Twenty Eventual Songs
Twenty Songs, 2nd July 2006
It's been a long time coming this week's Twenty but to be fair the write up is the only part that's massively late, weighing in at Wednesday. The chart itself was done on Monday which is clearly only a day late. Probably first thing ish on Monday too but y'know, what the whole blah blah. We're not gonna talk about it any more. It's an interesting chart, though. It surprised us at times.
It kicks off with Piskie Sits, with the first track from their forthcoming album which was sent to us by the nice people at Wrath. It's a shame, really that a) it was sent to us and b) the people at Wrath are so nice because we haven't got into the album at all yet. However, the first track is a very nice one. We're thinking about inventing some scenes and giving them names. The main one is our New Grunge scene. When we say inventing scenes, we mean, re-naming some scenes that existed years ago but seem to becoming more popular again now. We might call is Dosmetic, after Drain Cosmetics by Serena Maneesh. Whatever we call it, The Morning After Girls seem an exponent. We've yet to be sold by them either.
We've talked about Plan B and his No More Eatin' is one of the tracks that might yet turn us round in his direction. Sarandon don't need any such help and we've just received a whopping twenty eight track album by them. Awesome. Prove It was the instant favourite of those we'd not heard before. I don't need to talk about Justice Vs Simian but only because everybody should be. We Are Your Friends is an awesome song. Fact. As are all the songs on Give Me A Wall by ¡Forward, Russia, Thirteen chosen for this week's Twenty cuz we got it played by our mate the DJ on Friday. Ha, he played that song cuz we gave it him about a year ago on a mix CD - he doesn't have the album, bless him. Not much call, I guess. Got any Razorlight, mate?
We also don't need to say much more about Serena Maneesh except that we're waiting for their album to get in to HMV and I think we'll have to buy it. Hey, if we're doing a feature on a scene we think they're smack bang in the middle of an' all that. It was re-release time for Editors' Blood the week before last and it keeps its place in the chart this week because of it. Their songs are always good, though, so, durr. As are the better tracks of grime, as exemplified by Wonder's What as remixed by Geeneus. Mostly cuz the bass on it is so exquisitly low. Little nod also to Simian Mobile Disco's Hustler. Good, good song.
Into the top half and Autolux manage to leapfrog ten other songs without getting any airplay at all. Imagine that. Just because we know how good they are, we heard their names a few times while doing the site recode and had to have them in the Twenty. That's presence. Capital Kind Of Strain it was we chose. We listened to it more fully on Monday and were happy with our decision but when we made it, the album hadn't been on the stereo for weeks. Chance'd've been a fine thing.
What definitely was on the stereo though, was Artrocker's Summer Of Six compilation, which we recommend everybody get a copy of the magazine for, as its free on the cover. It featured a superb Elle Milano track, a remix of Katsuki & The Stilettoed Stranger, which added further credence to our earlier claims that they were a good band just reaching their stride. Also good are You And The Atom Bomb although they, like Punish The Atom (you can see why we get them confused, right?), both have great songs on this compilation despite us never having heard a track by them before that really, really engaged us. Also on that compilation is the on-everyone's-lips Swedish act Love Is All with the wickedly angular Talk Talk Talk Talk. Superb.
Into the top five and it's, wooo!, Röyksopp, with What Else Is There?, vocals by the girl from The Knife, remix by the ever on form Thin White Duke. AKA you know who. (Stuart Price, in case you don't, Les Rhythm Digitales, Jacques Le Cont, etc, etc). It's basically happy hardcore innit. Which, y'know, is as cheesy as life gets but when it's good, it's all flashlights, and explosions, and flashlights, and explosions. (It's not really happy hardcore, it's too considered, it's just got happy hardcore vocals - although, to be fair, that is the genre's defining feature.)
Next up, you know who, DJ DJ DJ DJ! Put some Klaxons on and lets get the party started why don't we. We've gushed heavily about the Klaxons all month and hey, guess what, it's cuz they utterly rule. Get 'em on. Do it. Do it now. And cuz you've not got long before you have to put Help She Can't Swim on, as their excellent Cut The Biography gets back into the charts on the back of Artrocker's CD. Except unlike the others in this week it's been here done it all before.
At number two, just, battering at number one's done, is iLiKETRAiNS the band with the best capitalisation in rock. Also, the best post rock with songs formula in all of music. Sour, soul destroying, bleak but ultimately some of the best songs ever written. This twenty list was done before their compilation came out (which makes it a bit naughty we've put a picture of the compilation next to that song, we'll change that) but both A Rook House For Bobby, their second song, and the follow up to The Beeching Report, Terra Nova make it into the chart this week. Because they're both staggering works of spirit crushing genius. Listen to late, when the world is crumbling around you.
Which just leaves us number one and for not the first time its a band we've never really loved before and can't imagine going on to love with all our hearts in future who have managed, by hook, crook or cuz it was always in them, to craft one of the best pop records of the year. She's Attracted To is just great, isn't it. Whatever you thought of The Young Knives prior to it, however disappointed you've been with them, this song is just absolutely stellar. Full of witty one liners and a slutty little bassline that gives it up on the first date but is just too carnal to ignore. Stripped back and a bit bonkers but, hey, brilliant. Which is brilliant!
It's been a long time coming this week's Twenty but to be fair the write up is the only part that's massively late, weighing in at Wednesday. The chart itself was done on Monday which is clearly only a day late. Probably first thing ish on Monday too but y'know, what the whole blah blah. We're not gonna talk about it any more. It's an interesting chart, though. It surprised us at times.
It kicks off with Piskie Sits, with the first track from their forthcoming album which was sent to us by the nice people at Wrath. It's a shame, really that a) it was sent to us and b) the people at Wrath are so nice because we haven't got into the album at all yet. However, the first track is a very nice one. We're thinking about inventing some scenes and giving them names. The main one is our New Grunge scene. When we say inventing scenes, we mean, re-naming some scenes that existed years ago but seem to becoming more popular again now. We might call is Dosmetic, after Drain Cosmetics by Serena Maneesh. Whatever we call it, The Morning After Girls seem an exponent. We've yet to be sold by them either.
We've talked about Plan B and his No More Eatin' is one of the tracks that might yet turn us round in his direction. Sarandon don't need any such help and we've just received a whopping twenty eight track album by them. Awesome. Prove It was the instant favourite of those we'd not heard before. I don't need to talk about Justice Vs Simian but only because everybody should be. We Are Your Friends is an awesome song. Fact. As are all the songs on Give Me A Wall by ¡Forward, Russia, Thirteen chosen for this week's Twenty cuz we got it played by our mate the DJ on Friday. Ha, he played that song cuz we gave it him about a year ago on a mix CD - he doesn't have the album, bless him. Not much call, I guess. Got any Razorlight, mate?
We also don't need to say much more about Serena Maneesh except that we're waiting for their album to get in to HMV and I think we'll have to buy it. Hey, if we're doing a feature on a scene we think they're smack bang in the middle of an' all that. It was re-release time for Editors' Blood the week before last and it keeps its place in the chart this week because of it. Their songs are always good, though, so, durr. As are the better tracks of grime, as exemplified by Wonder's What as remixed by Geeneus. Mostly cuz the bass on it is so exquisitly low. Little nod also to Simian Mobile Disco's Hustler. Good, good song.
Into the top half and Autolux manage to leapfrog ten other songs without getting any airplay at all. Imagine that. Just because we know how good they are, we heard their names a few times while doing the site recode and had to have them in the Twenty. That's presence. Capital Kind Of Strain it was we chose. We listened to it more fully on Monday and were happy with our decision but when we made it, the album hadn't been on the stereo for weeks. Chance'd've been a fine thing.
What definitely was on the stereo though, was Artrocker's Summer Of Six compilation, which we recommend everybody get a copy of the magazine for, as its free on the cover. It featured a superb Elle Milano track, a remix of Katsuki & The Stilettoed Stranger, which added further credence to our earlier claims that they were a good band just reaching their stride. Also good are You And The Atom Bomb although they, like Punish The Atom (you can see why we get them confused, right?), both have great songs on this compilation despite us never having heard a track by them before that really, really engaged us. Also on that compilation is the on-everyone's-lips Swedish act Love Is All with the wickedly angular Talk Talk Talk Talk. Superb.
Into the top five and it's, wooo!, Röyksopp, with What Else Is There?, vocals by the girl from The Knife, remix by the ever on form Thin White Duke. AKA you know who. (Stuart Price, in case you don't, Les Rhythm Digitales, Jacques Le Cont, etc, etc). It's basically happy hardcore innit. Which, y'know, is as cheesy as life gets but when it's good, it's all flashlights, and explosions, and flashlights, and explosions. (It's not really happy hardcore, it's too considered, it's just got happy hardcore vocals - although, to be fair, that is the genre's defining feature.)
Next up, you know who, DJ DJ DJ DJ! Put some Klaxons on and lets get the party started why don't we. We've gushed heavily about the Klaxons all month and hey, guess what, it's cuz they utterly rule. Get 'em on. Do it. Do it now. And cuz you've not got long before you have to put Help She Can't Swim on, as their excellent Cut The Biography gets back into the charts on the back of Artrocker's CD. Except unlike the others in this week it's been here done it all before.
At number two, just, battering at number one's done, is iLiKETRAiNS the band with the best capitalisation in rock. Also, the best post rock with songs formula in all of music. Sour, soul destroying, bleak but ultimately some of the best songs ever written. This twenty list was done before their compilation came out (which makes it a bit naughty we've put a picture of the compilation next to that song, we'll change that) but both A Rook House For Bobby, their second song, and the follow up to The Beeching Report, Terra Nova make it into the chart this week. Because they're both staggering works of spirit crushing genius. Listen to late, when the world is crumbling around you.
Which just leaves us number one and for not the first time its a band we've never really loved before and can't imagine going on to love with all our hearts in future who have managed, by hook, crook or cuz it was always in them, to craft one of the best pop records of the year. She's Attracted To is just great, isn't it. Whatever you thought of The Young Knives prior to it, however disappointed you've been with them, this song is just absolutely stellar. Full of witty one liners and a slutty little bassline that gives it up on the first date but is just too carnal to ignore. Stripped back and a bit bonkers but, hey, brilliant. Which is brilliant!