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.
Jamie Foxx, Soulja Boy and T.I. have teamed up to create some great beats. Im really not too sure about Jamie Foxx rapping though. Probably shouldn’t quit his day job.
Welcome to the second of my midweek music suggestions.
Still doing this on a bit of a trial basis, but had a good enough response last week to keep it up.
If you would like your music to feature in future posts then please get in touch with me; luke@routenote.com or on twitter @monkeyhotel
Anyway, without further ado, let’s try to make your week pass that little bit faster by getting some new music down your lug-holes.
The first band I’m suggesting to you this week confirm my fears that I’m becoming some kind of Emo wimp in my late twenties. The Murder Act are exactly the sort of post-punk Shoegaze nonsense that I would normally spend a week happily resenting, but I like them, they remind of Joy Division in a very authentic and heart warming way.
Next some rather lovely acoustic music from a man with an extraordinarily unsuspecting name. David Whitwell writes the sort of striped down acoustic music that will please most people with a pulse. I’m currently reviewing his whole album which I’ll post for you all in the following weeks, watch out for it.
And finally, a band I initially expressed a lot of interest in, entirely because of their excellent name. Outback Eskimos (see, wonderful name) turned out not to be entirely up my street, but I think they might be up the street of the general music listening public which I assume you, dear readers, are a part of. Give them a chance, it’s the least you can do…
It would probably be a total long shot, but “In/Out” from Vivek Shraya‘s Keys & Machines has to be my most played song this week. It’s electro-pop-perfect, and I really wish more people would give him the attention he deserves.
Welcome to my Midweek Music Suggestions.
This is a new thing I’m trying and will either keep up or bin dependent on the reaction from you good people.
Here are a couple of new artists that I hope will help get you through the longest day of the week and send you coasting towards the weekend.
If you would like to be featured in future posts then please get in touch; luke@routenote.com or @monkeyhotel
First up, Jackanory and the Ball - a north London duo whose debut E.P I will be reviewing in full next week. I’m struggling to accurately describe them after far too many listens than is probably good for my health. They are immense fun and well worth a listen. Here is the E.P’s opening track ‘Audio Precision’ to give you a taste. Catch their E.P launch show this Saturday. Audio Precision by Jackanory and the Ball
Next, my favourite folk band; Mawkin:Causley Last I heard this band was soon to no longer exist, however don’t let this stop you from getting into them in an obsessive way right now, and listening to the E.P and album they made together, both of which can be purchased by clicking here.
Below is the title track from last year’s album The Awkward Recruit.
I came across a great artist yesterday and I thought I would drop you their music and see what you thought. The artist is SergioLoops and he is a DJ/Producer from Spain. Take a look at his Myspace or official site.
The track below is called Darien and I really like the style.
Displaying characteristic social sensitivity, the Simpsons creator has added one of the most hotly tipped young bands of ’09, The XX (aka Xerox Teens before they had to change their name following a lawsuit) to the line-up he’s curating for next May’s Minehead ATP.
The festival has reinvented the old holiday park venues, and has been regularly selling out, even in the currently depressed market, thanks to its coherent and eccentric schedule, and the attraction of having your own brick built loo to use rather than facing the horror of the festival dookie-pits.
On Tuesday, M.I.A. tweeted a link to a music video without explanation, and the press (don’t make me say Blogosphere) jumped on it, full of speculation about what it could possibly be. Oddly, it turned out to be a new song called “Space Odyssey” that’ll be on her forthcoming album.
No big surprises, really. Every album release seems to be preceded by more or less official leaks these days, so why was thins one paid so much attention? It came on the back of some controversial statements that MIA made against the New York Times’ recommendation of holidays in Sri Lanka (where she’s concerned about civil violence), and it had both the seal of official approval and the element of mystery to it, to encourage speculation and conversation.
Replicating this buildup of momentum is possible even on a smaller scale. Any glimmer of notoriety for your band that can be tied into a current issue and subverted to your own purposes. Try and tie these things in to the release of your own new bit of hot content and you should see interest snowballing; people love following links, and the more meat you can put around an issue, the deeper people will explore it.
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.
