Song of the Day: The Asphodells – A Love From Outer Space

Written by . Posted on March 17, 2013
andy weathersall

Andy Weathersall the pop shitstorms, fad floods and locks himself away, to emerge with yet another cosmically stellar new piece of work, teaming up with Timothy J Fairplay as Asphodells. An update on the minor A R Kane classic, ‘A Love From Outer Space’ is proper Balearic!

It’s long, moody, but punctuated with beautiful strings, weird dubby sounds, and a revernece for the guitar. It’s a boiling down of some his best bits of work into something fresh. If ever The Scream needed him, it’s now. Sir Andrew of Weatherall, we salute you, your beard and humble genius. Thank you for making it an easy choice for SOTD. Just got to plan next week’s now …

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Song of the Day: Johnny Marr – Upstarts

Written by . Posted on March 16, 2013
musika

“The underground is over ground, the overground will pull us down.”

So writes  Johnny Marr, finally stepping out of the shadow of Morrissey as a songwriter, and indeed a vocalist.  Marr pays tribute to the defiance and persistence of young bands in the brutally gung-ho world of the music industry, indeed his acceptance speech for his ‘Godlike Genius’ gong at last week’s NME Awards, encouraged youngsters not to give up on their musical dreams.

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Song of the day: Har Mar Superstar – Lady You Shot Me

Written by . Posted on March 15, 2013
musika

Har Mar Superstar (or Sean Matthew Tillmann) has made the first track from his new album Bye Bye 17 available to download for free. And it is incredible.

This will be the first album in four years from Har Mar, to be released on Julian Casablancas’ label Cult Records, May 6th 2013. It was recorded in Austin with Jim Eno (drummer in Spoon, and a huge list of production credits) and a full band, and written in New York City. Tillmann said he “was listening to a lot of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke at the time, and I’ve always been obsessed with those guys.” well it really shows. ‘Lady You Shot Me’ is a cross between ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ by The Beatles and ‘If You Need Me’ by Solomon Burke; it is soulful, powerful and Tillmann’s voice sounds delicious. The instrumentation is spot on and I just cannot stop listening to it.

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Song of the Day: Kadri Gopalnath – Samaja Vara Gamana

Written by . Posted on March 12, 2013
Musika

When you think of Indian music, what springs to mind? Perhaps sitars, bhangra and perhaps some dodgy 1960s psychedelia. Well, how about the saxophone?

This music comes from the Carnatic, or South Indian, tradition of Indian classical music. This is quite different from the Hindustani classical music found in the north of India, which is much more popular outside the country – it’s Hindustani music which boast sitar, sarod and tabla.

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Song of the Day: The Hics – Cold Air

Written by . Posted on March 11, 2013
Musika

Yesterday, whilst restlessly trying to find some music to ease me into yet another week of work, I stumbled across this gem of a track by London six piece The Hics. Their sound is a very chilled, sophisticated blend of electronica. The track starts off with some soulful harmonies, sparse beats  and reverb-laden pianos and gradually builds up with shimmering synths and a beautiful accompanying saxophone line.

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Song of the Day: Paul Simon – Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes (Âme Private Remix)

Written by . Posted on March 10, 2013
Paul SImon

Ame and Dixon (Innervisions Label) have been championing their deeper-than-the-centre-of-the-earth brand of house music for some time, and it’s finally getting them the wider critical acclaim they deserve. Sexy, beautiful, emotive house is all the rage (again!)  However, it’s not just strictly dance music where they find their inspiration for production and set choices.

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Song of the Day: Heal the Last Stand – Smile

Written by . Posted on March 5, 2013
heal the last stand

Okay, you had a hard Monday – I understand that, we all did – so here’s a little track to slap a big grin on your face and to restore your faith in humankind.

Heal the Last Stand are a quartet based in Wrexham, North Wales and they play a sort of mix of American folk music and country, but all of it seen through a thoroughly peaced-out lens. Their all-acoustic sound (from acoustic guitars, acoustic bass and piano) combined with beautiful four-part harmonies and songs that almost literally leak happiness make Heal the Last Stand one of the most uplifting bands around at the moment.

So stuff this in your ears, smile at the world and talk to strangers. All together now: “Being good to people is as simple as a smile…”

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Song of the Day: In.Motion – Bitter Days

Written by . Posted on March 4, 2013
musika

We hold a very special place in our hearts for celestial electronic projectors In.Motion. They/he/she had the honour of being our very first Song of the Day and it’s one my personal favourites (despite still not knowing who the hell they are six months later). It’s all very evocative music. It pulls at the heart strings, lifts the imagination and is very liable to make music journalists come up with very pretentious metaphors.

‘Bitter Days’ reminds me a lot of the more mellow moments of Jon Hopkins‘ work on the soundtrack to the film Monsters. All the parts by themselves may seem a disconsolate but when they come together its strangely uplifting, like a sudden wave of warmth when remembering all the good memories after a bad break-up (pretentious metaphor – check!)

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Song of the Day: !!! – Slyd

Written by . Posted on March 3, 2013
thriller

If you want to whatch a grown man lose the plot, then play him his favourite tune. For me, this includes Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story),  a nine minute epic of disco flecked post-punk. with an epic build that drops a special delivery of euphoria on your doorstep. I kid you not, the arms go-a-flailing (at any of the three gigs I’ve seen them play it at!, the kitchen, living room, at bus stops …). People watch out!

However, today’s SOTD is not a retro tune from the faves vault, it’s a brand new offering from !!!, available as a FREE download at their site, with new album out on Warp at the end of April.

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Song of the Day: Mt. Wolf – Hypolight

Written by . Posted on March 2, 2013
musika

The ‘dreamfolk’ band mixed hypnotic electronica with folky roots, strings and instrumentation on their gripping debut Life Size Ghosts, and, to put it simply, I fell absolutely in love with them.

After attending their headlining show at XOYO earlier this week, Mt. Wolf’s new single ‘Hypolight’ (off their new EP of the same name) was the track that kick started my Saturday. Kate Sproule’s breathtaking voice, accompanied with a dreamy electronic backdrop and acoustic guitar, has made me fall in love with the band all over again.

Ease yourself into the weekend and take a listen to ‘Hypolight’ below.

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INTERVIEWS

  • Musika

    Aziza Brahim in London, April 24-26 2013

    May 19, 2013

    Aziza Brahim in London (SOAS, St Ethelburga’s, World Heart Beat Music Academy) April 24-26 2013 By Marco Canepari “We have to bear in mind our story, …