New Releases - 9 Nov

New Releases - 9 Nov

04 November, 2009
by: Music Team

*Single of the Week*
Animal Collective – Brother Sport
Domino Records

I always seem to end up playing Devil's advocate when it comes to Animal Collective. Usually I'm talking to some idiot at a house party about how 'this is the most important band since Television', and I find myself disagreeing with them just because they're an idiot.
 
That isn't me. I really like Animal Collective, and I really like Brother Sport. It's got the Soweto rhythms of a Paul Simon song filtered through an acid trip. You should never judge a band by their fans. 4.5/5
DH


Plasticines – Barcelona
Nylon Records
 
'Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,/ But to be young was very heaven!' So said Wordsworth on the occasion of the French Revolution, and while it would be churlish to compare a mere single to such a seismic political event, the unmediated joy these Parisian bébés rockers condense into this 3 minute disco-pop ditty is utterly infectious.

It helps that they are unfeasibly gorgeous too. Encore une fois, s'il vous plait! 4/5
PL


Spacemen 3 – Big City
Great Pop Supplement

For those unfamiliar with psychedelic British rockers Spacemen 3 (active 1982 – 1991), consider the fact that they once released a collection of demos titled 'Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To'. Hmm.

This new release is a previously-unheard demo of a 1990 single which demonstrates their signature 'shoegaze' sound: droning guitars, sparse drums, lo-fi bass and barely-audible vocals. Lacking a discernible chorus, bridge or final build-up, it's essentially a journey into nothingness – which I think is the point. 3.5/5
NH


Brakes – Why Tell The Truth (When It's Easier To Lie)
Rough Trade

OK, but not nearly as good as most of their stuff, this track will ironically be most people's introduction to Brakes thanks to an MTV2-friendly American video and Kooks-esque mildly satirical lyrical content. It will get heavy rotation and it's not bad... just a bit bland. Check out some of their other stuff via myspace.

They can rock harder and go a lot weirder but this is in-between landfill whimsy. 3/5
JH


Leona Lewis – Happy
Sony Music

Thankfully undamaged from her rather bizarre encounter with a fan/Prescott impersonator at a book signing last month Leona Lewis – one of the better exports churned out by today's popster factories – has released a new single 'Happy'.
 
It's pretty standard stuff and no 'Bleeding Love' of course, but Lewis' voice is undeniably impressive and is given full reign to soar here. If – unlike me – you love your emotionally charged (just escaping 'shouty') piano ballads you'll lap this up. 3/5
AW


James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players – Mary Connaught and James O'Donnell
Domino Records

Celtic folk essentially has two modes; the booze-soaked revelry brought to the mainstream by The Pogues and The Dubliners, or the plaintive storytelling of Christie Moore and David McWilliams. Alas, Yorkston and co lean more to the latter with this offering.

That's not to say it's a bad tune – I can think of few more exciting re-worked Ulster folk tunes about wrecked ships being salvaged to build a church – I'd just like to hear Yorkston emerge from his comfort zone. 2.5/5
MF


Weezer – If You're Wondering If I Want You To
Geffen Records

I haven't listened to these guys since my teens, playing  'Say it Ain't So' on the old Boogie Box. So I'm interested to see what their new song's about - marriage, kids, hip replacements? Nope.
 
Try BB guns, watching Titanic and trying to impress school crushes. It's a trip down memory lane basically and one I'm actually eligible for. I've only just turned 27 but these guys are in their 40's and reminiscing about my teenage years. I must be older than I thought. 2/5
EM


N Dubz – I Need You  
All Around The World Records

This song is hilarious. The N Dubz crew singing earnestly about lost loves – all of whom they met in bars then got ditched while they were in the crapper.
 
The poor little frontman – who looks about 14 – meets a girl, wants a piece of her, but gets left 'standing like a statue'. What a bitch. He 'searches all over facebook' but to no avail. It seems she doesn't want to be found. His heart is broken. He NEEDS her. Don't you get it? Shucks. 1/5
LC


The Cheek – Hung Up
A&M

This song is about as interesting as a Peaches Geldof interview. Sure it'll get a lot of hype and be oh so right now but when it comes to down to it, the words are as carefully crafted as those in a Katie Price novel. It was an actual conscious effort to make it through this repetitive three minute drawl by the latest indie sell-outs.
 
Maybe if your voice is monotone and your vocabulary consists only of monosyllabic words the music industry isn't the business for you. 1/5
GM


Sugababes – About a Girl
Island Records
 
It's true, yes. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Sugababes – with tracks like 'Round, Round', 'Hole in the Head', 'In the Middle', 'Push the Button' and... oh ok that's probably it, but they were really good back in 2003. 
 
Well this new track is appalling. Oddly it sounds like the Vengaboys, but with even more baffling lyrics: 'Girls bring the fun of life, sugar like apple pie, take a trip to paradise, let's have a party-oh!' Oh. Dear. 1/5
TJ

Oh very dear indeed. Things have come to a pretty pass when Tom doesn't like a Sugababes song. It was an almost irredemably crap week, although Animal Collective and Plasticines are both great bands to celebrate. And the Brakes kinda.

Anyway whatever, if you want to defend N Dubz and maybe start a war with us, we're well up for it and we'll bury you! But only if you comment below and join the Facebook Group. Drapesssssssss

Music Team