Thursday, October 06, 2005
HOODIE by LADY SOVEREIGN.
London grime star Lady Sovereign’s Basement Jaxx produced single aint about robbing shops at Bluewater. It’s about stopping your brethren sporting terrible clothes (“Black shoes, white socks – No-o-oh! / Polka dots – No-o-oh!”) and - most importantly - having fun. Hoodie is witty, charming, and could mark the beginning of a more mainstream success for The S-O-V. If you’re not dancing by the end of this record then I don’t want to be your friend.
GALANG by M.I.A.
Galang has been released before so if you’re vaguely cool you’ve heard it and know that it’s frickin ace. The lyrics are a maze of words that vary between what may or may not be nonsense repeatedly chanted and cutting social commentary. The beats are ace and raw. Part dancehall, part hip hop but mostly unlike anything you’ve heard before. And it all comes from a stunning girl who grew up in Sri Lankan village.
CULTURE FOR PIGEON by TRACY + THE PLASTICS
Lesbian feminist artist? Check. Electronic music? Check. Pretentious liner notes and press information sheet? Check. Three members, two of which aren’t “real”? Check. Performances which challenge visual norms? Check. Comparisons to Devo, Numbers and Bikini Kill? Check.
This sounds like it could be my favourite record ever.
Before I could find out whether or not it was my favourite record ever I was met with one compact disc which had TWO SIDES when I opened the case. One side was a DVD, one side a CD. Honestly, the things they can do nowadays amaze me. Maybe this will be my favourite record ever. Unfortunately I don’t have a DVD player and so perhaps I’m missing out the apparently crucial visual aspects of Tracey + The Plastics’ performance. Heck, this is the MUSIC section and not some fangled visual arts section so what do you care about the DVD, right?
The music. Oh, the music. It’s sparse without being the kind of sparse that is boring and too challenging. At times (like in the song Henrietta) it’s like what would happen if Le Tigre took themselves seriously and were suffering from depression. Other times it’s early PJ Harvey with keyboards instead of guitars (like in the song Oh Birds). At all times it’s inventive and fabulously put together.
You can’t fail to like this record if you are into the same things as me. And if you’re not? If all this sounds a bit weird? Then why not take a risk and do something different? This record could act as a nice, safe introduction to even stranger, better things.
Articles written for LSESU's newspaper The Beaver.
London grime star Lady Sovereign’s Basement Jaxx produced single aint about robbing shops at Bluewater. It’s about stopping your brethren sporting terrible clothes (“Black shoes, white socks – No-o-oh! / Polka dots – No-o-oh!”) and - most importantly - having fun. Hoodie is witty, charming, and could mark the beginning of a more mainstream success for The S-O-V. If you’re not dancing by the end of this record then I don’t want to be your friend.
GALANG by M.I.A.
Galang has been released before so if you’re vaguely cool you’ve heard it and know that it’s frickin ace. The lyrics are a maze of words that vary between what may or may not be nonsense repeatedly chanted and cutting social commentary. The beats are ace and raw. Part dancehall, part hip hop but mostly unlike anything you’ve heard before. And it all comes from a stunning girl who grew up in Sri Lankan village.
CULTURE FOR PIGEON by TRACY + THE PLASTICS
Lesbian feminist artist? Check. Electronic music? Check. Pretentious liner notes and press information sheet? Check. Three members, two of which aren’t “real”? Check. Performances which challenge visual norms? Check. Comparisons to Devo, Numbers and Bikini Kill? Check.
This sounds like it could be my favourite record ever.
Before I could find out whether or not it was my favourite record ever I was met with one compact disc which had TWO SIDES when I opened the case. One side was a DVD, one side a CD. Honestly, the things they can do nowadays amaze me. Maybe this will be my favourite record ever. Unfortunately I don’t have a DVD player and so perhaps I’m missing out the apparently crucial visual aspects of Tracey + The Plastics’ performance. Heck, this is the MUSIC section and not some fangled visual arts section so what do you care about the DVD, right?
The music. Oh, the music. It’s sparse without being the kind of sparse that is boring and too challenging. At times (like in the song Henrietta) it’s like what would happen if Le Tigre took themselves seriously and were suffering from depression. Other times it’s early PJ Harvey with keyboards instead of guitars (like in the song Oh Birds). At all times it’s inventive and fabulously put together.
You can’t fail to like this record if you are into the same things as me. And if you’re not? If all this sounds a bit weird? Then why not take a risk and do something different? This record could act as a nice, safe introduction to even stranger, better things.
Articles written for LSESU's newspaper The Beaver.
// posted by laura wolf @ 2:21 PM 
