Hands In The Dark

I'm blogging in my back yard! Vision's not great but, hey, at least I'm getting a tan.*


I've been a big fan of both Glass Candy and Chromatics for quite some time now, as regular readers of the blog will know, so when I heard that they were contributing tracks to a new compilation for Mike Simonetti's Troubleman Unlimited offshoot, Italians Do It Better, I couldn't PayPal my $12 quickly enough. The compilation showcases the five acts on that label (GC, Chromatics, Mirage, Farah and Professor Genius) and displays the label to be at the very forefront of the Italo revival.

There's a very singular sensibility at work here across the board, but each band have their own distinctive trademarks. I guess Glass Candy are the most accessible of the five, as they have a pop edge to their new wave disco. Chromatics, on the other hand, have an altogether subtler feel to their rhythms. Minimalistic in approach, with the end product actually being quite dramatic in sweep, their songs pulse with a flair for the cinematic (think John Carpenter's early self-penned soundtracks), as anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing 'In The City' (represented here in a magnificent extended 12" version) will attest.

The other three acts I knew very little about before checking out this comp. Farah bring the no-wave, performance art-y vibes on their two tracks, 'Law Of Life' and 'Dancing Girls', while Professor Genius' offerings are more on the traditional Italo tip. Mirage's efforts have them making a serious play for being my favourite Italians Do It Better artist. Their own tunes, 'Lake Of Dreams' and 'Lady Operator' are icy cool synth 'n' vocoder workouts, but it's their remix of Indeep's dancefloor standard, 'Last Nite A DJ Saved My Life' that most impresses. They manage to breathe life into a song so ubiquitous that it's often hard to remember what a great song it is. Mirage's re-touch strips away the Studio 54 excesses of the original and adds a veneer of classy synth sweeps and a squelchy digi-bassline that vamps along thrillingly. Without a doubt one of my favourite remixes of the year so far.

While the inexorable wait for Glass Candy and Chromatics' new albums - entitled Life After Sundown and Shining Violence respectively - drags on further, this fills a gap nicely and in Mirage it has spawned a new obsession. If you want it yourself, follow the link above to Chromatics' MySpace, send them a message and the band's own Adam Miller will tell you how to do just that. In the meantime, here's a taster of what you're in for.

Indeep - Last Nite A DJ Saved My Life (Mirage Remix) (mp3)

Glass Candy - Miss Broadway (Belle Epoque cover) (mp3)


Dizzee Rascal's third album, Maths And English is, it seems, a bit of a make-or-break one for the erstwhile Dylan Mills. After breaking out with Boy In Da Corner, one of the strongest and indeed best albums of the noughties so far, then taking chances with the experimental, overly ostentatious Showtime, this album marks a return to the sound of his debut but is imbued with all the trappings of post-rise to fame hip-hop albums, in that Dizzee takes aim at the haters, the biters and the industry itself over its fourteen tracks.

It's most definitely a more fulfilling, enjoyable album than its predecessor, but it's still wildly inconsistent and sometimes just head-scratchingly off-the-mark. You'll all know the single, 'Sirens' by now, a pugnacious, combative primal roar that switches up style over halfway through from the Americanised spittle-drenched over-pronunciation of the first part to a more hyper, machine gunning approach in the final stretch. It's one of Dizzee's best singles, in my opinion, and there's plenty more like it here.

'Bubbles' - an ode to fresh new Nike Air kicks - has an irrepressible bounce, while 'Hardback (Industry)' has a venomous punch to it. It's 'Da Feelin'' that really kills though. Produced by d'n'b stalwart, Shy FX and reportedly taking a year to complete, it's a breezy, lusty paean to the summertime and, more specifically, the way the ladies dress at that time of year. Its twelve-month gestation period, during which time Joss Stone's vocals were mercifully cut, belies its effortless energy. It sounds like it was knocked off in twelve minutes actually, with Dizzee's vocal coming off more like a freestyle than anything else here.

Elsewhere though, the Lily Allen collab, 'Wanna Be' is too cartoonish, with its Bugsy Malone sample and 'Suk My Dick' is just horrible. As a snapshot of an artist unsure of his place in modern music yet belligerent with it, Maths And English is an often brilliant, but patchy listen.

Dizzee Rascal - Da Feelin' (mp3)

Bonus Beats

Erykah Badu - Bag Lady (Cheebah Sac Radio Edit) (mp3)

Recently rediscovered this one with the aid of And It Don't Stop. Brilliant languid summer jam and an overlooked modern classic to boot. Oh, those tambourines!

By the way, if you're interested, I'm on this week's Blog Fresh Radio talking about the new Frost album.

Laters,

JMx

*Came back indoors after about twenty minutes because I couldn't see a thing.

Exclamation points ahoy!

Hi there!

I realise that I've not been updating this thing as much as I should/would like to, so I thought I'd fill you in on some of the stuff that's rocking my tiny little world to its foundations right now.

1. Andre 3000 rapping again!

Yes, you read that right, Andre 3000 aka Andre Benjamin aka Possum Alowishus Jenkins III is back doing what he does best. Sure, boy can sing and, y'know, can act a little, but busting strange, wonderful rhymes is his forte and it appears that he's got his rapping mojo back for the first time since Stankonia. He's made a few guest appearances recently and showed that he hasn't lost it. In fact, in every tune, he steals the show.

He blows away Snoop (not too difficult) and Devin The Dude (a sterner test) on 'What A Job' on Devin's new album (a tune that can be found elsewhere on these pages) and he makes the likes of Jim Jones, Paul Wall, Too Short and Lil' Jon irrelevant on remixes of DJ Unk's 'Walk It Out' and Rich Boy's 'Throw Some D's'. He's at his best though opening UGK's hot newie, 'International Player's Anthem'. No-one else can come up with lines like "I cc'd every girl that I'd see-see 'round town", "Wetness all around me, true, but I ain't no island. Peninsula, maybe" or "We got your back like chiro-prac-tic", so it's great to hear him back.

I would post that soon-to-be classic, but Fluxblog beat me to it. Here, instead, is the song that provides the sample. Enjoy!

Willie Hutch - I Choose You (mp3)

2. Arto Mwambe brings the Detroit!

Arto Mwambe's (no, me neither) new release on Brontosaurus, Mudhutma! is one of the best techno releases of the year. Not minimal in the slightest, unlike most other techno these days, it's two full-on Detroit-style bangers. Just who Arto Mwambe actually is, is unclear (his MySpace page doesn't help much), but it's clear that there is more than a little genius at work. 'Ombala Mbembo' on the b-side is the one for me, but I'm saving that for a future mixtape (watch this space), so sample a little bit of Mr Mwambe with this little groover from the a-side.

Arto Mwambe - Noh Ngamebo (mp3)

3. New Glass Candy!

Glass Candy have posted a new song, 'Rolling Down The Hills' on their MySpace and, I'm pleased to report, it's absolutely amazing. There's choppy, wah-wah guitars, a groovy bassline, spacey synths and soulful horns! Yes, soulful horns! I'll type it again, in case you're still rubbing your eyes in disbelief, SOULFUL HORNS!!! The kind of horns you used to get on Philadelphia International 7"s. I'm tempted to say that it's Siouxsie Sioux meets Gamble & Huff, but that sounds way too soundbite-y. Plus, it doesn't really do it justice. Just go over there, listen, repeat, listen again, ad infinitum. So looking forward to the album now.

4. Joyful Norwegian Post-Rock!

Is there anything that those Norwegians aren't good at in the world of music? Tuna Laguna's new album, Ripples And Swells is a genuinely surprising, out-of-left-field treat. I'd never heard of them before but thought I'd check it out anyway and it's just sublime. There'll be more to come from me on the subject of Tuna Laguna in the future, so for now, just seek out the album, but try before you buy with this little taster.

Tuna Laguna - On To Tarmac (mp3)

Also, head over to their official site where you can download their first album, It's The Fudge gratis.

5. Remembering how good The Pipettes are!

I went to see them at Manchester Academy 2 on Tuesday night, not really expecting to be blown away, but I was. All over again. This was the fourth time I'd seen them live, so you'd think that their gimmick (because that's what it is, let's have it right) would be starting to wear thin. Well, you'd be wrong. They were just as effervescent, joyous and (ahem) poptastic as they were the previous three times. Songs like these don't age. Remind yourself of how you fell in love with them in the first place...

The Pipettes - Tell Me What You Want (mp3)

If you must, you can read my review of the gig for High Voltage here.

6. I'm going to be reviewing Futuresonic!

Futuresonic, Manchester's yearly electronica and audio-visual festival runs from 10th-12th May and I'm going to be there reviewing it. Black Devil Disco Club, Faust, TTC and Wolfgang Flur! All for free! Can you tell that I'm excited?!

Black Devil Disco Club - On Just Foot (Dub) (mp3)

In other news...

I've reviewed Kathy Diamond's Miss Diamond To You for The Console. Read it!

I stumbled across this blog the other day, purely by accident, only to find that it only started up this week. There's tons of great music, but no waffle. The keeper of Naive Melodies is a man/woman/thing after my own heart. It appears that he/she/it's from Manchester too. I flung him/her/it an email the other day, but whoever it is is deciding to keep a low profile. So let me boost it for them.

Naive Melodies

If you go over to the Get Girl. Kill Baddies. Save Planet. MySpace and scroll down to the comments, you can see a picture of yours truly spinning some discs (of the compact variety, might I add). Clue: I'm wearing the same t-shirt that I've got on in my profile picture. It was all I had clean!

Right, I'm off. Look out for more posts soon.

JMx