But at least the music is good. Apologies to the very good bands and musicians who didn’t make this roundup, but there was a lot of competition. There’s rock, pop, electronic and acoustic sounds, and I think, when you put it together, it makes for a great listen. April was quite a melodic, hook laden, month and there are more than a few classic pop songs on the way.
First off is a sampler video of Collar Up’s new album Ghosts (out 13/5/13). Collar Up are a fantastic band who marry melody, dream states and arresting imagery. But don’t take my word for it, I can prove it by you listening below. They are making some of my favourite music at the moment, and any band who pens a song called A Jam Jar Full Of Wasps is all right by me:
The Winter Tradition are making a habit of making music which seems specifically tailored to my ears and therefore appear on these pages. Their song Tides And Telegrams has been a regular listen since its release, and their latest single, Black Tiger, is a beautiful acoustic track featuring vocalist Ewan and his guitar. Nice video as well:
And now for something a little different. How to describe the music of John Mulhearn? I’ll let the tabs on his Soundcloud page do it for me. They include ‘traditional electronic’, ‘African beats’ ‘sample’, ‘bass’ and ‘story’. Throw all of those things together and you get something quite magical. Something like this:
Edinburgh band Capitals release their album A National Service in June. From that album this is Relieve, and it reminds me of early Simple Minds or Human League, both of which are very good things in case you’re wondering. If the album lives up to this then it’ll be rather special:
More electronic sounds, but this time a song which rattles along at some speed. It’s jERRY lEE lEWIS from The Milliband. It has the energy of The Ruts Babylon’s Burning (yet another up to date reference for the teenagers), and it never lets up until it crashes to the floor 3.18 minutes later. Phew:
More indie pop, this time from the Scottish Highlands and a band called KOBI. There are few things I love more than a great melody, and they nail it. This is their song All The Way, and as I write this it is my favourite song of the last month. There are a few bands doing this sort of thing at the moment, but only a select few doing it as well as KOBI. See if you agree:
And finally, April contained two of my live musical highlights of 2013 so far. One was a King Tuts gig (which was technically in May, but who cares?) which featured Ramisco Maki Maki Rocking Horse, Jo Mango, Beerjacket and The Boy Who Trapped The Sun, a bit of a fantasy line-up for Scots Whay Hae! and which more than lived up to that billing. The other was seeing Young Fathers as part of Neu Reekie’s night in Glasgow. They are a band who you should definitely see live as they are part Asian Dub Foundation/part Massive Attack, and they are as good as that sounds. Theirs is music that will effect you. This is I Heard, and it is quite beautiful:
Tara for a bit…
Comentários