Looks like These New Puritans have truly arrived.
A force to be reckoned with in 2010. Coincidentally, Daniel Askill also appears to have hit his creative peak so far by directing this stunning visual piece. Glorious for the whole seven minutes.
words: Jamie Milton/ David Molloy (TNP)
It’s a frightening thought. When you compare the top ten selling UK singles of the 80’s (‘Relax’, ‘Careless Whisper’) to those of today (Bob the Builder, Hear’say), it hits you very hard that there’s been a slight (ok, catastrophic) demise in pop. Winners of talent shows are dominating the charts, journalism is dead, apparently and I’m about to fail my driving test. Life is good. Here’s a playlist to brighten the spirits. None of these will sell in the millions but they’ll make a few people’s days.
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A name bound to pop up countless times fairly soon, as well as being the kind 
of band to put Spoon out of business, left wondering why they didn’t become “massive” like Free Energy probably will. There’s a Strokes-esque confidence to this band and working with James Murphy will help spread the word. ‘Dark Trance’ is a stylish, stripped-down anthem worth taking notice of.
(mp3)
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The finest contemporary female singer-songwriter Britain can claim to have 
returns with frostbitten feet and a damaged heart. This song, released in time for Christmas, helps you picture those snow-covered February days without the hyperbolic news coverage and grumpy drivers with slippery tyres. This is all about the warm feeling in your heart when the novelty of snow falling arrives.
(mp3 – Marc Riley session)
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‘Blood’, taken from a coherent ‘The Recordings Of The Middle East’ EP, is a 
delicate treat encompassing the gentle, lullaby sounds dripping from every corner of this warm and lovely space The Middle East record their songs in. But it’s not all cuddles and high fives; the closing third of ‘Blood’ shows the kind of bold spirit that’ll ensure a good many eyes are opened.
(mp3)
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These New Puritans’ debut ‘Beat Pyramid’ suggested a band with plenty of 
ambition to spare. The first single from the band’s second album ‘Hidden’ shows just how elaborate the album’s set to be, with it’s loud percussion and cryptic lyrics, still very much New Puritans but still unlike nothing else, stretched and thickened into a seven minute monster. If this is any indication, ‘Hidden’ may well turn heads and be one of the most exciting albums of next year.
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“The body was black and blue” is about as morbid a piece of visual imagery 
that you’re likely to encounter on daytime radio. But, as of last week, ‘It’s Thunder And It’s Lightning’ made a surprise appearance on BBC 6music and everyone in the office took notice. We Were Promised Jetpacks appeal because they produce Frightened Rabbit-esque harmonic charm (making their songs radio-worthy) but they also manage to add that extra little piece of darkness. Gutsy stuff.
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Swords drawn, heads clashed, the sound of conflict appreciated and recorded in sound. These New Puritans play game with the old-fashioned and pacey organ drive of ‘Swords Of Truth‘ in turn making something that sounds ridiculously high-budget; children’s choirs, horn sections, a really clean recording.
‘We Want War’ shows These New Puritans giving darkness a whole new meaning. Stretching beyond seven minutes, Jack Barnett’s increasing hold on the song reaching breaking point. A sample of the song title is deepened beyond touching distance as the fire and fury of conflict formidably gathers before the sound of collapse and defeat ensues. Every trench, gunshot, wound, cry for help. You can truly hear the deafeningly terrifying sound of battle.
You know what it feels like. The second a song you adore kicks in you get them rare feeling of satisfaction and surprise combined. And you can pick these moments out from the rest of the song with ease. But there are a few that you can memorise more than others for their sheer oomph.
Here are our (my) personal favourites. It’s probably quite a personal thing a feature like this so I’m just going to do this through my own thoughts, hopefully you can relate to these though…
—Los Campesinos – We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed – 3:18—
You can feel it coming from a mile off . The title track off LC’s! latest album treats us to a build-up of frustration courtesy of an anxious, restless Gareth Campesinos! gradually reaching his peak of anger with an angered cry of “I HOPE MY HEART GOES FIRST!”. The twee combination of chirpy xylophone/violin/keyboard then decides to kick in again and we’re back to normal.
—Why? – Simeon’s Dilemma – 2:37—
In similar circumstances to our choice above, this song follows a symmetrical pattern through the line of “stalker’s my whole style and if I get caught, I’ll deny, deny, deny” and even though between this lyric there’s an awful lot going on, all you can remember is the last triumphant, twisted cry from Yoni Wolf at the very end of this ironically bright-sounding account of mind-loss.
—Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor – 0:01—
As opposed to the choices above, we get our favourite part of the song from the moment we press play with this one. Hot Chip’s return was meant to be flawed, weighted down by the fame of ‘Over & Over’ but that wasn’t nearly the case. They’d ordered a whole new stock of dancefloor-fillers and we knew it from the second Alexis Taylor required us to “do it, do it, do it now”.
—Metronomy – My Heart Rate Rapid – 0:50—
Joseph Mount may be portrayed as just another electro-indie name out of the hat but he’s actually quite the pioneer. How he manages to craft a dis-jointed mess into a classy pop tune with such ease is beyond me but it’s exemplified in the very finest manner with ‘My Heart Rate Rapid’. A sound of a woman in pleasure (or so we think…) is changing in pitch, the drums are equally indecisive but then it all suddenly comes together in similar vein to ‘We Share Our Mother’s Health’ by the Knife, which was as much of a treat as this is when your slightly puzzled expression is given the order to change into a smile.
—Fleet Foxes – Sun It Rises – 0:48—
Secluded from coca-cola, porn, drugs and whatever else isn’t on offer in the woods, Fleet Foxes’ tales of squirrels and building log fires, as romantic as they may be, aren’t the material of anything special (except in Midlake’s case maybe). But a stereotypical account of a red squirrel quickly transforms into the delightfully atmospheric opening harmony on a quite beautiful album. Rather lovely.
Other Snippets of Sensation:
SANTOGOLD – CREATOR -0:07- that famous “eeryrh-aa-aah-erurr” (we do a different transcribed adaptation of it each time, I swear!) clip.
THESE NEW PURITANS (right) – INFINITY YTINIFNI – 1:00 – A few simple chants from Jack Burnett turn into a psychotic gadget-fest with a spellbinding chorus.
TV ON THE RADIO – DANCING CHOOSE - 0:16 – A frenzied “rap?” from Adebimpe ends in a shamelssly pop hand-clap. Suddenly ‘Dear Science’ comes to life.
If you lovely people have any more to add then comment below with your personal favourites!
PLAY: TV On The Radio – Dancing Choose
PLAY: Hot Chip – Ready For The Floor (Shake A Fist Diplo Mix) (zshare)
[Buy 'Dear Science']
[Buy 'Made In The Dark']
top picture: mediaeater
December the 1st, I’ve just opened (belatedly, I forgot about it completely this morning!) the first door of my “ultimate” advent calender, strictly for adults, and I’ve seen the end of year themes pouring in; last.fm’s “top scrobbled music” charts, gorillavsbear’s very own albums of the year and pitchfork’s user survey that was an awful lot of fun, actually. So it seemed that there was no better time to unveil my own list, before submitting it to the lovely people of hypemachine.
2008 wasn’t the greatest year for music, but I discovered an awful lot more new music than last year. And to dismiss the last 12 months as inferior to 2007 would probably be a little foolish, for we had an awful lot to enjoy. Below are the ten albums that changed my input to this blog and even at times, my outlook on my own music. For those who might ask, MGMT would have been included had their inclusion not had the possibility of raising a debate on “physical, proper releases”. Had I decided to include them, they’d have been in the middle of the list somewhere.
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#10 – The Wave Pictures – Instant Coffee Baby
I refuse to believe that this was the spur-of-the-moment, spontaneous gem that sprung out of nowhere, as the band claim. It sounds rehearsed, mastered infact; chanting in the background adding to the energetic lo-fi atmosphere. If it had been toyed with for months, they’ve done a good job of covering it up but it’d be impossible to conjure this sort of thing up yourself, with such little care.
PLAY: The Wave Pictures – I Love You Like A Madman
[Buy 'Instant Coffee Baby']
#9 – Crystal Stilts – Alight of Night
Halfway through the year I fell upon the self-titled EP and after a few listens I claimed Crystal Stilts to be the best of the lengthy list of “crystal-titled bands”, blame coincidence for that one. They then went on to abolish that punky, lo-fi spirit with a spiralling, soothing debut combining mixed emotions with a shameless edge. It sounded exposed and vulnerable, something I never expected.
[album review of 'Alight Of Night']
#8 – TV On The Radio – Dear Science
I was set upon leaving this one out of the top 10 until
I let the record send me to sleep last night. They say it’s a common fact that you prefer a band’s earlier material so I set myself the task of forgetting all the triumphs that Sitek and co. had created before listening to ‘Dear Science’ once more, and I heard a vast improvement. Lurking inside is a variety of perfectly-crafted pop songs, varying in tone and ambitiousness and even though at times it sounds like something so easily crafted, it was probably the most difficult record to make.
#7 – Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Shameless Aussie dance-pop that at one point was nearly played in full during a Neighbours episode, believe it or not. Their bouncy, cheerful tunes should have perhaps grasped at a wider audience when looking back on it. But ‘In Ghost Colours’, to some extent, can remain my little secret, in terms of the amount of people that I expect would adore the album had they been given the opportunity to hear it. It flows like no other album this year, leading to one unbelieveable internal journey each time you play it.
[review of 'In Ghost Colours']
WATCH: Hearts On Fire
#6 – Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
Once the nasty cynics started to slither in their thoughts on the heartfelt charms of Fleet Foxes, I almost felt convinced myself that their debut was nothing special. But in hindsight this album was perhaps the most beautiful of all on the list. You do wonder whether their behind-the-times, woodlands-orientated sound is farcical when you discover they’re from Wahsington, but it sounds far too genuine for anyone to believe that.
[review of 'Fleet Foxes']
PLAY: Fleet Foxes – He Doesn’t Know Why
[buy 'Fleet Foxes']
#5 – Johnny Foreigner – Waited Up ’til It Was Light
Los Campesinos! won the majority of attention through word of mouth last year in the battle of the pop-punk charmers, but Johnny Foreigner in my opinion, have an awful lot more to offer. The tales of university, heavy drinking, transferred into a ferocious, tight punk spirit managed to win me over after a few unconvincing listens. Life hasn’t changed much for the Birmingham three-piece since this one’s release, so don’t expect them to fall short of any inspiration for some stunning new material.
[review of 'Waited Up'...]
#4 – Wild Beasts – Limbo, Panto
If 1st place were merited to an album on sheer scale of ambitiousness, unprinciplness and outrageousness, this UK pack would have swooped the prize from the moment I first heard ‘Limbo, Panto’, a shameless, love-it-or-hate-it opinion splitter of a debut album. It’ll be awfully difficult to top this chunky bite of god-knows-what inspired, high-pitched gleeful scream of an album but indications suggest there’s something special in these ones…
[wild beasts interview - 12 questions]
#3 – These New Puritans – Beat Pyramid
If ever an album grew on me, it was this one. It wrapped its sneaky, long fingers around my headspace until it was the only thing I urged to play. Ambiguous tales of sparse, riddling subjects, among them world superpowers stole my heart through Jack Barnett’s cold and mysterious figure repeating non-sensical yet confidently implied phrases. Musically, it’s been dismissed as lazy and perhaps that’s due to the empty yet brilliant production. A close inspection and it’s an unbelievably good debut album.
[review of 'Beat Pyramid']
#2 – Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
Played late at night, played early in the morning, playing you to sleep, playing you through the day. Even though ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ was such a personal album, it touched so many hearts, whilst boring a few dismissive old sods. Justin Vernon’s break-up needn’t be talked upon when commenting on this record, but it’s hard to escape the heartbreak and the rawness of an album that conveys such a genuine passion in Vernon’s trembling voice. It stuns you within a first listen and then you’re lost within Bon Iver’s soothing tones forever.
[review of 'For Emma...']
WATCH: Skinny Love
#1 – Why? – Alopecia
Overlooked already in some parts already, it would seem. Yoni Wolf’s previous offering of ‘Elephant Eyelash’ clearly had some groundbreaking songs emerging after countless listens, but they were difficult to identify due to the awkward lo-fi production. ‘Alopecia’ was everything that its predecessor was, with the good production. Not shy to express a twisted batch of emotions, Yoni Wolf, in similar circumstances to Bon Iver, wrote the majority of this album during a tough period of his life, ‘Good Friday’ being the epicentre of that troublesome time. It’s nearly too dark, nearly too rude, nearly too frank but it just about bridges the gap between ineffective and far too much, making it pretty much perfect.
PLAY: Why? – Good Friday
[review of 'Alopecia']
[buy 'Alopecia']
“Did I really say that?!”
REVISED: Highest MFM Ratings Of The Year
words: Jamie Milton
I’ve taken duty of writing this post because I am the culprit of some of the over-excitement, over-enthusiasm over-the-top-ness that occured throughout this year on MFM. In fairness, the ratings system has become more harsh and disciplined over the 2008 releases but on some occasion we’ve hailed an album to be the best thing since sliced bread/fried eggs/corona whereas really, it’s not at all. This year those albums that’ve been hailed in this manner, maintain their reputation in some respects but they are due another looking over. Expect to see these records mentioned again pretty soon in our round-up of the year fortnight. They’re still rather great…
Anyway, here for you lovely people are the five records we went mad (at some times, a little too mad) for over the last 11 months.
#1 WHY? – Alopecia
10/10
http://mfmic.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-only-played-chess-once-in-my-life-and.html
We said: “I guess in truth listening to ‘Alopecia’ all the time makes me a more-delinquent, less-delicate human being and more selfish in the process but it’s all worth it.”
We say: It was only last week that I wrote this one down but from the moment ‘Alopecia’ was first played to me, it was a perfect album (as perfect as a piece of music can possibly get). Some music reviewers never gift an album full marks because they say a perfect album can never ever be achieved but I say, lower your standards or give perfection a new definition. But for those of you who’d complain…
Revised Rating: 9.6
#2 -JOHNNY FOREIGNER – Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light
9.5/10
http://mfmic.blogspot.com/2008/05/album-johnny-foreigner-waited-up-til-it.html
We said: “Every heartbeat pounds and every moment ensues – ‘Waited Up ’til It Was Light’ won’t disappoint a single soul alive.”
We say: The general consensus emerging once this album was released is that it was a solid starting point base for the trio, an 8/10 record at best. But I stay defiant in the face of contrasting opinions to the fact that this record is constantly alive, buzzing, eager to impress. Determination to get attention usually falls flat on its face but this time the aim turned out to be a success.
Revised Rating: 9.1
#3 – BON IVER – For Emma, Forever Ago
9.4/10
http://mfmic.blogspot.com/2008/05/album-bon-iver-for-emma-forever-ago.html
We said: “[Musically], no human being deserves such a tribute.”
We say: This remains something truly special and when people look back on the best “break-up albums”, this’ll be cited time and time again. Vernon may have got on a few peoples’ nerves with his sappy, loveless ptune of heartbreak but there was triumph in this album that some people simply didn’t have the time to discover. Breathtaking to this day.
Revised Rating: 9.4
#4 – FLEET FOXES – Fleet Foxes
9.3/10
http://mfmic.blogspot.com/2008/05/album-fleet-foxes-fleet-foxes-words.html
We said: ” all you can focus on is the astonishing vocal harmonies”
We say: The harmonies remain the centrepiece of an album that is still perfect for a fine summer’s day, but perhaps nothing more than that. The Midlake-esque themes of woods, trees, grass, mountains and nothing else occasionally grates and you crave some bitter, exposed lyrics to emerge from the rubble but it never comes. And that’s why Fleet Foxes are so often dismissed as “boring” and perhaps why this album can never be declared special.
Revised Rating: 8.2
#5 – THESE NEW PURITANS – Beat Pyramid
9.1/10
http://mfmic.blogspot.com/2008/01/album-these-new-puritans-beat-pyramid.html
We said: “It’s not like the band are spoiling the fun for you though – they’re just moving you on, demanding and ensuring that you don’t press the skip button.”
We say: ‘Beat Pyramid’ has been regularly dimissed for its production, and perhaps the effort that was put into it. You do get the feeling even from watching the band live that they rely heavily on samples and a couple of memorable riffs but that doesn’t stop my youth from telling me that this is something to get excited about. There’s a whole lot left in this band too and along with Johnny Foreigner, this is the debut of the year.
Revised Rating: 9.0
PLAY: Bon Iver – Skinny Love [Buy 'For Emma, Forever Ago']
PLAY: Fleet Foxes – Ragged Wood [Buy 'Fleet Foxes']
VIDEO OF THE WEEK: These New Puritans – SWORDCAST
words: Jamie Milton
This was only a fortunate stumble if we’re being honest. I regularly pop over to the These New Puritans myspace in hope of finding some new tour dates, b-sides, sketchy early recordings as it’s clear that they have more of a positive future than most British bands at the current time. ‘Beat Pyramid’ still ranks as one of if not the best album of my year thus far and so therefore I’m constantly craving some more from them.
So here you can bare witness to the new ‘SWORDCAST’ video which sees a debut of a new unheard song and an alternative version of ‘FFF’ (“fire, fire, fire!”), one of the finest b-sides of recent times and even more thrilling live.
So the new song has a drastically sharp beat held together by a frantic and repetitive rhythm that’s as infectious as anything on the debut. Lyrics seem as ambiguous yet meaningful as before before the song drifts into an endless fury of echo and drone. The cast continues with the drums of ‘fff’ being accompanied by an atmosphere of soothing tones before it all finishes with the feedback recording noise with some visuals help of multi-coloured waves.
Enticing.
PLAY: These New Puritans – FFF
FESTIVAL: Reading, Day 1
words: Jamie Milton
top image credit- Relfio
After missing a couple of trains, leaving my tent on one of the few I caught and eventually parking up our newly-bought, overpriced tent across a swarm of thistle and cow manure, we were expecting a pretty nasty five days. Thank God you could find relief in a short five minute walk and a bit of excessive queueing into what the Reading organisers call their ‘main arena’, fit for 200,000 people, some unbelievable twats, other just minor twats. Welcome to the first part of our gigantic, amazingly-achieved Reading festival review. This is very much a ‘blog post’, I tell you what I saw, how much of it I saw and how much I enjoyed it. So don’t go getting angry when I say Rage Against The Machine didn’t look that great.
Band: Future Of The Left
% Of Set Seen: 60%
Impression: Got the gigantic NME tent into a small frenzy, despite managing to pick out the major movers as their Cardiff-loyal, although there was an awful lot of them. There wasn’t much else to see but their fusion of a genre from here and a genre from there was pretty great.
Verdict: 7
Band: Pete and the Pirates
% Of Set Seen: 100%
Impression: It seemed as if the crowd were desperate to just get moving and kick a few peoples’ shins behind them but if that was the case, this was their idea for the whole weekend. Pete and the Pirates had quite the reception. Of course you’re going to get shoved around any old day when you place yourself in the near centre, ten metres from the stage but the likes of ‘Mr.Understanding’ and ‘Knots’ were glorious and sung aloud by a surprising amount of people. Despite the absence of ‘Come On Feet’ and ‘Ill Love’, the clever indie triumph achieved an awful lot early on in the day.
Verdict: 8
Band: Blood Red Shoes
% Of Set Seen: 20%
Impression: Remaining in this bewildering NME tent for an extra chunk of time was a bit too demanding. The my-god-it-echoes sound added to the atmosphere but newcomers to the bands playing wouldn’t have been able to hear a single word of vocals. Fortunately Blood Red Shoes’ frantic and forcing sound defied that all. If we’d managed to remain for the whole of the set, it might have been a highlight for the weekend, but we were fools and decided to stick to a schedule.
Verdict: 8
image credit – bbcatfestivals
Band: These New Puritans
% Of Set Seen: 10%
Impression: Sticking to a schedule was getting too much of a task by now, Dizzee Rascal was due on and the group I was with seemed pretty big on going to see him from a long distance. So I only managed to witness three songs, albeit ‘Swords of Truth’ still thankfully made its appearance in full glory, for what I saw they were quite a pack once more.
Verdict: 7
Band: Dizzee Rascal
% Of Set Seen: 100%
Impression: I must have been in an awful mood. Those with their Tuborg cups and MGMT-esque-fashion senses around me were beginning to get into Dizzee’s half-naked, full-throttle performance but all I could think about was how I could hear nothing but the bass. The sound on the main-stage was pathetic and should definitely be worked on, the only bands that really worked through it were the final two on Saturday, Bloc Party and The Killers. The Rascal got sing-a-longs for his “famous ones” but the older tracks which weren’t recognizable to many, weren’t nearly as enjoyable.
Verdict: 5
Band: MGMT
% Of Set Seen: 100%
Impression: So this was the moment where I ‘got MGMT’. I understood why the crowd was fifty rows back even outside the gigantic venue. I decided to be one of those extremely annoying people who crush through to get near the front for once and that guilt feeling subsided the minute MGMT kicked into their soon-to-be-iconic set with ‘Electric Feel’. The “hits” sounded on par with album tracks that didn’t earn enough sing-a-longs but the only people leaving the tent needed to catch a breath. The best atmosphere as the festival for the whole weekend with a set that deserved it.
Verdict: 9
image credit – ian gav
Band: Queens Of The Stone Age
% Of Set Seen: 100%
Impression: It was horribly quiet. Getting out of MGMT was the biggest mess of the whole weekend except the day after when Ting Tings fans would do anything to go towards their goal of seeing the most god-awful band of the whole weekend instead of letting you out for a breather. I was very far back, although near a speaker. The sound was awful, Queens were quite clearly having a good time, playing some efforts for a near ten-minutes but you could tell that half the people there were just eager to be shouting ‘Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me’ as close to the main stage as possible in a couple hours time. Later I got told that I should have seen Late of the Pier, I regret things.
Verdict: 6
Band: Rage Against The Machine
% Of Set Seen: 40%
Impression: My excuse for not seeing the whole set, I’d lost everybody I was with and wanted my bed-time. Looking from a-far at one of the giant screens until I saw the startling crowd shots, I feared for a few of my group who were near the front according to a few texts. One of them came out with a dislocated finger. Good times. The band themselves looked pretty lame from a distance. No doubt people came out saying ‘that was the best musical experience of my entire fucking lifetime’ but I bet you they were all set for saying that before Rage even played a single note.
Verdict: 5
Saturday boasted the best musical feast of the weekend, so make sure you turn up tomorrow for that one.
PLAY: MGMT – Kids
PLAY: Pete and the Pirates – Mr.Understanding
Boom-box-in':
Yeasayer - Odd Blood LP
Final Fantasy Heartland LP
Beach House - Teen Dream LP
These New Puritans - We Want War
Gigi - The Old Graveyard
jj - The xx Intro
Toro Y Moi - Causers of This LP
Liars - Sisterworld LP
Vampire Weekend - White Sky
Los Campesinos! - In Medias Res
MFM @ HYPEM