1. Fujiya & Miyagi - Ankle Injuries ("Like pixellated scraps of jazz mags in your head", intones the bored Mr Fujiya (or is it Mr Miyagi? Or neither? There's three of them?!). What the hell could that mean? Anyway, the precocious perviness of the lyrics fit unbelieveably well with the glacial, gliding krautrocking of the music. Good to see that they're playing Dpercussion in two weeks too. Ripper!)
2. Scritti Politti - Cooking (Like one of those twonks that goes out and buys all the Booker Prize nominees, I like to hear all the albums that make the Mercury Music Prize shortlist, so I sought out Scritti's White Bread Black Beer and was pleasantly surprised. Green Gartside's voice is as velvety soft as usual and, despite the politeness of the music at times, it's mostly pretty perfect summer listening. Also, the part in this track where Green croons, "Hold my fucking hands" is priceless.)
3. Kerrier District - Disco Nasty (Luke Vibert's come back at just the right time again with his Kerrier District project. Last time around, he managed to coincide it with Metro Area hitting the underground big time, cribbing a few residuals from them. Nowadays, for the discerning clubber, it's all Rub 'N' Tug, Lindstrom and Idjut Boys. This little twisted disco blinder would certainly find its wicked way into one of Harvey's DJ sets, no doubt.)
4. White Label - Rudebox (Soul Mekanik Extended Dub) (Okay, so now we know for sure that it's Robbie Williams trying to play a nasty little trick on us hipsters by releasing a white label of tip-top remixes of his new single. It was never in doubt though as he pops up here with his trademark nasal wittering at the end of this track, reciting some lyrics from Sly & Robbie's 'Boops (Here To Go)'. The cheek! For pure hubris, you have to tip your cap to the fucker, but I'm still referring to it as a white label. Don't want his Norman Wisdom-like clowning to lower the tone of this blog. Shit, bit late for that isn't it?)
5. Ada - Call The Tune (We're fans of Ada here at Yer Mam!, as evidenced by her presence on mixtapes past and while this newie isn't as immediately crowdpleasing as 'I Love Asphalt', her cover of 'Maps' or even her recent remix of Alex Smoke's 'Never Want To See You Again', it's a definite grower, revealing hidden delights with each listen and building towards a sublime climax. Excellent stuff.)
6. Cassius - Toop Toop (Radio Edit) (Cheesy-as-fuck it may well be, but there is always something very likeable about Cassius. The purists will hate it, but then again they hate fun don't they?)
7. Basement Jaxx - Take Me Back To Your House (I know this is the second week on the trot that I've featured the Jaxx, but I'm still trying to let the new album, Crazy Itch Radio sink in. This is one of the highlights, along with 'Hey You' which features the vocal talents of Robyn. On this one, banjos are plucked, hands are clapped and the chorus is to die for. It peters out a bit towards the end, but it'll have had its fun with you by then anyway.)
8. Teddybears feat. Mad Cobra - Cobrastyle (It's a couple of years old now, so I believe but it's new to me. This is like the best tune that Fatboy Slim has never made. In fact, it's probably too unashamedly POP for Fatboy. This could only have come from Scandinavia and that's the highest compliment that I can pay it.)
9. Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks (More Scando-pop genius now. This one has had the blogosphere in fits of hyperbolic apoplexy (see here, here and here) and features the lovely Victoria Bergsman from The Concretes on duet duty. Although I tend to at least try to disagree with other blogs for nothing more than shits and giggles, this song is pretty darned hard to resist. It's the whistling, y'see.)
10. Bram Tchaikovsky - Whiskey And Wine (I nicked this from Bumrocks and I've found out since that Bram Tchaikovsky were just yer average underachieving pub-rock band in the seventies. Although I've never heard any of their stuff other than this, judging by their credentials, this has to be their highpoint, an infectious piece of Southern boogie that Lynyrd Skynyrd would have been proud of. Gnarly!)
11. Hockey Night - For Guys' Eyes Only (From last year, 'For Guys' Eyes Only' is more-Pavement-than-Pavement and some may find it a bit of a cynical rip-off. Taking a by-the-numbers approach to that band's copybook, Hockey Night pile a semi-bored, off-key, Malkmus-y vocal on top of an FM rock riff. Jeez Louise, that breakdown could even have come direct from Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but you can't escape the fact that this is a brief, breezy two-and-a-bit minutes that is far too good to be dismissed as mere thievery.)
12. The Young Knives - Weekends And Bleak Days (Hot Summer) (Also preparing to rock Dpercussion to its very foundations are Ashby-de-la-Zouch's own The Young Knives. This is the new single, despite being already released last year (one of my personal bugbears but I'll let it slide this time) and it typifies TYK's approach to chronicling the mundane and infusing it with a bit of arch drama, much like most of the best British bands of the past have done. "This. Is. The. End. Of. The. Summer.")
13. The Long Blondes - Fulwood Babylon (The first fruits of The Blondes' studio work with the one and only Erol Alkan. 'Fulwood Babylon' appears on the b-side of 'Weekend Without Make-Up', but it could just as easily been a single in its own right. In fact, I wholly endorse that idea. Alkan turns out to be a perfect bedfellow for Kate and co. I reckon the dramatic piano lick must have been Erol's idea.)
14. The Research - C'mon Chameleon (It has come to my attention over the past week that The Research should really be massive. They write skewed indie-pop with more than a nod towards ELO's glossy over-production, but they do it with just bass, keys and drums. Oh, and a truckload of harmonies that may well have been intended to be dropped off at Brian Wilson's sandpit, circa 1968. Gorgeous.)
15. Lily Allen - Cheryl Tweedy (Left off the album due to not being able to clear the sample of Origin Unknown's 'Valley Of The Shadows', but tucked away on the b-side of 'Smile', this is one of Allen's best tunes. Despite her baffling envy of the publicity-crazed WAG, the sample gives the track an insiduous, creepy feel before the inevitable skank kicks in and the sun breaks out. Oh yeah, and fuck you, Dom Passantino!)
16. Pharrell - Raspy Shit (As the massive delay suggested, the In My Mind album is a bit on the shite side, the highlights few and far-between. This is one of those rarities, where Pharrell does what he does best and that's marrying strangeness ("My money's green like the helmet of a fascist") to an irresistible backing. The horns! The bass runs! The pots and pans! A definite diamond in the rough.)
17. Rhymefest - Devil's Pie (The often cheesy Mark Ronson hits the mark with his production here, taking the riff from The Strokes' 'Someday' and stu-stu-stuttering it out over a heavy, uncomplicated beat. Rhymefest makes for an immensely likeable MC, too. The album, Blue Collar is one of the strongest hip-hop releases of 2006 so far.)
18. Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha (Rhymefest's fellow Chi-town up-and-comer, Lupe Fiasco weighs in with another banger from the forthcoming Food & Liquor. Nice flow, kicking beat (Neptunes, perchance?) and suitably jazzy piano lick all add up to another showing of great promise form Lupe.)
19. Juvenile - Ha (Finishing up with a genre-defining, head-spinning stone-cold classic. This is the epitome of Southern hip-hop, along with Ludacris' 'Southern Hospitality', I dare you to not get hooked on that chorus. It's damn near impossible.) 

1. Thurston Moore - Queen Bee And Her Pals (I thought I'd start proceedings with this three-minute blast of bile from Moore's overlooked but recently reissued '95 solo effort, Psychic Hearts. "Long Liv Tyler, yeah Jade Jagger", spits Moore over staccato, jagged riffing, levelling the contents of his spleen at the rock heiresses that are way more prevalent now than they were eleven years ago. Prescient man, that Thurston Moore.)
2. Brian Eno - Needle In The Camel's Eye (Echoey vox are dropped right down in the mix and are swallowed by the dischordant guitar riff and martial drums, not unlike 'I'm Waiting For The Man'. But it's the vocal that's the hook and it keeps you coming back for more. Roxy Music were worse off for his departure, but then again he may never have made Here Come The Warm Jets if he'd have stayed a bit longer.)
3. The Sleepy Jackson - I Understand What You Want But I Just Don't Agree (Australia's most prominent ELO-influenced, God-botherer, Luke Steele has returned with a rather ace new album, Personality, from which this is taken. Overt religious touchstones often put me right off but I just can't resist this string-laden chunk of chamber pop. Can you?)
4. Lavender Diamond - Please (Hippier-than-thou they may well be, but Lavender Diamond's songs make a beeline for your heartstrings and give them a good old plucking, Becky Stark's gorgeous delivery eliciting sighs from the hardest of respiratory systems. Bet they smell better than Devendra Banhart too.)
5. Quiet Village Project - Pillow Talk (Matt Edwards, one-half of QVP also records and remixes under the Radioslave moniker, most known for giving your favourite popsters (Kylie, Nelly F.) upfront disco makeovers. With Joel Martin in tow he nips over to the other end of the disco spectrum, the more cosmic extreme and this downtempo beaut is a good starting point for anyone curious. 'Pillow Talk' gently lulls you with ambient washes of electric guitar and slo-mo drums. Nice, but if I see you stroking your beard, I'ma fuck you up!)
6. Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family - She Painted Pictures (Soon to be huge, Liam and his Slowdown brethren have a nice line in country/folk/pop numbers of which this is but one. The new Badly Drawn Boy? Manchester's Bright Eyes? Fuck all the hype and wallow in this song's loveliness.)
7. Jamie T - Sheila (I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Mr T's garbled, Cockney rap-singing grows tiresome and starts to sound like paper going through a shredder to me. But right now, with the evening sun coming through the blinds and a hot laptop in my lap, making my legs all sweaty and that, it's just perfick, guv.)
8. Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums And Shrines II (Spencer Krug is one of the best songwriters to emerge in the last twelve months. As glib as that statement sounds, it's one that rings true. 'Stadiums And Shrines II' is one big, sparkly swell of a song, replete with crystalline organ flourishes, rough-hewn guitars and crashing drums. It sounds like the end of the world too and I really want this to soundtrack my armageddon.)
9. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Tell Balgeary. Balgury Is Dead (Lest we forget. While us Leo-ites anxiously await his return, let's remind ourselves of just how good he is with this track, one of his most anthemic. That key change on two minutes and sixteen seconds is just heaven.)
10. The Grates - 19-20-20 (The Grates are Australian, not that you'd be able to tell from the deep south twang that the singer affects. I'm willing to forgive any vocal discrepancies though if they keep pumping out joyous, horn-y garage rockers like this.)
11. Cinemechanica - Antsin Japants (Despite having an awful title, this math-punk rush from Athens, Georgia's Cinemechanica is pretty darned invigorating stuff. Like all the best bits from Les Savy Fav, At The Drive-In, Q And Not U and Fugazi thrown together and skull-fucked this should leave you cotton-mouthed and begging for more.)
12. Hot Chip - Colours (DFA Remix) (Changing tack completely now with yet another Hot Chip track on one of my mixtapes. Stop groaning at the back as I haven't seen this much on the blogosphere yet, so I guess you could say it's pretty exclusive. The DFA change up their style once again as this is a Moroder-y, Suicide-esque, synth-drenched retro-rub. It won't be for all tastes but I like it.)
13. Ricardo Villalobos - What You Say Is More Than I Can Say (Isolee Speak & Spell Remix Long End) (That wordy title is enough to give anyone repetitive strain injury, but as this is the meeting of two heavyweight minimal minds then an aching wrist is well worth it. Isolee does his usual trick of taking the track on an unpredictable, yet melodic journey. As is always the case with anything he touches, you'll still be finding new stuff hidden away in every nook and cranny long after the tenth listen.)
14. Vitalic - You Are My Sun (A little different to the rocky stuff that we expect from M. Arbez, this is excellent nonetheless. About as balearic as a Vitalic track could ever be, this has spectral vocals and warm fuzz coursing through it.)
15. Basement Jaxx - Hush Boy (Yay! The Jaxx are back to their best by the looks of it. Here they do their buzzy, carnival, throw-it-all-in-there thang to create their best single since 'Where's Your Head At?')
16. Eddie Bo & Inez Cheatham - A Lover And A Friend (Southern fried funk of the highest order, this reminds me of strutting my stuff to the Soulsavers soundsystem back when they had a residence at Manchester's Night & Day. Ah, happy times.)
17. Diplomats - Dipset Symphony ("I don't give a fuck who's first or who's last, the Dipset is gonna rock this shit at the drop of a brick, nigga!" I meant to put this on the summer mix the other week but I forgot. The Dipset crew take one of the oldest samples in the book (the piano riff from 'Hard To Handle', each take a verse and rip shit up for under three minutes. A little too brief, in my opinion but perfect barbecue music all the same.)
18. Jagged Edge feat. Jermaine Dupri - Stunnas (I'm with Fluxblog on this one. I never thought I'd be professing my love for a Jagged Edge song in this lifetime, especially after that Nelly-assisted, Notorious B.I.G. necrophilic abomination, 'Nasty Girl' but hey, this shit is good. Futuristic r 'n' b with a kickarse vocal to boot.)
19. TV On The Radio - Young Liars (I can't get enough of TVOTR at the moment, so I thought I'd delve back into their debut EP and came up with the title track. They finished with this when I saw them the other month, with Sitek on human beatbox. Still one of their best songs.)
20. Spacehog - In The Meantime (I was reminded of this via one of the best threads to ever grace ILM and it still holds up pretty well. What a glorious career Spacehog had. One massive AOR glam hit and singer Royston Langdon gets to impregnate Liv Tyler. Which bookends and dovetails the mix pretty nicely, I think.) 

Hello you!

I've been away for about a week or so, haven't I? I apologise for getting a bit crap at this whole blogging thing, but I'm just not the kind of person who can churn out some opinionated bullshit or needless hyperbole every-fucking-day, y'know? I try to condense it down to a couple of days a week and spout forth all the bull and hype in one fell swoop!

Anyhoo, here is my pick of this week's singles. It's a bit of a bad bunch, so I just decided to pick a winner. There was only ever going to be one anyway.

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH - THE SKIN OF MY YELLOW COUNTRY TEETH (Wichita)

It hasn't really happened in a commercial sense as of yet for CYHSY and I can't see this limited, 7" only release redressing the balance in any way, but it really should do, as this is still as dynamic, refreshing and downright infectious as it was when we all first heard it last summer. That relentless 4/4, wheezy keys and Ounsworth's intriguingly obtuse, endearingly nasal (not an oxymoron, apparently) vocal add up to what should be soundtracking most right-thinking Britishers' summer. The fact that it won't should be reason enough for the indie kids to take to the streets and smash shit up in the name of good, ol'-fashioned indie-pop. Revolt, you fuckers! 

Some sad news to report now. As you've probably heard by now, Syd Barrett has died at the age of 60, due to diabetes-related complications. I can't claim to being a huge Pink Floyd fan, in fact, I don't care for them in the slightest, but I can see the genius in the early stuff when Barrett was still with them. What is certain though, is that he had an interesting life, one that's been peppered with personal troubles and battles with his own talent. Rest in peace, you crazy diamond.

Pink Floyd - Arnold Layne

Syd Barrett - No Good Trying

Perpetua, over at Fluxblog has done his own Barrett tribute.

Also, Broken Social Scene have decided to take a long-ass break, citing the pressures of touring, yada, yada, yada. Hey, aren't At The Drive-In still on 'indefinite hiatus'? I fear it may be the last we've seen of BSS, so let's enjoy them for now.

Broken Social Scene - Lover's Spit

Broken Social Scene - Major Label Debut (Fast)

Back later, maybe, with my review of last night's Pipettes gig in Manchester,

JMx

1. The Juan Maclean - Love Is In The Air (Heart Of The Sun Remix by Caro) (Caro takes one of the more retro tracks from Less Than Human and takes it on a Moroder-esque journey into space, with the ancient-sounding synths being endearing rather than cheesy. Good work, fella!)
2. Goat Dance - Sizzle (A multi-faceted seven minutes from Chicken Lips' Dean Meredith, starting off on a Lindstrom-y kosmische tip before shifting gently into loose-limbed house and then taking a turn into taut punk-funk, not unlike 'The Magnificent Seven' at one point (the Clash song, not the Yul Brynner flick). One of the best out-of-leftfield releases of the year.)
3. Robyn - Crash And Burn Girl (Jesper Dahlback Remix) (A minimal take on the Lindsay Lohan-baiting track from '05, retaining the best parts (the bouncing-ball bass, the urgent string-stab bit and of course, the vocal) and adding a warm, metallic edge to the whole thing to make an addictive re-rub that's so good, I don't even listen to the original anymore.)
4. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow (Nightmoves Remix) (Whatever your opinion on Klaxons (Ace? Arse? You decide.), if this remix don't turn you on, then you ain't got no switches. Taking it's sweet time with a thudding 4/4 beat and squiggly effects and vox before pressing the button marked RAVE! at just the optimum time, Nightmoves are the ones who should really be dressing like Altern8 devotees. Break out yer glow sticks!)
5. John Lord Fonda - So Far Away (Alan Braxe Remix) (Braxe brings a harder edged style to bear on this than on his recent remix for Van She (which was lovely, by the way) and appears to have taken a leaf or two out of Pascal Arbez' book, as this is more Vitalic than Vitalic. Only this hasn't got some pseudo-bestial video with jumping dogs or anything. At least I don't think it does, anyway.)
6. Daft Punk - The Prime Time Of Your Life (Para One Remix) (Some more French stuff, this is Gaul-on-Gaul action of the highest order. When you're playing this at work and someone quips that the CD is skipping, tell them that it makes them sound as old as the hills by saying that, okay?)
7. The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health (Has there been a better scary/sexy tune released this year than 'We Share Our Mother's Health'? I don't think so. I love the way the bleeps seem to be bouncing off the ceiling and pinging off the walls, while Karin's superbly treated voice makes her sound like Shabba Ranks or something at the bridge. Brilliant.)
8. T.I. - What You Know (T.I.'s King album may not have had the tunes overall to live up to its supremely braggadocious, perfectly hip-hop title, but this cut still stands head-and-shoulders over every other rap release from '06 thus far, purely by virtue of the fact that it sounds so fucking strange. Just when you think you've got a handle on it, it'll spin your head 360 degrees all over again.)
9. Hot Chip - (Just Like We) Breakdown (One of the more affecting tracks from The Warning first came to prominence with the trancey DFA remix from last year, but the album version even has that beat. All Hot Chip haters have to hear this before they can say a fucking thing.)
10. Aloe Blacc - Dance For Life (New from Stones Throw, ignore the super-pat lyrics and just revel in the skittery beat and Blacc's wonderful cadences. Digi-soca smoothness.)
11. Uffie - Pop The Glock (The best thing to come out of Ed Banger records this year is this electro-crunk stormer from the lush Uffie. Almost embarrassing, especially with the "I rock this beat you know damn well" line, but with bags of charm and cheek, Uffie gets by just fine.)
12. The Long Blondes - Separated By Motorways (I said last week that The Long Blondes just get better all the time, but this is really still my favourite, from the menacing rumble of the verse to the glam-pop excellence of the chorus. A sheer delight.)
13. The Horror The Horror - Trainwhistle (Clean, tight garage-rock thrills don't get more unalloyed than The Horror The Horror's eponymous debut LP and this is one of the highlights. Yet again, the Swedes beat us at our own game.)
14. TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me (The most apposite song title of the year, as this is a seething, vicious beast of a song. The best track from the best album of the first half of the year.)
15. Love Is All - Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up (Held together by pop-smarts and sticky-back plastic, the music is ragged to say the least, but it's the lyrics that elevate this one. "Dancing in the living room, light supplied by the moon/Things I'd said but shouldn't, tricks I'd tried but couldn't" makes the hairs on my neck bristle with joy.)
16. High Feelings - Leave Norway (Like Sebastien Tellier, The Doors and Peter, Paul & Mary all jamming together, touching each other up and eating too many Opal Fruits. Seriously.) 

1. The Early Years - All Ones & Zeroes (Affiliated to Death In Vegas' Tim Holmes, and it shows, The Early Years popped up out of nowhere earlier in the year with this four-minute blast of shoegazey motorik. Most definitely ones to watch.)
2. Asobi Seksu - Nefi + Girly (Another band that do some pretty exciting things within the shoegaze template are Asobi Seksu. Invigorating stuff and, above all, damned good fun. It appears that the mp3 I uploaded is corrupt in some way, so here it is in YouSendIt form.)
3. Planningtorock - Bolton Wanderer (After being initially attracted by the alluring Northernism of the title, I was startled to find that I love the song, quirky title aside. Some crazy, oompah, barrelhouse stuff going on, while a stuttering breakbeat runs underneath.)
4. Glass Candy - Iko ("My Grandma told your Grandma gonna set your flag on fire" and all that old nonesense. The NY death disco merchants take on the song made famous by Sugar Boy and the Cane Cutters, Cyndi Lauper and Aaron Carter among others. Strange world when you think about it, isn't it?)
5. Liquid Liquid - Optimo (The song from which the club took their name shoved in here purely on merit. Still sounds as fresh and vital as all them years ago. Percussion ahoy!)
6. Panico feat. Crazy Girl - Transpira Lo (Chilean punk-funkers on Tigersushi get Crazy Girl to pile on the crudeness while the buzzy bass, urgent drums and, yes, cowbell take it to the wall. "Stick it in my mouth", indeed!)
7. Headman - Moisture (Mustapha 3000 Remix) (I've just wrote about this about half-an-hour ago so all I'll say now is, go get it!)
8. Spank Rock - Sweet Talk (Skippy, hip-housey B-more club thang to begin with, Avalanches-style, psychedelic sampledelia to end with. Nice!)
9. Wolfmother - Woman (Avalanches Millstream Remix) (Speaking of Dexter and co., they're back in a remixing vein, taking everything but a vocal snippet and a tiny bit of electric geetar out of the risible original, giving it a Wu-Tangy backing and layering on the samples in the way only they know how. That's how you re-work something.)
10. Max Sedgley - Slowly (Hot Chip Remix) (The boys can do no wrong, here giving the Sunday Best man a slo-mo squelch-funk makeover.)
11. Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland - Promiscuous (I think we can all agree that Nelly Furtado has been one of the biggest surprises of the year, but we shouldn't have been too shocked at how good some of the songs on Loose are because Timbo is still one of the best pop producers around. Still relevant and still futuristic. Make him produce every pop single for the next decade.)
12. Herbert - Something Isn't Right (Herbert's Scale is one of the most celebrated albums of the year thus far and one listen to this, the opening track, should convince you that these critics are onto something. Lush, musique-concrete-like soul music with one foot in the past, but it's brain and sentiment in the present.)
13. Sunshine Anderson - Heard It All Before (QSO Remix) (From a few years back now, but still able to rock a party a mile away. Quantic adds horns and a funk swagger that the original only hinted at. Makes great use of one of the best r'n'b vocals of recent years.)
14. Quannum - I Changed My Mind (DJ Spinna Remix) (Block-rockin' take on the low-end orig. Again, as with the Sunshine Anderson track, this is all about the vocal from Lyrics Born, rhyme-singing his ample arse off, but Spinna puts a bit of a summery twist on the whole affair.)
15. K.M.D. - Peachfuzz (M.F. Doom, back before he wore the mask, used to be in one of the few rap groups who weren't Native Tongues-affiliated to assay the Daisy Age ethic in a near-perfect manner. Should have been huge.)
16. The Pharcyde - Runnin' (One of THE best hip-hop tracks of all time. Eleven years old and still as suitable for the club or the car on a summer drive. And that's from someone without a driving licence.)
17. Lucas - Lucas With The Lid Off (Remember this? Superb one-hit wonder from the mid-90s. Was he French? I think I remember he was. Anyway, watch the Michel Gondry-directed video here.)
18. Lily Allen - Knock 'Em Out (My current favourite from Alright, Still, but that changes everyday at the moment. How many times do I have to rep for Lily? At least until I'm bored with her, I reckon.)
19. The Similou - All This Love (Displaying a love of the keytar no-one has seen since the days of Jan Hammer, this superbly summery blast of sunshine is getting a lot of radio and blog love at the mo. Get on that there bandwagon, kids!)
20. Prince - Black Sweat (Showing that he can still kick it when he can be bothered to leave out all the Jehovah's Witness crap, this is one of the best singles of the year and anyone who says different can come 'round here for a black eye. You'll be screaming like a white lasy when I'm done with you! Oh, hang on, he's talking about sex isn't he? Forget it then.)