Codeine - Kitchen (Demo) (Numero Group, 2012)

Not-so-slow demo from the pioneering Codeine.

I am waiting with baited breath for my copy of the Codeine boxset so I can relive the slower-than-slow sounds of the groundbreaking Codeine.

Active for only a few years around the turn of the nineties, Codeine were the epitome of slowcore, glaciers forming in the space between the notes on tracks like 'Realize'. Some notable bands like Mogwai, Low, Slint and Red House Painters forming in those gaps too.

'Kitchen' is an acoustic guitar and vocal demo that whets the appetite for the box's bonus material.

Enjoy.

Download Codeine 'Kitchen (Demo)' (Slowcore, Post-Rock, Sub Pop, mp3) (via Stereogum)

Blur - Into Another (Parlophone, 1993)

Gently psych, pre-Britpop b-side.

Some lovely guitar work from Graham Coxon, creating curly clouds whimsy as Damon does his best Syd Barrett impression in the verses before releasing the tension with a soaring, anthemic chorus. B-side of 'For Tomorrow'.

Download Blur 'Into Another' (indie, Britpop, mp3) (Divshare)

The High Llamas - Checking In, Checking Out (Target, 1994)

Gorgeous, harmony-drenched pop.

The High Llamas is effectively the work of former Microdisney songwriter Sean O'Hagan. Still ploughing a highly melodic furrow now, 'Checking In, Checking Out' was a single from the second High Llamas album 'Gideon Gaye'.

It's a densely arranged song that feels light as air. Sweeping melodies and counter-melodies create a delightful broth of a song that recalls The Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. A classic.

Download The High Llamas 'Checking In, Checking Out' (Beach Boys, mp3) (Divshare)

Kenickie - People We Want (EMIDISC, 1997)

Loud-quiet indie melancholynonchalance.

The Eat Junk Become Junk blog recently posted Kenickie's 'At The Club' album and reminded me what a great song 'People We Want' is.

'At The Club' is a genuinely good record with the bubblegumpunk of 'Punka' and lots more besides. 'People We Want' is a shimmering vignette of regret, faded glamour, lost love, tears and Cinzano. It fizzes along on a loud-quiet guitar attack, underpinned by some Pulp-y synths. Perfection.

Download Kenickie 'People We Want' (indie mp3) (Divshare)

 

Hood - The Lost You (Domino, 2004)

Glitch-y, Shoegaze-y, Post-Rock-y delights.

Definitely one of the most under-rated bands of recent times, Hood seemed to combine disparate influences - Post-Rock, Shoegaze, glitchy techno, ambience, leftfield sound collage and found recordings - into a thrilling soundscape.

Their best work runs along a similar line to Bark Psychosis and Disco Inferno where conventional instruments are merged with effects and entwined with samples and atmosphere. The likes of Trophy Wife are trading in a similar sound to the mighty, but now disbanded, Hood.

'The Lost You' kicks of with some glitched up beats, delivering a driving, staccato groove. A pale, translucent vocal comes in and the track builds up a clattering momentum before dubbing out into an extended break with delicious tones and piano, the treble whacked-out like on one of those Filter Disco tracks from the 90s. The vocal comes back and the tracks explodes in all directions, refracting sound like a post-rock mirrorball. 

Download Hood 'The Lost You' (post-rock, glitch, mp3) (Divshare)

Helios - Hollie (Type, 2008)

Utterly divine dreampop beauty.

I've got a couple of albums by the mysterious Helios thanks to regularly raiding Boomkat's sale stock for Type releases.

Helios - aka Keith Keniff aka Goldmund - deals in elegant, austere dreampop instrumental loveliness and 'Hollie' is no exception. Think the most candyflossy of AR Kane's output or a restrained, inward-looking version of Cocteau Twins. Without vocals, obviously.

Download Helios 'Hollie' (shoegaze mp3) (Divshare)

The Auteurs - Chinese Bakery (Acoustic) (Hut, 1994)

Languid acoustic + cello take.

Delightful, lazy take on the 'Now I'm A Cowboy' single. An air of wistful resignation hangs over this version - like it's too hot to bother - where the studio version is caustic and sarcastic. A cello weaves gorgeously.

Download The Auteurs 'Chinese Bakery (Acoustic)' (indie, britpop, mp3) (Divshare)

David Sylvian - Home (Virgin, 1986)

Loop-y instrumental moodscaping.

The 'Gone To Earth' album - a double album, no less - saw David Sylvian really cut loose with the instrumental moodscaping. Most of the second record leaves songs and lyrics behind to play with space, ambience and what sounds like the work of a loop pedal. Not sure if they had those in 1986.

Tracks like the lugubrious, gorgeous 'Home' are drenched in reverb and atmosphere and allow you to get lost in them.

Download David Sylvian 'Home' (ambient, post-rock, mp3) (Divshare)

Bark Psychosis - Pendulum Man (Circa, 1994)

Post-Rock guitar-weaving masterclass.

The term Post-Rock was, I believe, coined to describe the sound of Bark Psychosis, though it's probably Tortoise who were the harbingers of instrumental, jazziness played on traditional rock instrumentation.

Bark Psychosis' 'Hex' album is a masterclass in mood and poise and closing track 'Pendulum Man' is an expansive, airy piece that opens with interlocking guitar and bass. It develops with layers of light, treated guitar, by turns bleak and uplifting.

Whilst a distinctly different sound to Talk Talk's 'Spirit Of Eden' it does have a lightness and airiness reminiscent of that album. It also reminds me of David Sylvian's 'Gone To Earth' - another late night classic.

Download Bark Psychosis 'Pendulum Man' (post-rock mp3) (Divshare)

The Divine Comedy - Your Daddy's Car (Acoustic Version) (Setanta, 1994)

Delightful baroque pop.

The Promenade album was my introduction to the delights of The Divine Comedy. Pre-Britpop loucheness, Neil Hannon was knocking out a stream of arch but heartfelt songs and adorning them with oodles of strings and romantic lyrics.

If I'm honest I probably only bought this because there wasn't much else out that Monday and it came with a free bonus CD. I'm eternally thankful I did - firstly, because Promenade is a splendid album; and, secondly, it led me to his wonderful debut album via the bonus disc's live acoustic takes on four tracks from said album.

'Your Daddy's Car' somehow conjures images of The Great Gatsby, The House Of Eliot and the Famous Five. A sprightly tune, here just acoustic guitar, cello and pizzicato violin, it's smells of cucumber sandwiches, cricket pavilions and unrequited love. Tidy.

Download The Divine Comedy 'Your Daddy's Car (Acoustic Version)' (Setanta, indie, pop, mp3) (Divshare)

Dinosaur Jr - Start Choppin (Blanco Y Negro, 1992)

Riffmungus.

Proto-Grunge, buzz pop, power chord, rifftacular, screaming doozy. A choir of fuzz guitars lay down great sheets of metallic riffing and J Mascis croons a laconic ditty.

Download Dinosaur Jr 'Start Choppin' (Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, mp3) (Divshare)

Candie Payne - All I Need To Hear (Deltasonic, 2006)

Delightful noirish pop

Candie Payne seems to have disappeared since her ultra-cool post-Foxbase Alpha debut album in 2007. Maybe she's paying some kind of penance for working with Mark Ronson.

Like fellow singles 'I Wish I Could Have Loved You More' and 'Take Me', 'All I Need To Hear' is rollicking 60s girl group dynamism meets Portishead spy theme moodiness whilst hanging out in an Art Deco cafe with Saint Etienne as they hatch a plan to turn Dusty Springfield's 'I Can't Wait To See My Baby's Face' into 'Nothing Can Stop Us'.

Class.

Download Candie Payne 'All I Need To Hear' (Deltasonic, pop, mp3) (Divshare)

Jeff Buckley - Everybody Here Wants You (Columbia, 1998)

Prince-y, slow jamming beauty

Perhaps better known for the sky-soaring, expansive alt rock of his 'Grace' album, this is effectively a demo for his never-recorded second album. It's still heartbreakingly beautiful but it really grooves where 'Grace' went for widescreen guitars.

Download Jeff Buckley 'Everybody Here Wants You' (Alternative, mp3) (Divshare)

New Order - Regret (The Fire Island Mix) (London, 1993)

Dancefloor melancholy

Almost Deep House smooth, this Fire Island remix really suits the laid-back, slightly melancholy feel of 'Regret'. Junior Boys Own's mastery gives the track some space and more propulsive beat but leaves the song pretty much intact, save for extended the instrumental coda.

Funnily, this is a more 'Balearic' sound than that of famously Ibiza-influenced 'Technique'.

Download New Order 'Regret (The Fire Island Mix)' (Alternative, mp3) (Divshare)

Trans Am - Outmoder (Thrill Jockey, 2004)

Angular, moody post-rock instrumental.

'Outmoder' is a taut slice of instrumental post-rock soundtracking. It sounds like an American TV theme tune. It would be perfect for something like CSI:Galapagos where a robot tortoise in Ray Bans leads a crime lab inundated with cases of death caused by stray military hardware.

It begins with the sound of a helicopter taking off before a martial drum comes in along with a clipped, distorted bass riff. The guitar is choppy and restrained, cutting loose in the wordless chorus.

Download Trans Am 'Outmoder' (post-rock, mp3) (Divshare)

New - Four Tet - 128 Harps (2012)

More refreshing newness from Four Tet

Four Tet has completely embraced music sharing mindset and unleashed a string of tracks straight onto Soundcloud over the last year or so.

'128 Harps' is the latest and it's a real treat, combining stuttering post-dubstep dancefloor action with liquid harp melodies. It somehow manages to combine chin-stroking, laid-back folktronica with sublime rhythmic dynamism.

Revolver - Crimson (Hut, 1991)

Swirly Shoegaze Indie Pop

Poor old Revolver seemed to bear the brunt of the Shoegaze backlash. Whilst the likes of 'Crimson' are yearning and a little fey, it's really just classy indie pop. It's a rush of hormones edged with a couple of effects pedals.

Download Revolver 'Crimson' (Hut, 1991) (Box.net)

The Lightning Seeds - All I Want (Extended Version) (Ghetto, 1990)

Swirling indie pop gone mainstream.

Following on from the delights of 'Pure', 'All I Want' was fragile indie pop given a chart-pop makeover. The vocal is frail, the lyric is self-conscious and fey, but the backing has a sheen and lushness that you'd never have got budget for on Sarah.

Download The Lightning Seeds 'All I Want (Extended Version)' (indie pop mp3) (Box.net)

The Creation - Making Time (Planet, 1966)

Tight, angular Mod pop.

Probably best-known as the band that gave Alan McGee a name for his label and his own band, The Creation served up some tight, almost funky Mod pop.

'Making Time' is decidedly influenced by The Who, spinning some adroit guitar slashes into a chugging RnB number. Ace.

Download The Creation 'Making Time' (freakbeat, mod, mp3) (Divshare)

New Order - Sub-Culture (Record Mirror Version) (1986)

Peerless, baroque, electronic.

Posting the work of Chic led me back to New Order and this tune which always reminds of Sheila B. Devotion's 'Spacer' (written and produced by Chic).

This exclusive version of 'Sub-Culture' came as a 7" with Record Mirror magazine (don't look for it, it's not there anymore...) which was quite a treat for a freebie. The other EP in the series had Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode exclusives on it. How lucky we were back then...

Download New Order 'Sub-Culture (Record Mirror Version)' (Alternative, Indie, genius, mp3) (Divshare)

More great New Order stuff over on the Recycle Project.

Carly Simon - Why? (Extended Version) (WEA, 1982)

Euphoric but philosophical disco gem from The Chic Organisation.

The variety of delicious covers of Chic songs prove that Messrs. Rodgers and Edwards were genius songwriters as well as masterful musicians and producers. Not least The Memory Band's rustic version of 'Why' but also Paul Weller's acoustic take on 'Thinking Of You'.

After creating hits for themselves through the late 70s, they became a production team for hire as the 70s turned into the 80s creating some amazing records - 'Spacer' by Sheila B. Devotion, Norma Jean's 'Saturday', Sister Sledge's 'Lost In Music', Diana Ross' 'My Old Piano' - as well as being a massive influence on the likes of New Order.

This one-off single was from a film soundtrack but the skeletal funk, silvery guitar lines, clattering drum sequences, delicious flow and that melody line work perfectly with Carly Simon's vocal. It's seven minutes of bliss.

Download Carly Simon 'Why? (Extended Version)' (Chic, funk, disco, genius, mp3) (Divshare)

The Memory Band - Why? (Peacefrog, 2006)

Rustic re-setting of Chic's masterful songwriting

Chic's pneumatic Balearic classic songwriting and production for Carly Simon is a gem and deserves to be posted in its own right (maybe tomorrow...).

However, this rustic folk version reveals the genius of the original while creating a mood entirely of its own.

Download The Memory Band 'Why? (Carly Simon/Chic cover)' (Carly Simon, Chic, folk, mp3) (Divshare)