"The battle between good and evil" - Xmas #1

The UK singles chart is looking a bit odd at this time of year: Rihanna is featured three times in the top 40 (#30, #37, #38) and Mariah Carey and The Pogues have returned to the top ten. Not to mention that Wham, Chris Rea, Wizzard and Slade are about. Yes, it's the Christmas #1 week. And yes, the winner of X Factor has unsurprisingly come out on top, selling more singles than the top ten combined. I'm going to take a quick look at some of the Christmas #1 contenders anyway.



Leon Jackson (#1)
The winner of X Factor was quite obviously going to be Christmas number 1. But not many suspected that Leon Jackson would beat odds on favourite Rhydian, a Welsh singer whose "biggest phobia is getting fat". The producers could well have rigged the vote because Leon seems almost impossibly inoffensive to Rhydian's atypical popstar voice and image. Nice enough single though, a slightly altered cover of Mariah and Whitney's 'When You Believe'. Watch the horrendously bad video on [Youtube].

Soulja Boy Tellem (#5)
Massive club hit crosses over to mainstream success. Apparently, 'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' has an accompanying dance that has taken America by storm. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not - remember the Macarena? The Travis Barker "remix" is worth a listen, check it out on [Youtube].

Malcolm Middleton (#31)
Malcolm recently noted that the Christmas #1 was a "battle between good and evil" (i.e the world vs manufactured artists). William Hill originally offered odds of 1000/1 for 'We're All Going To Die' to be Xmas #1 (the longest ever odds on such a bet) before going as low as 12/1. My favourite track off his third post-Arab Strap album, it fell disappointly short. You can listen to its greatness on the single tie-in website [wereallgoingtodie.co.uk].

Malcolm Middleton - We're All Going To Die (BBC Radio 1 Session) [Yourfilehost download link]
Malcolm Middleton - Burst Noel (BBC Radio 1 Session) [Yourfilehost]

The whole of Malcolm's recent Radio 1 session is available to download on his [MySpace].

Reuben (disqualified)
'Christmas Is Awesome' was meant to be Reuben's breakthrough hit and a shining beacon in the battle between good and evil (see above). Nice idea, except they went and got themselves disqualified from the charts by registering the wrong song! But is a manufactured single really any better than a manufactured band anyway? Nonetheless, this meaty ode to Christmas is good. Check out the christmassy vid on [Youtube]. In fact, while you're there, listen to 'Freddy Kreuger', their career highlight for me.

Hot Club de Paris (#?)
With only 300 copies of 'Will You Still Be In Love With Me Next Year?' available, this was hardly going to make inroads in the chart. That doesn't mean that this isn't a Hot Club classic, its melancholy lyrics doused with wonderful harmonies and sleigh bells and glockenspiels. Magical. Listen to the single on their [MySpace]. Order the 7" from [Banquet Records].

Klaus Says Buy The Record & Jose Vanders (#?)
Jose Vanders is somewhat of a MySpace sensation (575,000 plays and counting) and she's collaborated with Brighton lad Jon Mills (aka Klaus Says Buy The Record) to produce the rather snazzy 'Winter Wear'. Unashamedly novelty Christmas pop, 'Winter Wear' really could have been a Christmas #1. Ultimately, this remains a hidden gem. Below is a 2.30 preview of the single but listen to it in full, then buy at [Indiestore.com]. Think of it as a Christmas present to independent record label, Riddlestone.

Klaus Says Buy The Record & Jose Vanders - Winter Wear (2.30 preview) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

So that's that then. Evil won out. At least there have been some good Christmas singles this year. I'm still a bit sad that Malcolm Middleton didn't quite make #1 but I'll cheer myself up by looking at some ace Christmas freebies offered by bands recently in my next post.

p.s sorry for not posting so much these days, I've had a ridiculous amount of work at uni and I turned 21 a few days ago so life's been a bit mad recently!

Johnny Foreigner - Arcs Across The City EP

Black Kids. Yeasayer. Vampire Weekend. I don't think you can move around in the blogosphere without seeing one of these bands mentioned. Do they deserve it? Possibly. One band that should have had similar blog success is Birmingham three piece Johnny Foreigner.

Thankfully, critical acclaim has not eluded them. Appearances in the NME and Rocksound have been followed by Radio 1 and Kerrang sessions. Not to mention their rise to minor indie celebrity status thanks to their progress in the Road To V festival competition, televised on Channel 4 this summer. Myself, and a few other bloggers (Another Form Of Relief and clicky clicky music blog, in particular) have supported them also, for a long time now. In fact, they're the only band to be featured on two of my podcasts. Which you should obviously go listen to if you haven't already [#1 and #3]

"Lo-fi, pop-punk, speeded-up-Americana, boy-girl vocal sparring, the occasional gem of a lyric and you know you're onto a winner." That's a quote from a post back in February [link]; it can be summarised to Johnny Foreigner = ace.

The 'Arcs Across The City' EP (mini-album?) features seven of their tracks, with only one of them being previously released. And almost all of them are pretty great. They may be a bit less lo-fi now but the charm is still there. Opener 'Champagne Girls...' exhibits Johnny Foreigner's animated scuzzy pop perfectly, and the vivacious mood continue throughout until 'This Band Is Killing Us', where the band mellow. To be honest, this track isn't even needed with the magical 'All Mosely Gardens' appearing at the end of the EP as a secret track. This is the highlight of the EP, a refreshing delicate facet to the typically frenzied nature of Johnny Foreigner. Add to that past gems 'Sofacore' and 'Yes! You Talk Too Fast' and we find ourselves with an infectious release, which is better than most ALBUMS. Then again, I'm not much of an album man anyway. It's still a fantastic EP and one worthy of your immediate attention.

Johnny Foreigner - Champagne Girls I Have Known [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
Johnny Foreigner - This Band Is Killing Us/All Mosely Gardens [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

Johnny Foreigner are currently recorded their debut album in America with some bloke called Machine. Apparently, he's produced Fall Out Boy and Eighteen Visions stuff. If they can build upon new stuff like 'Salt, Pepa And Spinderella' below, I predict awesomeness.



'Arcs Across The City' is out now (released 26/11) on Best Before Records. Buy from [HMV].

Los Campesinos! vs Heavenly

Indiepop 'darlings' Los Campesinos! recently released 'The International Tweexcore Underground', a pretty amazing take on warring musical tastes, with Gareth on the twee side ("I never cared about Henry Rollins") and Aleks representing hardcore ("I never cared about Calvin Johnson"). Great video to boot, take a peek below. And not only that, they decided to flank that song with two cover versions (one twee, one hardcore) so that it would be a concept single. Crazy bananas.



Their cover of Black Flag's 'Police Story' didn't agree with me at all but I think their remake of 90's twee band, Heavenly's 'C Is The Heavenly Option' (or should that be Twee Is The Heavenly Option....sorry) is possibly my favourite cover this year. And considering how much I love covers, that is high praise indeed. Okay, they are just taking an already good song and adding a slight modern twist, LC! stylee, but maybe it's that relative simplicity which appeals to me. I think Calvin Johnson sounds a bit funny on the original too. It reminds me far too much of the B52s. Not that that's always a bad thing but it is here. Anyways, the LC! cover is below but for posterity, I've decided to upload the original as well - which do you prefer? It's like VHS vs Betamax all over again.

But the A-side is even better so I'm sticking that up as well. Admittedly, only a live version because you should buy the single obviously! Although (brace yourself for some rare negativity) I'm not sure LC! do the business live. I saw them again recently at ULU in London and thought there was something lacking. The sound in the venue wasn't that great though and they did a fantastic dance to 'Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks' but it's a bit sad if a gimmick is the best bit of your performance. On a brighter note, the album is almost destined to be a good un!

Los Campesinos! - C Is The Heavenly Option [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
Heavenly - C Is The Heavenly Option [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
Los Campesinos! - The International Tweexcore Underground (Live At London Calling) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

'The International Tweexcore Underground' is available in all good record stores and download stores (iTunes etc). Los Campesinos! are also hitting Europe and USA, check their [website] for further details.

frYars

If you're a case sensitive fascist, frYars is probably not for you. But if you can look past the ludicrous capitalisation of this Patrick Wolf-meets-Bat For Lashes electronic outfit, then you will enjoy the wonderful sounds technology these days can make. In fact, it is quite remarkable how one bloke can construct such dulcet tones simply from a computer and keyboard, as shown by the BBC 6Music Session I am about to share with you all.

frYars is the brainchild of London teenager Ben Garrett, one of a clutch of talented youngsters in our fair capital. He's teamed up with the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and Cajun Dance Party, as well as ex-Ladyfuzz drummer and now solo artist, Esser. Esser's pretty good too by the way. Oh and the producer of the recent frYars EP was none other than ex-Clor man, Luke Smith. And while we're here, R.I.P Clor and Ladyfuzz, two London bands that had much more in them than simply one album each.



From the interview that accompanied his performance for Tom Robinson's BBC 6Music show, I gathered:
a) he doesn't much like Radiohead
b) his personality seems to mirror his music, i.e quirky
c) he used to be a drummer
d) he has someone to help him play live (alas I have forgotten their name, sorry unknown musician person!)
e) it's amazing what lovely noise a couple of keyboards can make

The tracks he played for the recent session were 'Horse Or Man', 'Madeline' and 'The Ides', which is also incidentally the title of his critically acclaimed EP (even Pitchfork were fans!). Aside from your enjoyment of the juxtaposition of strings and electronica, you might notice how atmospheric his music is; if a "pop" career doesn't work out then he'd be great at making meditational relaxation backing tracks. As with all offbeat artists, I have no idea what his lyrics are really about but who cares? These tracks are fantastic.

frYars - The Ides (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
frYars - Madeline (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
frYars - Horse Or Man (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

frYars is also playing a couple of live dates at the end of November in London, which could quite possibly be his first ever ones. Check his [MySpace] for more details on those dates and how to buy his EP, which is available on iTunes and from independent record stores.

The Killers and Lou Reed

I think The Killers are a fantastic singles band - most of the the singles off 'Hot Fuss' were ace and 'Bones' is possibly the best thing they've done so far. The Tim Burton directed vid wasn't too shabby either. So it was pretty weird to discover that they've released an iTunes only single, in the form of a duet with Lou Reed - you know "oh it's such a perfect day". Or I guess you might know him from some tiny band called The Velvet Underground. The song will be on a soon-to-be released b-sides and rarities compilation entitled 'Sawdust'. Admittedly, I wasn't expecting much from 'Tranquilize' (digital only singles can be a bit pap, although 'Stockholm Syndrome' by Muse was superb) but the interesting mish-mash of styles on offer make for an unexpected direction and great return.

The song is a bit morose to say the least and adding Lou Reed's vocals only adds to that. Not that Lou Reed's the only non-Killers vocalist on the track with a squeaky kid (or kids?) making an appearance mid-song. 'Tranquilize' moves through pulsating, trancey keyboard bits to a folky chorus with the verses plodding along the way (although this helps emphasise the sentiment of the song). There's even a Joy Division-esque intro, although that's hardly the most surprising thing ever as they've done a cover of 'Shadowplay', also be appearing on the forthcoming album. All in all, a goodie.

The Killers - Tranquilize [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link]

n.b considering this is a bit naughty, the mp3s will be removed by the weekend-ish. Get it now basically. And if you've come here too late, head over to iTunes and buy it.

'Sawdust' will be released on November 12th

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A couple of other things now; firstly, thanks again for voting in the BT DMA's if you did, this is the 44th best music blog in the universe apparently [link]. A bit down from last year but not bad going at all! Congrats to my fellow bloggers who made the list too.

Secondly, my friends at Oops! are putting on a gig at one of my favourite London venues, Nambucca with Keep Hope Inside fave, Nic Nell. He's amazing live! And if that isn't good enough for you there's lots of other bands on the bill, including secret headliners. Ooh. That's all happening on October 23rd, for more details, head to their [MySpace].

Bloc Party In A State Of Flux

You've probably already got the studio version but this is a live version of the new Bloc Party single that's been making the rounds over the last few days. The radio rip is fairly different to this version, from the American TV show 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien'. Although that's mainly because the vocals in this version are a bit rubbish - they are meant to be a bit vocodered but that doesn't come off great here. It doesn't help that Kele doesn't sing into the mic at the start.

Anyways, if you haven't heard it already, the new non-album single 'Flux' is erm, an electro ballad?! It's a bit weird. Reminds me of when Stereophonics came up with something a bit different (and surprisingly good) out of the blue with 'Dakota'. I suppose 'The Prayer' had a similar vibe, away from "vintage" Bloc Party. The jury seems to be out on 'Flux' however, with ardent fans championing it and others claiming it sounds "like Sash". Some are in between and disgruntled about Jacknife Lee's (who also produced 'A Weekend In The City') production, and also feel the band are moving in the wrong direction.


Photo courtesy of NBC.com

On the other hand, I like it for its poppiness. Then again, I also liked Sash. It is radio-friendly and I would have thought its purpose was simply to generate interest in 'AWITC', which seems to have been suffering flagging sales. But they could have just released 'Waiting For The 7.18' which would have done the job just as well really. Unless someone is thinking electro is "in" and now's the time to grab people's attention...

Bloc Party - Flux [right click, save as]//[Sendspace link]

'Flux' will be released on November 12th, with 'Emma Kate's Accident' and 'The Once And Future King' as b-sides. Bloc Party will be doing a handful of UK dates in December.
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Thanks for voting in the BT DMAs if you did, god knows what the results were as they don't seem to be doing a Top 50 like last year. We can only hope I beat Lemar's blog this time around at least. Consider my new podcast as a present, download here [link].

Oh and wowzers at the rugby today, have you ever actually seen Paul Sackey and Kele Bloc Party in the same place together? Multi talented bloke.