I’m going to be doing things a little differently this week. Instead of presenting your ungrateful little faces with 2 or 3 artists that I hope you will like, I am going to give you 1 artist that I think you should listen to because they’ve caught my attention for all the right reasons and another that represents everything I dislike about music. I don’t know how long this method will continue, but hopefully it will make these weekly postings a little more interesting.
If you would like your music to be featured in future posts then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
Whenever I hear someone telling me about a songwriter that spends most of their time alone in a bedroom recording all their music themselves I uncontrollably roll my eyes and make a noticeable sigh, expecting to hear some idiot whinging about their pathetic life over some strumming. Robin Plays Chords (Robin Johan Jax) has been a wonderful surprise to me this week. His songs feel homemade in all the right ways and when listening to them you feel as though you are being openly invited into his life.
The mixes feel very rough, and in places some instruments are very obviously sequenced with very little attempt to make them sound human, but all of this adds to the intimacy of the record. Please take a listen to his album Red Admiral LP below, visit his MySpace page and follow on twitter.
And now for something considerably less pleasant. Before I go any further, I want to say that Macchina Del Tempo are obviously fairly competent musicians and are quite good at playing around with meter and harmony. Sadly, top musicians very rarely make great composers or writers of music, and my god is that apparent here.
Describing themselves infuriatingly as a “Progressive Jazz Fusion” band, the shortest instrumental number on their MySpace page stands at a staggering 7 minutes and 34 seconds.
Clever chord changes, playing across the pulse and the odd adding of a beat is all very interesting to the band, I’m sure, but I can’t see its purpose other than the enjoyment of playing it – if you’re a complete nerd. If that’s why they make this sonic shambles then fine, I hope they’re having a blast, but I find it hard to believe that anyone could honestly sit through all ten minutes of the track below ‘Long Way To Go’ without developing a small desire to drown at least once.
Hello there Routenote readers, I hope your week is treating you well. I feel a bit of a cheat this week as I’ve been on holiday for the past few days. As a result this weeks music suggestions have been thrown together in a matter of minutes. That’s not to suggest for a moment that the artists beneath are worth anything other than your undivided attention, only that you may already be aware of them, and it is for this reason you find me apologising.
If you would like to have your music featured in future blog posts then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
The first artist to catch my eye this week is the rather excellent female producer and songwriter Dena From The Block. Her music is extremely clever produced and stays firmly on the credible side of pop whilst being fun, catchy and addictive. The two songs below are perfect examples of her songwriting, both building from a minimal musical base that is texturally interesting enough to never become boring.
And keeping with the theme of European Electro-Pop may I introduce you to the first known demos of the Berlin based outfit Mousefolk? Recently picked out by SoundCloud as their artists of the day, the song below and a few other bits on their SoundCloud page have given me enough reason to believe that this is a band to keep a close eye on.
Good morning dear readers, I trust this week is treating you well?
As it’s Wednesday I suppose I should give you some new music to listen to. A bit of a mixed bag today so please give them both a chance and try to enjoy yourself in the process.
If you would like your music to be featured in a future post then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
The first artist I’d like to show you is a duo currently working on their debut album Leaving Atlantis.
A really nice mixture traditional songwriting seasoned with electronics, these few tracks should be just about enough to get you interested in learning more about the band, and you can do exactly that by visiting their website.
How do you follow up delightful songwriting? With some extremely creative Canadian progressive house. Although Snork doesn’t describe himself as progressive I can’t think of a better word to describe his inventive creations. Dance music at its best should be an amalgamation of ideas that allow a track to drive itself, and Snork does this perfectly. Why not take a little listen to these three numbers and see what you think?
Hello there, how is your week going? Boring you say? How typically self centered of you to be so bored. I suppose some new music might go someway to resolving this boredom? Well, here are three bits of free music for you to sink your disgusting, selfish talons into. I hope you’re satisfied.
If you would like your music to be featured in this blog then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
That Darwin Deez has kicked up a bit of a stink in 2010, wouldn’t you say? If you’ve not yet heard this year’s magnificent album Constellations then slap yourself in the face for being such a blinkered fool and buy it from iTunes. If you are already a fan, then please enjoy these remixes of the album’s title track – ‘Constellations‘
The Barefoot Smile are exactly the sort of band that might be right up your street. A modern take on Roots music but in a way that isn’t completely awful, the track below had a sparse and tasteful arrangement that was enough to get me interested.
And finally, how about some Electro-pop to lift that dejected little spirit of yours? Alicia Wolfe isn’t exactly the sort of thing I would usually be found listening to, but somehow I managed to waste 2 hours on their MySpace page last week. The music is shamelessly fun, which is something becoming increasingly rare in a world full of Electro-artists that feel the need to make misguided and juvenile ‘statements’ through their clothes and music.Well worth a try.
A few months ago I wrote a blog post about a very exciting new artist by the name of Ollie Wride. Since writing this post Ollie has been subject to some very positive attention, not least of all from The Guardian’s Paul Lester. Subsequently Ollie’s fan base has grown, earning him some much deserved acclaim from both the music consuming public and the altogether less forgiving demographic of music critics. I’m not suggesting for a second that I’m in anyway responsible for Ollie’s success by the way, before you start thinking “what a self obsessed moron, trying to usurp an artist’s success.”
Anyway, whether you’ve heard of Ollie before or all of the above read like the words of an alien might, I absolutely demand that you listen to his latest effort, found at the bottom of this post. Sillhouets is an altogether more reflective and arguably mature number than fans will be used to from Ollie. It’s as perfectly produced and meticulously written as any of his other work – not a vocal harmony or instrumental layer out of place and everything present in the mix completely justified in it’s inclusion.
I’ve linked his entire SoundCloud set so you can get a real taste of his versatile brilliance. If the music inspires you to want to see Ollie in flesh, you can see him performing alongside The Kooks, Tony Hadley, Mr Hudson, MPHO, Daisy Dares You, Man Like Me & Tribes at London’s Koko on Oct 4th.
Before we start – thank you everyone who read my earlier blog post today, this is by far the most enjoyable thing I do with RouteNote and despite my whinges about the number of emails I receive, I love that so many of you take the time to contact me. With that out the way, let us move on.
In my haste to write a post this week I overlooked two exciting artists that deserve your attention.
If you would like your music to be featured in future posts then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
First up is a bit of a RouteNote success story – an artist who you may well have heard of called Eidersound. Trippy Electronica dripping in catchy hooks and excellent beats, Eidersound are definitely worth a listen if you’re a fan of trip-hop of ambient electronic music. Here, why not listen to these two taster tracks?
The second artist you really should give a listen if you don’t want me to think you a heartless bastard is the rather exciting band Arkana. This band took a little while to grow on me, they initially reminded me of a lot music I didn’t like. As is often the case though, they carried on beating me around the head with their infectious choruses and obvious charisma. Now I’m suggesting them to you. Watch the video below for a taste, and if you feel inclined to do so you can visit their MySpace page.
With the international break leaving us with no Premier League football this weekend and nothing but an inevitably drab set of international performances to endure, why not fill that excitement void with some new music?
Here are a couple of playlists that might help you get through what will probably be the last remotely warm weekend of the year.
If you know of something that you would like to be featured in a future post then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
Music Week have very kindly put together a SoundCloud set focusing around new Irish talent. There is some very good stuff on here, my highlights being the opening song from Cathy Davey and the seventh song from the wonderfully named Electric Penguins, a band well worth investing some time in, should you have the spare time.
David Kirk is a singer/songwriter from London who has already received a decent amount of attention from various authorities in ‘new music’, not least of all from 6 Music who have given tracks from his most recent E.P Fortune Green several plays. If you’re a fan of strummy little dittys and a nice voice then there’s a good chance you’ll like this. I must confess that the E.P isn’t exactly my thing, but David Kirk seems like a nice enough man who just wants to share his music with the world, you could give him at least that, couldn’t you? Listen to the entire E.P below and if you like it you can buy if from his BandCamp page for £2.
Hello RouteNote readers. Once more we find ourselves together on a Wednesday. Would you like some new music to entertain your ear drums? Today I’ve got two new artists for you to listen to and enjoy, or ignore and hear of again. It’s entirely up to you.
If you would like your music to be featured in future posts then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
Cutthroat Convention are a band I’ve become slightly obsessed with over the past few days. I don’t know if I particularly like them or not, but they’re not that much like anything else I’ve heard before. Normally if something is sold to me as ‘Experimental’ I expect it to be very boring and very much not experimental. Cutthroat Convention are an exception to this. They seem to have a good sense of humor too, if this quote from their website is anything to go by “You’re experimental, we’re boring c*unts”
Please listen to the song below and if you’re in anyway tickled, then please download their album for free here and visit their MySpace page.
My other little suggestion for you is a BIG M.C by the name of Status Reign. He’s already quite well established in his home town Minneapolis (yes, my contacts reach that far, what of it?) and I can’t particularly see any reason that he shouldn’t become a stinking success elsewhere. He reminds me a little bit of Brother Ali, which can only be a good thing. Listen to the track below and visit his MySpace and Bandcamp pages.
The internet is a wonderful thing. It has liberated the small artist and gifted them complete freedom over the release of their work. The result of this is artists who would have 10 years ago had no chance of building up a fan base outside of their home town can build intimate relationships through their music with people living anywhere in the world. What an age we live in! Music being in ‘the cloud’ excites me more than music being in a live venue. This is why I was delighted yesterday to hear that Alex Ljung had made it onto the Top 30 Power Players Under 30 Billboard list: Where then is the downside to all this modern age tomfoolery? Well, with such freedom artists hypothetically have nothing stopping them from releasing as much music as they want, which *might* cloud their judgment and on occasion disable their quality control filter. As a result a good artist could have their image tainted by releasing a few too many duds that a record label may have advised against.
Hello Inkysmudge! Does any of the above sound familiar?
The band have released 4 albums/E.P’s in 9 months according to their website. They are a band that I think perfectly demonstrate my above point. I don’t dislike Inkysmudge by any stretch of the imagination, at their best they reminded me of early Eels and seem extraordinarily charismatic.
Linked below is a track that I was emailed by a member of the band which he described as “the most representative” example of their work. Fine. It’s a perfectly good song that I’m sure many of you will like. The problem is that if you go to their website you will find far too many songs that sound pretty darn similar.
My initial aim was to review a record of theirs, but sadly I found all four too hard to tell apart and released too close together. Instead I published this rather unkind attack, which Inkysmudge certainly don’t deserve to have aimed entirely at them.
I hope that my thoughts have at least entertained you.
Well here we all are then, eh? Wednesday. I suppose that means I should give you some new music to listen to…
Just the two again this week. Thanks for all your emails and tweets about this – I am trying to fit everything in but it’s not always possible.
If you want to be included in my Midweek Music Suggestions at some point, then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
First up is a very new and potentially very special man who I know little about, but hope to learn more in the coming months. This little gem of a track from Lee Royster has been my find of the week and although it’s the only thing of his I’ve heard so far, I strongly urge you to keep an eye on his work.
Next (and finally) a band I’ve wanted to blog about for a while, but couldn’t work out exactly what to say of them. It’s a common occurrence in my life that I want to like a band more than I actually do. Avenge Vulture Attack have had rather the opposite affect on me; I want to hate them and their playful enthusiasm, but for some reason their youthful tomfoolery and excellent musicianship bypasses the jaded cynic in me and reminds me of a simpler time. Check out their website and buy their music here.
Hello readers, how nice of you to join me.
