I’ve been acquainting myself with the latest self-titled album from Tweak Bird over the past week. While I’m still getting to grips with it one thing stands out, brothers Caleb and Ashton Bird do the raucous old-school rock riffage pretty damn well.
They remind me of hearing The Black Velvets first time around – some free Mp3 goodness for y’all.
Usually it’s Don Diablo who’s been chopping’ up people’s tunes. The Dutch DJ has been belting out mixes, mash-ups and remixes all year and his wonderful ‘Seven Nation Army’ bootleg featured here earlier last month. On this occasion it’s his single ‘Whos Your Daddy’ getting a rework.
The original is a big tune with lots of attitude and aggression (al la Audio Bully’s), blended between complex beats and sequences. Redial & Rubix manage to push it into new areas of grittiness and funkiness respectively, all three are serious dance floor fillers in their own right.
Keep an eye out for his debut album Exit Studio Sweatshop which is due out before the end of the year.
Okay, Duppy Writer isn’t exactly new nor entirely Roots’ work. It’s a collection of re-works by producer Wrong Tom who was responsible for a series of mixes which became the bonus disc for the limited edition version of Slime & Reason. So pleased with the work he was brought in to expand the work into a full album.
Duppy Writer covers all four of Roots Manuva’s main albums, plus a brand new collaboration with Mr Manuva and Ricky Ranking on lead single ‘Jah Warriors’. The first taster is the smooth reggae/dub-tinged ‘Butterfly Crab Walk ft. Riddla’ – sounds like good stuff and any new Roots is always welcome.
Duppy Writer is released 6th September on ninja tune
The blog has been on the go for 6 months now and coincidently it’s accompanied by the 200th post (weird eh?). After much deliberation and many a sarcastic suggestion from my mates on how to mark this glorious occasion I decided to just go with two tunes from two of my favourite bands.
First up is from now defunct Sheffield band Milburn who were unluckily overshadowed by friends and fellow steel city natives Arctic Monkeys. While their sound is greatly similar to the early days of Arctic Monkeys, debut Well Well Well remains one of my favourite albums of the last 5 years and the deluxe edition includes a wonderful collaboration with Billy Bragg.
Next is Mod revivalists The Rifles who have a serious predilection for the good old days when bands like The Jam et al had something to say about British society and politics while bashing out catchy as hell tunes. Two albums in, a battle with the banks and they’re certainly carrying on this great lineage with style.
Maxïmo Park front man Paul Smith has announced he is to release a solo album Margins later this year. It follows band mate Duncan Lloyd who released Seeing Double a few years back.
The LP has been pieced together with friend and collaborator Andrew Hodgson over the past 4 years and is very much a side project as Smith went to great lengths to point out “I haven’t ‘gone solo’ like George Michael when he left Wham, I’ve just made an album in my spare time that I wanted to share with y’all”.
So far only ‘North Atlantic Drift’ has been leaked to us and it sounds different to Maxïmo Park – stripped down, meandering, warm, fuzzy indie with that instantly recognizable North-East brogue, not too dissimilar to the afore-mentioned Mr. Lloyd.
‘I’m Aware’ is the first single taken from Clinic’s forthcoming album Bubblegum. The video is directed by the legendary Peter Fowler, the man behind much of Super Furry Animals artwork and visuals. It would appear we are witnessing a change of tact from the Liverpool outfit with a much dreamier, mellow approach replacing the agressive churning riffs and hyped vocals.
Bubblegum is released through Domino on 4th October.
Here’s a second helping of new material from Derry’s very own electro kings The Japanese Popstars featuring the legendary Green Velvet. This follows from the superb Destroy EP and hopefully we will see a second studio album before long, while the first album was great they seem to have raised the bar considerably.
Expect a highly charged memorable show when they take to the stage at Electric Picnic – here’s one from the first album to keep a listen for, epic live!
Formed in 2007, Dublin band The Last Tycoons have built a worthy reputation for their live shows in the intervening years and while their debut was a long time coming it’s one of the highlights of 2010 – time you were acquainted with it.
From the outset it’s clear these guys know what they’re doing, great instrumentation, production and a definite Americana/Rootsy influence at its core. There’s still an overwhelming Irish feel to it and many of the tracks like ‘Don’t Let Me Catch You’ evoke memories of the early days of the stones before they became shit, it’s this formula blended perfectly with touches of britpop, R&B and stroke-esque indie rock (‘Not at All’) that makes for such a memorable listen.
Vocally it sounds almost strained at times which adds to the emotion while the backing vocals are delivered brilliantly to create a real harmonic feeling exemplified best on the beautifully gut wrenching ‘Dry Law’, written about the dark old days of prohibition and the Great Depression in the US.
It’s been a great year for Irish music with The Rags, Villagers, Fionn Regan, The Cast of Cheers et al releasing superb albums – this one is up there with the best of them, a must have.
Steve Mason has returned with second single from debut solo album Boys Outside, ‘Am I Just a Man’. Previous single ‘Lost & Found’ was quite reminiscent Beta Bands sound and this is no different, beautifully endearing, simple yet somewhat haunting.
A remix by Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor has also turned up which flips the whole vibe on its head – well worth a listen.
Steve Mason plays Electric Picnic in September.
With only a few weeks to go before the 90km cycle to Electric Picnic from Dublin in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital I’m up to 60km which is 2/3 of the full cycle, not bad. The route was Barretstown-Carragh-Kilmeague-Allen-Milltown-Newbridge twice, it’s a nice cycle with probably Kildare’s only hill, the Hill of Allen .
The first 30km were fine but after a short break it was difficult to get back into a rhythm again, something I will have to sort out, it was only after the 50km mark that I began feeling fatigued. I’m okay today afterwards, so it seems this ‘training’ is working.
On the donations front the current total in the totalometer is €526, a big jump from the last time and thanks to everyone, you know who you are. Funds raised must be in before 20 August so anyone wishing to sponsor me still have time to do so if you want. Please give as little or a much as you can afford it all makes a difference – To donate simply go to my charity page or those who meet me in person, I will see you around.
All funds raised will go towards the Neurosurgery Appeal to assist patients suffering from diseases or injuries of the brain or spine.
Here’s a tune I never get tired of hearing from Blur legend Graham Coxon, enjoy!