November 2010
49 posts
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November, In Reviews
9.3 - Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 8.5 - Twin Shadow - Forget 8.1 - Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer 8.1 - Guards - EP 7.6 - Tigers That Talked - The Merchant 7.4 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Horse Power EP 7.1 - Lyrebirds - Blondehead 5.9 - Lauren Pritchard - Wasted In Jackson Archive: OCTOBER SEPTEMBER AUGUST JULY JUNE MAY APRIL MARCH FEBRUARY JANUARY
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Album of the week: Robyn - Body Talk
A culmination of all her hard work over the past year, ‘Body Talk’ is, piece-by-piece, the filtering off all of this year’s work into one, filler-free pop album, prone to blowing your mind. Robyn’s just about managed to step out of “underrated” territory this year, partly thanks to the three-album-a-year scheme. She is now a credible, imaginative pop artist...
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mpfree: Girls - Carolina
‘Carolina’ is the sort of song that you need to hear. I’ve little doubt that you’ve seen the words “Girls - Carolina”, “mp3” “free” “amazing” smudged across your computer screen every time you’ve visited a music website in the past two weeks, but it’s just that kind of song: Demanding of everybody’s...
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The Fanclub: Poets Die Too
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Generally, a great debut single (coupled with a decent amount of exposure) can mark a band out as one with potential. Such was the case when London quintet The Fanclub opened their account back in July with ‘Madman’, displaying their colourful, dramatic indie rock in fine style.
It’s immensely satisfying, therefore, to learn that just-released...
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Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Kanye West is not exactly one to keep things to a minimum. He’s much more the kind of person who thinks, ‘Hmm, how many guest spots can I get on a single song?’. If ever there was a clear indicator of the lengths he’s prepared to go to, it’s that ‘All Of The Lights’ features a hell of a lot of other people - and we’re...
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New Entrepreneurs!
Adam Crisp has been at it again. In between making his live debut a short while ago and lining up more shows, he’s been doing what he does best, that is, creating more of his wonderfully twisted glitch-pop.
The only thing disappointing about ‘Moon/Canal/Nausea’ is how short it is, running to a mere 90 seconds. None of this brief span is wasted, however: this is perhaps his...
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Album of the week: Kanye West - ...Fantasy
You’ve read the reviews, you’ve probably heard at least half of the record via. Good Friday releases, and you’re ready to go out and buy it.
We don’t really need review quotes this week, more a list of all the big publications that have handed out the perfect 10: Consequence of Sound, The Independent, One Thirty BPM, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Music Fix.
When we...
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Horse Power EP
Words: Gareth O’Malley // Scribed for One Thirty BPM
Misleading band names, eh. They’re fun, at the very least. This band (a duo, from Detroit of all places) sound absolutely nothing like they might be expected to with a name like that. They only named themselves after a fucking NASCAR driver! They seem to be getting mileage (oops, that wasn’t intentional, honest!) out of it too, as...
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Guards: EP
Words: Gareth O’Malley
That cover art is nothing if not eye-catching. Even if it’s one of the most confusing sleeves we’ve seen this year, it definitely serves a purpose, piquing the interest of the potential listener.
And just like that, the job is done, because from there on out, from the moment ‘Resolution of One’ kicks in, Guards’ brand of psychedelic...
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Lyrebirds: Blondehead
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Those people that said imitation was the lowest form of flattery were absolutely spot-on. It’s not particularly acceptible in music, but there are bands who can tip the hat to their influences in a masterful fashion whilst not being in thrall to them.
Lyrebirds are one such band. The composite parts of their sound are rather easy to figure out. Oh hey! Singer...
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Tigers That Talked: The Merchant
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Calling a band ‘the next (insert well-known band here)’ is both a blessing and a curse. The potential that such comparisons point to can often go unfulfilled, and the hype machine can often get it disastrously wrong. We’re of the opinion that new bands have no business being ‘the next’ anyone, and should always seek to succeed on their...
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mpfree: Suuns - Gaze
words: Jamie Milton
With sheer momentum arrives ‘Gaze’, the most energetic, pent-up effort on Secretly Canadian signing Suuns’ debut record. The bass is a hot iron, the melody-enhancing guitars a piercing device, Ben Shemie’s monotonous vocals providing a blank-canvassing contrast. Out of nowhere, a ‘The National Anthem’-esque horn solo escapes through the...
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WatchAUDIOVISUALS: Museum of Bellas Artes - Days Ahead One of next year’s biggest prospects whet the appetite that little bit more. Out on Force Majeure very soon.
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Album of the week: Twin Shadow - Forget
A stunning, neurotic account of being out of love and needing it more than anything else. George Lewis, in Forget, announces himself as quite the talent.
—————————————————————— A quote from our review: “George Lewis Jr. might not dress or act like a...
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Stagecoach vs. Johnny Foreigner: Split 7"
Words: Gareth O’Malley
…and now for something completely different. Released to coincide with their upcoming UK tour, here’s a split single from Johnny Foreigner (who we are big fans of, if you don’t know that already) and Stagecoach (who, on the evidence of the material they’ve contributed to this single, we will be big fans of very soon indeed).
Four songs are...
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Words With: MEN
Gareth O’Malley vs. MEN
I had a brief chat with Brooklynites MEN last week. Here’s how it went; along the way, such subjects as inspiration, travelling, album leaks and (of course) forthcoming debut ‘Talk About Body’ showed up.
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MFM: Hello. How have things been going recently?
MEN: Well hello there. Things have been going pretty well. We are really excited for...
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Cee Lo Green: The Lady Killer
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Words: Gareth O’Malley // Scribed for This Is Fake DIY
Big singles can often become millstones. On pop albums, in particular, an ubiquitous lead single can overshadow the rest of the record. Such a scenario was what was feared with Cee Lo Green’s third solo album, ‘The Lady Killer’. The massive single in question is of course ‘Fuck You!’. It’s become...
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Twin Shadow - Forget
words: Jamie Milton scribed for The Line Of Best Fit
George Lewis Jr. aka. Twin Shadow, from many people’s perception, lives on his own, writes on his own and records on his own. He is, from the demonstration of his music videos and the songs he writes, a man who suits isolation; living within his own parameters quite comfortably. But he’s been out of love. Add to that the fact that he’s a...
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Live: Halves/At Last An Atlas, The Workman's Club,...
Words: Gareth O’Malley
While the atmosphere of this celebratory knees-up at The Workman’s Club was a little more subdued than would be expected - Halves have just released their debut album after all - the powerful nature of the group’s music made up for it in spades.
The warm-up act was At Last An Atlas (Greg O’Brien with vocal assistance from Francis Downey), and...
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WatchAUDIOVISUALS/// Grass House - Lazy Bones
These guys are good at writing diverse songs. They’re also good at ensuring these songs are fucking quality. The EP threw more curveballs than we thought was possible in such a short time, and Grass House have surprised us yet again. The video’s pretty good too. Did we mention you can download the song for free?
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mpfree: Warpaint - Undertow (Blackbird Blackbird...
words: Jamie Milton All is well. Warpaint have graced the front cover of the NME. Their debut, ‘The Fool’ is receiving more praise as each day passes. And here’s some added strengthening of their reputation, with a remix from the almighty Blackbird Blackbird; perhaps the bloggiest outfit in blog land. Like much of what’s found on the aforementioned’s own work, the...
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Album of the week: Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
As the releases dry up in 2010’s closing months, step forward the battle of the heavyweights. American artists with universal appeal are stepping up to the pedestal this year; Kanye, Rihanna and Cee Lo Green, the voice behind the hugely successful Gnarls Barkley project. ‘Fuck You’ was a revelation. At first a viral success, its meteoric rise up the American and British charts...
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mpfree: Daughter - Run
Elena Tonra has a wise, bitter tongue. “Run, run, run, run” she quivers with a sharp pace, contemplating the idea of the decaying of the state of mind; the last steps. The melancholic acoustic chords and the feathery touch of Tonra’s vocals might hint at a whole lot of innocence, but delve into ‘Run”s words and you discover one of the most sore, pessimistic songs...
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Get People get remixed, remix The Good Natured
This is a match made in heaven, trust us. One half of Get People’s fantastic new AA-side single (the marginally better half), ‘Careless’, has been given the remix treatment by Is Tropical, and it sounds like this:
Careless (Is Tropical Remix) by Toast Press
The Get People, er, people have been busy themselves (never mind the fact that the single was only out on Monday)....
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WatchEditorial/Audiovisuals - Robyn Secret Gig, sponsored by Beck’s Blue
This is most definitely something that should be taken advantage of. In exchange for sharing your memories of a great gig you’ve been at, you can be entered into a draw to see Robyn, the woman responsible for one of the best singles of the year (‘Dancing On My Own’). She’s teamed up with Beck’s...
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Lauren Pritchard - Wasted In Jackson
words: Jamie Milton scribed for MusicOMH Lauren Pritchard’s story so far is one of right place, right time. The Tennessee-born singer was a dropout from a mildly successful band before being sheltered in LA by Lisa Marie Presley, of all people - doubtless strumming a guitar and singing a Johnny Cash song. Now a UK resident, contacts seem to have favoured the on-the-brink-of-something-big...
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November UK Albums Release Schedule (How Simon...
(releases worth your time are in bold) November 1st Cheryl Cole – Messy Little Raindrops Good Charlotte – Cardiology Jamiroquai - Rock Dust Light Star Lauren Pritchard – Wasted In Jackson N*E*R*D – Nothing Rumer - Seasons Of My Soul Surf City - Kudos November 8th I Blame Coco – The Constant The Concretes - WYWH Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer James Blunt - Some Kind Of Trouble Nadine...
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October, In Reviews
9.7 - Halves - It Goes (Forever And Ever) 9.7 - Her Name Is Calla - The Quiet Lamb 9.0 - 65 Days of Static - Heavy Sky EP 8.4 - The Flaws - Constant Adventure 8.4 - The Phantom Band - The Wants 8.4 - The Xcerts - Scatterbrain 8.3 - Belle And Sebastian - Write About Love 8.0 - I Like Trains - He Who Saw The Deep 8.0 - French Soler - S/T 7.8 - The Attika State - Measures 7.6 - Houses - All Night...