The Young Knives - The Decision (Transgressive, 2005)

Post-punky indie pop delight.

From the once-mighty Transgressive Records, came this little 3" CD gem. Just two tracks but when one of them is the XTC-ish spiky pop of 'The Decision' that'll do.

It rolls and clanks, loping along on a dragging drum beat, all yelping vocals and twisty-turny, nonsense lyrics.

"I'm the Prince Of Wales, I'm the Prince Of Wales, And if all else fails, I am that Prince Of Wales."

Good tune though.

Download The Young Knives 'The Decision' (indie mp3) (Divshare)

The Hope Blister - Happiness Strings (4AD mp3) (2005)

This Mortal Coil Mark II's  Gorecki-like rendering of David Sylvian classic.

The Hope Blister was the name that Ivo Watts-Russell gave what was effectively the fourth This Mortal Coil album '...Smile's Okay'.

A further collection of gorgeously sombre covers and originals, it featured covers of songs by Brian Eno, Slowdive, John Cale, Cranes and more. It was mined for a further album of odds and ends ('Underarms') and then a final scraping ('Underarms & Sideways') which collected string parts, fragments and such.

This string arrangement for the cover of David Sylvian's 'Let The Happiness In' is a frosty piece of modern classical, redolent of Gorecki and therefore somewhat akin to the Constellation/Godspeed You! Black Emporer sound.

Austere and restrained, it hangs in the air like a fog of longing and contemplation.

Download The Hope Blister 'Happiness Strings' (alternative, modern classical, 4AD mp3) (Mediafire)

Bloc Party - Banquet (Live, 2005)

Reminder of what a great band Bloc Party promised to be.

When I stumbled across Bloc Party's early output I was blown away by their tight, tight, tight take on angular but melodic indie rock with duelling, strafing guitars and yelping vocals. I think Foals, who I also love, were quite taken with them too.

In the intervening albums since their debut, Bloc Party seem to have been torn apart by their diverse ambitions. Singer Kele, it seems, wanted to go in a more electronic, pop direction, the rest of the band more than happy with their guitar-based dynamic.

It's great when bands want to move forward, try new approaches and develop but, with Bloc Party, the perfection of their initial sound, hasn't been improved upon. 'Banquet', their debut single, is still a thrilling listen especially in this live take from 2005.

Not sure why Kele feels the need to point out that "this isn't a tea party, it's a rock'n'roll concert" at the beginning. Maybe some indie kids had got out their rug and picnic hamper in front of the stage?

Download Bloc Party 'Banquet' (indie, alternative rock, 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.

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)

Hanged Up 'Klang Klang' (Constellation, 2005)

Rhythmic genius that mimics the tyranny of the machine on viola and drums. Industrial but not in a Throbbing Gristle kind of way.

I remember stumbling across Hanged Up on a bill that also featured Constellation's Polmo Polpo. Their furious storm of drums and effects-heavy viola was utterly compelling leading me to their intense and brooding albums.


'Klang Klang' is exactly that. An alternative soundtrack to the bit in 'Modern Times' where Charlie Chaplin falls into the guts of the tyrannical machine. Try it for yourself.

Download Hanged Up 'Klang Klang' (post rock mp3 download) (via cstrecords.com)

Polmo Polpo 'Kiss Me Again And Again (TRNWRD Edit)' (Intr.Version, 2005)

Seemingly never-ending alternative disco magic version of the Arthur Russell track.

Polmo Polpo were previously known - to me, anyway - as airy, post-rockers on the Constellation label. This heads-down, locked-groove homage to Arthur Russell is something of a mind-blower. It brings Can's Krautrock disco (mp3) sensibility to the proceedings.

'Kiss Me Again And Again' is akin to the subdued, exploratory disco of Chic's production work - see Shiela B. Devotion's 'Spacer' (mp3) or Loose Joints' 'Is It All Over My Face'. A disco inside your head.

Like all great long records, it shifts subtly, mutating imperceptibly but changing the emphasis. It features locked-in guitars, precise drums, tight bass and percussion with cello and drones moving in and out of focus over the course of the track. It is magical.

I've edited out the closing seven minutes for you here so as not to discourage you from buying the full, unadulterated twenty-one-and-a-half minute version which is still available to buy from Intr.Version or to download from Alien8.

Download Polmo Polpo 'Kiss Me Again And Again (TRNWRD Edit)' (alternative disco mp3 download) (Mediafire)

The Dears '22: The Death of all the Romance' (Bella Union, 2005)

Impossibly melodramatic, cinematic alt pop.

Is it really six years since this came out? I fell hard for The Dears on this album but haven't really gelled with anything they've done since. I stumbled on this track again and can feel myself falling for them all over again.

It's an almost ridiculous confection, driving rhythms, strings, heartbreak, romance, piano solo and a lovely male-female duet.

There's hints of The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen's swooning alternative rock best, Tindersticks' moon-in-the-gutter romance , the more imaginative end of Britpop or one of my favourite under-rated bands Animals That Swim even. However, on this album - 'No Cities Left' - Murray Lightburn was on fire, a singular talent.

It builds and builds to an exotic flamenco-tinged finale, towering piles of strings, criss-crossing vocals, slashing guitar... The End. Perfection.

It also has an incredibly cute and brilliant video.

Download The Dears '22: The Death of all the Romance' (indie, alternative, mp3) (Mediafire)

Arcade Fire 'Neighbourhood #3 - Power Out (Hotel2Tango Version)' (Rough Trade, 2005)

Early, more indie, version of this corker from the debut Arcade Fire album, recorded at Constellation Records/Godspeed You! Black Emporer's Hotel2Tango studio in Montreal in August 2003.

It's a looser take on the song, more emphasis on the chugging guitars and less on the pounding rhythm. It still has a strangely New Order-y feel and the same energy and feel and florid instrumentation as the version that made them famous.

Download Arcade Fire 'Neighbourhood #3 - Power Out (August Session)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

The Superimposers 'Would It Be Impossible' (Little League, 2005)

The Superimposers deal in mellow, 60s-influencers pop with hints of library music, lounge and Bacharach & David and even a treated folksy feel like Tunng.

Songs are clearly crafted and arranged carefully then embellished with samples and found sounds, layered over beats and live instruments such as luscious electric piano and bass. It has the same looped-up, breakbeat feel as early Saint Etienne or Lemon Jelly. The Superimposers, however, add hints of Ghost Box/Broadcast/hauntology through the use of sound samples and vaguely Radiophonic sounds.

'Would It Be Impossible' opens with what makes me think of an old 70s TV ident then bowls along on a luscious groove of almost horizontally laidback bass, keys and percussion. There's loads going on in the sound, extra samples, counter-melodies, atmospheric recordings. The harmony vocals of Dan Warden and Miles Copeland weave through the track, suitably gentle and wistful.

I think The Superimposers are still around and whilst this created a stir at the time, I can also hear its influence in the likes of The Leisure Society.

The Superimposers' debut album (which features this track) is nigh on perfect and well worth a listen too.

Happy Sunday.

Download The Superimposers 'Would It Be Impossible' (mp3) (Mediafire)

Super Numeri 'The First League Of Angels' (Ninja Tune, 2005) (mp3)

Twenty-four minutes - yes, twenty-four minutes - of staggering psychedelic/progressive/post-rock madness from this now defunct Liverpool outfit.

Hard to describe but I like a challenge - so it's like Tortoise on cheap speed, Moonshake jamming on laughing gas or Can on a trampolene.

Ambience and harp give way to a steady, cuboid drum pattern while twin basses surround your already-addled head with a widdly-diddly, incessant attack. It's a simply awesome intro that evolves through layers of bendy guitar feedback, the volume and intensity rising as rifling percussion adds to the maelstrom.

At the ten-minute mark it breaks down to a freak-out as an octopus takes the drum stool and the track then flies off the edge of sensibility before breaking down into an oasis of calm. The main riff builds again from scratch with trebly guitar shards arc-ing around it and the drums return with serious intent. We're off into motorik jam, hitting upon a frictionless plateau of mental rhythm and playfulness.

Staggering stuff.

Download Super Numeri 'The First League Of Angels' (mp3) (Mediafire)

The Rakes '22 Grand Job (7" Single Version)' (V2, 2005) (mp3)

Genius post-punky jerky-pop for wage slaves everywhere.

One hundred and seven seconds is all it took for The Rakes to introduce me to their world and lead me on to the equally brilliant 'Capture/Release' album. It's all straightahead drums, clanging basslines, earworm guitar riffs and wonderful sardonic tales of Alan Donohoe's mundane 9-to-5 life before indie pop stardom.

Download The Rakes '22 Grand Job (Single Version)' (mp3) (Mediafire)

El Perro Del Mar 'God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)' (Hybris/Memphis Industries, 2005)

So simple, yet so sweet and original. El Perro Del Mar is the nom-de-pop of Gothenburg singer and songwriter Sarah Assbring.

I stumbled on this track somewhere in the blogosphere (aren't blogs great...) a few years ago and now await new releases like Christmas and birthday rolled into one. EPDM (not to be confused with EPMD) deal in delicate pop miniatures with aching harmonies, sweeping strings and oceans of poise.

'God Know (You Gotta Give To Get)' is just the most gorgeous song, almost frail but with a determined inner strength keeping it (her) going. It comes in on a swell of strings and a laid-back version of the Motown stomp, heading quickly to a reflective verse before dissolving in the sweetest ache of the chorus and then a beautiful instrumental break with perfectly judged brass sliding beneath the strings.

As the song heads to its climax the strings drop out revealing gorgeous backing vocals and the crystalline guitar chords. Perfection. On repeat in heaven surely.

Download El Perro Del Mar 'God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)' (mp3) (Pitchfork)

The Drift 'Invisible Cities' (Temporary Residence, 2005)

The Drift emerged in the mid-noughties on the pretty damn awesome Temporary Residence label with a brand of jazz-inflected post-rock-ish instrumental goodness that is hard to resist.

Featuring ex-members of Tarentel and Halifax Pier, The Drift drift (ho-ho-ho) through a musical landscape that takes in Bitches Brew-era Miles Davis, Kind Of Blue-era Miles Davis, Slint, Tortoise, Can and Eno.

'Invisible Cities' is an improvisational, elongated jam with a gorgeous rhythm and overlaid with delicious guitars and a lonesome trumpet. Pretty much perfect alt-Sunday fare.

Download The Drift 'Invisible Cities' (mp3, temporaryresidence.com)

Check-out The Drift on Temporary Residence and buy some of their albums!