OK, it's the highly anticipated return of my blog, does what it says on the tin
Tennis - Baltimore
Tennis are completely laid back and fun to listen to. The bass, the guitars and drums doing near enough the same thing throughout is what makes this song great, you can switch off and listen to this, pretending you're on a yacht in a lovely bay.
Arcade Fire - The Woodlands National Anthem
This in my opinion is their best song from their debut EP, a simple but very typical Arcade Fire track, with Regine beginning on vocals, then Win joining her for the second verse and the rest of the band joining in afterwards, you can feel the synergy even without all the different instruments they normally rock up with
Cougar - Stay Famous
I was given Cougar's album "Patriot" 2 Christmases ago by a good friend and was certainly not let down, however this is the stand out track. Starting out with a booming yet flowing riff, then dropping out to just an electric guitar and some elaborate drumming before moving into a crescendo to get back to the opening riff
The Bullitts x Jay Electronica - Run and Hide
Building off a fantastic sample if Quicksand by David Bowie, this song has soulful lyrics sung, well, soulfully. Then Jay hits a verse, not brilliantly quick, but flows well and is more inspired than anything from Watch The Throne. Its promo video matches the drama of the song and just how deep it goes, I won't spoil how it ends, it's ever so slightly pretentious though.
Groundhogs - Split Pt. 2
To me, there's no better subject matter for music than a mental breakdown, which is what you get with the 4 tracks titled "Split" on their album that's also called "Split". The ondulating sound of the blues guitar reflects the nature of the song very well and feels quite psychedelic at the same time.
The Disappearing One - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
This is a cover of Radiohead's track off In Rainbows but completely blows the original out of the water with sweeping vocals which somehow have much more clarity than Thom Yorke, in fact it was only after hearing this version I could tell what some of the lyrics were. Adding to this the guitars have so much atmosphere, they give an intense yet soothing sound which you don't hear in many other places
The Boxer Rebellion - Both Sides Are Even
Since last summer their album "The Cold Still" has probably been one of my most frequently listened to albums of the past year. Both Sides Are Even has an almost majestic feel to it with the heart-filled vocals rising alongside the music into the chorus. Despite the somewhat downtrodden lyrics about a break up, this song makes you feel at ease in such a unique way
Cherry Ghost - Dead Man's Suit
Similar lyrically in many ways to the last song, this is a song which bears its soul very well for a good five minutes, so much so you can hang off every word, even if it is sung in a Boltonian accent. The beat matches the heavy lyrical content, but this could be an acapella it is sung so well.
Modest Mouse - Dramamine
While Modest Mouse don't generally make good sounding music, however they do have an apparent talent of making bad music sound pleasant. The electric guitar that opens is catchy and still retains a great eeriness about it aswell. Isaac Brock's singing seems very disjointed as it usually does, nonetheless the moments the lyrics line up with the rest of the song more than make up for the sloppy placement of the rest of them
British Sea Power - Waving Flags
The main asset of this song is its wonderful chorus which leads into a splendid wall of noise, ^shrugs shoulders^ you'll have to listen to understand what I mean. There's a haunting ambience behind, for me it puts me in an empty old house in the middle of nowhere, but is still filled with an odd familiarity
Thats enough for now, but there could be an addendum to this or something completely different, depends on what I can pluck up the enthusiasm to write about
