Congratulations Speech Debelle

Now, we may not have been right in our prediction, but boy are we pleased that Speech Debelle was selected to win this year’s Mercury Music Prize for her superb debut album, Speech Therapy. PM was at the launch of the album in Madame Jojo’s earlier in the year (thanks for the beer tokens, Big Dada records) and even as early as that it was clear that the record was unique at its inception.

You can read PM’s review of the album here and here, and our initial (brief) predictions here. There will now, no doubt, be countless observations of how, in actual fact, this isn’t so challenging as an album and therefore not worthy of such a win. It’s not supposed to be challenging, it’s supposed to be good – and it is. You’d do well to find someone who tells their stories so sensitively and, more to the point, who quietly opposes the conventional notions of females in hip-hop. Her vulnerabilities, masked by bald cheek, are at the fore and make for a deeply satisfying album that, musically, is tremendous fun as well.  So, anyone with reactionary opinions that decry the record as merely being accessible hip-hop must consider exactly why that might be a good or a bad thing, and re-apply said opinion.

Juice Aleem for next year’s prize.

Euros Childs – Like This? Then Try This

PM has been a long-time fan of the ramblings of Euros Childs, and this brand new album track from his FREE album (entitled, in a non-mistaken way, Son Of Euro’s Child) out TODAY is as a good a reason as any to think that PM is always right.

Anyway, you can get hold of the album at Euros’ website. Try it!

Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling

… means ‘I Have Got To Feeling’.

Nice one, Will.I’m.

Also, get a hyphen in your name. What’s an Eyed Pea?

Japandroids Videos

Getting dangerously interested in Japandroids now. Head here for a total shed-load of interviews and performances. The interviews feature a blond man.

Here’s a funtime video that isn’t at that link:

Amazing. Myspace. Review. Review.

Why Did No-One Tell Me About How Amazing Grizzly Bear Are?

Seriously, I mean, PM prides itself on being pretty clued up on “what’s happening”, but for some reason we totally ignored Grizzly Bear. We even saw them at ATP for about twenty nice-enough minutes, but obviously not the bit of the set where they did THIS:

Which is obviously tremendous. Been sent this single to review and it’s unstoppable. Been listening to it on repeat for some hours now…  also doing some back-catalogue exploring, and thoroughly enjoying it. Mostly, it has to be said, we keep going back to this one performance. It’s the restraint, the accuracy, the poise and the final moments when the climactic “whoo-aaa-ooooh…” arrives circa 3:31. Try that on.

MySpace.

New Dananananaykroyd Video – Some Dresses

“This is a song about some dresses…”

Very few artists would prompt immediate PRESS CAMPAIGNING from PM, but suffice to say Dananananaykroyd are one of them. One member down (again), they’re still special and destined for notoriety (maybe moreso than popularity, but who’s to say they aren’t mutually exclusive?). Either way, Stacy at Bang On PR, YES, I will definitely post this on my site. Because it’s a winner.

Some Dresses, as you should know, is one of the band’s finer compositions. Intricate and with some innovative guitar work, it’s about dancing in a dress and making a dress and shouting about it and hips and all that. In the old recoring of it, there was a nifty guitar line towards the end that did a crazy Faustian evocation of a spinning wheel, a la Charles Gounod. It hasn’t translated quite so clearly to the album recording, but COME ON. From the first time I heard it (I’m estimating it was somewhere towards the end of 2006), a month has not passed without some version of it being played in the house. Fine, fine.

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Have a little visit.

Mercurys…

The nominations are, apparently:

Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires

Sweet Billy Pilgrim – Twice Born Men

Speech Debelle – Speech Therapy

Florence and The Machine – Lungs

Kasabian – West Rider Lunatic Pauper Asylum

Led Bib – Sensible Shoes

The Invisible – The Invisible

La Roux – La Roux

Glasvegas – Glasvegas

Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Lisa Hannigan – See So

The Horrors – Primary Colours

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Who should win? Speech Debelle, obvs. Who will win? La Roux. We’ll see! We made a list of albums we thought would be on the list in the office, and got 8 out of 12. Pretty good, yep?

An Anthology Of Insults

Further to yesterday’s self-indulgence (and because the ony reviews I’ve written in the past week can’t be published here for the moment), here is a nice list of all the times readers have truly excercised their right to reply. For the most part, these are culled verbatim from Drowned In Sound, but there are some gems from this ‘blog and some other interactive holes as well. I’d love to go through and link them all the specific reviews, but I’m at work. Soz.

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“You are an absolute moron, Daniel Ross. You arse.”

“One grasps for more wit to demean this review than this protracted rebuff, but there really is too much wax in Daniel Ross’ ears.”

“Daniel: never write about music again.”

“Seriously though, you’re a towel.”

“… but seriously Mr. Ross… you barely deserve to have ears, never mind a position as a music journalist.”

“… the worst thing about the internet is that any idiot can be a critic nowadays. What a crock of shit review!!!”

“It’s not my type of music but you obviously have some kind of vendetta…. did the drummer sleep with your sister?”

“Go to see them and in front of their fans afetr a gig. Try and stand outside and stand by your review as they rip you to shreads.”

“Do you even listen to music? Perhaps the sound is a bit muffled being so shoved up your own arse!”

“Lazy ass review from a cynical peice of shit. Go back and listen to Lil Wayne, you faggot.”

“the sad motherf%&cker is probably still waiting for the backstreet boys comeback lol.”

“You are a wrong.”

“What a pointless review you bitter prick. Keep spunking on your freelance “journalist” work, A NORMAL JOB BECKONS FOR YOU. Prrrrrrrick.”

“Sounds like they broke in and buttfuc*ed your Grandad!”

“Listen up you trash talking wanker…you talk about the masses bestowing legend status on U2 for sticking around for 30+ years (oh you noticed that , huh?) and this really isn’t a small feat because any band can do that these days (name one other band to do it successfully with all original members in tact) Obviously you have no clue what’s going on with this new album which I can firmly declare as one of there best to date! That’s right, I said it. Joshua Tree it’s not… but then again it’s not 1987 is it. No, it’s not…hmmm. You have the utter audacity to call this record ugly and speak nothing of the joy that it radiates. For example many critics have fired on Bono for using the lyric “I was born to sing for you” on “Magnificent” calling it pompous and pretentious. Which may actually have a ring of truth if this line was aimed at the fans…not the case…It’s a heartfelt outpouring of joy to give praise to his maker. The album is filled with examples of these kind of misunderstood lines. And furthermore…you make light of the line “reboot yourself” as if “Unknown Caller” is a song of silly subject matter..??????? wtf man. Obviously you haven’t suffered enough to realize the power of these words. How about this instead of trashing this latest effort, and holding it up against every other album they’ve ever made…actually listen to it and try to appreciate it for the great work it is.

And that’s what I got to say about that!”

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A towel? Mental. For the record, I was totally right in all of these reviews.

This is what the week looks like:

If, PR person, you can see one of your representatives’ albums/singles loitering in that pile, then I’m on it. Honest. I think that’s the new Anti-Pop Consortium record on the top. I just want to listen to that one again… Currently working on the new Blindfold album. Who are they please?

Anti-Pop Consortium – Apparently

Anti-Pop Consortium – Apparently (Big Dada)

This free download from Anti-Pop Consortium’s forthcoming album (PM has a copy, watermarked and personalised…) assembles their tenets perfectly. Apparently is wormy and by no means immediate, even though it’s got a monstrous hook. Only brains as warped as those in APC could make such a feature of their relaxed intelligence, and they collectively trip over themselves in their rush to recline, all in an agreeably brief timescale of two and a half minutes.

That they’ve elected not to polarise their famed clinical deliveries with emotive subject matters makes the whole song deliciously ‘other’. The undulating free-forms of lyrics preoccupied with Blackberries and HD are simultaneously machined and enveloping, a quiet and malevolent mix that provides tremendous accentuation to the Kraftwerk-esque robotics of the hook… all you need to do is repeat “APPARENTLY” like one of Johnny 5’s compadres from Short Circuit and you’ve got it down. The album, Fluorescent Black, looks to be totally ingenious.

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This is, according to the press release, going to be TOTES FREE for download from Amazon and the Ninja Tune site. I’ve just looked on Amazon, and yep. BANG.