MUSIC!

Streamer seems to only work in Firefox. I'll fix that maybe.

As promised, I deliver two months worth of Best New Spring Music in one giant article. With hopefully easy to use music streamer.


Jupiter One – Fire Away

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Fire Away
Jupiter One have an impressive array of commercial tie-ins given their freshness. Knowing that they've helped the scores for Heroes and Flash Gordon and advertised Mazdas and EA Sports before listening to their self-titled debut album prepares you for exactly how they sound... Commercial. Coming from a billboard adorned, multicultural hub like New York, they're a band under the weight of influence overload, and most of those influences sell.
The underlying canvas for Jupiter One is a new wave weave of star-wipe synths and punky guitars. Jupiter One sound like they've travelled back to the 80s to battle Devo and The Cars and have brought with them quad-core powered synthesizers, supercomputer guitars and some fancy brand of amplified future-drums. Or, basically what it would sound like if Flood and Brandon Flowers produced a contemporary Talking Heads cover album. There's definite attempt on The Killers style of digitally washed out guitar solos and 30-second-advertisement rhythm sections; the kind of psychological rock that makes you sway around feeling like you're creating nostalgia, and also feeling like you should buy a 7 Up. It's a lot like those annoying advertisements that grow endearing after a while.

Mr. Scruff – Music Takes Me Up

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Music Takes Me Up
There's a producer named Mr. Scruff. He's pretty darn white, with a Manchester accent. But that hasn't stopped him juxtaposing hip hop and jazz for some of the funkiest and hottest tracks over the last decade. Probably best known for Get a Move On, the delightfully titled new LP Ninja Tuna – his fourth on the still consistent Ninja Tune label – contains plenty of similar, upbeat lounge hits. Music Takes Me Up kicks off the album with the soulful vocals of Alice Russell riding over hi-hats and jazzy, scruffy funk.

Evil Nine feat. Toastie Taylor– Dead Man Coming

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Dead Man Coming
Music since the dawn of time has changed a lot. We've invented ReacTables and we dance around in front of lasers and strobe lights on giant pyramids. A fair change from the lurching around campfires in loincloths and ochre we used to do to simple beats. But the one thing yet to change in music is its most primitive component: rhythm. Drums have a ceiling of sophistication and nothing seems more natural to bop to than a steady, cadenced thudding. Without heavy pounding on different shit, music wouldn't be worth listening to.
This is something Evil Nine know pretty well and 2004's You Can Be Special Too introduced their very simple trademark pounding break, normally accompanied by some sort of post-punk guitar hook and sinister synth. All their works, compositions and remixes, are easily identifiable but it's no criticism to point out their drumming always sounds similar. That's the same as dissing a collection of Monet's because they're all done on canvas. It's what Evil Nine do with a drum beat that makes them successful, layering over it disco synths or lurking dub frequencies or turntablism. One of their best jobs is selecting vocalists with enticing timbres to salt their tunes. Whether it's the NYC grit of El-P, the Taylor Dane wannabe Emily Breeze or Dead Man Walking's reggae monologue from Toastie Taylor they all have one thing in common. They want to be played loud.

Eagles of Death Metal – I'm Your Torpedo

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I'm Your Torpedo
Throbbing, crushing bass? Pounding rhythm section featuring big, tribal drums? 170 BPM? Reference to "torpedos". Josh Homme on slide guitar... no, wait, Josh Homme having any influence in the song writing process at all?
Got to be fucking music.

Cold War Kids – Mexican Dogs

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Mexican Dogs
When Cold War Kids fire and produce hook heavy hits like Hang Me Up to Dry or emotive, singalong anthems like Hospital Beds everyone loves them, but as soon the sound grows a bit blander or the band branch out into a style that doesn't suit them – which happens a bit on Loyalty to Loyalty – all the reviews start complaining and contrasting Nathan Willet as a wannabe Jeff Buckley. But let's face it, Jeff Buckley's dead now and there's still plenty of room in music for anyone with a voice half as good as his. It's something Willet has and uses on Mexican Dogs, yelping out verses over sweaty guitar licks and pulsing bass lines. In fact most of Loyalty to Loyalty features an awesome rhythm section, which kind of makes up for the lamer songs, depending how hard you are to please.

The Dead Trees – Television

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Television
A few months ago Strokes frontman Albert Hammond, Jr. featured on Pitchfork's guest list column. Now normally artists use this opportunity as an excuse to wank liberally about their obscure pop culture tastes, but it's a fun way of finding new, weird books to read.
Hammond Jr, though, was full of refreshingly simple and accessible responses. So when he mentioned The Dead Trees as a tour support who he liked and related to I was relaxed, and given how he can shred, definitely curious enough to hear their new EP Fort Music. Television is its opening track, a song with a similar freshness. Twin guitarists needle and strum 12 strings of harmony that are rightfully produced just a little louder than the vocals. A charming rock melody, and a band to follow. Their debut LP King of Rosa was released last week.

Chad VanGaalen – Willow Tree

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Willow Tree
Chad VanGaalen is exactly the type of musician you'd expect to find signed to Sub Pop. He's still recording under the same name he released his first bedroom produced cassettes under years ago, he appears in press photos with colourful clothes, stubble and hair that's unruly but can still be acceptably described as managed. He's Canadian. His latest album Soft Aeroplane is pure indie-pop that lives up to Sub Pop's standards. Some upbeat numbers, a few mellow ones like Willow Tree. VanGaalen has a deft touch when creating blue sounding, low-fi banjo plucks and one string bassline, then floating his haunting, echoing vocals over it. You can also expect the all but trademarked use of unorthodox instruments all the way throughout, with an accordion and mellowed out tuba assisting among others.

Annuals – Hair Don't Grow

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Hair Don't Grow
Same indie-pop intentions, way more band members, Annuals released their second LP in October titled Such Fun. It has a perky, Animal Collective inspired bunch of songs; some introspective ballads and some upbeat indie rock balance. Hair Don't Grow is the most rockingist on the album. A half prayed, half ranted stress release loaded with slapped bass and eventually orchestral strings that makes this song start gritty and end soaring.

The Decemberists – Valerie Plame

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Valerie Plame
If you were just told The Decemberists sound had shifted back to a Picaresque epoch and that the pop return from The Crane Wife would be a 16 by 32 style, ukulele fused shanty titled Valerie Plame you wouldn't be in the minority for guessing how Colin Melloy's pitch would stretch out the chorus.
Having released so many tracks across four records and a dozen EPs and singles it's kinda easy to take for granted the lyrical mastery of Melloy. He never stops, this time detailing another epic tale of love, betrayal and espionage in his usual, excited narrative. This is definite form, and comes from the first volume of three teasing EPs releases titled Always the Bridesmaid.

Ben Folds – Hiroshima

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Hiroshima
Half piano maestro, half raconteur, Ben Folds turns the first page on his newest book of stories Way To Normal with bilateral muscle flexing. As usual with Folds his best songs are the simplest. Hiroshima detailing the true story of his plunge off stage at the start of a performance in Japan and then going on to complete the show with the blood seeping from the crack in his head. The melody crashes down appropriately, big heavy loops of keys that spiral down over the noise of poppy string and the screams and cheers of an enthralled audience.

David Byrne & Brian Eno – Strange Overtones

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Strange Overtones
It's not a follow up to My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, but, well, it's Brian Eno and David Byrne. This one really shouldn't need much convincing. OK, essentially, it's David Byrne providing lyrics for some ambient, electronic pop that Eno was working on, and then they got together and hammered out the details. There's some future gospel vibe throughout the album... Seriously, it's David Byrne and Brian Eno. What's to say?

Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream (Sam La More 12" remix)

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Walking on a Dream
Empire of the Sun finds more Australian artists collaborating and experimenting with each other, blending traditional rock and electro in the quest to be the next Presets and appear in car commercials. This time the pairing is Sleepy Jackson's lead singer Luke Steele and Pnau's Nick Littlemore. Walking on a Dream has been a commercial success, but it's Sam La More (who has previously housed up Robbie Williams, Princess Superstar and GusGus - as well as producing the Foxtel theme!) who turns it from a car radio singalong into a bass heavy, instant nostalgia club hit. La More finds just the right loungy, house beat to match what Steele is trying to do with his voice. It's slow moving, warm and pulsing. Maybe a little dreamlike..

TV on the Radio - Crying

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Crying
Art-rock, brilliant and intelligent, TV on the Radio have been fawned over for their last two albums, the newest Dear Science being released last month. I don't think I listened to Return to Cookie Mountain enough to understand the hype it got in 2006, which is only interesting because I loved their Young Liars era work. I've probably listened to their cover of Mr. Grieves more than I've heard Wolf Like Me. The thing about their new, successful sound is the level of texture involved. Which is why it took falling asleep, lying in the sun, listening to Crying that my other senses tuned out enough for me to take it all in. This "intelligent" music pays to open up to, so you can fully absorb the liquid bass, the Prince guitar shimmys and shifty echoes that comprise just the first 10 seconds of the track. Dear Science tries to be so many things – rock, soul, jazz, funk, boogie – and really it nails them all. Staring at the Sun is still my favourite song for now, but this has introduced plenty of contenders.

Parts & Labor – Nowheres Nigh

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Nowheres Nigh
Some songs are made perfect for certain times, and Parts & Labor have created this one to suit Sunday evenings, ends of holidays or final credit montages. Assuming whatever characters involved are a bit nerdy. I introduced you to Dan Friel in June as a glitch loving circuit-bender and his influence in his original band is easily distinguishable. Receivers takes digitalisation of catchy post-rock pop to new levels. Nowhere Nigh builds from fidgety drums and punky guitars into a full blown release of riffs, squeals and urgent vocals. It summarises whirls of activity in a conclusive entity.

T.I. feat Rihanna – Live Your Life

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Live Your Life
The world has long since reached its quota of stunting, substance-less rappers with egos bigger than their reputations. Beats aren't hard to come by and most club-hop tracks seem intended to be a blur of synth hooks and pieces of ripped off ghetto slang.
But on 2006's What You Know T.I. showed that self self-aggrandising was than ok when delivered with a tongue in cheek and a sparkle in the eye. There's not many tracks on Paper Trail where flamboyance is conveyed with 100% seriousness either. Even the posse posturing Swagger Like Us gets followed up by a numa numa sampling beat and Rihanna's tweaked vocals turning it from recycling into gold. Then T.I. just does what he does, delivering ego and poptastic beats with a wink.

Roots Manuva feat Amarizee – Well Alright

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Well Alright
A beacon of the UK hip hop scene, the Jamaican descended Manuva has been quiet on the production front the last few years. Slime and Reason is a welcome return. One of the most endearing men to pick up a mic, his rhymes are loved for their flaws as much as their flow. There's nothing to treasure in the opening couplet of ‘well alright, well ok, well ok, well alright' save taking in the cascading notes of bass and jangly keyboard. From down there Manuva delivers his content in its usual context, dealing with life, rapping, religion from the underground. Throughout he sounds comfortable rather than tired and there is still so much to appreciate in his deep basso voice.
When it comes to production Rodney still has the some obsession with dubby bass, but as he gets older it's nice to hear it extend into warmer territory.

Flying Lotus – Parisian Goldfish

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Parisian Goldfish
Hip Hop didn't always have the purified bass plucks of Well Alright though, or need to provide the instant gratification of a T.I. single. Flying Lotus' new record, entered into the Warp catalogue, is one of dirty, ambient beats. It's a scraggy, torn up tribute to Los Angeles backloaded with heavy frequencies and showered with hiss, dirt and static. The electronic buzz on Parisian Goldfish makes it sound like a cross between Modeselektor and El-P. It's grainy but funky, though the connection between Los Angeles and Parisian goldfishes seems subjective.
Los Angeles is definitely a grower. My first listen was on the walk through the city streets to work and though I didn't think much of it at the time, somehow that walk is remembered more vividly in my mind than any other time I've done it.

Tobacco – Hairy Candy

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Hairy Candy
Black Moth Super Rainbow member Tobacco also plays in the sandbox of experimental Hip Hop this month with the release of his debut solo LP Fucked Up Friends. But this isn't a regular end of street park sandbox, it's the spooky abandoned sandbox overgrown by foggy forest somewhere in Pennsylvania where weird things grow and psychedelic experiences occur. Starting below the surface Hairy Candy blows spooky trumpets and emerges with weird synth patterns, ghostly beats and creepy, filtered children singing calmly in what are easily imaginable nightmare scenarios. This is perhaps something you want to listen to as you do day to day things.

The Mighty Underdogs – Science Fiction

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Science Fiction
If you picked Blackalicious' Gift of Gab, added Lateef the truth speaker, upcoming producer Headnodic and then included guest appearances from DJ Shadow, MF DOOM and Lyrics Born you could be looking at a very solid hip hop LP. But there's nothing solid or ordinary about Dropping Science Fiction , with the established talents involved determined to go gimmicky and rap about fighting monsters, western gunfights and on Science Fiction battles in space. The beats are huge and cartoonish, perfect for the distinct voices of those involved to spread creatively through fantasy. There's been a lot of vanilla hip hop released this decade, so some experimental wordplay works just as well as experimental beats in this case.

The Black Angels – You on the Run

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You on the Run
Directions to See a Ghost is the heralded follow up to Passover by psychedelic rockers The Black Angels. It's earned plenty of praise in the slightly underground psych rock scene, drawing comparisons to The Black Keys and - another recent, hazy rock chart-topper - Black Mountain. Which raises an interesting point, namely, do we have enough bands with ‘black' pre-fixed to their moniker yet? Beyond the above we've had The Black Hollies, Black Crowes, Black Ghosts and Black Kids release LPs this year. Surely there comes a point where the bandwidth runs out and other colours in the spectrum get their chance?
However, because I like their music, I'll try and be constructive. The record opening You on the Run starts with a foreboding bass line and dark, scary riffs so... Sable Angels? The Charcoal Angels? Work with me here. Even The Sooty Angels might be appropriate. Or they could just go for the Austin, Texas hometown tribute and launch their next EP as the Red, White and Blue Angels. Because, I just don't get it. Why put so much effort into making one of the best psych-rock albums of the year and then release it under such a lazy name?

Kings of Leon – Be Somebody

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Be Somebody
If you didn't like Because of the Times and were hoping Caleb Followill's voice would have cracked and broken after a gruelling year of belting out Charmer at the end of hundreds of shows you'll be disappointed to learn that the Kings of Leon spent plenty of their down time working on a follow up. The album they developed on their Because of the Times tour, unsurprisingly, sounds a lot like Because of the Times. If you were happy to enjoy the hick rock power chords and studio refinement of last year's album then Only By the Night won't take much to convince you to let it slide in next to it in your collection.

Okkervil River – Calling and Not Calling My Ex

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Calling and Not Calling My Ex
When we last left Okkervil River it was late last year as the folk-rock of The Stage Names proved how Will Sheff was a man with a voice that can captivate. Quickly arranged follow up The Stand Ins with sung stories like Lost Coastlines and Calling and Not Calling My Ex cement his reputation as one of indies great storytellers. Stand Ins, instrumentally takes a back seat and while the album doesn't contain a whole band smash out like For Real or Unless It Kicks the rest of the musicians contribute more subtly with multi-instrumented, upbeat folk backing for the stories to take place.
The Stand Ins runs like a movie, with wordless interludes dispersed between tracks like movement portions of films. Each delivers the listener to the next chapter of Sheff's story.

Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs – My 45

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My 45
At the end of The White Stripes' Elephant is an acoustic ballad called It's True That We Love One Another. Chances are - given what a weapon Seven Nation Army was - you've probably heard this track at least once and thus would recognise the sultry, British voice of Holly Golightly. It's a distinct voice, like a blend of Dolly Parton's sweet, country styling and the stark, beauty of Juanita Stein. It's a voice that must be breaking some law of consistency by sounding innocent and wearied at the same time.
Holly is a woman with decades of experience though, so it's not surprising on Dirt Don't Hurt to hear the ease with which she shifts her voice from perky to broken. She's believable in her element as the strong willed country singer in Bottom Below. But she also pulls off the lovestruck teenage girl in Hug You, Squeeze You, Kiss You and the battered, end of the rope housewife on My 45 just as well.
Dirt Don't Hurt is a decidedly folky, rustic and easily loveable album. It's the second she's crafted with Lawyer Dave, who adds a little vocals, back up guitar, percussion and absolutely zero legislating. Taking them only six days to write, produce and record, every banjo pluck and drum slap sounds earthy and personal; Dirt Don't Hurt has the exact charm of a dusty gem uncovered at a garage sale.

I'm From Barcelona - Music Killed Me

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Music Killed Me
With 30 members, I'm From Barcelona are less a band and more a pop orchestra. In 2006 they released the most goddamn fucking cheerful album Let Me Introduce My Friends. At times it bordered on being so colourful and simplistic that even children found in disturbing. However, it was full of love and happiness from a Swedish pop utopia and provided baroque pop hits like Treehouse that made it easy to love.
What started as a project band has now released its sophomore album Who Killed Harry Houdini this month and all the members are back to reprise their instrumental role or contribute chorus vocals. Unlike Let Me Introduce my Friends, Who Killed has toned down the chirpiness a lot. It's not depressing, but if their debut was Spring this is Autumn. Which is not to say you can't find beauty in autumn. Music Killed Me would feature a large contingent of the I'm From Barcelona army doing their thing, slower, but no less fun than the first time around.

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