Good Weather For Airstrikes

Sure, “D.A.N.C.E.” is hard to fuck with, but in Sonny Jim’s “Can’t Stop Movin’” we just might have a darkhorse for the jam of the summer. Released on Rough Trade last week just in time for summer to break into full stride, “Can’t Stop Movin’” is an underground classic in waiting. And a truly underground classic it will stay, as the amount of copyrighted material in play here should be enough to make Sonny Jim hope the track never strays too far into the public eye. “A legal minefield”, I believe my boss called it.

Legalities aside, “Can’t Stop Movin’” is a severely amazing pastiche of classic samples featuring vintage strings, the Jackson 5 in spades and awesome 70’s television samples (”Can we play that again?”, “No that song’s too special.”) that has already received considerable radio play from with-it DJ’s across the UK. There isn’t much more to say on the matter, just make sure to file this under ENORMOUSLY FEELGOOD and thank Sonny Jim for making your summer that much better.

MP3: “Can’t Stop Movin’” - Sonny Jim ((highly recommended))

The Rapture’s Pieces of the People We Love was more or less an album that lived and died on the strength of two exceptional singles, so while it’s logical considering the popularity of the Rapture in the UK, it hadn’t even occurred to me that a third single would be on its way before too long. It’s arrived now in the form of “Pieces of the People We Love”, the title track off of the band’s aforementioned 2006 LP, and well, it’s a farrr cry from “Get Myself Into It” and “W.A.Y.U.H.”. That said, it’s just pleasant enough to get your fingers snapping and your feet tapping, and it just might make you break into an involuntary strut if you find yourself rocking this on a metropolitan side street. It’s a classy track, you see - all steady, languorous drums and plodding basslines - nearly as classy as the video that accompanies it, one of the band’s best to date (see below). Then those “na na na”s hit and your destined to have this one bouncing around your head for at least a week’s time. You may return to “Pieces” a few times more after that, but coming from a band that’s made their name on effortlessly fun, disco-friendly dance tracks, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Neither terribly original (haven’t we heard those na na na’s at least a million times before?) nor terribly, y’know, fun, “Pieces of the People We Love” is still a good way to pass the time, even if we’re all aware that New York’s favorite dance-rockers can do much better than this.

MP3: “Pieces of the People We Love” - The Rapture

Alright, I’ve said it: the song’s not much to write home about. But damn, the video sure as shit is. In the band’s third collaboration with Waverly’s Ben Dickinson, whose teamed up with Jon Watts on this occasion, they manage to capture the perfect video. It’s so perfect in fact, that it achieves the rare feat of actually making the song more enjoyable and even manages to eclipse Dickinson’s previous two clips for “Get Myself Into It” and “W.A.Y.U.H.”, the latter of which was my #3 video of 2006. Having seen the video, I can’t hear the song without smiling and picturing Matty Safer swirling a glass of brandy in his sharpest suit and wishing I was doing the same thing. The whole thing is executed beautifully. It’s flawlessly composed, and the desaturated coloring is wonderful, the subtle color tones of the clip taking the whole venture to new heights. Hell, even Luke Jenner’s glitter suit dancing breakdown is fantastic, reminding you that no matter how classy the Rapture may come off as in this clip (and they come off as very classy), they still know how to have a good time. Furthermore, the choreography is excellent as well and the climbing-from-the-shadows effect is an interesting idea that’s just icing on the cake here. Loving it.

Video: “Pieces of the People We Love”
Artist: The Rapture
Director: Ben Dickinson & Jon Watts
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 49 MB]

MOTHAFUCKA’S GONNA DROP THE PRESSURE
So thanks to reader Nathan, I’ve now got the Feeling’s cover of “Doctor Pressure” (the Miami Sound Machine vs. “Drop The Pressure” mash up) and I must say I’m both pleased and disappointed at the same time. For the most part, I like it. But then they hit the chorus and… “bidi-bidi-bidiii drop the pressure”? BIDI-BIDI-BIDI?! Seriously, what the fuck? I mean, I guess they can’t say the actual lyric on air, but then why cover the song if you’re going to remove its most integral part. Bummer. Decide for yourself below.

MP3: “Doctor Pressure” - The Feeling

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, WHERE YOU AT?
“It’s The Beat” has surely been in heavy rotation on all y’all’s pods since it dropped earlier this month, but it’s been a minute now since the SMD broke us off with a new remix to shake our collective stick at. Worth the wait though, as their brand new remix of Muse’s “Knights of Cydonia”, off the band’s new single release for “Invincible”, is at least three or four different kinds of ill. And it’s a good thing too, as “Invincible” by itself certainly isn’t worth your hard-earned dolla dolla bills. Sure, they’ve done better (see: “Magick”), but you’ve got to admit you got a little hot and bothered when you heard that “No one’s gonna take you aliiiiiiive” burst forth from the electronic mish-mashery in all its epic glory. You feel me?

MP3: “Knights of Cydonia” (Simian Mobile Disco Remix) - Muse

To the top of the charts then, shall we? It’s hard to imagine this going anywhere else, as “I Still Remember” - while nowhere close the band’s best song (or even best single) - is far and away Bloc Party’s most chart-friendly product to date. A tale of the unspoken sexual tension between young heterosexual boys disguised as an anthem for young people wrought with nostalgia for lost love and missed opportunities, the track lives and dies on a monumental riff that stands out as the single most commercially viable thing Bloc have created to this point in their career. Sure, it could be construed as a bit vanilla and overly melodramatic - hell, you wouldn’t be too far off if you described it as a more energetic Snow Patrol track - but it’s easily the most universal track on A Weekend In The City and an obvious single choice. Good, but nothing terribly life changing.

But as is often the case with Bloc Party single releases (that weak-ass US-only release of “Helicopter” aside), the B-sides take it to a whole new plane of excellence. Of all the great B-sides that surfaced when AWITC was released in February, “Selfish Son” gets the call here, and it’s by far Jacknife Lee’s best work for the band to date. The biggest difference between Lee’s work for Snow Patrol and Bloc Party, I’ve found, is that Bloc’s tracks are still songs if you remove Lee from them and strip away his production work. But Lee might as well be Snow Patrol’s six member, as it’s fairly impossible to imagine a Snow Patrol track not drenched in the electronic flourishes that Lee brings to the table, and that’s pretty much the case on “Selfish Son”. Not that that’s a bad thing - I still regard Final Straw as not only one of the best produced albums I’ve ever heard, but one of my favorites as well. “Selfish Son” is all electronic drumbeats, rumbling, ominous synths and twinkling production flourishes, over which Kele delivers dark lyrics in another excellent vocal performance, and it’s easily in the top three AWITC B-sides to surface so far.

Elsewhere, the remixes are also impossibly good. First up, we’ve got SebastiAn’s rework which is just all kinds of ridiculous. It’s hard to even know where to begin, but one thing’s for sure - SebastiAn has just established himself as the force to be reckoned with in the remixing game; he’s operating on a whole new level right now. I mean, just look at this remix. “I Still Remember” is arguably the safest and most vanilla track on A Weekend In The City and SebastiAn turns it into an absolute MONSTER, drawing you in gently with some seductive spiraling synths before dropping the motherfucking beat at the 0:50 mark, like Zeus himself raining thunder and lightning down on the unsuspecting masses below. Things carry on like this the rest of the way out, as Kele’s “I should have kissed you!” yelps, punctuated by SebastiAn’s massive, bass-heavy synth surges, recall all the desperate urgency of Silent Alarm that’s sadly absent on the new record. SebastiAn, I bow before you.

There are a few other mixes on the release that follow the SebastiAn root and reinvent the track as a club-eligible dance edit, but Lull’s aptly-title “Music Box & Tears” mix outdoes them all by going the opposite direction, slowing things down and turning the melodrama up to 11. Heavy on strings, twinkly sounds and cinematic melodrama, Lull does for “I Still Remember” what Engineers did for “Blue Light” back on 2005’s Silent Alarm: Remixed - that is, he removes any semblance of guitars or percussion, shuns even the slightest notion of Rock ‘n Roll and puts the track in ethereal mode and goes full speed ahead. Kele’s original lyrical template remains completely intact as synthetic strings wash across the mix in undeniably epic fashion and twinkling keys tug at your heartstrings like their name was Audrey Hepburn. So yeah, it’s quite excellent, and just might be the best non-dance remix of a Bloc Party track since Engineers’ aforementioned masterpiece made our Top 10 Songs of 2005 two years ago. All in all, the single release of “I Still Remember” is the complete package, and even if the track itself doesn’t quite warrant the 8 out of 10 I’ve given it below, the brilliance of the B-sides cannot be denied as I’m once again reminded just how good it is to be a Bloc Party fan.

MP3s:
“I Still Remember” - Bloc Party
“Selfish Son” - Bloc Party
“I Still Remember” (SebastiAn Remix) - Bloc Party ((highly recommended))
“I Still Remember” (Music Box & Tears Mix) - Bloc Party ((highly recommended))

I’m also trying to work music video content into as many of my single reviews as possible now, as I’ve recently begun to receive monthly DVD’s of each month’s top music videos, so I can now offer videos in higher quality than you can find them anywhere else on the internet. The “I Still Remember” video has been circulating for a while now, but only as a fairly low-quality MTV Online rip, so I’m here rectify the situation and offer it in beautiful hi-res for all you perfectionists out there. The video itself capitalizes on a brilliant treatment and concept for the most part, but falters thanks to a rather cringe-worthy acting performance by one Mr. Kele Okereke. The whole thing’s quite pretty and certainly puts the large budget to good use, but I’ve much preferred Bloc Party’s past videos. That said, this is the perfect treatment for a band trying to make it big in the US, as it manages to get the band as much face time as possible through performance footage and emotive close-ups while still providing an interesting plotline and concept to keep viewers entertained.

Video: “I Still Remember”
Artist: Bloc Party
Director: Aggressive
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 50 MB]

In the spirit of heightened music video appreciation, I highly suggest (nay, I demand) that y’alls check out Obtusity sooner rather than later. If long-winded (in a good way), hyper-academic analysis and all-over-it music video coverage are your thing, then Obtusity is your new homepage. Get on it.

“Trains To Brazil”, anyone? No seriously, Ghosts take the template established by those lovable Guillemots on the best song of last year - bouncy melody, soaring vocals, roaring brass sections… shit, it even begins with a nearly identical opening lyric - and feeds it through the mainstream pop machine. The result is “Stay The Night”, the first single from London pop quartet Ghosts, and well, it’s nothing all that original and there’s not even the slightest modicum of academic merit here. That said, you really deserve a medal if you can keep your toes from tapping during this track, and - just like “Trains” before it - it’s just the thing to usher in the carefree whimsy of spring with.

MP3: “Stay The Night” - Ghosts

…And speaking of mainstream-as-shit Britpop acts, here’s the new single from Air Traffic, whom Ghosts are supporting at present on their current UK tour. “Charlotte” has actually already seen release as the B-side to the band’s initial “Just Abuse Me” 7″, but now it’s ready to step into the spotlight in all its A-side glory, with a shiny new production job and some brand new clothes to help it get the job done.

MP3: “Charlotte” - Air Traffic

A new year, a new look for the single reviews; here we go.

It’s well documented that Bloc Party were considerably displeased after finding themselves firmly pigeonholed into the dance rock category when the dust had settled around their sterling debut, Silent Alarm, in 2005. Frontman Kele Okereke even expressed a regret for having named the band Bloc Party due to the implications one takes away from the “Party” aspect of the name and made it clear in nearly every interview from that time to the release of their new album that A Weekend In The City would see the band exploring a new sound and redefining themselves in a whole new way. Thus, we have “The Prayer”, a track set to knock you off your feet and reevaluate your entire stance on the band.

Yes, it’s still technically rock music and yes, you can certainly dance to it, but to call it dance rock? Well that would just be all wrong, now wouldn’t it? You see, whereas Bloc Party defined their sound on Silent Alarm with disco-ready anthems like “Banquet” and “She’s Hearing Voices”, with their searing, angular guitar riffs and rapidfire percussion sections, “The Prayer” finds the band at their darkest, most ominous and - thanks to production from Jacknife Lee - most supermassive yet. Gone are the razor-sharp licks of guitarist Russel Lissack - completely, it would seem, until that “unplayable” guitar solo rears its head and bursts forth from the mix in the song’s final minute. And Matt Tong’s superhuman drumming? Well, it’s decidedly more human here, all martial stomps and handclaps that seem almost insultingly straightforward considering the unrivaled abilities he displayed on the band’s debut. But that’s not to say any of this is a regression; nay, it’s actually quite a huge step in the band’s new, more electronic direction.

Formerly titled “A Prayer To The Lord” and described as “Bloc Party crunk” by Okereke, the track opens with those huge drums before Kele begins his prayer that he might summon all the wit and confidence needed to survive a night on the town amongst the tropes of cooler-than-thou hipsters in the East London party scene. Ominous, almost monk-like chants set the dark atmosphere of the song at the back of the mix just as your starting to wonder where this is all going, but then that massive chorus, easily Bloc’s biggest yet, hits and that ice cold synth line takes off for the ether and it all comes into focus. Harder, bigger and stronger than their previous offerings to date, “The Prayer” is Bloc Party’s new statement of intent: it keeps the kids moving and appeals to all (the single’s #4 debut on the charts serves as a pretty loud exhibit A), yet provides no category within which to pigeonhole the band. Brilliant.

What’s more, it doesn’t stop there. Bloc Party have always had one of the finest pedigrees of B-sides of any band in the indie-rock scene, but they’ve outdone themselves here. Of the 11 incredible B-sides to surface on the day of the album’s release, The Prayer single boasts two of the absolute best in “England” and “We Were Lovers”. “England” first saw life as “Blue Moon” and provided fans a first taste of Bloc’s new sound when it was premiered on tours throughout 2006. However, while the original was a song of longing for lost love and the fight to keep hope alive, its new incarnation is an examination of life as a rebellious young person in Great Britain. “I will not listen and I won’t be told”, Okereke sings over a steady drum beat and fractured guitar riffs that echo off the walls of the mix, illustrating the cruelty and lawlessness of British youth through tales of “happy slappings” and random acts of violence. Despite it’s subject matter, the song is beautiful and would have provided a worthy addition to A Weekend In The City, but it’s “We Were Lovers” that really steals the show here. Formerly called “Cells Shaped Like Stars”, the original version of the track saw limited circulation on the internet when the studio version leaked to a lucky few last year and then larger exposure when a decent live version surfaced later. All who heard it immediately fell in love with the song’s brilliant “In our bodies! In our bodies! There are cells, shaped like stars” chorus, one of Bloc’s best and most exciting to that point, so it was a bit of a crushing blow to find that the song’s lyrics and chorus saw a complete overhaul in the final version. That said, “We Were Lovers” is still an amazing track as good as anything off A Weekend In The City, and the chorus still hits as hard as anything Bloc’s put out to date, nearly making one forget the brilliance of its predecessor.

MP3s:
“The Prayer” - Bloc Party ((highly recommended))
“We Were Lovers” - Bloc Party ((highly recommended))

Finally, as if all that weren’t enough already, the single produced a slew of great remixes as well. However, despite excellent efforts by Phones and newcomers Does It Offend You, Yeah?, it’s an unofficial “indie grime” remix from the crazy kids of Hadouken! that owns them all. Pick up a few of the tracks below, but The Prayer single is really one of the most complete singles ever to be released, with brilliant new content spread over more than five different formats, and is wholly deserving of your purchase. And why not, especially when you can cop this Limited Collector’s Edition Box Set(!!!) at RecordStore UK containing all the formats for only £2.50. Deal of the century? Just maybe.

Bonus MP3s:
“The Prayer” (Hadouken! Remix) - Bloc Party
“The Wamp Wamp Prayer” (Bloc Party vs. Clipse) - team9

And ALSO, this just in: Bloc Party will be releasing their next UK single, “I Still Remember”, on April 9th complete with even more B-side goodness… INCLUDING A REMIX BY MOTHERFUCKING SEBASTIAN! I really don’t think I could possibly be more excited, I’ve seriously been praying for a Bloc Party remix by SebastiAn or Justice every night before I go to bed, and my dream (or at least half of it) has finally been realized. So pumped. Check out the complete details of the single and pre-order all three formats of it (in another box set deal) here.

It seems nigh impossible that the union of a simplistic, looping mandolin progression and catchy falsetto’d vocals could yield one of the absolute best songs of the year, but fuck if that isn’t exactly what’s happened here with the Spinto Band’s “Oh Mandy”. Originally released in 2005 on the band’s Nice And Nicely Done LP and criminally slept on by yours truly, it was released as a single in the UK on indie label Stolen Transmission last July, promptly thrusting itself into the forefront of my consciousness and opening my eyes to its brilliance. Subsequently, “Oh Mandy” was met with widespread critical acclaim and the Spinto Band have seen their popularity in the UK eclipse their US success in only a matter of months.

Back to the song, though, which remains one of the essential tracks of the last two years despite (or possibly because of) the fact that there’s nothing even remotely “now” about it. There’s a surprising intensity about it as well - lead singer Nick Krill’s vocals are bursting at the seams with emotion as he races to get each verse out before drummer Jeff Hobson delivers the decisive cymbal crash that punctuates each line. The mandolicious (sorry) verses continue to snowball in intensity until Krill belts out his climactic “so I can finally hear you scream!” lyric and that relentlessly addictive “Oh Mandy” refrain comes around again, announced by a sprightly keyboard outburst, and takes everything to new heights. The song continues like this, with those pristine mandolin riffs and those candy-coated keyboard flourishes, flooding your aural pleasure centers and ceaselessly justifying itself as one of the best tracks of the year.

MP3s:
“Oh Mandy” - The Spinto Band ((highly recommended))
“Karen + Mandy” (Remix by Mark Eklund + Ollie Tamale) - The Spinto Band

While the remix above, one of the single’s official B-sides, offers an interesting, if unremarkable, reworking of the original, the best “Mandy”-related remix has to come courtesy of DJ Sunderland. DJ Sunderland takes the aforementioned two best parts of the song - the mandolin riff and those falsetto verses - and transposes them over the (super)massive beat of Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole”, making for an improbable but altogether awesome mash up.

Bonus MP3: “Supermassive Mandy” (The Spinto Band vs. Muse) - DJ Sunderland

Finally, it doesn’t hurt that this song has one of the year’s best music videos behind it; keep an eye out for it on my upcoming Top 50 Videos of 2006 list (there it’s official - coming soon).

Aw, fuck no. I wrote up this entire review and then went to run a quick fact-check on one of the statements I made regarding the Fray and their MySpace page fucking crashed my internet and took my unsaved review with it. As if I needed another reason to hate the Fray.

Anyway, here’s the gist of it. With “Never Even Told Me Her Name”, Air Traffic have written a great (and I mean GREAT) piano-based pop song. Their contract with EMI has them primed for mainstream dominance in the UK and “Never Even Told Me Her Name” is a great first step towards fulfilling that destiny. I love it, I love them - great single, that’s the bottom line. However, Air Traffic are not a “cool” band by any stretch of the word and there’s a definite chance that this time next year we won’t be able to stand them. Furthermore, Snow Patrol has paved the way for another British rock group to experience chart success in the US right now and the Fray have the public primed to eat up the next catchy, piano-based rock group to down the pipeline, so the current climate of the US market indicates vast crossover potential for Air Traffic as well. Whether things pan out like that or not we’ll have to wait and see, but “Shooting Star” indicates Air Traffic to be heading in that Fray-tastic direction sooner rather than later.

“Shooting Star” is only included on the EP-single in demo form, but I can easily see the finished product sitting atop the UK Top 40 for weeks at a time and being the catalyst for the band’s introduction into the US market. “Shooting Star” is not a bad song at all - no one can deny it’s addictiveness and its easily the most epic and ambitious song Air Traffic have ever penned - it’s just that all of its elements add up to create a song that could do some serious damage on the charts, so it’s like I’m already forming a defensive reaction to its impending omnipresence. Personally, I can hear shades of the Fray and even - *gasp* - Something Corporate here, and that anthemic chorus has me downright scared to see what this will do once its released as a single (which I can only assume will happen sometime next year). For the time being, though, we can only wait and revel in the fact that, for now, Air Traffic are writing exciting, incredibly fun piano rock songs better than anyone else out there. Let’s just hope it stays that way.

MP3s:
“Never Even Told Me Her Name” - Air Traffic ((highly recommended))
“Shooting Star” (Demo) - Air Traffic

And while we’re on the topic of kinda-lame UK pop bands, can we talk about how infuriatingly catchy Captain’s “Glorious” is?! It’s killing me to be so addicted to a song by a band whose making their name in England by touring with Keane and then The Feeling, but that candy-coated synth line and that chorus (THAT FUCKING CHORUS) just refuse to extricate themselves from my brain. See if you can fare any better.

MP3: “Glorious” - Captain

I won’t pretend like I was terribly familiar with the work of Patrick Wolf before “Accident & Emergency” graced my speakers a month or so ago, but the few tracks that had been passed my way by friends and acquaintances embodied a dark intimacy and morbidity that failed to spark my interest. With new single “Accident & Emergency” (off his upcoming Magic Positions LP), however, Wolf has won me over completely. The poppiest thing I’ve yet to hear from him, “Accident” possesses a downright sprightly quality and an electronic bounce about it that’s noticeably absent in much of his earlier work. One might be surprised to find these qualities in a song that examines life in a society plagued by terror, but repeated listens reveals the song’s ultimate message to be a celebration of resilience rather than a resignation to paranoia and uncertainty.

The instrumentation further reflects the struggle between the severe subject matter and Wolf’s unrestrained optimism, as all-too-real sirens jostle for position in the mix alongside buoyant brass lines and stuttering electronic beeps and whooshes. Despite the underlying conflict, Wolf perseveres with confidence and a newfound pop sensibility, and the track even goes so far as to air on the anthemic side of things with a rousing refrain like “Accident/Emergency/Bringing out the best in me”. Perhaps it’s my obsessive listens to A Weekend In The City that has me so inclined to view a song examining life in modern society in such a favorable light, but Wolf has done a masterful job of finding the perfect balance between social awareness and sprightly pop sensibility, and you can’t ask for much more from a song than that.

MP3: “Accident & Emergency” - Patrick Wolf ((highly recommended))

In somewhat related news, I’ve found myself completely in love with “Running Up That Hill”, thanks to Placebo’s incredible cover of the track, my review of which some of you may have noticed I upgraded from a 7 to a much more deserving 8. Thus, I was delighted to find this Patrick Wolf cover of the track from a recent live show, which is available below along with the aforementioned Placebo cover that’s been owning my iPod lately.

Bonus MP3s:
“Running Up That Hill” (Live @ Islington) - Patrick Wolf
“Running Up That Hill” - Placebo ((highly recommended))

I’m definitely thirsting for more goodness from Mr. Wolf now, so if anyone’s got anything by him to suggest for me don’t hesitate to get at me in the comments.

Yeah, I still watch The OC. Deal with it. I figure I’ve come this far, why not ride it out to see how bad it can actually get. And why not, especially if it continues to feed me awesome songs like this Placebo cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”, which was prominently featured in the first episode of the new season of The OC.

Placebo have been trying to make it in the US for almost a decade now, and what better way to do so than to be featured in the season premiere of one of the biggest television phenomena of the past five years. The track was previously available only on the bonus disc that accompanied the limited edition release of the band’s 2003 singles collection, Sleeping With Ghosts, but now sees a US-only re-release as an iTunes exclusive single. This is undeniably a brilliant move for a band whose been trying to gain exposure in the US market, even if it doesn’t exactly do wonders for their cred. Then again, Placebo aren’t exactly new to this territory, having soundtracked the opening shots of Cruel Intentions with “Every You, Every Me” off of their 1998 sophomore LP, Without You I’m Nothing.

Onto the song itself though. Cover songs generally work best when they approach the original from an entirely different perspective (see: “Heartbeats”), and Placebo do just that, forgoing the organic intensity of Bush’s version for a chilled-out, minimalist electronic reworking wrought with emotion and tangible melodrama. The original was the first single off of Bush’s inimitable Hounds of Love LP in 1985 and is thought to have paved the way for experimentation in British rock music popularized in the 90’s by UK bands like Radiohead and, well, Placebo. Replacing Bush’s strings flourishes with a haunting piano riff and dressing the track up in atmospheric synths, a chugging drum beat and vocoded backing vocals, Placebo’s interpretation of the track caters perfectly to the dark subject matter of the lyrics and manages to match the melodramatic emotional intensity and musical surrealism of the original. Bush has described the song as being about “the power of love, in that it can create such intense emotion that all rational thought is overpowered” (thanks Wikipedia), and the emotional intensity that Placebo bring to the track suits this theme flawlessly. While it doesn’t surpass the original - though it’s hard to judge when the two versions take such different approaches - Placebo certainly do justice to the Kate Bush classic here and pull off one of the best covers in recent memory.

MP3: “Running Up That Hill” - Placebo ((highly recommended))

For those who haven’t heard the original and want a point of reference for comparison’s sake, here’s Kate Bush’s version for download as well.

Bonus MP3: “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” - Kate Bush

While we’re dealing with “Running Up That Hill”, I figure it’s as good a time as any to post the new Snowfight In The City Centre single, which blatantly apes the rolling drums from the Kate Bush original. Like, we’re talking identical here, people. That’s not to take away from the track itself though, it’s great, just maybe they could rip off a less infamous percussion section next time. It doesn’t come anywhere close to the soaring pop perfection of their debut single, “No Light Left”, though, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless and good enough that I’m still expecting very big things from this band.

MP3: “Listen” - Snowfight In The City Centre

IN OTHER NEWS:
As lame as it may be to admit it, James was pretty much spot-on when he wrote that the feeling one gets upon discovering that they’ll be the first to break a band to the blogosphere (i.e. when the Hype Machine turns up 0 results for your band query) is “about as close to good drugs as mp3 blogging ever gets”. So imagine my excitement when the Machine turned up a blank slate when I checked to see if anyone had posted on WinterKids yet. Thus, I immediately ordered their two singles from Rough Trade (their shit isn’t available for download - legal or otherwise - anywhere) and paced back and forth for the next two weeks until they arrived yesterday. This morning I rise, eager to unleash their joyous indie pop on the masses, and do a quick perusal of the blogs I regularly check only to find that, yep - James Headphonesex posted on them YESTERDAY. So yes, get over their NOW and download “Tape It”; it’s at least fifteen different kinds of wonderful.

My selfish disappointment was quickly replaced with excitement, however, as the post proved to be one of his best ever, with new hotness from Pull Tiger Tail and I Was A Cub Scout, two of the young British bands I’ve been most excited about as of late. I’ve been meaning to get around to posting on both, but it looks like James has got things covered pretty well. He’s got the new single from Pull Tiger Tail, “Mr. 100 Percent”, and while he seems to prefer it to their previous offering, I’ll take their debut, “Animator” (that chorus!), over it any day.

MP3: “Animator” - Pull Tiger Tail ((highly recommended))

He’s also got I Was A Cub Scout’s debut single, “Pink Squares”, available for download there too. They’re doing this fun keyboards/drums combo thing that I’m really into right now, and the more danceable b-side is definitely worth getting excited about as well.

MP3: “Teenage Skin” - I Was A Cub Scout

First the impressive things: Hailing from a wee village outside of Dublin, Director have already managed realtively big time radio play in the UK and got some serious exposure opening for the Goo Goo Dolls on their most recent UK tour, despite the forever irreversible blow that last little tidbit will do to any indie cred the band may ever hope to attain. Furthermore, Director earn serious points having not only produced the “Reconnect” single, but their entire upcoming debut album, We Thrive On Big Cities, as well. Dudes even co-wrote and directed (appropriate considering the name) the video for the track. All impressive facts considering that for all their do-it-yourself gusto they manage an incredibly polished and professional aesthetic when all is said and done.

Not so impressive: “Reconnect” sounds like Editors covering Interpol covering Joy Division, which is to say, there’s not a hint of originality to be found anywhere here.

Thing is, as hard as it is to like for all the derivative-ass shit mentioned above, “Reconnect” remains a great track, all moody atmospherics with intelligent lyrics, a catchy-ass vocal structure and an awesome crescendo building up to an intense wall of sound rounding out the track at the song’s close. Though the general sound best compares with that of the bands listed above, “Reconnect” actually recalls The Stills’ “Still In Love Song” more than anything, with its penchant for huge crescendos, dark atmospherics and identical lyrical sentiment (”I want to reconnect with you”, “I’m stilll innnn lovvve” - same thing), only further impairing one’s ability to get excited by the track, considering the same song’s already been done before and it’s been done, well, better. That said, the amount of plays this thing’s gotten on my iPod doesn’t exactly match up with the harsh criticism leveled at it here because, original or not, it’s a great, catchy song, the perfect dark pop song for the waning light of autumn. The coming months should see Director blowing up, their major-label status and the surprisingly unanimous critical acclaim surrounding “Reconnect” and follow-up single “Come With A Friend”, and if history’s any indication, originality is pretty much the last thing the public cares about when it comes to making a band huge (*cough* Editors *cough*). Thus, the future’s looking bright for the Irish quartet, and keeping in mind how much of this band is completely do-it-yourself, you can’t say they don’t deserve it.

MP3: “Reconnect” - Director