This Winki's

This Winki's Best Music of 2010

2010-12-21T21:51:00.000+03:30

And it gets really tough when it’s December; Even tougher when you’ve had a tight-scheduled school work for the past 4 months in a new country. I’m flying back to my home for holidays. That must be fun. I’ve luckily had 3 free days to breathe a little and come down with my end-year lists. To be honest, I’m always on the verge of acting biased when it comes to making such lists. Fortunately I survive many of them, including this year. I had to eliminate some of my favorites in sacrifice of these precious songs and albums. 10 items for each is truly not enough space to scribble out all that beauty. But top-100 lists can be a drag most of the time, too. So here they are. This Winki’s best music of 2010. The word “best” can also be misleading. “Favorite” is sorta better, but who cares? This year I’ve combined the two lists into one post and included a playlist of our top 10 songs at the bottom. Here are our favorite albums:

And here are our favorite songs followed by a cool 8-track mixtape. Make sure you stream’em well in case you haven’t heard some. I don’t have to mention that I’d love to hear your bests as well down here. So enlighten me while we still can! I'd better go pack.

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - III/IV

2010-12-20T21:25:00.000+03:30

Hear the entire new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals double disk album III/IV! A collection of 21 rock 'n roll shakers. It features previously unreleased material from 2007's Easy Tiger (I just bought it today after listening to it for three years.)

Here are also another two tracks dedicated by the band to you (respectively in .wav and .m4a) and not included in the disks.

[♫] Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - "Destroyers"
[♫] Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - "Blue Canoe"

This is Dope!

2010-12-16T12:02:00.000+03:30

This post-hip-hop psychedelia is intended for two groups of humans/undead: Those folks who were mesmerized by Mulatu Astatke's peculiar painfully-atmospheric jazz back in the 70s and those who got lost in Bill Murray's aimless attempt to find the woman who wrote that pink letter in Jim Jarmusch's comedy-drama 2005's Broken Flowers. The Gaslamp Killer behind a murky lousy zero-fi set and Gonjasufi behind the mic. And I hope you have heard Gonja's A Sufi and A Killer, otherwise you've definitely missed something this year. Well, in case you don't want to, you have another choice: Grinderman?...Not really. Gil Scott-Heron? Yes.

This one is off Gaslamp's soul-trembling five-piece EP Death Gate. I hope that you choke.

The Gaslamp Killer - 'When I'm In Awe' feat. Gonjasufi

Fortune Favours the Brave

2010-12-13T14:30:00.002+03:30

The Lovable Tulips are Pia and Pernilla and this is their first single, They are planning to write more stuff (singles and a tentative album) in early 2011. But meanwhile, this song is as solid of a pop tune as an indie incarnation of Fleetwood Mac and it can be as vibrant as an ABBA hit. Minty Fresh is their record company and is also where you can buy their single (also on iTunes) and surf for further beauties due to its kick-ass design.

[♫] The Lovable Tulips - "Fortune Favours the Brave"

Shalini

2010-12-09T13:35:00.002+03:30

Formerly part of a 90s San Francisco college radio band called Vinyl Devotion, Shalini has also been doing well on her solo. Her music can be best described as an aural diet of early rock, Motown, and 80s art-rock. Magnetic North is her latest 6-track EP that also brings us the following free tune.

[♫] Shalini - "Echo"

(photo source)

Night Air

2010-12-08T12:06:00.000+03:30

"Feel that Night Air flowing through me." sings Jamie Woon in an apt R&B manner emphasizing on his subtle post-00:00 remainders of darkness. "Night Air" is a heedless swim into the outside view of your bedroom window. Somewhere safe. A wise taking advantage of the simplest dub moments to inject soul into your nothingness.

"Night Air" 12" is out now in record shops and jamiewoon.com. An album is promised for Spring 2011.

Night Air by Jamie Woon

[photo source: Forgotten Hopes]

Marina and the Diamonds - “Girls”

2010-12-07T11:36:00.003+03:30

(originally written in Oct 2010) Is this already the pop sensation in 2010 (a companion to Janelle Monáe and stating again that I should stop comparisons) or what? A not-much-of-a-pop guy like me can find pleasure somewhere in those rhythms. She’s Marina and you’re the diamonds. There are no backing bands. Her debut is called Family Jewels and it promises up-tempo new-wave/pop tunes manicured with a restless juvenile adrenaline shot that’s her voice. This record can make you bounce around more than any Beyonce record can.
There are many winners on song list but the yee-haw goes to “Girls”, abound with layered retro disco and teen blood. Probably just what you expect from an album that supposed to reflect “seduction of commercialism, modern social values, family and female sexuality”. And that’s what she said!

Manic Street Preachers - “Hazleton Avenue”

2010-12-07T11:35:00.006+03:30

(Originally written in Oct 2010) “The Manics are back to form!” I disagree. The Manics actually never lost it. What’s with those people still yearning for Richey Edwards years? Those years was golden I know. But get a grip! This Welch band has had numerous astounding and eclectic rock hits ever since and you’re still stuck in “Motorcycle Emptiness” just because you refused to try them every time they evolved. Postcards From A Young Man surfaces only a year after the trio’s previous album Journal For Plague Lovers (Edwards’s lyrics and the others writing and performing the rest). They have already compared the 10th studio work with 2007’s Send Away The Tigers. There are guest collaborations (this time topped by Echo & the Bunnymen’s Ian Ian McCulloch and also featuring John Cale and Duff McKagen) and there’s more orchestration than any other MSP album you’ve ever heard. They wanted their 10th album to be more optimistic I think. So it ended up having an epic sound as well. Postcards has turned out a great piece of true rock ‘n roll as James Dean Bradfield’s voice refuses to get old and Sean Moore just keeps getting more energetic (listen to “All We Ever Make Is Entertainment” to figure things out) and then Nicky Wire. I’m not sure if it was deliberate or not, but Wire’s lyrics have adopted less historical references this time. I couldn’t get enough of tons of names spoken about on every MSP record. From Castro to Jack Lemmon. Maybe Wire needed a distinction line between this work and Journal. The rest is absolutely nothing new. The Manics are at their best. Old news.

Kanye West ft. Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross & Bon Iver - “Monster”

2010-12-07T11:32:00.007+03:30

(originally written in Oct 2010) Those who feared the return of Kanye West would resemble his precedent singings in 808 are going to be wowed by this vulgar potent and quality rap. “Monster” is filled with guests and wordplays. It’s one of those collaborations that, other than bring an artist back on his foot, re-introduces an innate urban/hip-hop talent: Nicki Minaj gives life to what may become the coolest rap verse of the year. Ruthless and rhythmic, she just couldn’t paint her part better. Kanye gives a “Gold Digger”-style soul to his new vibe. And there’s probably no need for another Jamie Foxx backing vox as Jay-Z compensates and complements the art in his own steady format. Rick Ross is also there. There’s also an unlikely/so-what presence by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon which I could never figure out the role. But the falsetto man is there for the sake of friendship perhaps. “Monster” is controversial, heavily danceable and quite a homework for all those school boys yearning for a new true hit to nibble. Lyric-wise I haven’t found a better tune in 2k10 so far in the genre to top this.

The Phantom Family Halo

2010-12-06T00:24:00.001+03:30

Here's a humming channel of whispers in your ear that's so full of denial. The Phantom Family Halo was formed in 2007 by members of Sapat and The For Carnation. Monoliths And These Flowers Never Die 2XLP is released through Karate Body Records.
Alive And Well by karatebody

Belle and Sebastian - Write About Love

2010-12-04T13:05:00.000+03:30

(Originally written in Sept 6, 10) As of October 11th and 12th, the new Belle & Sebastian album Write About Love will be released. The band had also previously warmed the fans up with a twitter contest in which you got a chance to be the first to hear a new song and get the vinyl for free. All you have to do is 1. Follow Belle and Sebastian on twitter (@bellesglasgow) and 2. Do a single tweet using the hashtag #writeaboutlove and you’re in! In addition to that:

“It will be initially available from our website from Tuesday (7th September) for a very limited time as a free download and also to stream. It will be available on iTunes in the USA only from the same date - but everywhere else has to wait until the official release date in the UK of 25th October. [later updated to the above mentioned date of course]”

Just to have a taste, this is a well directed and brutally frank half-hour documentary with the same name about the upcoming album and how the recording and publicizing world has changed since the Scottish band’s previous release 2006’s magnificent The Life Pursuit. Stuart Murdoch and the other 6 members find a good space to face a very small audience, have a friendly Q&A and of course perform two brand new mesmerizing though simple pop tunes straight from the album: “I Want The World To Stop” and “I Didn’t See It Coming”. You will also see numerous artworks the band had requested people to do. Judging by the two songs, Write About Love is going to be one hell of a kick-ass B&S album but I don’t think it will be anywhere around The Life Pursuit weather and song writings will have very little to do with If You’re Feeling Sinister or the likes of that. So we should all anticipate a different side of these true musicians, tentatively a more poppy side. I’m truly looking forward to hearing this record.

Antony and the Johnsons - “Thank You For Your Love”

2010-12-03T14:27:00.000+03:30

Mayday! Mayday! We have a problem here. We’re back! The Ghost is back. I finally settled down – even though partially – in Sweden. I’m here for my master course as I’ve mentioned zillion times before. I think I’m going to be 4 folds busier than before. Hope I find time to write here on a daily basis again. Ghost FM will just keep going. That I’m pretty sure of. Over the last 2.5 weeks of no posts life has been great and it’s getting colder and colder here every day. Winter is striking Sweden. Get ready everybody to have some mega-chills. As of music, well I honestly haven’t found proper time to delve into the global village and fetch out fresh toasts for y’all. But I’m getting back on track.So here it comes…

Before Antony & the Johnsons come up with their October full length release of Swanlights, they accommodated us with a 5-track EP called Thank You For Your Love. Two covers are included: John Lennon’s “Imagine” (let’s not go through that again please, I know I know.) and Bob Dylan’s “Pressing On”. The title track starts off smoothly and soothing with a piano line picturing Hegarty’s collaboration with Boy George on “You Are My Sister”, tender and gracious. I really like to know who’s he thanking just for the sake of argument. Though the tune gradually tends to self-destruct. There exists some specific Antony moments that due to his unique nature can end up disturbing. Remember how an alluring song as “Hope There’s Someone” came to end? Or also how the chorus repeat on “For Today I Am A Boy” sounded a bit out of range? Well we have a situation here as well. Antony’s probably thanking you too much. So it’s a half-pleasant journey, and then if you’re not a genuine A&tJ fan, just leave it.

Bombay Bicycle Club - “Ivy & Gold”

2010-11-17T09:29:00.000+03:30

This nigh 3-min song basically sits on a simple acoustic country melody and it creates a slow soothing and kindergarten-style merry-go-round ride on a pink unicorn. This is half the aesthetics you get, the other half is in Jack Steadman’s voice that may not represent a thing from Crouch End, London where Bombay Bicycle Club comes from but to a new ear to the band’s music can resemble a jolly José González. Their new album sits on more acoustic and feel-good grounds. It’s called Flaws.

Autechre - “ilanders”

2010-11-17T09:28:00.002+03:30

Something has been keeping my mind pretty hectic on Watchmen for the past month. I read the whole 12 episodes and watched the movie again. Great adaptation I have to say. Everything about the doomsday, everything revolving around the apocalypse can take my breath away. It’s probably stupid bringing this whole elaborate graphic novel down to some lines of notes, but the coolest thing about it is the inevitable dismal fate, the one Adrian Veidt implemented on NYC while Dr. Manhattan were speculating Veidt’s masterplan on mars. Dr. Manhattan (Jon) to me was a symbol of a God, too almighty to be limited by this time-space world. And in the end, even he came to realize and got the grip on the final message of this brilliantly written and depicted comic book: “There’s only one way left. Kill a million to save billions.” Sounds vigorous to them humanitarians. They better come up with a better plan!

And then it comes to music and music that can bring brain to the Armageddon. Autechre released an album and an extra EP this year after quite a while. I still haven’t tried the EP but the album is believed to be the duo at their best. It’s quite a long record per se. 14 tracks and they mostly go over 4:30 minutes. It’s a dark futuristic swim that due to the robust studio work and those subtle crystal pings can play with your ear if you can dedicate some time to it. The second song “ilanders” can approximately sum up the record. It can also make so much sense if you’re into more prolific video game soundtracks: Halo or Half-life for instance. Perhaps you already know what I mean.

And by the way speaking of comics, make sure you follow Comically Vintage, a tumblr devoted to virtual wellspring of sex, drugs, violence and poor table manners! You’ll have fun with it. And by the way the album is called Oversteps! Possibly a pompous word for something that overtakes dubstep musically? Dunno.

The New Pornographers - “Crash Years”

2010-11-17T09:27:00.002+03:30

It must be pretty simple to calculate: We have Neko Case + AC Newman + Dan Bejar + some other people that add up to the charisma. Even when one of these faces underachieves, there are back-ups. What I’m trying to say is that The New Pornographers, even at their most mediocre state, can write and perform tasty power-pop. On our Canadian supergroup’s latest effort Together, we’re exactly referring to those states. There are no jaunty noise hooks as in Mass Romantic or showstoppers with likes of those in Twin Cinema. I can safely say the new album resembles the band’s previous work Challengers except that there are no sign of electrifying tunes like “My Rights Versus Yours” or “Go Places”. What we have here is a selection of down-tempo meh songs manicured with each member’s personal talents.

We have indie folk’s gold throat Neko Case and we have Newman’s signature compositions. “Crash Years” alongside the opener “Moves” might contain the album’s peak moments. Sorta live up to Porno standards of the band. But as I said, that mustn’t mean these are hopeless stuff. You will still find power-pop comfort in the album. It’s just that the songwritings, although solemn and with bona fide, lack an adequate dose of meticulousness and motivation. You may try to convince yourself with the song’s message: “Traffic was slow for the crash years. There’s no other show like it ‘round here, as a rule.” Lower your expectations and in the end “Crash Years” is an apt description note to the postcard of a modern city you send to your grandma. She doesn’t know what emails are capable of. But she lived slower than your hurried joy and here she is now turning 85.

Ratatat - “Billar”

2010-11-17T09:26:00.003+03:30

For their 4th LP, NYC electro-pop duo Mike Stroud and Evan Mast have used the same material they did back with their other previous records. The question is whether these guys have an alternative? We instantly recognize the sound of Ratatat with those crystal guitar sounds and the hip-hop essence of the band’s principles. So, for most avid Ratatat fans, maybe they just like their favorite band remain unharmed and just the way they are.

On almost every Ratatat record, there’s a tune that reaches a momentum of glory locked in a loop that you wish it just could go on forever. To me, it was “Loud Pipes” on 2006’s Classics (with “Lex” as a very close #2) and “Shempi” on 2008’s LP3. I found this tune on the opener on LP4 “Billar”. Well at least for the better half of the song. Due to its intro nature (even though it’s a full 4-min song), I couldn’t expect that much. A lot of time goes for construction and then a half-a-song duration goes just to catch up with what had already been accomplished. But that Japanese melody stays an epic killer gem to start your album with. It could go on a bit more perhaps. Never mind.

Deerhunter - “Revival”

2010-11-17T09:26:00.000+03:30

Well, I wouldn’t have said it if it was three years ago. I guess even back in heydays of Cryptograms people like I didn’t cogitate that deeply into either the domain frequencies or inner layers of a vague phrase called “ambient punk”. It all was revealed with Microcastle. That was when I could take Bradford Cox seriously. I still have questions about what it means but that pile of thought didn’t stop me from enjoying what this guy and his band do. On Atlas Sound, his main side-project, Cox has space to be more liquid, he can experiment at ease, but on Deerhunter we’re talking bandly. There are rules and regulations. The guy has to play more cautious and there are other opinions other than his, too; opinions that eventually turn out to be pretty constructive.

Just before we go around the new Deerhunter 7”, let’s head to a page the band has designated for their new upcoming album Halcyon Digest (out 9/28 via 4AD) in which you’re prompted for a password. It’s “tapereel” and it opens up an image from Deerhunter trying to make some noise. Everything is camouflaged. You just have to move your mouse cursor ‘neath that “…ok..” T-shirt to be surprised. Happy birthday! Thanks I guess. Move that dreaded mouse all over the place to hear more sounds. My download is still in process. I’ll let you know if this 44MBs of stuff was all worthwhile.

“Revival” is the new Deerhunter single. In a hazy comparison, it can remind you of last year’s Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP and the brief drenched out title track. Except that this one tends to be more Kinks-y and buoyant and it’s not about “Two weeks of misery”. On the contrary, it spins around survival, probably Deerhunter at their most sunny and open form. Especially when you hear that banjo of relish bridge (that can remind some folk of Coldplay’s “Clocks” but in reality they’re from different dimensions, honest) and then Cox sweeping your doubts away with “Darkness always it doesn’t make much sense.” It’s like Deerhunter is striving out to swim to the surface as they’re sounding more transparent and glossy every time. On 7 inch’s b-side it’s another song called “Primitive 3D” running under two minutes.

Download is over, let’s unzip our hunt: uhm ok! What was I really thinking? I was downloading a file named revival.zip! Of course I would get both 7” tracks followed by two bulky printable .pdf files and the cover. Sometimes my mind just doesn’t click!

Marilyn Roxie - “感嘆符 (!)”

2010-11-17T09:24:00.000+03:30

I approached Marilyn Roxie through her tasty music blog A Future In Noise. She has the flare to scribble excessively on what inspires her. It was on this very place that I discovered The Horrors and their flabbergasting nightmarish shoegaze. Next thing I knew upon reading her latest personal journal update was that she also makes music. And it sounds nothing like the impression on her face or the pinky design of her music blog.

I got her Ermine EP and listened to those five brief pieces of instrumental fear-machines, each driving you to a horrifying nowhere land. Partly industrial and more inspired by doomsday-driven video games, Roxie happens to be a self-taught keyboardist. Most these tunes are generated by a Korg Triton LE Workstation. This is the last track on the EP and it means “Sigh Breaks”. Judging by the haunted organs and the factory you’re suddenly locked in, she has possibly learned a lot from her main sources of sound. Joy Division and Suicide can be good examples and I can guess she finds comfort in the sound of A Place To Bury Strangers not to mention The Horrors themselves. You can download the whole EP down here charge-free or learn a little more about it right here (which is important!).

[♫] Marilyn Roxie - Ermine EP (.RAR)

SLEEP ∞ OVER - “La Rose”

2010-11-17T09:23:00.002+03:30

Let’s ride the night train again. Three girls have decided to play music for our rapid eye movements. SLEEP ∞ OVER is Christa, Sarah and Stefanie coming from Virgin Islands, US. If you found comfort in Beach House, “La Rose” can be your post-2-AM resort. Colored with lo-fi gooey-synths and vox from far away, the sound generates a brown study of hindsight.

The band is signed to Forrest Family Records. You can download their Outer Limits 7” through FFR website and forget about the so-what tumblr page the girls have indicated as their home page. This is also where you can download the title track as well or pre-order the disk and wait until August 10th.

Arcade Fire - “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”

2010-11-17T09:22:00.002+03:30

In 2004’s Funeral, we were children in our neighborhood devising escape plans through building tunnels connecting our chimneys and our parents were fighting in the other room. We dreamed vicinity with corrupted power lines and talked about our past and shared our fears. In 2007’s Neon Bible we were on the edge of adulthood having more fundamental questions in our traumatized heads. Wandering in a black city of atheists, we yearned for the lighthouse and hated the fact that we’re still under the umbrella of our parents. We found a place where no ships, planes or subs went. Now we’re grownups. Our worries come from innocence, but we have to tangle ourselves up when it gets more serious. We inhabit the suburbs now and yet, uncertainty is there to stay hovering just above our heads. Seems undeniable the mask it crafts on our faces while we’re still the same kids. We find ourselves surrounded with never ending construction sites, forging to a future they have planned for us. It’s us vs. the modern kids. And this is the metal canyon we inhabit now. Let’s forget about the escape, let’s try to live in this reality for a while.

Arcade Fire returns opting for a record void of the old complications. There are still multi-section tracks but they’re not trying to climb any epic heights. They haven’t transformed into anything, Win Butler’s voice sounds just as pain-subsiding the way he managed to keep it all through Neon Bible. And they’re still telling stories, this time on how to get along with the physical world out there. The one we’ve denied so far but now the wrestling must begin. The Suburbs is still an astonishing work of art nonetheless abound with colossal tendencies. Just like its two preceding masterpieces, it’s not an album of let’s-give-it-a-go-willy-nilly. Despite the cerebral work on track listing and the wider scope of concept to make it sound a little less private, the disk needs repeated listens before you decipher its hidden gems.

As for the penultimate track, we have a two-segment hit synthesized heavily with remarkable moments of the 80s. And it’s probably too enthralling to be a sudden burst into rhythm, so the band provided something like an intro to it: on “Sprawl I (Flatland)” Win Butler ploughs the ground for a transcendent pop song with the adequate amount of cadence and melody. He spares some insights on somewhere they’d like to call “The Sprawl”. The Suburbs’ core songwriting thought balloons comes from Houston, Texas and their upbringing there. On this marvelous slow-burning appetizer of a song, they take a drive rooting back to where they were raised. They ride in the dark and what they see is of no surprise. This place has changed. They’re caught by the police. They ask about where they live. The answer is still a mystery to them. They’ve been searching everywhere to find it. They though this “Sprawl” nowhere land could shed light upon it. Nice try! But home is allegedly not free of the relativity theory. It’d better remain an abstract entity rather than a physical location.

“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” yet again has Régine Chassagne behind the mic. She nailed it on “Haïti” and made you feel you’re sitting in that death car when she depicted her immense fatal fear on “In the Backseat”. If this spellbinding drive around your childhood town is not the album’s punch line, then what can that be? When Arcade Fire touches electronics, they reach a fascinating momentum. Last time it was “No Cars Ago”. “The Sprawl II” as the album’s pinnacle in epicness and stadium-sized amplification also has to evoke a stainless imagination to the audience. Therefore we have an 80s-infused pop song eventually. I hear matured up Kraftwerk and you may hear Depeche Mode and New Order. Régine as the raconteur screams modern life’s lamentable examples and swaggers in her own loud cry. The world is getting smaller; the global village is soon to become practical, the bitter taste of the truth makes the modern man bite his own tongue as he’s already so much sunk and involved in illuminated neon states of actuality: “Living in the sprawl, dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains and there’s no end in sight. I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights.” Facing the future with resident nostalgia is what it’s all about. Modernity brings alienation. It’s good to get over it but its hopeless realism can sometimes stream a marvelous opus like this to my ear. Guess I have to embrace it.

Bush - “Afterlife”

2010-11-17T09:20:00.003+03:30

Gavin Rossdale has been once in the mid-90s wrongly accused of adhering what Nirvana has accomplished. While despite the public appeal both as a musician and an unblemished physical alt-rock avatar, he and his band has never been fairly scrutinized by the critics. Bush has been tagged as post-Nirvana ever since it saw the light of day. The band has been much more successful in the US than their homeland while the Brits were busy being entertained with Radiohead, Oasis, Blur, Pulp and later The Prodigy.

But this false superficial statement never seemed to fit. Rossdale has never wrote songs as end-of-the-line as Cobain although always casting a mechanical and dark shadow upon his peculiar literature in writing lyrics. Bush did not have messages as tangible and deadly as Nirvana, that’s a fact. Their gratifying action-reaction riffs was trending widely and openly welcomed by the teen enthusiasts. And this all didn’t come alone: Nigel Pulsford’s hand on the guitar played as the band’s psych machine while Robin Goodridge’s drumming was bound to stay alert and sound gauged to fit the (safe to say) unique ultimate presentation of Bush. Rossdale’s velvet tongue barely resembled Cobain’s. Perhaps it comes from personal yearnings to defend the band, but Bush’s truck was independently driving in another path. This might not be the case for Creed where Scott Stapp’s only fantasy was to sound like a tabloid-friendly minty-metal-fused version of Eddie Vedder. Bush was no Puddle of Mudd. You could easily recognize them on the radio when they came out with a new single; just the way you knew it’s a Red Hot Chili Peppers song by the touch of John Frusciante.

In their decade-long catalog, the band released four albums, each containing a diverse set of condiments, each subtracting a number off their fanbase and adding new people while the signature alternative stamp was always there. 1994’s Sixteen Stone, the most loved Bush album to date was more jubilant, the guitars were strummed more recklessly. It was the rock sound of a burgeoning band being content with its own potentials. And of course we all remember “Everything Zen”, “Come Down”, “Machinehead” and “Glycerine”. 1996’s Razorblade Suitcase – my personal favorite – imploded what they had accomplished as if the quartet suddenly decided to push reset on those stage diving memories. The sophomore saw a great deal of well-thought songwriting in its glory. The stop-and-go nature of hits as marvelous as “Greedy Fly”, “Swallowed” and “Mouth” was nothing but a heavy task. Out of the blues Razorblade Suitcase was suddenly soaked in horrifying but alluring melodies. Even less identified tunes such as “Synapse” or the closer “Distant Voices” had no less mojo than the disk’s bigger hits. 1999’s The Science of Things was once again surprisingly different. Leaning more towards electronics, the band went through a self-destruction phase and that was honestly a bit brave. Not every 90s mainstreamers found the guts to venture this wildly. Bush had already enough audience to go through that so that’s what they did. 2001’s Golden State was reportedly a hard work. The band wanted a pure rock record to sound better live, politically charged with the post-9/11 battery. The album was not a success and it was probably why the foursome decided to call it quits afterward.

For the better part of the naughties, Rossdale was more a family man than a rockstar devoting time to writing music. He came up with some neat soundtrack singles (“Adrenaline”, a 007-ish rock hit for xXx and collaborating with Blue Man Group on “The Current” that turned out as a soundtrack for Terminator 3) before going prog-rock with his one-album band Institute experience and then he opted to try writing a full-length mediocre solo, more pop-rock-driven and less aggressive. He was already a dad, more known as Gwen Stefani’s husband; probably not what Bush fans needed to hear.

A 9-year hiatus was probably what it took for Gavin to call Robin Goodridge for a Bush reunion. This year has heard great news for 90s people (those who listened to music by means of armchair rotating audio CDs and heavy headphones) seeing Pavement, Stone Temple Pilots, Blur and Soundgarden back together for the sake of good times. We add Bush to that list with a brand new single i.e. “Afterlife” and the fifth studio work due in October called Everything Always Now. The song yet again does not represent Bush as we know now that the band sees two new members in places of Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parson the former bassist. Chris Traynor and Corey Britz will take on the jobs. “Afterlife” is a fast-tempo full-circle rock tune that may resemble “The People That We Love” on a monotonous tempo and a pleasing vocal elevation from the NIN-ish verses to the overdrive of the chorus. The lyrics refuse to be synthetic and lukewarmly describe the ennui of the modern wealth, something Rossdale has gotten along with all these years perhaps. Judging by the lively sound, the new Bush LP may see more vivid drums and a more potent production. The world has changed so much since the last time Bush played together, and so it goes for their interpretation of alternative rock as of now.

Mountain Man - “Animal Tracks”

2010-11-17T09:19:00.002+03:30

Mountain Man is not a man at all. It’s the ethereal voice of three high school girls and one of them is a nanny. By the first strum on that acoustic guitar, you’re already homeward bound with the delicate folk of peasant mouths, three angelic ones. The threesome can generate a cloudy comfort. “Animal Tracks” may not last too long but it gives birth to a windy afternoon. It’s like somebody’s counting down the hours while her horseman reaches the tent.

Molly Erin Sarle, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Amelia Randall Meath are those lungs. Sounds like a more friendly and feminine less instrumented incarnation of Fleet Foxes. And in between those simple notes, there’s just too much wind, so much standalone dancing crazily beside the fireplace.

The band’s debut is Made the Harbor, 13 short puffs of lilac spray on your face. “Animal Tracks” together with “Soft Skin” are available for free download through Mountain Man’s bandcamp page.

Mos Def - “Auditorium”

2010-11-17T09:18:00.003+03:30

Mike: [to Jerry as they begin to remake Ghost Busters] I’m Bill Murray, you’re everybody else.

Difficult a bit not to like Mos Def and the rapper’s easy character in Michel Gondry’s fantastic Be Kind Rewind. There’s always this fine line between his acting career and his sensational hip-hop. In the latter he can deal with his own sentiments and worries. In acting, he simply reads from the manuscript cause that seems pretty practical when you have selected a few good films to star in. But putting that aside, Mos Def vigorously returned in 2k9 with a robust hip-hop album with an eclectic range of addicting samples from all around the globe. Ecstatic had many ghouls in its catalog: the late great J Dilla, The Neptunes, Oh No. etc.

This brilliant song is produced by Madlib and you don’t really expect anything less. Featuring Slick Rick, Mos Def as our world-wary raconteur discusses war in Iraq. Probably not the first political Middle East conflict poetry ever written and nor the last. There’s a pretty messed up trauma going on in Baghdad for years, and all that sweats and dehydrations must be presented in some way. Now this is not something T.I. can come up with just like a snap. It’s Iraq, so what the audience needs to hear is a desert simulation in the backdrop. It’s not a theatre, so we hire a master: Madlib. The sample you hear throughout “Auditorium” is from his Beat Konducta Vol. 3 & 4: In India, a track named “Movie Finale” to be precise. Despite the Bollywood aura, the piece just couldn’t be a better selection. Mos Def does not give you the lowdown on any secret axis of evil projects in the Arab zone but he can always make sense in the midst of all that heat. Just before summing up his first lengthy verse, he goes: “The world is so dangerous there’s no need for fightin’, suttins tryna hide like the struggle won’t find’em and the sun bust through the clouds to clearly remind him.” There’s no emphasize and his tone doesn’t alter even slightly, but to me that’s where he meticulously hits the punch line.

On verse two Mos MC lends vox to Slick Rick who already allures the speakers with his fat lips. He speaks from the mouth of an American soldier, probably not as wise as our main lecturer but his witty tongue illustrates the situation perfectly for the audience. He has short time but that doesn’t stop him sharing his story on seeing Iraqi kids and already feeling like standing on the surface of another planet. So somewhere in that exhausting purgatory he suddenly turns into the Elvis of Iraq rapping for Arabs. It’s all so picturesque as if the Baghdad sun is penetrating through our brains. Or are you still stuck in Bollywood? No hard feelings, you’ll get over it. Nonetheless this is a magnificent piece of hip-hop.

Tony Da Gatorra vs Gruff Rhys - “In A House With No Mirrors”

2010-11-17T09:18:00.000+03:30

It sorta looks like a guitar hero battle when you look at that vicious “vs.” on the artist name. Most of us know the virtuoso that Gruff Rhys of the lovely Super Furry Animals is, but not many of us know this other guy Tony Da Gatorra. All we ever know about him so far is that he’s a Brazilian TV and VCR repairman who’s registered a new instrument called “Gatorra” that is part drum machine and part guitar! He listens to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin and he has this blog in which he scribbles long-windedly and in his own language. Which part of this guy is interesting enough for Gruff Rhys for deciding to release a 10 song LP with him, we really draw a blank here!

This reportedly experimental album is called The Terror Of Cosmic Loneliness and it will be released on July 26th on OVNI (Turnstile). Judging by this one electro-pop song “In A House With No Mirrors”, Rhys hasn’t bothered himself writing creative lines really and maybe you’ll find pleasure just listening to that dreaded new instrument. I’m still digging in search of fun here. Maybe I need some Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru inside info before I can come to a rational conclusion. But nothing yet.

El Guincho - “Bombay”

2010-11-17T09:16:00.002+03:30

Back in the heyday of Alegranza! El Guincho’s second album, the main man (and mostly the only man) behind the moniker Pablo Díaz-Reixa had already created a buoyant tropicália sounding like a theme park in Barcelona. The album was a brilliant mélange of a blatant Panda Bear and the irritating samples of crowd chattering and whistling, children screaming out the stressful and fast merry-go-rounds and Ferris wheels. That’s just how lively and fun each song on the record sounded.

On July 12th, El Guincho released the first volume of a series of EPs covering some Latin American folk tunes. It’s called Piratas De Sudamérica and the first 5-track work is available for streaming right below. But these folk covers only herald a new album due in this autumn under Young Turks. “Bombay” is the first taste of the forthcoming disk with an enormous studio quality. It may not depict the Disneyland we had in mind, but there are all other Spanish elements of El Guincho’s music present. Not only that, the song has a clearer boundary in analogy to Alegranza! The beats, samples and melodies can be grasped much easier. It may come out as something less layered and a bit more Afrobeat, but it’s just equally pleasant and exuberant.
The new album is Pop Negro and the band has already commenced touring US and debuting live performances from the thing. Here’s a very subtle live review from what they’re doing via The Life and Times of a Flashflooder. And here you can stream the EP.
YT044 - El Guincho - Piratas de Sudamerica by Young Turks