New Releases - 23 Nov

New Releases - 23 Nov

18 November, 2009
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Groove Armada – I Won't Kneel
Cooking Vinyl 

It's a relief to say the second release from GA's new album rocks, because the first one was toilet. Steering away from the big dancefloor beats they're most famous for, this is a more downtempo, melodic number with a decidedly '80s feel. This is mainly down to the stunning vocals of London-based songstress Saintsaviour who echoes Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush with every breath (don't tell anyone but she also covered Joy Divison, shock horror!)

The boys have done it again, this is fab. 4.5/5
EM  


Personal Space Invaders – Not My Boyfriend
Unsigned
 
I think the best phrase ever written on Spoonfed was Marcus' description of the inexplicably still-employed Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw: "that doe-eyed, slack-jawed Northern goon", he wrote. Superb, Marcus, simply superb.
 
I mention this only because said goon has recently been championing London-based electro three-piece Personal Space Invaders. New single 'Not My Boyfriend' is a catchy slice of dirty, bleepy fun. It's a bit like a Rakes/Ting Tings hybrid, which is actually a jolly good thing in my book. Not that I have a book. Yet... 3.5/5
TJ


La Roux – Quicksand
Great beats, great voice, hooky melodic line – the best bits pilfer Prince's 'When Doves Cry' and Outkast's bassline from 'Hey Ya'. The other thing La Roux's latest sounds a bit like... is her own biggest hit.

No way will this get played over 'In For The Kill' in a party context – it's very similar and less infectiously brilliant. Meanwhile it will get heavy rotation on the radio and outshine all the other shite on there. It's pretty good. 3.5/5
JH


Jamie T – The Man's Machine
Virgin

As ever, Jamie T fills his latest single with obliquely esoteric lyrics, delivered in his trademark Wimbledon patois. From what I can fathom, it's about a man who was a punk but then joined the rat race; or a girl who travelled the world but then got shot; or maybe it's about Mr. Treays having trouble setting his Sky+. 

Either way, the song blusters along enjoyably, complete with catchy singalong chorus, although you won't know what you're singing. 3.5/5
PL


Sketches – Bleed Victoria
Louder Than Bombs  
 
Now there is nothing wrong with being ambitious. But when you try to combine Temper Trap-style minimalistic electro, the emotional indulgence of the Lostprophets, some X Factor warbling and a Hoxton moustache you are bound to be punching a bit above your weight.
 
Yet Sketches don't do an altogether bad job of it. While it's not really my cup of tea, I have been assured by indie kids across the web that these fellas really are something special. 3/5
GM 


David Guetta feat. Estelle – One Love
EMI

The sun is still shining yes, but winter has definitely arrived, and with it a certain exasperation at the Guetta sound that has dominated the summer charts this year.
 
His brand of housepop has been much derided – deservedly. But such tracks do get those hands in the air and re-ignite or kick start any house party/club night/festival.
 
'One Love', however, lacks both the electricity and the vocal punch of his previous efforts. Estelle just seems a bit bored, and so do I after this. 2/5
AW


Nice Nice – One Hit
Warp Records
 
This track might just be the aural equivalent to crystal meth addiction – it did, after all, compel me to scratch open my own skin. My friend, whose band is also part of the newly-trendy Pacific Northwest scene, would probably defend it as displaying a subversive approach, intricate in its disregard for melody, time and structure. But then, his band makes equally insular, barely-listenable conceptual noise.
 
Some stuff just doesn't translate outside of spacey jam sessions in artsy bars full of beard-tugging types. 1.5/5
NH


Two Door Cinema Club – Two Door Cinema Club
Kitsune
 
I don't really get the whole Hot Chip nerdtronica thing. Isn't it music made for and made by people in Rainbow T-Shirts who have Bagpuss posters in their kitchens and consider Transformers: The Movie a celluloid masterpiece?
 
Oh well, on to Two Door Cinema Club. Their name reminds me of Sunset Cinema Club, they sound like the Postal Service meeting The Automatic, and somehow they're releasing this crud on Kitsune. I listened with my fist stuffed in my mouth. 1.5/5
DH


Lulu and the Lampshades – Feet to the Sky
Voga Parochia

Remember Colin Hunt from The Fast Show? The office joker with the ginger afro who constantly promoted himself as 'mad'? Well, in Colin's younger, possibly slightly indier days, he would have definitely been a fan of Lulu and the Lampshades.
 
If their name isn't ker-azy enough for you, then this track certainly is. Think the theme from Camberwick Green, covered by self-consciously zany (or quirky/wacky/kooky... yawn) scenesters. It makes Kate Nash seem musical, which is at once an achievement and a crime. 1/5
MF

Thank heavens to Betsy, some decent music this week! And some real tripe for Marcus and Dom to get their teeth into. Mmm tripe.

Are you also getting old and starting to like pop music? Or perhaps you disagree with curmudgeonly Marcus and thnk Lulu and the Lampshades are good? That's what the comments section below is for. Meanwhile the Facebook Group ensures you stay up to date and down with the kids.

Music Team