Having vowed to save up money for a little r&r trip to Mexico in the summer, going around spending all my money isn't exactly the best way to go about this task, but what can you really do when people keep waving shit like this in front of your face:
What is it? Well, nothing. Just a white label; but that crappy little picture represents something much, much more. 'Tis "only" the super-ultimate-incredible limited edition test pressing 12" of Bonobo's 'Kiara'.
If you're unfamiliar with Kiara, it's one of the finer tunes off Bonobo's very fine indeed 'Black Sands' album from a few years ago and it goes a little something like this
My shopaholism doesn't end there though. I thought I might as well, "while I'm here", preorder the new James Blake EP 'Love What Happened here'.
Like me, you might be pleased to hear the new EP, which is out on Belgian R&S Records, is a step away from the whiny albeit very good repetition of his LP and a step towards his previous releases such as 'CMYK' and 'Air & Lack Thereof' on R&S and Hemlock respectively. Good news, ya?
This is 'At Birth' off the new EP. Kind of reminds me of Caribou's 'Bowls'
A handful of songs out last year and an album rumoured to be released some time this year, this is not the last you've heard of Kyla la Grange. Seriously I must have had "Walk Through Walls" on repeat for almost the entire year. Pretty much the ultimate air-grabbing power ballad of 2011.
# 19 Cults - Cults
Yes, "Go Outside" was used in every single fucking advert under the sun, but it doesn't mean it's still not a great song. Cults' debut album was a subtle reminder of how good 60's doo wop still is and that it can be replicated to make almost any hipster cream their excruciatingly tight pants. Still, I saw these guys last May and it only went to confirm my love for the album. It starts to repeat itself towards the end so maybe pushing the concept is in order for album #2?
# 18 Braids - Native Speaker
Another band I chanced to see earlier last year, Canadians Braids released "Native Speaker" so early last year that I was afraid I'd forget all about it come the end of the year polls. No chance of that happening because Native Speaker has that listen and then listen again quality about it. If you want to describe them as the female-fronted Animal Collective then so be it. Personally I think there's so much more to them. Beautiful stuff.
# 17 Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam
I can see a pattern forming here. I saw Ghostpoet earlier in the year too which cemented "Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam's" place on this list. Raps about everyday normal life over bleak bass-heavy post dubstep breaks. Special.
Lana Del Rey's been quite the force of nature. Unavoidable and controversial. "OMG has she had her lips filled?" "OMG is she authentic?" "OMG am I allowed to listen to her?"
Sure you can deny that "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans" are good songs but luckily this is my list and I'm not denying it thus they're on the list. Dig it.
# 15 Fixers - Here's 2001 So Let's All Head For the Sun EP
So again, I saw these guys last year and even though they were unfortunately mixed to sound like a sack of shit playing the bagpipes, you could still, through the awful sonic mess, get the idea that these guys really have a knack for a catchy melody. Their studio recordings thankfully sound miles better and this EP does it all really.
For Bon Iver's second album it seems Justin Vernon finally got over his break up with Emma and recorded an album which is essentially a list of his favourite places. In fact the track list reads a bit like all the places your creepy older relative has been. You know, the one who sends you weird postcards of lakes and cottages from everywhere they go.
# 13 Peaking Lights - 936
This duo's amazing lo-fi record hit me out of the blue some time last year. Well the song "All the Sun That Shines" hit me out of the blue with it's hypnotic bass groove and the rest of the album followed suite. "936" is THE summer chill album that still goes nicely even though I'll probably not see the sun again for a few months.
Sadly the legendary Gil Scott-Heron passed away last year and his 2010 "I'm New Here" album will remain the genius' last in a career spanning 5 decades. "We're New Here" is a collaboration between Scott-Heron and Jamie XX ie. the producer behind The XX which revamps I'm New Here and adds elements of house, dubstep and hip hop. It just goes to show that even at the age of 60, Scott-Heron wouldn't rest on his laurels and was open and ready to embrace new ideas.
# 11 James Blake - s/t
So what if Blake's reinvented his sound for his debut album? For a few EPs Blake was one of the most exciting dubstep producers around and then he came out with this, this soft self-versed album of phrases repeated ad infinitum. Some said he'd sold out, some were freaked out by the fact he actually sang on the album himself, some said "James Blake" was fucking boring. Some impressionable young women and me said it's a wonderfully beautiful record with incredible production. You just have to listen to it, like.
Okay so I seem to be the advocate for everything James Blake but, hey, give me a break. The man has stolen my entire look, face, body and soul so the least I can do as a bit of payback is stalk his entire life.
You might remember a while back I posted 'Fall Creek Boys Choir' his collab with Justin Vernon aka. Bon Iver? Well that track was just a sample of the new James Blake EP titled 'Enough Thunder'.
Enough Thunder's released October 10th but the good people at Blakey HQ have decided that an online stream of the EP is the right way forward. True dat. It's ace.
Thing's even got a Joni Mitchell cover on it (A Case of You) which is basically just James and a piano making a hell of a lot of young women moist in the loins.
So here it is James: I'm still pissed off with you for completely cramping my style, but yet I do salute you for making an album of babe-friendly smooth tunes to accompany sweet tender love-making.
This song just has to be blogged about for the simple reason that it's a collaboration between two of the most blogged about artists of the past year or so. So it doesn't matter if it's a good song or not, when two artists like that release a tune together they they could be doing armpit farts for 20 minutes and odds are, it'll still be everywhere sooner or later.
Guess what?
It sounds a lot like Justin Vernon singing onto a James Blake backing track.
Who'd have thought?
But seeing as I'm quite fond of both of them, I'm more than happy to just go along with the ride, even though Vernon's wailing at some point sounds a bit like an autotuned car alarm.
Today it finally happened. The artists for this year's Flow Festival in Helsinki were announced and holy moly is this a wicked awesome day to wake up and breathe in that ever so slightly drizzly air. Yessir! After the show Ruisrock are gonna be putting out this summer it seems Helsinki HAD to go one step further, pull out all the stops and beat its lil' baby euro-culture-capital city and announce the best alternative music festival Finland has ever seen (well at least in my time here).
I think it's pretty safe to say that if the weather ain't gonna be hot, well at least the tunes will. For the full line-up go here: http://www.flowfestival.com/esiintyjat/
Now I'm just going to list some of my personal highlights. Incredible.
There's the odd chance I'll see Warpaint in Brighton next month, but I'm still hugely bitter after missing them a year ago, so maybe I'll just see them as many times as I can to make up for it. Oh and because they're brilliant. Undertow by warpaintwarpaint
Lykke Li should be essential live listening, purely because her first album played such a part in molding this "identity" of mine. I Follow Rivers by LykkeLi
Hauschka from Germany makes these immensely beautiful piano-driven classical tunes and I've always said people don't listen to classical music enough. Be it because concert halls usually have an awfully stuck up atmosphere or not, I don't know. Hauschka - Alexanderplatz by Hauschkamusic
Pantha Du Prince (also German) and his amazing Black Noise album kind of became my minimalistic soundtrack of last winter. So looking forward to seeing him do his thang. The Splendour by Pantha du Prince
These would have been more than enough to secure my 100+whatever euros for the weekend, but no they're also giving us:
Whoever said dubstep is dying has obviously not told James Blake.
Not only does he perform live vocals for the awesome Mount Kimbie but he's released four of his own EPs and I guess they were all from this year. So he's a bit of a busy bastard, but one who posesses such a talent to produce such infectious tunes that when appropriately applied would have your entire body reverberating.
"Boom-boom-dance-dance" isn't what these songs are. Especially on the new Klavierwerke EP, which features a more stripped down sound. Oftentimes delayed piano playing a large part, whereas the sub-bass and rythmics only build up later on.
OH and his cover of Feist's Limit To Your Love is quite possibly THE best cover song I've heard in ages/ever. Holy moly, hold on to your hats people!
