The results are stunning, and absolutely merit a reissue a mere six years later – you know, just in case you’d forgotten what a bad-ass nugget of experimental brilliance this album is.
December, 2011
JEFF the Brotherhood – We Are the Champions
Pining for the days when Weezer were solid-gold marvellous? Well, JEFF the Brotherhood might not quite manage those heady heights, but they’ve got the Marshall stacks and they’re ready to rock – and the boys have brought along some tunes.
Watch: jj – How I Need You (The Embassy cover) / VI
jj perform a stripped back acoustic cover of The Embassy’s ‘How I Need You’ which originally featured on the super influential groups’ debut album Futile Crimes. Whilst ‘VI’ is a more ‘official’ sounding cut – released on Christmas Eve via the duo’s Scandinavian label Sincerely Yours.
Vaporous Light – Vaporous Light
A flawed debut album from Akoustik Anarkhy Recordings’ latest signings, whose undeniable enthusiasm and personality is buried underneath endless layers of instruments, some questionable stylistic decisions and poor production.
A Christmas message from Fairewell
“Christmas will never be routinely accused of being ‘hardcore for people who don’t like hardcore’ or be criticised for using valve emulation software on it’s guitar tracks. It’s beyond all that, and when people have a go at it I just stop listening.”
Real Estate – Scala, London 06/12/11
Real Estate take their relaxed, nostalgic sounds to London’s Scala,and leave us all feeling warm and fuzzy. Buzz Stas feels the good vibes.
Wise Blood – These Wings
Christopher Laufman’s Wise Blood makes music out of other people’s songs, but there’s never a moment you doubt his sincerity. The samples he’s grabbing are usually big and pulpy: choir incantations, floor-filling drums, swelling keyboards – they aren’t ironic. It sounds like he’s trying to build a suitable backdrop for his incredible emotions.
The Best Fit Fifty: Albums of 2011
This list is a selection of some of the records we’ve come to love over the course of the last twelve months.We hope there’s something here you love. Either way, we look forward to the flurry of tweets telling us how irredeemably shit our taste is, and how we oughtn’t dare publish anything of the sort next year or else. Happy Christmas.
Listen: Niki & The Dove – The Christmas Song
Short and oh so indescribably sweet, here’s Niki & The Dove performing just a single minute from Nat King Cole’s classic 1946 ‘The Christmas Song’.
Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
50 Words For Snow is another stepping stone away from the interpretive-dancing-in-a-field Kate Bush of yore. It proves her credentials of distinct maturity as well as exhibiting her ability to experiment successfully with deep-set and sombre but thoroughly captivating music.
Echoes Of Silence: The Weeknd reveals final part of the Balloons Trilogy
Who needs Father Christmas when you’ve got Abel Tesfaye? Better known to you and I as The Weeknd, the Canadian based artist who has basically owned the internets in 2011 with his Balloons Trilogy of free mixtapes has revealed the third and final part this morning.
Soap & Skin – Boat Turns Towards The Port // Song Of The Day #378
‘Boat Turns Towards The Port’, taken from the forthcoming Narrow EP, suggests that black (or, rather, a deep, deep shade of grey) remains Soap & Skin’s colour of choice.
Photos: Mister Heavenly – Cargo, London, 12/12/11
Oh look! It’s that Michael Cera chap from Juno, Superbad and other notable movies. Check out Burak Cingi’s wonderful photos from Mister Heavenly’s recent show at London’s Cargo.
Talking Heads – Chronology [DVD]
Chronology, the band’s first “career-spanning” live DVD, attempts to mix up TV performances, live footage and the different formations of the band, but can’t help but falling way, way short of any of its predecessors.
The Besnard Lakes – Scala, London 22/11/11
With Jace Lasek thriving in the central role, and spouse Olga Goreas cutting a more imposing figure than should be possible, The Besnard Lakes rock out in the UK capital. Andy Slocombe reviews.
