To quote the late, yet still excellent Frank Sidebottom, "it's a free download, costing absolutely nothing"...I thought I might do a little post on some great music that is currently available (totally legally) for free:
Forest Swords:
Fjree Feather EP
Echoey guitars with wistful melodies, music for the long bus ride home at night when you start thinking too hard about everything.
To Download (through Last FM)
Ghost Mall:
Balloon Ideas/Johnny Appleseed (both live)
I am told, that Ghost Mall are best apprecitated live, a pleasure I have not yet had, but they sound great on record, combining a slightly dreamy feel with vast energy.
To Download (through Last FM)
---If you are unfamiliar with Last FM, scroll down to the bit where it says "top tracks" and right click on the words "free download".---
Former Ghosts:
Chin Up
A new track from the utterly incredible Former Ghosts, their first album Fleurs is heartbreaking and beautiful, this new song is from their upcoming release New Love. Out on October 4th I entreat you to get this. If it is anything like their first album then it will blow you away. Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu and Nika Roza Danilova of Zola Jesus are members of Former Ghosts with the main creator being Freddy Ruppert (who is in Parenthetical Girls too).
To Download (through Pitchfork)
Parenthetical Girls
Young Throats
Privilege Part 2: The Past, Imperfect is out on 21st of September, the second installment of their Privilege EPs (limited edition and all numbered in a member of the band's blood!).
Parenthetical Girls were also my artist of the month this month, but as I've been away etc I haven't done a whole post on them, all that really needs to be said is that they are very good and write some of the most intriguing and refreshing lyrics around, Love Connection is one of my favourite songs.
To Download go to rcrdlbl.com
The debut single from Teeth (or TEETH!!!, T3ETH and T∑∑TH as they can be known) is released by Moshi Moshi on the 16th of August, which means until then if you want to hear some of their music you'll have to visit their myspace, where you can in fact hear the single, See Spaces, as well as a very enjoyable Dolby Anol remix of said song.
They make the kind of music that listening to and remaining still at the same time is basically impossible, another of their tracks, Confusion, feels a bit like HEALTH put through some sort of Bikini Kill filter which can only be a very good thing.
As summer slowly draws closer to its end, expect to hear Teeth echoing out over dark fields filled with drunk teenagers dancing very energetically. Because that's what this music makes you feel like doing, going out and having a good time whilst listening to great songs.
July
Mike Hadreas, (also known as Perfume Genius) by all acounts has not had an easy life. Quoted as saying “I spent my whole life hiding from the things that happened to me, to my family and friends...The entirety of all these experiences: abuse, addiction, suicide, all that cool stuff, I couldn’t bear to look at it.” As Perfume Genius, he has transformed all of these things into some utterly fantastic music.
His sound is sparse with an ethereal feel, normally just his vocals and a piano, or very occasionally a guitar. The lyrics are desperately honest, and his voice is gentle, almost breaking in places but with a haunting strength to the sound. Several of his songs were floating around on the internet before the release of his debut album, Learning. These songs (such as Mr Peterson) caught the attention of many, and by the time the album was actually released on Turnstile he had quite a following, and not without reason, the music he makes is really something very special.
Every song I have heard by Perfume Genius is genuinely heartbreaking in some way, he's playing his first live show in London soon and it has almost, if not actually sold out, promising to be an evening that will not be forgotten.
Not bad for someone who's bio used to read "might be dead, cool guy".
June
Zola Jesus: as well as making her own music she is part of Former Ghosts and has supported Fever Ray, therefore you might assume she makes some really very good music. An assumption in which you would be correct. Her latest release, an EP by the name of Stridulum combines her astonishing vocal range and power, with dark lyrics (for example on the single, Night "because in the end of the night when all we have is gone ").
The EP artwork is a particularly striking image, Zola Jesus herself covered in a dark viscous substance (which I seem to remember reading somewhere is actually chocolate) and this reflects her music brilliantly. Surprising at first, difficult to get out of your head, but also quite sinister and unusual.
May
Slow Club are Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor...
Whilst doing a bit of research about them for this post I noticed something. Many reviews of them and their album Yeah So describe them as twee. I have no problem with twee music it's cheerful, light-hearted although without much depth...and that's the problem. Whilst Slow Club may make some cheerful songs, which can be blithe, with lyrics like: "there's people in the floorboards said the mouse". Yeah So clearly has many many other influences - the shoegazey opening of "There Is No Good Way To Say I'm Leaving You" is just one example.
It's sad to see such a great band being pigeonholed into what can seem a very limiting genre, and to prove that I'm not alone in finding this frustrating, Rebecca Taylor said on twitter (@Slowclubrebeca) "call us twee and ill kick u". While this is evidently without malice, it must be frustrating for a band so bursting with talent to be written off as just another twee duo. Trying to push bands into a genre just so we know what to call them can be disastrous.
Yeah So itself is extremely enjoyable, every track is easy to listen to without being dull. Beautiful harmonies from beautiful voices are backed nicely by guitars, drums and the occasional wooden chair...perhaps something which goes towards the constant accusations of being twee.
My personal favourite tracks at the moment are
I Was Unconscious It Was A Dream not least for the brilliant lines "And all of this because I've been screaming girl's names in the night/I was unconscious, it was a dream/ Just let it die, die, die."
There Is No Good Way To Say I'm Leaving You, the title alone conveys such a difficulty-expressed emotion with simplicity and tenderness.
Having said that, just trying to pick just two preferred songs from this album is almost impossible. Every song has different reasons to be amazing; the vocals are impeccable (Sorry About The Doom is so impossibly beautiful Rebecca has such an amazing voice) and the entire thing feels lovingly assembled. With faces to match their gorgeous voices Slow Club look set to make a lasting impression.
April
My next artist of the month is the wonderful Johnny Foreigner:
Originally from Birmingham (something which is almost immediately apparent from their accents) they are Alexei on guitar and vocals, Kelly on bass and vocals and Junior on the drums.
They have released two albums and as many EPs…plus several of their songs for free.
Many bands try to achieve the depth of emotion and energy that Johnny Foreigner achieve, without it being something truly relevant to them, therefore ending up sounding try-hard or just plain rubbish. With Johnny Foreigner...from reading their blog and listening to their music, you know they make their music because it, and the things they write about, matter to them. Meaning they are consistently great and continue to have numerable releases.
Their latest album ‘Grace And The Bigger Picture is fifteen songs long, each one under three minutes (apart from the final song ‘The Coast Was Always Clear’ which is in a slight contrast, eleven minutes long, but that’s because of a hidden track) The album has an interesting symmetry with titles like, “More Heart Less Tongue and “More Tongue Less Heart” exploring lyrical ideas further, yet keeping to their direct nature.
Apologies that it is now almost the end of April, and I've only just posted, but from next month I will hopefully be updating this feature regularly in the first week or two of every month.
Tune into my radio show from Thursday 29th at 8 until 9pm (no show this week) to hear Johnny Foreigner and more excellent music.
March
Sparky Deathcap, just one man and a guitar/ukulele. A fairly average way of making music you might assume at first. Most bands feature a guitar and singer, and many artists just sing over chords - nothing wrong with that I should add...but when I listened to some of Sparky Deathcap's music, I soon realised this was something a bit different.
Almost painfully personal, his lyrics tell very detailed stories; his Tear Jerky EP was apparently written after a break-up, and you can almost imagine watching the inevitable unfold as you listen. He also writes from a more fictional perspective (watch his ukulele rock opera on Youtube for an example of this, the story of Misty and Mouffette, snow, organ donation and love) but somehow everything seems intensely private, and hearing it feels a real privilege.
The music itself, backing those excellent lyrics, is a mixture of heart wrenching guitar and layers of his own distinctive vocals.
The Tear Jerky EP is only five tracks long; every song is carefully formed, written with a sense of humour and awareness, it is enjoyable and beautiful, by the end you will be wishing it were at least twice as long.
You can buy it online from Nettlejam Records, which Sparky himself set up to release his own music.
My personal favourite track is currently 'Early Spring' although it unfortunately isn't on the EP (You can hear it on Youtube though: Early Spring)...some of the lyrics in this song are also used in 'Glasgow Is A Punk Rock Town' which you can download for free, I assume that's why it wasn't released as well.
Sparky Deathcap is currently touring as the 8th member of Los Campesinos! But more releases are expected.
Hope you have enjoyed reading about my first proper artist of the month, I'm going to be interviewing him fairly soon, so return here/listen to my radio show (every Thursday 8-9pm on Spark Radio, www.sparksite.co.uk) to hear that.
Any suggestions for questions are welcome.
