Operation Catch up 2008 - The Raveonettes

I'm spending the time between Christmas and going back to work on the 5th catching up with some of the music I missed out on in 2008. Next up, the Raveonettes.

These guys have been around for some time now and had a spell on a major label before returning to an indy (Fierce Panda here in the UK!) for their latest album. For some reason I hadn't got round to listening to them before the new album, Lust Lust Lust, but they are very much on my to-do list for 2009. Listen to You Want the Candy below, and download Aly Walk with Me from their website. Then go and buy the album!

Operation Catch-up 2008 - The Sugars

I'm spending the time between Christmas and going back to work on the 5th catching up with some of the music I missed out on in 2008. First up, the Sugars.

I think I saw these guys at Great Escape. I'm not sure as they didn't make much impression, but that was almost certainly down to the fact is was first thing in the morning on a bitterly cold sea front and I had a bit of a hangover. Still, to make amends I recently got hold of the album after Mark Lamarr played one of their songs in his best of the sessions God's jukebox on Saturday. The album is full of songs like this, rock n roll with a noughties twist. Definitely a band I'll be checking out again, I think, and this time I'll try and be more awake!

The Way to My Heart:

Bodies of Water - Water Here

For some reason I have yet to talk about Bodies of Water here, but it's time to remedy that situation. Perhaps the reason that I was a bit reticent in blogging them up was that they're not an easy band to describe. Vocal harmonies, lyrics full of religious imagery, catchy pop hooks, it's all thrown into the melting pot and what comes out is frequently bewilderingly brilliant.

The debut album, Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink, is probably the best place to start, although this years follow up, A Certain Feeling is also excellent. From that album, here is Water Here:


Bodies of Water~Water Here from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

Incidentally the footage is taken from a new (to me anyway) site, Laundromatinee which is well worth a browse.

2008 - 8 Great Albums

And so I finally come to the albums of the year list. To be honest I'm not convinced this has been a particularly outstanding year for the long player. The top 3 are undeniably excellent albums, but after that the list includes 5 from a large morass of merely "very good" albums.

I've raved about Bon Iver at length on this blog, and it's no surprise to see For Emma... at number 1 - I'm still listening to it on a regular basis some time after getting it. The Dodos is another album to have held my attention, the inventive rhythms keep me coming back for more. DJ /rupture is one of only a handful of electronic albums that have made any impression on me in 2008, probably need to talk about it a bit more here.

1) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
2) The Dodos - Visiter
3) DJ /Rupture - Uproot
4) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
5) The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
6) Lambchop - OH (ohio)
7) Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
8) Why? - Alopecia

Soul on Sunday - 2008

For the last Soul on Sunday of the year, I'm going to take a look at 3 current acts making old-school soul.

100 Days 100 Nights / Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Originally released in 2007, this finally got a proper release this side of the pond in 2008. Much of the recent revival of the 60s Soul sound has come about, particularly in the UK, off the back of the career of pre-tabloid meltdown Amy Winehouse. The Dap Kings lot even went so far as to provide backing for much of the album Back to Black, as well as on tour in 2007. Their work with Sharon Jones is every bit as good as the Winehouse albums, as can be heard from this track. Incidentally the guy who filmed this used 2 vintage cameras bought on ebay for $50 apiece!



Hard Man to Please / Baby Charles
I only got this album last week, but I'm really liking it so it sneaks in. A bit more jazzy and funky than I normally go for, this is a promo for a new single off said album. Also worth checking out is the cover of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor, listen to it at their website



Take My Love With You / Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves
This was always going to be one of my bands of the year, and their storming gig at Latitude was one of my highlights of the whole festival. One of the best songs off the album, if there was any justice they would be headline news instead of the likes of Duffy and other no-marks.



I'm looking forward to 2009 already! If you have any tips, leave them in the comments...

2008 - 8 Great Gigs

2008 has been an amazing year for gigs round these parts and this was a hugely difficult list to put together. I had to leave out some superb sets that would have walked into my list in any other year. I couldn't put them in order, so here for better or worse are my gigs of the year (in alphabetical order):

Black Mountain - The Great Escape
Hard to believe they're not the loudest band on this list, Tyrant and Druganaut rocked my Great Escape
Bon Iver - St Giles' Church London
Jaw droppingly good stuff from the phenomenal Bon Iver. The closing song, from the centre of the church still gives me goosebumps when I see the youtube clip
British Sea Power - The Monaco, Canvey
A band at number 10 in the album charts, on top form in a pub 15 minutes drive from home. What more could you want? Shame they were mediocre at Latitude, but this was genuinely amazing, particularly when Wilko Johnson came out for the encore.
Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves - Latitude Festival
Until they invent a time machine, this is as close as it was possible to get to seeing James Brown at the Apollo in 1962. That good.
Grinderman - Latitude Festival
I still cannot believe some people foresook this to go and see Blondie. I pity them - Nick was truly a force of nature on the main stage.
I'm From Barcelona - Scala
Is it possible to see a more fun band? Confetti and singalong songs and fun by the bucketload.
Mogwai - Hammersmith Apollo
The loudest band on this list, possibly the loudest band I'll ever see. Batcat was brutal, a full-on assault on the eyes and the ears.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Brighton Centre
I make no apologies for including Nick Cave again, this is a man at the very top of his form as a songwriter and performer.

I could almost do a second 8 for this list, having missed out the likes of Mercury Rev, Okkervil River (twice), Fujiya and Miyagi and the Mae Shi to name but 4. 2009 will have to go some to beat 2008, here's hoping!

Merry Christmas

From the greatest Christmas film ever:

Not really a Christmas song...

...but like all the best Christmas songs it only got to number 2 in the yuletide countdown.



It is a cover version of a song performed by the less famous half of the Isley brothers, post 1984 schism. Watch the video here (Sony BMG won't allow embedding for reasons that can only be described as stupid).

The Housemartins version is interesting for a number of reasons, not least that it was done entirely acapella. Although it was number 2 at Christmas, it had reached number one the week before, and off the top of my head I can't think of any acapella songs to hit the top since then.

Soul on Sunday - Aretha Franklin / Silent Night

I haven't featured the queen of soul in this thread yet, so here she is singing a perennial Christmas classic

All is clear:

The High Fidelity Question...

Like, I suspect, pretty much every blog out there I've been thinking about my albums of the year list. It struck me how a goodly number of the albums likely to feature on it were full of wistful, slightly melancholy songs about disappointment. Which is something of a metaphor for my year really. So, to paraphrase Rob Gordon from Nick Hornby's book, "Am I wistful and slightly melancholy because I listen to these bands, or do I listen to them because I am wistful and slightly melancholy?".

The list should appear next week btw. I'm also going to do a list of gigs of the year...

Soul on Sunday - I Want to Come Home For Christmas / Al Green

More Christmassy goodness for this week's Soul on Sunday, and this time it's the reverend Al Green's turn. A man who found it difficult to separate the spiritual from the secular in his own life, it's perhaps no surprise to find his Christmas efforts more religious than most.

O Night Divine:


Recommended:

Trust in God / White Christmas

Here Comes The Girls

You might recognise this:


It's being used in some advertising campaign or other. Apparently the Sugababes have sampled it or something. The original is, of course, much superior. I didn't realise I owned it until recently... I must stop buying albums and only listening to them the once!

It's called "Here Comes the Girls" and it's by a guy called Ernie K Doe. Check out this album.

2008 - 8 Great Support Acts

So it's time to start thinking about creating a list (and checking it twice natch) or two for the end of year...

I've been to a lot of gigs this year, and I always try and take in at least one of the support acts. This year it's been well worth getting there early, as I've been able to see some top bands. Here are my 8:

8) F*** Buttons (Supporting Mogwai)
7) Apostle of Hustle (Supporting Stars)
6) Port O' Brien (Supporting Bon Iver)
5) Bon Iver (Supporting Jens Lekman)
4) Mitch & Murray (Supporting Alaska in Winter)
3) Soko (Supporting I'm From Barcelona)
2) The Dodos (Supporting Okkervil River)
1) Errors (Supporting Mogwai)

Errors were not only amazing, but they were on first in a 3 band evening so definitely deserved the win there. There are some well regarded bands who didn't make it - These New Puritans and Howling Bells to name two, I guess that reinforces how good this year has been - and I didn't permit myself to include any of the festival bands either.

To be quite honest most of those bands I'd pay to see headline so that is really a strong list; at least 3 of them will be in contention for the album list, not to mention the gig list... watch this space.

Soul on Sunday - I Want to Come Home For Christmas / Marvin Gaye

Apparently Christmas is nearly here so the next few Soul on Sunday's are going to be suitably seasonal... First up is Marvin Gaye. Motown did a number of albums of Christmas material, often of somewhat variable quality. This is typical of the sort of fare they served up, and like most of the best Christmas songs it's somewhat sad as Marvin wants to come home but he can't for some reason.

I wish they wouldn't worry...


Recomended:

The Motown Christmas Collection

White Town - Your Woman

Some one hit wonder goodness for you here, Your Woman by White Town. I bought this on cassette "back in the day" and it's just become the first thing I bought from Amazon's shiny new mp3 store... So anyway it's a bit of a classic, never really followed up although Jyoti Mishra is still recording as White Town. On his FAQ he is asked How do you feel about being a one-hit wonder? Better than being a no-hit wonder! Can't argue with that...

Soul on Sunday - Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) / Frank Wilson

Reputed to be the rarest single on the Northern Soul scene, the original 7" of this has changed hands for 15grand in the past. The story goes something like this - Wilson recorded the single in 1966 but decided he would rather be a writer and producer and had the records destroyed leaving only 2 surviving copies. He went on to a successful career behind the mixing desk, producing the Supremes amongst others, but I suppose this represents a tantalising "what might have been" had he stuck to singing.

I lay my heart down at your feet: