I've waxed enthusiasic about the new Mystery Jets album, including the '80s-sax-laden "Two Doors Down" which will be the album's next single, and probably huge summer UK hit. But the video's a bit obvious, isn't it? The "Young Love" video was really clever, I thought, and this was just puts the band in dayglo shirts, skinny ties, pastel jackets... plus other vintage MTV trappings. Yawn. But the song remains irresistible, with one of my favorite lines of recent memory: "I hear she likes to dance 'round the room/to a worn-out 12" of Marquee Moon." I'd just better not see them wearing a graduation cap and a Beat t-shirt when you make a video for "MJ."
Are there awards given for web video? If so, The Other Music Instore Concert Films should win one. They're all worth watching. And if you look close at this one, you might see the back of my head. Here's my report from the event which took place in early December.
As far as songs about prostitutes go, and there are lots of them ("Roxanne," "When the Sun Goes Down" come to mind immediately), "Stella" is a pretty good one. I've been high on Ida Maria since seeing her at CMJ back in October, and actually had video of her performing this song... but Sony/BMG has had it pulled from YouTube for "Copyright Infringement." Oh Well. I wish I could have both of them here on this page to show the difference between them. Her studio recordings so far have been much slicker and slower than how she plays live or than any of the demos that have been floating around.
I've got nothing against sonic clarity, but I wonder if these aren't taking some of the energy out of them -- the thing that drew me to her in the first place. Maybe it's just a case of listening to those so much that I just want the record to sound like them too. (I suffered similarly after falling for Maximo Park's demos before their first album.) With time I guess I'll get used to it. She's getting a LOT of press in the UK, it's rather amazing how much she's blown up in less than a year.Here's another of her demos...
If you're going to SxSW, I highly recommend you catch one of Ida's shows -- she's something else. There are two official SxSW shows and hopefully she'll play some parties as well. And if we're real lucky, she'll stop in NYC again on her way to or from, though I haven't seen anything yet.
What's Al doing with theis tower of Paint? Watch the video for Hot Chip's new single, "Ready for the Floor" here and find out. (Windows Media only, sorry.)
Hot Chip really like teasing us. About three weeks ago, they added new single "Ready for the Floor" to their MySpace player. But, initially, when you clicked on it, all you got was Alexis Taylor chanting "Do it do it do it do it do it do it do it now." Then every few days it got a bit longer, adding "say it say it say it say it say it say it say it now."
Well, you can finally hear it hear it hear it hear it hear it hear it hear it now. Well, about half of it at least, on their MySpace player or the whole thing on various BBC radio stations. It's actually going to be reviewed on BBC 6music's Roundtable tomorrow, which airs at 2PM EST but ut the show is archived so you can listen later. It should be a good show as the guest reviewers include curmudgeon David Quantic and Norwegian soon-to-be-big-deal Ida Maria. They're also reviewing new singles by Supergrass, Malcolm Middleton and, er, Madness.
I've heard "Ready for the Floor" a few times now and think it's really good, definitely in the "Boy from School" brand of Hot Chip singles. It's officially out January 28. The SoulWax remix, however, has hit the web:
And now a music video... sort of. They're up to their old two-faced tricks:
Meanwhile, Headphone Sex went to see them recently and they were giving away a limited edition 7” with two demos/leftovers, which he promptly ripped and posted. They’re both worth checking out, and one of them is basically just Alexis and his guitar.
Hot Chip's new album, Made in the Dark hits stores February 4 in the UK. Not sure of the American date. Taylor dishes on the new album at their website but we've yet to see an official tracklist. The album art, however, looks like this:
I was expecting the first new single from the Hartnol brothers to be "Fit for You," which they've been playing at live shows for some time. Maybe they're saving it for when the album is closer to release, as they don't even have a title yet. (I don't even think they've finished recording with producer Tony Doogan [Belle & Sebastian, Delgados, SFA]).
Nonetheless, "Terra Firma" is more friendly than almost anything the Young Knives have released before, yet there's no question whose song it is.
I saw Moloko almost exactly ten years ago at Knitting Factory when they toured for Do You Like My Tight Sweater? -- I went on a whim and was blown away by their roof-raising abilities. Above all else, I remember singer Roisin Murphy holding court over the totally-into-it crowd, wearing a big, flap-eared fur hat. She was pure sex and it blew my little mind.
I never liked Moloko quite as much as that night, but her solo career has been more interesting to me. Her 2005 solo debut, featuring blippy jazz courtesy cut-n-paste wiz Matthew Herbert, was pretty genius, and felt like a step forward for Murphy in every way. The follow-up, Overpowered, looks to be a little more normal -- straight-up disco -- but that is a relative term with Murphy. The title track was my personal 2007 Summer Jam, and I'm still not tired of it. We're still a month off from Overpowered's release (Oct. 15) but Murphy has just released the second single, "Let Me Know," which was co-written by Groove Armada's Andy Cato. It's another ridiculously catchy slab of first-class dancefloor fodder. Resistance is futile... if you like this kind of stuff.
I'm also happy to report that Midlake's fantastic new album, The Trials of Van Occupanther, is finally getting a US on July 25 on Bella Union (via Caroline). It's one of the year's best.
Hot Chip can do no wrong at the moment. Their second album, The Warning, hits stores this summer and is easily one of the best records of the year so far. Their live show, when all the members are present and the equipment's working, is a total party. And they're making some of the best videos today not to feature the words "Directed by Michel Gondry."
First we had the clever "Over and Over" promo clip, and now here's "Boy From School" directed by Garth Jennings of Hammer & Tongs (and director of the somewhat successful big screen version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). The second single from Hot Chip's yet to be released second album, The Warning, is the ridiculously catchy "Boy from School." I don't think I want to give away what's going on here, it's best just to watch and let the video unfold in all it's wondrous splendor. If you do, you'll have to agree it's a work of art.
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