#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.

#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.

#125 – Bass Drum Of Death

Here’s one for you. Harsh, thrashy, garage rock by a band with a lo fi sound, it’s Bass Drum Of Death. They’ve been featured on Vice.com’s Noisey, who have made a five video featurette on the band. It kicks off with a bit of an introduction and then has four live songs. If you’re a fan then it’s definitely for you. If you’re not, then you should head over and see what the fuss is about. Here are two songs that I reckon are worth listening to.

Bass Drum Of Death – Get Found [Buy]

#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.)

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.

#111 – Remix. Remix. Remix.

Yes. That is correct. We have some remixes for your listening pleasure. The first is one that was sent our way by a certain DJ called Faux Pas. I like his name. And I like this track. The original song has been one of the most popular posts of the past four months, and for good reason. This remix (by one of the band!) has turned it into a bouncing, stripped down, dancehall vibe song while keeping some of the vocal elements that we all loved so much about the original song. Here’s the Faux Pas remix of Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.

If you want to have a crack at remixing the song you can. The original stems for the song have been put online (here) for all and sundry to have a go at. If you do give it a shot and you think we’ll like it then please send it over!

Next is a remix of Marina And The Diamonds ‘Radioactive’ by lo-fi aficionados

#100 – Cymbals

I’ve been pretty lax in keeping on top of things recently, sorry about that. To make up for it though, here’s a good new band from London Town. They got together about a year ago and they make some pretty cool, pretty lo-fi and generally pretty music. It’s all very simple, guitar-based stuff and I’ve been enjoying it a fair bit over the last few days. The track we’ve featured below is available for free off their Bandcamp page, where you can stream the rest of the EP it came off called Unlearn. They also released an album back in May on a limited 12″ run. Sadly they don’t seem to have any copies left, although I’m pretty a sure a reissue will be in order in the not-too-distant future as they continue on their upward trend.