DATE ARCHIVES : April 2011

Video: Ghostpoet – Survive It

Ghostpoet has dropped another cut from his simply brilliant debut album Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam.

‘Survive It’ takes us on a contemplative nocturnal wander to continue sharing his musing with us, where we at and where we going? It’s bright, hopeful and brilliant. If you haven’t checked out Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam yet you really should, it’s a wonderful off-kilter fusion of dub-step, electronica, hip-hop. I can’t praise it enough, why not grab a cup and join him?

‘Survive It’ is out on May 9th through Brownswood Recordings

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 Ghostpoet – Survive It

Ghostpoet – Morning feat. Micachu

via Brownswood

Malachai – Return To The Ugly Side

The Bristol duo Malachai carved themselves an enigmatic position on the musical landscape with 2010 debut Ugly Side Of Love. Listeners were treated to a unique and scatty ride through ’60s psychedelia, ’70s prog, ’90s trip hop and howling garage-soul, a nice breather from the tide of indie/electro-pop.

Return To The Ugly Side bares all the hallmarks of its predecessor but sees the Bristol duo overcome their more obvious influences to perfect their scatterbrained aesthetic into a cohesive sound of their own.

It is and album clearly designed to be experienced in one sitting. Songs seem to have a symbiotic relationship as they flow effortlessly into the next. Each is bound together by an overwhelming sense of unease. This unnerving feeling exists from the thudding demon stomp of ‘Mid Antarctica (Wearin’ Sandals)’ to quieter moments like the gorgeous, haunting duet with Katy Wainright on ‘Rainbows’ and even the fuzzy The Beatles circa Revolver ‘(My) Ambulance’ and ‘The Don’t Just’.

Return To The Ugly Side is fresh and organic whilst feeling remarkably vintage and yet it admirably avoids clumsy nostalgia. The veracity with which they deliver their fusion of 60s/70s psych-rock, trip-hop and soul is all the more impressive. It deserves to make a much bigger impact than last year’s Ugly Side Of Love. It was never going to be easy to follow up such a great debut, but somehow they have managed to create and equally enthralling and inventive record.

 

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis – ‘I’m So Sorry’

London trio Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have already carved a distinct niche as talented purveyors of genre-defying retro sounding music. Their self titled debut album was molded from a mixture of  inspirations; R&B, Swing, Country and Western, Rockabilly, Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Their new single ‘I’m So Sorry’ has further caught the eye. Yes, like the rest of their music it hankers back to the 50’s/60’s but on this occasion there is a definite Jamaican ska vibe introduced. Feel good, toe-tapping infectious rhythms and trumpets galore.

‘I’m So Sorry’ is out April 18th while second album Smoking in Heaven is out May 3oth. They play Dublin’s Button Factory on May 5th.

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Gruff Rhys – Hotel Shampoo

The standard of releases in first quarter of 2011 has been unbelievably high. Not to complain but being inundated with almost too much music to manage has it’s drawbacks. Here is yet another record from the backlog well worth getting your mitts on.

Gruff Rhys has to be one of the world’s most underrated musical talents. For over a decade and a half he has been brightening our lives with Super Furry Animals, his many collaborations and of course his solo work.

There have always been two sides to Gruff; the reckless experimentalist and the reflective, hazy, whimsical lover of psychedelia. Hotel Shampoo falls into the later. Much of the record bobs along on soft drums, rich production and his soothing vocals; typified by mysterious opener ‘Shark Ridden Waters’.

It like ‘Sensations in the Dark’ and ‘Vitamin K’ are shimmering pieces of musical escapism, the former headed by wonderful bursts of trumpets, reminiscent of ‘Northern Lites’. ‘At the Heart of Love’ and ‘Christopher Columbus’ are bleaker and prove he not just about putting smiles on faces. Meanwhile ‘Honey All Over’, ‘Patterns of Power’ and ‘Sophie Softly’ could comfortably slip in to any of his previous work over the last decade without feeling out of place.

Hotel Shampoo manages to strike the perfect balance between Rhys’ desire to indulge his oddities, lyrical humor and touching sentiment while making it all sound so natural and effortless. A wonderfully warm and charming, if somewhat restrained record. This is the most complete and engaging solo effort to date from a man who has proved his talent and versatility as a songwriter time and again. Will it see him receive some well overdue acclaim? Probably not but it’s a damn fine record.

Gruff Rhys – Vitamin K via Pias France

Gruff Rhys – Shark Ridden Waters via Crossfiremusic

Black Matte Night Mix

With the huge number of sub-standard mixes floating around the internet nowadays it can sometimes feel like we are drowning in a sea of mediocrity. Thankfully some great ones tend to appear, preserving our faith.

This was just the case last week on receiving this wonderful mix from French DJ Malcom H. Apart from knowing he’s a French DJ there is little else out there but this killer mix speaks for itself.

It is a superb feel good mix, just the job which the summer almost upon us; it gradually flips from chilled tranquil beginnings to climax with a flurry of up-tempo ambient beats. Another plus too, I’d been completely unaware of most of these before now.

I’ve been spinning this one the past week, just can’t get enough of it – the tracklisting is after the jump.

Download: Malcom H – Black Matte Night

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Stream Toddla T ‘Take it Back’

One of the UK’s brightest emerging talent’s Toddla T has returned with a brand new single ‘Take It Back’. It is the first release from his forthcoming album Watch Me Dance and features Shola Ama and J2K.

‘Take it Back’ takes a little getting used to, it bears little resemblance to the thumping electronic dancehall strut of his 2009 debut Skanky Skanky. It is a big step away from this renowned big bass beat sound in favour of more soulful keyboard driven summery style.

T has been busy working on his second album in Sheffield, London and Jamaica, slotting in sessions between his hectic DJ schedule and Radio 1 DJ slots. Watch Me Dance is expected in August and will feature a whole host of collaborations including Roots Manuva, Skream, Ms Dynamite, Ross Orton, Wayne Marshall, Donaeo, Roisin Murphy and Shola Ama.

The highly infectious ‘Take it Back’ is out now on Ninja Tune.

Toddla T – Take it Back via Toddla T

The Vagabonds :: Beyond Hip @ The Pint

Fresh from unleashing their brash brand of bash-em-out punk to British shores, The Vagabonds return to headline ‘Beyond Hip’ at The Pint in Dublin tomorrow night.

The Vagabonds are easily one of my favourite bands in Ireland right now. In short, imagine a bastard child of The Pogues, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash and Whipping Boy and you get the idea.

I’m still completely hooked on their debut EP Another Victory for Hysteria and the live shows are just as brilliant, really, it is not to be missed. Oh and it is FREE in, what more could you want?

The Vagabonds w/ The Revellions, Triple Drop & N.C. Lawlor: ‘Beyond Hip’ at The Pint (Eden Quay), Dublin, Saturday, April 2nd. FREE/Doors 8.30pm.

Well that’s my Saturday night sorted anyway.

The Vagabonds – 46A

Download: The Vagabonds – Something Wrong (Demo)

Download: The Vagabonds – John Mellor via Strummerville

Video: Akala – Find No Enemy

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Yet more articulate, intelligent and insightful hip-hop from Akala.

‘Find No Enemy’ is an amazingly thought provoking song from undoubtedly one of the most talented MC’s on the planet at the moment.

‘Find No Enemy’ is the third single to be taken from the amazing Doublethink.