50 quid bloke

..that Charlotte Church single’s really quite good…isn’t it? [watch the video]

Where did I find out about Halloween, Alaska? A review in Uncut or Word? Someone’s blog? The credits on the OC? Oh God, I’ve got no idea. All I know is it arrived yesterday (had to be ordered from amazon.com), and I’m completely smitten with it. What a piece of utter electro-ambient loveliness.

They’re clearly already on Josh Schwartz’s iPod - as they’ve had a couple of tracks appear on the OC (unsurprisingly - on Amazon, people who bought this, also bought OC favourite Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism)…including the quite wonderful All The Arms Around You, which is a wonderful post-club anthem. It has one of those moments where after meandering along nicely for a couple of minutes, the drums kick in properly and your whole body goes ‘aaaaaaaaaahhhh’. There’s a re-mix version on the Album…but it could do with another slightly peppier one, just to be safe.

At one point, they do a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s State Trooper from Nebraska. Now, the original is a pared down acoustic grumble, that goes nowhere but is none the worse for it. Their version is like an early 80s electronic track (anyone remember Pink Industry?), that chugs and builds and builds…..ooooh, very nice indeed.

OK…as you can tell, I quite like it. I suggest you try it. If anyone knows a UK site you can buy it from…please say so.

Oh, and the Enhanced Cd version even has MP3s of instrumental versions of all the songs. A bargain.

Here’s their entry in Wikipedia; Some free MP3s of theirs and a few more on their official site.

Well, ok, the good weather’s now officially over, and we’ve had our longest day, but musically, the Summer’s just begun.

Take the Magic Numbers’s Heavenly - an ideal summer album if ever there was one. And rightly praised pretty much everywhere. It’s one of those albums that manages to sound like lots of things you’ve heard before, but still be distinctive. To me it sounds more than a little like a pepped-up Lambchop - which is no bad thing, because Lambchop, for all their charm, can often be just that little bit soporific. And then there’s more than a passing resemblence to the Thrills - but without all that mock-California nonsense. Anyway, it’s perfect summer pop: sort of like Pimms…goes down easily, but just enough of a kick to be worth your while.

And it wouldn’t be summer without Royksopp? Their latest - the Understanding is perfect music for the garden, early in the morning…just after you’ve got back from a club…or, more likely, these days while you’re burning burgers on a Sunday afternoon barbeque. Observer Music Magazine made The Understanding their album of the month. And it’s very lush and lovely and in its more full-blown moments would probably benefit from being listened to over great big headphones while lying on the grass. Get to it quick before the ad men get to it and make you sick of it.

Oh - and while we’re talking about Norwegian ambient/ dance/ whatever… someone at work told me to get into Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren band: so I bought Your New Best Friends. It’s a bit more squelchy than Royksopp…but really rather fine, none the less…definitely recommended.

Now, here’s a surprise one: Foo Fighters. You might know that their latest In Your Honour has two CDs, ‘one loud, one not so loud’. Basically, I reckon they accept that they’re now a bit too old to be doing the whole full-blown rawk-and-roll thing (basically, it’s just not dignified after 30…) and they turned up to the studio really want to make a nice gentle acoustic album. They soon realised, however, that this was a complete commercial non-starter…so they banged out the Loud cd to keep their fans happy, and bundled it in with acoustic one to keep themselves happy.

Anyway - it’s very nice: not what you’d expect at all…really quite subtle in places (I’m no Foo Fighters connoiseur, but subtlety isn’t something I normally associate with them - hell there’s even a bit of Bossa Nova in there), and much more interesting than the loud cd. Still, I reckon they’re ultimately a better loud band than quiet one.

Interestingly - the UK edition (on Amazon) spells ‘Honour’ with the ‘U’, I ordered a version from CD Wow that doesn’t have the ‘U’ in it. Is this standard practice…? Did they hold meetings to discuss it? Or did it just get changed by an eager proof-reader on this side of the Atlantic?

Given my slight geekiness, my love of music, my delusions of creativity and my happiness at spending hours upon hours noodling on computers, there is little doubt that if I was suddenly 19 again, I would spend all my time making music on computers.

I mean, why sit there trying to write a book that no-one will ever read, when you can try to make an album that no-one will ever listen to? Same machine - much cooler outcome (musicians - even failed ones - get invited to much better parties than authors).

I would however, find that starting from a blank slate is far, far too much effort - and would end up resorting to bootlegging/ mash-ups etc. And one day - after many years, I might be as good as Party Ben.

He did the whole Boulevard of Broken Tunes thing with Green Day and Oasis, which was so simple and effortless - and just, well, right..that you now can’t hear one song without expecting the other to cut in.

On Sunday he posted a mash up of Snoop Dog’s Drop It Like It’s Hot, and Led Zepp’s Whole Lotta Love (3MB MP3) to Boing Boing (sidenote: the Led Zep re-re-revival is heading for the mainstream…you have been warned), which is enormous fun…and sent me back to his site where I found he’d done a mix of the Killers Somebody Told Me with The Clash’s Rock The Casbah: Somebody Rock Me (he’s also done an Adamski vs Killers vs Basement Jaxx).

Excellent. Now that’s what I’d like to do for a living!

Anyway - it’s all available on his downloads page.

All of which takes me in another direction - Dont’ you think that Somebody Told Me is one of the all time great pop songs ever…definitely the best single of the last 12 months? Whenever it pops up I have to put it on repeat about 50 times. I’ve actually taken detours in the car just so I can hear it another time on the CD player. I find it strangely life-affirming to be able to get that excited about a song at my advanced stage in life. Or should I keep that quiet?

I loved Sons and Daughter’s EP from last year: Love The Cup. So I was almost paralysed with excitement when their album The Repulsion Box finally arrived this week.

Perhaps I’d just got myself a little too excited, because even though its good - it’s not quite as good as I’d hoped.

It’s got the whole indie-hillbilly thing going, with lots of mandolins and footstomping and fuzzy guitars etc but it’s all just a little flat. Still, that’s probably just my over expectations speaking…it’s still better than most of the stuff that arrives in the post, and a refreshing change from the latest tweak on 80s indy pop. If I ever went out any more I’d probably love them to bits live.

I had no such expectations of Ryan Adams’ latest: Cold Roses. I’ve never really got into him - but I think both Word and Uncut said this was his finest…so, being easily swayed, I splashed out. And, you know what…it’s pretty good. You should try it.

My brother-in-law is getting married on June 25. I’m really rather looking forward to the wedding (our first with Esme)…however, it does mean that for the first time in a while we won’t be heading to Glastonbury. I’d love to have caught the La’s and get up to the usual shenanigans at Lost Vagueness, but having just listened to some of the latest offerings from Coldplay and the White Stripes, it looks like I’m going to be seriously missing out there as well.

Oh, not Coldplay you say…well, yes, sort of. The story around X&Y - EMI shareprice, release via ringtone etc etc - is much more interesting than the album itself, which has sort of washed over me. Yes, yes, it’s all very pretty but there’s not much there that grabs you…even in that sort of gentle way that their last couple of albums did. However, I was much more impressed when - in the name of research (honest!), I stumbled across a torrent of them performing at Koko in Camden (you can still hear it, I think - on the Radio One site). They’re so much more, well…interesting live…which is why this review is much nicer than this one.

White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan is - and I think this is the technical term - a completely belting album; and unlike Colplay’s latest enough of a shift in direction to keep you on your toes. The opening track, Blue Orchid, has more energy than a barrel full of Red Bull and after that it just keeps on bouncing all over the place: noisy bits, quiet bits, rootsy, bluesy and then full-on rawk and roll. Really quite wonderful. There’s quite a lot more than a nod in the direction of Led Zep here. I think that’s a good thing…