Everything Everything - Distant Past
I still don't know about these. The singles off the last album were good, but the rest of it, not so much. But this I kind of like despite myself. The new LP is Get To Heaven, out in June.
The Raveonettes - Kill!
To Denmark and last summer's album Pe'ahi from which singles are still coming from. Good stuff, that.
Therapy? - Still Hurts
A new album, their fourteenth studio LP, from these and it's back to basics. Having gone a bit conceptual in the interim, it's back to what made them great. Their best since Troublegum? Possibly. Disquiet came out last week.
Cover Version Corner
Depeche Mode/Johnny Marr - I Feel You
Johnny Marr rocked Holmfirth last Thursday and this is his new single which he played there. Before that, can it really be 22 years since Songs Of Faith And Devotion? Apparently so.
Drakkar Band - Bang Chhub Thveu Khos Hoeuy
No I won't try pronouncing the track title. And Google's Khmer to English translator isn't giving me anything. Anyway... The Drakkar Band were quite the thing in the early 1970s, fusing Western influences with the best of Khmer music to create something pretty special. Drakkar 74 was launched as a run of 20,000 cassettes which went quickly, prompting two further runs of 20,000 more. 1975 turned Cambodia upside down and part of the Khmer Rouge's cultural vandalism - though perhaps not their worst crime - accounted for most of those. Some remained, however, and a four-year project by Metal Postcards records saw it remastered from whatever they could find. It is an absolute wonder. The 12" was a run of 500 only, but you can get it as a digital release. I recommend that you do.
Crybabycry - Spin City
Bringing it back local now, the title track from the new EP of one of our favourites from round here.
East India Youth - Turn Away
William Doyle from Bournemouth is East India Youth and this is just lovely in so many respects. Culture Of Volume is out next week.
Lux Lisbon - Keep Me Wild
This four-piece met at Nottingham Uni and are now based out of that London. They sound a bit like the Killers, but if the Killers had ever followed an idea through to completion. There's some intelligent writing, musically and lyrically on the EP Get Some Scars which you can get as a free download now.
Kassassin Street - To Be Young
I don't know a lot about these other than they're from Portsmouth and named for a Portsmouth street. Oh, and that I like this a lot.
Du Dauphine - Thieves
Another track from the local five-piece's self-titled EP which is out now. Probably my favourite from it.
One Degree of Separation
Komputer - Valentina
Public Service Broadcasting - Valentina
Two different tellings of the tale of Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. A bit more literal from Komputer, off their 1997 album The World Of Tomorrow, and certainly more obviously Kraftwerk-influenced. PSB's new album is The Race For Space and it's a wonder. Fascinating period of modern history.
Bona Dish - Challenge
Maybe I should start a lost 45 section. This dates from the early '80s and can be found on a compilation called the Zaragoza Tapes: 1981-1982. They were from Hertfordshire and this track is probably still relevant now.
Motorama - Dispersed Energy
This could be Joy Division if you close your eyes tightly enough. But it's not post-industrial Manchester, it's modern-day Rostov-on-Don. Poverty is the new album which came out in January.
Leftfield - Universal Everything
New! And fantastic! Leftfield is a solo project these days, Neil Barnes going it alone without Paul Daley. A new album, Alternative Light Source, is due for release in June.
Here's all that on YouTube:
And Soundcloud:
See you next week.
