My New Favorite Record This Week

To be fair the title of this post should really say "My New Favorite Record This Week, Last Week, The Week Before, The Week Before That And Probably Next Week Too.". Githead are Colin Newman from Wire, Robin Rimbaud (aka Scanner), Colin's wife Malka Spigel and drummer Max Franken, both formerly of Israeli new wave act Minimal Compact. Githead have been in existence since 2004. They have already released two EPs and one album, 2005's Profile. And I only just learned about them a month or two ago. Where the hell have I been? These guys are tremendous. I have been listening to Art Pop almost every day for a month now. Musically it really reminds me of Wire at their poppiest - both the early years and the late '80s stuff like Ideal Copy where things got a bit more electronic. Art Pop to me is a perfect blend of space-rock, art rock, punk, dub, new wave and electro-pop. It rocks hard in places, with Colin and Robin dueling it out on guitar. There are pop-tastic moments, some great melodies and some nice, spacy ambient songs with Malka's vocals. I think I actually prefer these songs to the recent Wire records, which have been less about intricate and edgy interplay and more about bludgeoning metal riffs. It is the perfect synthesis of the experimental and conventional into a memorable whole. This one will make my year end best of for sure. Here are a couple of tasty tracks that demonstrate both the rock-ist and the dance-y, spaced out sides of the band.

On Your Own
Rotterdam

Funky Friday Has Bangin' Beats

Matthew Dear - Good To Be Alive
Asa Breed
Leftfield microhouser Matthew Dear's new album drops June 5th on Ghostly International. It's house-y and glitchy like all of the good Ghostly stuff is, but then he throws real instruments into the mix and tops it all of with his baritone croon. It adds up to a unique take on minimal electronica, influenced by the polyrhythms of Byrne and Eno. I've only had this for a couple of days but I like what I hear.
Digitalism - Zdarlight
Idealism
The Hamburg duo who have come to be known for their remixes finally get their debut out, and it's another mish mash of styles and sounds. Their sound is always hard, a mix of rock and electronics, filled with riffage and memorable tunes. They include a bit of the Cure's Fire In Cairo in Digitalism In Cairo to great effect. This is robot rock that cribs from all of the usual sources ('ello Daft Punk) but doesn't bore like so much of it ('ello Daft Punk). A bumpin' LP.
Chemical Brothers - A Modern Midnight Conversation
We Are The Night
Tom and Ed are back, and they've brought a pretty entertaining record with them. It's a solid mix of bangin' instrumentals and songs with featured vocalists. The Klaxons, Midlake and Fatlip (Pharcyde) are all present. I keep thinking I'm over these guys but somehow they keep bringing me back into the fold.
New Young Pony Club - Fan
Fantastic Playroom
This London 5 piece drop their debut next month. It's a heady brew of indie rock, disco, no wave funk, electro and synth pop. For influences think LCD Soundsystem, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, ESG and even Grace Jones. There is a touch of electroclash in this with the monotone singing and '80s synths. I really am enjoying this album's hard and sexy dance party vibes.

Funky Friday Four Pack

I've had a craptacularly crappy week. I haven't had time to post once. Life has been speeding by, with every moment filled with activity. Yowsah. Thank goodness it's Friday, because lord knows I need a break from the drudgery. Here are some fantastic new tunes to get you dancing your way into the weekend.

Junior Boys - Like A Child (Carl Craig Remix)
The Dead Horse EP
Carl sprinkles minimalism all over this, and in the end it is 10 minutes and 39 seconds of techno bliss.

Bonde Do Role - Marina Do Bairro
With Lasers
Fat electro from the forthcoming LP from these Brazilian blogger favorites. A very enjoyable album.

Justice - New Jack
†
The current faves of the music blogosphere - all you need to do is check out the Hype Machine's Popular Blog Tracks to see that. Despite all of the hype, it is a record that is largely worthy of your attention.

Amerie - Some Like It
Because I Love It
Amerie sings over a backing track constructed from samples of Malcolm McClaren's World's Famous, taken from his seminal debut album Duck Rock. Produced by Trevor Horn, performed by him and his cohorts (who went on to become Art Of Noise), it is a prime slice of 1983 NYC flavored electro. Inspired choice of source material indeed.

Funky Friday Is A Family Affair

All seven of Sly & The Family Stone's classic albums have been remastered and expanded, many with previously unreleased tracks. They are available as a box set (which my fave record shop had on sale for $60.00 - now that's a deal!) and individually. They are numbered, limited editions in digipaks. They have expanded booklets with lots of photos and liner notes and details. They are fantastic. Seminal recordings, radical ideas, and tight ass musicianship - it's all good. Starting in the late '60s they blended pop, funk, soul and psychedelic rock in a unique and accessible way. Over the years (and with the help of a lot drugs) things got looser and funkier and spacier. I highly recommend these reissues to anyone with more than a passing interest in good music. Tracks marked with an * are previously unreleased...

Are You Ready
Higher (Unissued Single Version)*
Dance To The Music

Underdog
You Better Help Yourself (Instrumental)*
A Whole New Thing

Family Affair
You Caught Me Smilin'
There's A Riot Goin' On

Time For Livin'
Loose Booty (Alternate Version)*
Small Talk

New Music Tuesday - The Bad Plus

Minneapolis' power jazz trio The Bad Plus are back in action today with a new label (after 3 albums on Columbia Records) and a new album called Prog. This trio of instrumentalists (Reid Anderson on bass/Ethan Iverson on piano/David King on drums) mix modal jazz, power trio rock-isms and math rock into their heady brew of originals and covers. Covers are a big part of the appeal of these guys to me (they've always been known for their range of covers, from Nirvana to the Pixes to Black Sabbath). As well as the band's own sharp and angular compositions, this album has four interesting covers; Bowie's Life On Mars, Burt Bacharach's This Guy's In Love With You, Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World and Rush's Tom Sawyer. Insanity? On paper you'd think so, but in reality it's pretty cool. I like the vibe on Everybody Wants To Rule The World a lot - it captures the melancholy mood of the original anthem. It's interesting to note that Patti Smith also covered this song recently, although her version failed to move me. The Rush cover IS insanity, but it's inspired insanity, and this power trio has the heft to pull off the meaty groove.

Funky Friday Four Pack

Gus Gus - Lust
Forever

Simian Mobile Disco - Wooden
Attack Decay Sustain Release

Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu - Hermetic Man
Joystone
James Brown - Funky Drummer (Listen To The MURO Mix)
Ultimate Remixes

New Music Tuesday Assumes The Magic Position

Patrick Wolf's third album The Magic Position gets its US release today. I have been listening to a bootleg of this album for a couple of months now and it is fantastic. I picked up my legit copy today. I am new to young (he's only 23) Patrick's music, having never heard his previous music. From what I've read, the early albums (which are now on my want list) are experimental and electronic filled with dark, stark ballads and songs that hinted at pop possibilities. The Magic Position is a much brighter, happier record - that should be apparent from the colorful cover shot, eh? Big swelling choruses abound, as do laptop glitches and horns and all manner of sonic embellishment. The tunes are memorable, with hints of the melancholy of old. There is a semi spooky cameo from Marianne Faithfull. It is a big, swoony ride of an album that has me captivated. The title track is an explosion of sounds - big Motown beats, strings, horns, toy pianos and a glorious chorus. Let's Go Get Lost really reminds me of early The The - there is something about the melody and the combination of electric and acoustic instruments. A great album that deserves a listen.
The Magic Position
Let's Go Get Lost

Funky Friday Is Leaky

Dub Pistols - Gansgsters (feat. Terry Hall)
Speakers And Tweeters
Barry Ashworth has decided to drop the big beat thing all together and focus instead on hip hop, dub and disco party grooves. This is a remake of the old Specials classic with none other than the original singer. There are several other covers too - Blondie's Rapture, also with Terry singing, and The Stranglers' Peaches gets a cheeky update.

Von Südenfed - That Sound Wiped
Tromatic Reflexxions
The Fall's Mark E. Smith fronting Mouse On Mars. For real. This is a remake of Wipe That Sound from the duo's 2004 album Radical Connector. The rest of this entertaining LP fluctuates between power elctronics and hard edged electro pop with a couple of mellower interludes, all embellished with Mark E.'s ranting and raving. Good stuff.

Groove Armada - Drop That Thing
Soundboy Rock
These guys have been gone for almost 5 years, so I was interested to hear this. It's a good mix of old school electro, ragga, house and downtempo with a little bit of everything else in between. There are a bunch of guests - Simon Lord (Simian Mobile Disco), Candi Staton, Mutya Buena (ex Sugababe), Tony Allen (Fela Kuti/The Good The Bad & The Queen) and Alan Donohoe (The Rakes). I was unimpressed with 2003's Lovebox, and Soundboy Rock is an improvement - albeit a song or two too long.

DJ Mehdi - Always Be An Angel
DJ Mehdi - Hot-O-Momo
Lucky Boy
A great album on Ed Banger Records from this French whiz has him trying all kinds of stuff, from old school electro to house to party jams to Prince-ly funk. This is a seriously tasty set of electronica that isn't tired and boring and played out.

Björk - Hope
Volta
Sound quality is a bit iffy here but the record is a welcome return to more accessible fare, which I personally am glad for.

My Favorite New Record This Week

It has only taken him 25 years, but Mitch Easter has finally released a solo album. Dynamico is the first new music from Mitch since his '80s band Let's Active split up in 1989 - eighteen years ago. And I have been waiting for this album all of those 18 years. Mitch is best known as a producer. He helmed the boards for early records by REM, and went on to work with Chris Stamey and Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement and Velvet Crush and any other number of lesser known indie power pop acts. I love him best for Let's Active. The music was inspired by the '60s, with plenty of Beatles and Byrds, but was definitely of the '80s too. I spent many a moment with their 1986 album Big Plans For Everybody, in awe of its clean, crisp psychedelic jangle and its hooks for miles. Dynamico pretty much picks up where he left off all those years ago. This is power pop of the highest quality, with Mitch playing everything on the album. His guitar playing is superb, with great solos scattered everywhere. His wife Shalini Chatterjee sings on five songs, and her harmonies definitely remind me of Faye Hunter and Angie Carlson's vocals from the old Let's Active records. A great return from one of rock music's most underrated talents, and destined to make my best-of-year list for sure.

Break Through
I Want A New Scene

New Music Tuesday - 5:55

Charlotte Gainsbourg's album 5:55 hits US stores today. Released in Europe last August, the US version has two bonus songs and is enhanced with 3 videos. I LOVE this album and have written about it a couple of times - it made my best of 2006 list. Here is a repost of the piece I did last December, with a little bonus action...


Charlotte Gainsbourg's 5:55 was released at the end of August this year. I scored a copy a couple of months ago, and have not stopped listening to it yet. If I was in the habit of making a year end "best of" list, I reckon this would be a candidate for the top 5, maybe even the top 3. Here's a quick breakdown for you. The music on the album is written and played by Air and produced by Nigel Godrich. The string arrangements are by Beck's dad, David Campbell. The drums are played by Tony Allen, one time drummer for Fela Kuti, now in Damon Albarn's The Good The Bad & The Queen. Lyrics are also collaborative, with Charlotte and the Air boys joined by the witty, sharp pens of Jarvis Cocker and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. The end result is pretty spectacular. The music is Air at their best, lush and moody, a cool blend of electronics and organic instrumentation. There are echoes of her famous dad Serge in some of the bass lines and the strings. She coos in a seductive and breathy style not too terribly far removed from her mum, Jane Birkin, and it fits the songs very well. She also occasionally cops her dad's style of half speaking lyrics. The Operation is one of the few uptempo tracks and features a driving beat, lots of sinewy, intertwining guitar riffs and fab piano. The lyrics are deliciously creepy, mixing love and surgery metaphors. The second single from the album is The Song That We Sing. Full of gorgeous, swelling strings, chunky bass and lush melodies accented by chime-y bells, this tune grabbed me right away. A really gorgeous album.
_____________________________

Set Yourself On Fire is one of the bonus tracks from the US version. It features lyrics by Jarvis Cocker, a piano arpeggio riff that drives the song, and sonically it fits in nicely with the rest of the record.

Funky Friday Has Stax Appeal

The Bar-Kays - Soul Finger

Booker T. & The MGs - Soul Limbo

Rufus Thomas - Do The Funky Chicken

Jean Knight - Mr. Big Stuff

The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There

A couple of weeks ago I picked this up for $15.99. It is a 2 disc set of classic Stax Records material from the '60s & '70s, all remastered and packaged with a cool booklet (lots of photos and stories) in a hardboard box. That nifty graphic of fingers snapping on the cover is a lenticular - you move the box, the fingers really snap. Coolness. And the music is smoking. 50 tracks in all, and not a dull moment to be had. There is sultry soul, swampy blues funk, good time party music and everything in between. It is fantastic of course, and filled with more classics than you can shake a stick at. I still can't believe how cheap it was. Highly recommended. Here's the full line-up...

1. GEE WHIZ (LOOK AT HIS EYES) - Carla Thomas
2. LAST NIGHT - The Mar-Keys
3. YOU DON'T MISS YOUR WATER - William Bell
4. GREEN ONIONS - Booker T. & The MGs
5. WALKING THE DOG - Rufus Thomas
6. I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOO LONG (TO STOP NOW) - Otis Redding
7. CANDY - The Astors
8. RESPECT - Otis Redding
9. YOU DON'T KNOW LIKE I KNOW - Sam & Dave
10. I WANT SOMEONE - The Mad Lads
11. HOLD ON I'M COMIN' - Sam & Dave
12. LET ME BE GOOD TO YOU - Carla Thomas
13. YOUR GOOD THING (IS ABOUT TO END) - Mable John
14. KNOCK ON WOOD - Eddie Floyd
15. B-A-B-Y - Carla Thomas
16. TRAMP - Otis & Carla
17. SOUL FINGER - The Bar-Keys
18. BORN UNDER A BAD SIGN - Albert King
19. SOUL MAN - Sam & Dave
20. (SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY - Otis Redding
21. I GOT A SURE THING - Ollie & The Nightingales
22. SOUL LIMBO - Booker T. & The MGs
23. I'VE NEVER FOUND A GIRL (TO LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO) - Eddie Floyd
24. WHAT A MAN - Linda Lyndell
25. PRIVATE NUMBER - William Bell & Judy Clay
26. WHO'S MAKING LOVE - Johnnie Taylor
27. I FORGOT TO BE YOUR LOVER - William Bell
28. I LIKE WHAT YOU'RE DOING (TO ME) - Carla Thomas
Disc: 2
1. TIME IS TIGHT - Booker T. & The MGs
2. SO I CAN LOVE YOU - The Emotions
3. WALK ON BY - Isaac Hayes
4. DO THE FUNKY CHICKEN - Rufus Thomas
5. JODY'S GOT YOUR GIRL AND GONE - Johnnie Taylor
6. MR. BIG STUFF - Jean Knight
7. NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE - Isaac Hayes
8. WHATCHA SEE IS WHATCHA GET - The Dramatics
9. RESPECT YOURSELF - The Staple Singers
10. THEME FROM SHAFT - Isaac Hayes
11. SON OF SHAFT - The Bar-Kays
12. THAT'S WHAT LOVE WILL MAKE YOU DO - Little Milton
13. I'VE BEEN LONELY FOR SO LONG - Frederick Knight
14. HEARSAY - Soul Children
15. IN THE RAIN - The Dramatics
16. I'LL TAKE YOU THERE - The Staple Singers
17. STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN - Mel & Timn
18. DEDICATED TO THE ONE I LOVE - The Temprees
19. IF YOU'RE READY (COME GO WITH ME) - The Staple Singers
20. CHEAPER TO KEEP HER - Johnnie Taylo
21. I'LL BE THE OTHER WOMAN - Soul Children
22. WOMAN TO WOMAN - Shirley Brown

Twelve

Next Tuesday brings the release of Patti Smith's new album Twelve, a collection of twelve cover songs by some of her "inspirations". I've been listening to an advance copy of it for a couple of weeks now. It is an interesting project, with her regular band (Lenny Kaye on guitar, Jay Dee Daugherty on drums and Tony Shanahan on bass and keyboards) being augemented by some high profile guests - Italian cellist Giovanni Sollima, playwright Sam Shepard on banjo, '60s Greenwich Village folk artists John Cohen (banjo) and Peter Stampfel (fiddle), RHCP bassist Flea, guitarist Tom Verlaine, Rich Robinson (Black Crowes) on slide guitar and dulcimer and hip-hop producer Luis Resto (Eminem) on keyboards. Patti's kids Jackson and Jesse contribute guitar and vocals. The list of artists covered is both obvious and surprising. Her '60s icons are all here - Hendrix, The Doors, The Beatles and the Stones, Dylan, Neil Young and Jefferson Airplane. These to me are the obvious choices and are the tracks that I think work best. Where it gets a bit surreal is in the remaining four picks - Stevie Wonder, Nirvana, Paul Simon and Tears For Fears. Stevie's Pastime Paradise is interesting - many will only know it as sample source material for Coolio's '90s hit Gangsta's Paradise. Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit is rendered as a bluegrass ballad with some of Patti's poetry added, and I actually like how it turns out. Paul Simon's Boy In The Bubble was originally jaunty Afro pop, and this version doesn't capture the vibe for me. Ditto Tears For Fears' Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE this song. When I first heard about Patti doing this I was psyched to hear it. She and the band pretty much play it straight, and it will never match the glory of the TFF original that way. So, if you stick to the '60s you'll probably enjoy this. Here are her takes on Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane...
Are You Experienced?
White Rabbit