Come Together – Primal Scream

Last week the music world mourned the loss of Andrew Weatherall. The tributes have come raining in – he was clearly an amazing man, as well as being a uniquely talented artist and producer. For a full piece on him read his The Times obit here, or JD Twitch’s ode on RA here.

I was due to see him alongside his long-time friend and collaborator Sean Johnston (as A Love From Outer Space) last week, and the night went ahead as a tribute to the big man. The club (and the floor) was full from 10pm until close at 4am, and the atmosphere was special – the crowd felt filled with his friends and family.

Andrew produced Primal Scream’s Screamadelica, and Sean closed the night with a blissed out, full volume cut of Come Together. Goosebump-raising stuff. Enjoy the original here.

More from me on ALFOS here and here. Finally, if you are a Weatherall super-fan, you can browse and download around 900 hours of his mixes here, on a fan-built Google Drive. Big props.

JPEG – Digitalism

Remember when Digitalism were just so on it? The year was 2007, and the album was Idealism. Pogo, proper stuff. Anyway now it’s 2020 and they’ve lost a bit of their lustre, but it still ain’t bad. Their 4th album is called JPEG and it came out a few months ago.

In particular, check out Panavision for some uplifting electronic fun.

Bonus album: yeah I’m not going to leave you hanging like that.

Utai IV: Reawakening – Kenji Kawai

Want to get something in your earholes that is equal parts eerie, uplifting and foreboding? Then look no further than Kenji Kawai’s Utai IV.

It was written by Kenji for the 1995 Japanese Anime classic, Ghost in the Shell. The film was remade recently and picked up a lot of criticism for white-washing (plus being generally a bit crap). In the same way, this iconic track was butchered by Steve Aoki – he brought some completely unwelcome bro-step energy to it and the whole thing was a mess.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it in its full, unadulterated glory.

New Shit Has Come to Light – Lovebirds

A cheeky little 3-tracker from Lovebirds. If I had to sum it up in three words I would say: happy dancefloor grooves.

But I don’t have to sum it up in three words. I have as many as I want. It’s my blog. Here are some more words.

It kicks off with Glove, a pleasing little house number with the kind of bassline that sort of went out of fashion in 2012, kicking in around 3 minutes in. Next we have Da Sixty – smooth where Glove is funk, but still with the time to incorporate a little Hugh Masakela sample. I don’t hate it. Finally, the stand-out track is Disco Train – as you would expect from the title it lifts heavily from Kiki Gyan’s song of the same name, but gives it a little bassy re-rub.

Not an EP that is ever going to blow your mind, but its nice, its tidy and it’ll give you some nice toe-tapping moments.

Bonus track: I’ve had to go to Youtube to find a full-length version of this beauty from 2011. Lovebirds’ all time #1 smasher, Want You in My Soul.

placeholder – Hand Habits

A bit of a change of pace here – something to nurse your Sunday heads. Meg Duffy’s Hand Habits was my most-played band of 2019; I’m slightly hooked on their particular brand of wistful folk . Lead singer Meg Duffy’s vocals waver in a fragile kind of way that draws emotion right to the surface. It’s beautiful, it’s calming and feels real. I hope you like.

Bonus album: placeholder is her second album, but the first, Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void), is just as nice. Enjoy.

There’s a lot more to say about Meg Duffy, but I don’t really feel qualified. If you want to read more about how her album is “staging queer stories against a wistful Americana backdrop” then read this Pitchfork review.

Radical (Feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) – Amtrac

Radical combines Amtrac’s characteristically picturesque electronica grooves with the yearning vocals of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ Orlando. It’s a soft, sweeping number that really grows on each listen. Enjoy.

Amtrac is due to release his second album titled Oddyssey later this year, a full 9 years since his last album, Came Along. Keep your eyes open, the other singles have been on point.

More Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs here.