i promised you a post about theophilus london (coolest name in music. fact) and here it is. i wanted to write about him because he’s a bit of a love/hate artist i feel. when i first wrote about him on the original sockformation i gushed about him. a lot. i’d only heard ‘this charming mixtape’ at the time, and i was in love. i seriously rate that mixtape with his work on futurecop sampling ‘humdrum town’ and the superb ‘grey x sage’ the highlights continue with ‘cold pillow’ and i could really keep talking about it all day.

i’ve been listening to his other two mixtapes, the michael jackson inspired ‘jam’ and his latest offering, ‘i want you’, over the past few weeks though. i don’t mean to pull out a cliche, but this is marmite music. there are some tracks that just don’t work in my opinion. i won’t pick on any particular tracks (except for his work on vampire weekend’s ‘giving up the gun’. i will mention that one) but i really can’t make my mind up about these two.i’m not sure if it is the choice of original material isn’t as good as that on ‘this charming mixtape’ or he is just trying different styles while he masters his craft. maybe i just sets my expectations too high based on my first experiences of him.

i understand that there are plans afoot for a proper album next year and i can’t wait for that. there is no doubt that the man has skills, he is fucking cool in more than just his name. he takes geek chic to new extremes and is a real breath a fresh air for hip hop in this age of kanye west twitter ridiculousness. i look forward to hearing more.

by the way, this is still a positive post. i don’t want to end up like the guardian man. actually, that would be pretty cool thinking about it.

i fucking love elvis costello. he’s influenced everybody from bret easton ellis to theophilus london (post about mr london coming up soon) to my very own choice of eyewear. he has released details about his upcoming album today. entitled ‘national ransom’, out on october 25 and featuring the above artwork, the track listing looks like this…

national ransom
national ransom
jimmie standing in the rain
stations of the cross
a slow drag with josephine
five small words
church underground
you hung the moon
bullets for the new-born king
i lost you
dr watson, i presume
one bell ringing
the spell that you cast
that’s not the part of him you’re leaving
my lovely jezebel
all these strangers

okay, so i know i keep posting very quick stuff and usually it just includes a video but i seem to be very busy with work and life at the moment. i will start posting some more reviews, downloads and shit soon.

this is m.i.a.‘s new video, for ‘xxxo’. when i first heard the album i think i described this as sounding a bit like britney if britney was still making music (is she?) and was a bit better. i think you know what i mean. it is quite poppy at times, but with m.i.a.’s style still there for all to hear.the video is a bit of a social media theme with nods to youtube, iphones and those shitty little flower flower & glitter things that 16-year old girls use on their facebook photos (not that i am friends with any 16-year girls. obviously). my favourite part is the bit where m.i.a. changes into a tiger for a bit though.

there has been a bit of a music scene in and around colchester for years now. starting way back with three of the most famous nursery rhymes of all time (‘humpty dumpty’, ‘twinkle twinkle little star’ and ‘old king coel’ since you ask), through jamiroquai, robots in disguise and of course blur. bubbling away more recently there have been bands i featured on the original sockformation such as amberblacks and the hawds… now, from the ashes of the fantastic neat people, come hero and leander. and fuck me, are they good.

unike the previous guitar led bands, hero and leander offer something very different – a beautiful vocal, a quirky melody and sadness tinged lyrics. maybe we’re heading back towards the historic nursery rhyme period of colchester. that would be nice.

hero and leander. one three four (soundcloud)

this is the cover art for the new weezer album, ‘hurley’. amazing.

normal service should be resumed tomorrow by the way when i will be posting about an actual band and talking about actual music.

seriously. they’re a bit mental. royksopp have made a short film as a precurser to their forthcoming new album ‘senior’. the above is a preview as the full ‘adventures in barbieland’ is an exclusive for the guardian at the moment.

how do i describe the film itself? fuck knows. old people. a typewriter. dolls. and of course music from ‘senior’. whatever it is meant to represent and show i have no idea, but then again i’m no movie critic. i’ll leave that to claudia winkleman (jokes. i’m better than her. then again, so is my six-year old son). it is only ten minutes long though, so you may as well watch it and make your own mind up. you’ll have to sit through an advert for kerrygold first though i’m afraid.

“is this the beginning of the end?
nah, the end of the beginning. now we get serious. g”

that quote is from the los campesinos! formspring and is related to the departure of the original drummer ollie campesinos! it’s apparent that fans (gareth has responded to rumours multiple times in multiple mediums) saw ollie’s departure as symptomatic of a wider schism in the band, which would result in the eventual death of los campesinos! gareth in his formspring answer assayed these fears but his wordplay and declaration of ‘now we get serious’ has repercussions with regards to how we should view ‘all’s well that ends’.

all’s well that ends is, seemingly, the metaphorical line in the sand that separates “the beginning” from the “serious”. contextualising ‘all’s well that ends’ reveals it’s a lyrical fragment from ‘i warned you do not make an enemy of me’ from romance is boring; this inexorably ties the ep to romance is boring ie. “the beginning”, but instead of an exploitative cash grab acoustic ep, we’re presented with legitimately reworked versions of ‘romance is boring’, ‘a heat rash in the shape of the show me state or, letters from me to charlotte’, ‘straight in at 101’ and ‘in media res’.

the “serious” is not that these songs are sombre (the conceit that bands that get darker are getting serious is hideous) in their reworking: that’s too simplistic; the “serious” is an acknowledgment on los campesinos! part that they are moving away from their roots in twee revivalism, as they were once termed by swells (in a kinder moment). this acknowledgment is heard through the prominence given to gareth’s lyrics and voice, no longer are they buried under the weight of a fast tempo, rather, the narrative is now dictating the tempo. the removal of layers, best heard on ‘(all’s well that ends) in media res’, is another aspect of the tacit acknowledgment that they are moving away from their roots and getting “serious”.

it’s a genuinely interesting ep both musically and for what it represents with regards to the future of los campesinos!

words by luke carlisle

as a general rule i don’t listen to bands with women singers, not in a sexist chauvinist way, but i really dont like the sound. honestly. sorry. there are few exceptions, and telepopmusik are one such exception. in hindsight, a french electronic influenced offering was always going to be a winner, and while they’re not quite air or daft punk, they’re very listenable, at times very good and always something a little bit different.

telepopmusik are a band i’ve liked for a while but one of those bands i can’t remember how i heard. they pop up on the related artists of zero 7 and nouvelle vague, which would probably explain the conundrum, but the similarities aren’t that great. they are fairly mainstream, moreso since the release of their second album, angel milk, in 2005. a proverbial lovechild of röyksopp and bonobo, may be closer to the mark, a bed of light trip-hop under tuneful electronic production, with guest vocalists reminiscent of both bands in style and gender choice. not unlike the other bands listed, telepopmusik are most likely a band you’ll either stick on a playlist, or find sufficiently boring as to have forgotten them by the next time you hear them. it’s difficult to dislike them, there’s not much to dislike, but they’re not massive on passion or depth, although i suppose the same could be said for trip-hop in general.

as with many bands from the genre, telepopmusik’s greatest fortune has come through backing music on adverts, and in 2009 peugeot advertised their 308 cc model with the non-album track ‘ghost girl’, the spotify link to which i’ve attached. truly the best and worst of french culture combined. you’ll have to trust me in saying that the song is far more worthy than the car, or of peugeot.

telepopmusik. ghost girl (spotify)

-words by ron walker-

right, here’s the deal. i get sent a lot of music to post. i get round to listening to it eventually but way too late to post*. anyway, with my laptop knackered at the moment i’ve had an idea… asking you what you think about the track! i can’t listen to it, so i’m leaving it all up to you.

the track i have chosen is by frederik teige. i like his band, efterklang, so i have high hopes for the single. it is described as feisty, short & sweet! what do you think? i’m well aware that 99% of my comments are from people wanting to sell me some crap or other so this is a risk. please listen (either click the headphones to listen online or right click & save as). please comment.

frederik teige. what is new? (mp3)

*this doesn’t always happen so please keep sending me music. thanks x