Bon Iver.
That is all.
{March 13, 2010}
Trust me
{March 3, 2010}
Canned Heat
I like it when things are new, different and/or unusual. Sometimes, in a world where sheep follows sheep, you need something that is downright quirky. And they don’t get more quirky than Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra.
Their music reminds me of The Brave Little Toaster, but older and angrier and probably drunk. Whiling away his older years at the scrap yard. The reason for this is… LBO are no ordinary band. As you can guess from the title, they use bikes to make music with, amongst other ordinary household items. Their recently released album Nine Doors, is like Jazz on Prozac, played in an abandoned factory using instruments in the way that Blue Peter used fairy liquid bottles. On both occasions the result is unexpected, strangely enjoyable and definitely imaginative. It’s not the kind of thing you can play in the background and ignore whilst reading the latest Marian Keyes, but it will get you thinking about the nature of happiness, society, insanity and Marlon Brando. And for those who don’t give a shit about all that – you can enjoy it for the weirdness.
The whole album is available to download for free from Concrete Moniker site, an independent record label hell bent on getting the ordinary out of our ears.
http://www.concretemoniker.co.uk/
There is a full review of Nine Doors here
http://www.blankmediacollective.org/blankpages/
Recently, a friend of mine went back to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, 6 months after we both went last. I would have loved the opportunity to go back to the madness that is NOLA, but alas, it was not to be. In an effort to recreate my experiences I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Princess and the Frog, and re-read A Street Car named Desire. Even though I recognized parts of it, the familiar streets and houses, it was the music that truly transported me back. Disney, as usual, was right on the nail with the music in their new film. Despite what you think of the film itself, the music is great. They recreate all the great New Orleans sounds; Jazz, Blues, Zydeco, Cajun, Dixieland, you name it. Anyway, to get to the point, it made me seek out musicians that weren’t Louis Armstrong or Harry Connick Jr. So I present to you Sunpie Barnes…
