I remember when this were all multi-story carparks

I got sent this new single from Field Music a few weeks back. I gave it a listen and thought “yeah, pretty nice” and thought no more about it, however it’s since creapt back into my CD player and i’m getting slightly hooked.

Although intrinsically linked to local peers Maximo Park & The Futureheads, Field Music are a little more reserved, a little more thoughtful, and a little more influenced by 60s psychedelic pop (and The Beach Boys in particular).

Truth be told I slightly prefer the B-side ‘Off & On’, except that it ends far too soon for my liking. I’d have much preferred it’s two and a half minutes to be eeked out into something a bit more substantial.

The single is also great though, full of unexpected twists and turns and strange sounds. Actually now I think of it, there is a particular clunking drum sound that i’m getting quite annoyed by as every time I hear it I think i’ve left some crucial part of my car engine behind on the motorway. Apart from that though it’s excellent, and is my ‘on repeat’ of this past week.

Overall these two tracks show they’ve come on leaps & bounds since their endearing but slightly forgettable debut album. Hopefully this bodes well for album #2. In the meantime the single comes out on October 9th on the wonderful Memphis Industries (also home to The Pipettes, The Go! Team and Absentee amongst others).

FIELD MUSIC – IN CONTEXT

Oh look, you can watch the video here. It’s an Art Attack! Can you tell what it is yet?

Since i’ve also been listening to Fields quite a lot (Different Band! Different Band!), it would seem rude not to talk about them also. Unfortunately they’re always going to be linked in my mind with last month’s gig with iLiKETRAiNS that I was idiotic enough to buy a ticket for and then forget about. I’m still kicking myself as i’m DYING to see iLiKETRAiNS.

But anyway… Fields. Yeah. Well strangely they sound not dissimilar to Field Music. Although with a slight air of pastoral eccentricity hanging over them.

This is the lead track from their new single ‘7 from the village’… the imaginatively titled follow up to ‘4 from the village’. I know this has been on quite a few blogs already (actually, that’s something of an understatement!), but that’s because it’s really good. I should be brave and pick out a different song from the EP. But i’m not brave. And not to say the rest of it isn’t good, but this is clearly the standout track.

Don’t be a yokel, give it a listen.

FIELDS – SONG FOR THE FIELDS

I knew there was a reason that I don’t usually check Hype Machine before posting. I’d never put anything up if I did!

Go To The Record Store. Again.

The new exxxxtra hot video for Simian Mobile Disco’s ‘The Hustler’ gives me an excuse to post a track off their forthcoming single. It’s gonna be a limited vinyl only affair, reflecting the fact that these two tracks are a bit deeper and trackier than their usual fare. Most other blogs seem to have gone for ‘Tits and Acid’, but i’m more hot for ‘Animal House’… which has a kind of Basement Jaxx mixed with Metro Area vibe.

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO – ANIMAL HOUSE

This release will be pretty low key, however by the looks of this video they’re aiming for the heart of MTV with the new video for Hustler. It’s done by Saam Farahmand, who also did the Klaxons videos and that one by Dead Disco I put up a short while back. He calls it Shoreditch porn. The track seems to have been around forever, but i’d guess this signifies a re-release is coming up….?

Finally i’d almost forgotten about this, but I think the voting ends soon. If you do enjoy the site i’d be much obliged if you could click the link. I think you can vote as often as you want, which seems a bit daft, however it does mean that if you’ve voted before you can do it again!! Cheers xx

Shadow Boxing

I should get back into the habit of posting here really, i’ve been a bit slack lately.

Hopefully this should make it up… it’s the amazing Switch remix of the new Spank Rock single. Now despite being told all over the internet how good Spank Rock are, and in particular how good ‘YoYoYoYoYo‘ is, I didn’t really find it that inspiring. I mean it’s alright n’all, but I don’t think I made it all the way through the album without getting an itchy mouse button.

Bump, for instance, despite being one of the best tracks on the album, doesn’t really scream ‘SINGLE’ to me. However I was forgetting that they’d put it in the hands of some of the best remixers in the game. Not least of whom is Switch, who has done more mixing than Delia, but still seems to retain a both a distinctive sound and high quality standards. And this is the best i’ve heard. It’s loud and dirty (filthy dirty AND squelchy dirty), and i fuckin’ love it.

SPANK ROCK – BUMP (SWITCH REMIX)

Also, and since we’re talking Switch, here’s Ben from Skull Juice’s remix of the Switch classic ‘A Bit Patchy’… melding the ‘Apache’-sampling original with DJ Godfather’s ‘Bang The Box‘. It’s ace, as are most things these guys do. I’ve said it before, & i’ll say it again. Book them for your party!

BENEDICT X – A BIT BOXY

For the Ed Bangers

Sorry (Alex) for my self-indulgence with the football, but hey I can hardly get suitably excited by some new glitchy electro track whilst i’m basking in cup glory can I?

But that brief moment of joy is already fading into memories. So now I can hopefully appease you (Nicole) with, well, some new glitchy electro tracks.

PLUS

EQUALS

JAMELIA – SOMETHING ABOUT YOU (MR OIZO REMIX)

It’s available as a 10″ promo only… and Phonica seem to have it in stock still. Don’t hang about though…

You want more? Well, while we wait and hope for that Ravelight Dub of Robbie Williams, it seems that Soulwax have sprung up with another badass remix. It’s one long e-rush of a track, getting wilder and more unhinged as it goes along. Obviously the original is great, but this just tweaks and pushes and squeals it in all the right places until a bruising finale. Marvellous.

It’s not a great quality Mp3 though i’m afraid…

THE GOSSIP – STANDING IN THE WAY OF CONTROL (SOULWAX REMIX)

Again, Phonica seems a good spot to pick this up on shiny wax…

Magic in the Air

Ah, what a great night last night!

Digital Music Awards

Someone suggested I enter this….

I’m not expecting for a moment I might win, but there is a gaping hole in my trophy cabinet next to my ‘under-12’s league cup runners-up’ trophy. So if you feel like helping me fill my hole, do feel free to click on the link. I don’t have the persistence to harangue you to vote every day. But you can do if you feel like it. I will love you for it.

xx

What were the skies like?

So, another sweaty, noisy weekend. Fabric had a cracking line-up, so I overcame my usual reservations and decided to pay a visit.

It was, as always, insanely busy. Which did impede my enjoyment at times… but fortunately the music was so good that most of the time I wasn’t too bothered about having 3 people standing on my feet and elbows in my back and ribs.

Diplo was unbelievable in the cramped room upstairs. The man has some serious skillz on the turntables. He mixed up a huge variety of tracks, and had there been any space at all to cut a rug i would have been going crazy. Elsewhere Duke Dumont got the main room going with a absolutely banging set. I came in to witness the dancefloor going bananas (b.a.n.a.n.a.s.) to this. Classic, innit.

DOUBLE 99 – RIP GROOVE

Skull Juice have probably posted it recently, but i’m finding it too much hard work to check these days! Speaking of which, check Ben’s great remix of ‘A Bit Patchy’…. which uses the same ‘Apache’ sample as Duke Dumont’s killer Missy Elliot remix (to be found on his myspace)

So what else? Alan Braxe & Kriss Menace laid up a gorgeous set of French House in room 1. It wasn’t exactly cutting edge, being filled with floor filling classics, but there’s nowt wrong with that in my eyes.

I’ve posted plenty of Braxe here before, so here’s one from last year by Kris Menace. You know what to expect… lush synths, a deep rubbery bassline and some expertly built breakdowns.

LIFELIKE & KRIS MENACE – DISCOPOLIS

EDIT: Link fixed

After seeing the first half of Lo-Fi-Fnk before, I managed to catch the second half of their show this time. They’re great fun live, and I was fortunate to be slipped a promo of their upcoming single – a re-release of ‘Change Channel’. Alongside mixes from Danton Eeprom and Kaos there’s this version by Jitset, which for me is the pick of the bunch. Although it doesn’t reach the same heights as the Justus Koencke version of ‘Wake Up’, it’s still hot. The squiggling synth line reminds me of ‘Little Fluffy Clouds‘, but this has a bit more BOOMPF!

LO-FI-FNK – CHANGE CHANNEL (JITSET REMIX)

And then there were JUSTICE (who need writing in capitals), who hit the packed second room with a ferocious onslaught of jacking electro. It was loud as hell, and a really great set… although since they played many of the same records as last weekend it perhaps didn’t have the whoooooooooossssssh effect that it could have done. I can, however, confirm that the Soulwax Dub of Robbie Williams is a screamer.

Also great were Radioclit, Para One and DJ Orgasmic. Yeah it was a bit of a long night looking back….

……and then for some reason I went out last night to see Bromheads Jacket (yet again). It was quite strange seeing them at a venue where the stage couldn’t be overrun by drunken crazies (although a few people tried), but they were still thrilling and fun. Try & see them in a small venue while you can… there’s some new tour dates announced on their website.

I also saw Badly Drawn Boy (remember him?) last week. To be honest it wasn’t great, since he seemed to be in a bit of a grumpy mood for some reason. By the end though, his repertoire of great songs brought him through, and his closing song ‘magic in the air’ was particularly brilliant.

You may have missed the fact that he had a new single out recently, since it was only available on a 7″ limited to 300 copies. I didn’t manage to buy one myself, but here’s a version I found on t’interweb. I’m sure it must be a demo or something since it doesn’t sound very well produced.

BADLY DRAWN BOY – BORN IN THE UK

His forthcoming single, ‘Nothings Gonna Change Your Mind’ was another highlight from the gig, and is defintitely amongst his best songs. I love the video as well…. check it out:

Real Player High Quality
Real Player Low Quality
Windows Media High Quality
Windows Media Low Quality

By the way, does anyone know what the mix of ‘Over and Over’ is with the rapping over the top? I keep hearing it out and it’s great…. i’d love to play it at a party next weekend.

Him Again

Christmas Came Early

I got a great single in the post last week, which i’ve been playing a great deal since. It reminds me of the one I got from Rosemary a couple of months back in that it’s a band with a terrible name but a fantastic two-tracks single.

These lot are called The Wombats, and come from Liverpool.

This is their second single, after ‘Lost in the Post’, and shows they have the remarkable scouse knack for a melody. Yeah it’s not the most original thing i’ve ever heard, but it’s a great burst of indie pop, and should result in a few spilt drinks (and lost jumpers) down at the indie disco.

There’s not a lot else to say except that, well, it’s not a bad idea is it!

THE WOMBATS – MOVING TO NEW YORK

The b-side is also excellent – a tale of being at a rave when you’d rather be at home with your girlfriend. I probably would have posted that instead, except I think the song deserves a better chorus than ‘Laura. Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh’.

The single is out on October 23rd on 7″ only. There are only 500 copies so you’d best be quick.

Here are some tour dates:
Sep 14 2006 KING TUT’S WAH WAH HUT with The Dykeenies Glasgow
Sep 15 2006 Carling Academy Liverpool
Sep 19 2006 Cabaret Voltaire Edinburgh
Sep 20 2006 The Brickyard Carlisle
Sep 24 2006 Brixton Windmill with Jeremy Walmsley London
Sep 25 2006 Escobar Wakefield
Sep 26 2006 RBs Nightclub Chester
Sep 28 2006 Cumberland Arms Newcastle
Sep 29 2006 Kubar Stockton-on-Tees
Sep 30 2006 Little Miss Pipedream, Carling Academy Liverpool
Oct 5 2006 High Voltage at The Roadhouse Manchester
Oct 6 2006 Purr at Invention Bath
Oct 12 2006 Bardens Boudoir London
Oct 13 2006 Boileroom with Fell City Girl Guildford
Oct 15 2006 Port Mahon Oxford
Oct 16 2006 Supporting i Like Trains at The Barfly Liverpool
Oct 18 2006 The Dublin Castle, Camden London
Oct 20 2006 KIDS vs. Puregroove at the Archway Tavern London
Oct 22 2006 The Pressure Point Brighton
Oct 25 2006 Boat Party aboard Le Batofar Paris
Oct 26 2006 La fleche d’or Paris
Oct 29 2006 In the City Manchester
Oct 30 2006 In the City Manchester
Oct 31 2006 In the City Manchester
Nov 7 2006 Norway Tour, Gloria Flames Oslo
Nov 9 2006 Norway Tour, Kvarteret Bergen
Nov 10 2006 Norway Tour, Samfunnet at Knaus Trondheim
Nov 11 2006 Norway Tour, Mono Oslo
Nov 12 2006 Liverpool Music Week Closing Party Liverpool

Smoke the Canes?

Given these great pictures of Uffie I was directed to, her new single is appropriately titled!

Check out the rest here.

The magazine (Pigmag) also has an interview with her. Yay! But it’s in Italian. Boo!

So unless you can speak Italian you may have to amuse yourself with the ever incomprehensible world of the online translation.

As for the new single, well to begin with I was a bit disappointed…. not because it’s not brilliant, but because it’s so similar to ‘Ready to Uff’. Oh no, hang on. Whereas before she was ‘ready to fuck’ now she ‘ain’t ready to suck’. It’s a DIFFERENT SONG, SEE! But anyway, now i’ve listened to it quite a few times i’m well down with it. Feadz has laid down a kicking backing, and there’s some funny lines… ‘is it cos you grab your ankles for a VIP pass?’ tickles me every time. Interested to hear what y’all think……

UFFIE – HOT CHICK