Boris Dlugosch – Bangkok

Boris Dlugosch

When I loaded the latest single from the German deep house producer Boris Dlugosch onto my iPod I was half expecting it to go into a state of shock due to the presence of such a foreign body on its hard drive. Not that I have anything against German deep house but I guess I always tended to equate it to doner kebabs, brilliant at 3am when you’ve had a skinfull but not so advisable at any other time. Which is why I was somewhat shocked when I heard ‘Bangkok’… and actually quite liked it!

This German barrage of bass kicks off with a rather straight drum beat and synth line, however this is just regular façade of what is, on the whole, a rather edgy track. The main hook sounds like a Smurf with a hollow wooden arse having its head slammed in a door whilst being smacked on the rear end with a drum stick, well it does to me anyway…..and I love it, and you should too!

The background to this Smurf-related assault is provided by a deep, crunching bass beat so dark and murky it should be housed in London Dungeons; equally brilliant.

However, this track also seems to have one foot in the past as a vintage sounding ascending synth line conjures images of old Daft Punk albums, before being crushed by the London Dungeon bass blob and Smurf assaulting drummer.

Thank you, Boris Dlugosch, for giving me my first pleasant sober experience of deep house, and thank you also for deciding what I should have for lunch tomorrow… extra salad and garlic mayo please!

Cass McCombs – Dreams Come True Girl

Cass McCombs - Dreams Come True Girl

The inclusion of the word ‘girl’ is a tricky one. Musically, depending on its placement within a sentence, it can have the detrimental effect of dating a song quite dramatically.

Glancing at the title to Cass McCombs’ debut single, from his forthcoming album Catacombs, may work to instantaneously highlight how the song might sound. It does. Add to this the fact that when Cass McCombs croons in with, “You’re not my dream girl/You’re not my reality girl/You’re my dreams come true girl”, the plodding patter of the music weighs down the words in a way that renders them simply drab. The aforementioned line requires straining the “dreams-come-true-girl” over an already flaccid beat. It’s cringeworthy. … Continue Reading

The Blackout – I Don’t Care (This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things)

The Blackout

Ah, emo, I’ve missed you. Only kidding. You might hide behind a lie of being “post-hardcore”, but I can spot you a mile off. The preposterous band name, the pretentious song title, the dumbness of having yet another heavy rock outfit from Wales (we already have to put up with Lostprophets, what have we done to deserve this?), it’s just not possible to take it seriously.

That said, this The Blackout song’s not all bad, it crunches along happily enough for a bunch of depressed kids, Sean Smith has the perfect voice for the band and it all seems harmless enough. It’s disposable, mass produced commercial fast-food mush. You won’t be “begging for more”, as Smith hopefully claims. … Continue Reading

Allo, Darlin’ – The Polaroid Song

'Allo Darlin'

There’s a special place in every girl’s heart for twee pop. The Cardigans doing ‘Carnival’, Belle and Sebastian doing, well, any of their songs – it’s enough to make any red-blooded chick wear Hello Kitty slides in their fringe, get a uke and wear their boyfriend’s ratty brown cardigan.

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Mumford and Sons – Winter Winds

Mumford and Sons

Mumford and Sons played a gig in New York a few months ago, at the legendary Mercury Lounge, as a warm up to their SXSW performances.  Foolishly, I didn’t go, despite all the hype I’d heard about them.

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The Toxic Avenger – Toxic Is Dead

The Toxic Avenger

Simon Delacroix, better known as The Toxic Avenger has released another electro-thrash single (although from what I’m hearing it would be better coined electro-trash for the 4 minutes of pain endured by my ears!).

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Blue Roses – Does Anyone Love Me Now?

Blue Roses

Let’s get this straight – Blue Roses (aka singer-songwriter Laura Groves) is in possession of a ‘voice’.

And not just a pretty voice, not even just a strong voice – but a voice with a remarkable, unique quality which may have warranted legions of favourable Kate Bush comparisons, but ultimately means Laura transcends them.

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Plastiscines – Barcelona

Plasticines

If you’re not familiar with the Parisian rock chicks that are Plastiscines then strap yourselves in and prepare to go on an exciting musical journey.….

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Beat The Radar – 18,19,20,21,22

Beat The Radar

When a lot of indie bands seem to be going out of their way to add as many irritating sound effects their songs in the interests of being ‘individual’ or even worse ‘experimenal’ it’s nice to hear a band who understand the importance of injecting a bit of pop into the formula, and Beat The Radar do just that.

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The Longcut – Repeated

The Longcut

Don’t you just love seriously repetitive music with irritating vocals and uninteresting instrumentation? Me neither, but it seems as though The Longcut must, otherwise they’d have never recorded this track, let alone released it as a single and filmed a video.

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