#Bestof2011 - SBTRKT 'Heatwave (Live at Abbey Road)' (Young Turks)

Best album of 2011. Perfect hybrid of soul and machine. 

SBTRKT's debut album is my album of the year, displaying an aptitude for mind bending beats, gorgeous sequencer lines, a bit of dubby space and warm, soulful vocals.

SBTRKT released a series of very tasty records, culminating in his debut album that didn't even contain all the best tracks. Check 'Living Like I Do' for more greatness.

This live version of album-opener 'Heatwave' takes the mix of flavours/flavas even further with some delicious, chunky, almost Post Rock drumming courtesy of the masked man himself. This makes the sparkling, airy sequencer lines shine even more.

Somewhere between dubstep, postrock, looped-up electronica and house - great stuff.

Having had an mp3 of this tune removed a couple of times by our friends at the DMCA, you'll have to enjoy this otherwise unavailable track via Youtube.

#Bestof2011 - Creep ft Romy xx 'Days' (Young Turks)

Best xx side-project of the year! 

A tough call up against Jamie xx's 'Far Nearer' but 'Days' is an icy piece of lusty electropop. It bursts into life with some curly synth that sounds like it came from  Blakes 7 before settling into a menancing sinewave bass groove.

The song is graced by Romy Madley Croft's dulcet tones, providing a warm, intimate contrast to the otherwise austere, glassy sound.

The only thing I don't get is why the 12" cost me something like £13. Is it impregnated with some kind of 'dance drug'? Made of gold? Anyway, a fine, fine track.


YT053 - Creep - Days by Young Turks

#Bestof2011 - Neverest Songs 'Paper Trumpets' (Tea At Yours)

Best newcomer of 2011. Beautiful, orchestrated folk-gazer delight.

A delightful, wistful slice of gently unwinding folk with strings, gorgeous backing vocals and subtle guitar. 'Paper Trumpets' boasts a shoegaze-y sensibility with  circular, ensemble singing in the mode of A Silver Mt. Zion.

A very promising single to file next to the similarly talented Peter Broderick, Sufjan Stevens and the exquisitely arranged prog-pop of Spoonfed Hybrid. He's released a handful of CDs including an accomplished film soundtrack so he's not really new. New to me this year though and great to see him at the Green Man festival.

The seven-inch vinyl release available direct from the artist.


Paper Trumpets by Neverest Songs

#Bestof2011 - Bombay Bicycle Club 'Shuffle' (Island)

Had, wrongly it seems, written BBC off as useless fops. Couldn't get this tune out of my head though.

I had Bombay Bicycle Club down as Landfill Indie but I never tire of hearing this tune with its insistent, interweaving lines and a certain stiff but mellow funkiness.

They've been talking up their love for 'Remain In Light' era Talking Heads and it makes sense given the rumbling bass, insistent groove and joyous topline.

It's begging for some great remixes, I think. It's had some not-so-great ones so far that pale next to the original. Something like the bootleg mix of 'Once In A Lifetime' (will have to dig that out and post it) might make this a dancefloor killer. Pretty great as it is though.

A wonderful surprise and one of my best of 2011 selection.

#Bestof2011 - Baubles 2011: The TRNWRD Annual Round-up

My round-up of the best of 2011. Hope you enjoy. 

It's always a good year for music, you just have to look harder some years than others IMHO. The overall mood is quite subdued/thoughtful but some banging tunes supplied by SBTRKT, Jamie xx and Friendly Fires to balance the more introspective mood of Bon Iver, Neverest Songs and James Blake.

Amazed that Bombay Bicycle Club managed to make my favourite single of the year. Despite the xx seemingly having a year off to recuperate, two of their number still managed to be involved in great records.

SBTRKT became the first artist to have more than one track on my year-end compilation thanks to the stupendous live drumming of 'Heatwave' and the frantic 'Living Like I Do'. A great album too.

A couple of tunes weren't released in 2011 - Hatchback's Krautrocktronics and, I believe, Karl Hector and the Malcouns' haunting Sun-Ra-channelling breakbeat jazz.

Anyway, hope you find something enjoy in the mix. Comment if you do! (Comment if you don't if you like - that would seem a bit mean though...)

Tracklist: 
01. Bon Iver 'Perth' (4AD/Jagjaguwar)
02. Jamie xx 'Far Nearer' (Nmbrs)
03. Creep 'Days (ft. Romy xx)' (Young Turks)
04. Big Deal 'Homework (Original 7" Version)' (Records Records Records Records)
05. Neverest Songs 'Paper Trumpets' (Tea At Yours)
06. Trophy Wife 'Microlite' (Moshi Moshi)
07. Karl Hector and the Malcouns 'Girma's Lament' (Now-Again)
08. SBTRKT ft Sampha 'Heatwave (Live at Abbey Road' (Young Turks)
09. Bombay Bicycle Club 'Shuffle' (Island)
10. Class Actress 'Keep You' (Carpark)
11. Wild Beasts 'Lion's Share' (Domino)
12. SBTRKT ft Sampha 'Living Like I Do' (Young Turks)
13. Friendly Fires 'Live Those Days Tonight' (XL)
14. When Saints Go Machine 'Fail Forever (Nicolas Jaar Remix)' (K7)
15. The Leisure Society 'The Hungry Years' (Full Time Hobby)
16. Joe Goddard ft Valentina 'Gabriel' (Greco Roman)
17. I Break Horses 'Winter Beats' (Bella Union)
18. British Sea Power 'Who's In Control?' (Rough Trade)
19. James Blake 'The Wilhelm Scream' (Atlas)
20. Hatchback 'Everything Is Neu' (Lo Recordings)
21. Patrick Wolf 'The City' (Hideout)

Baubles 2011 - An Eclectic Best of 2011 by Occasional Rain on Mixcloud

#indiechristmas - The Wedding Present 'No Christmas' (RCA, 1992)

Utterly desolate Christmas song. December's release in their 1992 single-a-month series.

Crikey, what shoddy gifts did The Wedding Present's David Lewis Gedge receive to inspire this take on the bleakness of midwinter? The Book of Bunny Suicides for the seventh year in a row?

Came on cherry red vinyl, the final 7" in their 1992 series of a single every month. (Yes, that's where Ash got the idea.)

Download The Wedding Present 'No Christmas' (indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

#indiechristmas - Saint Etienne 'I Was Born On Christmas Day' (Heavenly, 1993)

A modern classic Christmas pop song. Saint Etienne try harder than everyone else at Christmas.

There are songs that become festive classics and songs that set out to be festive classics. Saint Etienne's 'I Was Born On Christmas Day' is, of course, of the latter school, Messrs Stanley and Wiggs toiling, no doubt, over the task in the summer of 1993 when they'd rather have been out in the London sun.

Tim Burgess delivers a suitably simpering vocal, offsetting Sarah Cracknell's breezy, must-have-the-turkey-on-by-9am energy. It rocks church bells, melodica, Ace Of Base bass farts but no sleigh bells.

Pretty much perfection though.

Download Saint Etienne 'I Was Born On Christmas Day' (christmas, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

#indiechristmas - Low 'Just Like Christmas' (Tugboat, 1999)

Irresistable, sleigh-bell powered version of Low. Works well.

Low's 'Christmas' EP is a modern classic, marrying ponderous, wintry ballads more aligned to Low's usual hushed fare to perky sleighrides like this and their slowcore version of 'Little Drummer Boy'.

Lovely.

Download Low 'Just Like Christmas' (christmas, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

#indiechristmas - Cocteau Twins 'Frosty The Snowman' (Fontana, 1993)

Something of a departure but their rococo swirl suits the song. 

By 1993, the Cocteau Twins were on a major label and singer Liz Fraser had started singing much more comprehensible words rather than the esperanto of yore. As it was, the songs mainly seemed to be digs at long-term partner Robin Guthrie but on this occasion we got a full-blown recognisable lyric.

As a consquence, it wasn't such a shock to hear them deliver a Christmas EP. 'Snow' paired their warbling take on 'Winter Wonderland' with a swirling, cascading version of 'Frosty The Snowman'. The refractions of guitar and glissandos of vocal suggesting a crystalline snowscape.

Perfect.

Download Cocteau Twins 'Frosty The Snowman' (indie Christmas mp3 download) (Mediafire)

#indiechristmas - Sufjan Stevens 'O Come O Come Emmanuel' (Rough Trade, 2006)

The enigmatic Sufjan Stevens delivers a hushed, wondrous carol.

I've grown to love Sufjan Stevens over the last few years as it's taken that long for his songs to worm their way into my head. He has a very particular way about his songwriting.

This track is from a box of his low-key Christmas EPs released over a number of years and contains some real treats for the Indie Christmas household. It deserves to sit alongside the Low 'Christmas' EP as a modern classic.

#indiechristmas - Brighter 'Christmas' (Sarah, 1991)

Dappled, sadcore classic from one of the great Sarah albums.

Surprisingly, not a Christmas number one in 1991 when it was released.

Beautiful pealing guitars and oh-so-fey vocals, gentle meandering melodies and just a hint of Christmas in its classic Sarah stye.

Download Brighter 'Christmas' (indie, twee mp3) (Mediafire)

British Sea Power 'I Am A Cider Drinker' (Rough Trade, 2005)

Maximum quirkiness as The Wurzels get a makeover.

At the moment I'm reading Roy Wilkinson's book about the imagination, gestation and initial years of the almost mythically quirky British Sea Power. It's a subject he should know about - he managed them until 2005 and two of his brothers are in the band.

A joyful book, it luxuriates in supporting - and, often, seemingly superfluous - detail but speaks breathlessly about their desire to create something unique and special around the band. It paints them as a weird hybrid of Dad's Army, a Prague suburb's amateur boxing club and Paris Fashion Week as re-imagined by Lord Baden Powell.

Which brings us to this tour single from 2005. On the other side, it features The Wurzels turning 'Remember Me' into a scrumpy-powered knees-up. Conversely, British Sea Power turn in a hungover-sounding cover of The Wurzels' finest moment.

Where The Wurzels original is a Saturday night knees-up, British Sea Power render 'I Am A Cider Drinker' as the wasteland of the morning-after-the-night-before. It's a stunned alternative rock ballad, hymning the destructive power of the fermented apple.

Download British Sea Power 'I Am A Cider Drinker' (alternative rock mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Roy Wilkinson's book 'Do It For Your Mum' is highly recommended and available (in an edition of 2,011, of course) direct from the author.

Pleasure 'Joyous (DJ Harvey Re-Edit)' (Nuphonic, 2003)

Slinky, sinuous dancefloor jazz action, originally released in 1977. Acceptable sax interlude (skronk).

Is it Rare Groove? Dancefloor Jazz? Funk? Soul Jazz?

DJ Harvey loops and tightens Pleasure's supple 'Joyous' into a total masterpiece. Ten minutes of warm, tense, teasing soulful funk that sits nicely alongside Kenny Dope's 'Can U Handle It' or Polmo Polpo's strung-out version of Arthur Russell's 'Kiss Me Again And Again' via a tense Average White Band guitar.

Opening at breakneck pace, it breaks down into an urgent section section then expands into a vocal breakdown, smooth and soulful. Then it winds up via some unrestrained guitar soloing as the epic, Chic-style strings sweep in. Even the sax is acceptable, veering into a dirty, skronky realm that Ornette Coleman or Albert Ayler would appreciate.

It's a constantly evolving track. Genius.

Download Pleasure 'Joyous (DJ Harvey Re-Edit)' (rare groove, re-edit mp3) (Mediafire)

Tindersticks - Medicine (City Slang/Constellation, 2012)

New track from upcoming, ninth, Tindersticks album.

First track from the new Tindersticks album, out on  February 17th.

Would it be a surprise to learn that it's a slow, langorous brown ballad, sung in a low croon?

'Medicine' is simply beautiful stuff though, gently winding up the tension and layering in sounds to create the tension of the best of their Claire Denis film work.

'A Something Rain' tracklist:
Chocolate
Show Me Everything
This Fire Of Autumn
A Night So Still
Slippin' Shoes
Medicine
Frozen
Come Inside
Goodbye Joe


tindersticks - Medicine (official video) from tindersticks on Vimeo.

White Hills 'Paradise' (Thrill Jockey, 2011)

Gnarly, locked-groove Krautrock/Space Rock party tune.

Don't know much about White Hills but I'll give most things on Thrill Jockey a spin, given the delights of post-rock and electronic instrumental music they have released over the years.

I'm glad I did as 'Paradise' is a relentless, trippy Krautrock groove with plumes of dirty synth twisting some nice shapes.

It is also very long, clocking in somewhere over 12 minutes. The band are also highly political, though you wouldn't know it from the instrumental music alone, and colloborate with Krautrock-sage Julian Cope on one of the Rough Trade bonus tracks.

Listen to White Hills 'Paradise' (Krautrock, Space Rock) (via ThrillJockey.com)

Grammatics 'The Vague Archive' (Dance To The Radio, 2008)

Spectacular slice of melodramatic indie beauty. They shoulda been massive.

Grammatics seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye. By the time I'd warmed to them and fallen for a handful of singles and a wonderful album, they'd split.

It's a shame, as they were capable of fashioning a highly original strain of thrusting, arch, often angular, rococo alternative pop. There's a progressive strain that reminds me of Pale Saints and Spoonfed Hybrid, marrying classic songwriting with adroit touches. There's maybe an echo of The Dears' best work on 'No Cities Left' too.

'The Vague Archive' is a highly melodic headrish, augmented with some gorgeous cello, dramatic and dynamic pace, sprawling guitars. About two-thirds of the way through it seems to turn itself inside out, transforming from headlong rush into baroque fantasia, the guitar imitating a whole school of maudlin whales.

Exquisite.

Download Grammatics 'The Vague Archive' (indie mp3 download) (Rapidshare)

Hypnotone 'Dream Beam (Hypnotone Original Version)' (Creation Records, 1990)

Chunky piece of acid house-indie dance cross-over madness.

Having recently posted Hypnotone's remix of The Lilac Time's 'Dreaming', I found myself returning, drawn to this Hypnotone single from the same era.

'Dream Beam' is pretty much a handy template for Primal Scream to follow on 'Don't Fight It, Feel It'. Love both records, though. Hypnotone carry over some bleep from Sweet Exorcist into their Acid House melange.

Download Hypnotone 'Dream Beam (Hypnotone Original Version)' (Acid House, Indie Dance, mp3) (Divshare)

Big Black 'Kerosene' (Touch & Go, 1986)

Irresistable force. Classic Albini.

You know what you're getting with Steve Albini. Shellac, his current band, are awe-inspiring. His 'production' work just lets the natural energy of a band ring true. His words are caustic and unpleasant.

And this slice of prime Big Black is caustic and driving and features one of his imaginative tales told from the point of view of some backwoods, pig-fucking idiot.

What's not to like.

Download Big Black 'Kerosene' (alternative rock mp3) (via Touch & Go)

The Smiths 'Girlfriend In A Coma (Demo)' (1987)

Notable for Johnny Marr's reggae-inflected guitar. Looser than the eventual studio version but still breezy.

Nice demo showing a relaxed, almost slap-dash  run-through with the lyric yet to be finalised.

Johnny Marr is either being playful in the aftermath of Morrissey's "reggae is vile" outburst, trying to wind Morrissey up in the final days of the band or just mucking about as he skanks out the guitar part.

The demo version begins with a sombre bass and drum crunch before Marr's shimmering sunsplash guitar ushers in Morrissey's vocal. The rhythm section is a little leaden so it's presumably a very early take. Fascinating though.

Download The Smiths 'Girlfriend In A Coma (Demo)' (indie mp3) (Rapidshare)

The Mighty Lemon Drops 'Hear Me Call' (Sounds Cover-Mount, 1987)

Proper, spindly, Paisley-shirted indie from the late 80s.

Rickenbackers set to 'shrill', production budget set to 'little or none', ambition the size of Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Wonderful piece of yearning, Echo and the Bunnymen-indebted indie before the word became almost meaningless. Ironically, one of the very first wave of indie bands to be signed to major and struggle to break through due to credibility issues. They would have sold no more records but been much more well-regarded if they'd been on Creation.

Reminiscent of The Primitives and the epic Scouse rock of The Icicle Works, 'Hear Me Call' is a rush of enthusiasm and a good tune.

Download The Mighty Lemon Drops 'Hear Me Call' (indie mp3) (Mediafire)

Outshine Family 'Get Laid Like An Egg' (Black Maps, 2011)

Beautiful over-looked gem from 2011.

I picked this album early in 2011 on the back of giving it a spin on a listening post in Rough Trade.

It's a gentle, slowly-unfolding piece of laidback folkiness built up on what seems like an orchestra of instrumentation - banjo, strings, pedal steel, choir, guitars, drums, percussion, plus delays and backwards masking...

A distant cousin of the sleepy vibe of The Lilac Time's 'Black Velvet' with added atmospherics a la Neverest Songs 'Paper Trumpets'.

The album is a real treat too. Perfect Sunday fare.

Download Outshine Family 'Get Laid Like An Egg' (folk, indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Beige 'The Rhythm! The Message?' (Leaf, 2000)

Frentic, pretty-much bangin, slab of electronica from 2000.

The Leaf Label is a truly eclectic home for jazzers, drum'n'bass heads, electronica, folktronica, folk and artists who mix two or more of those things together.

This tune by one-man-mentalist Beige is a both efficient and linear as well as being just twisted enough to be interesting.

Available to buy as a 12" along with the great Beige album from The Leaf Label online.

Download Beige 'The Rhythm! The Message?' (electronica mp3) (Mediafire)

Shellac 'The End Of Radio' (Live Peel Session, 2005)

Almost pure tension and threat from the masterful Shellac.

This live version recorded for John Peel is nine 'The End Of Radio' is almost nine minutes of teasing, edgy implied power, the band never quite unleashing the deluge of noise that Shellac's power threatens.

It displays a masterful control of dynamics, building, building and building. The bass is a foghorn blasting through the track, guiding it into the dark, the drums pile on the tension and suspense, Albini alternates between what seems to be a stream of consciousness monologue and derranged, serrated guitar.

What a band.


Download Shellac 'The Sound Of Radio (Peel Session)' (alternative post-rock mp3)

Stereolab 'Super Falling Star (Moog Mix)' (Volume, 1992)

Delicious, delicate take that exposes a different side to early Stereolab.

Gentle layers of synth interweave, able to breathe and unwind even more without the guitars.

Stereolab were always more of a cerebral band more akin to Seefeel than the gutsier, more instintive music of Too Pure bands like Moonshake and Th' Faith Healers.

This version of the 'Peng!' album track you hear Laetitia's vocal's more clearly, though, of course, you still don't know what she's on about. The waves of melody remind me of Plone or the hauntological sounds of the Ghost Box label and BBC Radiophonic Workshop experiments.

Lovely.

Download Stereolab 'Super Falling Star (Moog Mix)' (indie mp3 download) (Mediafire)

The Shipping News 'Quiet Victories' (ATP, 2002)

Elegiac, quiet-loud postrock chunkiness from Rachels offshoot.

The Shellac-curated Camber Sands event in 2002 was my introduction to All Tomorrow's Parties. Shellac were magnificent hosts, lining up a staggering bill and giving everyone three tasty CDs stuffed with tracks by the bands playing.

Alongside discovering a load of new stuff, I got to see Rachel's who were an amazing hybrid of modern classic austerity and postrock angularity.

Rachel's bassist Jason Noble also played with The Shipping News, his other band and sent me scurrying for their back catalogue of expansive, dynamic beauty.

I also sought out the official ATP compilation album which features 'Quiet Victories'. Opens with a swirl of abused guitar, sombre bass and gently manic drums before the music dies away to cascades of sparkling guitar in the verses. Part Codeine mope, part Explosions In The Sky-scraping, a bit of Red House Painters' spartan elegance, some of Tortoise's rolling groove and just the slightest hint of Slint's unhinged 'Good Morning, Captain'.

Beautiful.

Download The Shipping News 'Quiet Victories' (post rock mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Goldfrapp 'Utopia (Live Session)' (Mute, 2000)

E

Exquisite live version with some of the squiggliest synths outside of the Radiophonic Workshop.

From a promo CD that must have been made available to radio stations so they could pretend Alison and Will were live in the studio.

'Utopia' is a highlight of the fantastically elegant Ennio Morricone-meets-Delia-Derbyshire sound of 'Felt Mountain'. The cinematic feel of Portishead, the Moog-y wonderland of Stereolab allied to a soaring Wagnerian swoop.

Also features the line "my dog needs new ears" which is pretty cool, though the song seems to be about the idea of the supermensch and maybe even eugenics.

You don't get that from Kasabian.

Download Goldfrapp 'Utopia (Live Session)' (electronica mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Download the whole Goldfrapp Live Session over on Archive:Live+Rare

New Music - Nightmare Boyzzz 'Nuclear Summer' (Happenin Records, 2011)

Slightly ramshackle but fizzing with noise and melody. 

Stumbled across this via Facebook and took a listen. To be honest, the band don't look promising and the name is terrible but 'Nuclear Summer' is an unexpected delight.

The song opens with sweet falsetto vocals a la Glasvegas and storms into rough-and-ready punky indie rock with a Power Pop edge. There are echoes of Big Star sweetness in the melody department, waves of trashy indie rock guitar a la The Strokes or The Libertines. All wrapped up in a breathless headrush of momentum.

There's a lot of energy in its three minutes duration but it hangs together - just - and is a real earworm. Can't wait for my 7" copy to arrive.

Enjoy.

Availabe as a 7" from Happenin Records or a download via their Bandcamp page.

Pixies 'Gouge Away' (Live, NYC, December 2004)

Brooding, controlled malevolence from the first round of comeback shows.

Building, building, building from understated threat to hollering rage. Kim Deal adding the sweet trills and rolling bass that made the Breeders rock.

Quite a good band.

Download Pixies 'Gouge Away' (Live, NYC, December 2004) (alternative rock mp3 download) (Mediafire)

The Sundays 'Skin & Bones (Peel Session 1989)' (Parlophone, 1997)

Muddier but still magical session version of the 'Reading, Writing and Arithmetic' cut.

Thrumming bass and solid drums provide an earthy counterpoint to the pealing guitar and vocals on this Peel Session track dating back to before their debut album came out.

Will we ever hear anything new from The Sundays to add to their immaculate catalogue?

Download The Sundays 'Skin & Bones (Peel Session 1989)' (indie pop mp3 download) (Mediafire)

Guillemots 'Trains To Brazil (Live at The Astoria)' (2007)

Giddy, swirling, joyful and insistent.Frantic, end-of-the-night live version of their ramshackle pop.

Recorded live in 2007 at The Astoria. Don't look for it - it's not there any more.

I'm pretty sure I've blogged this song in another version already. It's a doozy though so worth checking out this breathless live version.

Download Guillemots 'Trains To Brazil (Live at The Astoria)' (indie, alternative, mp3) (Mediafire)

Download the whole 'The Big Ask' CD including more Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood plus Guillemots, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Razorlight, Polar Bear and more - over on Archive:Live+Rare

Low 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' (Chairkickers, 2001)

Almost impossibly fragile and desolate Smiths cover. 

It comes in gentle and broken - sounding like Roy Orbison just lost £200 on a horse and had to sell his dog - before building into a fit of cello-enhanced rage and dissipating again.

Low do a nice line in covers - check out their version of Joy Division's 'Transmission' and Toto's 'Africa' - and could make 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' sound like a wake. Consequently, their take on this Smiths classic takes bleak to a whole new level, the one where Codeine hang out.

It's a beautiful bleakness though.

Download Low 'Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me' (slowcore, postrock mp3s) (Mediafire)