Hello, and welcome to the second installment of Wine of the Week, the Spoonfed feature that pits the cream of contemporary music against the charms of a bottle of wine. I'm Tom Jeffreys and with me this evening are Theatre Editor Joe Harrod, and Dominic Haley, one of Spoonfed's Live Music Editors.
We're going to be sampling 'Chileno' Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Chile £4.99 Co-op alongside the new Ladytron album, Velocifero, new singles from These New Puritans and Madonna, and the new EP from Shitty Limits.
Dom: Ok, glasses are poured. We're ready to go.
Ladytron - Velocifero
Nettwerk
Joe: This wine tastes like shit.
Dom: It kind of tastes like when you drink orange juice after cleaning your teeth.
Joe: It's definitely not one of Chile's finest wines.
Tom: Despite the label's rather bold claims to the contrary.
Dom: This is a bit jazzy. Ladytron have gone a bit lounge-jazz. Maybe that's because it was recorded in Paris – it's got a bit of Parisian smoothness. Kind of like Nouvelle Vague crossed with Chicks on Speed
Joe: It's a little bit like Garbage's poppier stuff, I think.
Tom: Except a lot less miserably Scottish. It's almost like a darker heavier Saint Etienne.
Joe: In general they've gone a bit more accessible with a bassline you can pick out more easily. But it's still well worth a listen.
Verdict:
Tom: It goes pretty well with the wine. I can imagine a pint of this crap down the front. Be alright.
Dom: White wine is definitely Ladytron music.
Joe: And probably cheap shit white wine at that.
These New Puritans – Swords of Truth
Domino Records
Tom: The only thing I know about These New Puritans is that Hedi Slimane is obsessed with them.
Dom: Apparently they're obsessed with Wu Tang Clan.
Joe: Well if you're going to be obsessed with a hip-hop act, then I reckon Wu-Tang is the one.
Tom: I am a bit sick of this kind of Gang of Four talky vocal thing that they're doing. It's just a bit boring now.
Dom: Even when Gang of Four did it, it was only on the weaker tracks.
Tom: This actually sounds a tiny bit like a Britney album track, like that one with the Yin-Yang Twins.
Dom: That's what happens when you mix indie kids with Wu-Tang. Britney is what comes out. It's meant to be dubstep but it's just not bassy enough.
Joe: If I heard this in a club I'd probably pogo around, but live it'd weird me out.
The Verdict
Joe: The best thing about These New Puritans is their name. And the best thing about this track is its name.
Dom: It just sounds like indie kids doing 50 Cent. These New Puritans are a good band, but not as good as Friendly Fires and their new track is awesome.
Tom: So why aren't we listening to that?
Madonna & Justin Timberlake – 4 minutes
Warner Bros
Dom: This sounds a bit like the These New Puritans track. I think Crunk has a lot to answer for. It's ruined pop music.
Joe: It's got the production values of Michael Jackson. Maybe Timbaland is going that way – epic adventure pop.
Dom: Ladies and gentlemen, you've just heard the birth of a new genre of music: 'adventure pop'. That's how it happens.
Tom: This is really terrible. It sounds like somebody had come up with a big high-concept action film and asked Madonna to do the theme tune for it. Then, when the film fell through, they just thought, fuck it, we'll put it on the album anyway.
Joe: She's always worked with good producers and now she's just picked the most obvious producers and they don't know what to do with her. They probably spent most of their time making sure she didn’t strip off into her leotard. Timbaland was probably like, 'Ok I’ll do the album but we've got to make sure she doesn't just disgust everybody'.
The Verdict
Dom: I think it went well with the wine. Because they're both shit and cheap.
Tom: I just never want to listen to that song again. If the wine was £3 I'd buy it again, but I never want to hear that again.
Shitty Limits – Espionage EP
Dire Records
Joe: Let the record show that everybody is nodding their heads. Apart from Tom. Who's motionless.
Dom: This really reminds me of Black Lips or early Minor Threat, that first EP. The sound though, not the songs. Garage should sound like it's recorded in a bin.
Joe: This is very good: it's varied, it's got breaks, and the drumming's berserk. If they were playing in a pub, you'd come in with your pint trying to act cool, then you'd start nodding, then splashing beer all over yourself.
Tom: I think I'd finish my pint first.
The Verdict
Dom: I really enjoyed it. It kind of reminds me of Restless Youth who split up recently. So carry on the good work, Shitty Limits.
Joe: I wouldn't care what I'm drinking when I'm listening to music that good. You could drink a warm festival crap and it'd still be good.
Tom: Ok then, that's it from us. My thanks to Joe Harrod and Dominic Haley. Please do join us next week for another installment of Wine of the Week.
'Chileno' Sauvignon Blanc 2007 Chile
£4.99 Co-op
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