You Can't Normalize...

Still reeling from the shock of living in a post-Coopers world, here is this weeks top 20 playlist. I don't think it's changed that much.

Oh well.

20. 'Love Burns' - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (-2)
19. 'Lust In The Movies' - The Long Blondes (+1)
18. 'Destroy Everything You Touch' - Ladytron (-6)
17. 'Someone Great' - LCD Soundsystem (-3)
16. 'Monster Hospital' - Metric (-)
15. 'And I Was A Boy From School' - Hot Chip (-)
14. 'All My Friends' - LCD Soundsystem (-1)
13. 'Kill All Hippies' - Primal Scream (-2)
12. 'Live In Sunshine' - The Rapture (+5)
11. 'Over And Over' - Hot Chip (-3)
10. 'Atlantis To Interzone' - Klaxons (-1)
9. 'Faraway' - Sleater-Kinney (New)
8. 'California Soul' - Marlena Shaw (-1)
7. 'Alala' - CSS (-1)
6. 'Heart Of Hearts' - !!! (+4)
5. 'Swastika Eyes' - Primal Scream (-)
4. 'Shoot Speed / Kill Light' - Primal Scream (-)
3. 'Whoo! Alright-Yeah...Uh Huh' - The Rapture (-)
2. 'Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind' - Yo la Tengo (-1)
1. 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above' - CSS (+1)

Also today, in memoriam of the sublime Cooper Temple Clause, I thought I'd recount their ten greatest songs.

10. 'Been Training Dogs' - See This Through And Leave
9. 'Panzer Attack' - Warfare EP
8. 'Music Box' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
7. 'Derelict' - Blind Pilots EP
6. 'The Same Mistakes' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
5. 'The Devil Walks In The Sand' - Hardware EP
4. 'A.I.M.' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
3. 'Did You Miss Me?' - See This Through And Leave
2. 'Written Apology' - Kick Up The Fire, And Let The Flames Break Loose
1. 'The Lake' - See This Through And Leave

CSS Live Review & Purchases 17th April - 24th April

Firstly this week's acquisitions.

Kings Of Leon - 'Because Of The Times', Download, 13 tracks, Columbia
The first two KoL albums are pretty much the same, a couple of great singles, a nice vibe and some cool sounds. All in all though there was little substance. Third album 'Because of the Times' is a different beast. The Southern drawl is still there, accompanied in places by the occasional whoop and holler. It is the backing that really stands this apart from it's predecessors. From the subtle opening rolling riff of stand-out 'Knocked Up' to the raucous Zeppelin-esque blues stomp of 'Black Thumbnail' the quality of the band's musicianship really shines. In fact, it is that rock leviathan Led Zeppelin that this album reminds me of most. There is an air of dusty trails and mysticism about the songs here much the same as Led Zep, and Caleb's electrified yelp is a spit of Robert Palmer's own. I thought when LCD Soundsystem's 'Sound of Silver' hit my stereo that there could be no contender for album of the year. King's of Leon present the first challenge. Best track: 'Black Thumbnail'. 9/10.

El-P - 'I'll Sleep When You're Dead', CD, 13 tracks, Definitive Jux, £9.99, HMV Richmond
As previously written on the main blog this is a product of brilliant customer service in above shop, I think it was the manager. Superb description too, 'bleak, leftfield, underground mashed-up hip-hop' were the words that came from his mouth. Upon first listen on a quiet afternoon in leafy Kew this transported me to dark, grimy streets of downtown, anywhere-USA. This album is bleak. The only other word I could possibly use to describe it is dark. The beats in the background at times are a little too skittish, just when you want the tracks to explode they scuttle back into the gloom. The rhymes themselves are literate, and at times thought provoking. There is also good use of guest appearances, Omar and Cedric from the Mars Volta add a distinctive 'Son et Lumiere' sheen to opener, and standout, 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster'. Another highlight is the sharp 'Up All Night' with the brilliant line used for the title below. Even Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) shows up, bringing the album to a prominent close. When your opening lines include 'Bring me the dramatic introduction machine...' it is clear that El-P hasn't allowed the enveloping darkness cloud his wry sense of humour. This is a rare foray into the world of leftfield hip-hop for me, and based on this evidence it's a journey that I should really take more often. Best track: 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster'. 7/10.

Live Review - CSS @ London Astoria 23rd April 2007. CSS had a storming 2006, and now are coming to the end of what must have been a long promotional tour of duty. The Astoria is heaving as me, Justin and Steve lever our way into the melee just in time to see Lovefoxxx bound on to the stage with all the energy of a troop of Duracell bunnies. I'm not really sure if it's actually CSS during the first song, confusing them with the unfortunately-missed Tilly and the Wall. It isn't until the first few bars of 'Alala' and the ensuing mayhem that it brought that I realise that these are the headliners. They rocket through the songs with sheer abandon, tossing paper plates (?!) out into the crowd for good measure. 'It's Monday. I can't believe there's anyone here!! Do you not have work tomorrow?!' screams the diminuitive singer and I look around to see a plethora of faces and glowsticks thinking to myself, school maybe but not work. Justin disappears into the moshpit and I don't see him again until he emerges sweaty and smiling after the finale. Strangely, just before he disappears I have a tap on my shoulder and Ruth from work is there with her man, Jason. Most surreal as neither of us knew the other would be there! 'Fuck Off Is Not The Only Word' inspires more jumping and singing, as do the throwaway 'Off The Hook' and the downright filthy 'Art Bitch' and 'Meeting Paris Hilton' Merely forty minutes have passed when they proclaim that it was their last song, and off they bounded. A brief interlude of the usual clapping ensued then on they ran again, kicking off the encore with a promising new track. The second tune of the encore was a real belter, some kind of bastardised mashup between J-Lo's 'Jenny From The Block' and The Stooges' 'I Just Wanna Be Your Dog' leading straight into a stage-diving finale of 2006's single of the year 'Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above'...a good encore. Barely an hour has passed since we set foot into the Astoria but there's no feeling of being short changed. The sheer energy, feel good Brasilian vibes and enthusiastic (for London) crowd made for a highly enjoyable evening. After all, what more can the band do off only one album? One slight downside was a the lack of a romp through 'CSS Suxxx' which would have opened the set nicely. So, it's a 7/10 for the gig, and the best track was definitely 'I Just Wanna Be Jenny From The Block'...here's hoping it graces a b-side sometime soon.

We May Have Been Born Yesterday, Sir...But We Stayed Up All Night.

Along with the latest additions to the musical collection I thought I'd run down weekly the most played songs on my deliberately non-ipod mp3 player. For some reason they don't seem to be the most reliable of play counts, but still.

They are:
20. Lust In The Movies - The Long Blondes
19. Beauty*2 - Ladytron
18. Love Burns - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
17. Live In Sunshine - The Rapture
16. Monster Hospital - Metric
15. And I Was A Boy From School - Hot Chip
14. Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem
13. All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem
12. Destroy Everything You Touch - Ladytron
11. Kill All Hippies - Primal Scream
10. Heart Of Hearts - !!!
9. Atlantis To Interzone - Klaxons
8. Over And Over - Hot Chip
7. California Soul - Marlena Shaw
6. Alala - CSS
5. Swastika Eyes - Primal Scream
4. Shoot Speed / Kill Light - Primal Scream
3. Whoo! Alright - Yeah...Uh-Huh - The Rapture
2. Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above - CSS
1. Pass The Hatchet I Think I'm Goodkind - Yo La Tengo

The Year Dot to 16th April 2007

I could start with listing the 1500+ articles of music that I already own. But I'm not going to do that.

This blog will work as a sort of online catalogue of what I own, what I think of it, and the thinking (if there is any) behind these purchases, who the recommenders were and all that.

So, I'll start with the last week's haul, which has to be said, is larger than normal.

Beck - 'Guero' CD, 2005, 15 tracks, Polydor, £3, Greenwich Music & Video Exc.
As I mentioned in the main blog, this is a real return to form for Beck. Although Beck would probably be pissed off with that comment, because I like most other normal non-Beckalites think that his form is 'Odelay'. The music on this is back to the ramshackle lo-fi noises of his debut, with off kilter lyrics and head nodding beats. Best track: 'E-Pro' 8/10.

Human League - 'Travelogue' CD, 1980, 17 tracks, Virgin, £4, Greenwich MVE
This was brought on the strength of two things, the excellence of another early Human League single 'Empire State Human' and the recommendation from the book Rip It Up And Start Again which details the rise of post punk and new pop. This album is slightly disappointing when compared to their later stuff but is an interesting insight into where the 'League came from. Best track: 'Being Boiled'. 5/10

Rogers Sisters - 'The Invisible Deck' CD, 2006, 10 tracks, Too Pure, £3, Greenwich MVE
The Rogers Sisters are a band that first came to my attention on the brilliant 'Yes New York' compilation of 2003. They are spiky, and the previous mini-album 'Three Fingers' of 2004 is pretty good and includes versions of songs in French and Japanese. I haven't had chance to listen to this yet.

Electrelane - 'Rock It To The Moon' CD, 2001, 11 tracks, Let's Rock, £3, Greenwich MVE
These are an all-girl English group in a similar vein to Mogwai and Broadcast dealing in albums chock full of brooding lyricless soundscapes. They are group who have consistently been in my recommend lists on Amazon, so when I saw this I thought I'd give a whirl. I'm not disappointed, but at the same time it feels a bit listless and lacks direction. Their later album 'The Power Out' is supposedly a better bet and I shall reserve judgement on the group until then. Best track: 'Long Dark'. 6/10

The Cooper Temple Clause - 'Head EP' CD, 2007, 5 tracks, Sanctuary, £3.99, HMV Oxford Street
I think this will be the last release off TCTC's latest album 'Make This Your Own', in itself a big let down. 'Head', at least is a good tune and the inclusion of three unheard Coopers tracks as well as a pointless remix made this an essential purchase on the day of release. As I've said 'Head' itself is excellent, reminiscent of the Coopers of old in comparison to their new, FM-friendly sound shown on earlier singles 'Waiting Game' and 'Homo Sapiens'. The other tracks on this are standard Coopers B-side fare, a dark instrumental number that never goes anywhere, a lightweight acoustic track, and a track called 'Mayhem's Theme'. I'd have thought with a track name like that it would be an absolute belter but unfortunately not. And the 'Head Rhysmix' is crap. Best track: 'Head', 6/10.

Battles - 'Atlas' 12", 2007, 2 tracks, Warp, £4.99, HMV Kingston
Sometimes you come across a track, and a band, that really blows you away. If you reverse that feeling you will come close to the complete apathy that accompanies this track. To use the music as a journey metaphor, some journeys might have a crap journey but the destination is ace, ie the track might be long and pre-ambly but leaves you satisfied that the length was worthwhile with some sort of climax. 'Atlas' is like being on an overcrowded train stuffed full of screaming babies and your final destination is Skegness and you get there and find everything closed. The track goes on and on for 7 minutes plus, bleeping and sweeping it's way to absolutely nothing, it just fades out. Drowned in Sound recommended this to me and all I can say about it is it's bollocks, and the remix on the b-side is even worse. Warp has produced some brilliant music, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Autechre, Maximo Park. They've dropped a clanger here. Best track: none, 0/10.

Billy Bragg - 'Life's A Riot With Spy vs Spy' LP, 1983, 7 tracks, Go! Discs, £0.99, Ebay
I bought this for one reason, the track 'New England' which I first heard being covered in spectacular fashion by Kirsty Macoll. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album, and I don't really know what to expect. Bragg is famous for his exceptionally left-leaning political stance, indeed he headed up (along with Paul Weller) Red Wedge, the musical movement that attempted to increase interest in voting Labour in the mid-80s. This doesn't really sit well with my political outlook; but his back catalogue is supposedly one of sheer class and consistency. This is critically recommended as a place to start, so start I shall.

Faultline - 'Your Love Means Everything' LP, 2002, 12 tracks, Elektra, £0.99, Ebay
This album comes highly recommended from Droz, and I have heard it a few times round his place. I thought this was too good a bargain to pass up, and is a nice addition to the collection. From what I remember the premise is similar to that of One Giant Leap, and electronic producer bringing in a host of vocal talent to embellish his tracks. The vocalists on this outing include Michael Stipe, Chris Martin and Wayne Coyne.