"People don't dance no more, they just stand there like this"

Bit of a scattered, higgledy-piggledy post today, but with a few tunes to boot. No-one actually reads what I write here anyway, do they?

A few months ago, on the old blog, I posted an early leak of a new track by The Rapture, going by the name of 'W.A.Y.U.H.', for which I had my wrists slapped and was 'asked' to take it down. Fair dos, I thought, seeing as the album wasn't finished, didn't have a name, a tracklisting, or a release date back then.

Weeeeellll.....

I'm so going to get told off for this (b-but, 20jazzfunkgreats did it before me and they're bigger boys!), but what the hell! The Rapture's new album, Pieces Of The People We Love has half-leaked. A promo, featuring five tracks is 'out there' and it's...okay. Hard to tell what the album will be like, but 'Get Myself Into It' definitely doesn't seem like it'll be a red herring anymore. Matty, Vito, Luke and Gabe have been at the disco biscuits, by the sound of it and I don't know quite what to make of it.

After listening to the sampler earlier, half of me is impressed at how much they've lightened up and is anxiously waiting to hear the kickarse party record that it may well be (the title track sounds like The Glitter Band for fuck's sake!), but the other half is pining for the sharp edges that seemed to have been smoothed away and hopes that the rest of the album is a little moodier. After all, my favourite Rapture tune is 'Olio'.

Anyway, no point in trying to make sense of a record that you've only heard five songs from. Here's the legit version of that track that landed me in hot water earlier in the year.

The Rapture - Wooh! Alright Yeah...Uh Huh (mp3)

And just for the hell of it, here's 'Olio'. It's the full length version from the original 12" because I could listen to those 303s all day.

The Rapture - Olio (mp3)

The Blow are a boy/girl two piece based in Portland, Oregon (that's in America, fellow Brits). They make twee-ish indie electropop with an occasional exotic edge. I put their old tune, 'The Love That I Crave' on a mixtape ages ago so eagle-eyed readers may well remember me giving them some deserved bloggage in the past. Well, the time has come for The Blow to release a full album and they've called it Paper Television.

After the first couple of listens, I'm pretty impressed. There's a punch and a weight to their songs that you don't always get in this particular mini-genre, even if they do tend towards wishy-washy at times. The song that really stuck out for me upon hearing it for the first time is 'Parentheses' which sounds kind of like The Shangri-las as produced by Jimmy Tamborello. Now, I'm well aware that for some of you this may sound like the worst idea ever, but trust me, it works like a dream.

Handclaps galore...

The Blow - Parentheses (mp3)

Lo and behold, The Manchester Blog Awards is a go! Well, it's crass to self-promote, I know, but if you really loved me, then there's a certain Best Arts and Culture Blog category that I guess this particular blog falls into. You could always vote for Black Country Grammar instead, mind. Oh, who am I kidding?! I'm never going to win, but it would be lovely to get a nomination. If just for the cheek of canvassing on my own page! Fingers crossed.

That's it for tonight as my eyes are itchy from looking at the computer screen.

JMx