James Vincent McMorrow - St. Pancras Old Church (2011)

Heads up – I may come across as a bit of a James Vincent McMorrow groupie in this post…I don’t really mind though, every time I hear something new from him I rave for a while.

I last posted about him in January of this year before the release of his debut album and before I saw him at live St. Pancras Old Church in Feb. I’m not writing this to gush about the gig (beautifully stripped back performance in a breathtaking venue) or remind you about the album – just to post up a few bits and pieces I’ve heard since then; some covers and an unexpected feature. In order of discovery:

Whip My Hair (Willow Smith Cover) – entirely unrecognisable version of the  pop single from Will Smith’s just-turned-eleven year old daughter.

Higher Love (Steve Winwood Cover) – recently used on a LOVEFiLM ad JVMcM strips this 80s Grammy Record of the Year down to piano-backed vocal.

Wicked Game (Chris Isaak Cover) – I posted an Exlovers version of this and also recently heard one by Widowspeak, both are great but JVMcM’s is my favourite, second only to the original (check out that music video!)

and…most recently:

Shells of Silver (The Japanese Popstars ft. JVMcM) – could’ve sworn it was him when I heard it on Gossip Girl (s5e7) last week but when I Shazam’d it I got a track by The Japanese Popstars. Turns out he features on this synthy atmospheric track from the Northern Irish act – great to hear what he can do outside of his singer-songwriter realm.

Everything he touches is gold for me right now. Can’t wait to see what comes next year…

Abbe May - Design Desire (2011)

Received the album from a PR company (thank you!) and it reminded me I found this track on a blog a while back – been meaning to post it, so here it is:

Getting back into the rock lately – from this song alone Abbe May exhibits the sass of “Trick Pony” by Charlotte Gainsbourg or “Get Some” by Lykke Li – in a similar fuzzy sultry-rock style, with a soft edge on the vocal.

Abbe May – Mammalian Locmotion

She’s Australian, from Perth, and her full length, Design Desire, was released on 8th July on Source Music.

Funnily, her Myspace says she was influenced by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins!

Lead single from the album is “Taurus Chorus”, which has a similar swing to it to this track, and “Carolina” is a little more sinister.

Taking me back to proper rock.

Looking out for news of London gigs…official site here.

Where was I?

Man this year has gone fast. It seems like about a minute ago that I was at the Langley Hotel in Watford with some of my nearest and dearest.

In the company of grandparents, babies and twenty-somethings alike… there we were, dancing to I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) – yes, the DJ played it without me requesting it - at what felt like an Indian wedding reception but was actually NYE 2009.

I know this is the time for “Top X of 2010″ run-downs which, don’t get me wrong, I am going to do….but as a little bit of an homage to the year that previously was, I thought I’d do a “Wish I’d known about in 2009″ post featuring some acts I’ve written about before, and some not. So…

BAND OF SKULLS

Their album Baby Darling Doll Face Honey would have been a top-half Best of 2010 lister without a second thought… only it was released in 2009. Not only that, prior to their current incarnation as the dirty, retro rock band with a spot on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack you see before you today, they were known as Fleeing New York and sounded, well,… different.

TIMBER TIMBRE

I was going to try and sneak their self-titled album into my Best of 2010 list, they released a Limited Edition on Full Time Hobby in September, but I knew I was already risking a yellow card on another entry (see below) so I chickened out. Had I known about this when it was originally released in 2009, I would have been raving about it back then.

Haunting and a little spooky but also strangely beautiful vocals from Taylor Kirk, with Simon Trottier and Mika Posen accompanying, the entire album is available to stream on spotify in case you, like me, missed it the first time around.

WHITE RABBITS

This, I did get a yellow card for…though in my defence the “Songs” card was only because of late substitutions due to THE RULES (see next post). I saw this band live 3 times in 2010 – once at the ICA, once at The Great Escape and then again at Bestival.

The song didn’t get into “The List” (my list, not the rule-abiding list) because there were a few others that I thought needed a mention. The album didn’t make it because officially its first release was in 2009 although Mute only picked it up in 2010. The gig didn’t make it because of a gig I went to in December which just managed to elbow it out.

UNTIL WE BLEED (ft. LYKKE LI) – KLEERUP

The last one’s a song that would have made the list and actually got an honourable play during our Best of 2010 Sushi Session – it’s completely not my “of 2009″ style, which, was much more indie/rock, much less….electronic.

Until We Bleed (ft. Lykke Li) – Kleerup

I don’t think it would have made my top 10 had I known about it back then for that reason – it most definitely would have this year. Blast.

So… they’re all being “honourably mentioned” here.

Actual lists coming up over the next couple of days…

Sleigh Bells - Treats (2010)

I’ve been meaning to write it since I saw them at The Great Escape in May – saw a lot of fun bands over that weekend, mostly in the indie-rock and electro-pop vein but for me, Sleigh Bells were the highlight.

I feel that’s a pretty bold statement…they stood out for me amidst a lineup that also hosted The Ruby Suns, Warpaint, James Yuill (who I’ve written about/had seen before), Chew Lips, Crystal Fighters, Pony Pony Run Run, Hungry Kids of Hungary and more (who I haven’t). Lots of indie-rock, lots of electro-pop.

Which is partly why, I think, I loved their set as much as I did.

Sleigh Bells – A,B Machines

Massively heavy bass, crazy beats and shouty vocals. They had my attention within the first 10 seconds of taking the stage.

Entirely appreciate they’re not to everyone’s taste – they’re not easy on the ear, they won’t make every single person in the room want to dance (not even the folks I was at the gig with), but they are different from anything else I heard over that weekend and I just bought their newly released on Mom + Pop Records album, Treats.

The band is Brooklyn-based twosome Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss and, something that surprised me after their live show, they do some non-beatsy, non-shouty, lo-fi, pop too. Check out Rill Rill, or Infinity Guitars for some rock.

Full album available to stream on we7.com here. They also have a track that has a fairly similar-sounding riff to Up In Here by DMX.

Did you find it yet?

The Black Keys - Brothers (2010)

It was another one of those moments for me where I heard something, and loved it so much I had to play it on repeat all day to get it out of my system. I still haven’t had enough, so I’m still playing it a week later. This time though, it was one of those rarer moments where it was a whole album and not just a lone song.

It has a soulful, swaggering, attitudal (I’m not sure that’s a word), retro, blues-rock vibe to it. That may not make sense until you hear it.

Fairly White Stripes-like but less aggressive, this is my favourite track from the album:

The Black Keys – Never Gonna Give You Up

One of the more soulful songs, I thought it would be fairly funny if I made a Rick Astley reference on the last.fm page for the song. Turns out I wasn’t the only or the first one to make the connection…I posted it anyway. :)

The album was released in May on Universal and is, I think, their 5th full-length album. They’re playing at the Roundhouse on 23 June but it’s SOLD OUT.

The open-brick walls, the coffee-stacked bookcases, the vegan-only, yes, vegan-only cake selection and the staff that reminded me of Soho’s own Flat White – friendly, but not so friendly you’d mistake the service-provider/ consumer relationship for actual friendship – all provided the perfect backdrop for the perfect cup of coffee.

Yes, I appreciate I have been known to crave a Starbucks every now and then and, until last year, I’d never made a “proper” cup of coffee (instant was my world) – but I’m serious. The best cup of coffee. Ever.

It was the middle of the day, and they were playing instrumental piano jazz – which is why I’ve picked Gonzales for this post. I came across his 2004 album Solo Piano on mflow a while back and this is a pick from that release:

Gonzales – Overnight (Instrumental)

I only connected the dots today – but this is Jason Beck, a.k.a. Chilly Gonzales who, incidentally, got a mention tonight at 229 for writing one of the tracks performed by Jamie Lidell. A most awesome coincidence.

I mentioned it was the daytime – if it had been night, I think it would have been dark, smokey (before the days of the smoking ban) and I would have soundtracked it with grunge. So here’s a great one of that too:

Alice In Chains – Down In A Hole (unplugged)

The picture to the right is my partially consumed, perfect cup of coffee.

There are 3 locations, but the one I went to was:

Café Grumpy
Chelsea
224 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone: (212) 255-5511
Web: www.cafegrumpy.com

I always said if ever they were over here from New Zealand I’d be on it like a shot – so when I heard they were playing at The Great Escape I was so excited. Rounded up some folks to come, got my ticket, all sorted. Only to find out they’re ALSO playing at the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen in June. I’m going again.

The Ruby Suns – Mingus and Pike

This is my favourite track on their third album, Fight Softly, released on Memphis Industries.

I can’t believe they only got third level billing on the festival poster. Not 1st level big writing, or second level – we know a lot of people will know who they are but not everyone – mid-size writing…third level tiny writing!! On Thursday!!

Bah!

Let’s Work It Out – especially loved because it samples Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar (spotify), one of the most beautiful 50s Golden Greats ever written, performed here by Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle (yes, as in ‘Brimful of Asha’), and Shamshad Begum.

Teri Baaton (Your Words) – a reggae-hindi concoction which is a second version of his UK hit ‘Angel Eyes’ and makes me think of Summer… so will be played this Summer, a lot. It’s actually the flight into the classical vocal at the end that gets me more than anything else.

So Confused – early 2000′s R&B. They played it in ALL the clubs back then (well, all the desi clubs folks like me were going to, anyway) and when I have my way, they still do. :)

Raghav - Storyteller

I have a thing about desi-rnb fusion/remixes/mashups, and have done since I heard Taal Se Taal Mila mixed with Only You at the Imperial College London ACS Fashion Show back in…2000? (Thanks Az!). Raghav does it released and mainstream.

The man is Raghav, the album – Storyteller.

Seen live a few years back under the pretence of wanting to see Jagged Edge.

Apparently he’s still around and has released a new album!

*opens a new amazon.co.uk tab whilst typing*

They got a brief mention in a Summer Camp post last month as they’ve also done a cover of The Flamingos – I Only Have Eyes For You, which is up on their MySpace right now, but this one’s just about them.

North Atlantic Oscillation - Grappling Hooks

The reason I sought out more, specifically, was this track:

77 Hours (Engineers Mix)

Their new album, Grappling Hooks, is out today, 22 March, on KScope and features, my favourites amongst the others, 77 Hours (the not-Engineers mix), I Only Have Eyes For You and Audioplastic (linked but no music at the moment, hopefully after the album release today?)

They’re a trio of lads from Scotland, who don’t sound like Biffy Clyro or We Were Promised Biffy Clyro, I mean We Were Promised Jetpacks, but are a hazy electro cloud of beats, synths and a bit of auto-tune (which seems to not be dead).

Their album launch show is at the Lexington tonight. Support them for £6… go on…

A modern-day legend in the hip-hop/rap space and co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, his tunes are my first port of call whenever I need a power-play, a bit of confidence or some “you can do it” encouragement.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

So why has this come up today of all days? I just got my copy of The Blueprint 3 in the post, and this happens to be my favourite track on the album.

Jay-Z – D.O.A (Death of Auto-tune)

I missed his Roundhouse gig last year but was jammy enough to be at Wembley Stadium when he was “supporting” (ahem!) Coldplay. One of the oddest shows I’ve been to – a bunch of Coldplay fans, many (but not all) of whom seemed unsure how to respond to the music, cheering politely but a little awkwardly through classics like Big Pimpin’, 99 Problems and Dirt Off Your Shoulder, until… Numb/Encore when the crowd went genuinely crazy, bouncing in unison like hip-hop is all they’ve ever known.

Little mini-shout out to Paul, who actually rubbed shoulders with Mr. -Z and his lovely wife at a Grizzly Bear concert in NYC last year.

Well… close enough.