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135 Spotisfaction Monday – 8th November 2010 – Kev Atkinson

Morning all. Hope you had a good weekend? I had a weekend of mixed fortunes – my computer died on Friday and shows no signs of recovery; I went to Craven Cottage to watch my team (Villa, the best team the word has ever seen, the chant confirms) decimate Fulham and then concede deep in injury time for a draw; then had a killer night listening to Jackmode at Counter Culture – still going strong and still plenty more to go, get yourself down to London Bridge asap.

Today’s playlist is one designed to be off the cuff, totally random and the essence of putting your MP3 players full library on shuffle. In an effort to tidy up the look of the post, I’ve split the tracklisting in two, hopefully it makes sense and looks a little tidier. Now, I’ll hand you over to Kev.

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Playlists

134 Spotisfaction Friday – 5th November 2010 – Simon Mogg

Morning everyone. I trust your weeks have been lovely? Mine’s been, to be honest, incredibly busy – so, my apologies for the slight slow-down on content this week. On that note, though, if you ever fancied having your writing published, then we’re always looking for news, reviews, features, opinion-pieces and other such stuff, as well as our usual tri-weekly playlists. Get in touch if you are interested.

Today’s playlist is by staff-member Simon Mogg, and is entitled “I’m 27” – appropriate, since we went to Alton Towers to celebrate his birthday last weekend, and he turns 27 tomorrow bless him. Happy birthday, old bean.

See you next week guys and dolls.
Dave

Moggy Says:

Tomorrow I am 27 years old. Congratulations to me another year, and I’m not dead yet. To celebrate such an unimpressive landmark I decided to make a playlist to see how musical taste in Britain has changed over the years I’ve been alive. So I’ve been perusing the UK number 1 single lists and picked one number 1 for every year I’ve been alive and here they are:

1983: The Police ”“ Every Breath You Take
I love the Police. They’re awesome.
1984: Stevie Wonder ”“ I Just Called To Say I Love You – Single Version
1985: Dead Or Alive ”“ You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – Original 7″ Mix
1986: Falco ”“ Rock Me Amadeus
1987: M. ”“ Pump Up The Volume (7″)
1988: Aswad ”“ Don’t Turn Around
1989: Jive Bunny ”“ Swing The Mood
Jive Bunny had 3 number ones this year. Crikey I only thought they did this one song.
1990: Beats International ”“ Dub Be Good To Me

Hit the link for the rest:

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Features

Feature: Another Step Forward for the Misunderstood Misfits of Emo

[Editor’s note: Our “Article” feature is for opinion pieces designed to provoke debate. Please feel free to weigh in with your thoughts in the comment section below. Anything you want to get off your chest? Why not submit an Article of your own!]

So, the new My Chemical Romance single is out, and has their most ridiculous title to date, the brilliantly non-sensical ‘Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)’. And following on from the epic, sprawling and, arguably, darkly misguided The Black Parade, the only thing I could think when I first saw the trailer to the new album was, “Where is this going?”

At this point I guess I should make it clear that I’m a big My Chem fan and have been following the band since just before the release of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, their second album (first for a major label). Saying that kind of feels like an admission, like revealing “I’m an alcoholic”, and I still don’t know why, but thats a conversation for another time.

Back to ‘Na Na Na’. It’s the lead single from the band’s fourth full length effort, the fairly absurdly titled Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, and judging by the trailer and promo stuff released, it’s another concept album, albeit a slightly more upbeat one (depending on your point of view).

Upbeat is how I’d go about describing ‘Na Na Na’ as well. Starting where The Black Parade‘s ‘Teenagers’ left off, the track has a glam rock feel to it mixed with the slightly more punk sound that was promised by their take on Dylan’s ‘Desolation Row’ used on the Watchmen movie soundtrack.

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Playlists

133 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 3rd November 2010 – James Battin

Morning all. Running a wee bit late today, so I won’t bore you with much blurb – let’s just rip back the blurby wrapper and get to the juicy, gooey playlist centre yeah?

Today’s playlist is from Tomorrow’s Sounds Today / Classics Collected czar, James Battin and is entitled “Around the World In 18 Tunes”. Ta, fella.

Take care,
Dave

James Says:

So, today I don my top hat and Phileas Battinski invites you to come around the world in 18 tunes. The concept behind this playlist was to really try and demonstrate that there is a huge wealth of music out there in the world, and often in places you might not expect to look. Most of the general public, I worry, are out there being drip fed their X Factor pop pound spinners and they often don’t have a look around them.

I’ve chosen 18 tracks from 18 different locations to highlight that you really can find some great music out there in that world of ours. In this first run I’ve not even gone that far off spectrum and tried to include more established acts – so as not to go all out on the first trip.

Grab your passports and get ready as we visit the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Japan, China, Brazil and more.

Hit the link for the breakdown…

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Reviews

Review: Daft Punk – Discovery

Everybody has an album that reminds them of their youth; an album which, when played, never fails to bring them back to another point in their life.

For me, Daft Punk‘s 2001 release, Discovery, is the album of my youth. To this day, opening dance masterpiece ‘One More Time’ remains one of my favourite all time tracks, due entirely to it’s energy and the power screaming out from it’s anthemic refrain. Even when I re-visit the album now I still feel as moved as I did the first time I heard it. I suppose that’s the sign of a truly great album; it continues to educate and surprise.

Two years after the release of their hugely influential debut Homework, Daft Punk set to work on a new album which they hoped would sonically encapsulate the idea of discovering and exploring life as a child. The resulting 14 track collection has a playful and more gentle feel to it than some of the more raw moments on Homework. Although trademark Daft Punk traits can be clearly heard throughout, such as the crisp 4/4 rhythm on tracks like ‘Face To Face’ and ‘Verdis Quo’, a more synth-heavy approach allows the album to gracefully flow through a number of themes and styles.

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Features Playlists

Feature: Tomorrow’s Sounds Today

Hello and welcome to another edition of Tomorrow’s Sounds Today, where, as always, our crack team at Spotisfaction have crossed palms with silver, tossed runes, followed black cats and polished crystal balls till our fingers were mere nubs to bring you the latest and greatest releases on the Spotify shelves.

Also I’m afraid I’d also like to have a little moan but best to get it out of the way before the good music! I’m not sure if this is a function of Spotify or their wrangling with the evils that are record executives (I have my suspicions but at the moment they are unproven), but a number of the newer releases I’ve been listening to recently are starting to have that growing trend of only including part of the full release. It can’t be my account as I’m currently running the full premium (mostly so I can listen on my iPad) so I can only assume its deliberate. My concern is that some bright spark at (x) records has decided that if we cant hear the full album on Spotify, we’ll rush to the nearest MP3 vendor or better still, the killer margin of a high street record store to buy their wares. Can I just say, if any of you are listening, no this won’t! It will make me more likely to look online for the rest of the album. Once I have made the decision to spend my hard earned on streaming services I am not buying your overpriced plastic discs! Recent articles have shown in some territories, Spotify makes more for the artist than regular sales, stop robbing us of half the album!

”¦. and breathe…

Onto the good stuff! This week we have a nice mix of genres for you. In the lead up to Christmas I’m sure we’ll start to see the compilations and seasonal albums ramp up, but for the moment we’re still getting normal releases thankfully!

UNKLE ”“ Where Did The Night Fall – Opinion appears to be divided as to whether the current releases by UNKLE are as good as their early work, personally I’m a fan of all their albums but I’m sure the debate could rage in the comments section :) This album was an easy choice for me following my slightly unhealthy repeated plays of one of its tracks, Follow Me Down which reminds me of early Sneaker Pimps. This record contains some great guess artists and a good range of subtle blending of styles which for me just create a really complete sound and a really solid record. To those new to the artist, there is nothing about this record that will disappoint, but to those fans of the old, I’ll leave you to make your own minds up!

Rumer ”“ Seasons Of My Soul ”“ Considering the amount of coverage and hype Rumer has had, its hard not to remember this is still her debut album. Countless comparisons to the likes of Karen Carpenter are easy enough to hear in both her voice and the tunes, but at the same time these comparisons feel a little lazy. One of two of the tracks certainly seem to have been written to show that style of vocal of which she’s more than capable of, but she also has enough range to be strong on her own and not just be seen as a clone of a former favourite of the collected consciousness. This album might feel safe to some but I see it as a great example of someone playing to their strengths. It’s a perfect sunny morning, coffee and danish, feel good about yourself record and I think there are days we all need that.

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Playlists

132 Spotisfaction Monday – 1st November 2010 – Woody Whyte

Morning kids. I hope your weekend was as awesome as mine – spent my Saturday screaming like a little girl at Alton Towers, and then spent an extra hour in bend on Sunday. Bliss. Now though, I’m hoarse as hell and work today is a bit of a shock to the system, I’ll be honest. No matter, though, we have another playlist to get us through the Monday blues!

Today’s playlist is by staff-member Woody Whyte, and is curiously entitled “In Bed With Grace Jones”. Incredibly camp playlist today, sir. I approve.

See you folks on Wednesday,
Dave

Woody Says:

So, I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking when I came up with the title of this playlist. Obviously, I was thinking of Grace Jones, but this playlist isn’t a list of songs I would play her if we did happen to end up in bed together, which lets face it, is probably unlikely. But anyway, this playlist is more a collection of songs which, after listening to ‘Slave to the Rhythm’, got my brain all excited about the prospect of a playlist of new wave/electronic/pop and everything inbetween music from the 80s and early 90s.

I would recommend you only play this to other people if they already expect you to play socially awkward music at the complete wrong time. Otherwise, listen in your room and freak out like you’re Kate Bush on acid for an hour. It will do your soul wonders…

Woody x

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Features

Feature: Gig Rig

Afternoon guys and gals, it’s Friday again which means it’s time for the fortnightly lowdown on forthcoming gigs. November is shaping up quite nicely for live music ”“ so far I’ve got tickets to see !!!, LCD Soundsystem/Hot Chip and Sleigh Bells, all of which should be pretty awesome.

Here’s my highlights of the new gig listings this week:

Fear Factory are predominantly an industrial metal band, who formed in the late 80s but then decided to go their separate ways in 2006 to work on individual projects. They have since re-formed, releasing their seventh studio album, Mechanize (not on Spotify yet :( ), earlier this year and will be playing a handful of UK gigs in December.

American indie rockers Band of Horses, whose 2010 album, Infinite Arms, is absolutely sublime will be hitting stages in the UK in January/February time next year.

If you fancy something a little more upbeat and live in the Bristol area, then you can catch Penguin Prison at Start the Bus in November or Metronomy at Thekla in January.

Cheers!

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131 Spotisfaction Friday – 29th October 2010 – Dave Christensen

I’m not sure if it’s WordPress being annoying, me failing, or people not refreshing their browsers before editing stuff (*cough*), but for some reason today’s post reverted back to it’s pre-edit version and we lost all the changes. So here, again, is Dave Christensen with his “2009” playlist. Thanks, fella.

Hopefully this now works!
Dave

Dave C Says:

Ahhh 2009, that was a good year, wasn”™t it? Nostalgia ain”™t what it used to be…

We have two great features on Spotisfaction ”“ Tomorrow”™s Sounds Today and Classics Collected. The first tries to introduce us to a new selection of albums with some clever connection. The other forces us to “blow the dust off some records” that we might not have heard for a while or might have missed. ‘Why is there no middle ground?’ I think, while I struggle to find a niche for myself as a new contributor here. Well, maybe I”™ve found it, or maybe this is just a single playlist. Yeah, it”™s just a playlist.

So, I made a massive playlist of albums that were released in 2009 and that I listened to loads last year, but not much since. Then I listened to the lot and narrowed it down to an appropriately sized playlist. I think these are some great tracks from mostly brilliant albums (not Phrazes For The Young, that was awful). I hope you enjoy it. If not, make your own damn 2009 playlist. It took bloody ages.

Dave

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Features

Live: Levellers Present Levelling the Land Live

Every now and then something happens to remind you that you aren”™t as young as you used to be (and I”™m not talking about the hangover I had this weekend, here). The first thing that made me feel old was earlier this year when I found out Marathon hadn”™t been called Marathon for 20 years! (for younger readers Marathon is the old name for Snickers). The latest thing that reminded me of the passing of the years was Levellers announcing they were on tour again next year. Now, you may ask why such an announcement would make me feel old? Well, the reason is that this tour for Levellers is to mark the 20th anniversary of their album Levelling the Land, and the first ever concert I attended was on the original tour for that album all those years ago.

Levellers, and indeed Levelling the Land, mark a special point in my music growth. Not only was this my first gig, but Levellers were one of the first bands that I introduced to my older brother rather than the other way round. Since then I have, of course, gone on to develop my own music tastes, but this album marked one of the first steps on my journey of musical discovery.

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Reviews

Review: Bob Dylan – The Witmark Demos 1962-1964

I want to admit from the start that I am a big Dylan fan and that he is one of my favourite artists of all time. I was already a devotee when I first got Spotify, but my love for him grew as I was able to listen to any and all of his huge back catalogue and wasn”™t restricted to the 7 or so albums I already owned. Then a terrible thing happened. He disappeared from Spotify. Possibly never to return.

This has led to my developing hatred of Bob. I still love the music, but the man seems ridiculous and irritating. I don”™t understand why he removed his music from Spotify and other similar services. How much is he worth? Does he really fear reduced album sales, as a result of music streaming, and therefore a reduced income? Apparently he doesn”™t like big screens at the sides of the stage at gigs because of the opportunity it gives people to record his concerts, which presumably would stop them buying DVDs or possibly even stop them from going to the concerts. Finally there is this Bootleg Series, which seems like a way to sell more albums without any more work. Maybe I”™m a cynic.

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Playlists

130 Spotisfaction Wednesday – 27th October 2010 – Kev Atkinson

Afternoon all. Sorry for the website outage this morning – our provider had a bit of a hiccup (they managed to lose an entire datacentre, bless ’em), so we were out for most of the morning. Back now, though (uh, obviously otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this…), so apologies for the delay to the playlist today.

We’re running a little short on playlists at the moment – if you have an idea for a concept; if you have a story you’d like to tell with music; or if you just want to chuck a bunch of random tracks into Spotify, please send them our way and we’ll publish them.

Today’s playlist comes from Kev Atkinson and is entitled “The A-Z”. Brilliant concept, and a very enjoyable playlist. Thanks fella!

Laters,
Dave

Kev Says:

As a little side project on my personal blog I”™ve been creating a series of playlists with artists starting with the letter A and working my way towards Z. When I started on this project I quickly hit upon the problem of what to do with bands that began with “The”, did I ignore the “The” or did they all count as Ts? Well the decision I made was to discount any artist beginning with “The” and create a separate playlist for them. Once I started on this idea I took it one step further; could I do a complete playlist of artists beginning with The and then the following words going from A to Z? Well I came close and thanks to James for coming up with an I as I was completely stumped by that one.

Kev

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Features

Feature: The Death of the Festival Headliner

So, another year of festivals completed. Having attended Reading along with a host of smaller local festivals, and having read about and seen the TV coverage of Glastonbury, I was left with the feeling that maybe the notion of the true ‘headliner’ at such events has had its day – either that or maybe this just wasn’t the year for it.

I’ll start with Reading as thats the biggest festival I attended this year, with the three headliners being Guns ‘n’ Roses, Arcade Fire and Blink-182.

On first inspection, only one of these leapt out a bona fide show stopper, which to me is what being headliner is all about; something that will draw people in whether the casual music listener or the die-hard fan, and that was Guns ‘n’ Roses. And, despite all the stories surrounding the band that really should be known as ‘Axl & Co’, things had seemed promising, with reports of a very talented group of musicians playing a bunch of undeniably classic songs, along with some stuff from the recent album Chinese Democracy.

Sadly when the band eventually hit the stage (an hour and half late – thanks Axl!), though the music was there, it was one of the most heartless displays of rock ‘n’ roll I have ever witnessed. This was just compounded by the crowd’s reaction; hearing 80,000 people boo is quite a sound, and sadly many, myself included, were left majorly dissatisfied by the Friday headliners.

So, I thought to myself, that wasn’t so good, but Blink-182 should be a fun, upbeat crowd-pleaser on Sunday.

Maybe I came to this show with rose-tinted specs having attended my first Reading festival in 2000 with the express purpose of seeing Blink, but I don’t think my disappointment can be put down solely to fanciful memories.

While bassist Mark and drummer Travis were both on fine form, the band and the show were let down disastrously by Tom De Longe. Whether he was actually out of his tree, or just acting it, was unclear. And it really didn’t matter, as either way his performance was abysmal. It felt like watching a member of an under-rehearsed teenage band playing their first show. Maybe this was intended as charm to remind us they were a ‘punk’ band in their heyday, but if it was, it sadly didn’t work.

So another headliner and another disappointment.

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Features Playlists

Feature: Classics Collected

Hello and welcome to another edition of Classics Collected, where we at Spotisfaction Towers go all Time Team on you and dig up some classic record relics (and Dave would make a good Tony Robinson).

Presented to the experts for valuation this week (purely for insurance purposes, naturally) are a nice mix of styles from Rock through Hip-Hop and Dance to the Tarzan and Jane of Jungle. I’m sure each one will come back from auction as a bobby dazzler and we hope you enjoy them too. As always, make good use of our comments system, let us know our hits and misses and if you have any suggestions for future editions, be they albums, artists or themes, then let us know!

Stereophonics ”“ Word Gets Around – Deluxe Edition – Our first choice this week is an album I’ve long known that I would be including at some stage, but my hand has been forced by its recent re-issue (or at least re-inclusion to Spotify) as a deluxe edition. With many of our choices, the albums represent a great deal to those of us, and indeed to those of you who were of a certain age at a certain time. This album in itself represents a great piece of songwriting, let alone as a debut, with each song expertly spinning its own tale of life. Its impact to my social scene at the time was huge and, as a result, this album and its follow-up will always have a special place in my heart.

Ocean Colour Scene ”“ Moseley Shoals – This album was chosen as it had a similar impact to the above at the time of its release. Helped a little by heavy use on the popular show TFI Friday I’m sure, and spawing a large number of songs, this was a massive commercial breakthrough for the group. It started a miniature mod revolution on the back of it and, for a few summers, you didn’t have to go far to find coverage of Ocean Colour Scene.

DJ Shadow ”“ Endtroducing… – This artist has a massive heritage in the hip-hop production scene and has worked with more artists over his career than I’ve had pointless arguments on internet forums. This was an important breakthrough album for DJ Shadow and as a piece of musical work created almost entirely on samples and loops, it inspired a massive number of bedroom breakbeat Beethovens.

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Playlists

129 Spotisfaction Monday – 25th October 2010 – James TAE

Goood moorning Spotisfactionnn, gooood moorning eeverybody.

Hope you’re all well. London is both sunny and absolutely freezing at the moment, I think it’s going to be another iced-over winter. I’m looking forward to the days when I don’t have to come to work because of it. Then I can work on playlists all day, which is why we’re all here, right? Of course, you don’t want to hear from me all the time, and truth be told neither do most people here at the site, so make sure you get your best (and worst) playlists submitted to us. Check the Submission Guide on how to do so. Keep those playlists a-comin’!

My playlist today is entitled Poets Union, and it’s a collection of songs featuring my favourite verses, lines, spits and flows. You might look at the list and think that there are some dubious choices, but hopefully I present here an appreciable bunch of lyrics and performances. By way of a blurb, I think I’ll quote a favourite line or two from each of the songs. You can just leave this here and listen to the playlist, or read on for these snippets from the songs.

Take it easy
James

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