30 December 2014

Everyone else is doing end-of-year lists and it'd be appropriate to do a best of 2014 thing this week. But I did that already and in the last two weeks since a normal show, there's been loads of good stuff put out, so normal service it is.

The Skints - The Cost Of Living Is Killing Me
From last March and from London, off an EP called Short Change. Pretty much the battleground for the general election.

Ex Hex - Don't Wanna Lose
Rips was their debut LP which came out in October. They're an all-girl three-piece from Washington DC.

Blossoms - Blow
New stuff out of Manchester. This is their debut single which you can get from iTunes.

Cover Version Corner
Ride/The Divine Comedy - Vapour Trail
Not hugely different versions, though it's a different sound for Neil Hannon than normal. his version pops up on the B-side of the 1999 single The Pop Star's Fear Of The Pollen Count. Before that, a shoegaze classic from the 1991 album Nowhere and excitement as to them reforming.

The Daintees - October Song
New stuff from Newcastle where Martin George Stephenson is back with his badn The Daintees. Haunted Highways is the new album and it came out on the 21st.

Emmy The Great - Swimming Pool
Ooh, that voice. Emma Lee Moss is Emmy The Great and her new EP is S.

Milo's Planes - Lost Talent
Bristol now, and a taster for a forthcoming album. I got nothing apart from that.

The Lucid Dream - Unchained
From Carlisle, this is the second single from their forthcoming second album.

Pemuda Setampat - Sebuah Pemuda
All I know about this is that it's Indonesian dub. And you know that can't be bad.

Sleater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends
Their first album in 10 years comes out next month. No Cities To Love is the title. Splendid stuff and welcome back.

One Degree of Separation
Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach
Anguish Sandwich - Guangzhou Romance Musical Instruments Co
That was Martha and The Muffins' only UK top 40 single, reaching number 10 in 1980. After that, 46 was as high as they got. After that, a track from the album An Actual Thing which came out in November and is available on bandcamp. They're from Northampton. And I won't insult you by pointing out the link.

Aidan Moffatt - The World Around Us
Ex of Arab Strap and with a collection of previously unreleased material to share. Called Vagrants_09_14 - Vagrants given these tracks were previously homeless and the rest to do with it's release - it's bloody good.

Muslimgauze - 100 Great Turks
Bryn Jones was Muslimgauze. At the time of his death in 1999, he'd released over 60 albums and since then, that number is well on the way to having doubled as he left behind vast volumes of work which is now curated by his nephew. This is off a new EP called Deceiver vol 3 & 4. The original Deceiver came out in 1996, but it's still so fresh. This is just a fantastic track.

Lone - Life Time Loop
Nottingham's Matt Cutler is Lone and this very Boards Of Canada track is a follow-up to the 2014 album Reality Testing. Lovely.

Here's that on YouTube:



and Soundcloud:



Back next week.