New Musick Monday

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.

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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

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'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.

Musick's Top 20 Albums: 1

The Horrors – Primary Colours



If someone had told us we'd be putting The Horror's second album as our album of the year we would have laughed in their face, simultaneously spraying them with spittle and generally making them look like a laughing stock. And yet, Primary Colours is such a monumental piece of work that even if you think they look like a bunch of malnourished Tim Burton clones, it's impossible to deny the results. Cynics have suggested that the quality is down to Geoff Barrow, he of Portishead fame, who came on board as producer, and though his fingerprints are all over it – the creeping keyboard figure that rises out of 'Sea Within a Sea' was similarly used on last year's Third – the songs are key, and luckily they're more than amazing. From the slow-burning opening of 'Mirror's Image' to the propulsive, Can-esque drive of 'Sea Within a Sea', Primary Colours takes the template of their debut and piles on layers of keyboards, treated guitars and in amongst the noise, Faris Badwan's strangled vocals. 'Who Can Say' managed to overcome the nagging thought that it might have been about Peaches Gelfof by being just about the best thing we heard all year, an exciting mix of Motown-esque drums, dramatic pauses and a keyboard riff from pop heaven. 'New Ice Age' and 'Three Decades' resembled the best songs from their debut only much better, whilst the heady keyboard swirls of 'Scarlet Fields' saw them playing with different textures. So, there you have it. The second album by a band written off as a joke has won the coveted Musick album of 2009 award. Next year, put your bets on Scouting For Girls.

Key track: 'Who Can Say'

Whole again

As 2009 lurches further towards its end, we're left to reflect on what has been a pretty good year for music. There have been some pretty amazing albums released - Animal Collective, Annie, Antony & The Johnsons (and that's just the 'A's) - but there's one album we keep returning to and that's Primary Colours by The Horrors.

Everyone's already heard all about 'the year of the second album' and the fact that Primary Colours is this massive departure into krautrock with bits of shoegaze, etc, etc. The truth is much more straight forward; the album is well good. To make it even more well good they're releasing a new single in November that was previously only available on the Japanese version of the album. This is the video for 'Whole New Way':



Yes, we mentioned the song before but it's now a bit shorter and has images and things to go with it. Lazy you say? Yes. Yes we are.

Horror show

So, The Horrors were robbed! Unlike most crimes, this was sanctioned, filmed by TV cameras and universally acclaimed in the national press. Another example, dear reader, of what the Daily Mail call 'Broken Britain'.

Anyway, they're not ones to dwell on disappointment. Instead they've decided to release a new single from the brilliant Primary Colours album...only, er, it's not from the brilliant Primary Colours album. Or at least it's not on the UK version of the album. 'Whole New Way' was previously only available on the Japanese version, but will be released as a single in October. Unsurprisingly, it's amazing, all Joy Division-esque basslines, keyboard flourishes and Faris' delightful croon.



If you can explain what happened on Tuesday night do get in touch. The Music Crimestoppers number is 0800 whatthefuck.

New Musick Monday

Last week we gave you three, yes three, album options. Given the current economic climate, factoring in the weather and the fact that we've no doubt you had a lot of presents to buy this month, we understand that sales weren't exactly brisk. We're happy to report though, that The xx outsold both Jay Reatard (he was nowhere, frankly) and Simian Mobile Disco, who snuck in at no. 39. So, where did these cherubic young scamps enter? No. 36. That's not bad given the state of radio these days. We went to see them play a gig in a shop the other week and one of Musick's closest friend said they reminded them of Faithless. That, dear reader, is what alcohol can do.

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Humbug by Arctic Monkeys



The Arctic Monkey's have clearly decided they don't want to share fans with Oasis. This is all well and good, but that doesn't mean you have to grow your hair long, dress like Led Zeppelin and use a frankly abysmal picture as your album cover. BUT, everything else about this third album is very good indeed, from the innuendo of 'My Propeller' to the deceptively catchy 'Crying Lightning' to the career-high of 'Cornerstone'. Josh Homme doesn't mess with the sound too much, just gives them some muscle and and that sense of foreboding that QOTSA are so good at.

BORROW THIS AND ENJOY IT BRIEFLY

I'm Going Away by The Fiery Furnaces



We always get excited about a new Fiery Furnaces album coming out. Then we get it, listen to it once, maybe twice, then leave it to gather dust in a pile sandwiched between the first Arcade Fire album and a mix CD entitled 'Songs everyone says they love but don't actually listen to'. So it is with I'm Going Away, which despite being their best in a long while, is still too twitchy and frustrating to be really pleasurable.

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'I'll Be With You' by Lumina



This is a cover of a Black Lips song that appears on the b-side to another Black Lips song. It's by Lumina who are Faris Badwan from The Horrors and Cherish Kaye who used to be in Ipso Facto. Unsurprisingly, it's an atmospheric, drip-feed dirge with Badwan taking the lead vocal and Kaye offering some haunting backing. Do not listen to this in a darkened room or at work. If, however, you're feeling quite chipper and are sure that nothing can dampen your spirits then click here.