NEU! featuring MGMT, Chiddy Bang and Stornoway

MGMT - Flash Delirium/Congratulations
Much has been made of MGMT's anti-singles stance on their sophomore album. Having had three of the biggest "choons" of 2008 ("Time To Pretend", "Electric Feel", "Kids"), announcing that you're shunning the single system might seem a little contrary for the sake of it, but that's just MGMT. If you'd delved further into "Oracular Spectacular" than just the singles you would have found a wealth of modern-day psychedelic and experimental pop. Personally, I was never a fan of that album as a whole, sticking to the aforementioned Big Three singles and nowt else. Now, the supposed lack of radio-friendly material on "Congratulations" should scare someone like me away, but the first two tracks to see the day of light from the album are surprisingly accessible, nothing like the proggy noodling that pre-release hyperbole would have you believe. "Flash Delirium" takes a few listens for it to grab you, and when it does, it reveals itself as a fairly conventional classic rock song with a psychedelic twist. That is, until the raucous last twenty seconds and the completely grade-A batshit video. The title track and album closer is a far more laid-back affair, so much so that it's not completely unlikely to think that the band recorded it horizontally. Neither track reaches the heights of the Big Three, but are still worthy additions to MGMT's canon. It just remains to be seen whether "Congratulations" lives up to it's hype or is more of a mess than a student kitchen.
MGMT - Flash Delirium MP3
7/10 / 7/10



Chiddy Bang - Opposite Of Adults
Speaking of MGMT, "Opposite Of Adults" by Philadelphian MC/Producer duo Chiddy Bang samples "Kids" and creates what will likely be one of the biggest party songs of the year, akin to Asher Roth's "I Love College" last year. In fact Mr. Roth gets a namecheck/diss (whatever you young lot call it now). The sampling of "Kids" is a fantastic reworking, sure to breath new life into what has already been a huge hit. Admittedly, its lyrical content isn't too great ("Follow me, follow me I'm the leader/And when I park cars I don't pay for the meter". I'm sure Dylan's crapping his pants...actually considering his age, he probably is anyway) but party hits are never known for being dense explorations of the human psyche. Plus it references Ron Burgundy, which is an instant winner with me.
Download "Opposite Of Adults" and more
8/10


Stornoway - I Saw You Blink
I don't think anyone was asking for a hybrid of Vampire Weekend and Mumford & Sons (I certainly wasn't. I don't want VW's perfection tainted by that shit) but we've got it in "I Saw You Blink". The elastic bassline and breezy tone are reminiscent of the Afrobeat-loving Brooklynites, whilst there's a folk-friendly edge that recalls Mumford, without making me violently angry. Breezy enough to not get annoying, but catchy enough to no go in one ear and straight out of the other, Stornoway are one band to keep an eye on. They'll be all over Radio 1 by August.
8/10

NEU! featuring Rihanna, Ash, Yeasayer and Them Crooked Vultures

RIHANNA - RUSSIAN ROULETTE
The world's second biggest popstar (after Beyonce) makes her post-Chris Brown-gate (can't think of a better name right now) comeback with Russian Roulette, the lead single from her fourth album Rated R. The girl obviously loves alliteration, but instead of reasserting herself in the public conciousness with a huge crossover hit à la "Umbrella", "Don't Stop The Music", "Disturbia", "SOS", "Shut Up And Drive" etc. "Russian Roulette" is a downbeat, brooding ballad. On first listen, it may seem a little anonymous and meandering, but endeavour and you'll find that a great modern pop song doesn't have to be huge beats and incessant whirring aimed squarley at girls at 18th birthday party, drunk on WKD. Slow and sultry, it worms its way into your memory with a fantastic soaring chorus, which sounds oddly familiar. The only problem now is airplay. The powers-that-be weren't exactly to pleased about the Russian roulette reference in Lady GaGa's "Poker Face", so an entire song on the game itself, coupled with a gunshot at the end? Good luck with that one Rihanna.
[Available to hear on Rihanna's website]
7.5

ASH - JOY KICKS DARKNESS
As you may have guessed from the artwork, this is Ash's second single from their A-Z series (For those not in the know, Ash gave up making albums to concentrate on singles and are releasing 26; one every two weeks). After the synth-poppy True Love 1980, the Downpatrick trio have gone back to what they do best; powerful pop-rock. "JKD" has a rawer edge than most early Ash singles but, unlike "Girl From Mars" et al, isn't an immediate pop song. Which probably isn't the best thing for a singles-only band to be releasing. But the blistering rock-out coda more than makes up for it, along with a rather awesome guitar solo. Two down and 24 to go, there's a lot to look forward over the next year.
7

YEASAYER - AMBLING AMP
The indie press darlings sure are a savvy lot. Releasing this single as a free download towards the end of the year, just before all the "Best Of 2009" lists are compiled, is a surefire way to win over those easily-won-over music hacks and boost them to the upper echolons of said charts. I shouldn't be so cynical, because if this was released on 1st January 2010, it would still make the Top 20 of 2010, at the very least. "Ambling Amp" is a genius slice of skewed pop, a bouncy "proper pop song" (basically stuff sung on X Factor and popular with those awful people known as the general public) hidden behind avant-garde sound effects and bubbling synths, making it sound like it's been concocted in a laboratory, which it probably has been. Perfection like this is beyond mere mortals. Okay, that was overly-hyperbolic, but this an amazingly good song, that even the milkman could whistle...probably. And it's a free download. Life is good sometimes.
[Available as a free download here]
10THEM CROOKED VULTURES - MIND CHASER, NO ERASER
Considering the components that make up TCV, this should be great, appealing to metalheads, indie kids and ageing rockers alike. Or it could follow the supergroup rule...basically that 99.9% of supergroups are a bit shit. Or, for an analogy relating to the members, it could be pretty damn good (Josh Homme/Queens Of The Stone Age), alright but a bit bland (Dave Grohl/Foo Fighters) or boring enough to enduce jaw-breaking yawns worldwide (John Paul Jones/Led Zep). The answer is that "Mind Chaser, No Eraser" is a bit more Foo Fighters than QOTSA. It says something when the best bit of a song is the comedic (I'm guessing) brass band tacked on the end. With the only two tracks available sounding like the latter-day bollock-less Foos, things aren't looking good for TCV's album. At least this was free and I didn't have to part with the hard earned money...that I'm sent every month.
[Available for free on iTunes]
5

Vampire Weekend - Horchata

Last year's indie press darlings (and winners of Hitsville U.K.'s Album Of The Year) have been fairly quiet for quite some time now, apart from a great set at the Reading & Leeds festivals. But recently they've revealed the artwork for "Contra", their second album and now the first single taken from that record is free to download on the band's website. That single is "Horchata". Carefree and almost childlike in it's simplicity, "Horchata" sounds like the afrobeat constantly associated with Vampire Weekend and as straightforwardly pop as they come at the same time. Big drums, smooth vocals, easily memorable hooks and a whimsical, orchestral flourish makes this a worthy addition to VW's canon. Of course to the common garden music fan, it's not going to displace "A-Punk" as their One Big Hit™, but to any Vampire Weekend fan "Horchata" will be on constant repeat.
8.5

Los Campesinos! - There Are Listed Buildings + The Sea...

The best band you probably haven't heard of return with two previews of their latest album (second or third, depending on whether you think an Extended EP of 10 tracks counts as an album). Los Campesinos! have always been what I personally want in a band; the ability to make shouty, loud, throw-yourself-around indie and rather twee 'n' tender alt.pop with at least one heart-brakingly great lyric in every song. This winning streak continues in "There Are Listed Buildings" and "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future" which are on the as-yet-untitled new album.

"TALB" is probably LC!'s most radio-friendly track in a while, not too twee as to be straight, sugary, saccharine pop but not too spiky and indie to drive casual listeners back to their Snow Patrol. Reminiscent of the material on debut "Hold On Now, Youngster", the "ba-ba"s and humming that surround the choruses make this an obvious future sing-along classic (well to us awkward indie kids anyway), and the brass section (brass!!) is a rather welcome augmentation of the LC! sound
There Are Listed Buildings by loscampesinos
8.5


"The Sea..." on the other hand, is a much different beast to the aforementioned first single. The brooding, mournful guitar and violin combo of the intro is very similar to "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed" highlight "Heart Swells/Pacific Daylight Time" until it explodes into an epic maelstrom, which edges towards My Bloody Valentine, musically at least. Lyrically, there are more great lines here than most bands can manage in a career. For example; "you could never kiss a Tory boy without wanting to cut off your tongue again", " I grabbed hold of her wrist and my hand closed from tip to tip/ I said “you’ve taken the diet too far, you have got to let it slip”", " ask her to speak French and then I need her to translate, I get the feeling she makes the meaning more significant" and "She was always far too pretty for me to believe in a single word she said, believe a word she said". Let's see Hard-Fi top that. In short, this is the best thing LC! have done so far and makes me unbelievably excited for the album. And what's more it's free to download from their blog, so go do that and then buy the album when it's released.
10

"C'mon let's get hiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh"

This may be old news but here's the covers for Franz Ferdinand's next album "Tonight:..." and the lead single "Ulysses"














I don't think I could be more excited for an album out next year, apart from a possible third from the Arctic Monkeys, which would make 2009 the best year ever, bar none.
Anyways back to my point. There's a free download of a live version of album track "What She Came For" on NME.com (and "Ulysses" is floating around the interweb somewhere), so I highly reccomend heading over there right now, as the track is immense. Starting off as your typical groovy Franz with a few synth lines thrown in for good measure, it builds to a killer chorus as the guitars and bass get ever more funky and the song reaches its end with a cacophony of distorted riff-ery. Almost perfect.

9/10

"Would you set a horse on fire for £1 million?"

I've changed the Day & Age rating to a 7/10 instead of 8. After a few days of listening to little else, the weaker moments of the album have made themselves glaringly obvious. The apparent "kitchen sink" approach to some songs doesn't work at all for the band, and if they keep this up then I doubt future reviews will be too kind.

*****

Alexis Blue have made their debut album available to download for free from HERE or HERE. So no excuses for whoever's bored enough to read this to not download it. Home-recorded and produced by the band, the album is packed full of indie-pop gems that make you wonder how stupid the Road To V judges actually were. The five new songs on the album, including Altar Ego and (Now It's An) Alcoholocaust, build on the band's already impressive canon. Catchy songs, witty wordplay, good riffs, all for free. What more could you want, eh?
8/10

And while you're at it, join the AB forum, they're a lovely bunch....most of the time haha.

xxx