Inside Nokia Music

Check this mad video from Netherlands Dance producers Nobody Beats The Drum – made from a few wooden blocks and just a few more photos:

Nobody Beats The Drum – Grindin’

You can see the making of it here.

Found on this blog

You can download Nobody Beats This Drum’s album ‘Beats Work’  from the Nokia Music Store - if you’ve got ‘Comes With Music’, it’s completely free!

If the second album is generally acknowledged to be a band’s tricky proving-point, then what of the third? If you’re lucky then like the third act of a play it would move towards resolving much of the heartache and trauma expressed in the second, reviewing lessons learned and hoping for better in the future.

The Winter of Mixed Drinks

The Winter of Mixed Drinks from Scottish indie folk Frightened Rabbit manages to portray this excellently. Whilst its critically acclaimed predecessor, The Midnight Organ Fight (well there’ve certainly been worse euphemisms for sex) wallowed, even reveled in the still-raw emotion of a recent breakup and its subsequent flailing rebounds (“You twist and whisper the wrong name, I don’t care nor do my ears” – The Twist) their third release gains some ground in moving on from the experience.

Luckily the album feels no less personal and sincere than Organ Fight despite Hutchinson (Scott; writer, lead vocals + rhythm guitar) describing it as this time, semi-fictional. The brutally frank lyrics and all too-familiar emotions however are far from fictitious.

The going is sometimes rough, images of death and lonely desperation rear their heads throughout the album; but this time the voice is more wry, on the outside looking in at the feelings (“When all you need’s a coffin and your Sunday best, to smarten up the end” – Things).

Leading single Swim Until You Can’t See Land rolls and tinkles like the lyrical waves and shoreline that describe someone (let’s be honest, probably Hutchinson) distancing himself from a heartbreak and its deliverer.  (“Let’s call me a Baptist, call this the drowning of the past. She’s there on the shoreline throwing stones at my back.” – Swim Until You Can’t See Land)

The progression of the album is faltering, it loops and returns to an earlier refrain (Man/Bag of Sand) and time is given to instrumental meandering. As it approaches the midpoint it sees our narrator wishing to shortcut this difficult rite of passage (“If this is the prime of life, I wish I could skip the blasted youth, skip the youth it’s aging me too much” – Skip The Youth). But slowly, despite the set-backs and self-doubt some acceptance is gained. The momentum is helped by Hutchinson (Grant; drummer, brother to Scott) using his drumming to drive on the songs when guitars and vocals drift and fade with almost militaristic beats.

This third record also sees the addition of a fifth band member, Gordon Skeene on keyboard.  Whilst it enriches the sound adding a choral, airy sound (see: Foot Shooter; the track most likely to be referred to as ‘epic’ and ‘the one that gets them noticed’) die hard Rabbit fans won’t be complaining of the band over-complicating things. No lilies being gilded here; they won’t be going all Snow Patrol any time soon.

Things turn around though somewhere after the current single, Nothing Like You’s almost gloating accomplishment of having finally pulled someone that although not particularly special has the vital quality of being nothing like the person who so badly wounded him. In the last couple of tracks our protagonist’s outlook brightens as the tunes become more affirmative (“Though the corners are lit the dark can return with the flick of a switch. It hasn’t turned on me yet, yet” – Not Miserable).

Deluxe edition bonus tracks Fun Stuff and Learned Your Name provide a great little epilogue to the main album that may leave you questioning whether all is so neatly finished and resolved…(“And I’m quite all right, I get by just fine; I’m not depressed, not most of the time. It’s just the fun stuff is much less fun without you.” – Fun Stuff)

Frightened Rabbit – Nothing Like You (Alternate Video) – Fatcat Records

More Frightened Rabbit videos on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/frabbitTV

Frightened Rabbit are currently touring, more information can be found at: http://www.myspace.com/frightenedrabbit

Download Frightened Rabbit on the Nokia Music Store. If you have a ‘Comes With Music’ Subscription you can download as much as you want for free!

Anyone remember this sick short from Director Chris Cairns, Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs and a bevy of big name Turntablists, MC’s and a Beatboxer (credits)? Well, now the concept’s been brought into the realm of the live performance with some truly mind-blowing results… enjoy!

Ah ha! A fourth video has just been released! This one is 1min and 3 seconds long and features even more close ups of the mystery mud caked blonde. Big eyes, bigger falsies (lashes, boys, lashes) crooked teeth, and a wavy voluminous barnet. Then at the end we have a big picture of a BEE. What could this all mean? Well I’m fluffed if I know, but so many people are speculating now the guesses are just endless. A little look through the comments on the video and the latest list looks like this: Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Trent Reznor, Fennesz, MGMT, Goldfrapp, Fever Ray, Britney Spears etcetera, etcetera…

Personally this has completely thrown me from thinking it’s Christina, although I am still living in hope that it is. To me it kinda looks a lot more like Lady G (sob) but I still don’t see why she would bother with such a campaign. Surely her fans wouldn’t really care for this type of promo?

Well, enough conjecture from me, I could go on and on about this all day. I’m just glad the video has something extra that all other videos in the history of video making lack regardless of what they are actually about. DOGS. Chuck a dog in and I’m happy. Cheers then!

Oh yeah, If you have no idea what I’m going on about have a look at my previous post about this which will give you all the background info.

The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s are back today with Skeletons, the third single from one of 2009’s most blogged about albums, It’s Blitz!

Taking a different direction from the dance heavy feel of the first 2 singles, Skeletons is a return to their sweeter, softer sound. The singles b-side is the acoustic version of the song that featured on the Deluxe Edition of It’s Blitz!

Here’s the official music video, and if you haven’t seen the promotional shorts for the release of It’s Blitz!, they’re linked at the end as related videos and are worth a watch.

Skeletons as well as It’s Blitz! Deluxe Edition which features both tracks is available to download from the Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Shortly after posting about Polysics in my most anticipated albums of 2009, the band put out a newsletter stating that Keyboard player Kayo would be leaving to “experience life outside the band”. The decision was apparently made a long time ago as it was stated in the newsletter that “Kayo made it a basic policy to not leave the band haphazardly. Even after the decision to graduate was made, she still participated in the recording of two albums as well as many live performances, some which took place abroad”.

Kayo, in my opinion, and that of several other fans I’m sure, is an integral dynamic of the band’s live performances. Standing still for most of the performance, she get’s the biggest response from the audience as the kooky one responsible for all the robotic vocoder gibberish and the sporadic pom-pom shaking outbursts.

Kayo “graduates” from Polysics following the show at the Budokan to take place on March 14, 2010, If you have a chance to catch them before this tragic and emotional day, do not hesitate as the band are understandably going on hiatus and I fear will never be the same again.

I Couldn’t find any crazy pom-pom footage, but here’s a Polysics performance that will give you glimpse into what we’re about to lose.

You’ll be sorely missed, Kayo Polysics.

Polysics are available to download from the Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Muse fans at Big Day Out 2010 in Sydney and Melbourne we’re treated to a cover of AC/DC’s Back In Black with and incredible Brian Johnson impersonation by Jet’s Nick Cester. According to Muse drummer Dom Howard in this video, AC/DC have never even played the Big Day Out, which in my opinion is a sad state of affairs for Australia’s greatest ever Rock band.

Muse and Jet are available to download from the Nokia Music Store and are completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Having skipped a beat with my finger off the pulse (a rather poor reference to the single The Beat That My Heart Skipped), I missed the opportunity to blog about this when it was still news… and then just sorta left it for fear of being last to the post, but the tune’s been invading my every waking moment, quite literally! For about a week so far without fail I’ve been singing/speaking the chorus before I can even focus my eyes beyond the foot of the bed, and the experience has been rather uplifting and motivational.

So here it is, Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip’s first single Get Better from their forthcoming second album The Logic Of Chance, officially the first release of 2010 that I’m truly excited about.

Here’s a soundcloud with a few remixes compliments of the boys from their blog

… and since I’m on the subject, and at the slightest chance that someone reading this may never have seen it, here’s the brilliantly amusing fake X Factor audition they did… totally worth the endless hours of queuing the must have endured to pull this off, probably what helped them keep a straight face during the audition… Love Dan’s puppy-dog eye’s @1:18

Get Better is released 1st March 2010 followed by the album The Logic Of Chance on 14th March 2010. The debut album Angles (Not Angels) is available to download from The Nokia Music Store and is completely free to ‘Comes With Music’ subscribers.

Get better, get better get better get better…

Catching my attention this week has been one of those annoyingly clever viral campaigns. Three videos posted on YouTube over the last month, by a curious creature going by the name of ‘Iamamiwhoami’ have had a staggering 366, 797 views, so at least  I’m not the only one who has noticed.

For me, not normally one to be intrigued by stuff like this, there are a few reasons why this has caught my eye. First up, I genuinely do like what’s going on in these clips – the images: a mud caked skinny blonde licking trees, a haunting singing whale mouth, sexual sap, and a live birth; the sounds: minimalistic electronic bleeps, dirty bass lines, and futuristic obscured vocals; and the production:  professional, slick and  captivating. Secondly, the guessing game as to which artist it is has seemingly sparked global interest and lively debate.

There’s also a sneaky combination of coded titles (which are sending people into a decoding frenzy) and the strategic, staggered posting of the clips.  Very clever Mr Marketing Man, bravo!

The most guessed artist is Christina Aguilera, and I hope to God that this is correct. I really want Christina, the little pop princess of yesteryear to return with her new album and become a bona fide ‘credible’ artist. These clips seem to ooze style, substance and a darker, more mature sound than I ever would’ve thought Christina was capable of. It’s like when you see a monkey smoking a cigarette, it just shouldn’t happen and so when it does, you are then utterly compelled to watch. Aguilera simply shouldn’t be doing this. But there are many hints out there to suggest she is. She’s collaborated with Sia, Le Tigre, Goldfrapp and Ladytron for her new album and has said in a recent interview “My new [album] is just about the future – my son in my life, motivating me to want to play and have fun …Things that maybe I’ve been afraid to do in the past, to allow myself to go to a place of ‘less singing’. I’m more vulnerable and stronger at the same time.”

Other ‘could it be’ artists doing the rounds include Nine Inch Nails, also planning a 2010 new release, Lady Gaga ‘cos she’s just like weird and that ( ditto The Knife and Bjork), Goldfrapp due to all the owl imagery and the fact Alison Goldfrapp’s album is also due for release soon. Even those pesky little hippy dudes MGMT have been included in the guessing game.

You know what though, this could turn out to be one of the best ever ad campaigns for say, a treatment for fungal infections of the feet, or a weekend away at Centre Parcs, and if it does, then wont the whole of the blogosphere feel rather silly indeed?! Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment (I can’t wait!) and in the meantime, here they are in all their gooey glory:

Who do you think it is? Answers on a postcard please.

Two moments, two eras, give me the same buzz

Elvis – Just can’t help believin’

I just can’t help admitting that I’m always drawn to the Elvis ‘fat in Vegas’ era. There was a grandness about it, an honesty in its dishonesty. The two moments in this song are at 22secs when for some reason the crowd cheers and applauds in recognition. Hackneyed now, honest and responsive back then, the drama, the energy. The other moment is 3.07, when he tells the backing singers to ’sing the song baby’, then 4.31 ‘take it’. I just love it, one of the lines that sprouted a thousand impersonators.

Radiohead – Lucky

One of the most finely crafted pieces of music you’ll ever hear. The pay-off moment is two thirds of the way through (3.30) as the guitar screams in your earphones like an angry cat in a dark forest lit up by a strong torch, moments after killing a robin red breast.