Nine Feet Underground

The best new music I've heard recently has either been from solo female artists or originates from Scandinavia. This post sticks to former though there is one track that fits into both categories... Here's the first three songs: It took a couple of listens find the heart of Julia Holter's new single 'Feel You' but it repays the effort - the sadness and longing at core of this song make it really moving. The phrasing is exquisite and the chorus that begins after the line "Are you mythological?" is like toppling of a cliff, but in a pleasant way :-) In stark contrast 'Dragged Out' - the first song I've heard by Chelsea Wolfe, though this is by no means her first album - has a much darker melancholy at its centre. It sounds like the soundtrack to a soul's descent into hell, a thing of obsidian beauty and is hypnotically compelling. On a slightly lighter note - though perhaps only at the surface - is Roisin Murphy's ...

It's been a while since my last playlist so this time there are five songs rather than the customary three.  At least one of these songs has been bouncing round my brain for several weeks now - more on that below. There's one older track too - though not that old - the title track from Saint Etienne's 2002 album 'Finisterre'. 'Let it Happen' by Tame Impala has been playing in this brain for quite a while now, so much so that I've decided to adopt the title as my new approach to life :-J  This track is one of those restless Tame Impala tracks that seem to start off as one song, go through some changes and finish as a different song. Really can't say much about 'Fool' by Nadine Shah, other than I'm totally hooked. Album's good too.. The second track from Tame Impala's forthcoming album is ''Cause I'm a Man'. Not restless like the first track, it has been a slow burner that's insinuated its way into my b...

I've been entranced by the Father John Misty track since I first heard it on the radio ahead of the album’s release. ‘Chateau Lobby #4’ is a beautiful song of striking imagery written to (or for, or about) his (new) wife.  The album is equally powerful and joyous collection of songs largely on or around the same theme. Metaphysical concerns link the titles of other two tracks for this week: firstly Dragons’ ‘Food for My Soul’ was first released by Ninja Tune in 2007 though had allegedly remained on a shelf since its recording in the late 1960’s – how it failed to see the light of day for so long is a mystery.  In contrast Stereolab’s ‘Tickertape of the Unconscious’ is from their 1997 album ‘Dots and Loops’ – one of the best albums in their extensive recorded career.  This features thanks to a train journey combined with an MP3 player on set to random. As always the playlist is available through YouTube or Spotify…

Every waking moment there’s some tune or other sinuously snaking between, through and round my thoughts, frequently bubbling to the surface like…well, like bubbles surfacing. Three songs have been chasing their tails through my neural pathways this week and they’ve now broken out and surfaced in this playlist…

Great news! Almost 5 years after their last compilation album Amorphous Androgynous have announced the fourth volume in their brain-mashing ‘A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding in Your Mind)’ series.  Subtitled ‘Wizards of Oz’ the latest volume’s name provides a clue to the contents – and no, before you suggest it, it has nothing to do with a similarly-titled film. Due for release on the 23 rd March ‘Wizards of Oz’, like its predecessors is a 2-CD continuous mix of cosmic space music but this time focused on music from Australia and New Zealand.  In part the Australian bias is probably in response to the success of bands like Tame Impala and Pond (both of which feature in the mix), though there are plenty of names new to these ears.  Let’s hope this compilation is as strong as the three volumes that preceded it! More details of the album can be found on the Future Sound of London site  here. In the meantime a couple of tracks have already a...

In order to keep up with the stream of new albums so far this year I recently listened to Natalie Prass and Napalm Death whilst carrying some “brain-largely-not-required” chores.  One thing I generally find difficult is multi-tasking where music is concerned. Very rapidly music gains my full attention and then spreads its tendrils to the pleasure and motor centres of my brain, but the chores were simple enough that the music remained to the fore and the jobs got done. Enough on the idiosyncrasies of my wiring… So, Natalie and the ‘Death – quite a contrast – and not just because Nat’s (hope she doesn’t mind the undeserved familiarity) album is her debut whilst the Nap’s album is their nth – how did they fare I hear you cry? Thanks to the glowing and unanimous praise heaped on ‘Natalie Prass’ – for example ‘a gem of a heartbreak album’ (Observer), 8/10 Uncut – it had to be worth a listen.  Sadly, it didn’t live up to my expectation based on the reviews: the musical s...

I’m always a little wary of bands that choose to name themselves after songs by bands with “cool” or “hip” critical credentials.  For that reason I’ve never taken the time to listen to bands like Death Cab for Cutie , Hunters and Collectors or Eric’s Trip to name but three: for the same reason I have ignored Spoon until now. Turns out this is a prejudice I must reconsider: Spoon ’s latest album ‘They Want My Soul’ is the sound of a band totally comfortable with their on song writing ability and willingness to experiment with their sound. The band, a five-piece, has a pretty traditional rock line-up - guitars, drums and keyboards – but on this album uses effects and treatments to get a more spacey sound that makes the fairly straightforward arrangements sound fresh. Highlights of the album include the title track ‘They Want Your Soul’, and ‘Do You’ and ‘Inside out’.   Take a listen to the title track on YouTube: Or alternatively the whole album o...

Here's the second playlist in Spotify:

This is the first in a series of playlists charting a musical course through the days, weeks, months, years – you get the picture ;-) The foundation of the playlists are in Spotify, but often, that’s not enough because many of the things I hear can’t be found there for a whole host of reasons. So the Spotify playlist is the core of this “project”, but it will be augmented with music from other sources only to be found here.   The first playlist omits two songs that shout out to be heard, more of which below… Here’s the first list in Spotify… Two songs that were planned for this list didn’t make the Spotify version as neither album, at the time of compilation and writing, is available there... The first is Sir Reality from Todd Rundgren's 2013 album 'State' released on the Esoteric Antenna label:    The other is from an album originally released in March 1975, made available by Esoteric / Atomhenge on it's first official CD release this ye...

T.S. Elliot suggests that April is the cruelest month, but I think the first tendrils of winter and rapidly shortening days of November make April seem positively gentle by comparison.   So to combat the onset of harsher, darker days a playlist of summery and seasonal songs…. Just listen to the playlist on Spotify or enter the labyrinthine world of Nine Feet Underground with video accompaniment, whenever actuality and possibility are as one. Starting off my November playlist is the hazy 2012 take on psychedelia that is ‘You Won’t Be Missing That Part Of Me’ the second single release from the eponymous album by Melody’s Echo Chamber.     Melody Prochet has put together an immersive, melodic album which in songs like ‘Crystallized’ and ‘I Follow You’ transports you to a beach on a summer’s day with warm water lapping gently at your feet.   There is a breathy warmth to her voice which not even the effects and low vocal mix can hide.   Loping beat,...