Uh, sorry about that. Leaseweb thought it would be cool to repeatedly provide me with incorrect login information to access my FTP (despite me emailing or phoning them like three times a week) so as to prevent me from actually being able to upload anything, thus rendering my new server more or less completely useless. Then Wordpress turned on me and wouldn’t even let me post if I wanted to, so a MASSIVE THANKS is in order to Greg Ipp who got all up in my server and fixed everything. But hey, at long last everything’s been worked out, and the three of you who have stuck with us during this little hiatus will now have an ample amount of new hotness to feast upon in the coming weeks. Moving on then, here are the four artists and albums that ruled my summer this year, plus a shit ton of other hotness.
EUGENE MCGUINNESS, THE EARLY LEARNINGS OF EUGENE MCGUINNESS
From out of nowhere, newcomer Eugene McGuinness has arrived to drop one of the most impressive debuts of 2007 with this remarkably accomplished mini-LP. The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuiness finds a young singer songwriter at the top of his game while only scratching the surface of his potential. His style isn’t the easiest to classify, as McGuinness is by no means your typical singer-songwriter - think a weirder (better?) Jeremy Warmsley - and thus cannot easily be tied down to one genre. Weirdo indie-pop might nail it most accurately, but tracks like “Bold Street” and “Myrtle Parade” prove the young maestro is just as successful when wielding only his acoustic guitar and his quick-witted lyrics as he is when armed with a full arsenal of electronic production flourishes as on tracks like debut single “Monsters Under The Bed” and album standout “Child Lost In Tesco”. While “Monsters Under The Bed” is undeniably McGuinness’ finest work to date, lead-off track “High Score” serves as the perfect introduction to the mini-LP and McGuinness as a songwriter in general, with its high production values, quirky lyrics and wonderful song structure. In addition to “High Score” and “Monsters”, “Child Lost In Tesco” and “Bold Street” comprise a nigh-impeccable first half marred only by clunker “Vampire Casino”. That said, the second half falters (though only slightly) in comparison to the LP’s brilliant opening tracks, but it’s easy to forgive when such a young artist is putting out so many excellent tracks his first time out. Long story short: Eugene McGuinness is someone to get very excited about in 2007 and 2008.
MP3s:
“Monsters Under The Bed” - Eugene McGuiness ((highly recommended))
“A Child Lost In Tesco” - Eugene McGuiness
“Myrtle Parade” - Eugene McGuiness
SPOON, GA GA GA GA GA
I wouldn’t really count myself as a Spoon fan in the first place and the sufficiently dreadful album title didn’t exactly start a fire of anticipation betwixt my loins for this one, but shit - this is really really good. I owe all of my appreciation of this record to my man Mack, who might as well have this CD in every slot of his six-disc changer in his car because it’s all you’ll ever hear when you’re in it, but I should have known it’d be at least a little bit brilliant with Jon Brion on bass and handling some of the production duties in the studio. So yeah, the production’s top notch, but this thing also has some fucking jams in store for you. Like the four minutes of ebullient brass, handclaps and bouncy guitars that is “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” and Brion-produced lead single “The Underdog”, the latter coming dangerously close to matching the unbridled exuberance of 2006’s most essential summer jam, Guillemots’ “Trains To Brazil”. But yo, back to the production. “The Ghost of You Still Lingers” is another lesson in fine-ass production, with a haunting tremolo piano riff providing the sonic backbone to the track while reverb-heavy vocals echo back and forth between the left and right channels, lending the track a visceral, immersive feel. The vocal effects are brilliant, but the best part of the song might be that unexpected Velcro-sounding effect that first arrives out of nowhere around the two-minute mark and rears its head every so often throughout the rest of the track. As a whole, the record is more streamlined and less experimental than their recent efforts, and it’s all the better for it as far as I’m concerned. Possibly the best American rock record released so far this year.
MP3s:
“The Underdog” - Spoon ((highly recommended))
“The Ghost of You Lingers” - Spoon
KATE NASH, MADE OF BRICKS
Oh goodness, talk about a complete and utter obliteration of expectations. I’ve been loving “Birds” all year and was considerably pumped by the quality of her demos and the news that one Mr. Paul Epworth would be producing her album, but I had no idea it could be this good. Lead-off single “Foundations” has been hanging around the top of the charts in the UK for a while now and even ended Rihanna’s twelve-week reign at #1 two weeks back, and it seems nigh-on impossible that the album’s other likely single cuts (see: “Mouthwash”, “Pumpkin Soup” and “Merry Happy”) won’t achieve the same success. And, again, the production is just so good. “Mouthwash” could be the biggest hit on the album with its unbelievably infectious chorus, powerful vocals and pounding Bloc Party-esque drums, while “Pumpkin Soup” is the poppiest track on the record with that “I just want your kiss boy” chorus and should do ridiculously well on radio if it were to see release as a single.
There are some huge jams on this track (check out those big tropical 80’s synths on “Shit Song”), but the slower jams aren’t anything to sneeze at in their own right. “The Nicest Thing” just might be the best track ever, with it’s beautiful, emotive strings arrangement and Nash’s honest narrative of painful longing, and album-closer “Merry Happy” is most excellent too. “Merry Happy” finds Nash at her quirkiest, like a better Regina Spektor or a wayyyy better Lily Allen, with a wordless chorus you’ll be humming for months and overly-simplistic pop structure that spotlights Nash’s most endearing qualities; her lyrical honesty, absolute adorability and brilliant delivery. I could ramble on for hours more about this record, which is easily in my Top 3 of the year to this point, but James has already gone ahead and handled that for me, and in a far more insightful fashion than I could ever achieve I might add.
“Mouthwash” is out as her next single on the first of October, so I figure I’ll put it up for streaming for now, but make sure to download “The Nicest Thing” and “Merry Happy” below.
MP3s:
“The Nicest Thing” - Kate Nash ((highly recommended))
“Merry Happy”** - Kate Nash ((highly recommended))
**curiously large 18 MB file size due to a hidden track, “Little Red”, tacked onto the end of the song.
M.I.A. KALA
I’m not gonna front like I was a huge fan of Arular, so I wasn’t exactly dying in anticipation of M.I.A.’s Kala, especially considering the disappointing sophomore efforts turned in by nearly all of 2005’s big breakthrough artists to this point so far in 2007. But after hearing “Paper Planes” blasting from the office soundsystem on my second day at XL in May that all changed. It took a ridiculous amount of self-restraint not to jack the record from the office right then and there, and from that point on I cruised the internet every day waiting for Kala to fall into my lap until it finally did one glorious day in late July. And guess what? The other 11 tracks on the record ain’t nothing to fuck with either. “Paper Planes” - or “that gunshot song”, as the uninitiated will likely come to call it - remains my favorite moment on the record, but the whole thing has proven to be one of the most remarkably pleasant surprises of 2007 for me. “Jimmy” rocks a Middle Eastern disco strings sample and sounds like the Knife’s “Heartbeats” gone Bollywood, “$20″ references the Pixies over a primal electronic beat and the Timbaland-produced “Come Around” shows M.I.A. can do the whole mainstream pop star thing too. But after “Planes”, triumphant lead single “Boyz” is easily the album’s next-brightest moment, the massive, flawlessly produced drums and reckless energy providing the perfect reintroduction to M.I.A. for a music community who could have understandably written her off as a mere flash in the pan after 2005.
Perhaps the best thing about the record and M.I.A. in general is the diverse international flavor that runs rampant throughout Kala and that should enable the record to do big numbers in international markets the world over. “Paper Planes” and “Come Around” could own the US market if Interscope plays their cards right, “Bamboo Banga” and “Jimmy” both rock that Bollywood vibe and “Mango Pickle Down River” even represents for aboriginal Australia, complete with verses from aboriginal kids hip-hop group Wilcannia Mob and a fucking didgeridoo sample. But no track screams “third world megahit” more than “Boyz”; you can just see it obliterating dancefloors in slums and ghettos the world over, but more than anything I can picture this blaring out of speakers and tearing shit to the ground all over the favellas of Rio. Thus, I’m psyched to see up-and-coming Brazilian producer-remixers The Twelves dropping a bangin’ electro edit of the track, which you can and should get at below in addition to aforementioned album highlights “Paper Planes” and “Boyz”. In conclusion: M.I.A. just might have released the best album of 2007.
MP3s:
“Boyz” - M.I.A. ((highly recommended))
“Paper Planes” - M.I.A. ((highly recommended))
“Boyz” (The Twelves Remix) - M.I.A.
In other news, the last few months have seen me accomplish some personal triumphs. First of all, I played a role (albeit a minor one) in the production of a fairly excellent mash-up, teaming up with the consistently bad-ass DJ Half Price in a meeting of the minds to create “Feel Gold Inc.”, which takes Erol Alkan’s masterful intstrumental remix of Klaxons’ “Golden Skans” and pairs it seamlessly with the vocals from Gorillaz’ 2005 megahit, “Feel Good Inc.”. Give it a listen below and please don’t hesitate to let us know what you think. I’ll be real with you though, I’m pretty psyched about it.
MP3: “Feel Gold Inc.” - Erol Alkan vs Klaxons vs Gorillaz [exclusive]
Personal triumph number two? Well, guess who commissioned his first ever remix. While in London I interned as a personal-assistant-of-sorts with Abeano Music (home of I Was A Cub Scout, To My Boy and Vampire Weekend) founder Imran Ahmed, but essentially being his bitch for six weeks reaped rewards in the form of mad concert hook-ups and limited input into the music videos and remixes of his artists. When he asked for my recommendation for a not-too-well-known remixer for the upcoming I Was A Cub Scout single, “Our Smallest Adventures”, I suggested Brighton-based electro-wizard Frankmusik, and what do you know - he went with it. So yeah, here’s a sufficiently bangin’ remix that I guess I kind of helped come to fruition. The single’s out this week (buy it) and the video’s pretty ingenious too.
MP3: “Our Smallest Adventures” (Frankmusik Remix) - Cub Scout [exclusive]
And because Imran’s a stand-up guy who enjoys the site, he also through me another exclusive I Was A Cub Scout remix, Lull’s rework of the Cub Scout boys’ debut single, “Pink Squares”. Sure, it’s not quite as flawless as Lull’s remix of “I Still Remember” off of Bloc Party’s “I Still Remember” remix EP, but it’s pretty damn good in its own right.
MP3: “Pink Squares” (Lull Remix) - I Was A Cub Scout [exclusive]
Rounding out the remix section of this comeback mega-post is one of the hottest remixes to grace my ears all years, from another up-and-coming remixer in the electro scene, David E. Sugar. A prominent figure in the 8-bit glitch-pop trend, Sugar has been dropping impressive remixes all year. Until last week my favorite works of his had come in the form of his excellent unofficial remix of “Golden Skans” and his equally-brilliant cover of “Just Like Heaven”, but that’s all changed with his perfect update to the Rumble Strips’ “Girls and Boys In Love”.
MP3s:
“Golden Skans” (David E. Sugar Remix) - Klaxons ((highly recommended))
“Just Like Heaven” - David E. Sugar ((highly recommended))
For the most part, my general feelings towards London indie(?)-rock outfit Rumble Strips could probably best be described as loathsome, so imagine my shock at finding Sugar’s remix of the track coming dangerously close to causing me to undergo a full-scale Rumble Strips conversion. Sugar takes the track and speeds it up a beat, putting that pristine piano-riff front and center over double-time hand claps and a pounding electro beat. Then the beat drops at the 48-second mark and shit just gets naughty. Seriously, this is AWESOME. Fortunately, all it took was one listen to theatrical schmaltz-fests like “Motorcycle” and “Alarm Clock” to set me straight and remember why I dislike this band so intensely, but all that aside - this is still a fucking fantastic remix and another reason to get considerably pumped about David E. Sugar as a rising star in the UK’s burgeoning glitch-pop scene. This just might be the best remix of 2007.
MP3: “Girls & Boys In Love” (David E. Sugar Remix) - Rumble Strips [exclusive]
Last year’s remixing crown went all but uncontested to Metronomy, and he hasn’t slowed down in 2007 either. How about some Metronomy taking on Temposhark and Imogen Heap? Why the fuck not. And let’s not forget that bangin’ update to Kate Nash’s summer mega-hit, “Foundations”, either.
MP3s:
“Not That Big” (Metronomy Remix) - Temposhark (ft. Imogen Heap)
“Foundations” (Metronomy Remix) - Kate Nash
Oh and hey, dude’s back with a new single too. His rather disappointing original productions have always paled in comparison to his consistently immaculate remix work, but all that may be about to change with his upcoming sophomore LP. Having witnessed the band perform a set of mostly new material last spring in New York, I was optimistic that the Metronomy’s second album would make up for their bummer of a debut, and new single “Radio Ladio” doesn’t disappoint. It’s still not quite on par with his remixes, but it’s a promising sign of things to come nonetheless.
MP3: “Radio Ladio” - Metronomy ((highly recommended))
Speaking of new singles, how about that new Wombats track? Fucking awesome, right? “Let’s Dance To Joy Division”, the lead single off of the Wombats long-awaited full-length LP proper, A Guide To Love, Loss and Desperation (out October 16th), dropped this month and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t disappoint even a little bit. I first heard it live when I caught the trio at Borderline back in June and then again when Zane Lowe debuted it on Radio 1 in mid-July, so I’m psyched to finally have my hands on a copy to have and to hold in sickness and in health forever. I really love this song.
MP3: “Let’s Dance To Joy Division” - The Wombats ((highly recommended))
Also back with a new single are Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip, two names I honestly never thought I’d hear again after they scored an unlikely anthem with “Thou Shall Always Kill” last Spring. Miraculously, they’ve defied one hit wonder status and returned with a half-decent single. And by half-decent I mean actually pretty good. No, seriously, give it a listen.
MP3: “The Beat That My Heart Skipped” - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
To wrap things up, I’d wanted to feature a grand finale of an absolutely incredible new single from one of the most promising young bands like, maybe ever, but I’ve decided its brilliance warrants an entire post in its honor. However, you should have more than enough music here to tide you over until then (and probably longer), so go nuts, kids.
Thanks to everyone who stuck around and here’s hoping it never happens again.
