Cover me. I'm going in...#7

(Saint Etienne live in 1993, by dexter_mixwith)

I could also put this post in a Charity Shoppin' style deal: Hampstead's Oxfam yielded up a goodly number of bargains yesterday. But I'll concentrate on the CD purchase which interested me most (because although Blur's Great Escape and the Commitments soundtrack are lovely and nostalgic, they're not much new to me), Saint Etienne's Too Young To Die, a singles collection collating 1990-1995 in the world of Stanley, Wiggs et al.

My first dalliance with Saint Etienne came around Christmas 1995 when I got the Hits 96 cassette compilation. You know the sort, a knock-off Now variation, it had (if I remember correctly) a fairly wide variety on it, from Robson & Jerome to Oasis to Cher to a comedy version of the Blind Date theme tune. It had one indie-ish side out of four, and that included He's On The Phone. This summed up Saint Etienne's pop-perfect bedsit tales, the indie-dance stylings combining with sumptuous female vocals leading me to more appreciate the next thing I heard by the band. This was Only Love Can Break Your Heart, just recently revealed to me to be a cover of After The Goldrush-era Neil Young. I stand ashamed. This, this was pop perfection, even more so than He's On The Phone and it slid in so nicely amongst the electro-lite stylings of Happy Mondays and New Order on The Greatest Album In The World... Ever, for the unfamiliar an interminable series of indie compilations.

Listening to the Young original now is strange, as I'm so used to the Moira Lambert-led cover, with its dreamy, hazy feel and sooo 1991 beats. The cover takes up Young's plaintive piano piece and adds a euphoric beauty, those vocals just kind of tucked in at the back. It's the sound of my adolescence, once again, which makes it all the more odd to me that I never pursued it any further. But, no time like the present. Only Love Can Break Your Heart, in all its dreamy prettiness, is track one on the singles comp.

The Music
Neil Young - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Which brings me to track two, which took me by surprise. The Wratten/Hiscock credit didn't register. But of course, it's the Field Mice's classic in electro-pop format, and very lovely it is too. Saint Etienne is pop in the same wasy as, say, Cinerama was pop: knowing but loving, well-constructed in the pop vein but not intended to aim for the lowest common denominator that today's charts aim at. If you're not massively familiar with the original, the chorus will take you by surprise. But love it and cherish it, the song in all its forms, for its a beautiful. I post the music with a dedication to Colin, wherever he might be.

The Music
Field Mice - Let's Kiss & Make Up
Saint Etienne - Kiss & Make Up

The 'fo
Artist: Saint Etienne
Website: saintetienne.com
Recommended: Smash The System: Singles 1990-99
Label: Heavenly
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Dubstar - The Best Of
Tags: Saint Etienne; pop; electronica; Neil Young; Field Mice

The Rough Guide To Brazilian Electronica: Tejo-Instituto

(photo by uncleweed)

The song Ohhh! isn't nearly as pornographic as it's title suggests. We looked briefly at Instituto before, and this is Rica Amabis and Tejo Damasceno working on their own material this time (as opposed to the previous remix). So let's have a look at this song and see why the erotic exhalation of the title has been applied, shall we?

On first listen, this is another of those tracks which this cd is all about, cool percussion, female vocals, a bit of a samba. But listen a bit deeper and it's all a lot more involved than that. From the computer voices to the jostling vocal samples, from the repetitive, muted guitar motif to the synthed-up brass melodies. It's consistently interesting in a way that little of these days' electronica is: lots going on, all sorts of crazy different things happening, but set to an accessible backbeat and, as always, immediately evocative of the artistes' homeland. On close inspection, I'd go so far as to label it a highlight here, and the slightly breathless female vocalist clearly agrees. While, as I said, it's not so vividly erotic as you might imagine, there's enough sensual indulgence here to appeal to the most sordid mind, as long as that sordid mind was also willing to dance sexy on the beach.

So, not perverted at all, but a little bit of a surreptitious thrill - isn't that what you look for in music? Not to have the senses as the main, let's see, thrust of the piece, but certainly have them tickled. There's enough going on here to appeal to the individual that's looking for a pop song to dance to, or an electronica beat to analyse, or a sultry song to get them in the mood. Good job Amabis & Damasceno.

The Music
Tejo-Instituto - Ohhh!

The 'fo
Artist: Rica Amabis
Recommended: Colecao Nacional
Label: Trama
Buy: Amazon; Rough Guide
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Rica Amabis - Sambadelic
Tags: Brazil; Rough Guide; Rica Amabis; Tejo Damasceno; Instituto; electronica

Remix Me. I'm Going In...#8: Radiohead

(photo by o.brien)

Some of these posts I could probably write with my eyes closed. For example, I knew nothing whatsoever about Pole, and very little about Battles, but Radiohead were - like so many others - my first love. Sure, I'd heard music before, I'd even enjoyed it, but it wasn't til I found myself wrapped up in an evangelical fervour at the release of OK Computer that I knew I'd found my one and only.

We've been through some tough times, Radiohead and I. We don't seem to see eye to eye, and our paths and destinations sometimes cross at the wrong times. There was that initial flurry, that outburst of emotions in 1997 that led to such rapturous outpourings back then. I was 15 in those days, you see, and impressionable, but I think rightly so: there's not really been an album before or since that has fitted so perfectly with my frame of mind. I was a teenager, for crying out loud, with all the angst and naiveté that brings with it, but to find something so... intellectual, so stimulating that also cut me to my very heart, that was satisfying.

Course, by the time Kid A came round, I was 18, and listening to Wildhearts, to NoFX, to Rancid, to Therapy? I bought it on the day of release anyway, I managed to convince a little MVC man to root around in a box and find it. I was perplexed by it. My knowledge of electronica is still fairly limited, if ever growing, but then it was by and large non-existent. A gaping void. But even so, it didn't click like it should have, for a Radiohead record. It should have held my heart delicately in suspension and tickled my brain, but instead it focused on appealing to the psyche and my heart was completely untouched. There's some fine moments, for sure, and every so often I come back to it, but it's never an album which was I was encouraged to spend days and weeks. Amnesiac barely registered because of this, leaving aside Radiohead's typically lengthy gestation for a quick turnaround.

Then Radiohead headed back to rock at about the time I was looking for more out of my music - Hail To The Thief was a retrogressive step for Radiohead, and while (as I've probably mentioned before) there were dizzying highs, there were also some pretty low lows. This was the year, for example, in which Four Tet's mindblowingly awesome Rounds was released, and Mogwai's monumental Happy Songs For Happy People. Music for people who weren't looking for the return of Radiohead's accessible side with such enthusiasm, but had been entranced by the post-rock of Godspeed, or Sigur Ros, or Fridge. So Radiohead and I missed colliding again, they were heading backwards while I was heading forwards, if you like.

Maybe soon will be the day when Radiohead again become the most potent force in my musical life, where one or two great singles aren't the only reason to embrace an album. There was an advert for OK Computer at the time: Remember when albums where albums? Remember Radiohead? Remember?

For now though, I have nostalgia, and I have some great music from different stages of the band's trajectory. I have Radiohead still, they're just in a different part of me.

The Music
Radiohead - You Never Wash Up After Yourself
Radiohead - Lucky
Radiohead - Skttrbrn (Four Tet remix)

The 'fo
Artist: Radiohead
Website: radiohead.com
Recommended: OK Computer
Label: Parlophone
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Sigur Ros - Aegetis Byrjun
Tags: Radiohead; alternative; Four Tet; remix; electronica

The Sound Of Falling

(photo by wanderingz)

Sometimes MySpace can be a real hassle. It's all fun and all, but I have a backlog of friend requests as long as my arm which I feel it's only fair to give a decent crack of the whip to. So I set aside some lunch hour to have a listen, starting from the oldest, and what do I find but a good'un straight off.

Ebb is a Swedish artist, which is very in these days, so good start, well done. What also helps is that he purveys a kind of easy-access glitch-pop, nothing too demanding, but very well-presented. Ebb's is a wintry sound, one that has space and room to swing a cat, and is filled with little sweeps ad flourishes, chorus-y vocals in his pleasing Swedish brogue, and looping little hops and glitches. These are becoming semi-ubiquitous these days- semi because obviously not every band incorporates electronic elements at all, but ubiquitous because it seems like every band/artist that has some of the same elements: muffled synth loop? Check. Off-kilter, unexpected beat pattern? Check. Occasional odd vocal effect? Check. Drum effects that make it sound like a loose connection with your headphones? Check.

It's not really a problem as such, but there's no way this sort of thing can be considered avant-garde any more. Fortunately, even when we're relegating this one revolutionary sound-styling to everyday pop, there's artists like Ebb, and songs like I'm All Made Of Music and Life Is On TV that elevate themselves above such criticism and carve out a necessary place for themselves. So good for him, Ebb comes recommended by Betty.

The Music
Ebb - Silent Lucy (requires Quicktime)

The 'fo
Artist: Ebb
Website: ebbmusic.com, MySpace
Recommended: Loona
Label: Gay Monkey
Buy: From Ebb
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
Tags: Ebb; Sweden; electronica

Remix Me. I'm Going In...#7: Boom Bip

(photo by delarge)

Boom Bip is Echo Park resident (apparently - and disappointingly - nothing to do with Echo Beach, far away in time) Bryan Hollon. He submits a nice, spacious, airy reworking of No More Mosquitos for Four Tet's Remixed disc, and very pleasant it is too. Mr Hollon is more of a hip hop head in general, although this year's Blue Eyed In The Red Room seems to take a more varied, more eclectic approach - witness the MySpace tracks from the album to get a sense of that. Seems like Hollon actually comes from an altogether different base: before he got his first credit card c.1992 his passion was hardcore punk. We've all been there, I love me a bit of Good Riddance every now and then.

But the lure of the turntable was too strong and hence was born Boom Bip as we know him now. It's pretty varied, interesting stuff, usually with a strong emphasis on beat. This ends up coming off really, really well on some tracks, and kind of weakly club-anthem-ish on others, but where it does work it's pretty ace. I recommend Girl Toy, downloadable from MySpace and below. Check out also Hollon's other remix work, including Mogwai, Hot Hot Heat and M83.

Note on remixed track: No More Mosquitoes was the first Four Tet song I heard (available from the ever-(as was)-indispensable Epitonic, the related article of which hasn't been updated in over five years. Anyway, it's a wonderful song - one of the few Hebden creations to feature discernable vocals, it's got this fascinating intro. A mosquito buzzes around until the thwack which ends its existence, which in turn becomes the massive opening beat of the track and coincides with the big ol' bassline. Highly recommended.

The Music
Four Tet - No More Mosquitoes
Boom Bip - Girl Talk

The 'fo
Artist: Boom Bip
Website: boom-bip.com, MySpace
Recommended: Blue Eyed In The Red Room
Label: Lex
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Subtle - For Hero: For Fool
Tags: remix; Four Tet; electronica; Boom Bip; hip hop; mosquito

Remix Me. I'm Going In...#7: Pole

Pole is brand new on me, a German DJ and producer who's carved out quite a niche for himself specialising in the brutally minimal. This is no bad thing obviously; for example, who doesn't love a little Murcof every once in a while. From my first impressions, Pole covers similar sort of territory- there's that familiar reverb distance - but where Fernando Corona's beats are sparse and exude space and agaraphobia, Stefan Betke's sound is claustrophobic and tight, nervy and uncomfortable. It seems to have evolved from a slightly different base as well: Pole incorporates the zoned-out basslines of dub to a far higher extent, giving an undeniable groove to what could be cold, detached electronics.

Pole's bio describes him as having a passion for distilling sounds: his DJ style used to be to use two turntables, two CD-players and his laptop to have four or five different pieces fighting for attention, which could be anything from avant-jazz to dub to contemporary club tracks to Steve Reich, which would then be mixed and resampled midset. I'd love to have heard that, I can't imagine a much more exciting way to listen to a DJ, but it appears that these days his yen is more to experimental hip hop and electronica. And who can blame him?

I wanted to quote his bio again, actually, I think this is fantastic. Pole works in a dub field, and what is this? "Computer-arranged sound design which, in the tweak of the tiniest loop, celebrates reduction right down to the essentials." That's cool. Celebrating reduction is something a lot more artists could do with. There's certainly dub motifs there, the very occasional skank, the stretches of time covered by beautiful repetition (obviously a nod not only to dub but to Steve Reich and his ilk), but just as much hip hop (featuring Fat John from time to time), experimentalism and pure electronica. It's a quite lovely blend.

The Music
Pole - Heim (Four Tet Remix)
Pole - Fahren

The 'fo
Artist: Pole
Website: scape-music.de, MySpace
Recommended: CD1/LP1
Label: Scape
Buy:Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Murcof - Remembranza
Tags: remix; Four Tet; Pole; Scape; dub; electronica

Remix Me. I'm Going In...#6: Battles

(photo by gregoryperez)

A Joy, the opening track from Four Tet's last album (Everything Ecstatic) seems to be a popular choice for remixers, as evidenced by no less than four different versions on one disc. And so to today's choice, by popular beat combo, Battles. Battles are from New York and they have an excellent drummer. This is literally the level of my knowledge of the band. So, I dig.

It's kind of unusual to see a drummer credited first on a lineup, but it turns out that this is with good reason. John Stanier was a member of Helmet until their acrimonious split in 1998. He's currently a member of Battles alongside being in The Mark Of Cain and Tomahawk. Good going on the avant garde front, nice. Helmet, of course, rocked, like, hard. Wikipedia's always fun for these sorts of things, and states that despite having a drum corps background, he "never actually marched a summer season." Some things are so totally American to make absolutely no sense outside of the continent. I have heard great things about Battles live based solely on the drum skillz of John Stanier.

The rest of Battles is Ian Williams, formerly of math legends Don Caballero, Dave Konopka formerly of Lynx (now, I've no idea if this Lynx is the same as Fame Academy's David Grant; I somehow doubt it), and Tyondai Braxton, offspring of avant-jazz hippy Anthony Braxton. A fine pedigree then, and no doubt about it, some interesting music. Battles is occasionally glitchy (all good) but more often focuses on the sort of hyper-edited sampling that Four Tet often employs, creating a sound not far akin to what you might if you knew nothing of, say, a Stockhausen/Reich collaboration before hearing it.

Well, sometimes anyway. Battles seem a far more diverse proposition than a single comparison can suggest, running the gamut from hyper-kinetic electronica to mathy guitar rock. You can see their range just from the four tracks on MySpace, which I highly recommend you check out. I particularly like Dance - while the other tracks seem to have been given names from the Autechre school of song titles, Dance suggests dancing. yet the irony is that if you were to dance to Dance, you'd do yourself a serious injury, such is the spasmodic and continually shifting percussion and samples.

Battles are a band worth looking further into, and you can rest assured that at some point, I surely will. A good starting point would seem to be their Warp debut, EP C/B EP, which is a collation of their earlier, more obscure releases from the last couple of years. I've also posted a little Floridian hardcore, in the form of Page Hamilton's angry yelp, backed of course by M. Stanier's awesome drum battery. Rocking.

The Music
Four Tet - A Joy (Battles remix)
Battles - Dance
Helmet - In The Meantime

Teqnicolor presents: Battles in session

The 'fo
Artist: Battles
Website: bttls.com; MySpace
Recommended: EP C/B EP
Label: Warp
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Tomahawk - s/t
Tags: remix; Four Tet; Battles; Tomahawk; Helmet; John Stanier

Clockwork Springs

(photo by ultrahi)

Sometimes, it only takes one song, sometimes only one phrase to make you fall in love with an act. I have no idea if that's going to happen with Daedelus, but a melody from his most recent album has caught my ear tonight while I was listening to it as background music to some hardcore email checking. I've got no idea why; I've got no idea if it's a good song, yet, even. But something about Daedelus' Viva Vida grabbed me while I listened to it the first time, enough to make me want to go and listen to it over and over again.

There are not enough rock stars called Alfred. Not only is Daedelus' real name Alfred, but it's Alfred Weisberg-Roberts, which is just brilliant. I was first aware of this chappie through the lovely old Epitonic, which has now descended into a Flash-based hell, but used to be great (if infrequently updated). Anyway, I ended up with his bleepy-typey A Mashnote, from 2001's Freeways (a Dublab IDM special) which, I've since discovered, is not really representative. While it's not cold in itself, it's certainly kind of beard-scratchingly pseudy (in a good way of course, I love that sort of thing), whereas the rest of Daedelus' output is characterised by a warmth and human emotion reminiscent of my boy Clue To Kalo.

But then, maybe Alf's latest, Daedelus' latest ...Denies The Day's Demise (great title, btw...) isn't so representative either, because the bulk of D's output seems to be a more Ninja Tune/hip hop influenced style, some Shadow-y samples-based stuff, guest spots from Madlib, Anti-Pop Consortium et al. I have no problem with a changing sound though, especially when it works out this nicely: although DDTDD is going to take a little while to seep in, I'm all the more inclined to give it the time of day just based on the first few tracks, and especially Viva Vida. It's a mish-mash, if you will: oboe or bassoon opens things up, followed by an almost bossa beat. Then the French style accordion and Alf's low, slightly drunken vocals. It's a really pretty melody, and sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is cheery and sweet and cute and quirky, full of big banks of the most right-sounding, natural-sounding synths. Is nice.

The Music
Daedelus - Viva Vida
Daedelus - A Mashnote

The 'fo
Artist: Daedelus
Website: daedelusdarling.com
Recommended: Daedelus Denies The Day's Demise
Label: Ninja Tune
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws; epitonic
If you like this you might like: Clue To Kalo - One Way, It's Every Way
Tags: electronica; Daedelus, Ninja Tune

Snappy Birthday To Me

(Photo by mira mira on the wall)

You know, if you've ever looked through the Betty Archives over on the right-hand-side there, you'll notice that today is the one year anniversary of this blog. It's been a busy month for that, I've noticed a few birthday specials (The Daily Growl, for example, who celebrated his birthday with a great Jeremy Warmsley/Absentee review). I didn't know really what to do today though, to celebrate, so I thought I'd better just post some great music.

It's tipping with rain outside. I've just heard the biggest thunderclap I've ever heard, and the skies opened. I thought the sky was falling on my head, by Toutatis. Some rain music then?

Kristin Hersh - Cold Water Coming (from Strange Angels)
Tanya Donelly - The Storm (from Beautysleep)

Kristin Hersh pretty much defines what good music is for me. Emotional; beautiful; subtle; uplifting; deep. But the more I think about it, there's no reason why her half-sister shouldn't be just as revered. I'm seeing Kristin live in January (very exciting indeed), I've seen her solo twice before (three times if you count Fifty Foot Wave), but I'd put Tanya Donelly at Bush Hall a couple of summers ago as possibly my favourite gig that I've ever attended. The two are quite different now: Kristin is more confessional, more heart-on-sleeve, more... fractured maybe. Tanya is easy-listening by comparison, but for all the lightness of the songs, there's genuine beauty and meaning there. The Storm for example - I first heard this song in acoustic form at that concert, and wow. Biggest goosebumps ever.

Hood - Still Rain Fell (from Outside Closer)

I haven't posted any Hood for a while. This is classic Hood, with the forefront acoustic guitars, the drawled, unison vocals, the pastoral feel. It kind of does feel rainy, it fits in well with today's overcast atmosphere and, I guess, the band's native Leeds, Yorkshire having something of a damp reputation. "Round here, the walks... the walks are so long..."

Ryan Adams - Damn Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains) (from Heartbreaker)

Mr Adams in introspective, poetic mode here. So much of me wants to look at Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker album and see Bright Eyes' acoustic emo, overwraught alt.country, but this short song sums up everything that's good. Adams can get away with "I'm as calm as a fruit stand in New York, and maybe as strange," because he sings it like he really means that. "I ain't never been much for sunny days." This is a future classic album, I have no doubt of it. It's so, so good.

Pixies - Stormy Weather (from Bossanova)

I've managed to select a few of my favourite artists here, and although these days I can't often listen to the Pixies (burnout maybe), there was a time when this band was everything to me. In my final year of university I worshipped the ground the Pixies walked on, and at the time, seeing their show at Brixton Academy for the first reunion tour was the most exciting thing ever. Like, ever. So, a nice track from Bossanova here, one of the more atmospheric in the band's canon, along with others like Havalina from the same album.

I could post loads more, but I'll refrain for yousendit's sake. I hope you enjoy not only listening to today's music, but also reading You Can Call Me Betty (almost) every day as I much as I enjoy writing it every day. Thanks for all your comments and to all the cool kids out there that have made blogging such a fun process, I thank thee all, and to all a goodnight.

Buy 'em all: Amazon

Bird Fruit Flower Fish

This is a great game, this, and perfect for a rainy Friday afternoon. It's a distraction. Seeing as I'm not going to get around to submitting for next weeks Contrast Podcast, on the theme of chickens and other birds, I thought I might as well do a bird-fruit-flower-fish for today's post. And why not? It's an easy game to play, just pick a bunch of categories then a random letter and get 10 points for a unique answer, 5 points if shared with one of the other players.

Work is really productive at the moment.

Note to colleagues: we didn't actually play this. Today.

Bird

A Hawk & A Hacksaw - In The River

Resisting the urge to post either Charlie Parker (good) or They Might Be Giants (horrible), I find myself asking: why on earth I haven't posted about these so far? I've had the mp3 in my inbox from Leaf for weeks, so sorry about that. Anyway: A Hawk & A Hacksaw have been on the road with Beirut recently, a pairing that works pretty well. While Zach Condon's efforts have failed to impact my life in the way I'd hoped (though there's still time), his collaborators on Gulag Orkestar seem to have gone that little further in the Eastern Europea gypsy-folk-indie hybrid.

Jeremy Barnes was, of course, drummer in Neutral Milk Hotel, an extremely credible addition to any resumé. Aside from violinist Heather Trost, Barnes plays most of the instruments himself, creating something of a madcap one-man-band image, which can't fail to be great, despite lacking the traditional three-legged dog in support. Their latest record, The Way The Wind Blows, has been garnering much critical acclaim and automatically interests me given their position on one of my favourite labels, Leaf (who've been kind of quiet on my radar this year, unlike Beirut's UK label 4AD who've had a quite genuinely barnstorming annum). So please enjoy the offering, and investigate Leaf further. Please.

Fruit

Apples In Stereo? The Lemon Song? No... How about some Belafonte? Yes... Who doesn't love the soft lilt of calypso's biggest star, and the gentle Banana Boat Song is one of the most famous. It's a work song at heart, originally sung by Jamaican dock workers lifting crates of bananas onto the banana boat (duh...) at night, hence "daylight come, and me wan' go home."

Of course, such is the media-saturated modern mind that I can't listen to "Hide the deadly black tarantula!" without thinking of Ubiquitous Teen Movie Grown-Up Jeffrey Jones making like a possessed spider in Beetle Juice.

Harry Belafonte - Banana Boat Song

Flower

Public Image Ltd. - Flowers Of Romance (album version)

PiL were great. I mean really good, have a listen to Metal Box and tell me that's not innovative, fascinating music. In a cool tin. John Lydon is clearly a joke these days, and kind of was in the Sex Pistols. Being born well after the implosion myself, I find it hard to judge but my feeling is that I would have found it hard to take him seriously even then, certainly not the threat to society as envisaged at the time. But Pil, those inbetween years? Those are great. Even if you just know Rise, surely that's enough to tell you how great they were, a monster of a song with falls and rises, and Lydon's inimitable hectoring, his oblique railing at the world, or anyone who would listen.

Photo by s76fitz

Flowers Of Romance (from the album of the same name) is based on, or at least references the band of that name, featuring then-Pil guitar hero Keith Levene (who's sound defined Pil on a number of occasions) and one Simon Ritchie (Sid Vicious to his ma). It reached #24 in 1981.

Fish

If you were hoping I would post Fish or Phish, sorry, that's just not going to happen. Think it through. What I will post is Red Snapper. If you love you some fried fish (and who doesn't?) then red snapper is the route to go down. If you love you some dubbby, jazzy, breaky, millenial London beats then Red Snapper's for you. Free from the Matador website, Some Kind Of Kink is apt an introduction as you could hope to have to this often dizzying act, with it's large bassline and congas, and somewhat claustrophobic, unsettling fx.

Red Snapper - Some Kind Of Kink

The 'fo
Artists: A Hawk & A Hacksaw/Harry Belafonte/PiL/Red Snapper
Websites: brokenheartfoundation.org.uk/wikipedia/johnlydon.com/matador.com
Recommended: The Way The Wind Blows/The Essential.../Metal Box/Prince Blimey
Label: Leaf/RCA/Virgin/Warp & Matador
Buy: Amazon AH&AH/HB/PiL/RS
More: Hype Machine AH&AH/HB/PiL/RS; elbo.ws AH&AH/HB/PiL/RS
If you like this you might like: anything...
Tags: bird; fruit; flower; fish; A Hawk & A Hacksaw; Leaf; Beirut; Harry Belafonte; calypso; Jamaica; John Lydon; Public Image Limited; Red Snapper; Matador; Warp

Remix Me. I'm Going In...#2: Manitoba

(photo by slowmotionlandscap_e)

Stupid computers. I just finished typing this wonderful long post and boom, Internet Explorer goes and closes itself. I know, I know, get a Mac, shut up. Don't wanna.

Anyhoo, today's post was themed upon the theme of Manitoba. This is nothing to do with the state (indeed our heroes emerged from Ontario), nothing to do with the Frank Black song (lovely thought it be), nor, contrary to opinion in some quarters, Handsome Dick Manitoba. I say in some quarters, I mean in Handsome Dick's quarters, as he sued our protagonist for infringing upon his surname. Yes, really. We are of course referring to Mr Dan Snaith, formerly Manitoba, now recording as Caribou. No word on whether the species is preparing a class action.

Why am I talking about Manitoba today then? Well, I thought I'd rashly plunge headlong into a new feature based on Saturday's Four Tet post. For contained within the shiny, white double-sleeve of Remixes/Remixed are the works of a veritable multitude of fine artists - some with whom I'm familiar, some not. I'm going to take a look at each and let you know the down low, and hopefully teach myself a thing or too also. True. I'm not going to post every track from the album though, sorry.

So Manitoba eh? They remix Hilarious Movie Of The 90's here - dream ticket, two of my favourite acts together at last. I tend to lump the two in together sometimes, but in reality they have their similarities, but also some significant differences. Where Four Tet is quite organic, Manitoba/Caribou is maybe the most natural sounding electronica you could hope for, with actual, traditional song structures, vocals, (almost) discernable lyrics, harmonies, everything.

In fact, there are some beautiful songs right here. Across Snaith's last two albums (2003's Manitoba offering Up In Flames, probably the best work he's done, and 2005's The Milk Of Human Kindness (as Caribou)), he's produced some wonderfully-warped pop music spilling out of the cracks between some huge beats and some dazed, muggy-sounding, dreamy vocals. It's all pretty accessible - for me a good thing, much as I normally tout a the-difficulter-the-betterer toeline. I like my out-there music to work a little bit in here as well *points to both head and heart*. M/C has something for the mind to get to grips with, the freewheeling trumpets, the complex beats, the delicious overall haziness. But it also touches the heart like a proper songster would, and like few beat-artists do, with actual, beautiful, often aching vocal touches. It doesn't matter that the words are indistinct, not in the slightest.

I'm going to post the tracks I put on my first podcast: from Up In Flames, maybe my favourite drum track in the world (Cherry Bomb), and from Caribou, maybe an archetypal Snaith moment on Pelican Narrows.

The Music

Manitoba - Cherry Bomb
Caribou - Pelican Narrows

The 'fo

Artist: Manitoba/Caribou

Website: caribou.fm

Recommended: Manitoba - Up In Flames

Label: Leaf

Buy: Amazon; Posteverything

More: Hype Machine M/C; elbo.ws M/C

If you like this you might like: Clue To Kalo - One Way, It's Every Way

Tags: Four Tet; electronica; remix; Manitoba; Caribou; Dan Snaith

Remix Me. I'm going in...#1

(photo by mk30)

Alright, so it's not cover me, it's as good as.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when the remix that grabbed me most on Four Tet's remixes/remixed double album was by... Four Tet. There's some great acts on here: Manitoba and Koushik both remix Hilarious Movie Of The 90's, Battles do a great job on A Joy, and Boom Bip's No More Mosquitoes is also ace. This is only CD2 as well - disc 1 features Hebden remixing Radiohead, Bloc Party, Beth Orton, Madvillain, Aphex Twin... I'm sure those'll come up soon.

But yes, my favourite remix of a Four Tet song was by Keiran Hebden himself. He does As Serious As Your Life, and to be frank, it's wonderful. The original, if you'll recall, has that great, ever-so-slightly funky guitar riff that's chopped up at times with that gloriously sparse beat. As per Hebden, there's not only melodies that ebb and flow in and out, but also completely random interjectory bleeps and the odd drum freak out.

The remix retains the funky but goes for almost an inversion of the riff transmuted to a great, indistinct bass sound, making it one of the best melodies on the disc. At times remixes can veer so much into trying to impress the remixers own sound onto a track that all semblance of melody and listenability is thrown out of the window. Not here though, this is one of the catchiest tunes on here, which says a great deal for Hebden's original work. It can't be easy taking a sound so vastly innovative as Four Tet's and keeping it accessible, but I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the man's a genius.

Listen out also for the free jazz trumpets (reminiscent of some of Manitoba's Up In Flames actually; think maybe Cherry Bomb?), and a whole host of other things. This man's good.

The Music
Four Tet - As Serious As Your Life (Four Tet remix)

The 'fo
Artist: Four Tet
Website: fourtet.net
Recommended: Remixes
Label: Domino
Buy: Amazon; Domino
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Manitoba - Up In Flames
Tags: Four Tet; live; electronica; remix

That Fear Again

(múm, Ferrara, 13/5/05 by r_mal)

You've got to love a band who (possibly) chose their name on the basis that the word looks like two elephants nodding. Or apparently, you haven't got to, as I've known little or nothing of múm upto know. And for why haven't I known? I don't know, I'm clearly a fool.

The nice men at Fat Cat sent me a copy of the band's latest disc, a short (= 4 track) Peel sessions compilation. Those two words, that sainted soubriquet still holds a certain sway, don't you think? Peel sessions. In plain English it doesn't make a great deal of sense, but to those in the know, it's a hallmark, more trusted than the Bank Of England, and more reliable than Gordon Banks driving a Volkswagen. It screams good taste, it cries pick me! for I was chosen by a wiser man than you!

So múm hey? What's that all about? Well technically both you and I should already know, seeing as the band will be celebrating their ten year anniversary next year. And given the music they purvey, I really should have got my head professionally screwed on some years ago, as this is very nice indeed. It's not aggressive in any way, but continues in the Icelandic tradition of being fairly oblique but not difficult to appreciate. It's pretty sparse in some ways, but not purposefully empty in the same way as, say, Murcof - the sound is filled out delicately and prettily between the enveloping high vocals and the glitchy, electronic beats with samples and backwards loops and all sorts of fun. It never gets excessive really though, it's very restrained and cute without being twee or throwaway.

So where should you start with múm then? I have to confess, I don't really know. This cd seems as good as anything, and I heartily recommend it for what it is, even on only initial listens. I couldn't possibly compare it to back catalogue though, although I'd love to hear suggestions.

The Music
múm - Scratched Bicycle/Smell Memory (Peel Session)

The 'fo
Artist: Múm
Website: randomsummer.com
Recommended: Peel Sessions
Label: Fat Cat
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Sigur Ros - Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do
Tags: Múm; John Peel; Iceland; electronica; glitch

Bang

(Fireworks over East River, by Dramatic)

Let's get one thing straight: when I post on October 10th about Christmas, it's a joke. Early = bad. Early = not something Simone deals with well. This can be attested by anybody who's seen me before, say 10am any given day. So I look with disgust on those people firing off rockets and assorted crackly fireworks this evening. Why? Who knows.

It's not Diwali yet: this begins on 21st this year. Festival of Lights = good excuse for fireworks, but its not yet.
It's not Eid yet: this is scheduled for roughly 23rd, so there's a good week or so to go yet.
It's not Halloween: Halloween is a rubbish excuse for fireworks anyway, and it's certainly not 31st yet.
It's not Bonfire Night: how this translates to American I'm not sure, but celebrating somebody not blowing up politicians seems as perverse, and therefore as good, an excuse for pyrotechnical fun as any. Fire and fireworks, it's all good, but: it's not 5th November yet.
It's not Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, or any other made up greetings-card festival yet, so put your fireworks away, some people have to get up for work tomorrow.

A song with fireworks in.

The Music
Magnétophone - Rae & Suzette

The 'fo
Artist: Magnétophone
Website: magnetophone.co.uk
Label: 4AD
Recommended: The Man Who Ate The Man
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine
If you like this you might like: Cocteau Twins - Lullabies To Violaine
Tags: Magnetophone; fireworks; bonfire night; Guy Fawkes; Eid; Diwali; Halloween

Here's your orange Herrrrrberrrrt

(Photo by minirobot (cc))

Electronica artists don't tend to have a sense of humour. So when I saw that Matthew Herbert, a seriously hip name to drop yet whose music had never actually passed my ear drums, had contributed to Jamie Lidell's remix album, I was curious to check it out. The remix of A Little Bit More is suitably remix-y, paring the original back to a tribal beat and occasional splashes of the outlandish. But I listened to the bonus track, Herbert's Hoedown Bump Instrumental version of Mutliply and we're entering a different world. The clue is in the title, it's barndancetronica in all it's finery, and while it's not the most cerebral, chin-strokingly intellectual version on the cd, it is a whole barrel of fun. And given the immensely funky, party atmosphere of Multiply, it's not remotely out of place.

I mention this upon finally hearing Herbert's Scale, by all accounts his most successful album yet. Here's a fellow who's been working since the early 90's, flitting between abstract noise-creation and big band-style avant-jazz. On the way, he's remixed artists as diverse as REM, Yoko Ono, John Cale, Moloko and Perry Farrell, and collaborated with many more (Lidell himself, Arto Lindsay and his long-time muse and now wife, Dani Siciliano). A few weeks ago I posted an intriguing cover of Jeff Buckley's Everybody Here Wants you by Herbert and Siciliano, and that might have given you a small taste, but you really need to experience an entire album to take in the diversity of sound - on Scale it runs the full gamut, from glitchy electronica, to hard r'n'b, to old school funk and disco, to sultry swing. It's fairly dizzying at times, but has provided today's soundtrack admirably - consistently interesting, wilfully different yet within frameworks still acceptable to the less-refined palate. Like Multiply before it, this is a record which, if it doesn't cross over into wide audience, has suffered a serious injustice.

Fact of the day: the album's liner notes claims use of 635 instruments on this album, from the standard and expected (violins, pianos) to the less so (breakfast cereal, coffins).

The Music

Jamie Lidell - Multiply (Herbert's Hoedown Bump Instrumental)

Herbert - The Movers & The Shakers

Herbert - Movie Star

The 'fo

Artist: Herbert

Website: matthewherbert.net

Recommended: Herbert - Scale (metacritic 80)

Label: !k7

Buy: Amazon

More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws; lyrics

If you like this you might like: Jamie Lidell - Multiply

Tags: Matthew Herbert; Scale; remix; electronica

Woo hoo all the way

(photo by Tub Gurnard)

This week's forthcoming HappyHappyJoyJoy-themed Contrast Podcast is very appropriate, in many ways. I am happy, right now (in a turn-up for the books), for a number of reasons.

1) I have tomorrow off work, the first day I've been allowed to take since July.
2) I get to go to Ikea and possibly imbibe many meatballs
3) We've finally sorted out getting a new flatmate in, just a week after the fairly gross Australian departed. Just as we were starting to get worried, the nicest one out of everyone that's seen the room said yes, and we breathed a big sigh of relief.
4) We have now an official excuse for the slightly weird ones who haven't said either way yet, and for the completely weird Scot who also came this arvo.
5) Tomorrow = lie-in
6) Friday coming means a Freelance Hellraiser set at the Academy, which in turn means lots of comedy mashups, innit. Fun times ahead.
7) From this week, work will be minimal for a good month or two.

Many reasons to be happy. I'm up and down like a yo-yo, me.

To celebrate: an alternate choice for the coming CP, and another excuse to post Four Tet. Happy Happy Joy! Joy!

The Music
Four Tet - Smile Around The Face

The 'fo
Artist: Four Tet
Website: fourtet.net
Recommended: Everything Ecstatic
Label: Domino
Buy: Amazon; Domino
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
If you like this you might like: Autechre - Chiastic Slide
Tags: Four Tet; electronica; happy; joy; Freelance Hellraiser

Hebden Rocks Back And Forth

(Four Tet live, 2006 by Tim Broddin)

It's difficult to know how to behave at a Four Tet concert, and so careful observation reveals different factions amongst the illuminati smart enough to attend said concert. For the average indie-rock fan who's graduated to electronica more recently, there is much head-nodding, and the kind of half-dancing you get when you go to see the easier to swallow Go! Team, or someone similar. Then there's the tech-heads, the ones that stand literally inches from Keiran Hebden's face, so much so that they have to blow their smoke away to avoid choking the poor man. The goons with long necks and intent faces, that stare at Hebden's flying fingers. Then there's the pillheads, not so much causing trouble as actually having fun by dancing, albeit in the extremely limited space of Plastic People, a wee basement under Curtain Road, lined with chipboard and with a spotlight held by a bloke. I kid you not.

The spotlight was actually quite a feature of last night's concert, at least for me. When that's your solitary lighting, it becomes important, if nothing else to light the camera that was either filming the set, or snaking through the crowd conga-fashion, for no discernable reason. Of course though, the spotlight was not the primary interest here. Here was me, seeing a man I consider one of the most talented, interesting characters in music at the moment, just a few feet away in a tiny club, performing some of his greatest hits. I was happy.

I'm not really au fait with how to behave at this sort of event. Is it a gig? Is it a club? Is it something else? Something else, I'd go with. In an ideal world, there would be more space at a thing like this, to get your dancing shoes on, because to deny the foot-tapping, knee-wobbling good vibes of Four Tet is to do yourself a disservice, or else to prove that you are dead inside. But the room crowded around this wild- and sunken-eyed little man to get a glimpse of... nothing really. A whiteboy afro hunched maniacally over a console, moving a mouse every now and then, the rest of the time twiddling knobs and making buttons flash red. But when you look more closely, his fingers really are dancing - he's moving the beat along, he's manipulating the samples. Some clever Trevor behind kept saying, wouldn't it be funny, I bet it's all pre-recorded, guffaw. The fool! Can he not see?! Well, maybe he couldn't. But the many lights disproved this man's theory.

I'm not really any better informed now on correct protocol, but I don't mind. I have no desire to join the reserved head-nodding of the cooler-than-thou, neither do I wish to go nuts dancing unless I can dedicate a whole night to it. So I'm in the middle and that's fine. The bonus is that I've got out of it a wonderful, beautiful, rocking concert from one of my favourite acts, playing a bunch of my favourite songs, nice and loud, with sufficient improvisation and twists and turns to keep even the rock-hardened newbie happy. Beautiful people, we are.

The Music
Four Tet - Pockets

Four Tet - A Joy

Bloc Party - So Here We Are (Four Tet remix)

The 'fo
Artist: Four Tet
Website: fourtet.net

Recommended: Rounds

Label: Domino

Buy: Amazon; Domino

More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws

If you like this you might like: Manitoba - Up In Flames

Tags: Four Tet; live; Plastic People; Old Street; electronica

The Rough Guide To Brazilian Electronica: Ramiro Musotto

(Ramiro Musotto at work)

Right, so having actually looked in the inlay of the Rough Guide album, there's actually a pile of information about each act on the cd. Curses. Here was me showing up Wikipedia's weaknesses and all along the 'fo was there. Never mind: it means I get to do a proper summary post at the end of the series. Lets get moving, today to Ramiro Musotto.

Background time: Ramiro Musotto is not Brazilian. He's from Patagonia, which according to my vast banks of knowledge is the most arid desert in the world, or something. Whichever, it covers vast tracts of Chile and Argentina, not really Brazil. However, on moving there at age 18, he became, as it were, the percussionist of choice to many of Brazil's top artistes; I'm not kidding, we're talking Marisa Monte, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and if you're providing percussion for some of the giants of Tropicalia, you ain't doing bad for yourself. In solo terms, today's track comes from Musotto's 2003 debut (making it bang up to date when the Rough Guide was released), Sudaka, on the not-for-profit Fast Horse Recordings. The record can be listened to in full (not downloaded though...) from Fast Horse's website, and is a slightly dizzying amalgamation of traditional South American and African music - plenty of rhythmic percussion of their own, and some great chanting to boot (there's a sentence I wouldn't find myself saying often) - with samples and found sound (e.g. Botellero's Bahian street vendor's crys), and more up-to-date electronic backing.

I say up-to-date, Musotto uses predominantly Roland 808's, that synth drum so favoured of the Second Summer of Love's acid house heroes. You wouldn't neccessarily know it though, as because of the traditional instrumentation melded with the beats it doesn't sound retro in the slightest.

I guess when you've got such a rich and diverse heritage as Brazil (not just the traditional Amerindian sounds, but the array of Iberian and Western influences), you'd be hard pushed to exhaust it, and Ramiro Musotto manages to trace a similar path to some of the other artists on the Rough Guide yet remain very much an independent, free-thinking spirit. Sudaka is a pretty fascinating record, and if you're interested in your world music (as I'm slowly becoming) but like it with a more contemporary, less ethno-hippie twist, maybe Musotto's a good place to start. Caminho, the opening track on Sudaka and the Rough Guide selection, is as indicative a song as can be plucked from the album, and features a gentleman by the name of Buziga wailing over berimbau and electronic beats. Good stuff, fella.

The Music
Ramiro Musotto - Caminho

The 'fo
Artist: Ramiro Musotto
Website: ramiromusotto.com
Recommended: Rough Guide To Brazilian Electronica, Sudaka
Label: Rough Guide, Fast Horse
Buy: Amazon, Fast Horse
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws; PopMatters review
Tags: Brazil; electronica; Ramiro Musotto; world music; percussion

Captive In The Height Of Summer

(OMR, 22/2/06, photo by PokeYoke )

Us Rosbif's have a love/hate relationship with the Frogs. We love their food, we love buying their rundown houses for our holiday homes, we love Thierry Henry. We hate the fact that they're French and look down their noses at everybody, despite being in no position to judge that sort of thing ourselves.

However, we are in a position to judge their music, because for the most part it's fairly embarrassing. There are a few luminaries (Serge Gainsbourg, Françoise Hardy), and they do a fine line in the sort of lush electronica that kind of washes over you (M83, Air and the like) and bangin' techno, if that's your bag. But the rock, the indie-pop, all tends to be kind of lame; Phoenix, for example, do precious little for me.

However, occasionally I receive nice little packages which sit on my desk for up to months sometimes before I get around to listening to the contents, even when preceded by a friendly email. So, OmR: my apologies for the delay. Because Superheroes Crash is a nice little record, one actually improved by being from a French band. There's some very Gallic turns, the sultry female vocals, the almost baroque keyboard flourishes. There are songs that bear similarities in structure to some of Air's last record, and the subtle uses of electronica add something approaching a simultaneously icy detachment and warm embrace.

I waffle, clearly. Sorry. I'm not sure OmR are destined for huge, stadium-filling excess, but there's no reason they shouldn't gather at least a little critical and commercial acclaim - they've already had engineering work done by the German maestro behind the Notwist/Lali Puna/Ms John Soda sound, Mario Thaler, and remix work by Prefuse73 and Abstrakt Keal Agram, which is fairly good going. The Thaler touch is especially evident in the innocent but knowing vocals of I Don't Know, and although the electronics have apparently been toned down since OMR's first record, the lightness of touch in their use is again familiar from the Weilheim school that Thaler's a part of. Superheroes Crash, as well as being the title track, is pretty indicative of the record, pretty, undulating and cute - I haven't included the more electro tracks, simply because these songs are better.

The Music
OmR - I Don't Know
OmR - Superheroes Crash

The 'fo
Artist: OmR
Website: omrmusic.com, MySpace
Recommended: Superheroes Crash
Label: Uncivilised World
Buy: Amazon
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws, Mars Needs Guitars
Tags: OmR; Uncivilised World; electronica; indie; France; Mario Thaler

Eine Kleine Hedmusik

(Coldcut @ Cargo, photo by worthwords73)

One of the albums I put on at work that didn't prompt an outburst of disgust was Coldcut's Let Us Play! I've never been quite sure where I stand on instrumental hip hop; I've always presumed it to be the domain of carefully-slovenly, beanie wearing snowboarding types. You know the sort. But Coldcut isn't really like that. For a start they're British, which tends to dispel a lot of stereotypes, but they're also serious godfathers of a movement.

Coldcut have been around since approximately forever, and have been running Ninja Tune for almost as long. The label has created an impressive roster of acts like Amon Tobin, Herbaliser, Daedelus and Roots Manuva, which although fairly diverse in themselves all have a certain vibe that keeps them related. There's actually a lot to explore in their line-up, and they're one of those labels that I've been meaning to investigate further for a long time; acts like Mr Scruff, Kid Koala, Antibalas, these have been on the edge of my radar for ages but I really couldn't tell you where to start. I'll keep you updated should I actually put the legwork in.

Anyway, where were we? Ah, Let Us Play! For all I know, it could be either the archetypal or a completely atypical Coldcut album, but let's assume it's the former: it's hip hop-based, yes, but a lot more. It has the clever turntable work that seems to characterise Ninja Tune, and the cut-and-paste approach which has been the foundation of most of their work, the exploration of rare grooves and beats. I say this like I know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I really want to post Coldcut because I've had Peter & The Wolf in my head for a while, and to me the msot famous Coldcut piece I know is More Beats And Pieces from this album. If you've ever watched Spaced, you'll know the tune, and I have to confess to being more familiar with it in it's modified form now, than in Prokofiev's original, despite the tune being the opening soundtrack to many a school assembly. Obviously it's a great tune, and only a small part of this track, but it's evidence again that you can do anything with anything these days, and if you pull it off with enough panache, you'll have a winner on your hands. So have a listen to these versions of this cut and paste manifesto, as also included is Kid Koala's fairly impressive take.

The Music
Coldcut - More Beats + Pieces (Daddy Rips It Up Mix)
Coldcut - More Beats + Pieces (Kid Koala version)

BONUS: I couldn't help but do it, the Kid Koala-starring The Gonk from... well, I take it to be Shaun Of The Dead, you might know it as the mall music from Dawn Of The Dead.

Various Artists - The Gonk

The 'fo
Artist: Coldcut
Website: coldcut.net
Recommended: Let Us Play!
Label: Ninja Tune
Buy: Ninjashop
More: Hype Machine; elbo.ws
Tags: Coldcut; hip hop; electronica; Peter & The Wolf; Prokofiev; Ninja Tune; Kid Koala; The Gonk