DATE ARCHIVES : March 2011

Stream: The Chemical Brothers – ‘Container Park’

Legendary electronic duo The Chemical Brothers were enlisted to compose the soundtrack to the upcoming Joe Wright-directed film Hanna.

The guys released a stream of ‘Container Park’, an eerie track which expertly exudes suspense and tension with of course a splash or two of their renowned big beats. It’s a little different from what we’ve come to expect from The Chemicals over the years but it is the score to a film after all, so that will drive the tunes. It is sounding tasty nonetheless, certainly excited and interested to hear the whole soundtrack when it hits the shelves on March 15th.

Thanks to #picileaks we know The Chemical Brothers will be one of the headline acts for this year’s Electric Picnic.

Edit: Another cracking track ‘The Devil is in the Beats’ has surfaced on Some Kind of Awesome

The Chemical Brothers – Container Park via Hypetrak

The Charlatans – ‘Warm Sounds’ EP

The Charlatans kicked off an acoustic tour last night in one of my old stomping grounds, Wrexham’s Central Station. The tour will see them playing stripped back and reworked songs from their 20 year back catalogue in intimate settings across the UK.

To coincide with the tour, the band have released Warm Sounds EP, a selection of reworked versions of Charlatans classics including ‘North Country Boy’, ‘Only One I Know’ and ‘One To Another’. Not so long ago I would have balked at the very idea, proclaiming it as sacrilege. While nothing can touch the originals, the reworks breathe some new life into the older songs in particular.

Through a touch of sophisticated refinement these songs are given a softer, mellower edge perfect for intimate shows. It must be stressed these are not just simply acoustic version, in the main all that resembles the originals is the personnel and lyrics. Madchester anthem ‘Only One I Know’ is given a plucky 60’s harmonic makeover while ‘North Country Boy’ gets striped back to an almost unrecognizable state. The real delight, ‘One To Another’ is re-imagined as a rootin’ tootin’ rockabilly tune which sounds uncannily sounds like Johnny Cash – who’d have thought it? Fantastic.

You can order the EP from their website or pick it up at one of the shows, dates after the jump.

The Charlatans – One To Another (Acoustic Rework)

A Year In A Blog: BarryGruff’s 1st B/day

BarryGruff is one year old today. It is hard to believe really, the time has simply flown by. It’s been remarkable fun sharing music with you all, a task made much easier by all the great music being produced.

I have been completely blown away by the sheer volume and quality of music out there, particular here at home in Ireland. In the past I have guilty or treating much Irish music as a poorer relation to places like the UK. The past 12 months have set me right and proven, to me anyway, Ireland is more than capable of punching above its weight. Exciting times ahead I feel.

Apart from the day-to-day stuff of updating the blog I have been lucky enough to witness so many great live shows, four bloody festivals and be asked onto 98fm’s Totally Irish show, not to mention making the music shortlist for the Blog Awards.

How to celebrate such an auspicious occasion? I thought about sending out every ice-cream van in Ireland playing the same tune but it was too short notice. Instead, I decided to put together a mixtape compiled with some of my favourite songs from the past year. There are surely some glaring omissions particularly Irish stuff (I didn’t feel the need after the end of year Irish mixtape) and please forgive the dire lack of hip-hop. I hope you enjoy the mix as much as I did making it and the tracklisting is after the jump.

Finally BarryGruff would be nothing without its readers to whom I’m truly grateful for allowing me to indulge in this obsession of mine. Last but certainly not least, thanks to Stevie Moon for the wonderful artwork to accompany the post/mixtape.

BarryGruff – A Year In A Blog Mixtape

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Free Single ‘Tubbs & Crockett’ From Hourglass Sea

We took a close look at the work of Bradford based beatmaker Hourglass Sea aka Dean Bentley earlier in the year.

He is back with new single ‘Tubbs & Crockett’ retaining his excellent signature mix of futuristic funk and chilled crisp beats while introducing a dash of 1980’s extravagance.

Check it below. You can grab ‘Tubbs & Crockett’ as a free download right now.

Download: Hourglass Sea – Tubbs & Crockett

The Lost Brothers ‘In The City’

It has been a while since The Lost Brothers (Aka Mark McCausland and Oisin Leech) released their enchanting debut Trails Of The Lonely (parts I & III) back in ’08.

Since then The Losties as they are fondly referred to have been busy gigging here, there and everywhere. They’ve apparently got an album which was recorded in Sheffield last year penned in for release in 2011, some of which have been getting debuted on the radio recently.

Anyway, discovered a new track ‘In The City’, over the weekend. It is taken from an album showcasing the talents of the current crop of musicians from the North of Ireland (no other details yet). It’s unclear if this will be on the new album but it heralds the welcome return of their enchanting, harmonious and timeless sound.

If you haven’t already, do you utmost to get a copy of their debut Trails of the Lonely (Parts I & III) and keep an eye out for the new record.

Grab ‘In The City’ below and a wee reminder from ’08 with ‘Angry at the Sun’.

Mp3: Lost Brothers – In The City [audio http://www.planetarygroup.com/newmedia/pages/northernireland2011/mp3/inthecity.mp3]

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Kitsuné – ‘Parisien’

Uber cool French label Kitsuné has returned with the latest edition of their much praised compilation series, a shining example of how it is done.

Selected by label head-honcho Gildas Loaëc and artist André Saraiva, Kitsune Parisien showcases some of the finest electronic producers from the new Parisian music scene. So it is unsurprising it has got lots and lots of synth pop and electro, some touches of indie and of course a sprinkle of Parisien panache.

There’s nare a dull moment, the standard and quality is superfluous throughout and plenty of these artists deserve further investigation. Although hard to call, high points include the electro kickbacks of Logo and BeatueCue and soft synthy electro-indie vibes of Sauvage and Birkii.

An excellent introduction to the next wave of talented French artists which shows no signs of abating, the future of French music is in good hands.

Birkii – Shade of Doubt via Posh Magazine

Logo – Hello.jpg

 BeatauCue – Behold

Sauvage – Glory

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Occult Detective Club – ‘C’mon Levi’

Texan quartet Occult Detective Club released their second album Crimes late last month. The record bears serious echoes of the first wave of US punk bands, with hefty shades of The Ramones in particular.

It’s more than a homage to the golden age of punk, they have refined this sound to a fine art adding too their own quirks and styles. Raw, abrasive and filled with explosive energy, not bad at all.

So, while I get to grips with the record in it’s entirety here is ‘C’mon Levi’, a brash blast of frenetic punk rock seem pretty much captures the bands essence.

Mp3: Occult Detective Club – C’mon Levi

Listen to new Arctic Monkeys track ‘Brick By Brick’

It takes quite something to get tongues flapping late on a Friday evening and it probably doesn’t come much bigger than this.

Arctic Monkeys have dropped a new track ‘Brick By Brick’, the first new material since Humbug. The so far unnamed new album is out later this year sometime and is produced by James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco).

First impressions? It’s nice to have them back even if it’s no the most exciting song they’ve recorded. It sounds different while being the same and it seems Turner has relinquished lead vocals for this one at least.

Give it a spin below and see what you think?

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Introducing: Moon Visionaries

London based quartet Moon Visionaries have already been lauded by the likes of Steve Lamacq, NME and Q Magazine.

On the surface the could be very easily written off. Yes they are catchy and yes they are quite poppy but but with some attentive listening there is more here than something of a guilty pleasure.

This is where their strength lies, they don’t attempt to gloss over or hide behind it, in fact they embrace with remarkable results. It’s unashamedly feel good, inoffensive and soulful toe-tapping indie, quite similar in many ways to the more cheerful tunes of The Coral or perhaps the better material from The Kooks.

While they’re not breaking new ground what they do, they do well. We might do well keeping an eye on these guys.

 Moon Visionaries – In The Green Room

Moon Visionaries – I Knew You Like That

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