Under The Influence

Truthfully, I'm not sure what to think of this. Maybe I'm missing something but it just felt a bit safe. Parts of I Will Wait For You sound like a rip of a old White Stripes track (from the Blood Cells days).

Kinda country-pop-rock - generally a bit too happy - though I guess it's fun. Interestingly the song I liked the most, Hemsworth Hallway, was actually the happiest sounding of the bunch. It's got the catchiest hook on the album... "You know, we don't know what goes though your little miiiiiiiiiiiiind"

If nothing else it definitely sounds like it's derived from a different era.

This girl sure does like to sing about being in love. In fact.... that seems to be all she sings about. I thought she was an actor? The United Kingdom's Blonde Bombshell and all that.

I'm a sucker for horns in their many guises, probably one of the reasons I like swing. Plenty of horns here, that's for sure. Her voice is pretty, smooth and sweet. The arrangements feel a bit too polished - though, it is swing after all. Listening to it again I think I quite like it. Must have been in a funny mood last time.

I'm having a bit of a tidy up day today. Archiving off some of the music that's collected on my computer over the last few months. It's hard work parting with one's music, even just temporarily. Anyhoo, in doing so I'm listening to a bunch of stuff that I haven't listened to in a while - Atmosphere included.

Not sure who did the beats on this one but they're great. Super slick. The rhodes/guitar hook on Guns and Cigarettes is inspiring.

The Woman with the Tattooed Hands is a must hear - very touching piece of work. Other essentials to check out include Between the Lines, Don't Ever Fucking Question That and Like Today.

It's poetry man.

I know, I know, this is old news. I've listened to the album through before - it's just that this is the first time I've had my very own copy to enjoy.

This stuff is good. I've listened to too much Brit rock that really hasn't done much for me of late (I'm looking at you Arctic Monkeys) - listening to this again restores my faith in the genre. I think half the tracks on here were hits last summer, rightfully so too. It's fun. Silly fun with great pop hooks.

Chelsea Dagger is a top lads-down-at-the-pub-sing-a-long track. Overall it got a bit boring towards the end - but mostly because I've bombarded with this stuff so many times before that I already know the whole thing off by heart.

I have to admit that I've raved about Coco Rosie in the past without even really hearing them. Well I've heard them now, and I'm relieved to find that I was within my rights to take the stance I did. I'd become very familiar with Terrible Angels after randomly discovering it on an internet music service (Pandora from memory).

It strikes me how similar this is to a lot of the stuff I've been listening to in Berlin lately - Goldmund goodness like Golden Disko Ship. The fact that this is close to blues dawned on me when listening to Jesus Loves Me. This sounds so much like Sister Rosetta Tharpe that I have to wonder if it's a cover.

Acoustic guitar, twisted female vocals and beats formed from the scraps and rattles of found sounds. Every track, varied as they are, is great. Check out By Your Side, it's adorned with the sort of loop/hook that the hip-hop heads strive for.

Great to finally hear the whole work.

When I was first alerted to this album I was enthralled - their previous effort, Late Night Tales, has been one of my favourite mixes of late (excuse the pun). So, try to imagine my joy on discovering that it's all covers. That's right, every last track on here is a cover, two cds worth!

Thankfully I'm only familiar with a couple of them (I'm all about the new tunes). In particular Devo's Satisfaction has been high on my list of years (I actually had the pleasure of seeing them play it live recently).

Obviously the sound is completely new wave. Highlights for me include Jet Boy Jet Girl (Elton Motello), If You Want Me To Stay (Ronny) and Route Nationale 7 (The Honeymoon Killers). Though of course it's all really good.

Joy Division finish the album off with their live rendition of Sister Ray... and who better to get the last word on this one?

Howzer! This is twisted. Really twisted. I believe this is the result of a school teacher deciding to teach his kids a bunch of pop songs (Beach Boys, Beatles, Bowie etc) - the recordings of which disappeared for many years before being unearthed and praised by the original composers (Bowie included).

Some years ago someone mentioned to me that they couldn't stand listening to children sing (that came out sounding worse than it really was). I think it affected me on some subconscious level as I've found listening to recordings of children singing (eg Stevie Wonder) a tad awkward since. This pushes far beyond those boundaries.

The choir is accompanied by acoustic guitar, a drum and a cymbal (oh and there's a piano sometimes too). It's basically out of tune/time most the way through but there are eery moments when everything falls where it's meant to. The girl that sings Desperado has a great voice.

Sweet Caroline is wicked, Rhiannon too. I think I'm actually starting to like this.

Before Vengelis was famous for such classics as the Blade Runner Theme he helped to put together one of the classic prog-rock concept albums. I guess this is probably what made him famous in the first place.

The whole thing is based on The Book of Revelation. I'd heard The Four Horsemen on a mix cd some time ago - man, it's a hot track.

A couple of other things jumped out on first listen. Have I heard The Seventh Seal and Seven Bowls sampled by Enigma? Maybe not sampled but it sounds mighty familiar.

I haven't attacked the second disc yet but I'm told it's a hard listen. We'll see.

The first thing that springs to mind is that this it Mazzy Starish but I don't know where I get that from. It's far too light and fluffy for Mazzy Star. I think it's probably because it sounds so pretty. There's a nice vintage air about the sound that makes it feel kinda 50s. Great use of Hammond Organ.

The title track just made me realise what this reminds me of - it's The Smiths. The Let's Get Out of This Country sentiment spills over into the following track. Wow, great lyric - "You can't see that I'm just the same, as all the stupid people who you hate."

They've gone for a really full noisy production - somewhat like Go Team!, though not as pronounced.

I think this one is going to become a favourite.

No, Harris isn't some deluded 23 year-old who really thinks he created disco, but he has done a damn fine job of redressing it in slinky electro.

It's like Riton, but disco! Instant pop appeal. Merrymaking At My Place is such a loveable bit of drug taking music.

Acceptable In The 80's is the breakthrough track on here - apparently it did some time on the charts recently. Killer groove. Stuff like this makes me want to get off my ass and do some DJing again.

I get the feeling there's not much to explore here, oh well - just soak up the sexy fun dance vibe in the meantime.