Dec 24, 2012 0
And the Salvation Army band plays
My favourite song of the season. Happy Holidays!
Helen Love and Richard Autobahn :: And the Salvation Army Band Plays
Dec 18, 2012 0
We’ll have fun, fun, fun, wherever we run
Gutted. No sooner had I googled¹ the first band in this latest selection of top tunes from 2012 than I discovered that the wonderful Two Wounded Birds had died from their injuries.
Still, in two and a half years they made one very fine LP, which is more than most bands manage in two and a half decades. Certainly few manage to accomplish such a wonderfully eclectic rock ’n’ roll smorgasbord, with a delicious side order of surf guitar.
Dec 12, 2012 0
Eight reasons why I’m starting to hate iTunes 11
Oh Apple, what have you done? iTunes 11, in its current state, is a mess. You’ve broken my heart.
Dec 12, 2012 0
And the ass saw the angel
Author, screenwriter, soundtrack composer, essayist, former heroin addict and one of the finest songwriters of his or any other generation—Nick Cave is the post modern renaissance man.
And while some of his more recent musical offerings may not have lived up to the incredibly high standards he has set over more than three decades, this, the first single from a new LP to be released next year, hints at a magnificent return to form.
Dec 12, 2012 0
He couldn’t believe that everyone in the world liked their songs
Apologies for the absence of posts recently, it’s been rather busy at SmithSockTowers. In lieu of some hot contemporary tunes, here are some videos I like.
First up, the ever-wonderful Helen Love and a five-star single from 1997.
Nov 23, 2012 1
At the mountains, at the birds, at the ocean, at the trees
I don’t know when it happened, or began to happen, but there has been a sea-change in my music accumulation of late. Where once probably 90% or more of the music I bought was male-voiced, women now dominate. In the 30-ish–strong list from which I’ll pick my record of the year the number of male singers can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
So, four records from this year, each fronted by a beautiful female voice, each equally fantastic.
Nov 20, 2012 0
In comic type letters the voices are saying clap, clap
Ah, the Fall, comic type letters a-plenty amid some of the worst record covers of all time.
And some of the best records.
Like this one, prompted by recent posts extolling the remix.
Nov 20, 2012 0
Get away, run away, far away
While writing a recent post for this blog, it struck me that it’s now 30 years since the first remixes began to appear in European record shops, on the new 12-inch single format.
I was just too young to have witnessed punk first hand—and neither did I live in London or Manchester—so remixing is the first music revolution I remember.
Nov 16, 2012 0
And the cellos kick in and the lights start to flash
The Rosie Taylor Project were born in the small living room of a redbrick Victorian house in Leeds. There is no word of Rosie, but Jonny, Sophie, Nick, Jon, Sam and Shakey have a couple of LPs to their names, including this year’s Twin Beds.
The preceding single will be familiar to regular readers, but the record’s universal excellence justifies further mention for either of its standout tracks.
Oct 27, 2012 0
And then I shot myself, so drink, drink, drink
Hospitality are and indie pop trio from Brooklyn, that formed in 2007 but, like fine wines and the best beef, took some time to mature.
Belying an appearance that suggests just another bunch of “quirky” wannabe-indie kids, Hospitality make proper pop records that deserve a much wider audience than bands with their talent usually garner. This track comes from the band’s self-titled debut LP.
