#1 STACKER

G R R R

WEEKEND TRACK STACKER (Jan 19th Releases)
words: Jamie Milton

Single releases/reviews aren’t all the rage any more. All retailers are off the pulse with them (Woolworths were still stocking the Spice Girls up until a fortnight ago) and purchasers, that’s you lot, don’t um…purchase anymore. Sure, a 7″ frenzy in yr local recordstore is one of the most liberating shopping experiences a man can get but they only happen on rare occasions. But downloading individual tracks is becoming more of a big deal now. Some charts are devoting their stats solely to downloads. So there might be a chance that a digital revolution can get you interested in celebrating individual tracks again.
Hallelujah, here’s MFM to save the day. I suppose this feature’s pretty heavily inspired by Pop Tarts Suck Toasted in some respects; this feature differs in that it deals with all the care-worthy new single releases IN THE UK, alongside a couple of “so hot right now” tracks which we randomly pick off elbo.ws.

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The Antlers – Bear
Brooklyn is positively buzzing. So much so that anything that drips out of its leaky system gets special treatment. The Antlers deserve that little bit of flocking to however. The delicate charmer ‘Bear’ features on ‘Hospice’, which is the FIFTH album the band are self-releasing. Some feat, you may say. Looks like self-releasing might become a little more time consuming now. This gentle yet subtlely pretty-damn-passionate number could practically lunge into some giant radio-station’s chief executive and it’d become a household hit. Actually, that’s probably not true, contemporary Stars never made it and this is a bit too “alt” for hefty dollar consumption, blame the experimental background groan of interestingness.
78%

mp3: The Antlers – Bear (zshare)
The Antlers Myspace
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Feist + Ben Gibbard – Train Song
As brooklynvegan helped us establish, this brilliant charitable compilation, titled ‘Dark Was The Night’ will be unveiling one of its many talents each day on its myspace. Checked up on it today with fingers crossed that we’d be treated to a good’un and whilst this isn’t the sound of Feist breaking ground with her Vashti Bunyan cover (and you can tell it’s a cover, believe me), it does pleasantly remind you of her blissful 2007 release, ‘The Reminder’, much more than it reminds you of Death Cab, that’s for sure. This must’ve been recorded in the same location as that album. Had I not been aware of Vashti Bunyan I’d have easily felt comfortable with this in the middle of the record. Some reverb, some gently plucked acoustics, and that voice and you’ve actually got a cracking cover to come in at the start of the compilation’s first disc.
70%

mp3: Feist and Ben Gibbard – Train Song (zshare)
Pre-order ‘Dark Was The Night’
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Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses * SINGLE OF THE WEEK *
Much fussed has been made, not least on here, about indie darlings Franz Ferdinand’s much-anticipated third release. ‘Tonight:’ is reasonably filler free in comparison to the Scot’s other two records but the catch is a lack of standout tracks. This first single however, is part of the “all killer” criteria. We’ve already let you know how ghastly an experience it is in getting used to the song but once that’s done and dusted, you’ve got time to appreciate an edgy chorus, placed perfectly in the middle of a soon-to-be-iconic vocal performance from that Alex Kapronos bloke. He’s the lead singer most bands dream of having. Charismatic, clever and somehow cool. We know they’re all geeks deep inside but Franz hide it well in this fidgety number.
82%

mp3: Franz Ferdinand – Ulysses
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Little Comets – One Night In October
Cited in some parts as the new band most of us should be lapping up with glee, I personally approach Little Comets with caution. The Geordies’ work so far has been delightful, if a little unconvincing in getting you to crawl back for another listen. They’re a one-night-stand sort of band, love them for a minute and forget about them 24 hours later (don’t go thinking I’ve based this on personal experience, people, I just watch a lot of tv). ‘One Night In October’ is the same game; enjoyable for a fair bit of time and then you just forget to come back to it. So there must be something missing, and there is: charm.
60%

mp3: Little Comets – One Night In October (zshare)
Pre-order the single
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We don’t have quite enough time on our hands to take a look into all the big album releases. We wish we did but here’s a little list of those out tomorrow that’ve been gaining a nice bit of press/praise/buzz. One we’ve reviewed already, the other, we’ll be getting to soon:

Antony & The Johnsons – The Crying Light
White Lies – To Lose My Life

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Have a great week, and keep checking back for that Antony & The Johnsons review, plus a live review of Animal Collective’s Brighton show, and some more rambling paragraphs on the music you should be listening to if you wanna “be there”.

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