weekly videos

And we have the new video from Foals, Mathletics, 7' out this week



And finally, a Gossip 7' that is not a re-issue of one of last year's singles, the Shangrilas-meet-siouxsie Jealous Girls.


And Siouxsie goes... I don't know, probably Siouxsie 2007 in what is going to be her first solo single ever, and also first realise in years with Into a swan


New Jens Lekman single, Friday night at the drive in bingo, has no video but I've found a piece of a live version of the song.


And the new Trans Am video, Tesco vs Sainsburys. Checking the video maybe now I finally understand what new rave means

album of the week: M.I.A.- KALA

And finally, after many months waiting for the album, Kala is here. One year of anticipations, we've already listened to XR2 in 2006 and to Bird Flu and Boyz in 2007, and we also could have listened to the bonus track, the one featuring Timbaland, in his record out some months ago. So when you listen to Kala from head to toe it sounds already familiar, like if it was a kind of compilation with bonus tracks. But this doesn't have to be a bad thing. The tracks that are completely new for our ears are not album stuffing. I suppose you already know the album's been made around the world (mainly around Asia and Africa) with musicians and mcs from the places she was travelling through. And you can feel it in every little sound of the record.
The first four tracks of the record are amazing. In Bamboo Banger she even sometimes sings like John Lydon out of P.I.L.; in Bird Flu she tribalised the arrangements like Sepultura did before in all the Roots period but softening it with cheerleader-like child choruses. Boyz is maybe the less surprising song as it seems out of Arular but is a hit from the beginning. And Jimmy, the new single, is a Bollywood goes Boney M anthem that is born to be a massive hit worldwide.
The next two tracks, Hussel and Mango Pickle Down River are the ones with more protagonism of the collaborations and also the dance oriented. 20$ is another crazydance tribal song and The Turn is a weird sung ballad that quiets the tempo before XR2, a kind of neu-rave goes ethnic anthem that has different and better arrangements than the version we heard last year. And we are already at the end of the record with Paper Planes, another highlight of the record, where she sings as she's never done before and we can dance to gunshots followed by cash till ringings.
The bonus track, the awaited collaboration with Timbaland, is also the less interesting. Maybe last year was timbaland's year but 2007 will probably be his fall.
So this is one of the records everybody will talk about this year and will finish in the top of most of End of the year lists.
You just have to have a look at Jimmy's video.

More videos

The new video from Devendra Banhart's new album, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is actually a video for two different songs, Long Old Bean / Seahorse. As we can hear, the next record to be out in September is sadly Cripple Crow like, forgetting the solo attempts he made before.


The new Mum video They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded, advancing a new record, with new members (none of the twins are here anymore), is more organic than what they've done before incorporating male voices and acoustic instruments but trying to keep the fragility that made them famous.


New Pelle Carlberg single I love you imbecile is another Swedish style pop anthem.


Everyday I understand less and less to Will "Bonnie" Oldham. What the hell is he doing in this comic version of Kanye West video for Can't tell me?


Once member of Test Icicles, his new solo project Lightspeed Champion has nothing to do with his heavy days. Galaxy of the lost is his first single.

FIELD DAY REVIEW

Last Saturday was what it was supposed to be one of the most important events of the London summer. After assisting, I have confronted feelings and opinions about this first edition of this festival in Victoria Park. Let's say the bad things first:
- The toilets and the bars were definitely not enough as you had to cue for more than half an hour and fight with the people to get a single beer and the toilets were literally overflowing after four hours the event started. As a consequence, the people improvised toilets all around the park.
- The sound was terrible in most of the stages, and you couldn't hear anything even if you were just some metres from the stage. Some of the stages were maybe too small, such as the Homefires stage, that was overcrowded during some concerts.
- Half an hour for most of the acts was probably not enough.

Let's say the good things now:
- We were lucky as it was one of the hottest days of this horrible summer, and the spirit of "one day out in the park" was actually fulfilled.
- The place is great for an event like this, near from the centre and well-communicated.
- The spirit of a small festival with not-so-big names in the year 2007 is not easy to get.
- the apology e-mail from the managers of the event about the toilets-bars chaos.

Let's hope next year they try to solve these problems and keep the good things and probably then is going to be a great date to remember.

albums of the last two weeks: STUDIO - WEST COAST / LIARS - LIARS

STUDIO - WEST COAST
This is not a new record, it was published last year, but now it has been re-edited due to popular demand. And now it's when everybody started to talk about them. They are a strange mix between dub, The Cure circa 82-83, afro beat, post-punk, Can and many other things. Long tracks, sometimes instrumental sometimes with lyrics, from two guys from, once again, Sweden. And check also the compilation Yearbook 1 for more tacks and different versions of the songs. Sorry, no video.


LIARS - LIARS
I don't know if I have some sounds so internalized but some of the new records of some used-to-be-difficult bands this year sound me as the most commercial records they've ever made. And this is also the case of the new LIARS record. It is another step, as they use to do with every record, to new territories. Doesn't sound to any of the first three albums but have elements of all them and you can also recognise from the first moment that it is a LIARS record. Dark sounds, drums and more drums, and strange atmospheres. And again they've made a great record. Maybe their best yet and also their most assorted. And the first single and first video is amazing. Lynch inspired video is terrifying, as it is the song. Check it out:
Liars - Plaster Casts Of Everything

The first videos for August

The first blog of videos for August are from the three electro albums of the Summer: The first records of Justice, Simian Mobile Disco and Digitalism. At the end of summer nobody is going to be able to disassociate Summer of 2007 from these tunes. As we can see after listening to these records they've been created not only to dance at the club but also to be listened to in your house. They have pop songs to be danced to or dance songs to be heard. None of these records are great but the three of them have some great tunes and are fully enjoyable. Let's listen/watch some examples:
Simian Mobile Disco:
Hustler

It's the Beat

I Believe

JUSTICE
D.a.n.c.e.

DIGITALISM
Pogo

Zdarlight