House Again

Sadly saw Island playing their last game at the WC. They were so much better in the first half and they had to make a few goals. But they lost against Croatia. I really loved this team because they showed to me everything that means football to me: passion, volition to win, faith in their abilities and never giving up. For me it is the team of the tournament.

As you might know, my musical taste changes from time to time. I am into every kind of genre that was published throughout the last decades. At this time I feel save with some electronic music and I can't tell you the reason why it is this way. Sometimes an artist release a new record that is out of my radar in new music but listening to it it gives me some kind of thrill. This happened to me when I listened to the new album by Martijn Dejikers aka Martyn, a Dutch producer and DJ. He started working on a drum and bass sound and included techno and jungle to his sound. Last year he almost suffered a near-fatal heart attack. His latest album Voids is the essence of his work. Songs with a warm and also rainy-day atmosphere and moody drums. It is not the music for every day but it works fine for me at this time.

Happy Man

I am back after a short break where I didn't found much time to listen to music and writing on this blog. The reason is that friends from Sri Lanka came to visit and stay at my place. So we spent a lot of time together when I came back from office. Sitting together, talking or showing them some places worth to be seen in my area. They will stay for another couple of weeks so my output will be less than usual. Anyway, here's a new song by Jungle, a musical collective mainly playing a kind of modern indie-soul. This track has an hypnotic groove that is perfect basis for this falsetto voices.

14 from 2014

2014 is gone and many list about the best albums/songs were made. During the last weeks I had plenty of time to listen to music - especially records that was released last year. I have to admit that it was a very good year for music. Lot's of new good bands appeared on the scene and old heroes came back with great music. So I decided to name 14 records that impressed me much in 2014. The list is in no real order and so let's go ...

Sleaford Mods - Divide and Exit: Fierce postal punk's bass; functional, insignificant beats, now and then cheap keyboard reef and apathetical guitars. 

Aphex Twin - Syro: He's back with more piano parts. Hope we don't have to wait another 13 years for his next record.

Caribou - Our love: An avant-garde, electronic, living album with soul and R&B for body and soul.

Jungle - Jungle: Future Pop? J and T mix the best of the last 40 years into a great record. Compatible to a lot of listeners.

Neneh Cherry - Blank Project: An economically orchestrated album - intimate and directly

Lost on the River - The new basement tapes: Old songs discovered again by Elvis Costello

Jamie T. -: Astonishing comeback. The former rage in favour to quieter songs is given way

Holly Cook - Twice: My record from last summer. Perfect reggae based songs.

Jane Weaver - The Silver Globe: A crystal clear voice and psych-folk. Awesome.

Pete Molinari - Theosophy: Molinari pushes his music into the swirling space of the psychedelic 60s

The Ravonettes - Pe'ahi: Lastes release by the underrated Danish indie-rock duo.

Slow Club - Complete Surrender: Maybe the greatest surprise this year. A record full of fantastic songs. Pure 60s soul for 2014.

The Amazing Snakeheads - Amphetamine Ballads: Another band from Glasgow - and they made a well-worn fusion of late punk and raw Rock and Roll.

Ellis Island Sound - Regions: One of the albums I listened most last year. An intensive mix of African-influenced guitar lines, a steady percussive background added with dub effects and wailing trombone. Nearly meditative and often making an atmospheric mood.

Jungle

As normally the big English music magazines make around every new group which contrasts from the mass an unbelievable hype and praise this as the next quite big thing. Most of them are gone before their success started. But sometimes the press has a very good feeling for quiet good bands. And Jungle could be one of these bands I will remember with a smiling heart in the future. It seems like the today kids remember the sound of the 70s/80s when a lot of bands used to play urban soul music that fitted quiet good on the dancefloor. J and T are the protagonists of this debut from England and they give a quite fine electronic sound work from many many different ingredients from the music world of the last 40 years to us here. No matter whether disco, Chill Out, pop, soul or electronic music of all kind, Jungle mix it to a miraculous sound mix which goes immediately to the ear and moves the listener into another world. This sounds sometimes after Chic, sometimes after Bee Gees, sometimes to Pet Shop Boy, sometimes after topical electronic music. For me it's a record I will play a few times this summer.

You can read the full review by Mark Beaumont here.

After the DMCA have arranged that songs I posted by the Secret Sisters offend against existing copyright, I had to extinguish this and I fear that it will also go for me with Jungle. Therefor today only videos. However, does this authority have no notion that everybody to itself on the Internet a converter can download?