Filed under: Uncategorized
…won’t be posting for a while. Sorry.
Filed under: Single Reviews | Tags: Dev Hynes, El Guincho, Lightspeed Champion, Los Campesinos!, Lykke Li, Sky Larkin
As promised, this post is decidedly Bloc Party-less. But just because I’ve left off one of my obsessions doesn’t mean I’ve left them all off. You’ll see a few familiar faces in this post in the likes of Lightspeed Champion, Los Campesinos!, Lykke Li, El Guincho, and a not so familiar Sky Larkin. Again, the review of a relatively unknown band is coming up soon, so until that time, I hope you enjoy what I’ve provided for you. Aren’t I such a good guy?
Lightspeed Champion – Back To Black Ah, Dev covers Amy. This song was good enough as is, but what is it with Lightspeed Champion’s voice that makes me what to listen to anything he sings? Now I might even have to cave into the pressure and listen to the original version again (Oh! To even consider it!). DOWNLOAD
Los Compesinos! – How I Taught Myself To Scream Their recent album release has only been out for half a year. Now, after six months, they feel it’s time to release a new album (if only all bands would do that, eh?). This is a b-side for the latter release. Think lots of noise and very Los Campesino-y. DOWNLOAD
Lykke Li – Little Bit (Loving Hand Remix) We all know how I love Lykke Li. This was the first single of her’s that I heard. This was the catalyst. It’s much longer than the original, as it includes a long music outro. I myself am not a fan of this remix, but that doesn’t mean you won’t like it. DOWNLOAD
El Guincho – Palmitos Park I recall making a request for El Guincho to make more remixes for the near future. In short, he did. With summer winding down, we need one last “hoorah!” and he provides it. And as a bonus, he kind of makes me feel like I’m in “Grease” or something. Where’s my leather jacket? DOWNLOAD
Sky Larkin – Molten Fans of Florence and the Machine take note: Sky Larkin are for you. They’ve recently performed alongside Los Campesinos! and Those Dancing Days in Berlin, and now, after bursting onto the scene, the Leeds natives are offering their single, “Molten” for download. DOWNLOADFiled under: News, Releases, Single Reviews | Tags: Bloc Party, Kele Okereke, Mercury, New Song
I understand this is supposed to be a music blog and not a Bloc Party fan page, but just bear with me, I’ve got an artist review on the way in the coming days. For now, we have more Bloc Party. Much criticism has been shot at Kele for making Mercury and Idea for a Story. Many, including I, felt that Bloc Party was taking a new direction. After the discovery of this olderish song, you can sit tight about the third album.
It makes listening to Mercury and Idea for a Story so much easier to listen to. Oh well, I promise I’ll lay off the Bloc Party writing for a while (but it won’t stop me from listening).
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bloc Party, Gordon Moakes, Kele Okereke, Lollapalooza 2008, Matt Tong, Mercury
Once again sorry for the lack of posting. Things are just going very slowly around the music scene. I’d have to say that it’s probably because everyone is at Lollapalooza right now. Everyone’s at Lollapalooza… except yours truly. Oh well, there’s always next year, right? Though I wasn’t there physically, I did catch a performance or two from the AT&T Blueroom’s Live stream of the event. Of the bands I wanted to see, they showed few. In fact, they only showed one: Bloc Party. All in all it was a pretty typical Bloc Party concert. Towards the end of the show, Kele even threatened to play something new and different, only to let the crowd–and myself–down. He got us all hyped up and then… “Oops. Sorry. Change of plans.” Thanks, Kele.
But aside from the ordinary, there were a few notable differences. For one, as some of you may or may not know, Bloc Party’s bass player, Gordon Moakes, and his wife, are having (actually they’ve had) a baby. So they brought in a replacement until the end of the U.S. tour this year. He wasn’t bad. From what I could tell, he didn’t screw up once. The vocals were, noticably “un-Moakes-y,” but apart from that I had no qualms. He did his job as a temperary replacement.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the longest time, I’m sure you’ve heard by now Bloc Party’s newest hit, Mercury. Mercury is an insanely different approach to what the boys from London are known for. I was dying to know how this would sound live. Well, now I know. It wasn’t that bad. Err, until Matt Tong and that other guy started their background vocals. It sounded awful. It was like a cat getting continually run over (“From Silver Lake to Williamsburg/ a-a-voice crack-a”). But towards the second half of the song, they turned it around, and it didn’t seem so bad (that is, if you were a fan of the song prior to). Final verdict: Mercury live… no more.
Finally, a few posts below you’ll see the whole Kele Okereke vs John Lydon thing. Looking at Kele on stage, he really didn’t seem as “fucked up” as I would have expect. I don’t know if he’s healed by now, or if it’s a you-can-only-see-it-in-person kind of a deal, but he looked fine (now) from what I saw.
Video: “Mercury” – Bloc Party (Live at 2008 Lollapalooza)
Video: The rest of the performance – Bloc Party (Live at 2008 Lollapalooza)
UPDATE!: Matt Tong has bitchin’ shorts!
