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[Merok : 2010]
I woke up this morning feeling like I do most mornings: grumbling, recovering from really messed up dreams, sleep in the eyes, muscles twitchy, desperate for ten cups of tea. I cut two pieces of bread in the most un-uniform way imaginable and jammed into the toaster one that was absurdly thick, another that had an enormous hole due to my serially bad visual-spatial skills (combined with a shithouse bread knife). I couldn’t find anything to wear and I think I have an ingrown finger nail. It hurts like the seventh circle of hell is overheated. I hit my arm on the bedroom door on my funny bone and there was fuck all ‘funny’ about it. The toothpaste situation was dire and Gerald, the papier mache giraffe I live with, was disrespecting me from underneath a trucker cap. Screw you, Gerald. You know what happened then? My funny bone hurts, my teeth are angry, my muscles keep twitching and the bread is still cut retardedly; but the day is as warm, as hopeful and as feel-good as a great first date. Curtis Lane - the exquisite EP by Active Child has just arrived at the local post office and it sounds kind of like a hug from a benevolent robot made of sunshine and moon beams. Memory Tapes and Washed Out are very good, but Active Child is great. Album Of The Week is still riding the chillwave – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that – especially once you discover the best the genre has to offer. Coffee?
listen to Active Child
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[Fat Possum : 2009]
This is probably one of the best bands around at the moment. No one quite does effortless garage rock n roll with epic pop hooks (translation: ridiculously catchy DIY fuzzed out guitar tunes) as well as this band, in our totally inexpert option. They have a new EP coming out in July which is very exciting, and if it’s half as rad as their debut EP ‘Summer Of Hate’ we will be even more excited. Not down with it? Well let me give you the down low: sweet reverb-heavy lo-fi, feedback laden tracks that combine punk, shoegaze, psych-rock, pop into this beautifully focused, slacker record. A contradiction in terms: “focused-slacker”? Sure it is. But this isn’t you’re average garage band. They know how to write a song you want to dance to and you want to French kiss a tall dark stranger to. With hints of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Suicide and a much hookier No Age, Crocodiles are so much better than a lot of the lo-fi “hype” bands out there. “I Wanna Kill” was one of our favourite tracks from last year, and “Soft Skull” and “Young Drugs” are killer. If you haven’t discovered them already, get your shit together buddies.
buy on itunes
Crocodiles
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[Columbia : 1975]
Take yourself back to 1975 (I need to use my imagination as was born in ’82). Springsteen’s breakthrough album Born To Run came out - the one that launched his place as one of rock’s most prolific songwriters and performers. The Sixties were over and so was the music that had made it the first decade of rock n roll: The Beatles were splitting up, acid had lost its mystique, and the whole ‘intense angsty rock star’ vibe was getting tired.
The world needed a shakeup: they needed an everyman. A passionate soul who would speak the truth about hardworking everyday life – not the psychedelic fantasy world that Led Zeppelin had created a few years earlier. Bruce told stories about the anti-American dream, about the person you lived next door to in your tiny apartment, about the simple tragedies and triumphs, the hardships, the escapes, the realistic hopes and pain of people like you living in the real – non rock ‘n’ roll – world.
Born To Run is the record that represented the change of times. It is dramatic but believeable. It’s epic but not overblown. It’s beautiful, but boyish – manly! - and dirty. I still feel something when I hear “Born To Run”. I feel like the tale of the narrator and Wendy is something that I’ve experienced before. Tramps like us baby, we were born to run. That desperate longing to clock out of the 9 to 5, jump in the bus (or a motorbike if you’re really really real) and see what the future holds. The message has never aged – everyday someone has a sick day inspired by the ethos behind that song.
Forget your privileged rock stars with their awesome hair styles and front row fashion show seats. Put on your oldest and least tailored jeans and discard your pretensions with one of the best, classic rock albums ever recorded. Even for middle-class private school kids who drink skim milk like me, it can still feel blue collar as all hell. That’s gotta stand for something.
Tramps like us, baby...
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[Slumberland : 2009]
Twitter: the social network phenomenon that has given so much and so little depending on who you talk to. However, one thing Twitter has given Album of The Week is a tip off about the fantastic indie pop band Pains of Being Heart.
After getting a tweet recommending the album we investigated and quickly discovered a band that soon became a hands down favourite on our record player.
It was released in 2009 and didn’t garner a huge buzz; maybe because the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart vibe is an understated one – or a familiar one? We aren’t sure, but we do think it’s one of the best releases from last year (which we, somewhat embarrassingly, happened upon a few months late). The sound is mellow, guitar-based shoegaze romantic pop, along the lines of greats such as The Smiths, My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain; but whether you you’re a fan of the classics or not, this album has something to offer anyone whose heart lies somewhere in the Eighties. And whose doesn’t?
Pretty but by no means saccharine, the highlights of the record are "This Love Is Fucking Right” (yeah – a swear among the shoegaze!), "Stay Alive", "Young Adult Friction" and “Come Saturday” – with the beautiful, emotionless boy-girl vocals of Kip Berman and Peggy Wang. Like The xx but geared towards a wiser (okay: older) crowd.
We love this album.
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listen to pains of being pure at heart
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Jonka is an electro-pop Brooklyn based husband/wife duo whose love is the music of their 1980s childhood: the marriage of pop, synthesizers, dance and rock. They put their betrothed heads together to give us the 10 songs they would want to have with them if trapped on a desert island. Or at least for this week…and their the first of our series of bands to graciously give us the desert island mixtape.
My Delirium - Ladyhawke - Both of us are in love with this girl and this video and this song. As far as retro-80s is concerned, Ladyhawke's got it. She is as cool now as she would have been then.
Heartbeats - The Knife - One of the greatest sounding songs of the last few years. The digital landscape, the depth of the synthesizers and the groove are tremendous. One of our favorite Swedish groups too. Jose Gonzalez, another awesome Swedish artist, did a cover of this song. That's also worth checking out.
Valerie - Steve Winwood - Steve Winwood encapsulated a time for us. Particularly with this song. The late 70's, early 80's. That keyboard and synth sound! Giant landscape of sound that still leaves room to breathe and listen. Steve Winwood is such a great singer and songwriter. It was a tough call between "Valerie" and "That's just the way it is" but the upbeat sound of "Valerie" takes the prize.
Only You - Yaz - This is the best song we never knew we loved so much. A good friend of ours put this song on a mix for us last year and we fell in love with it. I wish I wrote this song (Jon). It's the kind of song I would write. The kind of song I want to write. So full of love. It's romantic and heartfelt. Just like the best songs of the 80's.
Parentheses - The Blow - This song was introduced to us in the last year or so and we both fell in love with the lyrics, the melody and the feeling behind it all. I think this is one of the most genuine, honest and touching songs. It's so playful and it has a great driving beat. The combination is just perfect. I love the imagery of the line "While you're holding me we make a pair of parenthesis." So beautiful. In fact this song has several incredible lyrical moments. Unfortunately this group broke up. One of the members is behind the band Yacht which also does electro-pop/indie type music that we're into these days.
Islands in the Stream - Dolly Parton / Kenny Rogers - Two of the greatest singers of the 70's and 80's together in one of the best duet songs ever. It was written by the Bee-gees. It doesn't get much better than that. There was a period of time when we were obsessed with this song. Right after we got married we were traveling through Belize in Central America. One night as we sat at an Indian restaurant on the beach in a little town called Hopkins, out from the radio playing in this tiny kitchen right off the beach comes "Islands in the Stream." We were shocked and in awe by the timeliness of it all. It was a magical moment in a really special place. Both the song and the personal experience. The harmonies. The disco inspired ballad. Nice!
Happiness is a Warm Gun - Beatles - As much as everyone loves the Beatles, there are many Beatles tunes you wouldn't want to be stranded on an island with! That being said, this song is the most dynamic representation of what the Beatles were capable of and inspired by. The Doo-Wop and early Rock and Roll vocal styles, the experimental sounds and the ability to put it all together in a cohesive and effective way is truly inspiring. I'm always amazed by the depths of a Beatles recording. There's always something new to hear and discover.
Paul Simon - Kodachrome - This song is coming with me to the grave (says Annika). It just grooves and the harmonies are so tight. A few years ago we had the honor and pleasure of meeting Paul Simon. We had a great conversation about songwriting, guitar playing and influences. It was one of the greatest moments ever standing there with one of our favorite songwriters of all time. The whole time we're talking with Paul, all I can hear in my head was "Kodachrome". Turns out both Annika and I were singing that song in our heads at the same time. That happens a lot. There couldn't be a desert island playlist without at least one Paul Simon song. There are too many to choose from but if we have to pick one then this is it.
As - Stevie Wonder - Stevie had to be on our top ten. I (Annika) was obsessed with this song way before George Michael and Mary J. Blige decided to cover it. The background vocals kick ass and I love the raspiness in Stevie's voice. Stevie Wonder is one of the most influential and talented artists of all time. Pop music with incredible depth.
Shadows of the Night - Pat Benetar - We were lucky enough to see Pat Benetar in concert a few months back. Holy crap, she's still got it! Her voice could blow the door right off its hinges. She saved most of her big 80's hits until the very end but she opened the show with "Shadows of the Night". She came right in with those vocals and we both looked at each other with our mouths hanging wide open. Immediately followed by screaming and jumping up to our feet. It felt like 1982! We love that Pat Benatar was born in Brooklyn, NY which is where we live!
listen to jonka
jonka on youtube
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[Merok : 2010]
