocals are a real treat, too. He’s got a quality that is easily recognisable and it would be a real shame if this guy didn’t go places.

Review: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Fruit

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour were on TV today. It turns out their song ‘Golden Age’ is on the new Heineken advert. It made me look up because, as good as this song is (and as advert-friendly as it is), I’ve never heard it on the telly before. It’s not just that song that’s good though. Their debut album Fruit that came out in September 2009 is something of a favourite.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – The Golden Age [Buy]

#62 – What’s That You Say… Summer?

It seems like we can rightly go and start talking about how amazing the summer is going to be about now. After all, where I am we’ve had three days in a row of glorious(ish) sun and in my book that’s good enough. Before you point it out, yes, I am very aware that by saying this I am probably destined for a summer of shitty weather, a shitty job and nothing fun to look forward to. But I will have this little mixtape to listen to. And that will go some way to brightening up the grey days.