BMX Bandits

One of the best things about Mark Ronson's new album, Record Collection, is that it sounds completely spontaneous and relaxed, even though it must have taken months of painstaking work (and phoning up his mates) to piece it all together.

It's a neat trick, because collaborative projects like this often turn out to be studied and ponderous (I'm looking at you, Damon Albarn). Ronson's skill as a producer is that, despite numerous revisions, guest vocals and mixes, he always manages to preserve the giddy headrush of the original creative spark.

The second single off Record Collection is called Bike Song and it is a case in point. Unlike Bang Bang Bang, which was based on the words to a nursery rhyme, this actually sounds like a nursery rhyme (but a very cool nursery rhyme with a rap in it, obviously). It sounds like it was just finished five minutes ago, but listen closely and you'll hear tons of little details - the vintage bicycle bells, the way the guitar line teases and toys with the melody - which can only be the product of pure hard graft.

The video has been deliberately aged to look like one of those 1970s public information films (although, sadly, no-one gets electrocuted after throwing a frisbee into an electrical pylon). Embedding is disabled by Royal Request, but there are two important things to observe:


1) Kyle Falconer of "The View" continues to have ridiculously improbable hair.


2) Just because the cool kids don't wear helmets, it doesn't mean you should follow their example. Reflective clothing, functioning lights and bicycle clips for your pantaloons are also advisable.

The highly-enjoyable video is available on Youtube (Youtube). And there we have it.

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