What I’m listening to

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.

(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?