The Loss of Soul and Punk

'Were it not for music, we might in these days say, the Beautiful is dead.' ~Benjamin Disraeli

A somewhat somber New Narcotics this week in remembrance of two great artists who died yesterday. Two very different musicians but both fondly remembered as innovative, brilliant voices that projected a unique stamp upon their respective genres.



Teddy Pendergrass first found fame with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, starting as a drummer until his voice leapt to the front of the stage and the band invited him to act as lead singer. A mega hit in the shape of 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' from their debut album has since been covered a hundred times over but the afro-tastic favour of the original is unmatched in my opinion. A personal favourite from the bands catalogue is the groovy but sweet 'The Love I Lost' that chugs along on a disco riff but bellows forth a lovelorn story.

Teddy set out on a solo career in 1977, stretching his soul even further on classic ballads such as 'Turn Off The Light' and 'Close The Door' that oozed sexuality. More hit singles followed from upbeat, disco-tinged tracks like 'The More I Get, The More I Want' and the oft-covered and sampled 'Love TKO'.

The standout track of his career for me is the lovelorn 'The Whole Town's Laughing At Me' that sums up a harsh loss of love that culminates in the utter despair and paranoia that resides within the soulful stylings and voice that pleads and ponders.

A car accident in 1982 almost put an end to his career after he was paralysed from the waist down but after physical therapy he returned to music and recorded a duet with an unknown singer, now famous, Whitney Houston, called 'Hold Me'. He continued to perform live up until being diagnosed with colon cancer, the disease that would eventually take his life on January 13th 2010 at 59 years old.

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Born Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr in 1981, Jay Reatard began recording at age 15 and formed a band called the Reatards. He released a couple of EPs with a punk rock ethos that used distortion, lo-fi garage riffs and heavy drums to craft hard kicking tracks such as 'Your So Lewd' .

He also worked with The Lost Sounds and The Final Solutions, showing an impressive songwriting output, but, arguably, his best work came as a solo artist with 'Blood Visions' in 2006. An album full of aggression and quirk that bops, bounces and growls through tracks such as short, sharp opener 'Blood Visions' and the yelpy 'Nightmares'.


A relentless musician, composer and artist, he set up his own record label under the moniker Shattered Records, toured worldwide, collaborated with a number of musicians and bands and released a stream of EPs and records, such as this excellently angry B-Side 'An Ugly Death'.

His second album appeared mellower than previous output though retained the individual sense that Reatard injects into everything he touches. 'Watch Me Fall' is an album full of standout tracks that compliment and contradict oneanother. 'It Ain't Gonna Save Me' is catchy but filled with bile, whilst 'Man of Steel' seems as if it was assembled from a mish-mash of songs and riffs that somehow slot together perfectly.

Jay was an icon in the alternative punk world and his brashness, output and general demeanor towards the industry and music will let him live on in musical memory long after his death at the ridiculously tragic age of 29, under circumstances yet to be established.

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Finally, a quick couple of new artists to keep you a little upbeat after all this gloom and doom!


From LA come Fool's Gold, a group whose afropop manages to sound somewhat like indie via the hipsters at the heart of the group (and probably thanks to the success of Vampire Weekend, those rascals). Their debut albums is available, titled 'IAMSOUND', and sounds just as joyous as that title does rolling out of your mouth. Tracks on repeat inside my head as I imagine some sunshine over an African plain (anything but ICE!) are 'Surprise Hotel' and 'Nadine'

Fool's Gold Myspace

From the Sunshine State, keeping up the warm and fuzzy feeling, are Surfer Blood, a lo-fi indie mess whose music is just pure jangle and jingle, against a backdrop of sun and summer. 'Swim (To Reach to the End)' is infinitely listenable as the garage guitars flash and melt away periodically, and 'Floating Vibes' does exactly what it says on the tin (I want to lie on a raft with this track buzzing in my ears...). Their debut album 'Astro Coast' is out on the 19th...so get on it...

Surfer Blood's Myspace

Albums out next week include...
'Romance Is Boring' by Los Campesinos
'Teen Dream' by Beach House
'Transference' by Spoon
'Campfire Songs' [Re-release] by Animal Collective

That is all for this week, keep on keeping on despite such sad losses to the world of music. Just remember them through a constant, loud blasting of their records and the legacy they leave behind!

Buh Bye!
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New Year = New Narcotics

'If music be the food of love; play on.' - William Shakespeare

Welcome to 2010; the FUTURE IS HERE!

I could try and predict the big bands of 2010 and then brag about how I predicted the musical outlook of the year when 1 out of my 10 bands become super/mega/sell-out famous, but bollocks to all that pomp and circumstance so LETS LISTEN TO SOME MUSIX! (yeahhhh but The Drums, Delphic and Darwin Deez SHOULD be big in 2010...)


MEN are an explosion of melody that manage to deal with sensitive and serious topics via the medium of electronica. Made up of two of Le Tigre and a third producer and DJ, the group use sexual politics and performance in their act to create a whole ideology that stimulates as well as pleases. 'Simultaneously' sounds like the xx with a dirtier mind whilst 'Credit Card Babies' provides a dancefloor ditty that discusses the complexity of gay fatherhood.

MEN Myspace

Guillemots were a happy-go-lucky, bouncy indie pop act who shone for a very short time before vanishing but the leading man, Fyfe Dangerfield (a Bond villain name), is back with a bit of solo work. It is pretty much exactly what you would expect from the man who bought us the romantic splendor of 'Made Up Love Song', as his sickly sweet voice strums out tunes of love and loss alongside pretty pianos.

Fyfe Dangerfield's Myspace

Vampire Weekend's second album 'Contra' is out on Monday and you can listen to it on their Myspace. So far, so Vampire Weekend; all sunshine and bop with all manner of sniping lyrical bolts and incessantly catchy percussive grooves. Highlights include the auto-tuned 'California English' proving that the method of vocal distortion can still prove effective and the softly cinematic closer 'I Think Ur A Contra'. It is hard for the group to top their dazzling debut but this effort, at first listen, could be a match at least.

Vampire Weekend's Myspace


Albums out in the next week or two that maybe you could check out, maybe?!
'Heartland' by Final Fantasy
'End Times' by Eels
'Astro Coast' by Surfer Blood ['Swim (To Reach To The End)' by Surfer Blood]


That's all for now folks, check you in week or two or three! BUH BYE!
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Lisztomania [GET IT? GET IT!?]

"Modern music is as dangerous as narcotics" -Pietro Mascagni

WOW! Look at that perfect quote that sums the essence of my blog up, but if you substitute DANGEROUS for FUCKTASTIC!

And talking of summing up (awesome segue approaching), here are some BESTS OF from both the last year and the last decade! They aren't proper lists, in the sense that numbers aren't placed besides them. But I am against that listing and numbering bullshit man, music is free and freedom isn't free!

Anyho-ho-ho, onto an assortment of awesome albums that maybe you can buy as a Christmas present or a personal present (you selfish bastards you...)..

FIRSTLY! The top albums of the year (in purely my personal and honest and awesome opinion)-

• The Horrors 'Primary Colours' I was happily amongst the first to criticise and mock The Horrors when they rolled into NME looking like emo stick insects emanating rather shoddy post punk with all the energy of a pair of hair straighteners. Nonetheless, in the name of good science and impartiality, I duly listened to their second effort when a friend recommended it and BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW, I was impressed. The tracks bleed something otherworldly, as if hypnotising the listener into somehow enjoying something that can mumble from a bunch of 19th century male prostitutes.
  'Who Can Say' by The Horrors

• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart 'The Pains of Being Pure at Heart' - When I first heard 'A Teenager In Love', I honestly almost wet myself at the prospect of having time travelled back to the 1980s and listening to a brand spanking new Smiths/Cure collaboration...but I noticed the lack of a Delorean or phone booth and quickly went and bought the debut album from this group of New Yorkers. It's a blast of shoegaze and pop that showers emotions from summers and winters long gone and worthy of a few hundred or so listens (at least).

'Young Adult Fiction' by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
'A Teenager in Love' by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

• Passion Pit 'Manners' - One of my finds on this very blog (A YEAR AGO I MIGHT ADD), ever since my musings skyrocketed interest in this band, their certain brand of spiky synths and high-pitch warblings have progressively made their way into radio, tv, festivals and music blogs the world over. It all began with the lead singer creating an EP for his lady (awww) and the debut album built on the sound that had manifested out of passion (hey, they are called Passion Pit!). Extra points for Jack Kerouac's voice at the beginning of 'Sleepyhead'...

'Sleepyhead' by Passion Pit
Also check out this from their original EP 'Cuddle Fuddle'

• Girls 'Album' - A very hard to Google band and album name but worth the frantic searching after I heard a track through another blog. Obviously from San Francisco, their psycho shoe-gaze fused onto surf rock bounces and rolls along at different times, echoing the Beach Boys and Morrissey. The album really sets up an ethos of partying that makes it freaking ridiculously hard not to want to pack up and move to California, jam on the beach and drink all day long in the sun....

'Lust For Life' by Girls
'Laura' by Girls

• The Drums 'Summertime EP' - I know it is just an EP but continuing the West coast vibe, the seven tracks that introduce The Drums to the world are nothing but pure joy and Californian life. Handclaps and whistles galore set up a surprisingly summery feel to your life even in the midst of December. However, the group hail from New York and must have mind melds with the sunny, surfing coasts of America to have such blasts of giddy energy that send the head-a-bopping.

'Let's Go Surfing' by The Drums
'The Saddest Summer' by The Drums

• Bats For Lashes 'Two Suns' - Natasha Khan is a maestro of the dream, baroque pop she peddles, managing to cram classical and pop sense into her music. A patchwork of influences, 'Two Suns' reverberates with original emotion and it is hard to think of an artist doing anything similar. Electronic dabs and vocal dashes create such a vivid musical picture, it is difficult not to fall for the seductively dense and dark sound that Bats For Lashes emits.

'Daniel' by Bats For Lashes
'Sleep Alone' by Bats For Lashes

• The xx 'xx' - Back to London, England for a dreamy pop with a production technique that recalls several genres from electronica to R&B, the underlying sultry attitude that impregnates their act is apparent throughout their album. Muses on sex and relationships slither alongside a drum machine and carefully paced guitar picking. An album to slowly digest and internalise, so much that the music will eventually ooze from the pores of your skin as you stroll around late at night.

'Basic Space' by The xx
'Crystalised' by The xx

• Dirty Projectors 'Bitte Orca' - 2009 has showcased a whole heap of New York musicians who have really crafted the musical sound and hits of the year, including Dirty Projectors, a lo-fi, experimental indie group who hit their groove (and a degree of widespread success and acclaim) with 'Bitte Orca'. Off kilter beats and breezy riffs permeate the album, managing to rack up an impressive sensibility that borders on experimentation whilst sticking to a perfectly enjoyably melodic tone and hum. Truly, an album that caresses harder and harder with each listen (weird, I know).

'Stillness Is The Move' by Dirty Projectors
'No Intention' by Dirty Projectors

• Grizzly Bear 'Veckatimest' - A long admired band whose output has remained rocksteady, Grizzly Bear are yet another group of indie types hailing from Brooklyn, in New Yawwk City (note to self, for life; move to New York...). As well as innovative and exciting videos, the band gel together so naturally that the songs feel like they are pouring out of one angelic musical mind that knows how to craft a sonically airtight album. A quietly gorgeous record and that is all that needs to be said.

'Two Weeks' by Grizzly Bear
'Ready, Able' by Grizzly Bear

• Animal Collective 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' - Animal Collective have made some challenging and exciting music over the past decade and, arguably, their best work has appeared in the form of their latest record, in the last year of the noughties. Exploring music so other bands don't have to (or because they simply can't), the album reads like an explosion of creativity, fuzz and imagination that has somehow been condensed into something that can be considered a helluva lot more poppy than previous attempts. A confident psychedelia cements the band as a force to be reckoned with, although sets a high precedent for whatever comes in the next decade.
  

'My Girls' by Animal Collective
'Summertime Clothes' by Animal Collective

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Atlas Sound 'Logos'; Fever Ray 'Fever Ray'; Yeah Yeah Yeah's 'It's Blitz'; Phoenix 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix'; Julian Casablancas 'Phrazes For The Young'; Camera Obscura 'My Maudlin Career';

So, those are my favourite records of the year that was 2009! Let me know what are yours, what I still need to buy and I will be back with a best of the decade list after le weekend!

BUH BYE!
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December Ditties!

Without music, life is a journey through a desert. - Pat Conroy

Listen to ‘Constellations’ and look at this picture of Darwin Deez, the musician responsible, and tell me that it isn’t Julian Casablancas in some sort of super-hi-tech make up and costume! The Strokes sound-a-like comes in a variety of flavours, with ‘Bad Day’ vibrating with Beck-like enthusiasm and ‘Bedspace’ taking a leisurely, drawn-out approach to indietronica. Check out the mustachioed maestro asap!

Darwin Deez's Myspace

Best Coast’s frontwoman, Bethany Cosentino, comes from the school of shoegaze, with her drawling slur of a voice and her shuffling lyrics that squeeze through the humming guitar riffs, broken drum beats and muffled sonics that coat each song. A garage rock sensibility is also embedded in each track, especially in the gorgeously titled 'Sun Was High (So Was I)', where the lead guitar juts and jerks through the entire piece. The current surf-rock fusion that has swept bands across the US still manages to hold a sort of sway and intrigue, though it may very well soon become an overhyped and overheard phase. Until then, Best Coast sweep along with a surprisingly refreshing lo-fi attitude.

Best Coast's Myspace

That will do for now...until next time....

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Sonic Suggestions

Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. -Charlie Parker

Punk and Mariachi music are two genres with very, very, very little crossover possibility. Yet The Bronx have decided to blast that out of the water by renaming themselves as Mariachi El Bronx and releasing an album of Mexicano ditties. And it bloody works. The music is upbeat, catchy and holds a sway and kick that a punk background may have helped spur. Current single 'Cell Mates' claps and hops along aboard a heap of trumpets and joy, with a vocal performance quite distant from the usual screech of The Bronx frontman Matt Caughthran. The video is equally brilliant with flashing suits galore. (Cell Mates on Youtube)

The Bronx Myspace

The past few months of my life have been soundtracked by The Drums brand of Brian Wilson-infused beach indie pop. Although summer has long since evaporated into rain and wind, the likes of 'Let's Go Surfing' and 'I Felt Stupid' summon such imagery of sand, sea and surf, the sun comes out with each whistle, yelp and foot stomp. Perfectly danceable indie pop to stop the rain, if only in your head.

The Drums Myspace

Whilst I am here, I shall mention some current fantastic singles from established artists that are well worth a listen. Firstly, Lighspeed Champion (aka Dev Hynes) sidles alongside Basement Jaxx on 'My Turn', a top notch fusion of Lightspeed's lyrical delicacy and the dance band's bells and bounce style. Also check out the colourful video HERE! [Includes dancing bright bears!]

I have mentioned Passion Pit about a year ago and they are only JUST hitting the big time (another scoop just for you New Narcotics readers), with 'Little Secrets' all over BBC Radio now. Still perfectly synthed and sultry indietronica for the ears. Live for good ol' Myspazz

Christmas is creeping slowly upon us and Julian Casablancas of The Strokes has released a cover of an SNL christmas ditty alongside his brand new solo album 'Phrazes For The Young' which ain't half bad (even if it is just The Strokes goes solo). Anyway here is his festive attempt...

I shall be back very soon with Winter Warmers to keep your ears toasty as we enter the cold December month....

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Rhythmic Recommendations

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. ~Ludwig van Beethoven

Talons manage to fuse math rock with post rock whilst sprinkling a little raw punk and a dash of classical strings into the mix to provide an eye opening storm of music that relentlessly streams forth from each track. 'The Tragic Decline of Buff Orpington' is an epic tale crushed into three minutes of fury, whilst 'The Pearl' unleashes rollicking guitar riffs that give way to soft, sweet strings, ensuring a juxtaposition that cannot be ignored. Check them out as they tour relentlessly over the next month.

Talons' Myspace

Proving that being a bit geeky and loving classic soul can get you somewhere (I still have my fingers crossed), Mayer Hawthorne's has come along with an old soul throwback style that bleeds 60's Motown and oozes 70's romantic soul. Think Smokey Robinson, The Dramatics and the Four Tops within a bespectacled white boy from Ann Arbor, Michigan. 'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' and 'Love is Alright' are perfect representations of the early soul vocal groups spot-on sweet nothings musing on love lost and love gained. Everytime I imagine this guy on stage, I see a foursome acting out a host of well rehearsed mini dance moves. 'I Wish It Would Rain' may very well be my new favourite song, as Mayer manages to evoke all of that soulful longing I adored as a kid listening to my parents Motown records....

Mayer Hawthorne's Myspace

I am lucky enough to witness Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard this Friday at an awesomely underused venue called Hamptons. I was eagerly anticipating a Watchmen lecture with the musician/artist/genius at Latitude Festival but due to some car problem, he didn't make it in time!!! Karma has made it up to me by allowing me the chance to witness him perform and I urge you to go listen to 'Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror' on his myspace, a rip-roaring folk track that showcases his wildly winding vocal ability.

Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard's Myspace

Supporting Jeffrey Lewis are a local seven piece folk act who I have praised constantly over the last half a year or so. Haunted Stereo manage to juggle a host of musical instruments with master precision, combining in a cacophany of musical heaven summed up in the jaunty joyride that is 'Head On' and the oscillating musical journey 'Childhood's End'.

Haunted Stereo's Myspace

Thats all for now folks!!!!
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Once again, I start again...

No explanations, just musical education... upwards and onwards....

A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence. ~Leopold Stokowski

Pulled Apart By Horses are four lads who think up fantastic band and song names, hail from Leeds and throw caution and vocal chords to the wind, firing all 12 cylinders with their personal attempt at pounding out hard, fast and rhythmic riffs whilst hollering over the ruckus they create. They also manage to climb atop speaker stacks and injure themselves whenever possible...check out 'I Punched A Lion in the Throat' and 'E=MC Hammer'.

Pulled Apart By Horses Myspace

Brighton is a town of musical and artistic invention and The Mummers are keeping the bar high, fronted by Raissa Khan-Panni, a musician with a vast well of ability and experience despite her youth. Appearing on Jools Holland and releasing a debut album entitled 'Tale To Tell', the group should reach your radios and televisions imminently! Listen to their amazing cover of Passion Pit's 'Sleepyhead' (a band I mentioned at the end of last year in the last blog posting, who are now shooting into the stratosphere...) and the summery 'Wonderland', a track that will pick you up, lay you amongst the clouds and slowly lull you into contented slumber...

The Mummers Myspace

Bradford has not held a great musical past but this may change with a young lady named Laura Groves, musically named Blue Roses. She fuses a Kate Bush sentiment with the female folk fallout of Laura Marling, ending up with a beautifully strung together self titled album that drifts along endlessly and joyfully. 'I Am Leaving' leaves a sweet taste in the mouth as the vocals swell and soothe over the space of three calm minutes. 'Does Anyone Love Me Now' showcases her ability to juggle lush alt-folk guitar with otherworldly strings and singing. Let her voice send you to sleep before everyone in the land is dreaming to her effortless melodies.

Blue Roses Mypace


First Aid Kit consists of two Swedish teenage sisters whose intense and beautiful songs recall the harmony and delicate nature of artists such as Devendra Banhart and Bright Eyes. Listen to the catchy and instantly noddable 'You're Not Coming Home Tonight'

First Aid Kit's Myspace


Fast paced kraut punk comes thick and ferocious from Not Squares, a band from Belfast. They know how to navigate synths and bass guitars with the utmost anger and musical cohesion, squealing and shouting as they do so.

Not Squares Myspace

Finally, Chew Lips are a London trio whose dancefloor friendly electro has smashed through various blogs and music magazines. 'Solo' and 'Toro' are two tracks that are guaranteed to move feet, hands and heads.

Chew Lips Myspace


That is all for now music lovers and brothers...tune in next week or the week after that or whenever I post something new...and keep you ears wiiiide open...
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