THIS WEEKS HITS – WEEK MIDDLING 28th FEB 2007 pt 2

In my excitement to get to the bank (I love going to the bank - the highlight of my fucking week, every week, I can assure you) I forgot to include the wonderful

THEY CAME FROM THE STARS I SAW THEM

in the round up.

This is some high class, multi qualitied music...Go and visit them now or risk dying incomplete

THIS WEEKS HITS – WEEK MIDDLING 28th FEB 2007

Another week, another couple of million more profiles to trawl through, as this web within a web continues to expand like an extended family of very horny rabbits who respond positively to every Viagra junk email they recieve...

For me, last week (my first on this music only myspace) was all about getting established and making friends with acts I was mostly aware of.. This week i've been able to stretch out a little and hunt new talent down. I must have listened through around 100 or more and have found some gems..

NEW TO ME

A whole bunch of this weeks hits came from the Top 20 friends of Dan Le Sac I got there after hearing his collaboration with Scrobious Pip which can be found HERE

Thou Shalt Always Kill is a blinder of a track. Like all clever manifestos, it could get boring after a few plays, but it doesn't for me because of the fantastic music behind it.

To get to the bottom of this, I went after Mr Le Sac himself and amidst his freinds, found a whole host of absolute gems

Yila

Nathan Fake

Jackamo Brown

and

Black Victory are my favourites...

With the exception of Jackamo Brown these are all very electronic and vary from relatively quiet and sweet to downright loud and hardcore. The comon thread is they are all very fine indeed, so throw away that Klaxons shit and go see theirspaces right now....

As for King Le Sac: I can see a less than orderly queue of more well known artists clutching surfboards and forming at his studio door. Don't be at all surprised if he ends up in a similar position to Dangermouse in a few years time..that is if he wants to go there.

In terms of vocal and more traditional tones...The very best I can recommend this week is Adele Given the contemporary taste for gutsy female singers, it would be an absolute crime if Adelle isn't soon a big star. The lyrics and delivery on show on herspace are absolute top fucking draw..Think Amy Winehouse + some

STAPLES??

No staples this week - no time.

LIVE

After a couple of weeks break I went in the audience for The Culture Show again this week.

The show, to be broadcast this Saturday on BBC2 is not only worth checking out because there's plenty about David Lynch AND Bryan Ferry playing Bob Dylan (+++) but also because I get a brief moment of glory recomending the shed where the K Foundation burnt their million £ is awarded a Culture Show plaque....(My head is swelling badly as i write this)

To read a full review of Ferry and the other band of the day Maximo Park, please check the spcific blog entry which will appear later on today....

Lastly, a special mention for Dion McGregor
Described as 'Acapella' this is infact the best juvenile humour since Derek & Clive...ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL LISTENING!
VB
PG

Currently listening : Dylanesque By Bryan Ferry Release date: By 08 March, 2007

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MOG

Thou shalt Kill is a corker alright. Posted by MOG on Sunday, March 04, 2007 at 23:23 [Remove] [Reply to this]

ALBUM REVIEW: WHITE MAGIC - DAT ROSA MEL APIBUS

High Wave, Rolling On Sea British Indian Ocean Territory

The first time I listened to White Magics Dat Rosa Mel Apibus I completely hated it. Contrary to it’s good intentions, I felt it sounded like a bad mixture of Nico, The Jefferson Airplane and a bunch of Navajo Indians, making musica around a damp campfire that had, unbeknownst to any of the above, gone out somewhere around 1969…

Music is however a complicated being and it shouldn’t be judged on one airing. So in the interests of freedom, fairness and musical democracy I played this record again, and again and again…And now, 19 or 20 plays later things have changed.

Yes boss, with each fresh play, I find I like the strident and simple piano lines more and more. I also like the flatness of the voice and the way this voice dovetails into the sounds and then back out again like some kind of weird sonic mutation. Shit, some of the lyrics are even drawing me in to a degree where I have to replay tracks and try and suss out their specific meaning….

But isn’t this just the problem with judging music??

SINGLE REVIEW: TALL PONY - I'M YOUR BOYFRIEND NOW

After close to 20 years of collecting music like a squirrel with no sense of proportion, I find myself in possession of a vast collection of tracks. And though this was the point, and, in fact, my childhood dream, this heaven is now causing me big trouble…

One aspect of this trouble is storage and a bigger one is freshness. You see when one has a huge archive of music to listen to, how does one prioiritse listening? New or Old? Most loved or most difficult? And what’s the point of radio when you can piece together a 10,000 track mp3 playlist that fulfils the same function without the idiot prattle adverts for Coldplay and the Carphone Whorehouse?

Well boss, I’ve learnt something of late: That the point of radio is to enable one to keep things fresh, to know what’s new and to thereby enable one to float….Yes, having got to the point of not needing radio, I’ve realised that I needed radio far more than I ever needed an archive..

Anyway, as per usual, my digressions are swimming seawards with the beef of this review in their mouths like satisfied salmon who've realised the whole spawning thing was just a joke. So I’ll get back to the point, which is to draw your attention to one of the finest new tracks I’ve heard. A track I found on the radio..

It happened like this.

Having being helplessly ensconced in my aforementioned archive for what could be considered years, sometime before Christmas, I tuned into Huw Stephens BBC Radio 1 show to see what the kids might be listening to...

It was the first time I’d even seen the name Huw Stephens let alone heard his show, so I wasn’t expecting much other than another big up fake Smashy, the like of which Radio 1 apparently breeds in cages. But what happened is that I heard a band called Tall Pony do a track called I’m Your Boyfriend Now..and I was in raptures

I’m Your Boyfriend Now is basically a track that contains the speech ten million men have wanted to give to their girlfriends the minute they’ve realised they’re in a relationship from which escape is going to be tricky indeed...

I’m Your Boyfriend Now has no window dressing or ‘Of Course Darlings’ which plague the small talk of relationships. It’s straight and simple. Contained in this song are the basic rules to which a good girlfriend must conform.

You see girls, us boys pretend that feminism has made us new and improved and ready to follow you around like dogs on short leads. But the truth is we hate coming to clothes shops for hours on end. It not only makes us lust after more or less every other girl in the shop, but we actually abhor the very idea of having to observe the pain and torment a girl has to go through to look beautiful. We don’t want to see this shit being acted out in front of our very eyes, it destroys a lot of things.

Yes, sorry ladies, but the bottom line is men (in an ideal world) still want you tied up in bag for the vast majority of the day. It’s mean, but such is the world.

Anyway, I’m Your Boyfriend Now is a genius track of honesty, and the perfect antidote to the godawful faked gay candy pop of Mika and more or less every other male solo artist since ACDC became cabaret.

Of course when this becomes Number 1, charges of sexism and objectification of women will be raised, but such charges can be raised about who’s turn it is to open the tin of catfood and who should put the rubbish out, so there’s no need to worry about them.

What is important is that this is an excellent piece of music and an even better piece of writing and if I ever manage to fuck up my current relationship (odds 1.21 within ten minutes of PP reading this) then I’m going to get the ground rules sorted out on her succesor from the get go.

“LISTEN UP!!” I’ll yell.

I’ll then press play and Jemima, or whatever her name is, will listen to this track at double loud volume. She’ll love it, she’ll agree to the rules, sign a piece of paper saying so and we will live happily ever after….

http://www.myspace.com/tallpony

THIS WEEKS HITS – WEEK MIDDLING 22 FEB 2007

Plenty of good stuff spinning about this week.

The best new thing this week is probably Konono No1 This is African music like I've not heard before, rhythmic, yet dissonant, energetic and chaotic, new and old etc. Hotly recommended!!

Meanwhile, I never tire of Tall Pony's I'm Your Boyfriend Now

For that matter it's been a horsy week. Vote Show Pony's pleased me this week with a fantastically smooth Kate Bush like vocal. This really shouldn't work on account of Kate Bush being uncopiable but it does and part of the reason why it does is because it's backed up with some thorough and neat pop programming, which I reckon could see them go far.

I'm also enjoying the Rubies who combine bright vocals with some great melodies and inspired and simple electronic implants. Very soothing..

Punk Bunny are interesting, but though I started the week dead keen on them, I'm cooling as the week goes on.

As far as staples go, I've been enjoying plenty of Herbie Hancock
If ever there was an argument for quality coming through it would be fully illustrated by Herbie Hancocks career. The breadth and depth of his material is enormous and it's so smooth and natural sounding, whilst still retaining a complete free will of experimentation and adaptation to the times. Albums to be going on with would be Lite Me Up, Soundsystem & Monster

Also, still loving Dykehouse's Midrange A fantsatic slice of spring inspiring music that grows and grows with stature with each play

My last big favourite of the week has been Of Montreal Though I've been aware of this lot for a while, I've never really listened to much until now and am pleased to report that this is pure class. Great simple lyrics & great melodies. Of Montreal do everything the Arctic Monkeys are supposed to be good at, but they do it ten times better

SIX TOES & THE BICYCLE THIEVES & KING CREOSOTE @ BARDENS BOUDOIR, LONDON, LATE 2006

Bardens Boudoir is one of the more peculiar venues I've been to in London. It sits underneath a row of shops on Stoke Newington Road. To gain entrance, one has to follow the signs down and under, wherein one finds a large low ceilened basement. It's very red and when I'd established I'd only missed one band of four, I felt complete.

You see, just 15 minutes earlier, I'd awoken, feeling really rather warm and blissfully content, only to find I was lying naked in a room – a room that was populated by 5 other people, all of whom were studying me with concentrated eyes….

Now in the world of Life Modelling, falling asleep in the middle of a pose is unprofessional in the extreme, but I'd been lulled by lack of recent practise, the hum of the fan heater, together with a heavy days ligging and the below stairs rumble of Are You Experienced…

Worse than this minor Faux Pas, was that the time was 9.10pm and I was late for my first live review. So grabbing full consciousness by the bollocks, I put mine away, made my excuses, got paid and cycled up Kingsland Road at Mach 4…

On this occasion I was lucky, there was no blood bandits on the streets and by the time I settled with a beer, band number 2 of 4 was on…

Six Toes are a 4 piece folk outfit fronted by a voice that would make Tom Waitts feel like a smoking cowboy. Indeed add a little bass and a few less fags and you’ve got Waitts in one.

This sort of rare distinction is obviously an acquired taste and when accompanied by both the drummer and Double Bassmans vocals the complete sound was a swirling cocktail that only just about held itself together…I however liked it and if you like your folk with a twist, then check them out…

Next were The Bicycle Thieves

Now, The Bicycle Thieves are one of the prettiest bands I’ve ever seen. Fronted by a man who looks every bit as cuddly as a Teddy Bear, a drummer one joint off San Francisco, another fine young man to the right and two very charming ladies who know the value of smiles, they’re a true picture of charm. When they announced they were about fun, I felt my cold heart melt more than it did the last time I saw a tiny kitten and the first song promised a great deal …

From that point on though, I stayed at aroundabout that very same point of appreciation and anticipation. You see, though the glockenspiel chimed like a dolcet chng and the ladies smiled their harmonies, the set didn’t quite reach the heights I thought it might. There were certainly acres of promise and intent and some very good melodic moments, but I felt the songs had the tendency to drift away in the middle and on occasion, the crowds attention went with them…

With time on their side, The Thieves can do something about this, no problem, and if they choose too, can go down the kind of pop corridor frequented by The Magic Numbers… I wish them well

Last to grace the stage was King Creosote

The King, as the audience certainly seemed to perceive him, presented an acoustic set backed with strong songs, a stronger voice and good repartie betwixt and between. To be honest, such a set isn’t the sort of thing that sets me ablaze. Indeed, I’m of the rather blinkered opinion that the future is everything and guitars should be ditched, the page turned etc, but what do I know??

Well, I know The King pulled off an accomplished performance and if that’s your bag, you will or you do already love him…

So, a good night then!

CRIMEWERK...

Being an habitual petty criminal, I've recently downloaded a 36 album 2.6 gigabyte discography of Kraftwerk from one of those naughty file sharing programs and I have to say it's completely and utterly fucking great in every concieveable way..

From their earliest jazz and xylophonic efforts, through both English and German versions of key albums, a selection of live performances and scarce collections of alternative mixes, this is a collection marked by pure, endless and unadulterated quality from a quintessential band.

So forget itunes (it won't have half the shit you need & it'll cost you all your dinnner money) and get yourself a copy of this Kraftwerk discography downloaded right this instant...

LUKE VIBERT VS SPAC HAND LUKE

Perhaps it’s a good thing that the Rephlex mob haven’t sold out and become the alt.pop stars they could so easily and cheesily be. But at the same time I wonder if moving in endless experimental circles for the sake of it isn’t sometimes a little contrived and an exhibition of musical stubbornness as much as a proud display of integrity??

I mean there was a certain point 3 or 4 years ago when every Rephlex or Warp London rave culminated in 2 or 3 hours of complete head rinsing, fast, nasty, heavy and mental shit drilling bastard hard bassssss the like of which cleans you out very quickly

It was pure Nihilism – the electronic equivalent of death metal and after a while it got tiring. It’s Saturday night and you’re off your box and you just want to love everyone and everything, and instead you’re faced with a tirade of noise at 2am that you can’t dance to unless you’ve had 23 pills and a pint of super unleaded straight off the forecourt.

Perhaps I’m not hardcore enough and should have been going to the Ministry of Sound, or perhaps it was cutting edge and one day I’ll boast ‘I was there!!!’ But that infernal, too quick, too nasty, racket sounded more like being heavy and loud for the sake of it – like turning up your stereo because you know it pisses your neighbours off, rather than because you want to hear loud music….

Anyway this record isn’t quite like that, in fact in sound it's nothing like that. I am however not convinced it’s anything other than a temporary stagnation from Mr Vibert. In fact, more than anything else Luke Vibert Vs Spac Luke sounds, as it’s title suggests, a little like a record that’s fighting itself.

My main bone with this is that there's nothing that stands out or at least very little. Whereas Multiple Stab Wounds is close to a rousing romp and just the sort of track where obtuse and apparently unmixable resources of much dance, easy listening and hip hop are spliced together into damn fine melodic and groovy music, such moments are very few and far between. Instead there are a few too many tracks that plod along with no particular verve or direction - tracks like Barrave which mixes well known hooks, samples and beats of rave, but does nothing new or worthwhile with them. Maybe it works LIVE! at Bangface, but it doesn't work for me on the platter in the front room…

Yes boss, I’m sorry, but I've listened through this a good few times now and I can’t get into it at all. It feels like an album of out takes and leftovers.

This so, I can’t be mean about Vibert for very long. Indeed, the sheer volume of his output means the odd duff record and/or track is bound to sneak out amongst the others comprised of more or less total genius ….

So, if you’ve yet to sample Viberts other multiple delights get to it right this instant, but don't start with this...

MIKA @ THE CULTURE SHOW

Mika is a phenomena in waiting...

At least this is the hype.

So when I found out he was to appear on my weekly free lig, BBC2's The Culture Show, I was well pleased with my luck. You see, there's nothing more likely to enable the shrewd appraisal of a musical phenomena than catching them in person and on stage before the hype and the hooha gets too far out of hand.

Mika the Innocent

Innocence - This is how so many people enter the music business...The innocence and the naivety that their golden and creative soul is going to triumph over the world - that their creative genes are to be roundly lauded and loved into the history books...

Mika arrived on the Annex set with a record company retinue: There was a man who's job it was to fluff his afro, a woman to maintain his makeup. There were 3 tall and instituionally, yet cleverly pretty PR girls and a few others who milled about and watched and answered phones and made plans for world domination...

Mika himself was smiling in light blue jeans. He was confident, calm and assured. He knew his moment was now - that everybody was talking about him and pointing 'There he is!' He knew he was about to perfom Grace Kelly, the song he'd written about how he'd been shunned by the very people that were now queueing up to love him. Better still, he knew he was to perform it via the medium of TV to the kind of culture vultures who could make him credible as well as a popular success...In short: He knew he was on a great big fucking wave.

And with all this weighing his shoulders, Mika appeared to be a complete sweetheart. He had the joy of performing and the excitement of doing exactly what he'd always wanted to do flowing through his veins. He knew he'd proved the doubters wrong and that he was about to start rubbing their faces in it. He didn't need the vice, depression and drugs of the seasonned hit maker, he was clean and fresh and running off endorphins and bright blue reality..

Once at the piano, Mika was the consumate performer. He had time for banter with the sound guys, time for banter with the audience and time for banter with the presenter.

You see innocence doesn't mean inadequacy. Mike had a savvy and a definite knowing about dealing with the questions posed in the pre-playing interview. He had the anecdotes about when Simon Cowell rejected him ready. He also knew that allying or comparing himself with any former melodic and operatic forerunnner like Freddie Mercury would be used a s a noose for his own neck.

He either knew or had been schooled in these things.

When he got down to playing, the acoustic version of Grace Kelly worked well. It was the first time I'd heard the song and since hearing it more or less everywhere since it has my full support as a number one..

But is Mika good enough to be a phenomena??

Well, it's a few weeks since I saw him live and since then I've listened through the album Life in Cartoon Motion 5 or 6 times and I can't say I hear much that's phenomenal. It's too cabaret and just a little contrived for my liking. Indeed, with the exception of Grace Kelly there aren't really any stand out tracks at all. Furthermore sickly sweet sacharine tracks like Lollipop are the sort of musical crime that makes you want to become a regular viewer of Songs of Praise...

Life in Cartoon Motion will certainly sell by the crate load, because when the music biz decides it has a phenomena, it keeps on rattling on about it until the records have sold and the artist appears grinning in photos with Elton John and is said to be loved by the surviving members of Queen. But whether Mika is and will last as a musical and creative force remains to be seen.

As far as i can see, though he might be talented, clever, well promoted and make millions, nothing he's doing musically is exciting or raw or vital. Furthermore it's just too plain and fluffy.

There's that saying that a country gets the politicians it deserves. Well, I reckon a country most likely gets the pop music it deserves too and Mika is right on the nail of that. We live in a time completely owned and run by banks, plastic gayness and celebrity love. Mika is a cabaret singer son of a banker. Lollipop is plastic gayness at it's absolute peak and Mika is gonna be a star....

VIEW THIS AND MORE LIKE IT @ BLOGGING BASE CAMP

Currently listening : Life in Cartoon Motion By Mika Release date: By 27 March, 2007

08:24 - 4 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	Lara	That's all very interesting. As it happens, I was at that Culture Show recording too (I was there as a 'Mika fan'). I thought it was hilarious that there was a man there whose sole job appeared to be to give Mika's curls a bit of a ruffling. You're right, he was lovely with everyone wasn't he, especially all the people who pestered him for autographs and a million photos (I'm pleased to say I wasn't one of them). There was a moment when he was sitting on his paino stool and the fans were taking photo after photo and when a make-up woman stood in front of him I saw him give her a subtle, distrssed look that said 'make it stop!'. A guy who was also there caught the whole thing on video. If you'd like to watch it, it's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe6to8g2z_8 Posted by Lara on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:25 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	The thing I found most imteresting was seeing it all go on at the start of his career when the photos and the autographs still have a little novelty at least. I look forward to seeing how he develops both musically and as a star.. What do you think of the album?? Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:37 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Lara	Just something else, unrelated really. I don't know how we ended up as friends on here (I think you added me, why? who knows) but it's a coincidence that we had sort of 'met' (or at least been in the same room) previously without knowing it. Posted by Lara on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:32 [Remove] [Reply to this]

: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :

Yes, this is very curious indeed. I added you, but i can't remember the route by which i found you. I go on these myspace adventures - in this case looking for likely readers - by jumping around all over the place..My instincts must have been working very well on that particular expedition.. All the best P Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 13:42 [Remove] [Reply to this]

BABYSHAMBLES @ THE CULTURE SHOW

The night before I was due to watch Babyshambles record I Love You, But You're Green for BBC2s The Culture Show, I felt nervous and badly bothered and I couldn’t understand why.

So, I sat up all night against a backdrop of very poor cricket and tried to work it out..

Various theories came and went..

One was that my disquiet was pure annoyance at the musical genius myth of Doherty and that by going to see him and gawp, I was pandering to a made up, star obsessed celebrity culture I didn't believe in.

You see, when you look at the facts, it's Doherties lifestyle rather than his music that's made him a household name. Neither The Libertines or Babyshambles have made treble platinum, or sold out Wembley on the back of their name alone. They haven’t had 6 consecutive number ones, and I’d be more than willing to bet that if you stopped 10 people at random in the street and asked them to sing a Pete Doherty song, at least 9 would struggle to pull it off…

So, why should I want to go an see someone perform music that had yet to touch me or for that matter most of the population in any real and musical way? Was I in danger of becoming another sad old star fucker, going along with the tide??

Worse than this, perhaps I was just going to see a freak show - to see a man on his way to the modern equivalent of the cross - a creative human sacrifice??

Well shit, perhaps all of this was true. But if i really gave a shit about that sort of thing, why on earth was I involved in the entertainment business in any way shape or form? It only takes the briefest of glances behind the scenes of any creative enterprise, to see that the whole game is corrupt, vouyeristic and canibalistic by nature. It feeds on misery and destruction as art always must, and no matter how much old morals suggested i should, I certainly didn't disagree with this state of affairs, if only because there's no point disagreeeing with something that's inevitable..

So, if not this, then perhaps it was all about Kate Moss?? Yes, maybe I was annoyed because I’d had a part time crush on Moss for years, and the one and only time I’d seen her in the flesh and been in any position to do anything about it was in the pub about 3 weeks before her and Pete’s relationship appeared to start. And then because I was wearing an outfit equivalent to that worn by Vince and Jules after The Fox has hosed the remains of Marvin off them in Pulp Fiction, I didn't dare approach her.....and then she was gone.

Perhaps I disliked the idea of Pete because he was fucking the most desired woman in the country and I wasn't?

Well, all of these and various other ideas came and went, but none really added up to a full tirck, and with Australia on the cusp of a ridiculous victory, I put such thoughts aside, made it in to the venue for the recording and watched.

The strange thing was that from the word go, I was hugely impressed with both Pete and Babyshambles.

Contrary to the myths of lateness and bad behaviour, the band arrived on time or perhaps a bit early. They walked in and onto the stage as if they’d just popped out for a packet of fags and the audience were paintings on the wall.

Without fucking about, they then got on with playing their music as if it was the most natural thing in the world. There was no pretentious concern about the soundcheck or any discernable ego or nasty attitude to be seen. They simply played like they wanted to play, and like playing was their life. It was fluid and smooth and a pleasure to watch and Pete behaved like a charming, quiet and pleasant young man.

It was much later in the evening, or perhaps even the next, that I worked out the true nature of my original problem…I'd been nervous because I was to be in the presence of someone who’d done what so many seek to do when they take on London or Hollywood or New York or any other seething metropolis. Pete has started a creative project, seen it suceed to some notable degree, swum in the celebrity lake of filth and nearly killed himself in the process…

It was nothing short of pure jealousy…

Currently listening : The Blinding EP By Babyshambles Release date: By 05 December, 2006

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	MOG	That's the first Time I ever heard really them properly (I know where have I been?) and I have to say I thought that was a great performance. I'm enjoying your reviews very entertaining. Posted by MOG on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 23:43 [Remove] [Reply to this]

: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :

Yes. It was proper musicians playing music for the love of it and to have held that spirit together and firm, with all the distractions these boys have had to deal with, is certainly something to be comended... Glad you're enjoying the reviews... All the best PG Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 23:49 [Remove] [Reply to this]

ALBUM REVIEW ::: TRENTEMOLLER - THE LAST RESORT 2 DISC SET

‘BACK TO THE FUTURE’

In the early to mind 1990s electronic music looked set to take over the world: Genres were splitting and mutating for fun, and each new Aphex Twin LP opened up thousands of acres of new and green musical land for other less talented types to settle and colonise. In short, the future looked very bright indeed...

But then everything went very badly wrong, ‘Brit Pop’ happened and the scene went retro. The band was back. Playing the guitar was ‘in’ and there was nothing that got you a record deal quicker than saying “We love The Beatles, 4 lads in a band, C’MNNOOOONNNN!!!!! Blah, blah, fucking blah…"

Meanwhile electronic music became formulaic and corrupt - It’s innovators smelt the capitalist coffee and either snorted as much of it as they possibly could, or ran a mile into some kind of self-imposed and contrite obscurity to make music for themselves and no-one else..

It was a weird time. Without any kind of warning, or apparent reason, the beautiful green pastures of Electronic Utopia were inexplicably and desperately abandoned in favour of a move to some shitty small rainy town where no-one had any fucking idea what to do of an evening except hang around the rotting squalid pub and complain about their jobs….

Well boss, I think I have good news...That was then and now the circle is coming back around: Bands such as Hot Chip are taking on the pop mantle with innovative electronic gusto and acts like Trentemoller are painting up a storm in the background.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve no idea who Trentemoller are, neither do I know a thing about their working methods. But if I were to take a wild guess, I’d say they might have family history in fine textiles, because this record sounds like it’s been produced in the smoothest of silk factories.

Starting as it means to go on with the superb Take Me Into Your Skin, the record proceeds to whistle along in a strange yet calm haze of beats and strokes, like some kind of living musical machine line to the future. Yes boss, this is another record like Hot Chip’s The Warning, which has that natural feel that’s so often lacking in electronic music – a sense of the human, some roughness, but smooth and just plain nice roughness….

Unlike Hot Chip, this isn’t pop music. Indeed it’s closer to classical music in structure. It’s filmic. It’s musical wallpaper. It's....well, it’s difficult to describe thoroughly, but if you imagine the soul of Detroit techno, the variation and complexity of anything Warp have offered, and the warmth and natural charm of the Boards of Canada then you’ll have something close to Trentemoller.

The most remarkable thing with The Last Resort is that this 2 disc issue is more than 2 hours long. Sure you can buy the single disc and halve that, but I’d advise you to get the double, because though 999 out of 1000 times such length is an awful indulgence, Trentemoller are worth it.

So in short, The Last Resort is a great record – If it was a book, it would be written by Tom Wolfe: On the surface about 300 pages too heavy, but in reality a beautiful and smooth glide though life.

Enjoy!!