We were meant to do something on The XX ages ago when we first got sent the single ("stole the single"). But what happened was we listened to it but thought it was all a bit 'meh'. Nice and that, but a bit slow and it didn't grab us by the ears and give us a snog with tongues so we set it down and forgot about it. Then we started to read stuff about them, felt a bit jealous, listened to it some more and realised what fools we'd been.
The band are all incredibly young (19 to be specific) and hail from, er, Putney. They all share an obsession with American R'n'B, with singer Oliver (he of the amazing quiff/flat top) claiming to be influenced by the sounds of Aaliyah, Ginuwine and Mariah Carey. Don't expect any Timbaland-esque beats or booty shakin' in the video (in fact they barely move their mouths let alone their asses), but the influence is there somewhere.
Here's 'Crystalised':
Hypnotic isn't it? Their next single is a cover of 'Barbie Girl' by Aqua...
...sorry.
Florence & The Machine has been on the receiving end of a bit of backlash of late. One website in particular decided it was a good idea to publish a preview of her debut album, Lungs, after one listen (to only part of the album) on crap speakers. We'll wait to hear the album in full on super-surround-sound speakers before we make up our minds if it's all the same to you.
You can hear her new single, Rabbit Heart, by venturing over to here and listening to Monday night's Steve Lemacq's show (it's on after about 25 minutes). If this all seems a bit of a hassle then don't bother, just wait until it's on youtube or, you know, the radio. We've heard it and these words sprang to mind; lush, epic, bit overblown (in a good way), grower, twinkly, pasta...the latter because it was dinner time when we heard it.
Proper journalism.
Culturally, this is pretty significant now, this feature. Tastemakers are tuning in, scoping out the next big things, loading up their iPods with songs based on what we're saying right here. It's big, it's influential, it's all in our minds.
BUY THIS
True Romance by Golden Silvers
Warning, this album doesn't have any guitars on it! I know, madness. What it does have is lashings of keyboards, some skewed time signatures, a charismatic frontman and a stone cold classic in the shape of this.
DOWNLOAD THIS
'Love You Better' by The Maccabees
This is just a really lovely song. It's a man ballad. Lots of shimmering guitars, pained vocals, paranoid tension and no release, and the fact it sounds slightly like an Arcade Fire song is OK because it's not actually an Arcade Fire song. You get me?
RE-DESIGN THIS
'Music' For The People by The Enemy
We all know this album is going to go down in recent history as the defining moment in music. It's almost pointless talking about it's qualities so let's ignore them and get about re-designing the cover, which, lets be honest is a bit :-( Email us your re-designs to mcragg@hotmail.com. The winner gets a chocolate bar of their choice, signed by the band.
As you well know by now, Little Boots has a new single out, the electro-glam stomp, 'New In Town'. It now has it's own visual accompaniment in the form of this odd video, which seems to show three things; homelessness, drug dealing and sex through the prism of choreography.
We've heard the album, Hands, and it's BIG POP. The NME seem to see this as a bit of a bad thing, but despite what the above video seems to suggest, she's never been 'arty' or 'difficult', it's always been about catchy hooks and big choruses. One song, 'Remedy', should basically be this years British Eurovision Entry. Other highlights include 'Earthquake', 'Meddle' and the Phil Oakey duet, 'Symmetry'.
Last night Musick was invited to watch Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Shepherd's Bush Empire. When we say 'invited' we mean we handed over £20 and were then handed some tickets and asked to turn up at a certain time. The whole thing was pretty unbelievable. There was a ticker tape explosion, an inflatable eyeball, Karen O in a corset, Nick Zinner's hair and 'all the hits' ('Pin', 'Zero', 'Y Control', 'Maps', 'Gold Lion', etc.).
Karen O arrived wearing this:
There's a clearer photo here
It's basically an all-in-one shorts ensemble with a corset, some rope and a pink headdress that lights up. But please don't take our word for it (we are merely novices), no, please take note of what Trinny & Susannah had to say when we saw them earlier:
Musick: Hi Trinny & Susannah
Trinny: Hi...no Susannah, not now
Musick: Everything OK? Can you look at this picture of Karen O? What do you think of her outfit?
Trinny: Wow, I mean, is she a man or a woman? It does absolutely nothing for her figure whatsoever. She needs to add some statement jewellery, maybe a long cardigan and some wedges. Also, everyone knows vertical lines are so last season...look Susannah, just stop it OK!
Musick: What's happening?
Susannah: Touch my tits...go on, touch them...just grab one, cup it, squeeze it...can I squeeze yours?
Musick: Er, thanks ladies.
EDIT: We forgot to mention that when we were there we saw an elderly couple sat up on the balcony with their fingers in their ears and grimaces on their faces throughout the show, who may or may not have been Karen O's mum and dad! Bless.
I'm guessing not many people predicted that Beth Ditto would go from being the frontwoman of the Gossip - three albums released, minimal success, then get song on Skins, song becomes bit of an albatross - to being interviewed on Jonathan Ross' TV show, presenting the Friday Night Project and becoming the face of Paris fashion week. Such is her magnetic personality, people can't help but fall a bit in love with her. Recently though, there's been a bit of a backlash - journalists have been mumbling about her ubiquity, her size, that appalling collaboration with Mika at the Brits, the way magazine editors use her to represent ALL big women.
Now seems a good time for her (and the other two) to return with some new music. Luckily, Music For Men, produced by Rick Rubin, will be released in June and this is the first single, 'Heavy Cross':
It's good no? Not sure it will have the impact of 'Standing In The Way Of Control' but it's got that same energy and Rubin hasn't completely polished off the edges. We like how the chorus is basically "Ah, ah, ah, ah, oh, woah, e-yeah-o, e-yeah-o". It's time to stop the backlash and fall a bit in love with her again.
This will help too. Amazing.
We just missed the chart rundown so this information may not be correct, but at one point this week La Roux was on course to be number 1 with her second single, 'In For The Kill'. Not bad for a song that was ignored by Radio 1 upon it's release and was only put on their playlist after it entered the top 10. Another shining example of Radio 1 being at the 'forefront of new music'. It's especially mind boggling seeing as La Roux finished in the top 5 of their Sound of 2009 poll thingy.
Anyway, 'In For The Kill' is evidence that good songs can still chart well simply off the back of being good songs and that word of mouth is still a strong marketing tool (all those magazine and broadsheet articles probably helped a bit). 'Bulletproof' is the next single taken from their debut album (released in June) and can be heard right here in its finished form.
Vocally it's all a bit calmer than 'In For The Kill', which has had some music blogs up in arms, with words like 'Marmite' being banded around. We're not sure what this means. We can only assume that La Roux, like us, is allergic to the evil stuff. 'Bulletproof' is another sleek, hook-laden, 80s-referencing pop ditty that should set things up nicely for the album.
