Mack's Blips - March 2011

Ahoy there!

I'm not going to beat around the bush here- this is a cracking Blip. So, without further ado, I bring you Mack's Blips:

1. PAUL MCCARTNEY - TEMPORARY SECRETARY

And so it starts. With a song which would forever be consigned to the list of musical oddities were it not so amazing (I forgive you if it takes a couple of listens).

A fun game I like to play is putting this on in the car and making whoever's with me try and guess who it is. No-one's EVER guessed right.

2. FICTION - BIG THINGS

This infectious little number makes me want to dance like an idiot too.

3. ANNA CALVI - SUZANNE & I

I don't think anyone's made music which is truly as epic as Anna Calvi's for quite a while. Please please listen to her album, it's scarily grown-up and properly atmospheric music. Believe all that hype!

4. MADVILLAIN - ACCORDION

A little bit of effortlessly deft hip-hop from Madvillain, aka MF Doom and Madlib. My friend Luke once told me he thought Doom's voice sounded 'all dry and sandy like a skeleton', and ever since I've never been able to visualise him any other way.

5. FLYING LOTUS - TEA LEAF DANCERS

OK. Don't listen to this on little laptop speakers. Use big old headphones if you have to. Turn it up and up until it makes you feel all seasick and wonderful.

6. THE KINKS - I'M NOT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE

The further I move into "responsible" adulthood the more time I seem to spend, alone, rocking gently on the corner of my bed with my eyes closed singing along to this at the top of my voice and holding on desperately to the belief that it's true.

7. FRANZ FERDINAND - LUCID DREAMS

Yes! Every second of this record is heaven. I love how it begins a slightly off-kilter Franz anthem then gradually evolves into a glorious synth-knob-measuring contest.

8. WARPAINT - ASHES TO ASHES

I am happy that this David Bowie cover happened. I hope you're happy too. How sick is Warpaint's drummer, by the way?

9. BAUHAUS - BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD

The "first ever Gothic Rock song"? Yes please.

10. JANELLE MONAE - TIGHTROPE

The first time I heard this, I couldn't believe how funky it is. I literally could not believe. I had to attend a funk Alpha course and everything to set my belief back on the right track.

11. PETE AND THE PIRATES - COME TO THE BAR

Remember Mr Understanding? It was so catchy that I didn't think Pete and the Pirates had another one like that in them. But lo, this arrived and has managed to worm its way into my ear and, just like a sonic Swampy, is refusing to budge until they stop building new runways at Heathrow. Or something.

12. WOLF GANG - BACK TO BACK

Wolf Gang are one of my favourite new bands, and this is one of my

favourite Wolf Gang songs. You do the math, as they say. Annoyingly.

13. RATATAT - SHILLER

There are other, more upbeat tracks I nearly chose, but this here is

the first I heard of the amazing Ratatat, after buying 'LP3' on vinyl

purely on the basis that I thought the cover art was amazing. Well, it

worked - I knew I'd done good as soon as that backwards-mellotron got

all drenched by autoharps.

14. LORN - CHERRY MOON

I've saved a real absolute gem till last.

This sounds like fizzy midnight. Like melted starlight. Like rain on

Knight Rider's windscreen. In the future. Like the hundred other

clumsy and grossly inadequate similies I could reel off and bore you

to tears with. I'd rather just shut up and let you listen to it.

February 2011 (I know I know...)

Yes yes yes, it isn't February anymore. Well it's my blog, and February is a stupid month anyway. I mean, what kind of freak puts 28 days in a month? Gregory, that's who. And what is a day? What is a minute? Why do we need to measure everything; labelise our entire existence?

I've had it. I for one am making a stand, right here, right now. February - you 28-day long (but sometimes 29, every 4 years you SADISTIC BASTARD) pustule of grey skies and almost-springtime dashed hope - you are going down.

WHO'S WITH ME?

[silence]

Yeah, fair enough, you probably just came to listen to some music. Well that's fine too.

Here we are then, 9 battle-hardened, February-hating behemoths for you.

Ready?

CHAAAAAARGE!

1. Zoo Kid - Out Getting Ribs

A sad slow one to start, written by a 16yr old ginger hipster. Turns out it's rather good. Amazing what you can do with 2 guitars, an interesting voice and a few shiny knobs. Ack, shhh, you know what I mean. I'm trying to be your serious music correspondent here. You're spoiling it.

2. The Low Suns - So Tired

Oooh I love acoustic songs. Very dangerous thing to do as a band; if anyone can't sing, it's going to sound absolutely horrific. Luckily, the vocals here are a perfect balance of subtlety and strength, exactly what you need in a slow sleepy one like this. Thumbs up.

3. Miami Horror - Moon Theory

Very Hercules & Love Affair this one. Probably why I love it so much. Partly that, partly the video. The lone horseman, embarking on a Peyote-fuelled vision quest. Can't imagine that riding a horse whilst tripping balls on Peyote is that clever an idea, but this guy seems to have it down to a fine art. What this video doesn't show though is all the coyotes and rattlesnakes that hang around in those Utah deserts. But it ends happily: he wakes up and finds some kind of alien power station, so clearly all is well and he found what he was looking for.

4. Small Black - Sun Was High (So Was I) (Best Coast Cover)

Another song that was clearly written whilst under the influence of a mind-bending substance. Big, lazy soundscapes and a sleepy drawl over the top. Put a bit of echo/reverb/[insert geeky effect] on top of that and you've got yourself another tasty morsel of American Slo-Fi. I just made that genre up by the way, so don't anyone go getting any ideas. Just look what happened to February.

5. James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream

This is a beauty.

However - and it is quite a big however - the album is incredibly hard going. It feels like you are reading Mr. Blake's musical dissertation: chock-full of footnotes, 200 word sentences and big scary words like "jectigation*".

There's an easy solution to this problem though - just listen to this on repeat, and sob into your pillow.

6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

From sad sobbing to happy sobbing. This song is full of some sort of mystical force that rushes good thoughts to the top of your head and makes you want to swell up and explode with joy, sadness and amazement at the beauty of the world, love, and every experience you've ever had. Five minutes and four seconds of perfection.

(There's a chance you won't like it as much as that I suppose.)

7. Digits - Rachel Marie

Oh Digits, please stop being so fucking good. You aren't being fair to all the other new bands. Give them at least a small chance.

It's like Hall & Oates had a sexy little electro baby that used to get dropped off at New Order's house for after-school tutoring. (Can you hear the Blue Monday homage?)

Rachel Marie is a lucky lady that's for sure. Maybe she is the surrogate mother that Hall & Oates used...

8. Gross Magic - Waiting For You

Ahhhhh YES, this is a good playlist! Starts off sad, takes you up and before you know it you are bouncing around to yet more 80s inspired goodness. This time it's a chirpy synth with a little MGMT small-boy vocal over the top. Add a bit of Lo-fi fuzz and you're off. It works. Hoh yes by golly it works.

9. Metronomy - She Wants

The difficult final track. How to end it? Take it back down to Sadville, or keep everyone in Happyland?

Well, the answer is neither. We are going down a winding country road, just as the daylight is fading, to the sexiest, sultriest place you've been to since you visited the town of XX a couple of years ago.

It's Metronomy, and it's one of my favourite songs this year. So moody and complex, full of some kind of very painful longing. The hours just keep coming, and the lonely guitar keeps on hopefully plugging away, waiting for something to change. It is mind-alteringly good.

Wow. I could listen to that on repeat for a good few days.

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We are done for the month Blippers. Hope you enjoyed it. I must say I did.

I'll try and be back soon to bring you some more of my latest loves.

In the meantime, keep on keepin' on.

*For the curious souls amongst you, 'jectigation' means "a trembling movement"

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August 2009

1. MSTRKRFT & John Legend – Heartbreaker

This is massive. Imagine an elephant on a Space Hopper. Now imagine that the elephant is this song, and that the little bouncy globe is every other dance track around. Crushed.

2. Phoenix – Lisztomania

If this doesn’t make you happy then you are dead inside. That’s all there is to it.

3. Discovery – Osaka Loop Line

Holy Moses, this is radical. Discovery, for those who don’t know, are a tasty little side project from some of the boys who brought us Vampire Weekend. So make yourself a tasty little sandwich of Vampire vocals (let’s call them the bacon), Au revoir Simone loops (farmhouse white roll), a bit of Autechre crash noise (tomato), poppy genius (lettuce), and slurpy RnB vibes (mayonnaise). Now a lot of people don’t like mayonnaise and a lot of people don’t like RnB. My response to you people is in the form of a question. Would you eat mayonnaise on its own? I rest my case. I am aware there may be people out there who cannot (or choose not to) eat bacon. I’ve got one thing to say to you people. Make your own fucking sandwich.

4. Grafton Primary – I Can Cook

Step up, Australia’s answer to MYLO. Yes yes yes, MYLO is “like totally frickin passé”, and will forever be remembered for the legions of shocking ‘Drop The Pressure’ remixes. But do you remember hearing it for the first time? Do you remember your mind literally exploding when that bar/psi/mbar/mb/N/m2/Pa/hPa/kPa was finally dropped? It’s hard to erase the other 41,563 I know, but have a go. Can’t do it? Listen to this, loud.

5. Chairlift – Evident Utensil

If I could bottle the key ingredient of “stickinyourheadiness” in a song, I’d be a rich man. Maybe it’s the “Aqua – Barbie Girl” style macho commentary in the background, maybe it’s the little “Wooo Oooh” she does, maybe it’s the fact the song is only 2.51 long. OR maybe (this is my strongest theory), it’s the fact that they’ve realised how killer the chorus is and have decided to just repeat it again and again until your ears are addicted. Mine are.

6. The Horrors – Sea Within A Sea

Tough to pick a track from this album given that they’re all verrry good, but I’ve gone with this one. I didn’t really like these jumped-up little goth-monkeys at the beginning, but you can’t argue with this album. Joy Division with dying synths and hairspray. Dark, sombre and fucking good.

7. Soap and Skin – Cynthia

From one spookfest to another. This cracking little Austrian is 18. Pah! How can she produce music this haunting? The only Austrian I know who could possibly make music this dark spent her life in a cellar. Do I want to go there? Not really. Just to clarify though, Anja Plaschg, the genius behind Soap and Skin, is no relation. And it’s no laughing matter.

8. Middle East – Blood

Before listening to this track, consider the band’s name, the track’s name, and the fact that it’s on SPUNK Records. Nothing will prepare you for the explosion of beauty that will bundle your poor, tired ears into a cotton-wool cloud and feed them grapes and love noodles (except perhaps the fact that you have just read this). Arcade Fire/Fleet Foxes/Bon Iver fans, jump on this Australian folksy bandwagon. What is a folksy bandwagon? An applecart? A wheelbarrow? And what the fuck are love noodles?

9. Class Action - Weekend

I’m going to keep my playlists to 9 songs. All killer, no filler. 9th song will always be the track from leftfield. The doosra for all you cricket fans, the curveball for all you Yanks, the ………… for all you people more able to think of comparisons than me.

This track is a little slice of disco pie. Short(crust) and sweet. I couldn’t resist.

Please enjoy this playlist responsibly. If you aren’t good at controlling your limbs I would recommend avoiding listening whilst driving. May cause uncontrollable beat spasms. There’s the disclaimer, now my ass is covered. See you in September for the next instalment.

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