HYPE

Egyptian Hip Hop are going to be big. Produced by Late Of The Pier's Sam Eastgate, Wild Human Child takes a very similar sound to LOTP's work as well. Loving the tropical breakdown about half way through. Rad Pitt sounds like early work from The Cure, if you're familiar with their first couple of albums this will be right up your alley. Both sound completely different, these guys have a lot of versatility it seems. They have another amazing song called Heavenly but all I can track down is an early demo which doesn't do it justice, so here's a streamable version of it only.

Egyptian Hip Hop - Heavenly by Pure Groove


Wild Human Child - Egyptian Hip Hop
Rad Pitt - Egyptian Hip Hop

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Giselle is an artist from Australia, who once again, is going to be huge; probably bigger than Egyptian Hip Hop actually, because she can make young girls cry. One of her songs, They Stay Down Deep, was on episode 7 of the latest Skins season. Naturally, this means that it will explode very shortly. However it is also near impossible to find, but do yourself a favour and head to her Myspace page where you can play what I assume is a preview version of the track, it's only a little less than 2 minutes, but that's all you need (or so I tell the ladies). She recently collaborated with Flight Facilities (who may, or may not be Nick Littlemore) for the song Crave You, it's pretty shit hot so give it a listen. Very chill, loungey sort of feel, her vocals are easily the stand out aspect of the song.

Crave You - Flight Facilities (Feat. Giselle)

Head to Giselle's Myspace to hear They Stay Down Deep.

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Troels Abrahamsen (who is the frontman of the band VETO) just released BLCK, the darker brother it would seem to his first solo album using his real name, WHT. Quite often when listening to BLCK I'm reminded of Radiohead. Of course the witty insightful people who read this will argue that this is a fucking stupid thing to say, because comparing artists to Radiohead is the laziest thing you can do. All I have to say to them is; spot on.

Stop Making That Noise - Troels Abrahamsen

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Kisses remind me a whole lot of The Whitest Boy Alive, who obviously kick ass and take names like it's going out of fashion. This is all you need to know.

Kisses - Kisses

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Nicholas Roy is rapidly becoming the poster boy for Triple J Unearthed. His indie-folky acoustic singer-songwriter vibe has always been safely competent, but now he has one of those catchy-as-fuck singles that is bound to result in him releasing a really really boring album that's suitably lauded by everyone who hears it (also known as "pulling a Josh Pyke"). So yeah looking forward to seeing this guy at every single festival under the sun come the summer of 2010/2011. Listen to It's All My Fault though seriously, it's really good.

It's All My Fault - Nicholas Roy

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This Town Needs Guns strike me as a less cool version of Foals. This isn't actually as bad as it sounds, because Foals are close to the most stylishly nonchalant band I have ever seen. Their debut album Animals has thirteen tracks, all named after animals. The closer, Zebra, completely changes the mood established by the previous dozen tracks (which, while good, all sound basically the same). It's short and sweet, and has a childlike music-box quality to it.

Zebra - This Town Needs Guns

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BEST IN THE CLASS

BLUEBERRY

Blueberry is here. And despite having to double check through various sources to ensure it was actually was Late Of The Pier I was hearing; I'm liking it a whole bunch. The opening moments convey glimpses of their frenetic and chaotic sound, but then everything melts away into a Beatles-esque acoustic downtempo vocal verse. The chorus then builds into a Midnight Juggernauts inspired space synth frenzy. Were it not for the complete breakdown into insanity in the final moments, you'd be forgiven in thinking that Late Of The Pier had grown up. Thank christ they haven't.

Blueberry - Late Of The Pier

TOP 100 SONGS OF THE 2000's (89-80)

The 2000's are really one of the best eras to be in musically. Of course both the very wise and the very ignorant will argue against this statement, but no other point in time before this has it been both so easy to create music and share it with the world, and so possible to have it sound like whatever the hell takes your fancy.

I've always described the 2000's as an amalgamation of all of the best parts that have come before it. Whether it's fashion, design or music, all of it cuts and pastes from trends of the 60's, 70's, 80's and (thankfully least of all) the 90's. However due to the wonderful power of hindsight, we can trim off all those ugly fads that took the world by storm when we knew no better, and what we're left with is the best of the best.

And what better way to celebrate the versatility of this great time we live in (creatively at least), than to count down the top 100 songs of the 2000's.

100 - 90

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NUMBER 89


Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley, the combination of Cee-Loo Green and Danger Mouse, has been one of the most successful projects of the 2000's so far. Crazy, their breakthrough single, served to characterise their unique sound, a modern spin on Soul and Funk, infused with a strong instrumental focus. Crazy took the world by storm, catapulting Gnarls Barkley into stardom. The music video is well worth a look as well for anyone with even a passing interest in graphic design or motion graphics.

NUMBER 88


How Near How Far - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead seem to receive consistent 10/10s from Pitchfork Media when it comes to album reviews. I never really understood what the draw was for a lot of their work, most of it came across to me as noisy, unrefined and entirely too long. That all changed when I heard How Near How Far, I really couldn't get enough of it and many years on it's still of those tracks I never skip when party shuffle throws it my way.

NUMBER 87


A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

Angular, brash, and strangely tribal, A-Punk is definitely the strongest song in Vampire Weekend's repertoire, and their most popular song to date. The upbeat tempo and fast-paced delivery of the lyrics achieves that rare quality of being a rock song that possesses real danceability. At only just over 2 minutes long, A-Punk is a kinetic and shortlived, but ultimately memorable affair.

NUMBER 86


Embrace - PNAU

I think part of the reason Embrace worked so well is that PNAU had the genius idea of crafting a truly awful album around it. After hearing most of the unintelligent, poorly arranged and ultimately jarring LP before reaching the epic dancefloor-filler, we can really come to appreciate how amazing this track really is. Although it has suffered from overplay to the nth degree, Embrace captured everyone's hearts and helped vocalist Pip Brown boost the hype for her upcoming solo project, Ladyhawke.

NUMBER 85


Space And The Woods - Late Of The Pier

The Gary Numan-esque debut single from Late Of The Pier was definitely one of the most interesting releases of 2007. Sounding like a crazy eclectic variation of Numan's Cars, and crafting its character around the highly popular Nu-Rave genre and scene made popular by Klaxons; Space And The Woods ended up being Late Of The Pier at their most restrained. Fantasy Black Channel took the Trippy-Electro-Rave sound established by the song to a whole new level.

NUMBER 84


Half Full Glass Of Wine - Tame Impala

Tame Impala are one of the latest in a series of exceptional talent coming out of Australia at the moment, along with Cut Copy, Van She, The Presets and many others, all of whom appear to by flying the Modular flag. Something about that label knows quality when it hears it, and these guys are no different. Sounding like a psychedelic flashback to the 60's and 70's, Tame Impala really do stand out against most music you will hear these days. Half Full Glass Of Wine is a furious plan hatched against an unfaithful lover, laced with both loathing and longing, concocted from too many nights spent waiting alone.

NUMBER 83


I'm Not Alone - Calvin Harris

Possibly the most inspired Calvin Harris effort to date, I'm Not Alone starts slow and sombre, then explodes into a 90's trance throwback synth line that will have you hooked from the first listen. Sing-along lyrics and catchy instrumental work, rapidly becoming somewhat of a Harris trademark, are definitely here. This is the sort of pop music everyone should be listening to.

NUMBER 82


Believe - The Chemical Brothers

The Chemical Brothers have become a name synonymous with exceptionally crafted electronic music. With an incredibly long resume of superstar collaborations, chart topping hits and nigh universal acclaim, their reputation very much precedes them. Believe is a dark and brooding club track featuring guest vocals from none other than Bloc Party's Kele Okereke. The lyrics repeat over and over until they are drilled into your head in the very best way possible, and it's left up to the viewer whether they want to find the music video hilarious or frightening. All of it makes for a very memorable and intriguing concoction.

NUMBER 81


C'mon C'mon - The Von Bondies

The incredibly addictive and ingeniously short indie hit from The Von Bondies wrenches from you your complete attention for a mere two minutes and thirteen seconds, then leaves as abruptly as it burst forth. And then you hit repeat for the 30th time and the whole process starts all over again. That's the amazing thing about C'mon C'mon, it's like an old childhood friend you haven't seen in days, months or even years, as soon as you meet it again you just pick up right where you left off.

NUMBER 80


Club Foot - Kasabian

In every time capsule buried in 2004 for future generations to uncover, you will find an MP3 of Club Foot. So strong was the opening riff, so riveting the backing vocal chant and so adaptable to any EA Sports video game tracklist was the song that you'd have a better chance winning the lottery than meeting a person who hadn't yet heard it. One of the strongest examples of Indie-Dance/Stadium Rock fusion this decade.


More Tomorrow.

REVIEW: NONSENSE IN THE DARK - FILTHY DUKES

Electronic

Filthy Dukes' debut album is hit and miss. It's probably best to get this out of the way as soon as possible so nobody is confused. There's a lot of potential here, and lot of missed opportunities, but don't let that ruin the great tracks on Nonsense In The Dark.

The album begins with the insanely catchy opener, This Rhythm, featuring the vocal talents of Late Of The Pier's Sam Eastgate. It's a really strong start that carries through the first four tracks on the album. Messages is the next big track, featuring jittery electronic beeps and sing-along-lyrics, definitely one of the highest points on the album. Then comes the fall. It all begins to break apart, only six tracks in, with Tupac Robot Club Rock. The cheesiness of the lyrics is only rivaled by their repetitiveness. The edge the faux-rap vocals attempts to add to the song only works against itself, and It ends up sounding a whole lot like a bad Groove Armada tribute song. Following directly is another track of note, Nonsense In The Dark, but its positioning within the album's continuity is its undoing. With a slow, expansive melody and the soft, down tempo vocal work of The Maccabees' Orlando Weeks, the title track seems like it would belong at the end of the LP, making it a really effective closer for the album instead of a jarring come-down from the "excitement" of Tupac Robot Club Rock.

And its downhill from there. The remaining tracks on the album just fail to get anywhere, whether it's the anti-climactic build up to nothingness in Cul-De-Sac, or the 80s soft rock inspired Don't Fall Softly. It really seems like Filthy Dukes used up all their great ideas early on and just had to make up the rest of the album that was left with waste from the cutting room floor.

So whether you can justify buying the whole album depends on what you want from this album. If you can tolerate the downplayed electro and frankly puzzling vocal choices that plagues the release; go for it. If you're looking for an record of indie-dance with catchy lyrics and even catchier beats you'll do well to just stick to the singles.

5/10

Download

Messages - Filthy Dukes

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