Pop!

Most people wouldn't guess that I'm a fervent fan of (good) pop music.  Many think I'm just some sort hipster obscurist, but it's not true I tell  you!  I like a good pop tune as much as anyone, but perhaps my definition of good is a bit stricter?  Today, there are a couple of tracks I'd like to write about that I consider to be very poppy, but I'm going to start with a classic from the 80's.  In many ways, the 80's seem like the golden age of pop to me, but I think that's mostly cos the 80's is when I was a little kid.  It was a good time for synth-driven music though, and a lot the poppy music I like now also has a synth-fuelled sound.  Here's some Howard Jones:



Last night I went to see a far newer pop act, AlunaGeorge.  I was in two minds about going to the show, mostly cos I didn't have anyone to go with, it was on a work night, and the band weren't due on til 11.15pm.  I also wasn't sure how AlunaGeorge's pop sound would transfer to a live setting -- I was pretty wary of just watching someone press play on a computer and then have some singing over the top.  I ended up going though, and I'm glad I did, as it was a very good gig.  It was at U Street Music Hall, which has been a consistently great venue in my experience -- good sound, good acts, and a great crowd who are more than happy to get into things and dance.  There's always a good energy there and the acts really seem to feed off of it; last night was no different.  AlunaGeorge are Aluna Francis, singer, and George Reid, producer, but for their live act they also brought along a drummer and bass player.  I love electronic music, but I do think when you go to see someone live it's nice to have some more traditional musicianship on the stage too, and not just a lot (or even worse, a little) electronic equipment.  This way you know that some of what you're hearing is truly live, and you're getting a unique experience, different from what you'd hear just by listening to recorded music.  Of course, there are solo electronic acts who do a great job of transferring what they do onto stage, even while being all by themselves (Shigeto and Four Tet come to mind), but there also those whose "live" sound is so perfect that it's like karaoke (cough cough, Disclosure and Simian Mobile Disco).  Sorry, but a nice light show doesn't make up for that.  Back to the sold-out show -- again, it was a pretty great gig and I'm going to finally say that I'm impressed by DC crowds.  The kinds of electronic shows I like seem to consistently sell out here and at venues like U Street I can't say that the crowd is just full of in-the-know posers who want to be seen at the right place.  Last night's crowd, similar to the one at Bonobo a few months ago, was really into AlunaGeorge's music, so much so that the cliched act of holding the mic out to the crowd really worked well!  People knew the songs, the lyrics, and they really got down in a nice happy way.  Here's the track they ended the show with -- a show that didn't flag by the way, helped by the fact that is was only 45 minutes long, but that length actually felt perfect -- long enough to have a good time, short enough to not get tired or bored.



My last pop-post is by the very non-Icelandic-sounding but apparently Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini.  Heard her on the radio, this track specifically, and liked what I heard.  A slightly different sound that is still very pop, I think.  I hope she comes to DC.

Close Call in The Suburbs

There are lots of popular bands that I've heard a lot about but never made the effort to listen to. One of them is Arcade Fire (who I keep confusing with Arctic Monkeys - shows you how much I don't make an effort to follow this stuff - if you're a fan of either of these bands I'm sure you're laughing at me, go ahead.) Earlier today I listened to the first Arcade Fire song I've ever heard, while ironing. It's their song "The Suburbs" which comes with a very interesting video, which I haven't been able to figure out yet:

I listened to some of the album via Grooveshark (a great site to stream music) and might pick it up someday, I put it on my list.

Another band I've heard a lot about over the years but never paid attention to is Rilo Kiley. I did see them play actually; back when I liked Coldplay, I went to a Coldplay concert many years ago and Rilo were the opening act. I wasn't impressed unfortunately. But things change. A few months ago my coworker was listening to some tunes and I asked what he was listening to. I was surprised he said it was Rilo Kiley, here's a track off the album he was playing:





This album Under the Blacklight is very country-ish (at least to me). I've listened to the album (again, via Grooveshark) a bunch of times now and quite like it and find the country tracks very charming, so this album is also on my list of CDs to get! That's right, CDs! I don't care what year it is.

Have a lot more indie stuff to post about soon.

How to

I sometimes get turned off by electronic music when it hits me that the tune I'm listening to could've been banged out in five minutes on a laptop.  There's good and bad electronic music, and it's not always possible to tell what's throwaway and what an artist really put a lot of effort into.  With the massive proliferation of digital tracks I'm sure that some of what we hear online was put together really quickly from some bog-standard samples.  I came across a couple of videos that, in their own way, attest to this.  One is obviously facetious, the other is more telling though.  The latter is of an artist called Huxley who's been challenged by Factmag to put a tune together in ten minutes or less, and he basically manages it.  He's definitely got skill and talent, and I'm by no means arguing that anyone could do what he does.  But there is also, I think, a meaningful difference between being able to put a house track together in a few minutes and really putting together something unique and musical that's worth going out and obtaining.  And not just obtaining, but that's worth spending your time on, and that doesn't have that cheap almost plasticky feel to it. I can't really define what that feeling is, but I think I hear it sometimes and it's definitely a turn-off.





Here's a real Deadboy track and, to me, it sounds like something that a lot of time, thought, and effort has been put into.  I hope I'm right:



Sidenote:  Noticing that a lot of "comedy" videos on youstube are basically repeating the same old traits, including the Deadboy video that starts this post.  It's getting old!  

the Wales, part 5, and more.

After a gap, some more Welsh stuff.  Gulp are musicians from a few different bands, but they stood out to me mostly because the drummer is from the defunct group Race Horses.  There's also a member of the Super Furry Animals involved, which reminded me of this guy, who I posted about back here.  I went to his record label's SoundCloud after remembering him (practically his whole album is up there) but decided I wasn't too impressed.  It's not that I don't like his music, it's just that it sounds just like 'Mother' era John Lennon, and I can never get behind anything that's too obviously indebted to an influence.

Anyway, back to Gulp.  They've got a single out called 'Play' and I rather like it:



On the Welsh tip, I came across this clip today from the film 'Human Traffic', which was about clubbing in Cardiff (something I got to do... almost... once).  Watching this got me nostalgic about record shop culture, and dance music record shops in particular.  A time, not too long ago, where all that was available was what your local shop carried, and you had to think hard before dropping some real money on a real object. Having the right tunes actually mattered!



Ok, heard this on the radio and thought it was pretty smooth.  It's from the forthcoming Elvis Costello and the Roots collaboration, and basically sounds like what I'd want that collaboration to sound like!  Although on second listen it's reminding me a bit of trip-hop...



On a side-note, why do so many promo pics of men involve them adjusting their ties or suit buttons or cuff-links??  It's bloody annoying, and this whole dressing-up thing is getting really old.  I've already made a partial return to jeans and t-shirts; I predict a more relaxed style of dress making a comeback very soon.

Last up, someone I'd never heard of til last week, Frank Turner.  Apparently quite big in the UK, and also apparently has some right-wing/libertarian views, but this isn't a political blog.  I heard this song on the radio and the motif of it stood out to me as something I'm very wary of too -- essentially time going by really quickly, speeding up, and years just passing by whereas days and weeks used to feel like forever before.

Black Holes and Revolutions

Heard a few good tracks on 6 Music at work today so I thought I'd share.  Being less strict about music this Ramadan, though my listening is basically limited to work or the few times when I'm alone, so a lot less listening going on than normal.

First off, a track by a new quintet from Liverpool called Outfit.  I quite like it, even though it reminds me of Hot Chip a bit:



Next a track I know nothing at all about.  It's got that afrobeat sound that was big a few years ago.  Funny how certain styles become fashionable and then go out of fashion again just as quickly?



Last track is an old one by Muse which I hadn't heard in ages.  I like it's relative simplicity, especially when compared to Muse's more current output:



I'll end up with some links which you can check out if you're fast!  They're album previews that won't be up long:
NPR's got Moderat's latest and it's well worth a listen.
And AlunaGeorge are streaming their debut album on their website at the moment.
That last due are also coming to DC in September.  Quite a lot of good shows coming up actually -- off the top of my head there's Toro Y Moi touring with Classixx, Mount Kimbie, Bonobo and Gold Panda both coming back, and at least a couple more gigs I'm forgetting.  Roll on autumn!  

Jewels on Jools

It's been pretty quiet around here as of late, what with Ramadan and all, but I did watch Jools Holland's programme the other day (gasp!) and there were a couple of standout tracks on it, as well as an entire performance by the Manics!  Not putting any Manics up though.  Instead these...

First off, a track by Mark Ronson and his band with some guests, one of whom is Boy George.  Boy looks quite strange but I like his voice on this.  Not sure if he's doing more work that I'm not hearing about but he still has a voice that's worth hearing, I think, though he does seem to run out of puff a bit here and there:



Incidentally, the other track that Ronson and his band performed was a bit crap so I forwarded it -- something I also did with my second selection, by Klaxons.  Quite liked this though; singer's a bit strange looking isn't he?  But who am I to judge:



One more post to finish things, unrelated to the two above.  Tim Westwood, Radio 1's longtime rap and hip-hop DJ, is being pulled off the air.  He's a bit of a character but even I heard some good tunes on his show back in the day, only to return to the States and find out the tracks were quite underground.  Came across this video when reading about him some more -- it's a UK hip-hop documentary from 1987 that Westwood put together.  Probably worth checking out if you like that sort of thing:

the News

Yes I know, I've used that title before, but it's OK because the News in constantly being... renewed.

I noticed recently that CD's have become really cheap to buy.  I went by Best Buy and almost everything new was $10 or under!  Depending on your age you may find this similarly shocking and pleasing -- I remember when the average CD was $16 and nothing new was $10 or less, ever, so the hunt would be on for promo copies of new albums in the used section.  But now CD's are cheap, and seem even cheaper thanks to inflation and the fact that I have a real job - hooray!  So I bought quite a few recently -- the new Daft Punk, like everyone else; AMOK by Atoms for Peace after hearing good things from musically-minded acquaintances; the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with the Garbage Pail Kids-like cover, after hearing them on Jools Holland and loving the performance; the new Tricky thanks to good reviews and the stream I heard on NPR; and, finally, the new Suede thanks to a combo of the above reasons (Jools peformance, Guardian stream, acquaintance opinions) + a love of the band from my youth.  I'm pretty happy, I have to say.  I still prefer listening to a CD, tape, or vinyl over an MP3.  Mostly cos I think that when I've properly bought the music I value it a bit more; also cos using these physical methods for listening doesn't involve sitting at a computer or using a computer in any way; and lastly because I've made a decision to listen to music that I get properly, repeatedly, instead of just getting it and barely paying it any attention -- involving money helps in that process.

Anyway, I'm gonna stick a few vids below of things I've heard (and by the way, I know most of this is actually not new music at all, but it is new to me) and liked from these CD's, as well as a video by Cornershop.  I went on a road-trip to New York recently and for that I actually bought this podcast -- part of a documentary series for BBC Radio 2 by Stuart Maconie that goes through the UK's history as told via pop music.  This particular episode was about the Asian experience in Britain and Cornershop were featured quite prominently, which led me to reacquaint myself with them; plus the wife liked Brimful of Asha.  I like this song, the video, and the fact that the actor from My Beautiful Laundrette is in it.  Good beat too:



I thought the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Jools were great.  I never really paid any attention to them but I was in the mood for this type of rock I suppose:



I read some Tricky interviews recently and in one he mentioned how success doesn't necessarily change anything -- he still has the same issues, concerns, sadnesses, that he always did:



Lastly, I thought Suede did a great job playing live on Jools Holland.  Feraz reckons that Brett Anderson's voice doesn't have it any more, but I can't say I agree.  Sadly I can't find a video of it online, so here's a different performance which isn't quite as good: