hell.o
as promised previously, this is a quick overview of what looks like i will be giving some attention over the next few days.
expect lots of lazy ‘a meets b’ type of comparisons.
firstly ninjatune seem to have a lot of stuff in the pile and i have yet to really give them any space – so in the spirit of public broadcasting here’s the set :
kid koala – your moms favorite dj
comprising of 2 long tracks, left side, and right side. on initial listening, this album is like all those bits that connect tracks on your various solid steel mixtapes. so if you, like me, think that those are sometimes the best bits, then this mad cutup action will be right up your street. lots of fun.
bonobo – days to come
mellow grooves and lots of tracks featuring a singer known as bajka. will do the headphone test alongside a sunset later and no doubt fall in love with this.
new flesh – universally dirty
as with the solo set from part 2 last year, the grooves range from upfront hiphop, through dirty grime and superb reggae basslines. the set is wild and varied with a couple of serious contenders.
zerodB – bongos bleeps and basslines
so far this one aint getting its salsa/brazilian hooks into me. lots of rhythmic chaos and jazz styled licks. a little more time needed for this one methinks, i suspect a festival appearance on a sunny afternoon would seal the bands fate for me, but that isn’t on the cards so i’ll just have to try the album again.
pop levi – sings blue honey
not strictly on ninjatune as this is a release on a new imprint called counter records, which has been created especially for pop levi, so obviously someone has a lot of faith in the man they call pop. good job the ep/minilp whatever is as good as it is. 60s psycho-pop music matched with a loving regard for all that is harmonious and brightly coloured production.
the go team meets arnold layne via the beta band.
wonderful stuff – best of the bunch.
more details : here
proper reviews to be posted once i have scratched the surface a little more.
so, moving away from ninjatune, here are some more.
sparklehorse – dreamt for light years in the belly of a mountain
back after a long time away, with a quiet, unsettling album that has a lot of well known names involved (the ever present danger mouse is being name dropped ad nausea), though as i know little of sparklehorse previous output i cant compare, all i can say is the album passed by and not once did my ears prick up.
no doubt this means its album of the year for others.
more detail : here
infantjoy – with
not out for a while, but just giving you all the necessary heads up. comprising of several remixes from last years album, and a few new tracks, this set continues the infantjoy project into more contemporary moods. laptop programmes are crunched and munched, beats are twisted and broken, while paul morley and james banbury set their ambient piano touches down onto tape once again. this time around pauls vocals are much more obvious. remixes appear courtesy of such folks as : isan, mark lodge, tunng, populous.
more detail : here
pet – rewind the sofa lady
having released a fine debut album, the band (and it is now a fully expanded group) continue with their love of all things glam, electro and manage to make an album that sound totally fresh, vital and rather addictive in its radio friendly songs. this album has been a firmstay on the playlist ever since in fell on the map. far stronger than previous releases, as the full use of the band dynamics make for a fuller richer sonic spread.
t-rex meets air via elo.
now that’s a wonderful concoction in anybodys book surely.
more detail : here
viva voce – get yr blood sucked out
with a name and title like that (alongside the grisly 70’s b-movie horror film styled artwork) i expected some nasty gothic heavy metal type of noise, however the press release mentions jesus and marychain and phil spector so i gave it a go. voila. a husband-wife duo give it their all on their 3rd album with lots of layered guitars, fuzztones, proper old school handclaps (not protooled samples – i think), more guitars, and lots of droney sunday morning type of melodies all held together with some more guitars.
did anyone mention joy zipper, or even the dandy warhols yet ?
really really good stuff – but not one for the hipsters, thankfully.
more detail : here
dr who dat ? – beat journey
having read that dj shadow has dumped the whole iunstrumental hip hop thang and gone all crunk (oh joy of joys !), maybe this set of hip hop beats and looped scratchy samples will mellow the disappointment. produced and created by beat creator jneiro jarel this 50 minute set of tunes coming out on the ever superb lex records, has all the necessary ingredients to keep the lovers of indie hip hop happy.
ok, it may not be not as cutting edge as some would like, as this is actually a very enjoyable throwback to all things golden era mowax, and who’s to say that’s not a good thing in 2006.
not me.
more detail : here
oh, and for those that like to know of these things – there are all manner of reissues and compilations coming out that involve a massive campaign re the beach boys so called classic pet sounds (includes a dvd collector people out there), a set of mansun tracks get dusted down, as well as a double cd set of gomez tracks, oh, and there’s even a electronic cd/dvd set coming out if your heart jumps with joy over this news.
as i never rated these bands i just don’t have the time, nor inclination to really get to know these albums more, so do the google thing or search amazon for more detail if you wish to know more.
i think that’s enough for now.
meanwhile, i’m off back to that viva voce album.
thank you.
mark e