Bear's Blips - May 2011

Been a long time / i should'na left you / without a dope beat to step to / step to step to step to / step step step / wickiwicki

That little ditty sums up my feelings about the recent paucity of Chip's Blips action. I can only apologise, and placate you with promises of some exceedingly lovely music arriving on your cochleal doorstep in the very near future.

And here's the first example, a wonderful selection from a wonderful bear!

Sit back and enjoy.

1. James Blake - A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell Cover)

Is it me or is Blake starting to sound a lot like the transgender dude Hegarty from Anthony the Johnson’s? No, maybe just me then. But who cares, this cover of ‘A Case of You’ by Joni is a real good sound for the ears.

2. The 2 Bears - Church

Well I do love a nice Bear, and these two chaps are real nice. Raf Rundell and Joe Goddard (Hot Chip dude) keep releasing endlessly saaweet tunes. Keep your eyes peeled for The Bearhug EP which is set for release in June with Southern Fried Records.

3. Digits – Lost Dream

Probably one of my fave tunes of the year to date. The Lost Dream E.P is a great listen, Toronto based Digits has a way with base and his music is described as ‘undisciplined pop’. Couldn’t agree more.

4. Oberhofer - I Could Go

Oh hello Bradley Oberhofer, you really know how to chime. This has indeed been doing the rounds for quite a while now, however, it is great and reminds me of my bike. So here it is.

5. Dominik Eulberg - Die 3 Millionen Musketiere

It was hard to pick a key track from Eulberg’s new album, but this one sure is a belter.

6. Okkervil River – Rider

‘And I fly out on my silver, scissoring wings’, well why not, when you have this in your head you can’t help but flap about.

7. Gang Gang Dance – MindKilla

This new album (in my opinion) is going to be one of 2011’s greats. The video is also vaguely terrifying, so check that out too

8. SBTRKT - Wildfire

Apparently Zane has hailed this ‘the hottest track in the world’; I will form my opinion when the full album is released in June. Still pretty hot none the less.

9. Junior Boys - Banana Ripple

Hello Summer, nice to see you, you are most welcome here.

10. Holy Ghost! – Slow Motion

Finally! I have been waiting in eager anticipation for this album, and it doesn’t disappoint.

11. Blackbird Blackbird – Hawaii (Niva Remix)

This is just good. An odd occasion that the remix in my eyes (or ears) is streets ahead of the original. And the original aint half bad.

12. Junip – In Every Direction – Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr Remix

Another beaut of a remix. I want a magic feather....

13. Ghostpoet – Cash and Carry Me Home (Original)

Amazing tune, Ghostpoet has a natural talent for taking everyday observations and turning them into A+ UK Hip Hop.

14. Santigold Ft. Karen O – Go

Where has Santigold been since like 2008? I don’t care, because this is worth waiting for.

15. Theme Park – Milk

Another summer suntime song. I bet this will be going round in your head all day. I will leave you with that.

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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January 2011

....And..... you're back in the room! Welcome back dear reader, to YET another January edition of Chip's Blips (do we like this new format? I do). After a corker from Rafflestop, a disco blinder from Paco and a tour de force from Aquila, I must admit I've been feeling more pressure to deliver than a midwife on her first day! After much umming and arring, chopping and changing, and huffing and puffing, I've finally arrived here with a list of 9 absolute belters. I don't want to sound overconfident but I think this is one of my best. That was overconfident wasn't it. Damn.

Bon, without further ado, I present January's edition of Chip's Blips. Disfrutez-vous!

1. The Joy Formidable - Austere

A Welsh trio to start us off, with an album just out and currently on a UK Tour. The song starts off with a catchy Klaxon-esque shouty thing, and then gradually descends into a lovely chaos.

2. Ida - Road To Ruin

Another CB discovery for you here; the video's only got 236 hits, so you can tell all your friends and get some (more) street credit. I stumbled upon Ida on one of my late-night YouTube binges. It was a shimmering jewel in a sea of shit; a sad little nugget in an ocean of faux-emotion. I like the idea of going "rowing/ on the road to ruin".

3. We Are Animal - 1268

They are Welsh (again! What's occurrin'?!) and the lead singer looks like Colin Farrell. It's definitely a good start. A menacing little track here, full of distorted guitars and cowbells for the intro, constantly building momentum. Great video as well. Been following these guys for a while and they are definitely going in the right direction. Loving it.

4. World Champion - Dream

Alas, when you google "world champion dream", the last thing you are going to find out is anything at all regarding these Australian (i think) songstrels. No Google, I am not interested in Mark Selby ending Ken Doherty's World Championship dream. This song is so good it gives me goose pimples; just the right amount of everything in it: snappy drums, hazy vocals, lazy guitars, ethereal piano-tinklings and a few cheeky breakdowns and drops. Purr-fek-shun.

5. Brown Recluse - Impression of a City Morning

Very Simon & Garfunkel this one. Lovely summery vibe, short and sweet. Hopefully it brightens up your wintry day.

6. Digits - Lost Dream

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is AMAZING. My favourite song of 2011 so far. Reminds me a little of Hurts, the 80s voice&beat combo, but I think this takes it to another level. The lyrical ability in the chorus (first one on 1.05) is incredible - I still can't work out what he's saying, but the sounds that it makes do something very strange and pleasing to my brain. More please Mr Digits. More.

7. Sebadoh - Skull

A soothing little Indie number coming in at number 7. I'm not sure that the kind of girls I hang out with would be interested in a guy asking them to "gently take my skull/ for a ride", but I guess it has worked for this lad. Pretty big move that. Only going to attract one type of girl but if you have a type then stick to it!

8. Coma Cinema - Whatevering

I'm getting hints of Willy Mason here. Anyone else? I think it's better though; interesting lyrics, twinkly melodies, hand-claps (the essential ingredient to any good song in my humble opinion) and a bit of euphoric house piano (another essential!). I like the concept of Whatevering. Pretty sure I do it a lot already but just never worked out what to call it.

9. Bag Raiders - Snake Charmer

The last track of January, and HOHHHHH YES Blippers do we have an absolute belter to finish things off. I've played a couple of Bag Raiders tunes on here before, but this one really takes the biscuit. One of those songs where you are thinking "what the fuck is this?" for the first minute, and then before you know it (about 1min and 15 seconds in) you are dancing like a lunatic round your room doing snake charmer impressions and funny Egyptian hand movements. If there was ever a song that encapsulated the phrase "intoxicating beat" then it's this one. I can't help myself. The power of the snake is inside me! In a way it is a shame it didn't come out a couple of months later because i'm pretty sure it would've been an instant summer classic. Just keep it hush hush for now and we will release it into the world in May. Deal?

Well well, that was an eventful one. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and I'm glad I could finally write a little bit more about each track. It has been a while. All this competition has made me up my game!

Also, if you're interested in doing a playlist for Chip's Blips (can be based around a genre like Paco's disco one, or just a selection of your favourite new music), get in touch. Come one, come all!

And remember, if you want to be kept in touch with all the latest goings on, you can follow Chip's Blips in the sidebar ----->, follow on Twitter @chipsblipsblog, or join the Facebook group "Chip's Blips".

See you in February, over and out.

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