New Air Album Released

I’ve like Air ever since I heard their stuff on the soundtrack of Lost In Translation. They’ve got a new album out, Love 2, and it is jolly good.

Imogen Heap – Ellipse

Imogen Heap is ace. We saw her live in York ages ago and she has gone from strength to strength since then. She has just (today) released a new album, Ellipse, which I downloaded first thing this morning before going to work. It is a wonderful thing this internets, you can go from wanting to having in a remarkably short time.

Anyhoo, on first hearing the album is nice and tuneful with some neat vocal touches and sound effects. I’ve not heard anything to top “The Moment I Said It” from her previous album “Speak For Yourself”, but that is actually quite a tall order and these things do grow on you.

Worth checking out.

White Bread Black Beer

One of the problems that sitting at a computer all day brings is the way that I seem to end up buying stuff. Like beds. Today it was just music though. I got a copy of Scritti Politti’s “White Bread Black Beer”. This chap has been around a long time (he made some great stuff in the eighties and early nineties) and he still knows how to put together some great tunes.

Röyksopp Forever

Every now and then Amazon recommends something I might like. I assume that it does this because it likes me. The recommendations are based on purchases I have made, and since a lot of these were presents through the years and included tapestry design books and DVDs of the film Mama Mia, most of the things it thinks I should get are somewhat wide of the mark. (I’ve noticed that you now have the option to disown some of your dodgier purchases, so that they don’t have any impact on what Amazon thinks you might like – which is a good thing).

Anyhoo, for some time the Amazon algorithm has been recommending I listen to some Röyksopp and so a while back I bought a CD of theirs. I didn’t buy it from Amazon though, I suppose I’ll have to tell them about it….

I like the music though. If you like Air you probably will too (I think this is how Amazon knew to put me on to it). Electronic ambient stuff (although the latest CD, Junior, has a much more electro-pop feel). Good for driving and background music. Some of it sounds like soundtrack music crying out for a film on top, and it has been used quite a lot for albums and films.

Worth a listen.

Steely Dan are Touring the UK

Number one daughter put me on to the fact that Steely Dan (best band in world, ever) are doing some shows in the UK later this year.

That’s the good news. Bad news is that tickets are 50 quid and there aren’t any for sale at the moment. Never mind, perhaps they’ll add some more dates.

V V Brown, Crying Blood

Here is a challenge. Put this on and try and keep still. Excellent stuff.

Little Boots

You might have heard of Little Boots. She might be the next musical sensation. I quite like the sound of the free track you can download from iTunes at the moment.

Go West

When I was younger (and even better looking - if that is possible) there was a band called Go West. They released a couple of good albums and then seemed to vanish. I later found out that they'd gone to the 'states and were writing music for films, which was nice for them, but it meant that the flow of music releases dried up.

Until now. They've just released another album, futurenow. Such is my respect for the band that I grabbed a copy as soon as I heard about it. And it was worth it. Very much a return to form. I've only really found one naff track on the album (although that track is really, really bad). If you like poppy, upbreat music with strong vocals then it is well worth a listen, especially the first track, which is brilliant.

Rilo Kiley

If you are looking for something new to listen to you could do a lot worse than seek out Rilo Kiley. They are an indie rock band operating out of California, but none the worse for that.

Their latest album, Under The BlackLight is good selection of tunes in a variety of different styles. To me they sound a bit like Fleetwood Mac would sound if they were still making records.

Helicopter Girl

One other thing I had my my uber posh hotel in Korea was a soundtrack. Sitting in the Bose CD player in my room was a disk called "Warmth of Cool_Interlude", a pretentious (and somewhat meaningless) name. Out of interest I pressed the play button.

There were some good tracks on there, including the wonderful Imogen Heap. There was also one from someone called Helicopter Girl. The song, called "Umbrellas in the Rain", seemed very appropriate, since that is what we had been all about that morning in Seoul.

Once back in the UK, I tracked down the album that it came from. The album is called "Voodoo Chic" and is completely wonderful. Very tuneful and atmospheric. If you can get hold of a copy, I think you'll like it.