florence + elly
I think 2 is better than 1, because ’2 becomes 1′ is the oh-so-awful song by spice girls. Pardon the corny-ness ‘cos this week we’ve got a double-bill recommendation lined up: FLORENCE + THE MACHINE and LA ROUX.
Similarities: Both Florence Welch and Elly Jackson were both born and bred in London. Both bands were voted in BBC’s Sounds of 2009, of which FATM came in 3rd and LR came in 5th (If you must really know, Little Boots came in 1st and White Lies came in 2nd, with Empire of the Sun coming in at 4th between FATM and LR).
Both were nominated for this year’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize.
That’s where their similarities end.
Florence + The Machine – Lungs
Lungs is a pretty delightful album to listen to, all the way from the first to the thirteenth song. Especially when you’ve heard it way before all your other friends have, and you’re thinking of boasting your brilliant find. Described as ‘soul inspired indie”, I couldn’t agree more. Try to picture Sinead O’Connor, Sarah Mclachlan or even Paula Cole singing at double the speed, backed by “indie-ish” harp, piano and hard-thumping drums. In fact, if I’m allowed to, I’d like to call Florence Welch today’s Kate Bush.
Tracks we love: Dog Days are Over, Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up), You Got The Love.
Bigbeat electronica version of
Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (P.E.S.T. Remix)
LA ROUX
80′s synth-pop has never gone away and with Elly pushing the case further with La Roux, I don’t see how will we ever forget the likes of The Eurythemics, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode or the Human League. Citing them as her major influences and coupled with the brilliance of co-writing partner, Ben Langmaid and Dubstep maestro, Skream (who produced the album), La Roux, I feel can be immediately placed alongside the other brilliant synthpop bands who are currently the epitome of the genre: Passion Pit, Ladyhawke, Little Boots, etc. AND mind you, this is much better-written pop than Lady Gaga’s!
Tracks we love: Quicksand, In For the Kill, Bulletproof, Tigerlily.
A lil’ something for the dubsteppers: In for the Kill (Skream’s let’s get ravey remix)
There is only one answer for the question: The Golden Silvers!
I don’t know if it’s the dreariness of the credit-crunch driven depression or the lack of self-worth from not working, it’s times like these when we all could do with a little cheer in our lives. Listening to these guys do just that.
Despite forming in 2007, this London-based trio has only released their debut album, “True Romance”, 2 weeks back. True romance indeed, because I have fallen in love with brit-pop all over again. The album kicks-off with their previously independently-released single, “Another Universe”. Pretty mellow at the start, but the piano-driven song has such a melodic chorus and brilliant dramatic end to it:
‘Now i feel my powers fading
As the blueprints and diagrams and history books hold me to their hip
and my limbs start trembling as my vision starts fading
and my spirit starts to slip
and i see them wave goodbye
their left hands were casting a curse
while singing songs of a paradise from another universe’
Underlying the Golden Silvers’ song-writing/playing style is the “doo-wop-ish” backing vocals that accompany Gwilym Gold’s distinctive laid-back vocals. In addition, the piano work done on their songs give off the same kind of vibe when you listen to your old Ben Folds Five records. All in all, the record has an excellent amalgamation of pop-ish, disco upbeatness and slow-mellow in the right proportions. I mean, how often can you listen to a record from start to finish these days – We would pick two songs from each of our favourite CD’s and put in an iTunes playlist, or if the you have the newer updated version, Genius does that for you.
Here’s To True ROMANCE!
