Sorry for neglecting Tricks of late, I just started at the LSE and things have been a bit hectic! I'm still rambling on about music though, but this time on Pulse, the LSE student radio. You can listen to my show, Pet Sounds, Tuesdays 2-4pm here, or for a week after on demand online. I'm also writing reviews for Pulse, so keep an eye out for that too!
Quite possibly one of the most shocking videos I've seen in a long long time, Matt and Kim's Lessons Learned is a truly original piece of work. It won the MTV Breakthrough Video Award at the VMAs this year, beating off some pretty serious competition from the likes of Major Lazer and Bat for Lashes. Yet, while it's undoubtedly a breathtaking video, after watching it, I literally couldn't remember the song it was promoting - surely that's a sign of a terrible video?
Perhaps that's because whenever I think of Matt and Kim, their song Daylight springs to mind. Above is the video for it - quite a bit less controversial I think you'll agree. The tune's been kicking around for a while now - I first heard it in January of this year, then it popped up in a Bacardi commercial (thanks Ashley!), and now I keep it hearing it on the soundtrack for Fifa '10, my flatmate's new obsession. It's lovely - all jangly keyboards, yelping vocals, with a bit of a hip-hop vibe to the drumbeat. It's also available for download as a lovely freebie on their record label Greensounds. I get the impression that it's a case of "lightning doesn't strike twice" with this song - I don't think Matt and Kim have anything else as good as this up their sleeves - and all the incessant promoting is a little tiring. But the song itself is great, and that's what matters.
Local Natives are officially the next big thing. Compared by some to Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire and Fleet Foxes with good reason, they combine the interesting African drum rhythms of Vampire Weekend, the folky harmonies of Fleet Foxes and the overarching heart-aching melodies of Arcade Fire to powerful and infectious effect. Airplanes, the first song I heard by Local Natives, didn't immediately blow me away I have to admit; it sounded too much like a dozen other indie bands. But the plaintive refrain of the chorus (I love it all/So much I call/I want you back) stayed with me, and when I heard Sun Hands, a slightly darker, more percussive track, I knew that Local Natives were ones to watch. The five guys are clearly intelligent and passionate about what they do - you can see evidence of this in their blog - but you also get the impression that this is a band driven to achieve success and recognition, especially after checking out their slick myspace. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because the songs are worthy of success and recognition, but get ready for them to be name-checked a thousand times in the next year!
Local Natives are currently on the NME Radar tour along with Golden Silvers, Marina & the Diamonds and Yes Giantess - a pretty stellar line up! Debut album, Gorilla Manor is released on the 2nd November.
Check out their awesome cover of Simon & Garfunkel's Cecilia below:
This track is so incredible that I'm literally writing this post as I listen to it for the first time - it's that good. Regular readers may remember me raving about Florence and the Machine's cover of You've Got the Love - now hotly buzzed about London band the xx have done their own cover/remix of it. The xx's trademark sparse sound is in full force - in fact, only the harps and a looped vocal remain from Florence's original. The result is spell binding. I'd been reluctant to jump on the xx bandwagon, but having had their track Islands stuck in my head for about a week I have just bought the album, and I'm being won over. The tracks are all of a fairly similar melancholic, late-night vibe, but I like it - it's chilled out, it's urban and it's very modern. Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love (The xx remix)
Sorry for vanishing for so long there... Life took over for a while, not that I didn't have time to post, but I just got really frustrated feeling like I wasn't really finding any good new stuff to listen to.
Well, now that's changed, thanks mainly to the guys over at Neon Gold. Their blog has been my go-to place for fresh cuts for a while now, ever since their blog Good Weather for Airstrikes ceased production, and with alumni including Passion Pit, Marina & the Diamonds and Yes Giantess, they are excellent at discovering bands/artists who produce interesting sounds with a strong pop sensibility.
Their latest protege, Gotye, is someone I've heard about for a while, a good couple of years, but I've been reluctant to jump on the band wagon, until I heard his latest, Learnalilgivinanlovin. Perfect late summer stuff, fun and poppy, sounding fresh yet familiar, I love it!
Also, thanks to their rave review of Florence & the Machine's album, I picked it up a couple of days ago, and am really getting into it. My initial misgivings about her songwriting talents have been well and truly put to rest, as she seems to no longer rely on that booming voice as a crutch. My particular faves from the album, the aptly titled Lungs, are Cosmic Love and her latest single, Drumming Song.
Here is the video for Drumming Song - I think I like it, although, strangely, she seems be taking inspiration from Beyonce's Single Ladies video...
Check out the Jackbeats and Boy 8-Bit remixes of this track too, they're both pretty sweet.
I'll be posting about some more stuff I'm loving hopefully later in the week, but for now, enjoy the rest of the bank holiday!
Mash ups are a bit of a strange bag – sometimes it’s almost magical how seamlessly two songs combine to form a whole, but a bad mash up can ruin them forever. The Hood Internet is fast blowing up all over hypem for his creative, if unashamedly populist (in an indie kind of way) mash ups.
One of my favourite of his has to be the Dirty Projectors vs Major Lazer, Hold the Stillness mash up. This track seamlessly integrates two major tracks of the past couple of months to create a catchy, perfectly natural sounding tune.
The Dirty Projectors have been catching a lot of press recently, with their new album, Bitte Orca, receiving rave reviews. So far the only track I’ve heard off it is Stillness is your Move, but if that’s anything to go by, the rest of the album should be amazing. Stillness is your Move combines a hip hop sensibility with indie girl vocals to produce something that’s eerie, soulful yet also quite moving.
Here's the video for Stillness is your Move, featuring Siberian huskies and a rare llama (obviously).
Major Lazer have also been blog stars of late, being the collaboration project between Diplo (the man behind M.I.A., Santogold, and other greatness) and producer Switch. Hold the Line, their first single off the album features Santogold’s vocals on top of dancehalls beats and jittery electronic sounds.
Download Hold the Linehere (right hand side of the page)
Out of the two, the Dirty Projectors are probably more my cup of tea than Major Lazer, but both tracks are excellent, and, surprisingly enough, the mash up matches the quality of its parts.
