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Kennedy's Top Tune Recommendations

added 09 May 2008 at 15.50

Our very own oracle of musical knowledge, John Kennedy, recommends bands and tracks you should check out here:

X-Posure Top 5 w/c 6th October:

X-Posure Big One: Antony & The Johnsons 'Another World'
Diplo 'Blow Your Head'
Amadou & Mariam 'Sabali'
Screaming Lights 'GMN'
Emmy The Great 'We Almost Had A Baby'

In The City recommendations:

A cursory glance at the ITC band list and I’ve already got a list as long as my arm. Print it out and stick it with some sellotape along your sleeve and it could prove handy. It’s by no means definitive and I’d be here all day if I gave you all the times and venues (you’ve got to do some work too!) but in pretty much alphabetical order you’d be well advised to catch some of the following:
 
Local hero Aidan Smith, Emo-punk Attack! Attack!, Baddies (playing twice!), Brute Chorus, sweet Cashier No 9, Cheeky Cheeky & The Nosebleeds, local electro heroes Daggers, Newcastle visionaries Detroit Social Club, Scots twisty electro postpunkproggers Errors, wonderful Eugene McGuinness, Clint Boon faves Frazer King, the remarkable Gideon Conn (playing three times! so no excuse) – if you haven’t seen him make sure you do, honest, Hatcham Social (stand up drumming, ), much talked about local bluesey hero Jessie Rose Trip, the ace Josh Weller (nice line in tight tight jeans & bow ties), Karoshi Bros (Love The World!), Lesser Panda (who I first heard at ITC a couple of years back), the mighty Micachu, Panama Kings, Pavilion, Polly Scattergood, Pope Joan, welsh wonders Radio Luxembourg, Razmataz Lorry Excitement (named after a car game, Kev is part of that superduper Sunderland scene and was recently to be seen playing in Peter Brewis The Week That Was. RLE though are electro chip dance mayhem), Manc rappers The Real Dolls, Robots In Disguise (should be massive), local heroine Run Toto Run, Rupert & The Robbers, Sara Lowes, Newcastle’s Shin Jin Rui, angular harmonies of SItuationists, punk chaos The Sticks, AWESOME BOLTON ROCK To The Bones, country delight of The Travelling Band, poptastic Tubelord, more local heroes Twisted Wheel, and the brilliant Your Twenties. And how can you not support the legends that are The Durutti Column and Edwyn Collins? Gods, both.

X-Posure Dazed And Confused

Here's what I wrote for Dazed and Confused's October edition:

My favourite album of the last few months has to be Ponytail’s ‘Ice Cream Spiritual’ (We Are Free) and the exciting news is that they’re coming to Europe and the UK THIS MONTH! Make sure you see them. Words can not do justice to the music these boys and girls from Baltimore make. It’s Rock but it’s Jazz, it’s Eastern and Western, African and European. The vocals veer from baby cries to guttural monster yelps, the guitars duel, the drums pound, pummel and pulse. It’s spikey yet entrancing. Obviously you want some pointers so I’ll give some just to keep you happy. Think Deerhoof, Health, The Monks and maybe Blonde Redhead but the best thing to do is to listen to their music. Hearing is believing. The album title is spot on, this is a new sweet holy high.

Hard to follow such hyperbole but Passion Pit are another must listen (www.myspace.com/passionpitjams). They’re from Cambridge, Massachusetts and have their ‘Chunk Of Change’ EP released by Frenchkiss Records out now.

‘Sleepyhead’ is like Yeasayer meet The Avalanches. Edging closer to the dancefloor and back to Britain and a band who will be getting tongues wagging at In The City this year. Kids On Bridges (www.myspace.com/kidsonbridges) are from Liverpool and Manchester and their ‘Y Don’t U’ wraps it’s bitter attitude in a Daft Punk/disco/Phoenix sweetness that could see it breaking through in a big way.

X-Posure 5

Rolo Tomassi ‘Hysterics’ (Hassle)
Various Artists ‘Two Thousand And Ace’ (Brainlove)
Fujiya & Miyagi ‘Lightbulbs’ (Full Time Hobby)
Swound! ‘Hello Future, Our Name Is Swound!’ (Stressed Sumo)
Our Broken Garden ‘When Your Blackening Shows’ (Bella Union)


Here's what I wrote for Dazed and Confused's September edition:

“The superheroes are taking over the park, dodgy sidekicks too. No jokes and no lies”. So say Les Cox (Sportifs) on their brilliant debut release ‘Neverheed’ just out on the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Stop Looking label. It’s a refreshing blast of primitive indie-ism redolent of Blue Orchids, Herman Dune, Smog and The Creepers. Intelligent abstraction married to stripped back guitar, bass, drums and occasional organ. The pastel felt tip and black & white sea swell photo cover compliment the sounds nicely. “Indie bands don’t thrill me, they’re leaving me cold” they sing on “All Pace Less Haste More Waste” but these cocks will definitely give you a buzz.

More cause for excitement arrives with ‘Courtcase 2000’ (akoustikAnarky), the debut album by the extraordinary Cats In Paris. Violin, synths, boy/girl vocal harmonies and drums combine together to create a wonderful smile inducing prog, jazz, pop. They’ve already shared bills with theh likes of Man Man, Chrome Hoof, and Ruby Suns which maybe gives an insight into their anything goes approach, a world away from the accepted musical history of adopted hometown Manchester.

In contrast the perfect pop of Hall & Oates is the touchstone for Brooklyn’s Tigercity. Their self funded mini-album ‘Pretend Not To Love’ is about to be released in Europe through Strange Feeling, the more band oriented offshoot of Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly. Like that label it’s a smooth operator complimenting their deep house releases with a mixture of blue eyed soul and the sheen of Eighties era Cars, Bowie and Prince.

X-Posure 5

The Week That Was ‘The Week That Was’ (Memphis Industries)
Local H ’12 Angry Months’ (Shout Factory)
Vessels ‘White Fields And Open Devices’ (Cuckundoo)
Constantines ‘Kensington Heights’ (Arts & Crafts)
David Holmes ‘The Holy Pictures’ (Mercury)

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