ARCHIVE:
Updated 16th January 2012
THEY HAVE DISCOGRAPHY?
CENTRE EXCUSE "DON'T LET GO" (INTERNET)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? They say that the current crop of
teenagers are media savvy gunslingers who chew
their way through cyber space, generating
careers, income, fame, fortune and infamy with
ease. Teflon toddlers, exuding raw genius and
slicking tawdry criticism aside as they eye up an
ironic guest appearance in 'Skins'. Let's hope so,
because I don't think, I actually know that "Don't
Let Go" is horrible beyond belief and makes me
long for an alco-popped popster to rap his way
through 'Rich Kids'
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's tinny synth pop. It's not
good in itself, Gary Numan would cut his own
throat, Human League would curl up and die, even La Roux would look mildly embarrassed. So, it's horrible and the idea that the youngest, the most showered with opportunity can only offer the worst of Duran Duran is profoundly depressing.
WHERE IS IT? www.centreexcuse.co.uk
CENTRE EXCUSE "DON'T LET GO" (INTERNET)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? They say that the current crop of
teenagers are media savvy gunslingers who chew
their way through cyber space, generating
careers, income, fame, fortune and infamy with
ease. Teflon toddlers, exuding raw genius and
slicking tawdry criticism aside as they eye up an
ironic guest appearance in 'Skins'. Let's hope so,
because I don't think, I actually know that "Don't
Let Go" is horrible beyond belief and makes me
long for an alco-popped popster to rap his way
through 'Rich Kids'
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's tinny synth pop. It's not
good in itself, Gary Numan would cut his own
throat, Human League would curl up and die, even La Roux would look mildly embarrassed. So, it's horrible and the idea that the youngest, the most showered with opportunity can only offer the worst of Duran Duran is profoundly depressing.
WHERE IS IT? www.centreexcuse.co.uk
SHOOT ME, SHOOT ME NOW
GROOVE PIRATES "SAN FRANCISCO" (CHILIES RECORDS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? I didn't know that this kind of hyper-bounced, synth-swooshy shite was still legal. The addition of a 'risque n whisky' faux rap line is just too good to be true. To get a fix on the 'sounds like' guff you need to imagine something too sweet, sunlit and thirty years behind the times to get playlisted by the Mickey Mouse Club.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Not as music, but it will make you laugh out loud.
WHERE IS IT? www.soundcloud.com/groovepirates
GROOVE PIRATES "SAN FRANCISCO" (CHILIES RECORDS)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? I didn't know that this kind of hyper-bounced, synth-swooshy shite was still legal. The addition of a 'risque n whisky' faux rap line is just too good to be true. To get a fix on the 'sounds like' guff you need to imagine something too sweet, sunlit and thirty years behind the times to get playlisted by the Mickey Mouse Club.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Not as music, but it will make you laugh out loud.
WHERE IS IT? www.soundcloud.com/groovepirates
STILL SLEEPING IN THE STREET
ALLO DARLIN' "CAPRICORNIA" (FORTUNA POP!)
RELEASED? 13th February 2012.
SOUNDS LIKE? Voice Of The
Beehive, a bit more in the way of
jangle, quite a bit less in the way
of overblown production, but this is,
quite deliciously, yet very definitely,
brit-pop bumping lazily into
California. So, that's the title track
consumed by the bloated critic,
but the b-side is, so very often, the
real clue to the nature of a band
and Allo Darlin' are no exception... 'When You Were Mine' being a gently jagged
and compelling lament to lost love, almost jazzy with the cross-cutting percussion,
but warmed by the spiked up jangle melody and warm, brown, easing the hurt
vocal.
IS IT ANY GOOD? We prefer the b-side, but that's small brain, massive record
collection snobbery, so just tune in and decide, for yourself, that Allo Darlin' are
smart melancholy pop.
WHERE IS IT? www.fortunapop.com
Singles
IT'S A BIT FUCKING LATE?
MIKE MARLIN "THIS TOWN" (AMP MUSIC PRODUCTIONS)
RELEASED? 23rd January.
SOUNDS LIKE? The good
bit of the eighties. Steady
on, there was a good bit.
That bit was and is all the
good bits that Bowie and
Duran Duran dusted their
eighties shit with and Mike
Marlin does that on 'This
Town'. On the other hand, the flip, 'Unfortunate Son' is massively superior in every way. Sly and engaging fills, a cogent and compelling lyrical thread and I bet he'd do this stuff all night and day if some promo-prat hadn't got in the way.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Sure, catchy, engaging and instantly acceptable, but the b-side is very good.
WHERE IS IT? www.mikemarlin.co.uk
MIKE MARLIN "THIS TOWN" (AMP MUSIC PRODUCTIONS)
RELEASED? 23rd January.
SOUNDS LIKE? The good
bit of the eighties. Steady
on, there was a good bit.
That bit was and is all the
good bits that Bowie and
Duran Duran dusted their
eighties shit with and Mike
Marlin does that on 'This
Town'. On the other hand, the flip, 'Unfortunate Son' is massively superior in every way. Sly and engaging fills, a cogent and compelling lyrical thread and I bet he'd do this stuff all night and day if some promo-prat hadn't got in the way.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Sure, catchy, engaging and instantly acceptable, but the b-side is very good.
WHERE IS IT? www.mikemarlin.co.uk
The face of smart, melancholy pop
Double click to edit
The good bit of the 80's
IT'S NOT ALL JOHNNY HALLYDAY AND ONIONS ON A STRING
LOLA DUTRONIC "KEEP YOUR DREAMS" (RED
STAR DIGITAL MUSIC)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? They are from Canada, the acceptable
face of the North American continent, and they sound
like I may have said nice things about them in the past.
That's because they thoroughly embrace France, the
acceptable face of Canada. So, you'll already be aware
that 'Keep Your Dreams' is a breathy bit of swoon and
swirl pop with one foot in a Jane Birkin movie and the
other in an impossibly cool, but strangely clinical
monochromatic universe full of ghostly voiced tendresse.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes is both the short and the long answer. Jazz or death metal freaks couldn't fail to recognise the quality and you can easily imagine something like Simon Cowell gently slitting his wrists as he expires in a bath of warm Rumanian virgins urine, clumsily daubing the word 'Sorry' onto his pristine bathrobe as his hideous life slips away. Well,that's my dream and I'm keeping it.
WHERE IS IT? www.youtube.com/LOLADUTRONICTV
LOLA DUTRONIC "KEEP YOUR DREAMS" (RED
STAR DIGITAL MUSIC)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? They are from Canada, the acceptable
face of the North American continent, and they sound
like I may have said nice things about them in the past.
That's because they thoroughly embrace France, the
acceptable face of Canada. So, you'll already be aware
that 'Keep Your Dreams' is a breathy bit of swoon and
swirl pop with one foot in a Jane Birkin movie and the
other in an impossibly cool, but strangely clinical
monochromatic universe full of ghostly voiced tendresse.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Yes is both the short and the long answer. Jazz or death metal freaks couldn't fail to recognise the quality and you can easily imagine something like Simon Cowell gently slitting his wrists as he expires in a bath of warm Rumanian virgins urine, clumsily daubing the word 'Sorry' onto his pristine bathrobe as his hideous life slips away. Well,that's my dream and I'm keeping it.
WHERE IS IT? www.youtube.com/LOLADUTRONICTV
Sorry
TIGER MILK ALL ROUND!
BIG WAVE "ANOTHER YEAR OR TWO" (BANDCAMP)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? It's classic and very traditional, very English 'indie-pop'. All pressed shirts, bright smiles, girls on keyboards and vocals, boys on everything else. The production is mud soup, but the melody skips clear and says 'if this was a Belle & Sebastian b-side, the critics would be drooling'.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It is a fine example of English indie pop.
WHERE IS IT? www.bigwave@bandcamp
BIG WAVE "ANOTHER YEAR OR TWO" (BANDCAMP)
RELEASED? Out now.
SOUNDS LIKE? It's classic and very traditional, very English 'indie-pop'. All pressed shirts, bright smiles, girls on keyboards and vocals, boys on everything else. The production is mud soup, but the melody skips clear and says 'if this was a Belle & Sebastian b-side, the critics would be drooling'.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It is a fine example of English indie pop.
WHERE IS IT? www.bigwave@bandcamp
STOP PRESS: ROMANCE NOT DEAD
MY TINY ROBOTS "ZUT ALORS" (WOODTHIEF RECORDS)
RELEASED? 23rd January.
SOUNDS LIKE? The display
panel on our steam driven
stereo says 'unknown artist',
this is unhelpful and means
that I'll have to make up
some old shite about My
Tiny Robots coming over all
Jethro Tull vs something that
may have the word 'gypsy' in
it. All of this is whip-lashed
into some punked out
holding pen for French pop
songs that have playfully
contracted rabies. This is
just one way of suggesting
that a crisply clattering
production, olde, folke style
vocals and a cattle-prodded romany reel make their own, rather wonderful hurricane.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Very, we're going to miss them when Scotland buggers off.
WHERE IS IT? www.mytinyrobots.com
MY TINY ROBOTS "ZUT ALORS" (WOODTHIEF RECORDS)
RELEASED? 23rd January.
SOUNDS LIKE? The display
panel on our steam driven
stereo says 'unknown artist',
this is unhelpful and means
that I'll have to make up
some old shite about My
Tiny Robots coming over all
Jethro Tull vs something that
may have the word 'gypsy' in
it. All of this is whip-lashed
into some punked out
holding pen for French pop
songs that have playfully
contracted rabies. This is
just one way of suggesting
that a crisply clattering
production, olde, folke style
vocals and a cattle-prodded romany reel make their own, rather wonderful hurricane.
IS IT ANY GOOD? Very, we're going to miss them when Scotland buggers off.
WHERE IS IT? www.mytinyrobots.com
A SCAR AS DEEP AS THE SEA?
FIREFALLDOWN "THESE WOUNDS" (i-TUNES / AMAZON)
RELEASED? 19th March.
SOUNDS LIKE? Chilli peppered metal. Over elaborated, over produced schlock which is a bit of a bugger, mainly because they'll get nowhere playing it and I just get a bit cross listening to it.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's the audio version of bad sex, lots of huffing, puffing and yawning while thinking about the people who can it properly.
WHERE IS IT? www.firefalldown.com
FIREFALLDOWN "THESE WOUNDS" (i-TUNES / AMAZON)
RELEASED? 19th March.
SOUNDS LIKE? Chilli peppered metal. Over elaborated, over produced schlock which is a bit of a bugger, mainly because they'll get nowhere playing it and I just get a bit cross listening to it.
IS IT ANY GOOD? It's the audio version of bad sex, lots of huffing, puffing and yawning while thinking about the people who can it properly.
WHERE IS IT? www.firefalldown.com
I'M MARY POPPINS!
JANICE GRAHAM BAND "NO MONEY HONEY" (ACID JAZZ)
RELEASED? 20th February.
SOUNDS LIKE? Terry Hall in charge of Scumbag Philosopher
or Jamie T fluffing The Specials, but nothing like the Arctic
Monkeys, because Janice Graham Band are dead good.
Dead good via their slickly abrasive, brass haunted funk rawk
and small word, big brain lyrical portraits sketched with blunt
needles. They put me in mind of Superqueens, ruthlessly, but
romantically documenting and dissecting life, situations and
events with simple clarity. Janice Graham Band sound like a
real band.
IS IT ANY GOOD? If we still value a finely balanced mixture of style and content, intelligence, passion, craft and graft, then Janice Graham Band are very good indeed.
WHERE IS IT? www.acidjazz.co.uk
JANICE GRAHAM BAND "NO MONEY HONEY" (ACID JAZZ)
RELEASED? 20th February.
SOUNDS LIKE? Terry Hall in charge of Scumbag Philosopher
or Jamie T fluffing The Specials, but nothing like the Arctic
Monkeys, because Janice Graham Band are dead good.
Dead good via their slickly abrasive, brass haunted funk rawk
and small word, big brain lyrical portraits sketched with blunt
needles. They put me in mind of Superqueens, ruthlessly, but
romantically documenting and dissecting life, situations and
events with simple clarity. Janice Graham Band sound like a
real band.
IS IT ANY GOOD? If we still value a finely balanced mixture of style and content, intelligence, passion, craft and graft, then Janice Graham Band are very good indeed.
WHERE IS IT? www.acidjazz.co.uk
I'm Mary Poppins?
