Monday 22 October 2012

"I'll forgive you for being better looking than me." JS

Again, there has been some gap since the last edition but it has been a hectic time whilst cloudboy has shifted homes, but never fear, we're back with some of the better tunes heard during the period of our absence. 

One artist whose been a constant upon our stereo is Susanne Sundfor and her rather beautifully unique voice. Whilst the original was descriptive of her native Norway ( a remote country girl singing from the abandoned space of her snow covered, lake-side hunting shack) this remix is that innocent girl introduced to the inherent and not obvious beauty of the big city, those finger snaps symbolic of the warmth, comfort and general advantages of co-habitation. 




Some dark and intensely atmospheric drum & bass from newly formed trio Ruffhouse. This track is reminiscent of the truly spectacular Battlefield soundtracks that are so dark, baron and alien they make me far too scared to play them for fear of reliving what I thought was a repressed childhood memory. It was playing the first Resident Evil and suddenly, to the sound of Hitchcock-esque stabbings, being mobbed by a horde of rabid zombies and dying to a similarly bleak soundscape; alone, scared and sitting in the dark. I've never really played video games since. 



A free EP download now from Rainy Milo and a formidable new voice to emerge on the urban scene. The quality of the production on this just goes to show how much those in the industry believe in her voice (she has worked with Ariel Pink's producer on some of these tracks for example) and what is required professionally to match its strength, maturity and character. 



My favourite female rapper of the moment, whose flow is unbelievably natural and works so well with these nasty, industrial beats that sound as if they were recorded entirely in the air-conditioning system of an abandoned warehouse and just ooze vice and underworld tones. Azealia who?



Speaking of EPs, one that's well worth a purchase is Candy Bar Creep Show from MS MR; one of the most exciting acts to emerge this year for me. A combination of beautiful and haunting female vocal, dense atmospheric textures, punchy, live sounding percussion and deep melodic bass lines, all representative of everything I'm into at the moment. Wonderful, cinematic stuff that beautifully suits this nostalgia inducing video. 

On a similar flex, here is the gorgeous new single from Still Corners.





Keeping it on the female vocal line of enquiry, I really can't get enough of this new single from Finish sisters LCMDF, with plenty of the B52's, punk-meets-pops swagger, once sampled this is irresistible, like the first pistachio from a bag that once opened won't last a minute. They are following up their Switch produced debut with a series of EPs, which is a nice way of doing it; a drip release of what I hope will be more of the above.



This is really quite beautiful, until that abrasive dub step comes in. Although I'm not as adverse to that sound as much as I used to be, it is often applied for its own sake, rather than in relation to the track itself. In this case, rather than it juxtaposing interestingly with the beauty of Marina's voice, it just gets in the way, like the tall bloke with the Napoleon Dynamite curly hair sitting in front of you at the cinema.



At what point did The Killers become a cheap Meatloaf tribute act belting out songs written in the style of their hero to pre-carehome pensioners, drunk on sherry and budget homebrand gin and who quite frankly can't distinguish between this copycat drivel and the original? Seriously, it boggles the mind that radio stations across the country can play their single with a straight face, they're having a laugh right? It's ironic yeah? Nobody actually thinks this is good music? That, or the only other explanations can be that these execs are either as drunk as those pensioners, or they're just plain incompetent. I'm not sure which is worse, probably the later. 

Anyway, I didn't think that track could get any shitter until I heard this utter turd of a remix above and then, I really considered ending it all. 

'Landfill,' would be a generous word for the above track and if it has made you as angry as it's made me then listen to this Landfill, as it will help to soothe your rattled soul. 





I can't put my finger on why I love this track so much, undoubtably because it's cramed full of atmosphere and lush, rich textures, but also I think because there is something multicultural sounding about it, not just in terms of musical multiculturalism where indie meets dance but also in terms of western voices meeting those of Africa to make a track that is life affirming and full of energy.



Can't say I always see what the fuss is about in relation to T-E-E-D but I must say I love this rude, and I mean rude in a more refined toilet sense, Fake Blood remix of Your Love. Lots going on percusuion wise, switch ups and changes of tone a plenty, an evolving piece, which is not often something you can say in relation to dance music. 



Putting the funeral into We Found Love, a really lovely cover of an incredible pop track, which itself was great for breeding nostalgia for those first teenage loves and finding happiness in troubled circumstances. This cover takes it to the next, metaphysical level though, nourishing nostalgia for a life lived in general, like we're looking back at it from the afterlife, drawing the conclusion that perhaps finding love is its meaning. Just a thought. 



Again a winner for its brooding bass orientated body, loving the piano chords punctuating like they're part of the percussion as well; this is one heck of a record.



Taken from his directorial debut The Man With Iron Fists, the hardest working man in hip-hop obviously couldn't allow himself not to contribute to the soundtrack, hence this collaboration with The Black Keys; an evolution of the Black Roc project where they previously worked together. In The Baddest Man Alive however you get more vocals from The Keys and understanding that hip-hop's roots lie in their melodic, blues rock sound explains why these two seemingly differing artists work so well together.


A really stunning remix from the one they call Four Tet, using that female vocal and framing it with that lush bass, sounding like storm clouds rolling beautiful shadows over canyonous mountains. I like the why the percussion seems to trip over itself as well like a drunk teenager at a party. Incredible. 



Soul meets future dance on this fantastically groovy track from Flume, I look forward to getting hold of this one for my non-existant decks, as I think it's gonna kick off in the clubs. 



A really cracking beat to suit the relaxed but somehow angry rhymes of our protagonist; a really beautiful piece of reflective hip-hop. 



I never ever thought I'd see the day when this would happen, or I thought I'd at least be incarcerated in a mental asylum by this point, but yeah, I'm posting a track featuring that house wife flushing, seducer of the elderly Michael Buble. The reason I like it most I think is because it reminds me of Pleasant-ville, all coke floats down at the diner, nice and twee, a little flat and colourless, until they discovered hip-hop! The doo whop influenced product of that magnificent discovery is this, well, rather pleasant little track featuring Mr fucking perfect, Michael fucking Buble. 



I actually really rate this Taylor Swift track as a solid, catchy piece of pop music, so finding this little mash-up was an even greater delight.





What starts and appears to be so simple, actually reveals itself to be a really deep and layered piece of music and demonstrates just what a fantastic musician Flying Lotus is.