Twenty Fiddly Songs
Twenty Songs, 23rd April 2006
So. Another week, another twenty songs. Due to record playing and such and such it's not the most accurate list. A lot of the songs that could've been in here were the ones I listened to when selecting songs to play. However a lot of them were selected before I sorted all that out so. Well. Let's see eh.
Underworld's Two Months Off, here in radio edit form cuz the full ones about an hour long (bless their hearts), wanders in at twenty, a fantastic little club track that really doesn't get the plays of Born Slippy despite, much like Push Upstairs from Beaucoup Fish, it proved on their last album their still had it in them to write anthems. Debasser was next with another little techno number, or UK Bass as they were trying to get it called. The Cutlass Supreme remix of Fat Girls is just an awesome track but, bizarrely, the only one we have by Debasser or Cutlass Supreme. Which is something we should probably rectify.
Darlings Of The Splitscreen came next, with by far the best track on their latest EP but not necessarily the best in their arsenal. We dunno, though. We saw them play on that Thursday night and they seemed pretty good. So. Yeah. They're in there. Aphex is next and should perhaps be in there more but writing non-vocal tracks (instrumental seems entirely the wrong word) it's hard to remember which tracks exactly we love most on Chosen Lords. Batine Acid sounds about right though, heh. Semifinalists are in by virtue of just being reviewed this week and also because their album is a very strong one. Strange though, like food you really like but is a bit oily on the tongue and you always think back to not having enjoyed it as much as you did while you were eating it. Hmm.
Supersystem, ¡Forward, Russia! and, up in the top ten, This Et Al are all in by virtue of being the best bands of the last year and also having been played on Thursday. Similar reason for Liars inclusion except playing them the other night made us just want to keep playing them all week. I can see a feature on They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top (or whatever it's stupid name is) in the near future. Absolutely stellar album.
Stateless up next having been played earlier in the week when we were trying to decide who the recommend on the back of Circlesquare. As we keep saying, it took about six months for us to like Stateless but now we do they're easily a five star band. Unusal that. Data Panik up next. Not as good as Cubis (I Love You) but then whatever will be, indie-pop wise? Nothing probably. However Control The Radical is just as punch and hook driven and another week of listens might find us pushing it higher in the list. Autolux finish off the Just Outside The Top Five bunch on the back of a few weeks of their album getting pretty heavy rotation here in Unlixes Studios. Definitely.
Into the top five and Circlesquare obviously makes his impression. It was difficult to chose from the tracks on the Fight Sounds EP, with any of them, from Part 1 to Part 3 or either of the separate tracks could've been in this week's hotly contested list. Still, one of them had to be in there and frankly had to be top five so Part 2c was chosen with it's ominous you want it we go it chant. Virus Syndicate were next; Manc Grime, although in this case featuring - as the title suggests - the cream of the capital's MCs. Fallacy and Ears, Trimbal and Jammer, it's a good lineup and that twitchy, clickpop, wobbly, synthed up bass has turned the entire of Camp Unlixes into some sort of School For Robot Dancing all week. We are just freakazoids, come on and wind us up. Fantastic track.
Bearsuit get the honour of three tracks in the Twenty this week with the entirity of their latest single in the list. XXVVV XXVVV (thirty five thirty five?) and the even more excellent Shhh Get Out are just Ex Models on Ecstacy, gloriously twee and frantically skewed, cut up and ripped to shreds. Like Bearsuit's other songs, full of twists and turns, except even more condensed than the usually Campbells Soup style of the set. The lead, Steven F***king Spielberg, is more of the same but more ponderous (in comparison, at least - still dangerously frantic compared to, well, most) and with presumably movie-esque (hence the title?) horror flick strings. Can Bearsuit just do no wrong?
Who knows. More to the point, who knows who Pinch is. We don't really, however we certainly want to know. Somewhat in the Tipper mould, making subdued, almost not there click and bass. So restrained and tightly produced the result is just an absolute joy to behold. Slightly tribal this one, with what could be bongos and aboriginal bass waahing, that Amazonian stab of melody. Altogether, though, this is one of those tracks that reminds me why I got into music and makes me wonder why I spend so much of my time on earnest but unoriginal kids with guitars. Both Qawwali and the VIP version are just, pure, understated elegance.
So. Another week, another twenty songs. Due to record playing and such and such it's not the most accurate list. A lot of the songs that could've been in here were the ones I listened to when selecting songs to play. However a lot of them were selected before I sorted all that out so. Well. Let's see eh.
Underworld's Two Months Off, here in radio edit form cuz the full ones about an hour long (bless their hearts), wanders in at twenty, a fantastic little club track that really doesn't get the plays of Born Slippy despite, much like Push Upstairs from Beaucoup Fish, it proved on their last album their still had it in them to write anthems. Debasser was next with another little techno number, or UK Bass as they were trying to get it called. The Cutlass Supreme remix of Fat Girls is just an awesome track but, bizarrely, the only one we have by Debasser or Cutlass Supreme. Which is something we should probably rectify.
Darlings Of The Splitscreen came next, with by far the best track on their latest EP but not necessarily the best in their arsenal. We dunno, though. We saw them play on that Thursday night and they seemed pretty good. So. Yeah. They're in there. Aphex is next and should perhaps be in there more but writing non-vocal tracks (instrumental seems entirely the wrong word) it's hard to remember which tracks exactly we love most on Chosen Lords. Batine Acid sounds about right though, heh. Semifinalists are in by virtue of just being reviewed this week and also because their album is a very strong one. Strange though, like food you really like but is a bit oily on the tongue and you always think back to not having enjoyed it as much as you did while you were eating it. Hmm.
Supersystem, ¡Forward, Russia! and, up in the top ten, This Et Al are all in by virtue of being the best bands of the last year and also having been played on Thursday. Similar reason for Liars inclusion except playing them the other night made us just want to keep playing them all week. I can see a feature on They Threw Us All In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top (or whatever it's stupid name is) in the near future. Absolutely stellar album.
Stateless up next having been played earlier in the week when we were trying to decide who the recommend on the back of Circlesquare. As we keep saying, it took about six months for us to like Stateless but now we do they're easily a five star band. Unusal that. Data Panik up next. Not as good as Cubis (I Love You) but then whatever will be, indie-pop wise? Nothing probably. However Control The Radical is just as punch and hook driven and another week of listens might find us pushing it higher in the list. Autolux finish off the Just Outside The Top Five bunch on the back of a few weeks of their album getting pretty heavy rotation here in Unlixes Studios. Definitely.
Into the top five and Circlesquare obviously makes his impression. It was difficult to chose from the tracks on the Fight Sounds EP, with any of them, from Part 1 to Part 3 or either of the separate tracks could've been in this week's hotly contested list. Still, one of them had to be in there and frankly had to be top five so Part 2c was chosen with it's ominous you want it we go it chant. Virus Syndicate were next; Manc Grime, although in this case featuring - as the title suggests - the cream of the capital's MCs. Fallacy and Ears, Trimbal and Jammer, it's a good lineup and that twitchy, clickpop, wobbly, synthed up bass has turned the entire of Camp Unlixes into some sort of School For Robot Dancing all week. We are just freakazoids, come on and wind us up. Fantastic track.
Bearsuit get the honour of three tracks in the Twenty this week with the entirity of their latest single in the list. XXVVV XXVVV (thirty five thirty five?) and the even more excellent Shhh Get Out are just Ex Models on Ecstacy, gloriously twee and frantically skewed, cut up and ripped to shreds. Like Bearsuit's other songs, full of twists and turns, except even more condensed than the usually Campbells Soup style of the set. The lead, Steven F***king Spielberg, is more of the same but more ponderous (in comparison, at least - still dangerously frantic compared to, well, most) and with presumably movie-esque (hence the title?) horror flick strings. Can Bearsuit just do no wrong?
Who knows. More to the point, who knows who Pinch is. We don't really, however we certainly want to know. Somewhat in the Tipper mould, making subdued, almost not there click and bass. So restrained and tightly produced the result is just an absolute joy to behold. Slightly tribal this one, with what could be bongos and aboriginal bass waahing, that Amazonian stab of melody. Altogether, though, this is one of those tracks that reminds me why I got into music and makes me wonder why I spend so much of my time on earnest but unoriginal kids with guitars. Both Qawwali and the VIP version are just, pure, understated elegance.