So long, farewell

The time has come to say goodbye. After nearly year in the world of new music blogging the final curtain is falling on this blog. It’s been a fun experience, but alas I no longer have time to maintain it.

But if nothing else I have a great record (excuse the pun) of a year in music. Starting off with the amazing performances at last year’s Bestival, including by Seasick Steve. And then there was the rather disappointing Kraftwerk, but let’s move swiftly on from that one…

The release of Sign No More by Mumford & Sons was greeted with a mixed reception by the media, but it didn’t stop their tunes exploding across the airwaves. Over the past year it’s featured on everything from the World Cup to BBC1’s Secret Britain (three times no less!).

In January the sound of 2010 was greeted by scepticism by some, including myself. The one shining light in the line-up for me was Delphic. However the best news about that list of predictions has been that Daisy Dares hasn’t taken off as much as anticipated.

Spring brought highlights in the form of amazing gigs from Grizzly Bear and Beach House. But our smiles were then crushed with the awful news that BBC 6 Music faced closure (now saved – hooray!). Meanwhile a very wet Camden Crawl brought a small ray of sunshine in the form of Gaggle.

And then I went and wrote a review of Lady Gaga - not something I ever imagined I’d do on this blog!

So that’s it for now but fear not, I will still be very much alive on the blogosphere. If ethical fashion is your thing, then come and visit me on my new blog. I’ll be waxing lyrical there about all things environmental in the world of textiles. And I promise not to bang on about Lilly Allen’s panties any more!

Ta-ra!

Shuffle Sunday - remixes special

A day later than advertised due to Blogger outage last night, here is the lastest Sunday Suffle, which is a remix special (although I think technically some of them really are covers rather than remixes). The inspiration for this came from Sterogum, who posted an amazing version of Hot Chip's Boy from School by Grizzly Bear. You can hear that here.

Other remixes come to your from Spotify: Shuffle Sunday - 31/01/09

Tracking Listings
1. Passion Pitt - Kingdom Come (Artwork remix)
2. The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (Caged Baby remix)
3. Florence and the Machine - Raise it Up (Jamie T remix)
4. White Lies - Death (Chase & Status remix)
5. Florence and the Machine - You've Got the Love (Jamie XX re-working)

Messing with classic tracks is always dangerous business. Some may think that about some of these (especially Sweet Disposition, but stay with it as it gets better towards the middle of the track). But I reckon sometimes there's more than one way to skin a cat. I quite like hearing the influence of another artist on a track just to see how else it can be done.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

Shuffle Sunday - 17/01/10

A New Year and some new(ish) tunes. I present to you, Frightened Rabbit, Swim Until You Can't See Land; Grizzly Bear, Southern Point; Marina and the Diamonds, Mowgli's Road (Gaggle cover); Gold Panda, Back Home; and finally Delphic, Clarion Call.

Shuffle Sunday - 17/01/10

Happy birthday Warp!

I've just been enjoying the Warp podcast from the nice people at Guardian Music Weekly, and it's brought back many fond memories.

My first introduction to Warp was through Andrew Weathrall and The Sabres of Paradise. I think specifically it was Smokebelch (1993), which to this day remains one of my all time favourite tunes. From there I went on to Aphew Twin, Black Dog and Autechre (which I have literally just found out I've been mispronouncing all these years...or maybe they've been mispelling?!!). Through a friend I was introduced to some of the earlier stuff (LFO, Nightmares of Wax) and then of course came Boards of Canada and the spastic drill and bass master, Squarepusher.

It doesn't stop there: Warp's ties with the award winning Chris Cunningham, have produced videos that have shocked, amused and made me cry. If you haven't seen his video for Bjork's All Is Full of Love then I urge you to do so. I know it's not a warp track but the vidoe is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.



Now Warp is 20 we see them moving in a different direction. The Guardian blog comment's page is full of people complaining they have sold out. But have they really? I think for some people anyone will a successful company is a sell-out (poverty is chic don't you know!). Others seem to think they have sold out because they aren't dedicating themselves 100% to electronic music any more. These people forget that the founder's of Warp had origins in rock/indie bands. And anyway, for music to stay new and inventive all things must move on.

I have to admit I haven't followed Warp in years, but their birthday celebrations have give rise to a new enthusiasm in me. Today I set off in search of the latest big thing in the Warp stable and while I can't say it knocked me off my seat, I could still hear in Grizzly Bear the inventive Warp spirit, and although I don't think I could sit down and listen to Hudson Mohawke, I think it's one of the best album covers I've seen in a long time!

So I say thank you Warp for all the wonderulf music you have brought us. Here's to another 20 years!