They say time flies when you’re having fun but I’m afraid I would now beg to differ. The Fool, Warpaint’s debut full-length on Rough Trade, feels like it goes on for frickin ever but to say it was merely an enjoyable experience would be so much of an understatement....
Read the review on Sucking Lemons.
They probably wouldn't appreciate being likened to Foals, but there are quite a few signature Yannis 'eyy-eahhhyyy's towards the end, which don't exactly detract from the comparison.
A catchy song in its own right though - pretty chilled.
The last we heard of German electro duo Digitalism was back in 2007 when they released their debut rec Idealism, showcasing their transcendent mix of funk and trance, a quasi euro pop album to France's Justice and Daft Punk.
Abstract pop melodies, a charging hip hop beat and a 'Hello It's Me' Todd Rundgren sample commingle and entwine to form another great crossover tune (think Kid Cudi/Chiddy Bang's music, but rap-less and doing a duet with Yeasayer with their catchy vocals and chillwave vibes). The outcome is one truly great listening experience and evokes the need to listen once more, and once again. And again.
2005 saw Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes release their stunning and audacious debut The Loon, a scintillating record of rock tunes, all of which highlighted their Pixies-tinged sound.
Three years later, to my dismay, they returned making rather infantile music, virtually defecating on their crit-lauded debut, releasing the follow-up, entitled Walk it Off, which was just a tiny bit pants (the band had walked off all the good stuff).
But now, after a two year interlude, with the spring back in their step, TnT have returned once more, this time with full original might and tuneage. Their third album, Outside, from what I have heard so far, is a beaut; a real return to form.
In the first released song, 'Freak Out', they present us with a vibrant and explosive indie tune which brings to mind Wolf parade's marvellous hooks and the Black Keys' raw riffs (check that out @ 2.20!!). Their defining distorted sound has been somewhat muted and instead replaced with neat, catchy pop-ness, enhancing and developing the musical splendour from their debut.
Perhaps, and hopefully, Walk it Off was just a joke, a little music industry joke. It was TnT's forgettable second album, their Second Coming (it feels very odd comparing this group to The Stone Roses). The album which is now going to be erased from my memory, next year to be replaced with their third record (which is in fact going to be their second full-length release. Walk it Off never happened, I'm telling you.)
Released on 11th January on their own Ibid Records, Outside is a delightful prospect and is the first album of 2011 that I am genuinely excited about.
The track listing is as follows:
1. Badaboom
2. SWM
3. One in the World
4. Nightfall
5. Desert Plane
6. Outro
7. Freak Out
8. The Saddest of All Keys
9. Hidee Ho
10. People You Know
11. On and On
12. Mighty Long
You can download 'Freak Out' for free by clicking on that little downwards-facing arrow on the player.
Here's a selection of freaky songs which all warrant an inclusion on your halloween playlist for this year.
Whether it be down to their auteurs' shady persona, dark and angular dreamscapes or just their sublime creation of a medium made to frighten, these eclecticists' songs all undeniably have the freak factor.
Mexican post-hardcore giants At the Drive-in were all the rage back in 2000, when they released their superb and exhilirating debut 'Relationship of Command'. Packed full with tunes stemming from 80s hardcore and 70s progressive rock, one of the highlights for me was 'Enfilade', an exhaustive, shouty-shouty affair which accentuated their punk nature.
It opens with an obscure, spine-tingling phone conversation between an innocent girl and a nonsensical gruff-voiced weirdo who addresses her as 'Mother leopard'. The song develops into a brilliant heavy jam of whooshy distorted guitars overlayed with a trademark call-and-response chorus between singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.
The band Scarswere a brilliant but short-lived post-punk outfit from Edinburgh. In their heyday, they combined the funky riffage of Gang of Four with John Cooper Clarke's fashion sensibilities. They released 'Horrorshow', their debut single, in 1979.
With the meatiest bassline in the history of the earth, sounding like it had come directly from the devil, alongside their clattering, caterwauling guitars, this was an absolute musically evil song. That ear-splitting slap bass and the song's fittingly freaky title were enough to form the perfect Halloween party tune.
Compared to the rest of these freaks, Esben & the Witch, who posted this video online in August, are relative newbies. Nevertheless, this video is very disturbing, in fact, it's the scariest music video of the year. It depicts the trio face on, mysteriously obtaining more and more wounds on their faces as the song develops.
The music is wicked too. Rachael Davies' Twitchy, anthemic, Florence Welch-esque vocals emanate throughout and echoing guitars dominate. The spooky opening's crescendo of thumping percussion and wailing is fantastic.
New, but just as spooky, Esben & the Witch are a group to watch out for next year.
The Specials, the Godfathers of UK ska, released 'Ghost Town', their second single to reach no. 1, in 1981. Despite originally being written about the streets of Coventry, their hometown, their tune has over many years been used at comically 'scary' points during films and the like.
With its defining organs, its flute 'riff', and its eerie chord sequences, it is now the ultimate spooky tune.
On the back of releasing one of the albums of the year in High Violet, The National have released a new video for the best track from it, 'Terrible Love'. Comprising some pretty surreal tour footage inc. Matt Berninger's brrrrrilliant dance moves and the drummer in a swimming pool, it is worth the watch, even if the album has been on our stereos for nearly half a year now.
Five years and one month ago, Antony & the Johnsons were the surprise victors of the 2005 Mercury Prize. No one had seen it coming. But their unique, anti-mainstream, blend of odd baroque, soul and contemporary jazz was now the talk of the town and their triumphant masterpiece I Am A Bird Now subsequently moved into the top 20 of the album chart.
Now on their fourth full-length release, nothing much has changed. Antony Hegarty’s swooning vocals, poignant lyrics and themes of love, longing and debasement still emanate throughout....
Read the Review on Sucking Lemons.
