Dreamy guitar pop from Nashville singer & guitarist Charlie Whitten. Not much to say about this other than the fact that it’s lovely. I nearly let the cover art put me off (I’m not a fan) but glad curiosity got the better of me.
An odd sort of electronic post-punk ensemble of musicians from around the world (with contributors from Brazil, UK, Germany, the Philippines, Finland and the USA), who collaborate over the internet to create themed compilations. This one is about sex. There’s one coming up about summer. It would genuinely not be out of place in placed in between a Nina Hagen album and a Cabaret Voltaire record. And it’s free. Enjoy
As we move our clocks forward and our thoughts turn back to mowing the lawn, sitting outside with a cool drink and, essentially, emerging from our hibernation – we require a soundtrack. May I suggest the rather lovely, bright and breezy, but laid-back and tentative tones of undocument? A thoughtful and very pleasant Boards-of-Canada-ish collection of instrumentals to accompany your first steps back out into the sunlight. You’re welcome.
Not the first release on the Wah Wah 45 record label I’ve featured here, and it will almost certainly not be the last. The very classy latin jazz big band stylings of the Colman Brothers are a sophisticated addition to any record collection. But don’t just take it from me. This is Kevin’s Bandcamp Staff Pick of the Day as well.
Local lads This Is Sinister have released a couple of tracks as a free download: No Scene B18. That’s sort of Jewellery Quarter/Hockley area, if I’m not mistaken. A real gumbo of flavours. I’m getting some psychedelia influences, solid pop-rock structures, the good bits of Big Country, a sprinkling of early Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, and a heaping helping of Hüsker Dü. They think they’re best described as Hall and Oates covering At The Drive-In, but we’re not going to agree on that. But you should download it and hear what you hear. There is no wrong answer here. Except the one about Hall and Oates.
Debuted at number one in New Zealand, knocking Adele off her 26-week run at the top of the album charts – and it’s not hard to see why. This album embraces the sound of New Zealand popular music and utterly resonates with it – absorbing and distilling the local electronic, reggae, funk, soul, dub and rock influences that characterise so much of what has come to represent the ‘kiwi flavour’ in popular music. And with Tiki Taane at the helm and appearances by NZ production royalty like DJ Mu, you know this is going to be good – and it’s going to have (at least for me) the taste of home. But this isn’t an insider album playing to local idiosyncrasies – this will travel. Prepare for Six60 to be significant on the world stage. But don’t wait. Get in now.
I had to include this as I’ve just been talking to these guys and I’m absolutely fascinated with the way that they work and the way that they think about their music and how it connects with the outside world. They like to think of it as ‘post-genre’ which is an idea I quite like – and certainly every song they make sounds entirely unlike any other song they make, except you can tell it came from the same minds. Beautifully produced weirdness that takes the utterly familiar and makes it incredibly strange. Check out track 2, which delivers on the incredible pun ‘zombie apocalypso’. Frank Zappa teams up with the Muppets to bring down Hollywood. And it’s free. Share and enjoy.
They’re already darlings of the festival scene, and BBC Radio 1 and 6Music both seem rather excited about this band – and it’s not hard to see why. They come off all ‘XTC for the digital age’ and ‘next batch of saviours of pop music’ – and they’re pulling it off rather nicely. It’s upbeat clever-clever angular guitar pop, but with an extra bit of self-aware, tongue-in-cheek ‘zing’ that lifts it well above the ordinary. Moments of King Crimson (and even 10CC) shine through at times, but this is entirely contemporary. The 180g vinyl release is very, very tempting. Thanks to @auxsmusic for the tip-off.
On paper, this is an unlikely partnership between an Antarctic oceanographer (vocalist Peter Keen) and a larger-than-life sports broadcaster (pianist Graeme Humphreys, known on the radio as Graeme Hill). But for Humphreys and Keen, The Overflow is a return to the symphonic pop territory of the pair’s earlier band, Able Tasmans. This is not just a great New Zealand record – but to my mind, one of the greatest — and most criminally overlooked — records ever made.
