Babies killing babies

Is Tropical are the sort of band who claim to be "perverting pop music". As if pop music isn't perverse enough as it stands. Have you heard the new Wanted single? Urgh.

So, what are Is Tropical doing that's so revolutionary? It's certainly not their music, which sits at the crossroads of jangly indie dance (Two Door Cinema Club) and jangly dancey indie (Mystery Jets). No, its all about the image - which sees the three members of Is Tropical dress up as terrorists. Presumably, they think they're being dangerous and provocative - but they just come across as an incredibly fey Slipknot.

Their new single The Greeks has a video that takes this rhetoric and turns it into a sure-fire publicity campaign Daily Mail-baiting gorefest. In essence, the video is a hideously brutal remake of Bugsy Malone, where young children are portrayed as drug dealers and nerf guns shoot real bullets. You will be glad to hear that the violence is actually cartoonish, in that it was painted on by a crack team of animators "in post".

And, while it looks like it was a lot of fun to make, the band posted the following picture on their blog -- hinting they may actually be making a serious point about child soldiers.

Have a look at the video. It can be enjoyed on a visceral, Tarantino splatterfest level if that's "your bag". But why not take a look at the UN's website on Children and Armed Conflict when you're done? There are currently 300,000 children fighting in wars around the globe, which is a truly frightening thought.

Is Tropical - The Greeks

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Lovely Jill Scott video is lovely

I rhapsodised about the return of Jill Scott earlier this month. Now, her new single So In Love has been given the full video treatment. Schmaltzy but sweet.

Jill Scott ft Anthony Hamilton - So in Love

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Yes, this song by Michael Kiwanuka sounds like it was recorded in the blistering heat of a 1970s ghetto but in fact it was made just yesterday* in the Isle Of Wight

Here's the sum total what I know about Michael Kiwanuka: He's from North London. He's 23. He's supported Adele on tour.

His new single, Tell Me A Tale, is allegedly a brand new recording, but I'd be willing to bet he found it down the back of Bill Withers' sofa, and is now trying to pass off as his own work. It's just too authentically rootsy to be a product of the 21st century.

But amazingly, somehow, Michael has managed to replicate the compressed, analogue recording techniques of Donny Hathaway and Bobby Womack: The vocals are too hot; the drums are mixed with casual disregard; the brass section is apparently punching its way out of a cardboard box.

There is also a flute.

In summary, this record is a marvel of modern soul. It deserves to be a hit, even though it won't be. It is unashamedly brilliant. It literally sounds dusty. (I have had some beer).

Michael Kiwanuka - Tell Me A Tale


Here is a link to Michael's website and the single on iTunes.

*Or maybe a few days before that

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Sampling news

It has just been revealed to me that the EXCELLENT new single from Sleigh Bells samples a song by the EQUALLY EXCELLENT P-funk outfit Funkadelic. Allow me to illustrate with the assistance of YouTube.

Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill


Funkadelic - Can You Get To That


The sample starts at around 0'14" in Funkadelic's song. It may only last for two bars but, because they borrowed it, Derek and Alexis from Sleigh Bells have to give 100% of their publishing and royalties to George Clinton's psychedelic dreadlocks municipal childcare fund.

The music industry is a funny old beast.

Footnote: Rill Rill is out as a single on 13th June, but you can get it on iTunes now. Funkadelic's song is also available in download form, even though you'd assume the master tapes had been given to a crack dealer for "safekeeping" in 1976.

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New music: SBTRKT - Wildfire

To be filed under "dubstep but with tunes", here is the new single from SBTRKT. Featuring the delectable vocal talents of Sweden's Little Dragon, it is called Wildfire and it throbs like a fresh bruise.

SBTRKT feat Little Dragon - Wildfire


FACTS ABOUT SBTRKT

:: It's pronounced "subtract".

:: He wears a mask to protect his identity (perhaps he is Ryan Giggs).

:: But everyone knows he was formerly nu-jazz noodlemeister Aaron Jerome.

:: Aaron / Subtract / SUBTRKT says: "I don’t fit in a distinct genre umbrella".

:: Whatever that means.

:: He refused to remix JLS: "I love remixing but it’s got to be a decent track."

:: One track that passed the SBTRKT litmus test was Tinie Tempah's Pass Out. He speeded it up and put cowbells all over it. Astonishing.

:: On the masks thing, he notes: "In African societies, masks were used in religious and social events representing spirits of ancestors. They come to life, enhanced by music and atmosphere of the occasion."

:: That will do for now.

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The most romantic song of the year

Patrick Wolf is an odd fish.

Early in his career, he was a contrary and confrontational pop poseur. Legend has it he once jumped off stage and drop-kicked a journalist in the chest because he wasn't paying attention. Rumour aside, there's a rather shocking YouTube clip of him throwing a violent tantrum at a German festival in 2009, after his set was cut short.

But the Patrick Wolf of 2011 is a changed man. He's engaged to be married to long-term boyfriend William Pollock, and his new album, Lupercalia, is unashamedly, nakedly romantic. His new-found serenity isn't just down to love. At 27, he's no longer the petulant teenager who ran away from home to "become the male Christina Aguilera". And, he says, a recent course of psychotherapy helped him find balance in his personal and professional life.

Musically, this has resulted in a lush, orchestral pop album. Lupercalia is florid with harps and ukeleles and strings. Patrick even taught himself to play an obscure Armeian woodwind instrument called the duduk for good measure.

First single The City was a soaring and defiant declaration of love. The new record House is an operatic sweep of domestic contentment: "I love that here you live with me / Gives me the greatest peace I've ever known." What a heart-warming sentiment, eh readers?

For good measure, the video contains a Toucan.

Patrick Wolf - House

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