#128 – Friday Feeling

It’s Friday, at long last. Not because I’ve been working so hard (I’m currently jobless) but because shit is happening this weekend and I’ve been bored. As I’ve not been working I’ve been able to catch up on all sorts of music, new and old, and I thought I’d share some of it with you. It’s a varied mix, from Swedish alt-rock to some West Coast lo fi to one of my favourite Latin songs. Anyway, peruse, listen, browse and do any number of other things with the music. Finally, be sure to buy anything you like.

To start us off we’ve got some good old ska (actually of the modern variety, so ignore “good old”) from Antipodeans The Cat Empire. This is followed by a little something from the Buena Vista Social Club, and if you haven’t heard of them then correct that immediately.

Review: James Blake – James Blake

One of the first things that struck me about this album was that, aside the lead single ‘Limit To Your Love’ which came out October-time, I had not heard any of the songs before. This is even more refreshing when you consider that in the last 12 months James Blake has released 3 EP’s, all of which were very strong. The fact that he resisted the urge to put any of these songs on the album tells us two things: firstly that he’s written a lot of good songs and, secondly, that he’s probably got a lot more to come. I’d be surprised if this was his only offering in 2011.

The album opens with ‘Unluck’, which is a clear continuation of what we’ve heard over the past year. The synths and drum machine make me think of the Klavierwork EP, only left on its own to calm down for a bit. The next song, Wilhelms Scream (also the next single), continues this slow idea at the start, but it soon starts building up to a drop that never quite arrives. The way I see it this is a nice little critique at the stereotypical ‘club banger’ that has plagued the charts over the past couple of years. While it’s not an entirely comfortable song to listen to, you get to the end of it and feel oddly satisfied.

It is soon followed by the pair of Lindesfarne songs, the first of which uses reverb-laden, treated vocals to create a melancholy acapella song that is is asking for a Mount Kimbie or Burial rework. Maybe even something similar to what Devendra Banhart did with Phoenix’s ‘Rome’ (you can listen to that song here). What this first part does though is act as an introduction to one of the strongest songs on the album, Lindesfarne II. There will be many a comparison with Bon Iver here, understandably considering Blake said that For Emma, Forever Ago was one of his big influences while making this album. This is a very strong song that immensely listenable; I can pretty much guarantee that it’ll be one of the first songs you go back to after you get to the end of the album.

#25 – Big news

Okay, so two of my current favourite artists have released news about their new albums this week. The first is Cut Copy. Yup, that’s right. The very same band about whom I put a little post just a couple of weeks ago (find it here.)Yesterday they released info on the artwork and the tracklisting of their new record called ‘Zonoscope’, which is due to be released on February 7th. The cover looks amazing and while the song names don’t give very much away, it’s safe to assume from the two songs they’ve released that it’s going to be just as good as their sophomore record ‘In Ghost Colours’. Here’s the listing and artwork…

#13

A little while ago I wrote something on songs that have been made ‘soul’, so I thought I’d go for an opposite thing. Here are a couple of songs that I’ve found recently that have been made rather dancey, but not just by putting that crappy four on the floor beat and a wooshing sound every now and then.

James Blake – Limit To Your Love (Feist Cover)

Discovery – I Want You Back (Jackon 5 Cover)

Hot Chip/Peter Gabriel – Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (Vampire Weekend Cover)
https://safetyfunandlearning.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/01-cape-cod-kwassa-kwassa.mp3

Get the three songs here.