Saturday 26 September 2009

TOTW39: Michael Bolton - Just one Love

I feel a slight hint of shame making this my TOTW. But, it's a good song, it really is. Feel good, memorable (and therefore it is actually the only real song that's got stuck in my head this week), and sung by a classic artist. So, sorry that it's not really "trendy" (and there is a worrying trend developing of the older generation becoming TOTW), but tough - it's my party :)

Bubbling Under

The Joy Formidable - Greyhounds in the Slips (Currently on free download)

a-ha - Nothing is keeping you here

Wednesday 23 September 2009

1956

Sorry, I've become slack lately - blame holidays that have put me out of sync.

Still, I only really recognise two of these tracks - which is in some ways worrying, but at the same time, I definitely wasn't around at the time!


Sunday 20 September 2009

TOTW38: Mark Knopfler - Border Reiver

This week I'm going for a track that is perhaps appropriate for my geographic location. It's also great to hear, once again, one of the best known artists from the 1970s. It's perhaps a bit too "folky" for some people - yes, it's got the "fiddly-dee factor", but that's a great factor to give you a bit a "get-up and go". No official video I can find, but this should do the trick:

Bubbling Under:

Hockey - Song Away

Fanfarlo - The Walls are coming down

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

Thursday 17 September 2009

One EskimO - One Eskimo

image This is the review of a nice, average band; with a nice, average home in a nice, average town. At least, that's what I imagine it to be.

Because, as the introduction to Hometime tells us, that's the story behind "All Balloons", the provisional title for One EskimO's debut album which is now set to be a self-titled number.

I first talked about One EskimO back in June, and have been listening to the album fairly regularly since then general release having been sadly delayed on several occasions until now, finally, next Monday (available for pre-order at all usual places), together with the extra "Givin' Up". They really are my band of the moment - but a bit of further background first, courtesy of the review from one such "usual place":

One eskimO's striking sound and presentation can be traced back to 2004, when [singer/songwriter Kristian] Leontiou first hit the UK Top 10 with his solo debut single, 'Story Of My Life.' His album, entitled 'Some Day Soon,' proved equally successful, selling more than 200,000 copies and catapulting the soulful young singer to pop success. But, the experience left the gifted young vocalist strangely unfulfilled, as if he were merely a spoke in the great wheel of music industry marketing.

-HMV

So, Leontiou set to do something different. And with Adam Falkner (drums), Pete Rinaldi (guitar) and Jamie Sefton (bass and horns) he set out to create a band that doesn't require him to be in the spotlight, the central instead being one eskimo (with a band of a penguin, giraffe, and monkey). As Leontiou told the Guardian back in 2007:

"I wanted to create a sound of my own: magical, ambient, filmic, acoustic, beautiful and meaningful. I wanted to write about how I felt about life, love, losses and failures, highs and lows, even heartbreaks. But also about how amazing human life is and how mind-blowing our very existence is."

-The Guardian

And that's the definite mood behind the album. Moody and very lyrical, expressive and touching upon a huge variety of issues that affect daily life. The tracks themselves have got comparitively basic tunes and rhythms, but the intricate electronic textures took a year to finalise the album - with Rollo Armstrong producing.

With the perhaps rough and ready animation, the "childlike innocence" that Leontiou said he wanted to create is there.

Stand out tracks have to be Kandi (sampling Candi Staton's He called me baby), the powerful (without being loud, raucous, or heavy) Chocolate, and the jazz Balloons (3 quite different ones there) - but it's difficult to actually pick out any. There genuinely are no bad tracks, and there is much to be said from treating the album as a whole and not individual tracks.

I'm gutted I missed that at V, but you can still catch them supporting Paulo Nutini over the next few weeks. I'll be looking for their own gigs, which are an inevitability, and am determined not to miss them again.

Saturday 12 September 2009

TOTW37: Paloma Faith - New York

Bubbling Under

Michael Bolton - Just one Love - I know, but listen to it, you might be as surprised as I am.

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Sunday 6 September 2009

TOTW36: The Yeah You's - Getting up with you

Bubbling Under:

Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat- Lucky

Hockey - Song Away

Fanfarlo - The walls are coming down (more on which may follow in a subsequent post later)

Wednesday 2 September 2009

August Last Chance: Black Eyed Peas

I'm going to break the rules here. My rule is that the last chance comes from the nominated tracks for TOTW that haven't quite made the grade.

However, I Gotta Feeling has only not made it to the shortlist because of desperate memory failings on my part. In fact, it definitely should have been a TOTW on its own. So, I'm making it my last chance with no sense of shame - and even if I did, what would you do about it?

It really is a brilliant pop song. Catchy, diverse, unique, funky, with real get-up - I'm sure I could go on for ages. It's just a feel good song, and could easily start a night out.


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