Top 30 Songs of 2008 - Part Three

Ladies and gentlemen - the final furlong: the 10 Best Songs Of 2008. Enjoy them all via the magic of the youtube playlist below:



10. Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power And The Amorphous Strums: 'And How'
Vic Chesnutt teams up with Elf Power for a song that pitches the listener an absurdist curveball. An urban fairytale, complete with nursery rhyme jauntiness that leaves one just as confused about its subject matter as its possible to be. Catchy hell it is too.

9. Jonquil: 'The Weight Of Lying On Your Back'
Sometimes songs are just so perfectly conceived, so full of energy and excitement that you can't help but surf the surge of joy that wells up every time you hear them. This is one of those songs. A cracking tune and a band to watch.

8. Grouper: 'Heavy Water / I'd Rather Be Sleeping'
I'm a huge fan of delay and reverb, especially when it's so deftly controlled as it is here. In fact, this song is so beautiful and finely spun that to say any thing more would run the risk of destroying the delicate magic that holds it together.

7. High Places: ' From Stardust To Sentience'
A band well and truly of their time and all the better for it. We're now at the point where skillful practitioners of the form, like Rob Barber and Mary Pearson, can not only make the machines talk and sing but breath too.

6. One More Grain: 'Jon Hassellhoff'
I wasn't in this band when they recorded this song, but when I heard it I knew I had to join. The marriage of Daniel Patrick Quinn's thick freeform thought soup and Andrew Blick's fine eerie trumpet drone and call. The rhythm section is excellent too. It's a shame that the band is no more, but this song will always sound this way, and that's the important thing. It's pretty much the only thing I care about.

5. Sigur Ros: 'Goobledigook'
By far and away the best song that Sigur Ros have ever written, as swirling, tempestuous and invigorating as the wind that blows in off the North Atlantic to torment the Icelandic people.

4. The New Year: 'The Company I Can Get'
This was the year I woke up and realised I don't want my musical heroes to be drug-adled stargazy waifs anymore - I want them to be learned men, men who've seen life and what it's got to give. Maybe they could even be history professors, then I'd really respect them.

3. Wild Beasts: 'His Grinning Skull'
The one truly exciting British band to emerge this year, and one with more than a whiff of The Smiths stately otherworldly poise. Not that the Beasts sounded like anything other than themselves, you understand. Thrillingly original and willfully obtuse at times. I saw them live more times than I can remember and was consistently flawed. Cheers to you, chaps!

2. Animal Collective: 'Street Flash'
Their alchemistic fingerprints were everywhere this year, and not just on their own record: the 'Water Curses' EP. But it was this release that contained their finest work to date. 'Street Flash' feels like the distillation of what this band have always promised, a swirling dayglow psychedelic masterpiece that's as accessible and welcoming as it is playful and interesting.

1. Destroyer: 'Shooting Rockets (From The Desk Of Night's Ape)'
From the moment 'Trouble In Dreams' arrived in the bleak tail end of winter there was something about this song that perfectly encapsulated 2008; the financial crisis, the end of decadence, even the sickening Chinese Olympic fervour was somehow conjured. It's the sound of something huge and overblown collapsing and falling in on itself and a song so huge and nebulous that I was lost in it for weeks. A masterfully arch piece of work that turned summer breeze into an ill wind.

"It's a terrible feast we've been stuffing our faces on..."

Top 30 Songs of 2008 - Part Two

Yet more pointless self-important compulsive listing is to be found in Part Two of Sleephouse's Top 30 songs of 2008.

Listen to or watch the lot in the youtube playlist below:



20. Mountain Goats: 'San Bernardino'
Yet more predictably awesome songwriting from John Darnielle, and the song that most consistently stopped me in my tracks from his 'Heretic Pride' record.

19. Invisible Conga People: 'Cable Dazed'
Everyone lost their shit for the Italians Do It Better label this year, but I often failed to see the attraction. This ICP 12" was the only release that really moved me. A snaky little piece of future hippy bleep that made me want to dance. In an art gallery. In slow motion.

18. Vapid: 'Do The Earthquake'
An intensely catchy 7" nugget of wax from a friend's label in Vancouver. A part Riot Grrrl, part pissed-up punk shaker. This band might be the start of something new, or they might not. Who cares? Let's all dance before "The Big One" hits and we're all sucked into the ocean.

17. The Constantines: 'Our Age'
They switched from Subpop to the lovely Arts & Crafts label but the move didn't make them miss a single step. They still make the best "proper" music going and 'Kensington Heights' was their most mature release yet. Is anyone listening though?

16. Dosh: 'If You Want To, You Have To'
I've never been an Anticon head, but the 'Wolves And Wishes' record from Dosh was a big favourite of mine this year. The intro to this makes me think of the theme to 'Chariots Of Fire' and I was often to be found sprinting to catch the 390 bus while this played in my ears and spurred me to a photo finish...

15. Chad VanGaalen: 'City Of Electric Light'
I haven't lived in Canada for almost 5 years now, but I miss it like hell sometimes. Chad VanGaalen's 'Soft Airplane' is just another reason why I wish I was back there.

14. No Kids: 'Bluster In The Air'
After previewing a few taster tracks, I truly thought this album would be an underground hit. However, after hearing the rest of the record, I can now understand why the world might not yet be ready for a librarians-only slowjam block party. I'd be there though, trying to blend in with my fake glasses, getting jiggy between the shelving.

13. Beach House: 'Gila'
Stately majestic improvements to a previously modest but perfectly respectable dwelling. Flawlessly finished throughout.

12. Fleet Foxes: 'White Winter Hymnal'
There's no need to contribute to the hyperbolic snowstorm that surrounds this record and its worthy makers. A now-classic song and perfect for this time of year too. "Keep their little heads from falling in the snow..."

11. Samamidon: 'Wedding Dress'
I spent pretty much all of 2008 thinking "This has been a crap year for music." Then, quite recently, I found this song in an end of year list and realised I was wrong. There's been some great music made in 2008. I'd just been listening to British radio.

Top 30 Songs Of 2008 - Part One

After much stalling and a hiatus that was truly epic - Sleephouse Radio emerges from the wilderness just in time for a Christmas treat - a Top 30 Songs Of 2008 rundown (in order no less).

Part One is below, Part Two comes tomorrow and Part 3 will be slipped under your tree on Christmas Eve. Enjoy...

Listen to 30 to 21 right here (in this Youtube playlist):



30. El Guincho: 'Palmitos Park'
29. Dodos: 'Fools'
2008 was the year when the Animal Collective's influence was truly felt in indie music. Plenty of releases proudly wore the eclectic tribal allegiance to their heroes on their sleeve, including these two excellent efforts from El Guincho and Dodos, the former aping the loopy party vibes of Panda Bear's 'Person Pitch' album and the latter stealing some of 'Sung Tongs'' ample acoustic joy.

28. Fennesz: 'Vacuum'
For whatever reason, I listened to a hell of a lot of ambient music this year. Most of it old stuff and a large portion of it was made by Fennesz. Truth be told I'm still getting to grips with this new work from the old master but the song functions perfectly as a deft representation of what 2008 sounded like for me most of the time.

27. Portishead: 'The Rip'
I can't say that I was looking forward to Portishead's return very much. I didn't even spend much time listening to it. A performance of this song on Jools Holland's TV show stuck in my head though. Never has restraint been such an effective tool.

26. Silver Jews: 'San Francisco B.C.'
The first in a number of songs introduced to me by the ever magnificent Chris-a-riffic and his unmissable radio show on CiTR. A picaresque adventure from Dave Berman revealing a teemingly febrile imagination lurking in the cracks of what was an ultimately disappointing Silver Jews record.

25. Those Dancing Days: 'Hitten'
A solid gold office favourite where I work. We went to see them and it was hard not to feel like a dirty old man - a total indie boy boner party (arguably the “ Pop Culture Term Of The Year” courtesy of my good friend Saelan). Question: Why are Swedish girls so fucking stylish in just that particular way?

24. Mount Eerie: 'Voice In Headphones'
Phil Elverum and Bjork are two large gravitational forces in my record collection. 'Voice In Headphones' is Phil's homage to her genius and probably his best recording in years.

23. The Sea & Cake: 'Weekend'
One of my all-time favourite bands, seemingly back on form with an all-too-short summer time blast of electro-jazz-what-have-you. It's probably best listened to while watching the song's video - a Gus Van Sant jizz flick if ever I saw one.

22. David Byrne + Brian Eno: 'Strange Overtones'
I've been going for Talking Heads in a big way in the last quarter of this year, so this album came just at the right time. I'm still not sure about some of the production, but David Byrne bucks the usual trend and to show that songcraft can indeed be something that gets better with age.

21. Neon Neon: 'Belfast'
A neat little history lesson wrapped in song. Check it out people - that's what wikipedia's there for. Gruff Rhys, and his cohort Boom Bip, really achieved something with this record. Well-read and intelligent pop that retains a playful edge. A perfect postmodern piece of work that flew mostly over the heads of the entire population.

Stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow.

Anyone got a kazoo?

Sleephouse's extended summer holiday is almost over and I'll be back with a new issue in the near future. Here's a little something to keep you going until then.

Climbing gingerly on the back of the beast of hyperbole, last night I was fortunate enough to witness one of the best gigs I've ever seen in my short little life. It was I'm From Barcelona's debut London show and it was an absolute belter. I guarantee that unless you are a complete stone-cold-hearted bastard there is no way that you will leave their show without a smile on your face.

To the alarming operatic strains of Freddy Mercury's and Montserrat Caballé's 'Barcelona' I'm From Barcelona took to the stage in hail of enthusiasm, confetti and balloons and they just didn't stop until the whole of the audience was either on stage dancing or completely swept away in a tsunami of grinning good vibes. I can honestly say that I've never seen so many hearts melt and faces beam in my entire life.

Here's two songs from last night's performance.

'Chicken Pox'


'Collection of Stamps'


I'm From Barcelona have a few more shows in England coming up in the near future. Here they are:

Friday 15th September @ How Does It Feel To Be Loved?, Jamm, London
Saturday 16th September @ Rough Trade Shop, Covent Garden, London
Sunday 17 September @ The End of The Road Festival

You really need to see this band, and don't forget to bring your kazoo!

Buy their album too. Here's my review of it for Playlouder.com:

I'm From Barcelona: Let Me Introduce My Friends (Mute)

Have A 'Little Heart'

Setting Up (Small), originally uploaded by sleephouseradio.

Hey there people! Well, it’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? Sleephouse 8 is coming soon, most probably later in the week. Apologies, but as I’m always telling you—I’m real lazy.

Until then, here’s hoping that this update holds you over. Sleephouse hasn’t been completely idle in the intervening weeks since Issue 7. No, my dear listeners, the summer’s here (almost) and I’ve been out and about. Since the last show I’ve taken in some excellent gigs from the likes of Black Mountain, The Pink Mountaintops, The Shins, The Gossip and Serena Maneesh.

I’ve been drinking heavily and abusing my body in a most grotesque manner, so last Wednesday afternoon’s genteel outing to see Mount Eerie was welcome indeed. Held at the hangover-accommodating hour of 1pm, and a free gig to boot ( though I contributed £3 voluntarily), the show’s venue was, inexplicably, but somehow fittingly, a beautiful old library in the London School of Economics. The very university where Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones was first taught the principles of penny-pinching on a grand scale, and from which he would ultimately drop out of, in order to, according to his professor, “form a skiffle band.”

And, though no pouty snake-hipped dancing was in evidence, the gig was a great little intimate affair, with Phil Elverum playing some of his lesser known stuff, in an attempt to not repeat anything from a set he had played at a show the previous evening. He was supported by Geneviève Castrée, who is the wonderful Woelv and Elverum’s partner. The show was put together by the excellent London/Northampton-based collective called Undereducated. They release records, put out zines and organise shows. Make yourself friendly with them at their myspace or their very own website.

Here’s a little bit of film I managed to catch, a performance of the song 'O Little Heart'.



And, in a further attempt to convert you to his cause, here’s my favourite ever Mount Eerie song:

Wooly Mammoth's Absence (MP3)

It’s taken from the Seven New Songs of Mt. Eerie EP. Phil’s website sells loads of goodies, and though this EP is currently out of print, the ever generous Mr Elverum has provided the whole thing for free download. All you have to do is go to this site (which seems to be down right now but I’m sure it’ll come back soon).

I’ll see you later in the week.

Issue 7

There’s more than a whiff of retro-ism about Issue 7 of Sleephouse Radio. But am I apologetic? Of course not—you have to know your history to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. And with so many musical thieves out there these days, just waiting for the appropriate opportunity to pass off some old tat as their own work of original genius, you can thank your lucky stars that Sleephouse is here to disseminate the good from the bad. What follows is the good stuff, artists that take from the past but add something new to it in some small way. There’s a genuine lost gem of an oldie too.

To listen, simply download the audio file of the show (by clicking the image below) or use the flash player in the sidebar. This show can also be subscribed to as a podcast by copying the address of the RSS link in the sidebar into the podcast receiver of your choice. It’s all so simple…



(40MB, 43 mins. MP3 file)

1. Jens Lekman: A Sweet Summer’s Night on Hammer Hill (Secretly Canadian)

Nothing adds to the career of a pop singer like a bit of “will he?/won’t he?” speculation. Devotees of this politely spoken Swede were dismayed earlier this year when reports emerged of his intention to quit the music business for an extended period of soul searching and life adjustment.

Thankfully, whether this was actually a fully-formed idea in the mind of Lekman or just a bit of unsavoury media insinuation, Jens now seems to have shelved the plan and is throwing himself into his musical career wholeheartedly. He’s got a spritely US tour in the offing and will hopefully soon follow up his intermittently magnificent album, When I Said I Wanted to be Your Dog, with something truly befitting of his genius. This track comes from the rarities and b-sides collection Oh You’re So Silent Jens and it shows that the young man knows a thing or two about how to make a track sound classic.

2. Sunset Rubdown: A Day in the Graveyard II (Global Symphonic)

Just what a “Sunset Rubdown” involves is anybody’s guess. But as long as it’s soundtracked by this talented Canadian (Spencer Krug, Top Right) and includes a “happy ending” then count me in.

Long before Wolf Parade took the maple leaf to parts unknown, Spencer Krug’s bedroom project Sunset Rubdown has allowed his musical creativity free reign to develop unchecked. To be honest, this made for music that was pretty hit and miss: plenty of towering highs but plenty of indulgent lows too. But let’s not be too hard on the boy, after all he was a member of the first incarnation of Frog Eyes at the same time and one’s creativity can only stretch so far, right?

Sunset Rubdown is a different proposition these days, however. Now decked out with a full complement of permanent band members, and preparing to release the album Shut Up I am Dreaming, it seems they have sharpened their focus dramatically. The songs still meander and sprawl in an alarming number of different directions, but they now satisfy the listener with a distinct sense of purpose. As is evidenced from this song, taken from an album teaser of an EP released on Global Symphonic earlier this year, what was once a sideline could end up overshadowing Spencer's already successful day job.

3. Lilys: With Candy (Manifesto)

When The Shins shot to fame and Natalie Portman uttered those immortal words in the film Garden State: “[They’ll] change your life.” The Lilys frontman Kurt Heasley must have a cursed a blue streak a mile long. The Lilys have toiled in indie mines of obscurity for years now, forever on the lip of mainstream acceptance but always having to settle for the frustrating moniker of cult band.

Well, with their new album, Everything Wrong Is Imaginary, just dropped, hope may come from the unlikeliest of sources, that of a potty-mouthed ingénue helming a two-piece shoegazing band who write songs with titles like 'You Fuck Like Your Dad'. That’s right Annie Hardy of Giant Drag, NME’s latest flavour of the month, is a big fan of Lilys and can be found on her website spouting the following eulogy:

“What am I so excited about that I feel the need to exclaim it?! […]i will tell you what i am excited about: the new Lilys record! […] why are the lilys the greatest? i suppose the bigger question is why don’t more people know and love them? is everyone way dumb or has there been some foul play? i suspect a bit of each. tell your mothers all you want for christmas is the entire lilys catalog. oh, and giant drag’s hearts and unicorns...sorry, they make me say that.”

Well, the girl does make a point now, doesn’t she? Why haven’t you bought this record already? If you haven’t, and you own a copy of either Oh Inverted World or Chutes Too Narrow, at least do the decent thing and support the band that made all this possible. That band, my friend, is Lilys.


4. Euros Childs: Costa Rita (Wichita)

The Welsh have always have always exhibited a very particular grasp on reality. And before you go burning down my holiday cottage, let me say that I’m almost always a fan of any music that appears from this valley-riven and well-mountained territory. Converted to the power of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci during a particularly extreme doubleheader of gig headlined by a pre-crap Spiritualised at the Sheffield Octagon in 1997, I’ve been a devotee of their mushroom-headed psych pop for a good few years now.

I’ve always seen Euros Childs as the driving force behind Gorky’s and that (perhaps unfair) assessment is born out by the evidence of his first solo album Chops. Mellifluous harmonies ride on the backs of donkeys while Bossa Nova beats help sell ice creams on a British sea front. Hardened cynics may find Childs' world a tad too sugary sweet, but anyone who’s inner child has survived into today’s brutal adulthood will be delighted by an album that flouts reality’s usual conventions with such glee. No album will turn this spring into summer so quickly as Euros Childs’ Chops. Play it loud, open your windows and coax nature into action.



5. El Perro Del Mar: God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get) (Memphis Industries)

Phil Spector’s ludicrously vain afro looms large over many a new hope for music this year. Up and coming acts like The Pipettes and The Long Blondes both owe a certain amount of their studied charm to Spector’s patented Wall of Sound/Girl Group template.

But despite the undoubted talent of the aforementioned artists, no one nails the ethereal calm and otherworldly appeal of the old nutter’s music like El Perro Del Mar and her song ‘God Knows’.

El Perro Del Mar is the gorgeous work of sultry Swede Sarah, who gained a fair amount of deserved attention when she appeared on a split release with fellow countryman Jens Lekman last year. She’s recently signed to Memphis Industries and is preparing to release an album from which ‘God Knows’ shimmies forth. A song so classic the Twelve Inch probably smells of thirty-year-old dust and charity shops, and were there any justice in the world this song would be number one with a bullet. This song aims for great things and hits the target dead centre. If only the beleaguered Mr Spector had done the same. Don’t miss it! Shall I go on? No…you got it, right? Here’s a hint.

6. Mia Doi Todd: My Room is White [Flying Lotus Remix] (Plug Research)

If there’s one genre that Sleephouse has ignored in the past, it’s hip hop. Call me a hopeless indie white boy if you will (hey, I deserve it), but I just don’t feel qualified to direct you to the next big smoking hip hop joint, blood. (Though: Gnarls Barkley--now I like the cut of that young fellas jib, what what?)

But I do know a crispy fried beat when I hear one and if the grapevine is anything to go by then Flying Lotus is set to be the next big producer in the leftfield hip hop world. He might sound like your favourite Chinese restaurant, but the way Flying Lotus chops and dices Mia Doi Todd’s ‘My Room Is White’ would make this song dish of the day in many a fine establishment.

To be fair Mia Doi Todd might have something to do with it as well. Her smoky tones have always eluded me in the past, but the soon to be released remix album, La Ninja: Amor and Other Dreams of Manzanita, from which this song is taken, might just have hooked me. I look forward to investigating these artists further, and should you wish to you can do the same. Set browsers to stun and teleport to Myspace station A or B.

7. Add N to (X): King Wasp (Family Recordings)

Jarvis Cocker has a funny name, a funny dress sense and, on the evidence of the compilation album The Trip (Family Recordings), a bloody funny taste in music too. But like his unlikely moniker and his geek chic threads the music presented on this album just plain works.

Put together in collaboration with his fellow Pulp-ster Steve Mackey, The Trip is fantastic journey through the baroque and freakish record collection of these two northern gentlemen. Lee Hazelwood rubs shoulders with the Birthday Party, while The Fall barge past 60s crooner Gene Pitney spilling his drink all over OMD and The Human League. Yup, it’s hardly your average post party comedown mix. In fact, were you to slip this on in the company of the average popped-out pillhead you’d have to scrap him off the ceiling before you’d got round to the second CD.

A song with particular paranoia-producing prowess is this crawling king snake of a song from late-90s boffins Add N to (X). Originally released in 1997, with a 3D cover illustration no less, this is a true lost wonder that buzzes white hot noise all over Bo Diddley’s gently shuffling ‘50s slacks. Absolute crookedly, crackling genius.

8. Screaming Lord Sutch: Flashing Lights (Family Recordings)

Screaming Lord Sutch might be better known as the perennial comedy vote in British General Elections of the ‘80s: His Monster Raving Loony Party was the only welcome political raspberry any child growing up in Thatcher’s Britain could look forward to on the Election Day 5 o’clock News. I will always thank Lord Sutch for his humour and steadfast commitment in the face of certain defeat and many a lost deposit. He brightened my early life. Little did I know that he’d also been a pop star in waiting in the early '70s, one that unfortunately failed to launch into the famous firmament.

In this second song from The Trip compilation Cocker and Mackey have dug up a great cod-psych work out that, despite the critical panning that all Sutch’s albums received, 'Flashing Lights' is actually a hell of a lot of fun. Consider, too, that it features some supremely muscular session work from the recently Led-Zepped Jimmy Page (who also produced the album) and John Bonham and an unemployed Noel Reading (fresh from his dismissal from the Jimi Hendrix Experience). Even more interesting is the fact that it appears to be the place where the Stones Roses originally plundered their fool’s gold. The cheeky Manc monkeys.

9. Liars: The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack (Mute)

Emerging from the smoking rubble of the NYC new wave explosion at the turn of the millennium, Angus Andrew and his fellow Liars found themselves missing half their band and a captivating musical direction.

Settling down as a three piece, and trying to live up to the frighteningly gargantuan hype that surrounded their debut They Threw Us All in a Trench… Angus and the boys decided musical salvation lurked in a sound roughly similar to the kiss of an angle-grinder on sheet metal and a hastily thought-out predilection for the occult. Unfortunately critics disagreed with this belief, and their second album They Were Wrong, So We Drowned was widely panned as an unlistenable folly.

They returned this year with a counterpunch of sorts, an album that’s most definitely listenable, and might just be their best work to date. It’s called Drum’s Not Dead and ‘The Other Side of Mount Heart Attack’ is the next single to be taken from it. It’ll be released on April 11th on Mute Records.

That's all for this issue, but don't forget to check out the Sleephouse Notes Blog for updates between times, and don't forget that you can now add Sleephouse Radio to your livejournal friends page. What's next?! Myspace? Why, yes.

Issue 6

It's said that good things come to those who wait. But you, dear Sleephouse listener, have waited so very long. Therefore, without further ado, I present to you: Sleephouse Issue 6. Please accept my humblest apologies for the delay.

To listen, simply download the audio file of the show (by clicking the image below) or use the flash player in the sidebar. This show can also be subscribed to as a podcast by copying the address of the RSS link in the sidebar into the podcast receiver of your choice. It’s all so simple…



(42MB, 45 mins. MP3 file)

1. McLusky: Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues (Too Pure)

Any excuse to play foaming Welsh punkers McLusky is always welcomed here at Sleephouse. And though they imploded nigh on a year ago now, the greatest hits set, Mcluskyism, proves that the touch of Father Time’s wizened hands shall never dilute their legendary piss and vinegar.

The greatest hits compilation is out now and comes in two handy sizes: a mega-blowout 3 CD odds, sods and rarities version, and the perhaps more sensible straight-up single CD version. A messy, sweary, sonic juggernaut of misanthropy, McLusky were made for days when your boss treats you like shit, you step in dog turd as you trudge home in the rain and then the man at the corner shop informs you that your bankcard has been declined. Listening back to the raw energy of their greatest work only confirms the fact that their demise leaves a hole like an exit wound in the British music scene—and I’m sure that’s just the way the miserable bastards would have wanted it.

2. The Gossip: Standing In The Way Of Control (Kill Rockstars)

If the world in my head ever became a reality, The Gossip would be a top pop band. Their killer single releases would consistently strafe the upper echelon of the billboard charts, singer Beth Ditto would be a regular guest on The View and Oprah, and anyone switching on Cribs would be greeted by guitarist Brace Paine showing off his broken guitar collection and the inside of his empty fridge.

Until such a day, however, we’ll just have to make do with the Portland-based honeys releasing yet another indie label-based album that garners just a little bit more praise and public awareness than the last, not to mention patronage and props from the likes of Le Tigre and Sonic Youth.

Though I can’t say that I don’t miss the old recorded-in-a-leaky-shed Gossip sound slightly, this new taut punk funk version fairly rollicks along, and Beth Ditto’s southern howl could still strip paint from a wall at fifty paces. Hey kids, why don’t you just buy this fucking album? Make this old man happy. I just want to see Brace turn the camera and say, “MTV. This is how we do. Portland-style!”

3. Guillemots: Trains To Brazil (Fantastic Plastic)

Trying to avoid music hype while living in the UK is like trying to run through rain drops without getting hit: bloody hard. And you can trust me—I’ve had plenty of practice. So when the BBC listed Guillemots as one of those bands to watch in 2006, I snorted with derision and continued tapping my foot along to the obscure punjabi nose-flute record I had just ordered from Syphilitic Pigeon Records.

Well, somewhere along the line, I stupidly allowed a rogue mp3 from Guillemots to be downloaded onto my system. A week later, and I’m completely in thrall to their Aztec Camera as-produced-by Belle and Sebastian preppy indie pomp.

Maybe it’s the fact that ‘Trains to Brazil’ pushes all the right pop buttons, exhilaratingly teetering on the edge of cheesy but never fully falling into the syrup, or that it captures the mood of London during the summer terrorist attacks perfectly. Whatever it is, I’m sure Guillemots will find much success in 2006 and I will begrudge them not a jot of it. After all, it’s nice to hear pop that’s actually about something.

4. Man Man: Engwish Bwudd (Ace Fu)

Drifting into the arena of the unwell and crowbarring even more WEIRD into the term New Weird America we have Man Man. This Philadelphia five piece are neither shy of moustaches, facepaint nor mining nursery rhymes for lyrical content. To their credit it all comes off amazingly well--musical pirates sailing the high seas with a wailing Tom Waits tied to the mast while Captain Beefheart sights land from the crow's nest.

Their second album, Six Demon Bag drops on Ace Fu this month, and you can catch their, by all accounts, frantic live show on a short tour, or at the by now essential SXSW showcase at the end of March.

You can also check out an interview with lead singer, Honus Honus, over at the jaw-droppingly brilliant Indie Interviews Podcast.


5. Os Mutantes: A Minha Menina (Souljazz)

In the mid sixties Brazil was ruled by a military junta, while its music scene was dominated by the Bossa Nova and Samba that had prevailed since the 50s. Not unsurprisingly, the younger generation, by now exposed to American Rock and Roll, British Psychedelia and French New Wave cinema, decided a revolution was in order.

Soul Jazz's recently released Tropicália: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound compilation seeks to highlight and celebrate the movement that from 1967-1969 initiated a sea change in Brazilian popular culture. It was a movement of imagination and of revolution, a cannibalisation of foreign music and a new take on Brazilian styles. Spearheaded by Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Ze and Os Mutantes the movement challenged the military government and regular listeners alike. Perhaps most importantly it asked what Brazilians could achieve in the realm of the arts. The answer was “Everything is Possible!”, a sentiment borrowed for the title of Os Mutantes' Greatest Hits collection released years later by David Byrne on his Luaka Bop label, and something very much in evidence when one listens to the music that the Souljazz compilation offers. Os Mutantes, my personal favourite, exemplify the philosophy whole-heartedly, and sound every bit the unhinged psychedelic space warriors that they were. ‘A Minha Menina’ is simply one of the best songs ever, sheer joy and creative zeal transferred directly onto a piece of magnetic tape. If we broadcasted songs like this into space we’d be fighting off extra-terrestrial visitors with a specially constructed, atmosphere-scraping stick.

The super hot news is that Os Mutantes (well, two thirds of them) are reforming for one concert to be held in London. The show takes place on May 22 at the Barbican. Tickets will be, shall we say, scarce.

6. Gilberto Gil: Procissao (Souljazz)

The second presentation from the Souljazz’s Tropicalia compilation comes from Brazil’s current Minister for Culture Gilberto Gil. An appointment roughly approximate to the UK handing the post to John Lennon, and a move whose strange refreshing genius is clear when one reads articles on Gil that feature lines like:

“The minister himself […] sat on the floor, cross-legged and barefoot, cradling an acoustic guitar in his lap.”

And to think, Tony Blair once thought he could nervously strum a Telecaster to get the youth vote. All glibness aside, Gil was not always so popular with Brazilian government bods. The Tropicalia movement was effectively ended when Gil and Caetano Veloso were imprisoned in the 1969, accused of anti-government activities, and forced to flee the country, living in exile for years before being able to return. The movement may have ended in a concrete sense but what Gil, Veloso and others started continues to inspire today. Listening to ‘Procissao’ and, indeed, the whole of the Tropicalia compilation, it’s easy to see why. I therefore recommend this compilation like no other record released this year. This music is essential to existence. Find out more here or you might just expire.

7. Églantine Gouzy: 12h12 (Monika)

After I featured a wonderful song from Monika-based recording artists Cobra Killer a couple of issues ago, a regular listener and friend suggested I check out a compilation released on the very same label earlier in 2005. Well, that compilation was 4 Women No Cry and I’m very grateful for the heads-up.

The compilation does exactly what is says on the tin: four female artists, some great music and absolutely no tears. Of the four it’s Églantine Gouzy that burns brightest, re-igniting the kind of laptop electronica that offered such hope just a few short years back but has of late had to take a back seat to more organic music from, well, anyone with a bongo, an acoustic guitar and some windchimes, really. Gouzy’s Gallic cool very definitely re-enforces the notion that if you’re looking for refreshing computer music the backstreets of Paris might just be the place to begin your search, and with 4 Women No Cry being promised as the beginning of a series of compilation releases, Germany’s Monika records is a similarly worthy port of call.

8. Tape: Sand Dunes (Hapna)

Beautiful acoustic guitar based ambient music straight from rural Sweden. Tape have been going for a few years now, and I’m ashamed to say that I have no previous experience of them until their album Rideau was released at the end of last year. But these three musicians work together to seamlessly weave processed loops into their delicate beatless chamber music, creating a sound that’s as welcome and warming as the morning sun breaking through your bedroom window. Unless, of course, it’s Monday morning and that’s another story.

9. Psychic Ills: Another Day, Another Night (Social Registry)

Although it’s been threatening to make a come back for umpteen odd years now, I find it entirely appropriate that a genre that’s built on a certain apathetic distain seems to find it so hard to jumpstart a proper movement into motion. 2006, however, might just be the year that shoegazing and spacerock finally makes a ramshackle bid for the mainstream yet again.

Giant Drag may have already gathered a commendable amount of column inches with a more radio-friendly unit-shifter variety, but Psychic Ills are now staking a claim for the more esoteric end of the market. Releasing their debut full length, Dins, on the stonkingly cool Social Registry label, the band drifts in on a hazy reverbed flight of fantasy, repetitive melody line and a mix that keeps the vocals just this side of incomprehensible. Which is as it should be. If everything goes to plan okay we’ll have you chugging cough mixture, wearing cardigans and growing that all-important fringe by Christmas. Just remember to start scouring eBay now for those original Spacemen 3 vinyl releases, it’ll make it so much easier to claim you’ve been into it all along, when you’ve got convincing concrete evidence to back up your scurrilous claims. You lying dawg, you.