Saturday 9 August 2008

Some more live videos

Tunes of the Week - #32

With a full week of British music for the first time in ages, it's fair to say that there's going to be a long list this week. Said, writing this introduction on the Tuesday. So, going for a short and sharp hit to each song mentioned. Blunt, but should work:

Midnight Man (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds): 28th July - Ironically enough, I got a text from Dark Sprout yesterday. "Dear 6 music. I like nick cave too, but is it really necessary to play 'midnight man' every 15 minutes. Love Dark Sprout". I hadn't actually noticed that in my liking of the song. That said, it lacks a bit of the power of Dig, Lazarus, Dig!, and wouldn't on its own encourage me to run out and buy the album.

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) (Glen Campbell): 5th August (album) - I'm not normally much for covers. But sometimes, it's such a strange idea, my ears prick up. For instance Glen "I am the lineman for the county" Campbell covering Green "American Idiot" Day. My ears prick up even more when it works. I'd never have thought it would have made a country song, but I think it does. He's got an entire album of covers coming out, which add covers of Velvet Underground (Jesus), Travis (Sing) and Tom Petty (Walls) amongst others. Difficult album to pull off, but if anyone can...

You (Atmosphere) - Hip-hop / Rap / anything that doesn't involve actually singing is rarely mentioned here. However, I noticed it creeping in more and more. I think it's normally when they produce a bloody catchy chorus that actually is sung, such as here

The man who can't be moved (The Script): 25th July - The Script are definitely one of these "up and coming" bands. They don't seem to fit into any particular genre - U2 meets R&B is the most common description, but that sounds worse than the actual result, which is pretty pleasing. Unfortunately, I can't really say much more than that, it's a bit wishy washy. No problems listening to it on the radio, but any more than that?

Man-sized Wreath (R.E.M.) : 11th August - It's the third single from the album "Accelerate", and after the frankly disappointing Hollow Man it's a much stronger track. Classic R.E.M. by all accounts - but that's not necessarily a good thing as all the tracks are beginning to merge into one.

Left Behind (CSS): 21st July - Electronica is getting more and more popular, in what some people are calling a 'retro' vibe. I don't think it's a return to the 80s at all, it's got a distinctly different edge, as this clearly shows. Electronic opening, fair enough - but after that a strong tune well sung, that is not "80s" by any stretch of the imagination.

I decided (Solange): 18th August - An unusual selection, in that I can offer you two different versions of the same hit. And both are great. You've got the original Neptunes production (which is the one I've heard on the radio) - but you've also got the Freemasons edit. Both are really good, personally I prefer the second slightly, with it's stronger beat - if I could perhaps imagine the "DJ" playing it at my 4th birthday party back in the late 80s. At least it gives you options to pick one too!

Learnalilgivinanlovin' (GOYTE): 11th August - Someone lost a space-bar when writing the title of this track. I've got to say that this is retro, and really has some 'get up and go'.

The world should revolve around me (Little Jackie): 25th August - Mentioned last week, still liking it. Not much more to add from last week.

Love is noise (The Verve): 11th August - I've been trying to figure out the backing vocals to this track. My latest theory is that it's the Tellytubbies ("Eh-ho, Eh-ho, Eh-ho"). What's most impressive though, is that the vocals seemed to really fit the big-stage festival-ending Glastonbury set. So, I hear the song, and I think to the live performance - which even on the TV was highly impressive. With a small dose of luck, I'll be able to see it live myself next weekend...

Mecanno (Red Light Company): 11th August - The more times I hear the song, the more I like it. Every time I listen, I pick something different from the song, and it still sounds really fresh. Which, considering the first time I mentioned it was in TOTW27, isn't a bad feat at all. (Although, with the official video not embeddable, they lose points! Have a live version instead...)

I like you so much better when you're naked (Ida Maria): 21st July - I presume she's talking about salad here. From interviews, and the songs themselves, you get the feeling that Ida Maria is a bit of an eccentric artist. Definitely individual, with a distinct sounding voice, which is probably why I like her so much. Quite brave to have a song with a title like this, but now it's charting well, it was a risk that paid of handsomly.

Expect TOTW to be a few days after the weekend next time. Reasons for the lateness - I'm off darn Sarth to Hylands Park for the V Festival. All going well, I will still be blogging directly from the festival site - if by proxy - so keep your eyes peeled over the weekend.

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