My blog has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 6 seconds. If not, visit
http://versesfromtheabstract.wordpress.com
and update your bookmarks.

Showing posts with label the very best. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the very best. Show all posts

Tuesday, 25 August 2009

Catch up oclock


So i havent really posted in 15 days, but I was away for 7 of them! In Madrid! Which is amazing, as is the above 7 floor superclub Kapital...a bit of a catchup of what I missed back home below...

Jay-Z reveals official tracklisting; 2 Blueprint 3 songs leak
So a couple of weeks ago I was misisnformed that this would be the official tracklisting for the Blueprint 3. I was pretty grossly wrong. The album will have 15 tracks and is much less Kanye biased than I originally thought.
Kanye features on 2 tracks and produced 7.
Timbaland produced 3.
The Neptunes produced 1 (very good news).
No.ID produced 5.
Swizz Beatz produced 1 and features on it.
The Inkredibles and Al Shuz produced 1 track each.

Features will include the above, Drake, Kid cudi, Alicia Keys, Young Jeezy, Pharrell, Mr hudson, J Cole and luke Steele from Empire of the Sun! No MGMT or Nas though! Full tracklisting on wiki.
The Drake feature produced by timbaland has leaked and it is amazing. The beat is so good, Jay kills it. "Tell Rush Limbaugh to get off my balls, its 2010 not 1864". no Drake verse but hey maybe we'll see a collab on Drake's album. Listen here
A less good track Reminder has also leaked, also produced by Timbaland. Listen here
This album is going to be so gooooood.

Arctic Monkeys release Crying Lightning, get reviewed by Pitchfork

So I'm still undecided on Humbug. Sure its a good album, but doesn't grab me the way both of their first 2 did. I think Pitchfork's review captures my feelings pretty perfectly, read here. Crying Lightning also got released physically, with an exclusive vinyl being sold through Oxfam, pretty cool!! Here is one of the bsides, a Nick Cave cover, Red Right Hand.
Arctic Monkeys-Red Right Hand

The Very Best's Warm Heart of Africa leaks and its amazing

I'm not even on it for African music, not even when I spent 10 weeks there this year, but this album is really something. I think its the clear Western influence (provided by Radioclit) in tandem with the Malawian vocals and sound of Esau Mwamwaya that really make this what it is, a contender for album of the year. The title track feat. Ezra Koenig has long been available, and on Rain Dance M.I.A. shows she can spit on pretty much any type of beat and sound amazing. Below is Chalo which sounds like it samples the theme tune to "Fun House"!!!!
The Very Best-Chalo

Good Shoes return; thank me for naming this blog after one their songs
Well...not the second bit...but the Mordeners have returned with a song that sounds pretty similar to their debut, but thats by no means a bad thing. Listen on their myspace now. The band tour this autumn, they are great live, you should go see them!

The XX release the XX

The XX have been hyped like a bitch by the blogosphere over the last couple of months, but for once it turns out the hype should be believed. The XX is a really good, very lo-fi album. The band play Leeds/Reading this weekend before supporting Florence and the Machine this autumn.
The XX-VCR

Simian Mobile Disco release Temporary Pleasure

I got myself pretty hypd for this so I guess I'm pretty disappointed overall. its a decent album but quite a bit is filler; here is one of the highlights.
Simian Mobile Disco-1000 Horses Can't Be Wrong

Frank Turner's Poetry of the Deed leaks very early.

...and its pretty great...except (as with his first 2 albums) the quality does slide towards the end...(excluding TBOMAMF). Sons of Liberty is truely a piece of genius, as are Live Fast Die Old and Try this at Home. I'm not posting any tracks because I'm scared of his record label, so here is a hypem link, there a few newbies there

Read more...

Thursday, 6 August 2009

Reasons to be excited about the rest of the year!-September=part 2


The remainder of Septembers excitements below...

Indie/Alternative
September 7th
Jamie T-Kings and Queens
So Sticks and Stones was amazing, as was the rest of that EP, and as is the second single from kings and Queens, Chaka Demus. Jamie T is ready to explode back onto the scene, with his unique style of indie/ska/rock/rap, and I fully expect it to be an improvement on the already brilliant Panic Prevention. One of the UK's finest, no doubt. Tracklisting here
Sample Track: Jamie T-Chaka Demus
Excitedness Rating: 9/10

Frank Turner-Poetry of the Deed

Another highly talented British solo artist, but one of an entirely different nature. Frank Turner's lyrical genius comes from his ability to write songs to appeal to a 1000 different emotions; nostalgia, empathy, anger, frustration, humour and more. First single The Road is hardly a classic, but I expect alot more, and I'm positive he will deliver. Tracklisting here
Sample Track: Frank Turner-The Road (video)
Excitedness Rating: 9/10


Zero 7-Yeah Ghost

Zero 7 are set to take a more upbeat approach with their 4th album, after mastering ambient/chillout dance over the last decade. It's been 8 years since their debut Simple Things, and its continued influence is telling of how good that album is. Very interested to hear the new direction the band are taking.
Sample Track: Zero 7-Everything Up (Zizou)
Excitedness Rating: 7.5/10

The Cribs-Ignore the Ignorant
Completing a stellar day for releases, The Cribs drop their 4th album, and first with Johnny Marr. First couple of songs have been very divisive; some claim Johnny Marr improves a flailing band, others that he ruins them. Neither of the new songs have the energy of some of the band's old stuff and they have certainly lost some of their immense live reputation since becoming a four-piece. Could be genius, could be shit.
Sample Track: The Cribs-We Were Aborted
Excitedness rating: 7/10

September 14th
The Very Best-Warm Heart of Africa
Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit's project are set to release an album next month. The former is Malawian, and sings in Chichewa, the country's national language; the latter are a production duo who have remixed diplo, santigold, m.i.a. and more. Only a couple of songs have been made available, including Warm Heart of Africa (also the album title) featuring the irrepresable Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. M.I.A. is also expected to feature on the album.
Sample Track: The Very Best-Warm heart of Africa feat. Ezra Koenig
Excitedness rating: 8/10


Muse-The Resistance
The Resistance was described as "A beautifully recorded, strong, sweeping, fighting, uplifting, rocking, lilting and inclusive record about love." by Zane Lowe, but for us mere mortals only Uprising (awesome) and United States of Eurasia (Queen?) have been released. It's 3 years now since Black Holes... 3 years in whcih the band have probably improved and developed even more. Tracklisting here. Glastonbury headliners next year?
Sample Track: deleted
Excitedness Rating: 8/10

The Big Pink-A Brief History of Love

Highly tipped at the start of 2009, and now heavily hyped by the NME, are very much post MGMT indie, as many new bands have been this year. The album is streaming on their website all this week, I have listened once and wasnt overly impressed.
Listen to the album here

September 21st
Monsters of Folk-Monsters of Folk
Folk supergroup comprising of Conor Oberst, Jim James, M.Ward and Mike Mogis reunite with a self titled debut album which has Bright Eyes fans quivering with excitement. The band are touring North America and Europe in the autumn.
Sample Track: deleted
Excitedness rating: 8/10


Basement Jaxx-Scars

The two songs i've heard from this, Raindrops and the Santigold featured Saga are amazing. I have always found them a mixed bag, making some amazing dance tunes (Red Alert, Romeo, Jump N Shout), but also some painfully cheesy ones (oh my gosh, do your thing). I have high hopes for their 5th album though; joining Santigold on
guest duty will be Lightspeed Champion, Yoko Ono (!) and Sam Sparro.
Sample Track: Basement Jaxx-Saga feat. Santigold
Excitedness Rating: 8/10

Read more...