Twenty Additional Songs
Twenty Songs, 5th March 2006
This week has been pretty hectic music wise, first week of the month and all that. Can't see it slowing down a huge amount either. So we shall see. However all of this influx wreaks havoc on a Twenty Songs list.
There were one hundred and forty four songs added to the playlist since this time last week. Of those we had three compilations. Can You Hear Me Clearly from Moshi Moshi, which to be honest was a bit weak. Leeds:2005 from Engine Room Records which was pretty good and Dance To The Radio's utterly superb What We All Want compilation, which was what we all wanted. Add that to longplayers from Stephen Jones, JME, Arctic Monkeys and Magnétophone as well as EPs from Chris Clark (now just called Clark) and Errors, the lsat three of which were instrumental, and you have a recipe for just not being able to pick out twenty individual songs. As such the non-instrumental albums got the most coverage, with the instrumental EPs really doing damage simply on the basis of their standout quality. Mystery Jets and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah just got overrun and barely even a listen between them. Mystery Jets are playing now for what seems like the first time.
Blood Red Shoes creep into the middle of the chart (despite not arriving this week) partly by virtue of missing out on last weeks but mostly because they're just a fascinating prospect of a band. Arab Strap also got in as we discovered the hidden tragedy of Don't Ask Me To Dance. Mogwai's pre-album MP3 single of a live performance of Glasgow Mega-Snake, from their forthcoming Mr Beast album, gets on because we still really like Mogwai, despite them still refusing to repeat the praise monopolising My Father, My King. Clinic, also, get into the charts from a download, in this case the free one of their new single, as seen on the website.
Arctic Monkeys songs are just awesome snippets of nightlife and as such appeal on more than just the guitar and drums appeal. Its their best stories that pop up here, rather than the most fun of their songs. A Certain Romance and it's talk of tracksuits in socks isn't exactly a lifeshattering revelation but it just doesn't find its way into songs enough. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong.. and its music industry baiting is just bitter enough to spit without stooping to their level. Their. Hah.
Magnétophone stay in the chart because reviewing their album was a difficult job and kept the album playing over and over here in Camp Unlx. In The Hours After's hypnotic chant compared to Without Word's shoegazer fuzz, all so sour gobstopper delicious. Probably, though, because the other album - inspiringly titled I Guess Sometimes I Need To Be Reminded Of How Much You Love Me - is all instrumental and thus doesn't have nearly the same impact as the avant pop of The Man Who Ate The Man.
Another thing that doesn't tend to get much airtime is compilations, especially in the case of the two Leeds originated LPs, Leeds:2005 and What We All Want, probably however by virtue of having known names, O Fracas and This Et Al from Leeds:2005 made the grade for this month. I think What We All Want arrived a bit too late in the week to sway this Twenty but maybe next. Moth To A Flame took a while to work its way into our system, however that O Fracas off the wall approach to songwriting was always going to be a hit. Mother Was A Vulture, however, after just two listens, was another absolutely blinding example of what This Et Al do best, which is lead the new UK rock scene from the front. They prove it again on last week's Xtra Mile split single, to which they contributed Pigs Make Children Sick, which talks inexplicably about buying bowling balls or something. Awesome.
JME was another high spender in the charts, adding a bit of urrban edge with his stunning mixtape, Boy Better Know - Shh Hut Yuh Muh. Dark and tempestuous with just one cheesy 80's track it's the sound that makes us love Grime with a lyricist who can pull some dirty tricks out of his doorag. Hot indeed, start to finish, picking out tracks to go in the Twenty was a difficult job truth be told. Indeed, his album features tracks by three other artists, Wiley's Eskiboy, Skepta's Fuckin Widda Team and Trigz's Reach That High, a nice tune that works its way into the charts here too. Really, though it's the lyrics on 96 Bars Of Revenge that left all your mandem for dead. Observe.
my lyrics will cheap up your rhymes, you just talk about beef all the time, your content is weaker than mine, your dry lyrics need some e45. mc's just lie too much, if not then they say like too much, easy peasy similes used frequenty really gets on my nerves. high like sky, big like ben, air like pie, that's what you do in your rhymes, not like mine, when i come around its metaphor time.
It wasn't so hard to pick the standout track from Clark's Throttle Furniture EP, which to be fair had a couple of cheapie tracks. Cheap for him, though, is still a wonderful thing to behold. Really, though, it was Urgent Jell Hock which stole the show with its brittle and booming sonic assault. More full frontal than his previous LP but still an utterly sublime, battered gem.
Which leaves us with Errors second release. Their first was a bit of a let down. On Mogwai's Rock Action label and hyped as dark and glitchy we were expecting something a bit post rock a bit Warp. Instead we got something a bit Squarepusher b-side. I mean, it was good, don't get me wrong. It was a really nice pair of songs. Or, at least, the a-side was really nice, the b-side was just weak. However there was still something about it which said, I will lead you to greatness. So we kept an eye on them and were eager for the How Clean Is Your Acid House EP when it was released. My word were we not disappointed. From the first deep bass note all the way to the end it was exactly what we wanted.
Ever heard of Eyen? It's one of the Unlixes All Time Top Ten tracks. Right up there with All Is Full Of Love and Rabbit In Your Headlights. So good I refuse to put it on my compilations so as to preserve the sanctity of it. It's basically an IDM take on Post Rock. Not that glitchy but it just progresses so perfectly, it's so well weights, that all is full of love for it. Well, How Clean Is Your Acid House is an EP full of that song. It clicks, builds, broods, skips, bleeps, chimes and needles. Its warm and analogue without being soft and dismissable. It's sharp and glitchy without being cold or alienating. Our mouths now water at the prospect of a full Errors album. Roll on.
This week has been pretty hectic music wise, first week of the month and all that. Can't see it slowing down a huge amount either. So we shall see. However all of this influx wreaks havoc on a Twenty Songs list.
There were one hundred and forty four songs added to the playlist since this time last week. Of those we had three compilations. Can You Hear Me Clearly from Moshi Moshi, which to be honest was a bit weak. Leeds:2005 from Engine Room Records which was pretty good and Dance To The Radio's utterly superb What We All Want compilation, which was what we all wanted. Add that to longplayers from Stephen Jones, JME, Arctic Monkeys and Magnétophone as well as EPs from Chris Clark (now just called Clark) and Errors, the lsat three of which were instrumental, and you have a recipe for just not being able to pick out twenty individual songs. As such the non-instrumental albums got the most coverage, with the instrumental EPs really doing damage simply on the basis of their standout quality. Mystery Jets and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah just got overrun and barely even a listen between them. Mystery Jets are playing now for what seems like the first time.
Blood Red Shoes creep into the middle of the chart (despite not arriving this week) partly by virtue of missing out on last weeks but mostly because they're just a fascinating prospect of a band. Arab Strap also got in as we discovered the hidden tragedy of Don't Ask Me To Dance. Mogwai's pre-album MP3 single of a live performance of Glasgow Mega-Snake, from their forthcoming Mr Beast album, gets on because we still really like Mogwai, despite them still refusing to repeat the praise monopolising My Father, My King. Clinic, also, get into the charts from a download, in this case the free one of their new single, as seen on the website.
Arctic Monkeys songs are just awesome snippets of nightlife and as such appeal on more than just the guitar and drums appeal. Its their best stories that pop up here, rather than the most fun of their songs. A Certain Romance and it's talk of tracksuits in socks isn't exactly a lifeshattering revelation but it just doesn't find its way into songs enough. Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong.. and its music industry baiting is just bitter enough to spit without stooping to their level. Their. Hah.
Magnétophone stay in the chart because reviewing their album was a difficult job and kept the album playing over and over here in Camp Unlx. In The Hours After's hypnotic chant compared to Without Word's shoegazer fuzz, all so sour gobstopper delicious. Probably, though, because the other album - inspiringly titled I Guess Sometimes I Need To Be Reminded Of How Much You Love Me - is all instrumental and thus doesn't have nearly the same impact as the avant pop of The Man Who Ate The Man.
Another thing that doesn't tend to get much airtime is compilations, especially in the case of the two Leeds originated LPs, Leeds:2005 and What We All Want, probably however by virtue of having known names, O Fracas and This Et Al from Leeds:2005 made the grade for this month. I think What We All Want arrived a bit too late in the week to sway this Twenty but maybe next. Moth To A Flame took a while to work its way into our system, however that O Fracas off the wall approach to songwriting was always going to be a hit. Mother Was A Vulture, however, after just two listens, was another absolutely blinding example of what This Et Al do best, which is lead the new UK rock scene from the front. They prove it again on last week's Xtra Mile split single, to which they contributed Pigs Make Children Sick, which talks inexplicably about buying bowling balls or something. Awesome.
JME was another high spender in the charts, adding a bit of urrban edge with his stunning mixtape, Boy Better Know - Shh Hut Yuh Muh. Dark and tempestuous with just one cheesy 80's track it's the sound that makes us love Grime with a lyricist who can pull some dirty tricks out of his doorag. Hot indeed, start to finish, picking out tracks to go in the Twenty was a difficult job truth be told. Indeed, his album features tracks by three other artists, Wiley's Eskiboy, Skepta's Fuckin Widda Team and Trigz's Reach That High, a nice tune that works its way into the charts here too. Really, though it's the lyrics on 96 Bars Of Revenge that left all your mandem for dead. Observe.
my lyrics will cheap up your rhymes, you just talk about beef all the time, your content is weaker than mine, your dry lyrics need some e45. mc's just lie too much, if not then they say like too much, easy peasy similes used frequenty really gets on my nerves. high like sky, big like ben, air like pie, that's what you do in your rhymes, not like mine, when i come around its metaphor time.
It wasn't so hard to pick the standout track from Clark's Throttle Furniture EP, which to be fair had a couple of cheapie tracks. Cheap for him, though, is still a wonderful thing to behold. Really, though, it was Urgent Jell Hock which stole the show with its brittle and booming sonic assault. More full frontal than his previous LP but still an utterly sublime, battered gem.
Which leaves us with Errors second release. Their first was a bit of a let down. On Mogwai's Rock Action label and hyped as dark and glitchy we were expecting something a bit post rock a bit Warp. Instead we got something a bit Squarepusher b-side. I mean, it was good, don't get me wrong. It was a really nice pair of songs. Or, at least, the a-side was really nice, the b-side was just weak. However there was still something about it which said, I will lead you to greatness. So we kept an eye on them and were eager for the How Clean Is Your Acid House EP when it was released. My word were we not disappointed. From the first deep bass note all the way to the end it was exactly what we wanted.
Ever heard of Eyen? It's one of the Unlixes All Time Top Ten tracks. Right up there with All Is Full Of Love and Rabbit In Your Headlights. So good I refuse to put it on my compilations so as to preserve the sanctity of it. It's basically an IDM take on Post Rock. Not that glitchy but it just progresses so perfectly, it's so well weights, that all is full of love for it. Well, How Clean Is Your Acid House is an EP full of that song. It clicks, builds, broods, skips, bleeps, chimes and needles. Its warm and analogue without being soft and dismissable. It's sharp and glitchy without being cold or alienating. Our mouths now water at the prospect of a full Errors album. Roll on.