Musick.

Ladies and gentlemen, 3mins30secs...

2010-06-03T10:42:00.000+01:00

We weren't about to leave you with nothing. Musick is dead, but in its place is 3mins30secs, a brand new blog that picks up where Musick left off.

CLICK HERE PLEASE

The day the Musick (blog) died...

2010-06-02T16:41:00.000+01:00

That's it. It's over. Musick is no more. Thanks to everyone who read it and commented, but it's time to move on...

See you soon maybe.

New Musick Monday

2010-05-31T20:24:00.000+01:00

Right, is this some kind of pathological disorder we're dealing with here? Do you want to make us track down each and every one of you (yes, all twenty!) and talk sternly at you for ten minutes? For fucks sake, what's going on? How can a song as instantly catchy and indescribably amazing as 'Better Than Love' by Hurts enter the charts at number 50? How? It defies belief. Sure, Villagers missed out too and the chances of Sleigh Bells denting the charts was up there with Susan Boyle's next covers album featuring a cover of Aphex Twin's 'Windowlicker', but Hurts! Seriously, come on. We should put an end to all this, but we love you and we forgive you.

BUY THIS

Gemini by Wild Nothing

Chillwave or Dream Pop or Summer-sounding Songs With Fey Boys Singing Them is big business right now. Well, when we say 'big business' we mean it sells very little but it generates a lot of press. Wild Nothing, aka Jack Tatum, has been lumped in with the rest of them and for the most part it's a fair comparison, but there's something a bit more '80s indie about him then, say, Toro Y Moi. Gemini is his debut album and it features the stone-cold amazing, 'Summer Holiday', a cover of the Cliff Richard single...KIDDING. It's not as good as that. The rest of the album doesn't quite live up to it, but it's a slow week and we're running out of energy, so just buy it, yeah.

IT'S A REALLY QUIET WEEK, SO MAYBE JUST LISTEN TO AN OLD ALBUM

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Five Trees (The Horrors Remix)' by Chapel Club

The original version is fine too, but a bit too Editors-esque for our liking. The Horrors remix adds some nice keyboard effects, puts some distortion on the vocals and generally makes it all sound less Editors-esque. We're not sure if this version is available to buy but if not you could either listen here or buy the original and play it simultaneously with something off Primary Colours and you'd get the idea.

Truffles, anyone?

2010-05-31T14:32:00.002+01:00

Who doesn't enjoy a good scrap? Well, there's a bit of a humdinger taking place at the moment between the never-knowingly subtle M.I.A and New York Times journalist Lynn Hirschberg. Basically, the New York Times magazine ran a fairly scathing 8,000 word piece on M.I.A in which Hirschberg repeatedly framed the Sri Lankan-born rapper as some massive hypocrite. This reached it's zenith with an extended paragraph in which M.I.A describes the injustice of the world whilst ordering some fancy Truffle-flavoured chips (Trufflegate as it has now become known online). M.I.A initially retaliated by posting the journalist's phone number on Twitter, which she wasn't too happy about, obviously.

Well, M.I.A has since posted recordings from the interview which show Hirschberg ordering the chips, not M.I.A (LIKE THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE!). To be fair to the singer, she does acknowledge this fact and also posts other recordings and links to previous New York Times pieces. The best thing to come out of all this, however, is a brand new track that sees M.I.A spitting fire in Hirschberg's direction. 'I'm A Singer (Haters)' is a brilliant drip-feed electro monster that rides a massive sample of Various Productions' 'Hater'. In the song, M.I.A mentions how journalists shouldn't be thick as shit, goes on a bit about politics ("Lies equals power equals politics") and also seems to refer to Hirschberg as "racist". This could run and run.

Power play

2010-05-28T14:29:00.001+01:00

Apparently this is the first single from Kanye West's fifth album, Good Ass Job. After all the hullabaloo about him 'violating' Taylor Swift's right to freedom of speech, it's nice to have him back doing what he does best.

This is 'Power' featuring Dwele:

This probably won't be online for long so get your ear holes around it NOW.

EDIT: It's gone...but you can hear it here

WARNING: This video features a lady playing guitar

2010-05-26T23:19:00.001+01:00

This here is the video for Rihanna's new single (in the US), 'Rockstar 101'.

Rumour has it that her label have already got Rihanna working hard on a 'poppier' follow-up to last year's Rated R, a record that showcased her harder edge (i.e. she wore black a lot and talked a bit about shooting people). In all honesty, this campaign has at least given Rihanna a bit of an edge when a lot of other pop stars have faded into the background like some fairly pleasant wallpaper. Either way, Slash looks hot in this video, right?

Twisted Firestarters

2010-05-26T23:05:00.000+01:00

We've always had a slight problem with Arcade Fire. Sure, Funeral had its moments and some of Neon Bible was OK, but the general fawning of critics mixed with THE VERY SERIOUS expressions the band seem to wear at all times made them slightly hard to love.

Regardless of our general sense of "meh", the band have somehow decided to carry on recording music and two brand new tracks have found their way into a shop in Glasgow. Let us explain; basically, a man called Chris Ward was in a record shop when he found a white label vinyl with two brand new Arcade Fire songs. Pretty amazing. These songs have now made their way onto the internet and you can download the songs for free from this here blog.

'Month of May' is an urgent, relatively heavy-sounding warning about winds that blow wives away, whilst 'The Suburbs' is a more obvious Arcade Fire track with bar-room piano and a typically lovely melody.

Expect some 5* reviews when the album emerges, probably in a Leeds branch of WH Smith.

A song about having your willy cut off

2010-05-26T22:50:00.000+01:00

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti have a pretty amazing new album out at the beginning of June. Entitled Before Today and released via the legendary 4AD label, it's a brilliantly odd mix of psych-pop, glam and full-blown pop that reminds us of everyone from Pavement to Super Furry Animals.

This here is a live version of 'Menopause Man', which is all about a man wanting to be a woman. Altogether now, "Castrate me, make me gay / Lady, I'm a lady from today".

Flash in the pan?

2010-05-26T00:13:00.001+01:00

Hands up who remembers the Klaxons? You do!? Seriously? OK, well they've spent the past fourteen years working on the follow-up to the Mercury-winning Myths of The Near Future and finally the first fruits of their intensive labour have found their way onto the interpipe.

This is 'Flashover':

So, what do you reckon? Was it worth the wait? Certainly you can hear producer Ross Robinson's influence, especially in the guitar heavy first few minutes. The odd piano interlude is a bit cringe worthy and despite the lack of cheap synths and the general desire to leave the whole 'nu rave' thing behind, it's not all that different. It's also a bit, you know, dull...

"Shake your tamberella"

2010-05-24T22:46:00.000+01:00

Everyone hates Mark Ronson. We get it, don't get it twisted; it's that ubiquity, that smirk, those horns, the fact that he's a good-looking chap with some nice threads. But at the same time, it's weird because he's made some pretty great songs - the majority of Back To Black, for example - and he clearly knows his stuff, but at the same time he's easy to dismiss.

Whether you like him or not, his new album, Record Collection, is shaping up to be pretty interesting. Featuring a host of guest vocalists - including Boy George, The Drums' Jonathan Pearce, Santigold, Miike Snow and many others - it also features vocals from Ronson himself and no cover versions. A few weeks ago the first taster was released in the shape of 'Circuit Breaker', which as the title and the video suggests, is heavily influenced by the music to all those old console computer games.

OK, so it sounds exactly like the music from an old computer game and that's not exactly a good thing, but it's not the official first single so calm down. 'Bang Bang Bang' features a guest rap from Q-Tip and vocals from Yeah Yeah Yeahs' touring keyboardist (the glamour!), MNDR, and it's a stuttering, synth heavy little ditty that claws its way into your memory bank on the second listen. Not a horn in sight.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO IT PLEASE

A little bit like The Go Team you say? Yes, you're right. 'Bang Bang Bang' is released in July and the album is out in September.

New Musick Monday

2010-05-24T22:17:00.003+01:00

We need to have words. Seriously. Move closer, sit down and just fucking listen for once. How could you let Kelis' new album enter at no. 42? For those of you without a degree in maths, that means she missed the Top 40, whilst albums from the likes of Boyzone and Scouting For Girls pranced around in the upper echelons like they owned the place. Disgraceful. Still, LCD Soundsystem managed to gatecrash the top 10, which just goes to show that acres of press and a handful of amazing reviews do have an influence after all. Jamie Lidell was nowhere to be seen and the Laura Marling single followed her last effort into the lower reaches of the Top 75. A decidedly mixed bag in other words. Here are some more things no-one will buy...

BUY THIS IF YOU LIKE JOOLS HOLLAND

Becoming A Jackal by Villagers

Villagers, aka Conor J. O'Brien, makes the kind of music that's easy to dismiss. Earnest, studied and never knowingly exciting, his appearance on Jools Holland a few months ago had some very serious music critics talking very seriously about how he's the new Radiohead. Debut album Becoming A Jackal doesn't support this theory of course, but it does showcase an emerging young talent and as it creeps out of the speakers it's hard to dislike. O'Brien's influences are obvious - yes, a dash of Radiohead here, a helping of Bright Eyes there, a smattering of Elliott Smith just about everywhere - but he manages to create something interesting with the ingredients (have we laboured the food metaphor enough yet? Can we stir it up some more? Perhaps add a garnish of cliche, or a drizzling of empty compliments?). Anyways, it's better then you expect it to be, which is high praise indeed, is it not?

DOWNLOAD THIS TO SUPPORT THE ARTIST

Treats by Sleigh Bells

We've already done a big thing about this so we won't repeat ourselves. What we will say is that we accidentally illegally downloaded this thinking that it wasn't out here for ages and then we go and find it on iTunes...SORRY.

DOWNLOAD THIS RIGHT NOW

'Better Than Love' by Hurts

We guest edited some kind of spam email thing and in it we had to pick our favourite current track and we picked this. It's like Depeche Mode meets Tears For Fears meets Ultravox and yet somehow it's better than even that makes it sound. The fact that it has two brilliant choruses doesn't hurt(s), nor does the very lesbian video. After all the hype and the plaudits, it's nice to see a band genuinely come good on their early promise. Now, don't fuck it up this time general public, we're relying on you.

Friday catch up: Videos with lights in them

2010-05-21T18:01:00.000+01:00

There are rumours circulating that Swedish pop supremo Robyn's record label wanted her age to be kept out of interviews or at least played down, simply because she's over...wait for it...30 years of age! Given this nugget of information, it must have been hard for Robyn to film this video for the mind-meltingly good 'Dancing On My Own', seeing as much of it takes place in a club with loads of young people getting off with each other and being all young and gross.

Whatever her age, the woman knows how to wring every drop of emotion out of a song, doesn't she? Those violent gestures, that anguished face, the smoke machines! Watch it here:

Robyn 'Dancing On My Own' (Official Video) from Robyn on Vimeo.

Everyone's current favourite British female songstress Florence & The Machine, is set to release her twentieth single. 'Cosmic Love' was always the song on the album that screamed "THIRD SINGLE", and despite the delay, it's still a genuinely beautiful love song. The video continues the visual theme of most of the videos from Lungs, i.e. Florence leaps about with gleeful abandon, flinging her hair around like a banshee and generally being spooky and ethereal. All of this is a good thing in a video by the way.

War! What is it good for?

2010-05-19T23:50:00.001+01:00

You must know how it works by now. If not, allow us to remind you; a new band start generating some buzz, we miss it completely, then six months down the line we catch on and tell you about it as if you've never heard of them (when of course, by then, even Mildred who lives opposite the Post Office knows about them).

With that in mind, allow us to introduce you to Warpaint.

Four young ladies from LA, Warpaint have caused quite a stir with their debut EP, the spooky Exquisite Corpse. Over six strung out tracks - the highlight of which is the amazing 'Elephants' - they recall Mazzy Star and various slacker bands from the '90s, yet somehow it all sounds fresh enough to encourage repeat listens. Worth checking out (six months late).

FACT: Actress Shannyn Sossaman used to be their drummer.

Bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat

2010-05-17T22:08:00.002+01:00

There's much to hate about Jo Whiley - that voice, her fawning over every new band as if they were the second coming, creating Fearne Cotton - but perhaps her biggest sin is the legacy of The Live Lounge. For those unfamiliar with the concept, let Musick enlighten you; basically, every week a band or singer arrives at the Radio 1 studios ready to "revamp" and "re-contextualise" a current hit single. So, for example, Scouting For Girls will rock up, play their new single and then deliver an irony-free take on 'My Humps' by The Black Eyed Peas and the general public go, "wow, I didn't realise how good that song was until it was stripped back and delivered by an earnest Tory-boy with a weirdly sexist take on relationships".

This new-found love for the 'unexpected' cover version (they're usually so fucking obvious it hurts) has reached some kind of nadir with the following act. They call themselves The Baseballs, dress like twats and record stupifyingly terrible covers of recent chart hits (usually by women) that aren't even interesting on first listen and then get knuckle-nawingly shit should you have the misfortune to hear them again. For some inexplicable reason their cover of Rihanna's 'Umbrella' has reached over 8 million hits and nearly all the comments say ridiculous things such as "LOL OMG, this is, like, so much better than the original. Rihanna sukz and The Baseballs vintage take on a modern classic really brings out the soul in what is already a rather sweet song about being there for someone. Or summink".

This band are huge in Germany...

New Musick Monday

2010-05-17T21:44:00.002+01:00

It seems our mild indifference towards Foals second album didn't put people off buying it; entering at number 8, it's the band's second top ten album in a row. However, their debut peaked at no. 3, so that's five chart placings they've lost in the interim and at the end of the day, five chart placings are five chart placings. Or something. Holy Fuck did diddily squat, whilst the fresh-faced Mini Viva may soon be stacking shelves in the Minute Mart (or not, seeing as it's fictional) as their third single misses the Top 40 altogether. This week is a bit of a bumper edition, so let's crack on...

BUY THIS

This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem

Whilst not quite the all out amazingfest that is Sound Of Silver, the third (and perhaps last?) LCD Soundsystem album is still about twenty-six times better than anything else around at the moment. As ever, James Murphy sounds simultaneously bored, dazed and perpetually confused and his general sense of brattishness comes to the fore on tracks such as 'Drunk Girls' and 'You Wanted A Hit' (essentially an ode to his record label). Highlights include the slow-burn opener, 'Dance Yrself Clean' and the Bowie-esque 'All I Want'.

BUY THIS TOO

Flesh Tone by Kelis

Four years after the patchy Kelis Was Here and a year after she got sick of husband Nas' (alleged) philandering and filed for divorce, Kelis is back with a new dance-orientated sound. Featuring production from David Guetta, Benny Benassi and label boss, will.i.am, Flesh Tone ups the bpm to almost mind-boggling levels, with weird sonic squiggles and huge synths dominating the album. Single 'Acapella' is a sweet ode to her baby son, whilst '4th Of July (Fireworks)' and '22nd Century' are like futuristic rave anthems in waiting. A welcome return.

HEY, WHILST YOU'RE AT IT, BUY THIS 'N'ALL

Compass by Jamie Lidell

Jamie Lidell has always been a bit of an odd fit with the Warp roster, his albums more likely to feature some soulful organ stabs as opposed to a beat that sounds like the inner workings of a beetle's mind. Whilst 2008's Jim at times sounded like the perfect soul pastiche album, Compass is more slapdash, with songs careening between beat box, sax, distorted percussion and Lidell's elastic vocals. Featuring the likes of Feist, Beck and three members of Grizzly Bear (the band's Chris Taylor co-produces), it's all over the place but with a melodic core that's undeniable.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Rambling Man' by Laura Marling

Because you'll regret it if you don't.

All the (not so) single ladies

2010-05-14T10:15:00.000+01:00

This is the new single from Kylie Minogue. It's called 'All The Lovers' and is taken from her millionth album, Aphrodite.

Very nice.

Before the ash cloud

2010-05-13T15:17:00.000+01:00

This is the rather great new video for Wildbirds & Peacedrums new single, 'Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood'. Filmed in Iceland and continuing the visual water theme started with the forthcoming EP, Retina, it's all rather hypnotic.

The song itself is relatively straight forward in the fact that it 'only' features a full choir, some clattering percussion and Mariam Wallentin's spooky vocals. It builds and evolves slowly into something quite beautiful.

Retina is out on 24 May.

Beck = the indie Beyoncé

2010-05-13T14:46:00.001+01:00

We all know that Beck is prolific - he covers albums in a day, helps produce records by Stephen Malkmus and Jamie Lidell, is on the new Twilight soundtrack - but such is his work rate that some amazing things are being lost amongst the sheer weight of his workload.

We know next to nothing about Tobacco - only that it's, like, super-bad for you - but whoever he is, he's got some stellar connections. Beck adds his mumbled brand of nonsense beat poetry to the charmingly haphazard, 'Fresh Hex'.

Ecoute:

Beck also appears on another track on Tobacco's forthcoming album, Maniac Meat, and it's called 'Grape Aerosmith'. Nice.

First Listen: Treats by Sleigh Bells

2010-05-13T01:12:00.001+01:00

Derek Miller (guitar/production) and Alexis Krauss (vocals) make up Brooklyn noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells. Not only do they make music your mum used to warn you about - "it's just noise" is actually completely accurate - but they're also signed to M.I.A's N.E.E.T label and Miller helped out on his bosses brand new album. Not bad for a band who only got together after Krauss - who had just left a crappy girl band - and Miller were forced into making music together by Krauss' mother.

Their debut album, Treats, has just been released in America, so we flew out there to give it a listen (ahem). Given the fact that the album is mainly a bit of a racket, we've decided to use tennis players to rate each track (tennis players use rackets, GEDDIT?). The ratings go something like this;

Roger Federer = AMAZING
Rafael Nadal = GREAT, BUT SUFFERS WITH DODGY KNEES
Andy Murray = GOOD, WITH FLASHES OF BRILLIANCE BUT A BIT SURLY
Andy Roddick = CONSTANTLY UNDERWHELMING

Let's do this

1. 'Tell 'Em' - Much of Treats is based around distorted beats and ridiculously loud two-note guitar riffs. 'Tell 'Em' is one of the better examples of this, with Krauss adding a strangely catchy vocal hook over the top of the cacophony that threatens to swamp her at any given moment.
Rafael Nadal

2. 'Kids' - This one actually features some sleigh bells, which is nice. Then the 'nice' gets swallowed by those distorted guitars and popping beat, but once again Krauss manages to add a sweetly melodic hook that makes it seem unsettling. But, like, in a good way.
Rafael Nadal

3. 'Riot Rhythm' - The guitars that have plagued the first couple of tracks frankly get a bit annoying on this one. You can't shake the feeling this would sound better without them, especially as the live (?) drums and processed handclaps carry the song well enough anyways.
Andy Roddick

4. 'Infinity Guitars' - An early demo version of this track got everyone very excited a few months ago and luckily they've not done too much to change it. It kind of reminds us of Bumblebeez in the way it sounds like a very catchy pop single recorded in a skip full of rusty old bikes.
Roger Federer

5. 'Run The Heart' - Ah, some relative calm here. There's even some pretty synth moments and the whole thing has the whiff of Crystal Castles. Krauss' vocals are minimal and barely audible for the most part, but the whole thing offers some light relief from all the speaker-busting beats and squiggles.
Rafael Nadal

6. 'Rachel' - Starts with some heavy breathing before a stuttering beat comes in and Krauss is off, sounding like a girl group member gone wrong. It's pleasant enough, but doesn't really go anywhere.
Andy Murray

7. 'Rill Rill' - This used to be called 'Ring Ring' and has been beefed up slightly, the extra production adding a bit more clarity to one of the best (and most musical) songs on the album. Over a lovely sample of an old Funkadelic track, Krauss' vocals are crisp and clear and midway through there's a lovely middle eight that makes you swoon.
Roger Federer

8. 'Crown On The Ground' - After the relative calm, the aural storm. This was the track that got the bloggers erect and it's a brilliant, clattering monster of distorted guitar and thunderous beats that teeters on the edge of a breakdown but is deliriously catchy.
Roger Federer

9. 'Straight A's' - We warn you against listening to this track on tinny laptop speakers because chances are you'll think your head's about to explode. At just ninety seconds long and as loud as a bomb, this is a fairly unwelcome interlude.
Andy Roddick

10. 'A/B Machines' - More punishing guitars and erupting beats but at least this time we have Krauss' voice back to deliver a hushed chorus about machines on the table and in the draw. Lord only knows what it's all about, but it sounds pretty bangin'.
Andy Murray

11. 'Treats' - This is a slightly disappointing end and proof that when the duo fail to find a melody their songs descend into an almighty mess.
Andy Roddick

VERDICT: We're assuming that title is ironic because though the album has some brilliant moments, listening to it form start to finish isn't what we would call a treat. There's also the suspicion that much of it would get boring after a while, in the same way that listening to a distorted drill might get boring. But on tracks like 'Crown On The Ground', 'Rill Rill' and 'Tell 'Em', they hit upon some weird formula where everything sounds just right.
Raphael Nadal

"U want me to be somebody who I'm really not"

2010-05-11T10:30:00.000+01:00

This is the official first single from M.I.A's third album that we mentioned yesterday when we were going on about how she'll probably never sell any records. Unfortunately for us, it's a massive, full-on pop single, with a brilliantly chopped beat, three or four hooks and a chorus that is sung in a slightly emotionally detached fashion, a la Britney.

This is 'XXXO':

GOING TO BE HUGE.

New Musick Monday

2010-05-10T17:37:00.002+01:00

Nothing, nudda, zip. Not one of the acts we gave our full backing to have made any kind of impression on the UK hit parade, not even M.I.A who has had acres of free publicity after that video. We have a theory that she's forever destined to be one of those acts who are critically lauded and define a period of time, but actually sell a grand total of ten records. Obviously, 'Paper Planes' did pretty well but it was re-released more times than a Florence & The Machine single and even then the album (Kala) remained rooted to the lower reaches. We're willing to be shown the error of our ways of course and rumours that the first "proper' single is an electro-tinged club banger may mean Musick will eat it's words. Let's just get on with this, shall we?

BUY THIS (WE THINK)

Total Life Forever by Foals

We're just not sure about this album. Some of it is great ('Spanish Sahara', 'Blue Blood'), some of it is OK ('This Orient') and the rest of it is frustratingly, "meh". It's not that it's bad, it's just that the energy and passion that seemed to have made it through the protracted gestation of their debut has been sucked out and replaced with a sheen that can be impenetrable. BUT, massive caveat alert, we didn't like their debut much at first either and now we're eulogising about it, so the key here is approach anything we say with caution. POINTLESS!

GET THIS IF YOU CAN

Latin by Holy Fuck

Despite the aggressive moniker and the apocalyptic pretensions, there is much on this third album that's melodic and almost hummable, with the band constantly trying to harness the sheer force of the music within the confines of a four minute song. If Sigur Ros were the perfect accompaniment to some beautiful Icelandic vistas, than Holy Fuck could easily soundtrack the bubbling volcano that's currently acting as a natural warning of imminent Armageddon. Most tracks sound like they're being performed with some kind of drum orchestra and the sheer force and energy of the music is pretty breathtaking.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'One Touch' by Mini Viva

The other day we got into a bit of a debate about pop music and whether a good pop songs is still a good pop song if it's made by Girls Aloud, for example, or LCD Soundsystem, or Hot Chip, i.e. should you not like a song because of whose name is on it. We argued that some of the most amazing singles of recent years have come from pop bands who have some very talented producers behind the scenes and that when people say "I like real music, not this pop crap", it makes us want to bludgeon them with a printer. Obviously some pop is crap - ladies and gentlemen, Westlife - but so is a lot of so-called "real music" (Mr Kelly Jones, we're looking at you now). This Xenomania-produced slice of future-pop may not be to everyone's tastes, but it's got about three choruses, a spoken-word rap bit and some massive synths. Sometimes, that's enough.

Finders Keepers

2010-05-10T16:57:00.001+01:00

Not only did we forget to write about this song a few weeks ago but we've also managed to leave it off the Friday Catch-up feature, which in turn, we forgot to actually do last week. Needless to say, we understand completely if you guys all bugger off elsewhere for your musical needs. Lord knows we would if we could.

Anyway, this is the third single from the increasingly interesting Rose Elinor Dougall. Some of you may remember her from The Pipettes, but most of you won't seeing as they existed mainly on the pages of magazines and in Japan. Dougall's ditched the faux-'60s girl group stylings of her former band (who are now a duo with no original members - like the Sugababes but with less tabloid fodder) and gone for a more stately, chamber pop sound. 'Find Me Out' is not single material in that it's slow, subtle and features words like "cerebral faculties" and "arteries". It's still rather lovely though...

Rose Elinor Dougall - Find Me Outbydancetotheradio

Does she ever sleep?

2010-05-07T00:59:00.002+01:00

Surely, tonight of all nights is a good time to unveil another Beyoncé video, is it not? It's not like there's anything else going on is there? Plus, this is Beyoncé's fourteenth single to be released this month and as everyone knows, the fourteenth times a charm.

'Why Don't You Love Me?' didn't even make it onto the original pressings of I Am Sasha Fierce (an album that's been re-released more times than Blade Runner), but has been selected as the final single from this exhaustive campaign. The video introduces another character, B.B. Homemaker, and finds her doing all sorts of household chores dressed as Betty Page - vacuuming, washing the dishes, fixing her car - in between making what looks like a very difficult telephone conversation (perhaps Jay-Z had forgotten the Rice Crispies?). The best bit? When the B-dog (she'd like that moniker, right?) polishes her SIXTEEN Grammy awards. OH NO SHE DIDN'T.

Tenderoni is the night

2010-05-05T10:34:00.001+01:00

We did a (pretty piss poor) thing about Kele 'not in Bloc Party at the moment' Okereke's first solo single, 'Tenderoni', the other day. Now a video has appeared so we're putting that up too. Sometimes, it's just that easy.

The video kind of resembles a Nike advert, complete with futuristic gym wear and Kele in the sort of dressing gown thing that boxers wear (the album is called The Boxer, appropriately enough). But wait, who is that topless man whose face we don't get to see? The guy with the rippling muscles, shiny back and, er, hands and arms? We'll let you see for yourselves...

XXXtina's sex tape

2010-05-03T19:50:00.001+01:00

We find it a bit weird that no one has picked up on the fact that a Christina Aguilera sex tape has emerged. Featuring the diminutive wall-flower locked in a loving embrace with another woman and all sorts of other terribly risque things such as bondage and dancing in the rain, it's a wonder it hasn't been banned.

Here it is anyway. Be warned, it comes with a pretty awful soundtrack:

Somewhere Britney is pissing herself laughing.

New Musick Monday

2010-05-03T19:25:00.002+01:00

This weeks edition of everyone's fourteenth favourite weekly internet-based music rundown, is brought to you on a brand new MacBook. "Holla". So, expect a lot of techno snobbery, mildly patronising statements such as "Oh, does your PC not do that?", and, most likely of all, some of our own 'beats' thanks to the wonder that is GarageBand. But enough of all this, how did we do this week? Erm, let's just say all three of our acts failed to dent the charts, although Drake did manage to climb five whole places to no. 55. The power of Musick in full effect right there. Let's leave the wilting flower of last week and embrace the bouquet that blossoms before us...

BUY THIS

Cosmogramma by Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison, is widely being hailed as the future of music or the Jimi Hendrix of our generation or the bloke whose aunt was Alice Coltrane. We're not sure about the Jimi Hendrix bit and the family connection is undeniable, but on the evidence of this stunning album, we're pretty sure music would be in safe hands were it all left to him. Featuring a guest spot from super fan Thom Yorke on the typically dense and dark, '...And The World Laughs With You', Cosmogramma is a tetchy, densely packed collection of minimal beats, jazzy horn blasts and, er, the sound of a table tennis ball.

AVERT YOUR EYES FROM THE ARTWORK

Grey Oceans by CocoRosie

It's impossible not to see this album cover - DON'T LOOK AT IT - without wanting to hurt sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady. It screams "We're so kooky and ethereal! You wouldn't understand how zany we are because you haven't lived the free wheelin' spiritual lives we have". But, if you can get past all that, Grey Oceans features a number of beautiful gems amongst the hotchpotch of disperate instruments that include harps, kids toys, cheap beats and the sister's sickly sweet vocals. At times it's pretentious and precious, but tracks like 'Lemonade', 'Undertaker' and the gorgeous title track make you remember why you bothered.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Born Free' by M.I.A

We've only just realised this track is already on iTunes and given all the ho-ha about the nine-minute long 'ginger genocide' video, we thought it might be best to direct your attention to it again. Over a riff taken from Suicide's 'Ghost Rider', 'Born Free' was apparently written and recorded in a sudden burst of frustration and it shows, M.I.A venting at just about everything in her typically scattergun approach. The effects on her vocals are a bit disorientating at first, but the sheer force of the track soon shines through. Her as yet untitled third album should be quite something.

Friday catch up!

2010-04-30T14:05:00.000+01:00

Things have been rather busy of late and it's caused us to miss a couple of things.

Firstly, Theophilus London's new mixtape, I Want You, has finally been released and that's the artwork below. You can download it for free from here, and a very good listen it is too.

FACT: The cat in the picture belongs to TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek.

Interestingly, we're kind of linked to a minor beef that is taking place between Theophilus and The Guardian's Paul Lester. We won't explain it, best just to pop over and give it a read. WARNING: It's like Biggie vs. Tupac all over again.

Also, Kele from Bloc Party is on a bit of a break from the band and has decided to launch a solo career (as has Brandon Flowers from The Killers, in what must be one of the most expected moves in music history). This is Kele's first single, taken from the album The Boxer, and it's a beat-heavy, 'Wearing My Rolex'-cribbing dance behemoth:

Finally, Hurts are back with their first single proper, 'Better Than Love'. It also has a video, which resembles some kind of sequel to Tipping The Velvet, but a little more lesbian.

"You take all my money / You take all my weed"

2010-04-28T14:16:00.001+01:00

Here's a rather lovely new Best Coast track, which is not only taken from their forthcoming album, but also soundtracks a new XBox computer game (huh!?).

Anyways, it's called 'Our Deal' and has a lovely country-ish swing and can be heard here.

Riddle me this

2010-04-28T14:11:00.000+01:00

We love a good puzzle and we enjoy them more if they feature a current favourite and new(ish) band that sound promising.

Basically, this video appeared from nowhere for a new act called ceo:

ceo - prologue from Modular People on Vimeo.

At the same time, Musick favourites jj, posted a new song called 'ceo Birthday' and that can be heard (and downloaded) here

Now we hear that Secretly Canadian, jj's label, have announced that ceo is actually Eric Berglund from Tough Alliance and that ceo have an album coming out in June called White Magic. It's all so wonderfully intertextual. We can't wait for Christina to secretly introduce the next Britney album with the subtle, 'She's Not As Talented As Me (Or As Dirrty)'.

New Musick Monday

2010-04-26T23:27:00.000+01:00

It's not a great week when your biggest success is a new entry at number 54. The new Hot Chip single, we hear you cry? No, that missed the top 100 altogether (yeah, no thanks to our Facebook petition, right guys?). Oh, it must have been those ABBA loving LA residents, Music Go Music? Nope, nowhere near. Yep, Caribou was our lone entry in the UK Top 75 and now that we've heard the album we can safely say it's worthy of far more, but then you could have guessed that already. Let's keep the Crystal on ice until we've dealt with these bad boys...

BUY THIS

"Hippies" by Harlem

Harlem are three wasters from Austin, Texas who clearly don't believe in politcal correctness or over-dubs. "Hippies", their second album, is a brilliantly ramshackle collection of bone-dry guitar, sloppy drums and slurred vocals that somehow flesh out some of the catchiest songs this side of The Lemonheads back catalogue. If you're still not convinced, just read some of these track titles; 'Gay Human Bones', Three Legged Dog', 'Stripper Sunset' and 'Pissed'. How can you not love these guys?

DOWNLOAD THIS (LEGALLY, OR NOT)

Crystal Castles (II) by Crystal Castles

This isn't out physically until May, but some terrible scamp has uploaded the whole thing onto the interpipe so the band have decided to make it offically available on iTunes. If, like us, you thought their first album sounded like the inner workings of a Dalek's mind, then you might be pleased to hear that the follow-up is slightly more musical. In fact, one song ('Celestica'), is actually really lovely. If something having a melody equals selling out then we can only apologise and suggest you put your head inside a microwave, record the sound and loop it ad infinium to get your kicks.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Over' by Drake

This has been about for a little while now, but it's slowly creeping up the UK charts so we thought, given our new found influence (ahem), we'd give it that last shot in the arm it deserves. Drake, for those who don't know, is basically the future of commercial rap music, a protege of Kanye West and the man trusted with flying the flag for Lil Wayne's Young Money records whilst the boss is in the clink. 'Over' is a dramatic, paranoid slice of in your face hip-hop, complete with swooping strings, thumping beats and Drake's impassioned vocals. It's safe to say he's better than Chipmunk.

N.ot E.veryone R.eally D.igs (this)

2010-04-26T16:02:00.000+01:00

After all the M.I.A shenanigans of last week (Musick was top of the google searches for 'Born Free', geeky fact fans), it's down to earth with a bump today. It's sad to report that the demise of the Neptunes as a producton power-house has finally been confirmed with this, the first single from N.E.R.D's fourth album, Nothing.

Featuring a fairly listless turn by everyone's favourite 'feat.', Nelly Furtado, 'Hot N Fun' (ah, that title!) is neither of those things. We can't help but think it's time for Pharrell & co. to call it a day, stop all this rock nonsense and get back to making forward thinking beats such as this humdinger.

Shame.

NEW M.I.A TRACK!

2010-04-23T15:20:00.003+01:00

It's called 'Born Free' and it's not what you were expecting...

M.I.A. - Born Free by TheProphetBlog

EDIT: That link has died, but here's another:

First thoughts - that Sleigh Bells collaboration is fairly obvious, but it sounds immense. Going to be HUGE.

EDIT: It now has a video (it's a bit explicit, so be careful)

He'll need some Savlon

2010-04-23T11:23:00.001+01:00

We've kind of given up on Devendra Banhart recently, not because he lacks talent but because he's channeling those talents down some annoying '70s psych-folk noodle street, at least two miles off melody Lane. We remember when it was all gorgeously plucked acoustic ditties about spiders...

Anyways, this is the new, very much NSFW, video for the track 'Foolin', which features S&M, miraculously growing and shrinking beards, beards of a very different variety and some heartfelt acting form Mr Banhart.

'Enjoy'

You didn't even notice the song, did you?

Nature vs Nurture

2010-04-21T18:18:00.004+01:00

This is a rather nice surprise.

The Good Natured, aka Sarah McIntosh, released an EP about a year ago and then had to get her pesky A-Levels out of the way, but now, sans long term boyfriend - she split with him in the interim (perhaps he's the chap in the tree) - she's back with more lovely 'goth-pop'. As you might expect, her lyrics have taken on a slightly more "I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair" tone, but there's still a nice way with a melody.

You can listen to the new single 'Your Body Is A Machine' and download some remixes from this thing below:

Your Body Is A Machine by partisanpr

Very nice indeed. Our favourite bit? Those little thumb pianos that come in towards the end. The single is out ~~on cooler-than-though French label, Kitsune Maison~~ on the 21 June.

Colonel Gad-Uffie

2010-04-21T11:53:00.000+01:00

A few days ago, in a piece about Sky Ferreira we said the following about Ke$ha (still with us?):

"[She's] everyone's fourth favourite Britney"

We owe Uffie an apology because clearly Ke$ha is a very low-rent version of the Paris-based potty mouth so, to paraphrase Marina Hyde, it's probably best if you change your records accordingly.

That out the way, here's Uffie's brand new Mirwais-produced single, taken from the oft-delayed debut, Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans. It's called, somewhat bizarrely, 'ADD SUV' and features Pharrell.

Uffie - ADD SUV feat. Pharell [Prod. by Mirwais] by TPBSecretLeaks

It's nearly very good, but it's hampered slightly by the feeling that they found the box marked 'vocal effects' and lost the one marked 'tune'.

Robyn there, done that

2010-04-19T22:15:00.004+01:00

We've had the Diplo-produced 'Dancehall Queen', the future feminist anthem 'Fembot', the I'm-bored-in-this-town ragga of 'None Of Dem' and now we finally get the single. 'Dancing On My Own', produced by Kleerup [EDIT: Apparently this was produced by Patrik Berger], is full of those heartbreaking moments that Robyn has made her own since her eponymous album dropped about five years ago.

As with 'Be Mine!' and 'With Every Heartbeat', 'Dancing On My Own' simultaneously crackles with energy but also soaks istelf with real tears, Robyn imagining herself stood in the corner of a club whilst her former boyfriend starts a new relationship right in front of her eyes. Over a stuttering, pulsating beat and minimal clicks, Robyn laments, "I'm in the corner / Watching you kiss her / Oh, oh, oh" and it sounds like a heartbreak. The best bit is when the music falls away and it's just Robyn and a piano, then the chorus comes back in and that beat erupts from nowhere and you want to leap about with snot and tears streaming down your face.

You can listen to a poor quality rip of it here or download it from here.

Meanwhile, this is a brilliant performance of 'Fembot' taken from some Swedish TV show:

You've got something in your teeth

2010-04-19T21:31:00.000+01:00

This rather disturbing image below is the one chosen to accompany the new Mystery Jets single, 'Flash A Hungry Smile', which you can download for free from their website.

Continuing on from the '80s pop leanings of their last album, 'Flash A Hungry Smile' races out of the tracks and can barely contain its enthusiasm. Keyboards twinkle and shimmer, the backing vocals are deliciously camp and there remains a definte heart of darkness amongst all the pop confection.

New Musick Monday

2010-04-19T21:14:00.000+01:00

Last week we strongly advised you to bypass purchasing the new Scouting For Girls album in favour of donating money to any given charity. Whilst we collate the information to find out just how much you raised, it gives us great pleasure to announce that the 'band' failed in their attempt to score a second number 1, their flaccid excuse for an album flopping listlessly at number 2. MGMT entered at number 4, but we predict a pretty spectacular fall once the people who haven't read the reviews start telling all their mates there's no 'Kids' on it. In the singles chart, Kelis scored her ninth top 10 single as 'Acapella' strutted in at number 5. But enough of the past, let's step into the future (or the present)...

BUY THIS AND NEVER FROWN AGAIN

Expressions by Music Go Music

This trio from LA make sun-kissed, '70s FM radio style music that would make ABBA think twice about releasing something so immediate. Much of Expressions is like being transported back to a time that probably didn't even exist, but has been created by a nostalgia machine on a full spin cycle. There's plenty to love though, from the ADHD of opener 'I Walk Alone' to the long lost ABBA single that is 'Light Of Love', to 'Warm In The Shadows' ten minutes of sheer disco joy. Chances are you won't want to listen to it very often - it could have the reverse effect and cause some kind of gun-toting rampage - but as a blast of cheesy but brilliantly crafted pop, it's of an (ABBA) Gold standard.

BUY THIS FOR US

Swim by Caribou

Everyone's been going on about this guy and this album and we were going to buy it, we really were, but things happened and it slipped our minds. We could lie and ramble on about how we've heard it and it's wonderful (not that we've EVER lied before you understand), but that seems a bit mean, so instead, we'll just point you in its direction and let you make up your own minds.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'I Feel Better' by Hot Chip

What's a band got to do? You make a killer video, get an alt-folk legend to do a remix and still Radio 1 refuse to playlist the catchiest song form your album. Hot Chip have twittered (tweeted? Twot?) that their new release has rather died on its arse following Radio 1's refusal to playlist it and have, quite rightly, pointed out that 6Music is needed more than ever if new acts (or just any acts that aren't 3OH!3 or Diana Vickers) are going to succeed. So, after out heroics last week, let's see if we can get Hot Chip the top 10 single they deserve. Let's start a Facebook campaign! ARE YOU WITH US? Oh, no? OK...

"i will never understand this kind of videocrap"

2010-04-19T11:18:00.000+01:00

Title: 'Drunk Girls'
Band: LCD Soundsystem
Album: This Is Happening (17 May)

The above quote is taken from a disgruntled youtube user who likes the song, but doesn't like the video. He/she just doesn't "understand this kind of videocrap". We're not sure there's much to understand really, it's just a bunch of guys dressed up as panda bears attacking the members of LCD Soundsystem whilst they try to perform their new single. That's literally it...

Spotify the difference

2010-04-16T17:25:00.001+01:00

This is a fairly staggering (and aesthetically pleasing) chart that someone has made to show just how mental the music industry payment system has become.

Basically, a song would need to have been played over 4.5 million times on Spotify in order to generate enough cash to give the artist the equivalent of the US monthly minimum wage...let's digest that for a second. Obviously, artists also make money from CD sales and digital sales (although the label makes substantially more in both cases), but with Spotify being so prevalent and many calling it "the future", it's clear a new model needs to be created. At the same time, the major labels all have shares in Spotify so it's not as if any of this is new to anyone.

So, why are we discussing any of this when we have no answers and everyone knows all this anyway? Our thoughts exactly.

Here's a brilliantly cheesy pop video by Mini Viva to make the move into the weekend that much easier:

With or without you

2010-04-15T10:56:00.000+01:00

A month ago we interviewed Beth from Best Coast for the new edition of Dazed & Confused (in the shops NOW!) and she was thoroughly lovely (well, as lovely as you can be via email). We've been enjoying 'When I'm With You' for months now and some very clever people at her label have decided that this deliciously summery jangle of a song is the perfect choice for a summer single. All Beth wanted to talk about, incidentally, was the weather, so it's no surprise that this very good video has a lot of beach action. Enjoy.

Ronald McDonald (well, it's not him, for legal reasons) is pretty fuckin' scary is he not?

Oops up side your head

2010-04-14T20:46:00.001+01:00

We've been going nuts about Theophilus London for some time now and it seems appropriate to go slightly bonkers for him again seeing as his new mix-tape, I Want You, has now been given a release date of 28 April. As a little taster, he's started leaking a few of the tracks and one of the best we've heard so far is this cover of Tweet's excellent, Timbaland-produced ode to masturbation, 'Oops'. Production duties on this cover were handled by a certain Hudson Mohawke.

You can hear it here and download it for free here

This is the original, which is still very much worth hearing:

So good.

OK now Go

2010-04-14T13:04:00.002+01:00

Band: Music Go Music
Title: 'Light Of Love'
Album: Expressions (out on 19 April)

This is an amazing video. There's not much else to say about it really, you just need to watch it. We've had the Music Go Music album for about a week and we still can't decide whether it's the worst or the best thing we've heard all year. We can only assume the delays in releasing the album were down to the fact their legal team had to deal with a few royalties requests from ABBA's people.

Damme it!

2010-04-13T12:36:00.001+01:00

Band: Lightspeed Champion
Title: 'Madame Van Damme'
Album: Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You

This is going to sound mean, but we're saying it for his own good; Lighstpeed Champion's videos are usually more interesting than the songs. There, we said it. It's us being cruel to be kind, because we've seen him at work with acts like Solange and Theophilus London and he's clearly super talented, but his own stuff seems to be a bit, well, disappointing. The above video for 'Madame Van Damme' is bright, funny and self-referential, whilst the song is a bit of a plodder.

New Musick Monday

2010-04-12T22:42:00.000+01:00

Here at Musick Towers our internet connection appears to currently be powered by two mice, running furiously on tiny wheels, so this edition of the award-winning New Musick Monday may be cut short at any moment. With that in mind, let's cut the crap and get right to the good stuff; Rufus Wainwright was last week's real winner, entering at number 21, whilst She & Him and Darwin Deez both bowed at number 62, the former on the album chart and the latter in the singles version. So, who's stepping up to the plate this week?

BUY THIS

Congratulations by MGMT

This is fast becoming one of the most over-analysed albums in recent years, with every critic worth his salt mewing about the fact that the band have ditched their sound in favour of eighteen minute long impressionist soundscapes. In reality, Congratulations is a brilliant mix of English psych rock and a very peculiar sense of humour, one that finds them crafting a song about how Brian Eno is responsible for just about every sound we hear. Sure there's a twelve minute long song that sounds like a brief run through of popular music and a fairly odious instrumental called Lady Dada's Nightmare, but it's on the quieter moments that you realise how well-crafted it all is. I Found A Whistle and Someone's Missing in particular are both quietly devastating, whilst the closing title track tells you all you need to know about why they've 'ditched' the sound of old.

DON'T BUY THIS

Everybody Wants To Be On TV by Scouting For Girls

Seriously, if you've got a spare tenner and you're thinking of buying this album, then don't. Instead, why not donate the money to any of the causes below, thus helping your fellow man and giving you the warm glow inside that only comes from hindering a band as loathsomely inept as Scouting For Girls (what is that name about!? Isn't that the name that three serial killers would come up with if they wanted to form a band in order to lure people to a den and murder them?). Anyway, here are the links:
Amnesty
NSPCC
NSPCA
Cancer Research
The Music Therapy Charity (for the future!)

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Acapella' by Kelis

Christ knows we've gone about this a lot already, but it's out to buy on iTunes now so we thought we'd mention it again. It's always nice to have pop stars like Kelis around and she's been off the radar for too long, so rejoice with us that she's back, making slightly off-kilter dance tunes like this one. One, two, three, "Huzzah!".

jjoin the jjoyride

2010-04-11T23:54:00.001+01:00

Swedish duo jj were shrouded in the kind of mystery that can only be perpetuated by music blogs, so it's telling that by the time we get round to doing something on them the mystery has vanished (you can see them below) and Pitchfork are calling their new album "not very good" (or something a bit more wordy).

It's hard to describe the music jj make - balearic beat or dream pop seem the most appropriate - and there's an air of dissaffection and general inertia that's quite appealing, as if it's not really terribly important what you think of the music, it's just there. To emphasis the point, all three of their releases so far have just been ascending numbers, so their new 'full-length' (it's 26 minutes long) is called, simply, jj n° 3. The follow-up to the breathtaking, jj n° 2 (obviously), it's not the musical shit heap that Pitchfork makes out, but rather a slightly more formless and downbeat affair. As with recent tour campanions (and fellow fans of letters), The xx, jj's music is simultaneously vaporous and compelling, loaded with emotion but barely breaking a sweat. They also share a love of hip-hop, with jj choosing to seak inspiration from current jailbird Lil Wayne on the opening track, 'My Life'.

Below is the first single from jj n° 3, 'Let Go', and it features a nice dog, the two band members and a recurring visual theme, blood.

jj n° 3 isn't officially out until May but you can buy it from Rough Trade as part of an exclusive deal that also means you get jj n° 2 included. It goes without saying that you should buy these two albums right now!

It's the Friday catch-up

2010-04-09T01:02:00.000+01:00

Time to catch up on some admin and bring you, dear reader, up to date with some songs we've been enjoying recently, but that we haven't actually got round to sharing. There are many reasons for this - the weather, laziness, the impending elections, EastEnders - but here at Musick we figure that telling you about them late is better than not telling you at all. Besides, nobody likes a know-it-all.

First up is Sia with 'Clap Your Hands', the first single from her new album, We Are Born. Sia? Isn't she that bird who sang on all those dreary Zero 7 singles? Well, yes, this is true, but she also had a pop career before that and has worked with people like Beck since then so we can forgive her. Plus, We Are Born is shaping up to be something quite special and 'Clap Your Hands' is the kind of 'carefree summer jam' we just don't hear anymore.

Another person with breasts is Sunday Girl with her debut single, 'Four Floors'. There's the faint whiff of mid-nineties trip-hop about it, which may not be a bad thing, and the chorus and the vocal performance more than makes up for it if it is. It also has a lovely middle eight bit that makes us feel a bit funny. She's also had a re-rub by Diplo, but the original version is much better.

We end, as ever, with a club banger. This is the new single from Outkast's Big Boi and it's called, rather wonderfully, 'Shutterbug'.

That's all folks.

The Sky's the limit

2010-04-06T21:55:00.000+01:00

If Ke$ha has the whole LOL-OMG-my-knickers-just-fell-off thing down for the chart pop market, then 17-year-old Sky Ferreira is the more Dazed & Confused version. She goes to parties, sure, but she seems to go to ones that are in basement clubs and frequented by all the moody intellectuals at school and not the desperate frat boys and cheerleaders that make up the imaginary world of everyone's fourth favourite Britney.

Having worked with a plethora of pop producers for her soon-to-be-released debut - including Greg Kurstin, Bloodshy & Avant, The Teddybears and Paul Epworth - the buzz around Miss Ferreira is pretty loud. This is her debut single, '17', complete with a 'racy' video that would have got everyone all hot and bothered about ten years ago, but now just seems pretty tame.

Time will tell whether the whole package is just that bit too cool for school to sell a shed load of albums, but for now it's quite some introduction.

Fight for this love

2010-04-06T14:34:00.000+01:00

Wildbirds & Peacedrums are that odd thing; a band who make pretension sound uplifting as opposed to knuckle-chewingly awkward.

Having tackled steel drums, every kind of percussion available and cryptic lyrics about snakes, they've decided to throw choirs into their already burgeoning mix of sounds and will release two vinyl-only EPs (Retina and Iris) later this year before slapping them together for an album in August. As a taster for what to expect they're giving away a new song, 'Fight For Me', and it's ~~one of~~ the best things you'll hear all week.

You can download the track from here or listen to it on this widget thing we stole.

New Musick Monday

2010-04-05T19:59:00.001+01:00

We trust you've had your fill of Easter and are now settling down to read this with belly full of chocolate and mind full of tales of men on crosses, caves and Mel Gibson's idea of what it all means. But, dear reader, it's the fiery depths of hell for our three brave entrants from last week as Erykah Badu and Dum Dum Girls both missed the top 40 on the album charts and, most surprisingly, The Drums did the same on the singles chart. All this despite blanket music press coverage and the fact that 'Best Friend' is literally a million times better than the current UK bestseller (we can't bring ourselves to mention them here, so if you do wish to know who we're on about then pop over to google and do some searching yourselves). Anyway, force down another Wispa bar and read this...

BUY THIS

All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu by Rufus Wainwright

Not, as the title might suggest, a homage to the short, flame-haired Scottish singer, but instead a tribute to the death of his own alter-ego and the death of his beloved mother (it says something about Rufus Wainwright that those two things should be mourned on the same album, but there you are). Gone are the orchestral flights of fancy and instead it's just Wainwright, his piano and his musings on family ('Martha'), America ('Who Are You New York?') and the loss of his mother, who died shortly after the album was completed but who Wainwright was already mourning. There are also three Shakespeare sonnets put to music, which should push the pretentious quota off the scale but somehow he manages to pull it off.

BORROW THIS FROM SOMEONE KOOKY

Volume Two by She & Him

Zooey Deschanel is one of the most beautiful women on the planet and the mere mention of her name causes young men of a certain age to stop breathing and collapse in a heap of corduroy and plaid. With M.Ward she's managed to carve out a successful music career to go alongside her acting one and this second volume of songs is as lightweight, breezy and downright cute as the first one. Don't buy it expecting searing emotional terrain or ear-bleeding noise, but do buy it if you're feeling a bit bummed and, like, you know, just a bit 'meh'.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Radar Detector' by Darwin Deez

On the surface there's much to hate about Darwin Deez. For one, his hair is appalling, a strange mix of corkscrew perm and footballer's hair band and for two, this song is so naggingly catchy you might need therapy to have it removed from your brain. But, we're here to celebrate music and this is music and it's mindless but it's fun and sometimes, especially at Easter, that's all that matters.

We're guessing it's got some high notes...

2010-03-31T15:28:00.005+01:00

A vast amount of people have been working away in some darkened studio somewhere in America, desperately trying to make people forget about Christina Aguilera's awful Motown-era makeover a few years back. We're talking Sia, Ladytron, Le Tigre, Linda Perry and rumoured collaborations with Santigold and M.I.A. Somewhere along the line the ghost of Michael Jackson may or may not have breezed in to record BVs. So, after all that build-up, this is the first single from what is now called Bionic.

Was it worth all that effort?

No really, was it? We're at work and can't hear it.

EDIT: We've listened to it and we can exclusively reveal that it's...OK.

Acapella, ella, ella, eh

2010-03-29T23:04:00.000+01:00

Band: Kelis
Title: 'Acappella'
Album: Flesh Tone (due 17 May)

We mentioned this song a while back and now it has an equally bonkers video, which finds our intrepid explorer in a jungle, a desert and some kind of hareem surrounded by wolves. Just like those Michael Palin documentaries of old.

New Musick Monday

2010-03-29T22:43:00.000+01:00

Last week was a good one for a certain Laura Marling, whose album crashed in at number 4, despite the lead single missing the top 75. She loses points for pulling out of an interview scheduled for last Thursday at the very last minute, leaving someone very close to this blog utterly bereft. We forgive her though, not least because her success manages to transcend an oddly cack-handed shout out from a certain Jo Whiley ("it's not pop music, it's more than that" or something). Unfortunately, James Murphy and Gonjasufi both missed the charts, but you'll be glad to hear we managed to pick up a copy of one of those Galaxie 500 reissues we were banging on about, so it's not all doom et gloom. Let's move to the present shall we?

BUY THIS

New Amerykah: Part Two: Return Of The Ankh by Erykah Badu

Whilst Part One of Badu's current incarnation as America's First Lady of sprawling, densly packed R&B was suffused with pre-Obama paranoia and malaise, this follow-up finds her dissecting relationships of the romantic kind. Love is shown, simultaneously, to be a joy ('Umm Hmm') and a curse, as on 'Fall In Love (Your Funeral)'. Throughout, Badu displays her amazing vocal versatility, whilst producers such as Madlib and, er, J Dilla (he died a long time ago, how is it possible to keep making beats?) create an always interesting musical bed of warm beats and choice samples. It may not be as experimental as its predecessor, but Part Two continues what's shaping up to be some renaissance.

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I Will Be by Dum Dum Girls

Having ventured to the local music emporium to purchase some albums this lunch time, we returned only to find we had completely forgotten to buy this album. This is why we're not in charge of running a country or healing people; we're too forgetful. Anyway, from what we've heard this album is really very good indeed. Recorded by just one Dum Dum, Dee Dee, I Will Be (amazing) is a lo-fi collection of scuzzed up garage rock with a pop core that will fill the hole until the Best Coast album comes out in the summer.

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'Best Friend' by The Drums

The Drum Drum Boys (ahem) are back with their first proper single, the lovingly melancholic, Best Friend. It's hard not to like a song that starts with the line, "You're my best friend / And then you died", and even if that doesn't do it for you then the repetitive vocal sample and catchy as hell chorus should just about seal the deal. Chances are the wave of hype will drown them by the time their debut album drops on 7 June, but we've heard some songs from it and it's sounding really rather good so put your daggers away evil critic bastards.

Nude as the news

2010-03-28T22:03:00.000+01:00

Band: Erykah Badu
Tile: 'Window Seat'
Album: New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)

Mildly NSFW, this video finds the increasingly bat shit Badu striding out amongst some tourists, slowly peeling off layer after layer before a surprising and obviosuly loaded finale. This woman is never less than interesting and no mistake.

All-star karaoke

2010-03-28T21:47:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, here at Musick, we have some friends round, drink some wine, put on a song and sing along and it all sounds pretty terrible. Beck does the same thing only without the wine and the bit about it sounding terrible and his friends are people like St Vincent and the guys from Liars. For the past few months, Beck's been hitting the Rolodex hard and calling in amigos to help him record whole albums in a day and this month it was the turn of INXS' '80s behemoth, Kick, to get the faithful treatment. Here's a great little video showing the recording of the album's opening track, 'Guns In The Sky':

Two things; the drums sound amazing and Beck's got some lovely knitwear on.

A lesbian wedding in Brighton

2010-03-28T21:22:00.000+01:00

This here is the new single by LCD Soundsystem and as any clued-up music fan will know, it sounds a lot like 'White Light/White Heat' by The Velvet Underground (we only realised it did when we read it on the youtube comments and checked it for ourselves, although we also liked the comment about it sounding like a scuzzed up 'Parklife').

Anyway, this is 'Drunk Girls':

We have to admit we're slightly disappointed. It's catchy, fun and cynical, don't get us wrong, but there's a section of it that's almost identical to a track from Sound of Silver. We do, however, have a feeling the rest of the new album will sound a lot different to this. We will just have to wait and see...

Baby horses

2010-03-25T17:24:00.001Z

A few weeks ago a new track by Foals materialised and very lovely it was too. Now they've made a video for the first single from their second album, Total Life Forever, and it finds the Oxford quintet in Bloc Party territory. Luckily, it's Bloc Party circa Silent Alarm so it's melodic and shimmering, which is good because if they'd sought inspiration from them any later we'd have a single called 'I've Read Some Books About Things And Now I'm Seriously Angry And Confused'. Instead, it's called 'This Orient' and can be heard and viewed below:

They're still mildly insufferable aren't they? But it's better to be pretentious than boring, right? RIGHT.

Never Eat Shredded Wheat

2010-03-25T16:57:00.001Z

Band: Jamie Lidell
Ttile: The Ring
Album: Compass (out 18 May)

We've not listened to this in a while (it's the first song from his new album but it was premiered a while back) but now it has a video we decided to put it up. We remember it being very good so that can't have changed...

"I've got some news for you..."

2010-03-23T00:35:00.000Z

ANOTHER BRAND NEW ROBYN TRACK!

Here's the pretty much amazing 'Fembot':

Fembot by robyn

You're welcome.

New Musick Monday

2010-03-22T20:26:00.000Z

Well, well, well, it looks like our prediction that the Sugababes 'brand new image' (read: FHM pin-ups with less class) may not be paying off was an accurate one. Their new album stalled at no. 14, which, if they were a brand new indie band who had just completed a tour of Milton Keynes would be a success, but seeing as they're signed to a major, have a well-known brand as their moniker and have had a lot of press - all publicity is good publicity, right? - this is not good. The White Stripes' fist live album entered just outside the Top 20, whilst the Laura Marling single was nowhere to be seen. Odd. Perhaps it's the fact that the video looks like something Sting would knock out as a holiday video?

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I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling

Forget the fact that Marling has only been able to vote for the past two years and focus instead on the fact that she seems incapable of writing a shit song. I Speak Because I Can may feel slight on first listen but beneath the fragile exterior the songs quietly rage about everything from the perils of marriage, the plight of women in society and, most significantly, not riding bikes down to the sea (the brilliant title track makes this seem like the saddest thing not to do, ever!). Musically, it's all plucked guitars, stark strings and the muted kick of the drum and on top of that Marling's weathered vocals sound simultaneously desolate and pissed off. Dismiss this as Mumford & Sons-esque Top Man folk at your peril.

BUY THIS, COPY IT, RETURN IT

Greenberg: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by James Murphy

Greenberg is the new film by Noah Baumbach, he who directed that one with the dysfunctional family and that other one with the dysfunctional family (he's the one that's NOT Wes Anderson) and it's soundtrack features twelve new songs by James Murphy, aka the guy from LCD Soundsystem who looks like a rebellious accountant. The songs are mostly short pieces, some with just the odd flutter of piano, but on tracks like 'People' and 'Photographs' you start to realise how versatile this Murphy man is. The album also features a song by Albert Hammond Jr's Dad and Galaxie 500, who also have some reissues out this month, which we tried to buy but HMV is, quite frankly, a dog shit establishment...unless you're looking to buy Hannah Montana on DVD, in book form and the computer game for the PSP.

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'Kobwebz' / 'Speaketh' by Gonjasufi

We kind of missed the boat with these guys and we forgot to mention they're amazing new album, A Sufi and A Killer, which was out on Warp records the other week. Anyways, this double A-side single features the brilliant 'Kobwebz', which sounds like the work of some seriously drugged up nomads who live in the desert (appropriately enough), and the non-album track, 'Speaketh'. What they lack in spelling skills they more than make up for in spooky, dry-as-a-bone, freaky, space rock.

She's a big lass, she's a bonnie lass

2010-03-22T19:45:00.002Z

Are you one of those people that likes Hot Chip because they're dancey, but also, when the dancing stops, you quite like a bit of a sit down whilst listening to Bonnie "Prince" Billy? Good, because the latter has remixed the former's new single, 'I Feel Better', only now it's called 'I Feel Bonnie'. You can hear it by clicking here.

In other Bonnie "Prince" Billy news, he seems to have another new album out next week. This man seems to make albums as regularly as us normal folk produce flem. Nice.

EDIT: You can now listen to it here too

A couple of Cu**s

2010-03-18T18:50:00.000Z

Cults are a duo from, erm, we're not sure where, and they, er, have a Myspace...oh, gosh, no they don't...and, erm, they've got this song and a few others but to be honest we, er, don't know too much else. Here's 'Go Outside':

All we do know about them is that the other month they started making music to share between themselves and a few friends and now they're on Pitchfork and everyone's scrambling to get their signature and do interviews. This is the post-record-company-digital-media-post-apocolyptic world we live in now, there's no time for Myspace these days.

London (De)Lite

2010-03-18T18:43:00.000Z

We've been banging on about Theophilus London for a while now and the other month we got to interview him and he was a thoroughly nice chap. He mentioned then that a new mixtape would be out fairly soon and that it would be more down tempo and introspective in comparison to his previous efforts, JAM! and This Charming Mixtape. He talked a lot about how much Marvin Gaye he'd been listening to and the fruits of this can be heard on the track below, the first to surface from the new mixtape, I Want You:

Theophilus London featuring Jesse Boykins - Life Of A Lover by Hypetrak

You can also hear snippets of a new track on this video below, filmed in the studio and featuring a certain Dev Hynes, aka Lightspeed Champion, on the piano and 'busting some moves'.

To read more of the interview, please pick up a copy of the new Dazed & Confused magazine from all good stockists (and those not so good ones that sell nasty things like Pushing 60 and Latino Boyz R Us).

JLS meet their maker

2010-03-17T15:24:00.000Z

Band: Hot Chip
Title: 'I Feel Better'
Album: One Life Stand (out now)

Hot Chip - I Feel Better

Hot Chip

MySpace Music Videos

For those still wondering what a JLS or Blue video would look like if Chris Cunningham directed it should be happy now. Not that it was Cunningham behind the lens, but instead, UK funnyman Peter Serafinowicz. The best bit is clearly the beginning, some of the dance moves are killer. What do you mean we've missed the point?

Ober and out

2010-03-17T01:25:00.000Z

Is it us, or is everyone ridiculously young these days? We know that we all start young and slowly decay and start to wither and die, but it seems that literally everywhere we look we see fresh, nubile young people with better ideas, better clothes, better jobs, etc. We're not bitter, we're just sayin'. So, to add to the misery, here's a 19-year-old American gentleman who goes by the moniker, Oberhofer.

Oberhofer makes brilliant lo-fi guitar pop and his debut EP, o0Oo0Oo (kids, eh!) is ridiculously good. By far the catchiest thing on it is 'Away FRM U', which not only features some nice xylophone action, but also a whistling solo. WHISTLING SOLO!

Before listening to this we suggest pulling your jeans down a bit, putting on a pure white vest, getting on your youngest cousins skateboard and, you know, just chillin' the fuck out Grandpa.

You can download o0Oo0Oo for free from here.

New Musick Monday

2010-03-15T22:11:00.001Z

Last week was a bit of a rocky one. Two big releases in the shape of the Gorillaz album and the Goldfrapp single had decidedly mixed weeks, with the former sitting pretty at number 1 in the album charts for most of the week before being deposed by a grieving Boyzone at the last minute, whilst the latter single missed the Top 40 altogether thanks to a dearth of airplay. The terrifying Liars album missed out completely, which is how it should be really. We're not sure how society would benefit from having kids exposed to such a racket! This week is a pretty slow one all things considered.

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Under Great White Northern Lights by The White Stripes

Everyone's favourite 'sibling' duo return with their first ever live album, which also comes with a brilliant documentary filmed during their 2007 tour of Canada. The album features some brilliant selections, from the opening 'Let's Shake Hands' to the joyous 'Seven Nation Army', via lacerating versions of 'The Union Forver' and their last big single, 'Icky Thump'. There's a tinge of sadness that runs throughout the album and that's because it simultaneously reminds you of how good they are and makes you question whether either Jack or Meg have the desire to carry it on seeing as Jack's got his fingers in every conceivable pie and Meg had to quit the tour due to anxiety. Still, it's a worthy testament to a band who are missed more than ever.

DON'Y BUY THIS

Sweet 7 by Sugababes

We know that some of you might just say, "well, we weren't going to anyway" and that's fine of course, but this is a message to the people who think, "yeah, I like Sugababes, they make brilliant pop songs with a slight edge that show personality and have a certain something about them". NOT ANYMORE THEY DON'T. The FHM-esque cover shot tells you all you need to know about a pop group with no remaining original members, no ounce of originality and no hope of ever reclaiming the sense of excitement that you get from hearing tracks like 'Overload', 'Push The Button' and 'About You Know'. Remember those moody-looking, fully-dressed young women? They've been replaced with three personality vacums.

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'Devil's Spoke' by Laura Marling

The timing couldn't be better for a new Laura Marling album seeing as her former backing band, Mumford & Sons, are currently sitting pretty in the UK Top 10. But where as they can easily be dismissed as a kind of Burtons version of folk, Marling appears to be the real deal and her second album, I Speak Because I Can, is a genuinely exciting leap forward from her debut, Alas I Cannot Swim. 'Devil's Spoke' may not be the most immediate track on the album, but it does feature this lyric, which can't help but conjure some very odd imagery; "Ripping off each others clothes in the most perculiar way". In what way is it perculiar? Are they both dressed as clowns and they're only allowed to tear garments off using their teeth? Or, with one hand behind their backs? WE NEED ANSWERS.

Cheque's in the Post

2010-03-15T21:27:00.001Z

As a little aside, we've been listening to a lot of old Björk albums lately and the one that we keep coming back to is Post. So, it seems fateful that the excellent Stereogum have assembled quite a cast to record a special tribute to it. Acts including Liars, Atlas Sound, Dirty Projectors and Xiu Xiu have all attempted a track each and you can download the whole thing for free form here.

Dave Longstreth has this to say about why his band, Dirty Projectors, picked the amazing 'Hyperballad':
“I think what I took from Björk when I was obsessed with her in high school was her way with deconstruction. She writes these classic melodies but breaks them apart so that it’s sort of up to you as the listener to put them back together. The song ends up meaning so much more because of the effort you have to give to it. Out of a perverse habit, I tried to do the opposite with this recording: present the song like the unbroken stone it might have been. But I think I probably just arrived at a new deconstruction: Björk’s essence remains elusive!”

Amen to that!

High tariff

2010-03-12T09:46:00.000Z

There's too much to say about this 'music video' (and we say that in the loosest terms seeing as it barely mentions the song and references nearly every film ever made), so we're just going to let it speak for itself. This is 'Telephone' by Lady GaGa and Beyoncé:

One thing, however; we're not sure those fag sunglasses are going to make it past the smoking ban.

MGMT RTRN

2010-03-09T23:52:00.001Z

Those madcap drug hoovers, MGMT, are back with a new album entitled Congratulations and to celebrate the band are releasing no singles whatsoever. Oh. But what they have done instead is give away a new song, 'Flash Delirium', free on their website.

All you need to do is click here and then click on the weird picture and Bob's your mother's brother.

'Flash Delirium' is, as you might expect if you've read any of the build-up stuff surrounding this album, not exactly radio friendly, but it does have a certain charm. It also has a nice flute solo, a bit that sounds rather pleasant and a loud bit at the end. Classic journalism.

Over & Over

2010-03-09T23:22:00.000Z

We're pretty big fans of Canadian hip-hop rookie Drake's debut mini-album, So Far Gone, especially the single, 'Best I Ever Had'. Given his huge success in America, expectations are high for his debut long player, Thank Me Later. As with most young rappers, Drake's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder about how he can't trust anyone anymore because all his friends just want his money and all dem hoes are just trying to knock his swagga, etc. Thankfully, as with Kanye and Lil Wayne, he seems to have that ability to turn a cliche into something exciting and 'Over', complete with urgent strings and off-kilter drum beats, is pretty spectacular.

Rumour has it that Jamie from The xx has also contributed beats to the album. Those pesky kids are everywhere at the moment.

You can download 'Over' from Drake's blog

Isn't this just the cutest

2010-03-09T23:01:00.000Z

Band: She & Him
Title: 'In The Sun'
Album: Volume 2 (due 2 April)

It's as if the director of 500 Days of Summer decided to remake High School Musical.

New Musick Monday

2010-03-08T20:04:00.008Z

So, last week we got a bit morose about how no one reads this blog but we've seen the light and realised that if no one reads it, well, it's their loss. How else will anyone know what new albums and singles are out this week? It's not as if there are adverts or reviews or billboard posters or virals or...you get the picture. Last week was pretty successful, what with Ellie Goulding's debut flying in at number 1 and Joanna Newsom's triple album sauntering elegantly in at number 28. Unsurprisingly, Perfume Genius didn't dent the Top 75, but hey, who buys vinyl these days? Seeing as we downloaded it for free, we can hardly complain.

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Plastic Beach by Gorillaz

It's funny, when Britpop was raging all those years ago, we assumed it would be Liam Gallagher who'd cast off the shackles of his main band and experiment with Chinese pop music, hip-hop, African rhythms and the Venezuelan nose flute. Instead, it's Damon Albarn who has quietly gone about proving himself to be a bit of a genius (OK, not so quietly). Plastic Beach is the third Gorillaz album and it's a sprawling, 16-track opus taking in a loose concept about the environment and features guests as diverse as Lou Reed, Kano, Snoop Dogg and Bobby Womack. In short, it's all over the place, but in a very good way. 'Empire Ants' is possibly the best thing we've heard all year.

BUY THIS AND GET A BIT OF A HEADACHE

Sisterworld by Liars

Again, it's time for a confession. We have this album, in fact it's on the arm of the chair as we type, but we've yet to enter Sisterworld in its entirety. What we do know is that it's a dense, frankly quite terrifying listen, that ranges from the sporadic meltdown of 'Scissor' to the violent convulsions of 'Scarecrows On A Killer Slant'. If you buy the deluxe, 3D artwork version you get an extra CD with remixes of every track by people such as Thom Yorke, Devendra Banhart and one of TV On The Radio.

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'Rocket' by Goldfrapp

So, that folky reinvention didn't last long did it? Everyones second favourite female-fronted synth pop duo (La Roux is number one, right?) are back with their forthcoming album, Head First, and 'Rocket' is the Van Halen-aping first single. Allison Goldfrapp was always more suited to the rush of electro than the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar and though 'Rocket' isn't vintage Goldfrapp it certainly beats roughly 78% of everything else in the charts.

Do one

2010-03-08T14:10:00.005Z

We're nothing if not fair and so we've decided to give you the flip side to Kate Nash's recent foray into the world of Stars In Their Eyes ("Tonight Matthew I'm going to be PJ Harvey"). This is her new single proper and it's called 'Do Wah Doo' and if that's not enough to put you off then here's the video:

The song is catchy enough but the lyrics, once again, are woeful; "I saw a cat, yeah, on a mat, right, and I was like, you're a prat". OK, so that line isn't in the song but you get the feeling it was only left out for being too detailed. It's a shame, because there's something there it just doesn't work when she tries to be The Pipettes.

This is rather lovely

2010-03-03T19:21:00.002Z

Band: Foals
Title: 'Spanish Sahara'
Album: Total Life Forever (due 10 May)

Nice to see Adam Buxton's lining up new work now that 6Music is set for the chop. Ha ha.

THIS IS WHY NO ONE READS THIS!

This video has a big pair of knockers in it

2010-03-03T14:12:00.003Z

We all remember the '80s right? Big hair, shit clothes, big mobile phones and a smattering of amazing music (and some drivel). Everyone kind of hated it at the time. Well, as you are aware, we're forgiving the '80s in a big way by using its style and nabbing bits of the music that weren't awful. On the surface Nottingham-born Ronika is another young woman whose spent too much time rooting through the '80s NOW compilations, but there's something much more genuine about her sound and also, weirdly, the way she looks. It's as if Cyndi Lauper and Siouxsie Sioux ran into each other really hard and formed a new person.

The single is called 'Do Or Die' and it's a brilliant romp, full of skittering beats and weird gurgling noises and, most importantly, a HUGE chorus. The video is brilliantly crap, with listless dance moves, DIY costumes, some weird man doors and a brilliant bit at the end where Ronika walks back to the camera whilst pulling her dress down awkwardly. Production values be damned!

Here it is:

Tidy that mess up

2010-03-02T23:09:00.003Z

In the world of modern R&B there's been an obvious shift towards the dancefloor, with cheesy synths being slathered all over the beats. What tends to happen when extra elements get added to songs that already have a lot going on, however, is that things get muddled and we end up with one big fat mess. Sometimes the song can technically still be defined as a mess but be so good it still works, but there are also times when all the elements seem to clash and you can't work out which bits a chorus and which bits the sound of your modem dying. Obviously, there are always exceptions to any rule and sometimes a mess of a song with no discernible chorus is still amazing (Girls Aloud's 'Biology' please stand up).

But, we digress. R&B messes. This is a hot mess that works brilliantly:

This is just a mess:

This leads us on to the new single by Estelle. Produced by dance titan David Guetta, it samples about three different songs, has no real chorus and for all its bells and whistles is just a bit of a, erm, mess really.

The less said about Karinall Offishall the better. He makes Flo'Rida seem like Nas.

New Musick Monday

2010-03-01T14:40:00.006Z

We've noticed that our daily numbers have been dwindling quite dramatically so more and more this all feels slightly fruitless, but at the moment we're still enjoying it, so for now New Musick Monday returns to fight another week. This weeks edition isn't quite the bells and whistles bumper edition of last week, but it does feature a TRIPLE album. But, first, let's deal with the relative successes and failures of the past seven days. LoneLady, Toro Y Moi and Brigadier Ambrose all missed the top 75, but they're all amazing and the latter actually sold out in most of the HMV shops that stocked it, so music is the winner. Marina & The Diamonds album crashed in at number 5 and was looking good for the number 1 slot at the midweek point. Giggs, despite all the twittering, landed outside the top 60. It seems a lot of listeners literally didn't go there...THIS IS WHY NO ONE READS THIS!!

BUY THIS

Have One On Me by Joanna Newsom

A confession; we haven't heard this yet. It's waiting for us when we get home, but for now, our ears have not been lightly grazed by Newsom's latest three CD extravaganza. We're urging you to buy this on the fact that her last album was a masterpiece, every review of this has been glowing and because even if it isn't something you'd normally listen to, it still means you have three extra coasters in your house should you be silly enough not to love it. Plus, it comes in a box and has a lyric sheet as long as the Bible (but better). THIS IS WHY NO CHRISTIANS READ THIS!!

CHERRY PICK SOME OF THIS

Lights by Ellie Goulding

We reviewed this album for another website and you can read it here. It kind of sums up our feelings towards what is a solid pop album, but one that feels a bit emotionless and is in no way the future of music. But we knew that already.

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'Mr Peterson' by Perfume Genius

Perfume Genius, aka Mike Genius (may not be his real surname), makes fragile, haunting piano ballads that make Antony Hegarty seem like H from Steps. His lyrics are so stark that they sometimes border on the hilarious in that did-he-just-suggest-his-teacher-was-sexually-attracted-to-him kind of way. In fact, it's exactly that storyline that runs through 'Mr Peterson' and the song ends with the titular character killing himself. Yay, Spring is here. THIS IS WHY NO ONE READS THIS!!

You can download this single and the b-side from here.

The future of music is safe

2010-02-26T13:45:00.005Z

Nowadays in music it's all about big budget megastars - your Lady GaGas and Kylies - and on the flipside, the DIY aesthetic of bands signed to Independent labels who make songs in their bedrooms once their room mate's passed out. But what about the unsung heroes who bypass the TV talent shows, employ some friends to film a video and turn their hands at being superstars in their own right? Well, for them, youtube is their Mecca (Bingo) and here are two wonderful examples of what can happen when a dream becomes a reality.

First up is an Irish family group called Crystal Swing who seem intent on erasing the memory of The Corrs with their new single, 'He Drinks Tequila'. The song tells the story of Rosie and, er, Jose who get it on following a heavy night on the Tequila. Oh, we've all been there right?

You may think that the siblings at the front are the real stars (is their a whiff of Same Difference about their closeness? No, surely not), but it's mother Mary who steals the show with her 'playful' keyboard style and deathless stare.

Next up is Cheryl Aster with 'You Can Do It'. Let's deal with the visuals seeing as a lot of effort has gone into the video (and the song's lyrical message is pretty clear). The basic premise seems to be that poor Cheryl has been dumped (THIS VIDEO WAS MADE BEFORE THE OTHER CHERYL'S RECENT RELATIONSHIP TRAVAILS, BUT SHOULD BE HER ANTHEM REALLY), perhaps by email, and seemingly from her office in a barn. She then strides out to her car carrying a guitar and drives to er...well, it looks like she's in Egypt...and then she's back on the farm again, climbing over machinery (careful Cheryl!) and then she's in, erm, is that Broadway? It's a cityscape anyway, but not a real one. Perhaps she's inside the computer we saw earlier. For the chorus, which is obviously amazing, there are three other Cheryls behind the real one and they're all urging her to "do it on her own", though what "it" is is never really made clear (IS IT ABOUT MASTURBATION? FILLING IN YOUR TAX RETURNS? SUICIDE!?). The bridge bit is immense and incredibly stirring as we see the evil boyfriend trying to make Cheryl see the error of her ways. He seems really upset, whilst Cheryl stands firm, but then, what's this, she's now in a dark corridor and looking a bit glum, but that chorus kicks in again and there are more Cheryls and she seems chirpier. PHEW. Oh, we're back on the farm again and there's much purposeful striding about the place (careful of the cow's muck Cheryl!) and now she's back in one of those strange worlds of hers. As if to show once again that she's into rock, we get a brief glimpse of her guitar skills before the Cheryls return with some Mariah Carey style hand movements. THE END.

Please watch it here.

This song is available on iTunes. 'Firewall', which deals with another rocky relationship and has some mind-bendingly awesome lyrics about computer viruses is so far unreleased but can be heard here.

Gaggle rock

2010-02-26T13:38:00.005Z

We know we're a bit late to this particular party, but how brilliant are Gaggle. For one they look like this:

Kind of like a school photo at an all girls school for technicolour druids.

They sound a bit like this.

In fact they sound a lot like that seeing as that's their new video for single, 'I Hear Flies'. Immense.

"Drink gin, get thin, win, win"

White wash

2010-02-25T14:03:00.005Z

As we all know by now Jack White either doesn't sleep or exists in a world where days last longer than 24 hours. The guy doesn't seem to stop. He's now decided to get his wife involved in this seemingly endless stream of writing, recording and releasing records. Not that his wife, the former model Karen Elson, lacks musical pedigree having recorded a duet with Cat Power along with a clutch of other lovely acoustic ditties ('Coming Down' is particularly nice).

Below is a live reading of the title track from her Jack White produced debut album, The Ghost Who Walks. The album is due out in the summer via XL/Third Man and the video is also directed by her hubbie (I believe he sewed the hem on her dress, but we're awaiting clarification on that).

It's a shame the guys in the band couldn't be bothered to help out a bit. Lazy.

You can download this version of the track from here.

Going for (Neon) Gold

2010-02-24T13:58:00.004Z

Neon Gold is basically one of the best labels in the pop-o-sphere and what follows here is basically cribbed from their blog. We hold our hands up, we're lazy, but when the music is this good, we're not too bothered to be honest.

First up is Alex Winston with her single 'Animal Baby', which features a nod to the '60s...no, wait, come back...this is not Duffy, it's even better than that (!?). 'Animal Baby' is basically about her ex acting like a bit of an animal, not in a sex way, more in a shitting on the carpet kind of way...oh, no? Oh, it's about being reckless and having animal-like instincts (and shitting on the rug).

WARNING: This song will be stuck in your head for the next five days

Next up is Penguin Prison who we've mentioned before and now he's back with a new double A-side and though the first track, 'The Worse It Gets', has its moments, this is a juddering, synth-lead nugget of pure wonderment (ahem). We're huge lovers of a nice synth noodle or a bit of a beat breakdown and this has oodles of them.

New Musick Monday

2010-02-22T17:34:00.008Z

Last week was a bit of a struggle, wasn't it? We mean musically of course and not just because the grey skies and general malaise are making everyone look like death warmed up (only not that warm). Unbelievably, the Lightspeed Champion album managed to miss the Top 75 altogether, which is a real shame as it's a definite grower and worthy of some ear time. The Glee soundtrack crashed in at number 1, which should be something to celebrate and yet we're kind of depressed about it. Jedward proved us all wrong by climbing one spot to number 11 (those 5 extra CD singles clearly doing the trick). This week is a bit of a bumper, fuck the recession type affair, so hold onto your hats...

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Nerve Up by LoneLady

Perfect for the current climate, LoneLady's debut album is all chilly, skeletal guitar figures and simple beats with Julie Campbell (for it is she) crooning mysteriously about "fading to white" and some other bleak things we've yet to really decipher. Despite it's chilly exterior there's a lot to love here and what can initially seem simple and slight soon becomes hypnotic. Weirdly, there are moments where she sounds a lot like Kylie does when she does that English speak-sing voice of hers. Ergo, if you've ever wondered what Kylie would sound like if she signed to Warp, then wonder no more.

TRUST US AND BUY THIS

Fuzzo by Brigadier Ambrose

We plugged this when it came out to download, but it's out in the shops now (and still amazing) so here it is again. Read more about it here.

BUY THIS ONE TOO

Causers of This by Toro Y Moi

We did a very short thing on this guy just the other day and we were so taken by what we heard that we went out and brought the album (yep, we PAID for the music, in a shop and everything). Causers of This has been lumped in with all that chillwave, dream pop malarkey and though there are definite elements in there - none of the songs really race to get anywhere, there are some nice keyboard washes - the whole thing feels more intricate and closely produced then some of the stuff from Washed Out for example. Hell, Lissoms even sounds like a bit of a rave up in comparison to some of that other stuff. All in all, a lovely, dense album by a very talented individual.

THIS IS OUT TOO

The Family Jewels by Marina & The Diamonds

This has been picking up some very strange reviews which seem to range from 'this is the future of pop music' to 'LOL her voice is funny' to 'how fucking irritating is this woman'. We did a thing on it here so we won't write much else if it's all the same to you.

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'Don't Go There' by Giggs

We've chosen this one for two reasons; firstly, it's a great song with a brilliant video and it has a strange nostalgic charm about it, what with all the early '90s, Dre-inspired staccato strings and the loping beat. Secondly, Giggs is on twitter and won't stop imploring people to buy it and his passion for the single to do well is infectious quite frankly. It's nice to see someone making music that isn't all 'well, I make music for me and if anyone else likes it, well that's a bonus'. Get a real job in that case.

Game, set and match

2010-02-21T13:02:00.002Z

The most immediate track from Vampire Weekend's recently released Contra album, 'Giving Up The Gun', has rightly been chosen as the album's second single. Seeing as the band are now a number 1 selling act in America, they've clearly been given a bigger music video budget and this new five minute clip is pretty special. Directed by The Malloys and featuring guest spots from RZA, a drunk Jake Gyllenhaal, a French Lil Jon and a dorky Jonas brother, it's a veritable tennis-related feast for the eyes.

Nice blistering forehand at the end there, although her overhead needs some work.

C'est moi?

2010-02-18T13:28:00.003Z

This is a rather lovely track by a gentleman who goes under the somewhat perplexing moniker of Toro Y Moi. 'Low Shoulder' is taken from his forthcoming album, Causers of This, which may well appear in next week's New Musick Monday. You can barely wait for that, huh?

He's been lumped in with acts like Washed Out and all the other 'chillwave' people, but from what we've heard this seems a bit lazy. We'll get back to you on this though...

I'll be there for you

2010-02-18T13:12:00.004Z

We're big fans of The Drums despite the fact that their youth and beauty makes us want to hate them as much as we hate Geri Halliwell. Unbelievably, the debut play of their brand new single, 'Best Friend', passed us by completely, which is quite shameful.

If you're able to forgive us, here it is on a handy Radio 1 player thing (don't worry, you don't have to listen to half an hour of Zane Lowe, it starts at the beginning):

It's not as immediate (or as good really) as some of the stuff on the Summertime EP and it's a tiny bit limp, but we like the echoey intro and the strange looped gasps that you can hear if you listen closely, but the rest of it is merely 'good' and not 'amazeballs'.

The BRITS; best bits, shit bits

2010-02-16T15:36:00.007Z

So, in case you didn't already know (and if you're part of the very small group of international readers, why would you?) the BRIT awards are taking place in a giant shed in London tonight. We've always had a love/hate relationship with these awards and will of course be tuning in, even if it's just to see if the Susan Boyle cameo materialises (we're banking on her dropping from the ceiling caked in fake blood during Lady GaGa's set, but it will more than likely be a duet on Robbie's 'Angels').

To get us in the mood, let's look at some of the performances that have summed up the awards in one way or another.

THE GOOD

Great pop song, cheeky 'mash-up' with another great song and an entrance on a GIANT CD! Hello!

Usually the pairing of two 'superstars' results in things like The Ting Tings and Estelle attempting to muster some stage presence, but this was small scale, bruised and strangely hypnotizing.

These things are all about superstars and you don't get much bigger or better than Beyoncé. She can even make cars levitate!

THE BAD

Dog shit song, dog shit band.

Like being locked in a room with a playschool teacher and his slightly alternative reading assistant.

She emerges from a giant vagina...

THE UGLY

We weren't ready for the Second Coming Michael.

New Musick Monday

2010-02-15T21:05:00.008Z

Another decidedly mixed bag last week with Yeasayer entering just outside the top 60, which, all things considered isn't too shabby. Gil Scott-Heron's much vaunted I'm New Here managed a top 40 entry, whilst there was much surprise round our gaff that Erik Hassle's 'Hurtful' entered outside the top 50. Just goes to show that being playlisted by Radio 1 doesn't necessarily mean a hit single. We suggest his label license it out to a tampon advert quick smart (although repeating "What you did to me was hurtful" might not be the right way to go, but it's certainly got that uplifting quality musically). This week isn't a classic either, so here goes...

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Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You by Lightspeed Champion

The second album under the Lightspeed Champion moniker for musical polymath, Dev Hynes. Following 2007's Falling Off The Lavender Bridge was always going to be tough seeing as Hynes seems to make music is his sleep so choosing the tracklist was probably the biggest obstacle. As it is, Life Is Sweet... is split into four 'suites' (one entitled Oops) and features fifteen tracks. So far so sprawling, but there's a cohesiveness to the record that was missing from his debut, with a more polished sound thanks to Animal Collective producer Ben Allen. Witty, maudlin, self-deprecating and surprisingly upbeat, Life Is Sweet... can be a bit of a struggle at first but it rewards repeated listens.

DOWNLOAD SOME OF THIS AND THEN JUST WATCH THE TV SHOW

Glee: The Music Volume 1 by Various Artists

As we all know by now, Glee is amazing. Only it's not really, it's kind of OK in an American teen comedy kind of way, but the characters are lazily sketched and the whole thing feels incredibly forced (apart from when that cheerleading coach is about and then it's as funny as You've Been Framed). Conflating the popularity of teen shows like The OC with the comedy of the Judd Apatow films and the talent show format of American Idol is clearly a genius idea, and there are moments on this soundtrack album where the new versions sound fresh and offer a new insight, but mostly you're left with the songs that fill the gaps in between the funny bits, like listening to an album of adverts in between Friends.

BUY THIS ON CD (DON'T REALLY)

'Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)' by Jedward

Jedward have been twittering for most of the day imploring people to purchase their debut single on CD, three weeks after the single came out to download and two weeks after it peaked at no. 2. It seems someone needs to tell them that particular ship has sailed. Still, they're ever the optimists and even describe themselves as 'musicians'. Those crazy cats.

Poor Kate Nash

2010-02-15T20:53:00.003Z

Dear PJ Harvey,

Today at school we had to make a song that reminded us of our favourite singer. Seeing as I did Lily Allen last time, I figured I'd do a 'tribute' to you seeing as I'm all older and more mature this time round.

I hope you like it.

Love Kate Nash

Robyn gone and now she's back

2010-02-13T21:25:00.007Z

We didn't think this day would ever come, so let us take a moment...Ladies and gentlemen, A NEW ROBYN SONG! 'No Hassle' has somehow made it's way onto the internet and we're incredibly thankful to whoever leaked it. Robyn's last album is one of Musick's favourite things in recent years and it's been too long since we heard a new Robyn track that wasn't a collaboration. Er, not that this isn't, seeing as it was produced by Diplo, but it's still got her stamp all over it. It's also got a nice reggae feel to it, which makes it the aural equivalent of a working title for one of Stephen Malkmus' solo albums; Swedish reggae.

The song has now been taken off youtube, but you can watch a clip of them in the studio here and, erm, perhaps, download it if you so wish (we're not saying you should of course).

Monáe's too tight to mention

2010-02-13T21:02:00.002Z

We did a thing on Janelle Monáe ages ago after she released her first mini-album, Metropolis: The Chase Suite. Well, now she's back with the first single from her forthcoming album, The ArchAndroid. 'Tightrope' is a funky, James Brown inspired workout, featuring Outkast's Big Boi.

Nice.

Badu's the Daddy?

2010-02-13T20:47:00.003Z

Insanity seems to suit Erykah Badu. As mad as the box of frogs she keeps in her weave, Badu's last album was one of 2008's best and she's back in March with the follow-up, New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh. Below is a video for a brand new track, 'Jump Up In The Air and Stay There', featuring the equally bat shit, Lil Wayne.

Unbelievably, this finger-clicking future soul near-masterpiece will not appear on the album, although there are reportedly seven or eight different versions of it to be released, so you can make your own EP if you so choose.

One track that will be on the album is the more mellow, 'Window Seat', which Badu released via Twitter. Is that the future now? Artists won't even need to sign record deals or make a myspace page, they'll just post a link in 140 characters or less.

New track: 'Logic' by Operator Please

2010-02-11T17:35:00.003Z

Australia's answer to er, the Gossip (that's unfair and unfounded, apologies) Operator Please are back with a teaser for their forthcoming second album.

The track is called 'Logic' and though it starts somewhat predictably - is that a cowbell? Some punk-funk bass? - it soon worms its way into your head. Listen to it on this posh streamer thingy we stole from someone else (please don't close us down, Blogger/Blogspot).

Operator Please - Logic by nmemagazine

Passion(ate) Love Affair

2010-02-11T17:16:00.004Z

Everyone and anyone is turning their hand at a Lady GaGa retwizzle (that sounds like a strange gymnastic sex act). Such is her dominance of the pop charts she's clearly decided to take over every club in the Western hemisphere. This is Passion Pit's remix of new single, 'Telephone', which is hardly earth shattering and for some reason they've got rid of GaGa's bits and just focused on Beyoncé's 'rap'. We're not complaining, we're merely observing.

Then we have disco oddballs Hercules & Love Affair who've turned the worldwide number 1 smash (TM), 'Bad Romance', into a dubby, early-'90s last song at the techno club kind of affair.

Not your thing? It could be worse. Listening to Lady GaGa whilst a flock seagulls peck at your testicles* is preferable to his excruciating version, however.

Serious rock face.

(*Replace with 'lady garden' if you are a female)

"Boom, boom, boom"

2010-02-11T17:06:00.002Z

This is the new video for Rihanna's new single, the not very subtle 'Rude Boy'. It's a blatant rip off of an M.I.A video, but as rip offs go, it's really good (and it has much higher production values). The black and white bits look really great and the animal straddling is what's lacking from all pop music videos these days. We demand to see Susan Boyle straddling a snow leopard before the year is out, OK?

The Adventures of Tin Tinashé

2010-02-10T09:33:00.004Z

We've been meaning to do a little something something on Tinashé, Island's new signing. He's got an interesting backstory, which involves fleeing poverty in Zimbabwe and winding up in Camberwell, via Essex and now he lives in Hackney. This is all very well, but surely it's all about the music, right? Right.

This is his new single, the one-long-metaphor that is 'Mayday'. Basically, the relationship he's in is like a plane crashing, hence "mayday, I think we're going down". It's a bit of a bummer really, but perhaps the results were similar to that plane in New York that managed to land safely on the river and everyone was fine? We hope so. Either way you look at it, this has a really great chorus and some interesting bits in it, which is all we can ask of a song on a Wednesday morning.

(It's actually the acoustic version, which is a bit of a shame, but it's still very nice)

Tinashé is supporting Ellie Goulding tonight in a venue in London.

New Musick Monday

2010-02-08T16:03:00.006Z

When is a hit not a hit? Is it when an act who has received blanket coverage in the press and who finished second in the BBC Sound of 2010 poll ends up at no. 12 on the singles chart with their first 'proper' release? It's not a bad show by any means, but Marina & The Diamonds' 'Hollywood' missing the top ten is a bit of a surprise, but perhaps she's 'doing a Florence' (who also missed the top 10 with her first few singles) and will sell billions of albums. We'll have to wait and see. The albums fared pretty well with Midlake breaking the top 20 and Hot Chip entering at no. 11 (which is kind of disappointing seeing as the album is really very good).

BUY THIS

Odd Blood by Yeasayer

This is a bit of a turn up for the books if you were expecting another 'interesting' but 'noodling' album from everyone's second favourite 'interesting' but 'noodling' American alternative band (Animal Collective being number one, natch). Odd Blood injects Yeasayer's percussive, gloriously off-kilter songs with a pop nous that was missing from most of All Hour Cymbals. 'Ambling Alp' is a clear highlight, with a chorus as glorious as any song about a failed boxer has the right to be, whilst tracks like 'O.N.E' and 'Love Me Girl' are stone cold anthems. It's nice to see a band who understand that alienating just about everyone does not necessarily a good band make.

CARRY ON LISTENING TO THIS FOR FREE

I'm New Here by Gil Scott-Heron

This album is streaming for free to the right of this post so if you haven't already then give it a listen. We're not going to tell you about it seeing as you can do the work yourselves.

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Hurtful' by Erik Hassle

This has been floating about for what seems like a musical lifetime but finally gets it's UK release today. Having been deftly retwizzled by Starsmith, it's now slightly less MOR but still a whole load OTT, Hassle sounding like he's about to cry on every other line. It's not rocket science, it's not going to change the world, it's not 'cool', but it is a very good example of a radio friendly rock(ish) ballad and manages to break the inexplicable monopoly Snow Patrol have had over that particular genre in recent years. You'll either love it or hate, not like Marmite, because we like Marmite but we're allergic to it and we're not allergic to this...*METAPHOR FAIL*

Marina & The Diamonds: A first listen

2010-02-07T17:35:00.005Z

When you're as important as we are you get to hear music before you're supposed to, and we don't mean simply recording songs from a gig with our mobiles. So, we've managed to get our hands on The Family Jewels, the debut album by Marina & The Diamonds. Can it live up to the hype? Does she deserve all the plaudits and poll mentions? Can we get to the end without that voice grating on us? Let's find out...

Are You Satisfied?
A musically upbeat (there's a lot of musically upbeat tracks on this album) ode to signing her contract and wondering whether it's worth the risk of stepping out in the music industry. As ever the chorus is the key here and once again it's HUGE. Even if you sat with your arms folded and tried your hardest not to get involved you'd be tapping along by the end.
4/6

Shampain
Very similar to some of the stuff on Ladyhawke's debut, which is obviously not a bad thing. Lyrically it's about drinking champagne and turns what is supposed to be this lavish celebration into something a bit sad; "drinking champagne, made up of angels tears of pain". That makes it sound a bit drippy, but it's not, it's a robust, perky pop confection of the highest order.
5/6

I Am Not A Robot
An early single and still sounding as fresh as ever. All the early singles featured here sound better in context and this one has some lovely vocal effects, a nice piano melody and a sad lyric about, erm, not being a robot and stuff.
4.5/6

Girls
Marina in slagging off her sisters shocker! This is a bit patronising all things told. Seems to believe that men are more intelligent and interesting then a lot of women (or 'girls' as they are here). It's also not that interesting musically, just trundling along on another jaunty melody with extra "nah, nah, nah, nahs". It does have some nice accordion on it though.
3/6

Mowgli's Road
Another early single and the one with that weird video. It should really be a massive mess - weird cuckoo sounds, jaunty piano, about three choruses - but the whole thing hangs together brilliantly.
5/6

Obsessions
A definite highlight and proof that when she tones some of the idiosyncrasies down a bit she can be just as effective. A tale about a difficult boyfriend (who may be violent, or just suffering from OCD), it builds towards a gorgeous chorus of "ohhs" and "ahhs" that are better then that description sounds.
6/6

Hollywood
The new single. You've probably heard it by now.
4.5/6

The Outsider
Another song that deals with how Marina sees herself, this time with some added Emo, especially in the lyrics. Musically, the song has a nice new wave-esque feel about it and trundles along nicely.
4/6

Hermit The Frog
Awful title aside, this is a brilliant example of what Marina's about. Dramatic, sweeping and musically interesting, it also features some brilliant Kate Bush-esque vocals on the chorus, which mentions "glass balloons" a lot. Will probably be a future single if the record company have any sense.
5.5/6

Oh No!
Starts with some interesting beats before turning into another piano-based jaunt-a-thon (not a word). Once again it's saved by an almighty chorus that will stick around your cranium for days afterwards. It's also another song about Marina and what it's like to be her and the negative influence of modern living, etc, etc.
4/6

Rootless
A really nice change of pace. A drip-feed ballad that works well due to the more subdued approach. Musically it has some nice touches, in particular a lovely, mournful horn solo that appears about half way through.
5/6

Numb
Ah, some jaunty piano, welcome back. On this occasion, however, the almighty climax that each song tends to rush towards fails to materialise and everything's kept to a relative minimum. It works well, Marina's sweet vocals merging with some sweeping strings.
5/6

Guilty
An odd finale as the pace picks up again. Guilty features some intricate wordplay and some lovely harpsichord but is a bit of a nothing end to an album that deserved better. Some nice jaunty piano though.
3.5/6

Overall verdict: 4.5/6

The Family Jewels is released on the 22 February.

Belated Xmas present

2010-02-06T23:37:00.003Z

The festively named Sleigh Bells deliver anything but beautifully packaged presents. They're sound is a strange mix of crunching guitar riffs, beats and indecipherable lyrics all recorded at the wrong volume so that when you listen to them you tend to think your stereo is busted. If this all sounds terribly 'art project' and not much fun then think again, because the five or six tracks that are floating around the internet are all barnstormingly brilliant (the band are currently unsigned, ergo, the music is free to steal, n'est pas?).

The best of the bunch is the crunching 'Crown On The Ground', which kind of sounds like a Kelis record being suffocated by an out of tune rock band and then mixed by someone who seems to have been wearing boxing gloves in the studio. It's also freakin' awesome.

The duo have also contributed to the new M.I.A album, which is due out in the summer some time.

Man United's greatest player?

2010-02-04T17:12:00.005Z

Here at Musick HQ we get sent A LOT of stuff. One CD, maybe two. A week. So, it's hard to remember what we have covered, what we should cover and who we should never, ever cover, ever (The Courteeners, look at us when we're talking to you). The other day we received the following song with a message written on the CD, imploring us to give it a listen and put something up. So we did and here it is.

This is the debut single from XL's new(ish) signing, Giggs. One look at the video will probably make it clear that he's not from Chiswick and that his rhymes don't cover the pro's and con's of cash ISAs, but what it does reveal is that UK rap has another figurehead we can be proud of.

'Don't Go There' starts off with one of those staccato string loops that Dr Dre used to do before he fell off the face of the planet and it has the requisite killer hook (provided by B.o.B). The most interesting thing about it, however, is Giggs' deathly deep growl which crawls out of the speakers and sounds ever so slightly like it's been recorded at the wrong speed.

It will grow on you, trust us.

Carpet Byrne

2010-02-04T16:57:00.004Z

David Byrne is basically the coolest man on the planet. His work with Talking Heads and Brian Eno alone mean he has honorary entry into the Musick Hall of Fame (due to open sometime in 2012, dates pending), alongside such luminaries as Michael Jackson, Prince and Fine Young Cannibals.

He's teamed up with, er, Fatboy Slim (minus points for that perhaps?) to create some kind of elaborate music project based around former Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos. Nephew say what!? The set comes in a fancy box with two CDs, lots of lovely pictures and a DVD, and features guest spots from Santigold, Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper and myriad other people with voices.

The track below features the not inconsiderable voice of one Florence Welch, who may have left her Machine at home for this one. It's called 'Here Lies Love' and it's a six-minute long, lushly-orchestrated vignette that takes a while to get to the chorus, but when it does it's quite something.

This is the Santigold track:

Intriguing.