Home Taping Is Killing Music #5
Hello all. As we cautiously edge out of the interminable winter we've been enduring, we'd all like to be looking forward to the coming months of (one would hope) sun and fun. However, this week's 'Home Taping ...' looks back as well as forward, with three of the five tracks coming from bands who each released stellar debut records back in 2008. So, without further ado, let us proceed.
Lawrence Arabia - Apple Pie Bed
The email that I got alongside this track contained a note from my editor saying "in the office we do a terrible singalong version of this song". On the first listen, you can see why even the grinches at Rockfeedback* would be moved to song by 'Apple Pie Bed'. Rollicking along with lilting guitar and metronome-sharp drums, the Lawrence of the band name beguiles you with dreamy melodies and dreamier harmonies - the killer chorus runs "oh apple pie bed/apple pie when my body's made of lead". Simple, but beautiful, 'Apple Pie Bed' is an early summer jam that gets by on both charm and talent. Lawrence is over on British soil from New Zealand at the moment, touring with full band, and it's strongly suggested you check him out - it could be, somewhere down the line, an "I saw him when he was just starting out" situation. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
*love you really guys!
Foals - Spanish Sahara (Mount Kimbie Remix)
Foals are back! Hooray! Alas, I don't think I'm allowed to wax lyrical about the original of 'Spanish Sahara' for reasons beyond my understanding (our sister label Transgressive releases Foals, basically. Ed.), but I think talking about the remix is just about acceptable. Mount Kimbie are a production duo from Peckham, with their woozy ambient soundscapes winning over many a fan including big-league DJs Rob Booth and Scuba. Here they take the already pretty chilled out 'Spanish Sahara' and chill it out even further. Crushes of brooding sound flit in from time to time, attmpting to disturb the soothing melancholy of the track, but Yannis' bruised vocals cannot be touched, as they are sitting on a bed of gently throbbing bass and synths. It's a rarity that a remix manages to both shorten a track and make it more subdued, but the intelligence and thought put into this by Mount Kimbie mean they trim any fat off of the Foals original to create something lean, effortless and beautiful. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Late of the Pier - Best in the Class
This may be an unpopular or risible view in some circles, but I hold - and will continue to stick by - the view that Late of the Pier's debut record Fantasy Black Channel is one of the finest LPs released since the turn of the century. That album somehow managed to balance the best of pop music with the best of the electronic avant-garde - unfathomable song-structures assimilated themselves with blissy harmonies, while out of a mass of jagged noise would emerge the most colossal of hooks. More quietly ushering themselves into 2010, LotP snuk out double a-side ‘Best in the Class/Blueberry’ earlier this month. 'Best in the Class' welcomes you with some friendly arpeggios and chirpy melodic bleeping, before settling into the kind of groove that made the first album so easy to love. A more conventional (although that's very relative) track than what they've come up with before, Sam Dust admits to us in the niggling chorus that "we've been planning this too long". Nothing wrong with that, the meticulous craft of each track is what makes the group such a winner every time. But don't worry, we get the usual LotP deluge of delusions - there's that quiet bit that lulls you before a massive breakdown, the old granny in the video (srsly check out the video, it's amazing), a load of shouting and some girls. I don't mean to be trite, but this band seem to only deal in superlatives - once more LotP have proved themselves best in the class. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Janelle Monae - Tightrope ft. Big Boi
Big Boi makes his third appearance on Home Taping here, albeit on someone else's track. 'Tightrope' immediately grabs you with a jive beat before hurtling into Janelle's verse. There are many limitations to essentially making a James Brown track forty odd years too late, but Monae somehow manages to make it sound very fresh and very, very good. With perfect diction and crystal-clear pitch she urges the subject of her affections to "get on the tightrope", the phrase punctuated by some swinging brass and a very nifty little key change. "This ain't no acrobatics/you either fall off or you lead" she sings, positively dripping with sass. Of course, then Big Boi comes in and blows the thing wide open - the shaping of his phrasing is as ever immaculate, with the same going for his timing, and his distinctly 21st century demeanour and lines like "we'll get back up like the Dow Jones" assist in bringing a song that could have become slightly stuck in pastiche bang up to date. Though she might need to start bringing a few of her own tricks to the table in the future, for the time being Monae succeeds in creating something both deft and danceable that should turn more than a few heads. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
Born Ruffians - Sole Brother
Born Ruffians have always come across musically as a cheeky younger brother. First record Red, Yellow and Blue overflowed with charm, wit and exuberance, the yelps and squawks of the three band members brought to mind an innocent playfulness and quest for enjoyment that meant you couldn't help but smile and dance. From the beginning of 'Sole Brother' (this Born Ruffian, it sadly seems, is an only child) those familiar with the band will instantly recognise Luke LaLonde's river-like guitar runs and Mitch Derosier's highly melodic bass, whilst new fans will be instantly converted by the track's comforting aura. This, however, is welded with an element of yearning that wasn't apparent on R, Y and B - "get your act together please" urges LaLonde on more than one occasion, whilst the background cries are pinned back to the almost pained wails of "sole brother!" on the chorus. As is the norm with Born Ruffians, the track reaches a whooping conclusion of ragged chords and interlocking vocals, though a stately rhythm section prevents things getting out of hand. The new album Say It comes out on June 1st, and on this showing it'll be you as well as the group who will have something to say. [DOWNLOAD HERE]
As a bonus this week, we'll also have an old dog that's been taught new tricks (sort of ...). A fine unknown internet fellow has come up with a smashing mash-up of De La Soul's 1996 single 'Itzsoweezee' with Radiohead's Hail to the Thief elegy 'I Will'. Not the likeliest of blogosphere partners to be sure, but it works to superb effect, with both artists sounding as fresh as if they'd just come out of adolescence as opposed to into middle age. Listen here.
Artists in this article: Lawrence Arabia, Foals, Late Of The Pier, Jason Lytle, Born Ruffians, Big Boi, Janelle Monae