Merry Christmas and see you next year!

Hey kids, sorry I havent been posting much over the last month I have been incredibly busy which hasnt left me much time for listening to new music apart from bands playing at ATP. I am going away until early January so check back then for some actual proper posts and some decent music.

To past the time this Yule here is my favourite Christmas songs this year!

Sufjan Stevens: Get behind me, Santa

Merry Christmas!

Running on empty

Sorry about the lack of posts recently, I have been pretty busy and have not heard anything inspiring enough to post. I am a bit disturbed about the quality of British music at the moment, im waiting for something amazing to strike me but then all we get are the Horrors, Jesus Christ. I was reading something the other day about how original the Horrors are, dont you think they just sound like a bad version of the Damned?

Horrors myspace

MP3: Neat, Neat, Neat. The Damned.

ATP!

All Tomorrows Parties is back in April and May next year, ive got my ticket for the May festival where the festival go-ers get to pick half of the bands playing by voting.

Here is my selection:

1	Arcade Fire
2	!!!
3	Lcd Soundsystem
4	Interpol
5	Wolf Parade
6	Professor Murder
7	Hot Chip
8	Mars Volta
9	TV On The Radio
	10 Mastodon
	If any of these are playing I would be as pleased as punch!

I was trying to do a mix tape for myspace...

I was trying to do a mix tape for myspace but I had problems with yousendit.com so here is some mp3's from it which I managed to get to work, tell me what you think.

Ratatat... Wildcat
French indie, Air goes funk

Shy Child.. Noise wont stop
Real kings of new rave this song rocks!

The Long Blondes.. You could have both
Album came out a few weeks ago, its very good, reminds me of early Pulp... with ladddies.

Cold War Kids... We used to vaccation
Hot new American band, they might sound a bit like Maroon 5 but I really like it.

The Hold Steady.. Chips ahoy!
The next single from their amazing new album, they were mentioned in the nme this week, well done.

Steppenwolf ... Magic Carpet Ride
This song is amazing... its funk prog from the depths of Germany.

The Picture is of the lumminaruim in Nottingham, its unrelated but very pretty.

Joanna Newson

Joanna Newsons new album is pretty amazing, it sounds like Bjork singing in an old disney movie. Its an incredibly adventurous album with five tracks clocking in over 50 minutes but it is truely beautiful, like listening to a painting if that makes any sense at all, no? Maybe not then. Please buy this album you wont regret it.

MP3: Cosmia

Fujiya & Miyagi

Brighton based Fujiya and Miyagi are a Kraut Rock infulenced band, their new album transparent things is one of the funkiest guitar dance releases I have heard in a while. The song that I have included Collarbone really sums up their sound, really catchy, funky and more importantly for the sake of British music doesnt sound like the fucking Libertines or the Arctic Monkeys.


MP3: Collarbone

Isis

I have not posted any metal music on here since I have started this blog so I will start off with Isis, whose new album "In the absense of truth" is a fantasticly diverse piece of work. Most of the tracks clock in at over six minutes which gives the band to experiment with different styles from electronic music to tribal. The band have a reputation for their use of three guitar players and it comes to full effect on this track which is extremely heavy, not for the faint hearted.

MP3: Not in rivers, in drops

Oxford Collapse

The new album from Oxford Collapse, Remember the night parties is their first album since signing to Sub Pop. The band do adopt a slight emo rock sound more simular to more hard core bands like Hot Water Music rather than My Chemical Romance. Calling it meere "emo-rock" would not be doing it justice as it is a varied album which is a departure from this rather predictable genre with obvious infulence from 80's post rock bands like Mission of Burma and Sonic Youth.


MP3: Molasses

Hidden Gems #4

Eddie Floyd, Big Bird

Eddie Floyd was a big soul star in the 1960's, you might recognise a song of his called Knock On Wood he also recorded on the legendary Stax Label.

This is one of my favourite songs of all time, its amazing. I used to play this occasionally in my dj sets and I think more people asked what this song was than when I played bands like the Arcade Fire for the first time. Everything about this song is great, the opening bars with the guitar and horn, the funk guitar verse. Its pretty fuggin' good. I cant really do it justice describing it, just have a listen.

MP3: Big Bird

Atlantic Gold

If you have £5 burning a hole in your pocket check out the Atlantic Gold Compilation soul tunes and also some choice rarities, there are some interesting choices of mix for some of the tracks which gives them a rawer and more funky edge. I love the cut of Sam and Dave's Soul Man on this cd, the funk guitar lick jumps out at you and my god its good.


MP3: Sam and Dave: Soul man
MP3: Betty Wright: Clean Up Woman

Junior Boys

Touring currently with Hot Chip, Junior Boys new album So This Is Goodbye is a fantastic dance album. It has a 80's infulenced pop sound ala Human League or OMD but with a modern dance style. Its not quite as good as The Warning and is lacking a bit of personality but its well worth a listen.

MP3: In the Morning

Legend Of A Mind

If you, like me is a fan of crazy 60s and 70's drug fueled Psyc-rock you have to check out the compliation "A legend of a mind an underground anthology." This album is jam packed full of crazy funk fueled electro nuggets, its pretty much impossible to pick out a few highlights from this album because every song is pretty different but also fantastic!

There are a few gems by well known bands like the Moody Blues and Thin Lizzy but the majority are bands which I am not familar with and have great fun listening too.

I'll post a couple of mp3's to check out, the first one is Theme Song-en route-Theme song by the Keef Hartley Band. This song is crazy, its starts off really quietly and folkish then kicks off, when I say kicks off I mean it, its like Ron Burgundy on acid.

The second is Question by the Moody Blues which is an amazing song, I wasnt too keen on the Moody Blues before but this song has really opened my eyes, the song is amazing, the middle section drags on but I love the opening and end of this song its outrageously funky.

I will stop gushing over this album now, hope you enjoy the tracks.

MP3: Theme Song-en route-Theme song: Keef Hartley Band
MP3: Question: Moody Blues

Buy it

Sparklehorse

Sparklehorse (a.k.a multi-instramentalist Mark Linkous) returned recently with his first album in five years with a variety of guests, most interesting to note is Danger Mouse who produces a couple of songs on the album. Its a fantastic dreamy affair, with my personal highlight being the Danger mouse produced album opener Dont take my sunshine away which has an interesting electro sound.

A must for fans of the Eels and The Flaming Lips.

MP3: Dont take my sunshine away.

Hidden Gems #3

Red Krayola's album God Bless the Krayola and All Who Sail With It from 1968 is one of the earliest Post Punk albums I have heard. This album is pretty mixed but there are some fantastic gems on here, one being this track Dairymaid's Lament which wouldnt be too out of place if it was released by a modern post punk band.

MP3:

Dairymaid's Lament

The Mai Shi/ Rapider The Horse Power split ep

Ive recently got into the Mai Shi, its quite challenging music to listen to so its pretty luckly the songs are only two minutes long each their latest release is a split album with Rapider the Horse Power entitled Dont Ignore the Potential.

The Mai Shi's part of the album is pretty unpredictable and quite exhausting but also pretty amazing, its a party of non-stop guitars, crazy bleeps and claps. I think if I played some of this at my dj sets people would either go crazy or be very scared. I love it!

The Rapider the horse power half takes more of a straight math rock approach, a highlight from this section would be "The Real Party" with mixes woops and guitars with glorious effect.

If you are very patient you can buy it here

MP3:

The Mai Shi: Heart Beeps
This song sounds like a theme from the craziest kids tv show ever.

Rapider The Horse Power: The Real Party

Hidden Gems #2

This weeks hidden gem is the band Yellow Magic Orchestra, this Japanese band were part of the electronica movement in the late 70's following on work by groups like Kraftwerk in the early 70's. I stumbled across an old video of them performing Tighten up on Soul Train and went straight out and bought a few albums from my local record shop. Here is the video, the sound quality of this one is pretty poor, sorry.

The albums are quite mixed but there are flashes of brilliance on each one, albums I would recommend for a beginner would be Techodelic and Yellow Magic Orchestra. I have posted a couple of tracks from each album to wet your appetite.

MP3: Key from Technodelic

MP3: La Femme Chinoise from Yellow Magic Orchestra

The Russian Futurists

One man pop production machine Matthew Adam Hart (no relation) aka the Russian Futurists has remained underground for a few years but the recent release of a collection of the best tracks on his last four albums "Me, myself and rye" should work to change that. The Russian Futurists music blends electronica, indie and pop together to make a catchy and exciting sound. Comparions can be made to artists such as the Postal Service and the Flaming Lips. His new album has recieved rave reviews across the board and I strongly suggest you seek out this album which makes these cold days seem that little bit warmer.

Buy it!

MP3: Paul Simon

The Thermals

If you are a fan of spunky indie punk The Thermals are the band for you. Their new album The Body, The Blood, The Machine out on Sub Pop is produced by Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and the infulence of Fugazi is evident throughout the albums 10 track duration. One of the standout tracks on the album is A pillar of Salt which also featured on the recent Sub Pop sampler Terminal Sales Vol 2 This Delicious, which is well worth checking out if you are new to the label with tracks from bands like CSS, Band Of Horses, Comets on Fire and Mudhoney.

Buy the album

MP3: A pillar of salt

New Hold Steady Album

The new album by The Hold Steady "Boys and Girls in America" is being streamed on Vagrant, its an amazing album. A true lesson to Brandon Flowers, how to sound like Springsteen.

Listen here

Hidden Gems #1

In this section of Wax Fruit I will attempt to feature some hidden gems which could be great forgotten songs or amazing bands from yesteryear, the first band to feature is Simple Minds.

Argueably best known for the song "Dont you forget about me", which featured on the film The Breakfast Club, 80's Pop heros Simple Minds might not be well known to people of a younger age. I bought hte best of Simple Minds from a fantastic record shop called Robs Records in Nottingham and it is packed full of great pop singles "alive and kicking" being a prime example. The song that really stands out is Theme For Great Cities which represents their earlier syth led work, this song is pretty amazing and wouldnt be out of place if it was released today.

MP3: Theme for great cities

Im from Barcelona

Scandinavian indie pop collective Im from Barcelona's debut album Let Me Introduce My Friends is one of the happiest albums ive heard this year. The 29 piece group give instant comparisons to bands like the Polyphonic Spree (obviously) and the Flaming Lips, sleigh bells and glokenspiels never sounded so good. They recently played the end of the road festival in Dorset, im definately going to catch them on their return to the UK.

Buy it here

MP3: We're from Barcelona

Im not afraid of you and I will beat your ass!

Dont worry this isnt an open threat, but the title of veteran indie rockers Yo La Tengos 10th and newest album. This is a great album which contains a hugely diverse number of genres, from sweet piano ballads to surf rock theres something for everyone without being too extreme to listen to, the pace and flow of the album is pretty solid. Its hard to pick a highlight of this album but songs like I feel like coming home and The Room Got Heavy really display how varied this album is.

Buy it here

MP3: I feel Like Coming Home
MP3: The Room Got Heavy

TV On The Radio on tour!

New York's own TV on the Radio are bringing their high pitched harmonising electro-rock to the UK in November touring their amazing new album Cookie Mountain.

Dates are:

November

8th Glasgow ABC 2
9th Manchester Academy
10th London Koko

Its times like this im glad im moved from Norfolk to London.

MP3: Wolf like Me

Islands

Islands features several members of the great Unicorns, their debut album Return To The Sea is a great collection of happy musical gems. My favourite song on the album is Rough Gem which does sound a little bit like We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel but I think that just makes it better.

Myspace

MP3: Rough Gem

Professor Murder

New Yorkers Professor Murder continue the fine trend of New York punk funk, (pretty lucky after Radio 4's last album.) The bands debut EP Professor Murder Rides The Bus mixes the best bits of most of the NY bands in a fifteen minute mini party, I wouldnt be surprised if these guys explode once they come to next summers festivals.

More info here:

MP3: Mountain

Tokyo Police Club

One of my favourite new Canadian bands is Tokyo Police Club whose new EP "A Lesson In Crime" contains the bite of "This Is It" mixed with newer bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Find out more at http://www.tokyopoliceclub.net/ Download "Nature Of The Experiment" (mp3) from "A Lesson In Crime" by Tokyo Police Club Paper Bag Records Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at eMusic Buy at RealNetworks / Rhapsody Buy at Napster Buy at GroupieTunes Buy at Insound More On This Album

Hi

This blog will have some of the best music from various genres, im new to blogging so im sorry if it is rubbish.

The MP3'S posted on this site are on here for a temporary ammount of time and are from promotional use. If you would like me to remove any posts please contact me.