Good morning my video connoisseur friends, back for the second installment of The Found Of Confusion: Video Of The Year Vote! (That's a lot of capitals isn't it). You should already know the rules and how to vote from yesterdays post (I'm glaring at you again street teams!) but if you don't.....well it's directly below this so just go and have a read, it wont take long.
Let's get on with it, here are contenders D-F.
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D -Mausi-Sol
Soaking up the sunshine
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E - Calm As The Colour - The Rain Must Fall
The time is right for dancing in the street
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F - Beaty Heart - Slush Puppy
Ice Ice Baby
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That's it, you now have all six in your possession. Enjoy watching them and let me know your pick for Video Of The Year!
Video killed the radio star - well not quite, it just forced all the DJ's on to I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and as of yet the snakes and spiders of the outback haven't kept up their end of the bargain. Videos are great though, and a good one can add hugely to a songs impact. This is something a number of our 'Found Of' bands seem to be well aware of, because over the last few months they've come up with some great visual displays to compliment their top of the range tunes. As such I think it's only right we doff our cap to them, get interactive and pick our favourite!
Now I'm well aware that without your co-operation this could fall flat on it's grumpy, ruddy, rotund face - but we'll give it a go anyway! (Worst comes to worst I'll just pick the winner myself). Here's how it works, all you need do is watch the six videos (3 posted today and 3 tomorrow) then decide which you like best...and of course let me know. You can do that by leaving a comment below either post, e-mailing foundofconfusion@hotmail.co.uk or contacting me on Google+ - simple enough.
Any passing street teams please note: This is just a little bit of fun for the readers of the blog, they'll be no award ceremony, prizes or cash incentives; feel free to vote if you like but don't bother mobilising half of Facebook or tearing up Twitter. The winner will be mentioned in a post at the end of the year, so you've got until then to choose.
Happy watching, here's the first three.
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THE NOMINEES
A - Discopolis - When Ghosts Get Angry
Living in a box, he's living in a cardboard box
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B - Tomahawks For Targets - The Modern Hunter
Seek and ye shall find
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C - Little Scout - We Are Walking Out
Bolshoi below the branches, Bussell by the bushes
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That's A-C for you to mull over. See the remaining contenders back here tomorrow.
...Well I'm not!! I hate the ocean and it doesn't care for me much either. It's full of salt (that refuses to help me float); dogs chewing tennis balls; nip nip crabs; and carrier bags that disguise themselves as jellyfish to send little kids - who were meant to be enjoying their holidays - running out of the water crying and on to a beach, where they may or may not sit on a bee and get stung!! On top of all that, in Scotland the sea is ****** cold!! So sorry surfing if you don't mind I'll just stay in the warmth of the car and listen to music instead, now what's on this CD down here....oooo surf-pop!
Ok concession time, for a stupid hobby, surfing has more than done its bit when it comes to inspiring great music (unlike you skateboarding!), and they'll be few better recent illustrations of the merit in tidal tunesmithery than 'Twin Rays', by Brisbane trio GUNG HO. Part of the August singles appeal however, comes from the fact that it's not a straight up and down surf-pop pastiche. The rippling lead melody, rolling drum break and hollow production approach - re-familiarised by Best Coast and chums - all give the track a clear sixties flashback flavour, but the presence of a forlorn lyric and flecks of nu-wave synth help to widen the songs scope and lightly nudge the sound into the vicinity inhabited by post punk revivalists like Selebrities. This sparing eighties touch begins to make more sense after an exploration of Gung Ho's April demos, and in particular 'Weekend Mothers', which is vintage Factory Records in it's sound. Vocals are yelped, the baseline is taut, and the whole package has funk in its angular bones; in short this is a track that shacked up with A Certain Ratio then took to town for some freaky dancing with Happy Mondays. 'Vacation' is a somewhat simpler affair, but not one to be overlooked, thanks to the presence of a tip-top chorus and teasing jammed outro. Three songs, only one conclusion: Surf boards = thumbs down; Fretboards and mixing boards = big thumbs up!
Are you amped for Gung Ho? Is this review sick? Should I just shut up now? Comment below, e-mail foundofconfusion@hotmail.co.uk or have a look over the new Google+ page (click the red G up on the right).
It's not my time you're wasting class, it's your own, and If Kevin Wright would bother to turn and face the front and stop swinging on his chair then perhaps we could get started! Ok, who can remember what we discussed last lesson? Yes Miss Madeup?... that's correct: 'The benefits of enjoyment and variety in music compositon'. As some of you were quite obviously snoozing throughout our discussion, I thought it only right that we revisit the topic; so take out your jotters please and copy down the name written on the board -THE BROW HORN ORCHESTRA - *sigh* yes Kevin you can borrow a pen.
Right then, now you've got that down here's what you need to know. Bobbing and bouncing their way out from Perth, Western Australian, The Brow Horn Orchestra are a menagerie of multi instrumentalists who plan to let the good times roll, and by sharing their shenanigans on record everyone is welcome along for the ride. September's 'Can't Afford This Way Of Life EP' was like getting an invite to a street party over at Genre Avenue, where Mr and Mrs Rap, Ska, Pop, Soul and House have hung out the bunting and are bursting to provide the entertainment for the assembled congregation. On their passport the six tracks on offer would probably list their occupation as 'hip-hop record' and in the case of 'King' and 'Kick Back & Fight' that's essentially true; both songs sporting the live authenticity of The Roots and the positive mindset of Afrocentric age acts such as Arrested Development. Delve in to the rest of the EP though and there's wider influences to be found. 'Every Single Day' is a perky portion of uptempo pop, it's triumphant horn section recalling El Presidente or even Dexy's, while 'We Were Where The Heart Is' has more than a bit of Basement Jaxx in it's charismatic chorus and dancefloor tempo. Rounding the celebrations off is the title track, and as it skips along to the same beat as The Avalanches, only a solitary question needs to be answered - when's the next party please? We'll be there!
Did you enjoy the party? Well leave a comment below, drop in on us on Google+, e-mail foundofconfusion@hotmail.co.uk or buy me a present to say thanks.
As the year begins to wind down to it's conclusion, so many of our Found Of Confusion friends start to turn their attention to the future and map out their assaults on 2012 - or actually just sit in watching X-Factor, writing their list to Santa and arguing over whether Roses or Quality Street are on the menu. Now that's all well and good, but we want new material don't we?.....('Yes we do Andy').....Well thankfully not everyone is holding back, so long live the impulsiveness of youth, you've come through for us threefold!
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Since featuring them in March we - actually just I - have neglected to mention the good men of MOSCOW YOUTH CULT - well that can now change as they are to release a new EP, titled 'Iris', on November the 21st. You can listen to the EP in full over at Soundcloud , with particular highlights being 'Survivasm' and The LA2019 remix of the title trick, the original of which you can listen to below.
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From Moscow to Moss Side* we go, for fresh recordings from one of Septembers featured artists, VIOLET YOUTH. They've placed two new tracks up on Soundcloud during the last fortnight, '20 Minutes Later' and 'Poland'. There's no indication at this point in time as to whether these will be part of an official single release, but, as they're out there for you enjoyment at the moment, I'd suggest you get on it!
* not really, it's Stockport but that doesn't flow as well does it...I could have used Moston but nobody has heard of there!
Last but by absolutely no means least comes DAUGHTER whose 'The Wild Youth EP' is now available for streaming and purchase from her Bandcamp page. I can't speak highly enough of this collection, from start to finish it's immaculately composed and contains four of the most emotionally charged and lyrically interesting tracks you'll have heard all year. Go and buy it as soon as possible, but before you do have a listen to the third track 'Youth', below.
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That's us done and dusted for today but if you want to get in touch please do so - you can e-mail foundofconfusion@hotmail.co.uk, or as you can see by clicking the red G in the box on over on the right hand side, the blog now has a Google+ page! I don't really understand how it works but if I get my head round it you can pop in over there for extra content...or not!
Music lessons at school were great weren't they, a period of sanctuary separating the hour of 'I can't do long division miss' from the sixty minutes of 'Mon crayon est sur la table'. These god sent slots were the opportunity for us giddy kids to grab the first thing that came to hand (iinstruments only thank you!) and plonk, strum, bash, blow and shake until something loosely resembling a tune appeared - accompanied by a huge sense of satisfaction! Strangely, on forming a band, many musicians seem to lose sight of the fun they can have with their craft......that's not always the case though.
To BEATY HEART the studio is a Willy Wonka world of delights, one for which they've won the golden ticket; a place to concoct head spinning hymns that whirl straight out from the sugar rush. The rudiments of their musical recipe are well chosen - a healthy dollop of tribal drums a la Yeasayer, a smattering of Small Black's squiffy sonics and a teaspoon of falsetto and fantasy from Passion Pit - but it's the secret ingredients that really make the dish, tossing the senses through a land of Caribbean Carnivals, South American street parade's and Aboriginal artistry. For 'Cola' and 'SlushPuppy' it's the titles themselves that give the best indication as to what lies in store. The former is effervescent in the purest sense of the word, the impression of bubbles fizzing upwards being captured in the percussive samba beat, which in turn runs into a middle eight, presumably recorded from right inside the can as it's shaken to the point of explosion. The latter is just as depictive, seeming to submerge the listener within the crushed ice, before it all melts away amongst the heat of a jungle paradise. Nor is that the end to the variety; with it's steelpan, calypso chorus, '2 Good' must have been recorded behind the boundary rope at the Queens Park Cricket Oval in Trinidad, and as for 'We're All Friends Here' - well god knows where 'here' actually is but it's a place with plenty of didgeridoo! Imaginative, definitely a little bonkers, and without doubt one of the freshest sounds to appear this year.
Top Tip: A slush makes an ideal ice bath for overworked tooth fairies. Agree? Like the music? Comment below, e-mail foundofconfusion@hotmail.co.uk or pay us a visit on Google+
Forget synchronising their haircuts; drawing straws over whether to have Ribena or Vimto on the rider; or even writing some songs; the most arduous task many young bands will face is settling on a name without two members trading punches or penning a creative differences Post-it. One way to circumnavigate the issue (and avoid the singer turning up at A&E with a pair of drumsticks lodged up his nose) is through a spot of good old fashioned identity theft! That person you all said you admire, why not nab their name, they probably won't miss it - you can ask THE BILINDA BUTCHERS if you don't believe me.
For those too young or absent minded to remember, Miss Butcher was - and in theory still is - a member of seminal shoegaze purveyors My Bloody Valentine, but her name, tired of hanging about waiting to appear in the sleeve notes of another record, has now upped sticks to start an independent life of it's own in sunny San Francisco. There it's been taken under the wing of an enterprising duo who, though obviously fans of Kevin Sheilds maverick troupe, have concocted a 'regret, love, guilt, dreams' EP that has greater parallels with the becalmed consonance of Chapterhouse, along with some more current influences. 'Careless Teens' and 'All My Friends' both share the welcoming demeanor of The Radio Dept., the latters whimsical vocals and glinting synth, dovetailing perfectly with the fulsome, Rickenbacker ring of the guitars, before bowing out to a well deserved round of applause. If that's not quite to your taste then there's an extra string to the EP's bow to be found on 'Sigh' and 'Boyfriend', where it's the organic grooves of Memory Tapes that are emulated confidently. The job of knitting these elements together falls upon 'Tulips', and as it's Hawaiian hula melody gently sways the time away, Bilinda's name can lie back, sip it's coconut, and reflect on the prospect of an exciting life ahead.
Want to butcher my choice of band? or are we all friends on this one? Leave a comment below, e-mail foundofconfusion@hotmail.co.uk or get on a boat, plane or train and pop round to the house for cake and a chat.
