New Musick Monday

It's a little known fact that the reason behind putting your clocks forward last weekend is simply so you can get to this feature that bit quicker. They make up some rubbish about British Summertime to appease you...like British Summertime even exists!

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Fever Ray by Fever Ray



What could say imminent summertime more then this latest offering from the female half of The Knife? Glacial beats, heavily treated vocals and the dual theme of post-natal depression and insomnia. Do NOT listen to this in a darkened room - you will wet yourself.

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'Untouchable' by Girls Aloud



A huge, seven-minute pop Goliath has been crudely and mercilessly hacked down to a three-minute, radio-friendly chart botherer, with unnecessary vocoder. It's a shame, but it still remains at least 67.8% better then most pop songs released this decade.

BURN THIS FOR ME

Rules by The Whitest Boy Alive



We had such high hopes. We've not read a single good review of this album and yet we can't believe it's not very good. Can someone buy it, burn us a copy and send it over to the usual address; Musick, 101 Cheapskate Street, Poorsville, London. Ta.

I pity the fool

Passion Pit have been on the receiving end of a barrage of positive press in recent months, a tidal wave of hype if you will. So far they've managed to ride out the wave and are currently surfing calmly towards the release of their debut album, Manners (due out on the 18 May).



To coincide with the announcement of said album the band decided to upload a new song, The Reeling, onto their Myspace. Very nice it is too. A stuttering beat, some shimmering synth notes and those faintly anguished vocals all present and correct (it's worth noting that the vocals are lower in the mix then on debut EP Chunks of Change, which can only be a good thing).



Very much looking forward to the album if this is anything to go by. Imagine if it wasn't. Imagine if the rest of the album was all drone rock, sung in Russian and each song went on for twelve minutes.

Pain in the heart

Regular readers will know how spot-on Musick is, both in terms of the actual recommendations and the speed in which we catch on to new bands. Where other music blogs follow, we lead. So, let us introduce you to a band that absolutely everyone was going ape shit* about late last year...The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.



They hail from New York, are labelmates with Crystal Stilts and sound like something that would have featured on that C86 mixtape the NME released in 1986. Guitars 'jangle', the vocals are fey and faintly Morrissey-esque and there's an over-reaching level of tweeness that might put some people off. But The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (ah, that band name is almost too twee to type) manage to transcend the limitations and have created a debut album bursting with catchy melodies and painfully shy songs. Put this on your walkman, slip on your duffel coat, sit in the shade and cry yourself silly whilst reading Catcher In The Rye.



They're even playing Boggle in the video, which is only Musick's favourite game. Shamefully, much of our teenage years were spent playing Boggle...alone.

* In a mildly disinterested, shrugging shoulders kind of way.

Prince among men?

What with all the hoo and indeed ha surrounding Michael Jackson's upcoming O2 residency (the Bankruptcy Tour 2009/10) it's worth noting that when Prince performed there a few years ago he also played a ridiculous amount of shows and kept prices down to less than £40 a ticket. Neither singer has released new material to match their eighties heyday, but at least Prince has recently proven himself to be a reliably amazing performer and looks as if he can still stand up unaided, which is one up on Jackson.



Only time will tell whether we see the return of the King Of Pop (and if you have tickets for the shows in early 2010 then good luck to you), but for now Prince has a new album coming out. In fact he has THREE new albums coming out. Why three I hear you scream? Good question. One is called LOTUSFLOW3R (his caps and his use of the number), the other MPLSoUND and the final one is called Elixer and is an album by his protege Bria Valente. Phew. None of them will include anything as good as 'Raspberry Beret', 'Kiss' or 'Darling Nikki' or even 'Get Off' or 'Cream', so I'd save your money if I were you.

This is a new song, 'Ol' Skool Company', performed the other night on the Jay Leno show:



When he threw his guitar at that man! The little scamp. It's a great performance, but is it a patch on this, taken from the Grammys in 2004?

No.

Recession face

Here at Musick we like to think we know some people that know some people. Sometimes our people talk to other people's people and they then get back to their people who come to our people with an idea. Such a convoluted exchange of words happened yesterday when we were asked by The Enemy's people to come up with a brand new image for their forthcoming album, Music For The People (ahem).

Knowing we'd be presented with pretty much a blank canvas we got to work on some ideas. Their music speaks to people, it reflects the everyday life of the working man and revels in the mundane, bringing it to life. Their photos are usually bleak, monochrome and moody, and why shouldn't they be? We're in a recession and we need The Enemy more then ever in these dark and uncertain times. It's either that or crack cocaine.

So, without further ado, this is what we came up with:



Unfortunately, The Enemy's people were unavailable for comment at the time of going to press, but we took their silence as an affirmative. Thank you to The Enemy for being such good sports and showing that famed sense of humour throughout. With bands like this, we can face the recession head on and win, win, win.

I'm so Dizzee

He's just a rascal, a dizzee rascal. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Now Jeremy Paxman's favourite grime artiste, Dizzee Rascal, is back with another collaboration, this time with Armand Van Helden entitled 'Bonkers'.



As the title suggests the whole thing is a little bit mad, a little bit crazy and just a bit of a mess on first listen. Luckily, the ever-excitable Zane Lowe plays it twice in a row. 'Bonkers'. It helps, actually, because the whole thing sounds much better second time around. Expect it to 'blow up' the dancefloors near you soon.

It's not on youtube yet, but if you click here you can listen to it on Zane Lowe's podcast type thingy.

I doubt it will be there long, so please do hurry.

New Musick Monday

Back once again, like one of those renegade masters. It's been said by Musick's critics that this weekly feature is an easy way to fill space and that it involves very little in the way of actual work. These people are very observant.

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Junior by Royksopp



The album, the duo's third, features the vocal talents of a veritable Scandinavian smorgasbord of pop, with Lykke Li, Robyn, Anneli Drecker and Karin Dreijer-Andersson of the Knife / Fever Ray all adding their tuppence worth. Highlight is the Robyn-assisted 'The Girl and the Robot', which is also the next single.

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'My Girls' by Animal Collective



We've no doubt written about this band and this amazing song before, but it's now available to download as a 'single'. Thinking about it, the band aren't exactly mainstream fodder, which means little chance of radio airplay, meaning that most people who are so inclined have already brought the album so wouldn't need to download this song anyway. Expect a HUGE new entry come Sunday.

COPY OFF YOUR UNCLE

Yes by Pet Shop Boys



The boys are back! Yes isn't quite the masterpiece early reports suggested, what with the whole thing sagging around the middle, much like Charlie from Eastenders. But producers Xenomania know their way around a sparkling pop melody and the two young lads who front the band are no slouches either.

Peaches and cream

You may remember Peaches for the delicate, fragile 'Fuck The Pain Away', a song drenched in gossamer strings and piano runs. "Sucking on my titty like you wanting me" she implored, bereft. The album this song appeared on also featured songs called 'Lovertits', 'Cum Undon' and 'Suck And Let Go'; many likened it to Joni Mitchell's Blue.



Well, lo and behold Peaches has decided she now wants to be an electro minx and has teamed up with Simian Mobile Disco, Digitalism, Soulwax and Drums of Death for her fourth album, I Feel Cream (due 4 May). The first taster from the new album is the double a-side 'Talk To Me'/'More'.

Here's 'Talk To Me':



Here's 'More':



Filth, absolute filth.

He shoots, he, er, misses

What with 'The Fear' and its parent album It's Not Me, It's You both hitting the number 1 spot in the UK, it's fair to say Lily Allen is now back to being a bona fide pop star and not just someone who rolls out of The Ivy with her skirt tucked in her knickers.

'Not Fair' is the second single from said album, an electro-country hybrid that maintains Allen's penchant for singy-songy, almost nursery rhyme melodies. Lyrically, it deals with the pitfalls of dating what seems to be the perfect man, but in actuality he's really quite crap at the sex bit. It can come across as a bit too News Of The World kiss 'n tell (the part about lying in spunk is a bit much), but it's so catchy it doesn't really matter.



Maybe, just maybe, he had a bit to drink? Perhaps he'd had a hard day at work? Match of The Day was probably on and he didn't want to miss it? Premature ejaculation is a real problem Lily, please don't mock the afflicted (unless we're talking about speech impediments).

Weally weally wong

Here at Musick we don't like to marginalise those less fortunate than others. BUT we always have and we always will find people with speech impediments slightly annoying. This makes Take That's new single, The Garden - featuring Mark and Howard on lead vocals - the musical equivalent of someone scrapping their nails down a blackboard whilst someone else blasts a saxophone and a small child de-tunes their violin.

Still, on the plus side, who know Jason Orange could sing? I thought he was just there for his guitar playing...

Deacon blue

Dan Deacon is from Brooklyn, New York. So far so (obviously) cool. He's also balding, bespectacled and a bit of a music geek. Very cool indeed in other words. Deacon releases his magnificent new album, Bromst, on Monday and it's a gigantic melting pot of glitch-techno, aboriginal funk, Iranian trip-hop, Cornish minimal bass and Finnish folk. Or something. A lot of it sounds like machines imploding and if you listen to it on the tube your guaranteed to get a seat.

One track, 'Woof Woof', hurts to listen to at points, but then the noise falls away and you feel much better for it.



Deacon's live shows are notoriously insane, with Deacon preferring to set up his gear in the middle of the crowd rather then on the stage. As you can see, 'dance offs' are common place.

Shock horror!

Cast your minds back to late 2006 / early 2007 and the emergence of five stick thin, pallid young uber-goths (a more fashionable variant then your plain goth) seemingly dreamt up by Tim Burton. Their name? The Horrors. They looked cool, they hated The Enemy, their debut video was directed by Chris Cunningham and made old people pass out and the NME loved them. What wasn't to like? (Apart from the last bit). Well, despite the promise of early single 'Sheena Is A Parasite', their debut album, Strange House, was a bit of a damp squib, more PG then 18 certificate.

But they're back. And how. They've kept the gloomy aesthetic of course, but gone are the garage rock stylings and instead they've been listening to Can, a bit of Neu!, some Pink Floyd and a dash of Joy Division. 'Sea Within A Sea' is eight minutes long, produced by Geoff Barrow of Portishead and is the final track on their imminent new album Primary Colours, which will be released by XL Records. It can also be downloaded for free from here.



As if nabbing the guy from Portishead weren't enough the band also got Douglas Hart from Jesus And Mary Chain to direct the video. Nice job Douglas.

New Musick Monday

Yeah, it's a regular thing. Or at least until we get a bit bored or, heaven forbid, the whole record industry realises the only way to make money is to release Ronan Keating albums in which case we'll urge you to burn all record shops down to the ground. All two of them.

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Beware by Bonnie "Prince" Billy



Another new album I hear you cry? Yep, the guy's prolific. He's also ditching the 'alt' bit of alt-country and revelling in a good fiddle...

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'In For The Kill' by La Roux



It's pretty unbelievable that we've not mentioned La Roux before seeing as she's young, female, very much enthralled to the '80s and is very good indeed. Her mum is someone from The Bill.

STEAL THIS

Grace / Wastelands by Peter Doherty



It's what any poetic urchin/libertine/dandy would want. No, seriously, the album's worth a listen.

B.L.U.R who?

It's been a busy few months for Mr Graham Coxon. Not only has he got back with some old band he used to play guitar in, but he's also just finished a tour with Peter Doherty, who, it's been said, has quite an addictive personality. Apparently, Doherty can't stop eating Fruit Salads and if he's feeling really self-destructive will eat ten of them in one night and then finish it off with a Black Jack. People in the know call it a Black Salad and it could kill a lesser man stone dead.

Anyway, Coxon has decided that now is as good a time as any to get back to releasing solo material after the nonsense that was Love Travels At Illegal Speeds, a record that single-handedly made us question Coxon's right to create music. Thankfully, it sounds like The Spinning Top (due in May) is a return to the acoustic, more ramshackle sound he perfected on The Sky Is Too High or The Kiss Of Morning, although there is a concept involved (the album tells the story of one man from life to death).

'Sorrow's Army' is the first single and is released on 18 April:



Beautiful. Dad's are going to love this, the guitar playing is incredible.

Wolf vs. Vulture

We mentioned a little while ago that gloriously OTT artiste Patrick Wolf would be releasing a new album this year entitled Battle and that we, the general public, would be funding it through our taxes that should be going towards helping rid this country of scum...oh, sorry, that's the article I'm doing for The Daily Mail. No, he asked fans to help fund the album, which will now be called The Bachelor, due out on 1 June.

If you donated some money then you might want to have a listen to the first fruits of his labour, the single 'Vulture':



It's a bit all over the place, but the 'chorus' of "d-d-d-d-d-dead meat" is sure to feature prominently on Radio 1 very soon. Certainly less immediate then anything from The Magic Position, it features beats from Alec Empire, hence the more abrasive tone, and the Wolf-directed video is expected to be very visceral and ohh, err, a little bit sexual.

Will it be as good as this though?

Ladyizer

We've banged on about Ladyhawke until we can bang on no more. Her brilliant debut album is now about 39p on iTunes so there's really no excuse. Her label are giving it one last push by re-releasing the fantastic 'Paris Is Burning', but why not have a listen to the cover of Britney Spears' 'Womanizer' that's on the b-side?

Here it is:



She really 'makes it her own'. No, but seriously, she does. I actually hear some emotion in the song now, not just a one trick electro-pop shrug-fest.

Ladyhawke will be playing live some venues in May.

Eels up inside ya

There are a few bands/artists that Musick loves so much that even if they were to record themselves sneezing into an old ladies face we'd still buy it twice. Radiohead are one, Bjork is another, Beck, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Girls Aloud, all right up there. Then there are Eels. Often forgotten about when it comes time to compile those lists or hand out those awards, but their (his?) consistency is startling.

So, it is with great honour and privilege that we announce that Eels have a new album out in June entitled Hombre Lobo (meaning Werewolf).



Here's the tracklisting:

Prizefighter
That Look You Give That Guy
Lilac Breeze
In My Dreams
Tremendous Dynamite
The Longing
Fresh Blood
What's a Fella Gotta Do
My Timing Is Off
All The Beautiful Things
Beginner's Luck
Ordinary Man

Following the HUGE success of this, let's rate the song title again. Eels have always given good song titles, and this album is no exception. Given that 'It's A Motherfucker' from Daisies of the Galaxy was not a balls out rocker but rather a sad lament, it's safe to assume that 'Fresh Blood' will be soft and dreamy. 'Tremendous Dynamite' already sounds like it should be amazing, as does the honest 'What's A Fella Gotta Do'. Only 'Ordinary Man' lets the side down, it sounds a bit, well, ordinary.

Scientific as ever.

New Musick Monday

So, it's recession o' clock. You're thinking, what can I buy this week? Let Musick be your guide.

BUY THIS:

Jewellery by Micachu



DOWNLOAD THIS:

'I'm Not Sorry' by thecocknbullkid



And, as an extra bonus, DOWNLOAD THIS too:

It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs



The above is available on iTunes already, despite the original release date being in mid-April. Some scally wag leaked the bloomin' thing on internet so the band decided to make it available early. People power!

Bonnie Langford

OK, so perhaps we were overreacting below. So, while the sun still shines let's make some beautiful hay. Or something.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy aka Will Oldham aka Palace Music aka that guy with the beard, is back with a new album, entitled Beware. The first single, 'I Am Goodbye', has this rather lovely video to accompany it.



It's like that Massive Attack video but instead of Shara Nelson there's a tramp in her place.

Oldham has been doing interviews and photoshoots in support of this album and there are rumours he's, you know, happy and laughing and stuff. We've always felt there's more to him then simply a miserable guy with facial hair. This is all the evidence you need surely:



Funny as fuck.

The end of Musick???

Seriously, what are we going to do now?

Depressing.

Expect lots more pictures and hyperlinks from now on.

*very sad face*.

Album cover of 2009

Jarvis Cocker's second solo album, Further Complications, due out on 18 May, recorded by Steve Albini.



More details soon no doubt.

Golden touch

Louche-ironic-synth-pop-alert!

Golden Silvers have recently signed to XL Records and their forthcoming single 'True Romance' (out on April 20th) is as delicious as the caramel apple crumble we had the other day for pudding.

The video is an 80's inspired (what else!) feast of purple, with choreographed dance moves, asymmetrical hair and a brilliantly tacky spinning diamond.



You watched it? But you're still not sure? Watch it again. I'll give you a moment...

It gets better right? Brilliant keyboard sounds, excellent deadpan half-rapped vocals.

There will be an album, also called True Romance, out a week after the single and everything has been produced by Lexxx who has worked with Crystal Castles and Esser.

The beautiful people, beautiful people

Being beautiful is a burden. We know it, you know it (oh, not you actually) and Au Revoir Simone know it. Not only are the three women that make up Au Revoir Simone as cute as three rather fetching buttons, they are also, like, really talented! I know! Women can be talented musicians too!



Musick has been playing their last album, The Bird Of Music, A LOT recently so we are more then happy to announce that they will have a new album out in May entitled Still Night, Still Light. Here's the tracklisting:

Another Likely Story
Shadows
All or Nothing
Knight of Wands
The Last One
Trace a Line
Only You Can Make You Happy
Take Me as I Am
Anywhere You Looked
Organized Scenery
We Are Here
Tell Me

Let's review the titles shall we? 'Knights of Wands' sounds like a Bat For Lashes b-side (4/10), 'Only You Can Make You Happy' is pure Oprah (3/10) but 'Another Likely Story' (7/10) and 'Organized Scenery' (8/10) make up for it. Who needs the actual music these days anyway, right?

Old song:



FACT: Au Revoir Simone are David Lynch's favourite band.
FACT 2: They took their name from a line in a Pee Wee Herman movie.

Lil bit of luck

Here at Musick we pride ourselves on being about 2 months behind the zeitgeist, but it seems we've accidentally stumbled upon a brand new video theme that is quite literally taking the world by storm.

Today, whilst drinking a mug of tea and gorging on a Malteaster (seriously, go and get one, they're amazing), who should call us up but hip-hop royalty, Lil Wayne. He'd read this insightful article and wanted to know if he could jump on the school uniform bandwagon and you know what, we let him. Here's how the conversation went (roughly):

Musick: Hello, Musick, you're local music blog.

Lil: Musick, hi, it's Lil.

Musick: Oh, you alright. Still having problems with your teeth?

Lil: Lord no, just got these amazing gold-plated dentures fitted and now I feel much more confident when eating an apple.

Musick: Oh brilliant stuff. How can we help?

Lil: Well, as you know, I'm releasing a rock record called Rebirth in May and for the first single, Prom Queen, I was hoping to use that school uniform idea you were banging on about only the other day.

Musick: Oh, OK, yeah sure, why not. I think you sat in a classroom with some spectacles on will detract from the heinous musical monstrosity going on in the background.

Lil: Wonderful, thanks Musick. All the best. Give my love to Tina won't you?

Musick: Sure will Lil.

Lil sent us over the finished video this afternoon. He's pretty good at the whole filming, directing, editing and posting thing, he gets the job done real quick. Ever the professional.

Stith insect

Let's be honest, as names go, DM Stith doesn't exactly roll off the tongue or stick in the brain. Luckily, Stith's music is good enough on its own to have created a small groundswell of interest that's seen Sufjan Stevens sign him to his own imprint, Asthmatic Kitty records, and a full-page feature in The Observer.

The music press is all about circles apparently, and over in the American Indie circles Stith is being compared to Jeff Buckley (I know, I know) and Antony Hegarty, mainly because his voice is arresting and has a tendency to fly from melancholic to joyful in one fell swoop. 'Pity Dance', in particular, is a spooky, creeping affair, helped enormously by this unsettling video:



Who do we think is in the bag? Robert Maxwell? Nasty Nick? The mermaid from Splash?

Heavy Ghost, the album this song is taken from, is out on 9 March. Click here for more.

Twit, Twit, Ta-whoo!

Yeah, so Musick has started to use twitter. For those not in the know (read: those people that have better things to do), Twitter is best described as mini-blogging or to use a Facebook term, it's similar to updating your status a lot. The good thing about it is that you can 'follow' (i.e. stalk) people and in return they follow you back. Well, that's the idea. At the moment we're following twice as many people as are following us.

BUT, we are doing this all for work reasons, honest. So far we have learnt that Little Boots is getting close to naming her debut album (I know, pretty big), that VV Brown is putting on weight and that Dan Black gets migraines a lot. Now you see how crucial this thing is.



The other day we got notified that Catherine A.D. was following us so decided to follow right back. She's since posted an update about recording sessions she's doing with none other than Bernard Butler, ex-Suede guitarist and producer for Black Kids, Cajun Dance Party and er, Duffy, amongst others.

The song is called 'The Waiting Game' and can be heard here, along with the recent single,'Carry Your Heart'.

This was quite a convoluted way of saying we quite like Twitter.