It was Blur that once sang: "Bank Holiday comes with a six pack of beer...then it's back to work". Well, not for us. Our Bank Holiday was spent at work, having shifted the beer drinking forward a day to the Sabbath. We know, we know, may the Lord send down a thunder bolt or some such. Anywho, we must deal the hand that we have been dealt and get back to business. Last week we predicted big things for the Arctic Monkeys album, which wasn't exactly going out on a limb. It entered at no. 1, having outsold the rest of the top 5 put together. Needless to say the Fiery Furnaces album was nowhere to be seen and the Black Lips/Lumina single just missed out on the top spot thanks to about 75 other singles that all sold more. For this week, you should all be buying these things...
BUY THIS
Kid A (Special Collectors Edition) by Radiohead
Radiohead are going to love this. Having ditched EMI in favour of releasing their last album via carrier pigeon, Radiohead upset their former paymasters to such a degree that they cobbled together a Greatest Hits package and started releasing all their albums again in various forms. These re-releases may not have been overseen by the band, but they are worth investigating not least this new version of Kid A, which not only features the incredible original album, but also a second CD of live versions and a DVD of a couple of TV performances. Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief have also been re-packaged with various b-sides and live tracks, but seeing as the original source is one of the best things ever released we're going with Kid A.
HAVE A BIT OF CRY TO THIS
First Days of Spring by Noah & The Whale
May we, for a second, be crude? If we had split up with Laura Marling we would be pretty depressed too, for she is proper fit. Ahem. Charlie Fink, singer with twee-indie-also-rans Noah & The Whale, broke up with the lovely Marling recently and decided to write an entire album about how it made him feel and how he was going to get over it. The lyrics pretty much run the gamut of heartbreak cliche, but musically the band have expanded their sound to include strings, choirs and a bit of a go on the old kitchen sink to create a stirring second album.
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'Get Sexy' by Sugababes
We could have gone for The Cribs new single, or that one by Jamie T, but you know what, we're stuck in an office on a sunny Bank Holiday and we're going to choose a fun little pop song that samples Right Said Fred and is not a patch on past glories but is good enough for now thank you very much. 'Get Sexy' sounds a bit too try-hard when you listen to it without the video, but somehow it improves when matched with all those bright lights and gyrating hips. Why don't you have a little look here.
Last week we gave you three, yes three, album options. Given the current economic climate, factoring in the weather and the fact that we've no doubt you had a lot of presents to buy this month, we understand that sales weren't exactly brisk. We're happy to report though, that The xx outsold both Jay Reatard (he was nowhere, frankly) and Simian Mobile Disco, who snuck in at no. 39. So, where did these cherubic young scamps enter? No. 36. That's not bad given the state of radio these days. We went to see them play a gig in a shop the other week and one of Musick's closest friend said they reminded them of Faithless. That, dear reader, is what alcohol can do.
BUY THIS
Humbug by Arctic Monkeys
The Arctic Monkey's have clearly decided they don't want to share fans with Oasis. This is all well and good, but that doesn't mean you have to grow your hair long, dress like Led Zeppelin and use a frankly abysmal picture as your album cover. BUT, everything else about this third album is very good indeed, from the innuendo of 'My Propeller' to the deceptively catchy 'Crying Lightning' to the career-high of 'Cornerstone'. Josh Homme doesn't mess with the sound too much, just gives them some muscle and and that sense of foreboding that QOTSA are so good at.
BORROW THIS AND ENJOY IT BRIEFLY
I'm Going Away by The Fiery Furnaces
We always get excited about a new Fiery Furnaces album coming out. Then we get it, listen to it once, maybe twice, then leave it to gather dust in a pile sandwiched between the first Arcade Fire album and a mix CD entitled 'Songs everyone says they love but don't actually listen to'. So it is with I'm Going Away, which despite being their best in a long while, is still too twitchy and frustrating to be really pleasurable.
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'I'll Be With You' by Lumina
This is a cover of a Black Lips song that appears on the b-side to another Black Lips song. It's by Lumina who are Faris Badwan from The Horrors and Cherish Kaye who used to be in Ipso Facto. Unsurprisingly, it's an atmospheric, drip-feed dirge with Badwan taking the lead vocal and Kaye offering some haunting backing. Do not listen to this in a darkened room or at work. If, however, you're feeling quite chipper and are sure that nothing can dampen your spirits then click here.
Imagine for a second that so-called 'cool' indie bands had their own version of Heat magazine. For a start it would be called Chaud or Sweat, and it would focus on the personal lives of these real artists, ones that write their own songs. If such a thing were to exist then Eleanor Friedberger from The Fiery Furnaces would be most famous for stepping out with Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. Imagine the shots of them reading Bukowski in an uptown cafe or stumbling out of a beautifully dishevelled hotel.
Luckily, such a thing doesn't exist and we're not even sure they're still together, but who cares because it's all about the MUSIC. Unfortunately, The Fiery Furnaces have a habit of making music that needs to be endured rather than enjoyed. One of their albums was sung by their grandmother, another was a live album that stretched to over fifty songs. Their latest opus, I'm Going Away, has, you know, some tunes and stuff, which is nice. Not to be left behind on the pretentious front though, the band have since decided to re-record the album twice, with Eleanor making a version and brother Matthew making another.
This is a very good video for a song called 'Charmaine Champagne':
The album is very much a return to form. Expect to see Eleanor puking outside The Ivy very soon.
