DIY: “As an exercise, a flexing of musical muscles, ‘The Singing Winds pt. 3’
is interesting enough so long as you’re only seeking bops as a bonus.”
TUTV: On his solo work Kele sounds like a Bloc Party Light. His trippy cocktail of ambient, trip-hop and guitar pop is entertaining with several bouncy tracks but misses some peppy punches and stand-out tunes. The three best pieces are the singles (listen/watch below). On the other hand, Kele‘s guitar play is (again) sterling, elaborate, and sparkly and his light-toned vocals are as euphonious as ever.
Singles: Hometown Edge / It Wasn’t Meant To Be / Kintsugi
Pitchfork: “On their fifth album, the White Stripes’ ambitions finally seem to outpace their limited musical vocabulary. Making an almost-entirely clean break with the jet-fueled blues
rock of Elephant and De Stijl, they forsake electric guitar on all but a couple of tracks, working instead with pianos, acoustic guitars, marimbas, and other assorted oddball percussion.”
Album: The Back Room
Their first one. No. 2 in the UK.
No21 in the USA.
Pitchfork: “They imitate bands with dramatic vocalists … but the best moments
on The Back Room aren’t the theatrical ones—it’s when the four of them are playing
and discovering their own chemistry”.
PLAY
. Instagram – All Albums
________________________________________________________________________________________________
AllMusic: “Don’t Believe the Truth the closest Oasis has been to great since the
summer of Britpop, when they were the biggest and best band in the world.”
AllMusic: “The group offers an album that refuses to be pinned down to a single
style. Despite the extended break between albums, dEus picks up right where they
left off with The Ideal Crash.”
The Guardian: “Hard-Fi’s edge over more derivative rivals lies in a formula
that delivers old Specials and Clash reggae vibes with the big-tune ratio of
a boy band.”
NME: ‘Lullabies To Paralyze’ will use its enigmatic mysticism to lull you into
a blissful daze so you don’t at first notice that the riffs have broken your neck.
Better. Than. Sex.”
Album: A Bigger Bang
22nd LP. #2 in the UK,
#3 in the US.
The Guardian: “There is a sense of finality about A Bigger Bang. It may not be quite
the blazing ship to Valhalla they intended, but then nor is it the unmarked grave you
might expect.”
Album: LCD Soundsystem
Debut one. #6 in the US,
#20 in the UK.
AllMusic: “Like just about everybody else these days, Murphy’s more skilled at creating isolated tracks than making full-lengths, even though this particular full-length has few weak spots and unfolds smoothly as you listen to it from beginning to end.”
Bloc Party‘s orchestrator KELE OKEREKE jumps from left
to right, from recording with his band to working on solo
projects.
Last year he released with BC a 4-track EP named The High Life
followed last June by a stand-alone single, called Flirting Again.
Last month he dropped a new funky solo single, titled Hometown Edge and here’s another fresh one. IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE is a bouncy, repetitive electro loop with Kele articulating all over it. Listen below.
Kele: “Once the dust has settled, there might be the intention to be a grown up and achieve closure with the other party. But sometimes, even with the best will in the world, you can’t get past the fact that this person, who you once loved, has hurt you. It’s a song about anger concealed in pleasantries.”
He also confirmed that both songs will be on his new, 7th solo longplayer,
baptized The Singing Winds Pt. 3. It comes out next year, on January 17th.
Daily noise that works faster than a stream of caffeine
28 June 2024
📸 Emily Marcovecchio
British post-punk-pop group BLOC PARTY, led by charismatic frontman Kele Okereke have released 5 LPs in their 25-year career (with some
change of members somewhere in the middle). Actually one less than Okereke‘s 6 solo albums.
Their back as a band now with new single FLIRTING AGAIN.
Okereke: “It’s about being thrust back into the scene and trying to remember
how it all works. It’s about trying to appear desirable, whilst at the same time
hiding the hurt that defines you.
We are all carrying around the various scars that we have accumulated
over the years, the heartbreaks that have come to shape how we give love
and receive love. This song is about picking yourself up and carrying on.”
Last AprilBLOC PARTY came up with a new single namedHigh Life, destined to
fill dance floors with. It was their first new music since last year’s Alpha Games album.
And the juice keeps flowing. Kele and his assistants have another new tune out (no news about an eventual new LP). KEEP IT ROLLING is their first collaborative one as they invited noisy American rocker KennyHoopla for some intense vocals.
Chum are a pretty kooky combo that got my ears trembling with joy with their
grooves-filled debut LP a few weeks ago. Its lead single Beefake Doctrine is a
manic mind-twister with its trancy beats creating a mesmeric and puzzling
razzmatazz you can’t and you won’t run from.
With 1:18 these post-punk-rock misfits dropped a neurotic caterwaul that goes forth and back with burning pzazz. Monomaniacal vocalist Angus Rogers gets worked up to an almost hysterical level and sounds like a tormented and obsessed soul and the band’s horn duo blow their lungs out with nerve-racking urgency. Blimey!
My Illusion is a head-banging and riff-crushing jackhammer that makes
your fists pump in the air, makes your legs shake, and triggers you to check out
your vocal cords’ potential. Ignore your illusions, just get real and get out to party.
For those about to rock Electric Circus salute you.
DTL’s mastermind LL Schultz‘s expresses her frustration and stressful state of mind
caused by those two claustrophobic pandemic years with this high-strung cry out. Its ominous mid-tempo progression, its swelling intensity advancing over an ongoing
hypnotic guitar riff and her sky-scraping send shivers down your spine.
Lockdown threw Schultz to the mat, but it couldn’t
knock her out and she’s back stronger than ever.
London‘s up-and-coming young dogs DEADLETTER rattle on repeat
on this rad ripper spiced with relentless vocality, a sensuous saxophone,
a pumping bass and a sickly sticky chorus. 5-star punk funk.
With Sub these Chicago dudes sound like a cross between legends Gang Of Four and Parquet Courts. It’s a riff motherrocker making your head spin uncontrollably. On top of it comes the singer’s highly tense vocal performance. Don’t miss this holy smoke cracker.
These noisy indies from Bristol, UK Post-punk at its sharp-cutting best. Neurotic guitars and frenetic drums alternated with freaked-out vocals, rhythm changes that drive you nuts, an instrumental Devo-esque intermezzo and a mind-boggling climax. I have nothing whatsoever to complain about.
Who? A socially caring dark disco duo featuring Ony Godfrey and Fauzan Pratama from Indonesia.
Your Death Is My Glory is about political hypocrisy
that suppresses the common people for their own
benefit.
It’s a steamed-up disco corker. A catchy-as-hell boomer that
accelerates your bloodstream. An irresistible tune to jump up
and down to like mad while giving the middle finger to all
power-greedy politicians.
The video is a DIY rapid-eye-movement tour de force.
All Of A Sudden is a B-side that easily could be an A-side. It features on the 12″ of
the previous single No Reason It’s a rotating beats-banger to start and end all
(il)legal raves with. It’ll make your adrenalin production go through the roof.
Lunar Twin‘s new full-length opus Aurora is an ideal
companion to relax with when the twilight sets.
One of the highlights and my favorite track Cars is a trippy dreamwave
with tingling guitars, scintillating synths, and near-whispering voice
combining for a top-notch vibration.
This masked Italian dance act describe themselves as “losers on a planet
where nobody really wins. He who has nothing to lose cannot lose anything.”
They recently released a must-hear 5-track EP with Juicy Lips as one of the 5 highlights.
A capricious crackerjack for nightclubs where misfits, dropouts, eccentrics and other related outsiders have a ball. Wicked music for wicked people by wicked madcaps.
They decided to invite an impressive cast of musical friends to remix songs
from that album. The collection is namedSee Trough You: Rerealized. You
can buy it here. The digital version will be available from June 2.
Andy Bell of legendary shoegaze band Ride operating under the moniker
of GLOK is one of the remixes. He picked the psych-mind-bending piece I’m Hurt and turned it into an ambient techno stunner with Kraut-rock-like
synth rhythms and chainsaw guitar fragments. Score!
Who? A British quartet inspired by a mutual passion for the sights,
sounds and creative experimentation of the mid to late 1960s with
its unique blend of garage rock, psychedelia and acid folk.
A 60s colored psych-pop gem that could be written by Californian legends
The Mamas & Papas. Layered vocals, jangly guitars (playing backward at
one point. Remember The Beatles‘ Tomorrow Never Knows song?), and an
infectious chorus. Play it 81 times.
“A song inspired by my walks to coffee shops, my friends,
the band TOPS, and the scotch I like to drink!”
Easy-going tunes you can hum and whistle like this one are always welcome on my headphones after having too much noizz buzzing in my ears. Scotch is a laid-back, jaunty, and happy-go-lucky melody enriched with sunlit guitar play. Perfect for a walk in the city on a lazy Spring day. Kelly‘s mellow voice sounds like it was meant to sing devil-may-care songs like this one. Canadacana at its strolling best. Bottoms up!
To celebrate the first anniversary of their debut album 10 MinutesGmbtLife decided to cover a Pixies classic.
They picked one of their best-known songs, Monkey Gone To Heaven from 1989. Their take is pretty special and surprising. They decelerated it and added subtle piano play, distorted guitars, and low-pitched vocals.
In order to not miss a beat Turn Up The Volume scans the musical
horizon daily (doing it for years now, actually) to stay in touch with
all new things sonically great and shares the results on a weekly
basis.
Check the 10 new rad tracks
added to this rad 2023 playlist.
Daily noise that works faster and harder than any stimulant
24 April 2023
Last year British post-punk combo BLOC PARTY returned with their
sixth longplayer Alpha Games, their first in six years and voice/face
and guitarist Kele Okereke had his 6th solo LP out 2 years ago.
And the inspiration keeps on coming.
BC dropped a new track, named HIGH LIFE.
A guitar-funky disco ball. Top.
