Wednesday 26 November 2008

Return of the Mack...

My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us; the world is full of it, and you simply take as much as you require. ~Edward Elgar

Once again, back again after a period of time and ready again to oust the best of the new music breaking down the barricades of the music world!

Firstly and very quickly, I wanted to note the various people I have mentioned in this blog who have since reached various levels of fame...Flight of the Conchords, Fleet Foxes, Reverend and the Makers, Esser, Jack Penate, Black Kids, The Wombats and Laura Marling...not to say I told you so...buuuuuut.....

Screw trivialities, onwards and upwards to the music!!

Critics, labels and music fans have been swarming around A Place To Bury Strangers with gusto, praising and fawning over the group labeled 'the loudest band in New York'. And all with good reason.
The band provide a wall of sound that pervades the senses in the most fulfilling and satisfactory way, battering at your eardrums with a force like no other. Their debut album, also titled 'A Place To Bury Strangers', exhibits the full range of the bands ability over the 16 tracks. From the frenetic pace of 'Missing You', to the tense, mysterious 'I Know I'll See You', through to the raw, soaring length of 'Ocean', the album succeeds on multiple levels, recalling The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure and My Bloody Valentine, fused into one big cooking pot of musical genius. An album to seek out, put on, turn the volume to 11 and absorb...over and over...

A Place To Bury Strangers' Myspace

Cardamis is a Greek American singer-songwriter fuses the worlds of electronica, glam and pop, throwing in sprinkles of R&B and dance, to craft an odd combination of songs that manage to please with their fundamentally catchy pop sensibility and electronica distinction. By far the best track, 'Bound to Love You' spews forth an old school R&B ethos amongst modern electronic and pop capability, creating an updated ballad for the noughties, that also manages to evoke a cheesy love morality only effective in 60's and 70's soul...until now. His self-titled debut EP has two further tracks, a powerful floorfiller in 'Eat Your Dinner' and a lacking 'Take Me Apart' which upsets as the finale for the three song piece. Nonetheless, the talent shines through and a possible debut album looks promising, if Cardamis can control his internal battle between the many genres that influence him.

Cardamis' Myspace

Onto two new electronic indie artists reminiscient of MGMT and the current wave of electronica types flooding the market. I make it sound awful, but I am loving it, as long as the music is good. And these two bands are awesomes...

Electric Owls are from Carolina in the US of A and showcase a level of musical perfection with the slice of perky, synth styled genius with 'Magic Show'. One can only hope for them to quickly come over to the UK to show themselves off to our island in the rain.

Electric Owls' Myspace

Boy Crisis are another New York act, who hit hard with their blend of indie rock and keyboard bleeping riffs. 'L'homme' may be one of my favourite songs of the year, providing a seething underlying riff with simple yet gorgeous lyrics such as 'I'm on some drugs, you're on some drugs, hey, do you wanna talk to me.' So cheesy. So awful. So freaking perfect!!! They have been called one of the worst bands ever by Pitchfork...but hell to those guys, this band are just pure, unadulterated fun! Listen in and freak out...

Boy Crisis' Myspace

Finally, a brief mention to two artists with experience and reputation.
El Guincho
is an excellent modern world artist with an amazing tropical aura when it comes to his music. His new album, titled 'Allegranza', is a tourdeforce of exotic, afrobeat funk that excites, enthralls and entices the listener into wanting to travel to the nearest desert island to join a tribe and dance the night away.
Jeremy Warmsley's second album, 'How We Became', furthers his journey as an adept and intelligent songwriter. Warmsley, a Transgressive Records staple, is a singer with a gift for words as his lyrics weave stories, entangled in a web of folk and indie splendour.

El Guincho's Myspace

Jeremy Warmsley's Myspace

Lovely jubbly, another blog of wonderfully captivating music for your listening machines (your ears.....)! Tune in next week for another exciting segment of NEW NARCOTICS....

PS: I am determined to update this darn thing at least once a fortnight, if not more...so encourage me anyway you can pwease!

XxxX