Monday's Long Song

 

The British electronic duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, better known as Underworld, launched a project in 2019 and released a song or video every Thursday for a year. They named the collection of all these releases Drift. A year later, they released Drift 2 under the title Atom. 

Underworld skillfully alternate between functional techno and clever electronica, straightforward rave and ambient passages, as well as dub. Whilst remaining deeply rooted in the 1990's, they continue to evolve. Perhaps no other track of theirs from that era captures this better than the nearly 15-minute Threat Of Rain, a 15-minute journey through ambient-infused techno.

Underworld - Threat In Rain

New Song On Sunday

 

Today’s song is by a band that got together at a university in Manchester just over two years ago. To date, Westside Cowboy have released an EP and recently announced their debut album. Earlier this week, they released the first single from this album, Kick Stones (The Boys). 

Musically, with their jangly guitar sound, brilliant melodies and harmonized vocals, they somehow straddle the genres of surf punk, Americana and early Pavement and The Feelies. I can already tell this is set to be the next big thing, but this four-piece band has much more to offer. As far as I’m concerned, Westside Cowboy aren’t reinventing guitar rock, but they’re adding a brilliant new take on it.

Another highlight is the video for their latest single, in which they feature alongside FC United of Manchester – a football club from their home city of Manchester. The band describes the video as a declaration of love for the football club and its special sense of community. The club was originally founded by disillusioned fans in protest against Malcolm Glazer’s controversial takeover of Manchester United.  The band particularly values the club’s social and community-oriented values. These include affordable ticket prices, events surrounding home matches and close links to social projects.

And as a bonus a song from their last EP

Clap Your Hands

 

Not all handclaps are real; some are generated synthetically. A good example is a song by New Order that is mentioned far too rarely.

The Talking Heads also made use of this stylistic device in 1983.

To round things off, here’s a song where the rhythm is created by clapping, which acts as the perfect counterpoint to Hope Sandoval’s ethereal voice.

That's What It Sounded Like When They Started

 

Today, Ian Kevin Curtis would have celebrated his 60th birthday. He was the lead singer and creative force behind Joy Division. One of rock music’s all-time greatest cult bands, they released just two albums, never really sold many records, and never played in stadiums, but they went on to influence entire generations of musicians. A small, slight man who worked at Manchester City Council by day, was a devoted family man by night, and transformed into a rock provocateur at the weekends.

Curtis didn’t just sing about loneliness, depression and self-doubt – he actually experienced these feelings first-hand. They were triggered by the conflict between his family life and his life as a musician, an affair that destroyed his marriage, and his fragile health, which was marked by epileptic seizures. These became increasingly severe as Joy Division grew more successful.

One of my biggest mistakes was holding Joy Division’s first EP, An Ideal For Living, in my hands at my favorite record shop and not buying it, because I thought the cover featured too much Nazi symbolism. Even after almost 50 years, this EP is still well worth a listen. Songs that are unrivalled in their blend of emotion and rebellion.

Joy Division - No Love Lost

Joy Division - Leaders Of Men

Joy Division - Warsaw

Monday's Long Song

 

A few days ago Acid Jazz Records who are always good for a surprise – a remix by The Fatback Band. The Fatback Band or later only Fatback were probably one of the last disco bands from NYC. In the mid seventies the got critical acclaim for their funk inspired songs. 

Now Joaquin ‘Joe’ Claussell, a Brooklyn based producer and DJ made a remix of their most successful single (Do The) Spanish Hustle. Claussell retains the rhythmic structure and trumpets of the original, but replaces the disco groove with a pumping bass, kick drums and a Latin flair. A thoroughly successful reinterpretation of a fine but forgotten song.

New Song On Sunday

A couple of years ago Alewya Demisse, a British singer/songwriter, producer, artist and model, released some remarkable songs. Now she's back with her first album Zero in which she celebrates her musical diversity and ethnic heritage. Having grown up in Sudan as the daughter of an Egyptian father and an Ethiopian mother, fragments of this background can be found in her songs. She can best be compared to M.I.A., without, however, adopting her rebellious stance.

Her songs sound more like a fusion of Afro-electronic rhythms, Arabic soundscapes and urban pop aesthetics. Above all, it is her versatile voice that lends the songs a special sparkle. I wouldn’t be surprised if this were to become the next big thing.

From Mont Ventoux To Todmorden

 

In 2023, the Nuremberg-based band Konformer released one of the best LPs of the year with their debut album. After a three-year hiatus, they have now released their second album, which they have simply titled Konformer II. 

Not much has changed. The three members continue to play instrumental music whose driving sound is a direct nod to krautrock, before drifting off into psychedelic realms. But these days, it’s quite something to maintain the standard you set on your debut. 

They do have one unique selling point. I don’t know of any other band that has written a song named after the town – Todmorden – where they’re due to play in two months’ time.