Not much great new music this week, but these are worth checking out – don’t take my word for it – click the link for the Amazon page for each of these albums.
What are you listening to? What should I be listening to?
Monday morning – the day that all the new releases come out – and here is another selection of tuneage that will plump up your MP3 player or CD collection. Don’t take my word for it – follow the links, listen and buy.
- In This Light & On This Evening by the Editors – a significant shift of gear from this most fantastic British band, dark, brooding and mesmeric.
- My Way by Ian Brown – from the opening stomp and piano hook of Stellify, this signals the return of one of the most enduring voices in British rock music. Forget all the Stone Roses reunion guff – they aren’t needed.
- Music for Men by The Gossip – the voice is completely unique, but this album takes The Gossip to a new dimension. Easily straddling the void between club and concert – these songs will be ubiquitous into 2010.
- Skream! by Skream – innovative and completely original this is the future sound of London. If you haven’t discovered dubstep yet, then this is the ultimate primer – dark, dancey electronica at its finest.
- For lack of a better name by Deadmau5 – I’ve featured them in my DJ mixes (they are free to download!) for some time, but this third artist album really could propel them into the big time. Trippy, techy house music with collaborations from Rob Swire and Flipside.
What are you listening to? What should be listening to?
Another selection of music you really should be listening to now – don’t take my word for it, check out the links to listen to these essential tunes…
- XX by The XX – Hotly tipped band, vaguely reminiscent of Interpol. Intense and epic sounding music from south-West London.
- Trueloves Gutter by Richard Hawley – Memerising songs by one of Britains true national treasures. Truly a beautiful thing.
- Blueprint 3 by Jay-Z – Kanye, Jeezy, Rhianna and Drake amongst the collaborations on this, doesn’t detract that he is still the king of rap.
- Splitting the Atom EP by Massive Attack – a taste of things to come as Bristol’s finest ready themselves for LP5. Features Guy Garvey, Tunde and Horace Andy.
- Declaration of Dependence by Kings of Convenience – it feels like ages since we heard new material from Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe, but business is as usual – gentle vocals, delicate plucked guitars, and a great sense of humour.
It is all very well being on the cutting edge, using your rapier like insight to the music industry to mine the zeitgeist and choose music based on what is truly hot, but if you have the best new MP3 player (or an alternative)– you will want to kit it out with the best music of all time – from when new music meant slabs of vinyl, purchased with reverence from a record shop.
Don’t take my work for it, click the links to view of these classic discographies that everyone should own at least some part of:
What would your building blocks be for the perfect music collection?
Here are 7 albums you really should be listening to now – don’t take my word for it, check out the links to listen to these essential tunes…
- Speech Therapy by Speech Debelle – winner of the 2009 Mercury music prize, socially aware and funny London hip-hop tunes.
- The Resistance by Muse – absurdly pompous follow up to Black Holes and Revelations, amazingly produced and performed – essential stuff!
- One Love by David Guetta – perfectly made, accessible house music – ideal for prolonging those summer days, or dancing round your living room.
- Break Up by Peter Yorn and Scarlett Johannson – yep, that Scarlett – think of this as a modern day Gainsbourg and Bardot. Which can only be awesome. See Also.
- La Roux by La Roux – The Eighties revival gathers pace with this impossibly poppy debut from Elly Jackson aka La Roux – electric stuff, literally. See Also – Little Boots
- West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum by Kasabian – currently ubiquitous, but for a reason. This is head nodding, hip shaking rock and roll. Enjoy Loud.
- The Beatles – Remastered- Stunningly remastered to sound beautiful, every music lover should have some Beatles in their collection. From the exuberant pop of Please, Please Me to the acrimonious Let it Be – there is a Beatles album to please everyone.
What do you think should be in everyone’s music collection?
So, were you entranced by the announcements from Apple? Or you are anticipating the release of the Zune HD? Or maybe you just need to refresh your listening on the morning commute? These 5 sites are my recommendations to find new music to listen to:
- Last.FM – my favourite music recommendation site, you gather up information about what you are listening to (called scrobbling) and then the last.fm site recommends new music that you might like. You can also browse what other people are listening to and recommending and listen to customised radio streams – and much more. If you use last.fm – you can add me to your circle of friends (my profile is here).
- Rcrdlbl.com – completely web based music label, great for finding new music from around the globe. A great source for some cool dance remixes and European oddities.
- The Hype Machine – aggregates reviews from hundres of music blogs across the web, and provides an alternative ‘lens’ on music reviews.
- Stereogum – since 2002, a premier source for indie and alternative music news and MP3’s – new music, video clips and information about concerts and tours.
- DJ Bynar – Indie music blog and podcast, which is amazing source of new music tips, at the very least you should be subscribing to the podcast.
Where do you find new music to listen to?
Don’t just take my word for it, here are 7 albums that you really should be listening to right now:
All the links go to Amazon – you can check out the CD or MP3 release for each.
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