The Adventures of Tin Tinashé

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

New Musick Monday

We're really hitting our stride now ladies and gentlemen. Another relatively big week of releases is upon us and last week's runners and riders performed OK-ish, which is all we can ask really. Four Tet was the big success at no. 35, whilst Charlotte Gainsbourg peaked at no. 62. No sign of Beach House, which is a bit of tragedy seeing as it's scientifically proven to be 1000 times better than Paolo Nutini's album and that's no. 1. The Lightspeed Champion single missed the Top 40 as well, so I think we can officially refer to that as a 'minor hit'.

BUY THIS

One Life Stand by Hot Chip



We've always been fans of Hot Chip's singles but their albums have always been dominated by one or two big tracks. They're the Missy Elliott of the dance world, in other words. Only they're not anymore. One Life Stand works because it's an album and not a collection of amazing singles interspersed with tracks that show off how clever the band are but ultimately sound a bit dull. Sure, the title track (and first single) is all kinds of amazing, but there are at least six other tracks that are just as good and the whole thing flows perfectly. We really like it, basically.

GROW A BEARD, WEAR A CARDIGAN, LISTEN TO THIS

The Courage of Others by Midlake



We went to see these guys last night and though they look like six Texan homeless guys they actually make some really lovely music. Not that homeless people don't, per se, have the ability to make beautiful music, but you know what we mean. The Courage of Others has clearly been made after a long time listening to English folk, which follows on from years listening to '70s rock for their last album, The Trials of Van Occupanther. We're hoping, and indeed praying, that they get into Beyoncé and Lady Gaga for their next album. Just imagine...awful, isn't it?

DOWNLOAD THIS

'Hollywood' by Marina & The Diamonds



We like this song, don't get us wrong (poet, didn't know it) but there's still something we're not sure about when it comes to Marina & The Diamonds. She can sing, no doubt, she has a way with a melody, not in question, but perhaps the overly dramatic styling of the songs makes them less palatable? We don't know. Maybe it's enough that this is a good tune, with a fun video and a chorus that refuses to leave your brain despite almost surgical attempts to extract it. We've just 'found' the album, so expect an *exclusive* run down of that very soon.