Firstly it’s been way
way way too long since I last blogged, and I’m fairly certain that I said that
at the start of my last post as well? Whoops! Anyways, I thought as a casual way
of dipping my toes back into the blogosphere, I thought I’d do the classic
“What I’m Watching on Netflix”… only, I haven’t really been watching much
stuff! Instead, I thought I’d talk about what I’ve been listening to because
since Glastonbury (I went to Glastonbury btw), I’ve been on a bit of a
CD-buying binge. So, what’s on my record player CD player iPhone?
Foals – What Went Down
Right, firstly, I love
Foals. A lot. I keep a sort of mental list of my “big 3” bands (aka my 3
favourite bands at the moment, then all the other music I listen to kinda mixes
in somewhere else in the order and I don’t put a lot of thought into it) and
for a helluva long time, the big 3 consisted of MUSE, Bloc Party and the Arctic
Monkeys. However, MUSE just aren’t as good now as they once were, what with
their forays into Space Operas and Dubstep, so they were knocked off their
perch by Yannis Phillipakis and his boys after they gave me the greatest
hangover-cure of a set when they headlined Latitude 2013 (I may have been in a
little bit of a state earlier in the morning day). So with that in mind,
obviously the fourth effort by the lads from Oxford was obviously going to make
it to the top of the virtual pile.
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(Image Credit: mouv)
One of the things I
love about Foals is that their sound is constantly evolving; that is to say,
each record sounds new and fresh, whilst keeping elements of what makes them
Foals so that the fans don’t revolt (I’m looking at you MUSE). This album was
billed as their “heaviest” yet, and whilst the opening title track is pretty
monstrous, they never lose sight of the “twiddly-indie-pop” (as a friend of
mine likes to call it) that is evident on their earlier work. “Snake Oil” is a
personal favourite, with a funky groove that really does snake its way into
your head, whilst “London Thunder” harkens back to the gentle melodies of live
favourite “Spanish Sahara”.
Is this album better
than their previous 3? Well, that’s up to the individual, but I can say that
listening to it repeatedly has only made me more and more upset that I couldn’t
get tickets to see them at Bristol’s tiny Anson Rooms venue in November.
Slaves – Are You
Satisfied
This is a band I’d
heard quite a lot about for a while, but never really gave them much time. They
were the support band when Chloe and I saw Jamie T back in November, but we
only glimpsed a snippet of their set as we ran through to the toilets. However,
one of my friends is a bit of a superfan of theirs (he has a signed copy of
their album) and he dragged us to two out of their three sets at Glastonbury (I
went to Glastonbury btw) and tried to drag us to the third, but we got caught
in the crowds and missed it. And you know what? They were sick! Slaves have a
lot to say, and they say it with an aggressive guitar riff while the singer jumps
around and seemingly attempts to smash his drums into the centre of the Earth.
Their live energy translates onto record very well, despite the slower pace of
songs like “Cheer Up London” compared to the way they play it in person. The
lyrics that are spat out by Isaac Holman have a remarkable sense of wit, as does
the band’s entire existence in fact; ranging from their on-stage banter to
their frankly hilarious social media presence. The subject matter that Slaves
take on ranges from Climate Change to the rather bizarre and surreal refrain of
“Feed the mantaray, feed the mantaray”, yet I find that their songs are very
catchy and sing-along-able.
(Image Credit: Digital Spy)
Courtney Barnett –
Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
I first came across
Courtney Barnett in a new noise issue of NME when I was looking for hip new bands
to play on my student radio and I just think she’s great. She’s kind of like a
rockier, Australian, Laura Marling, although there’s not a lot of folk
influences evident here. Her deadpan singing style makes you feel like she’s
personally telling you the story of her life, especially when combined with the
fact that she actually does just kind of ramble on about stuff that’s happened
to her. That probably hasn’t sold her very well to be honest, but she’s also
quite funny and definitely knows how to write a good riff. My favourite song of
hers is “Pedestrian At Best”, but the whole album is full of tunes and because
of this I’ve casually booked tickets to see her when she comes to the UK in
December. Good times all round!
(Image Credit: Beat And Sound)
So there, that’s a
little snapshot of the albums I’ve been listening to recently. Have you
listened to any of these? What did you think?
