JUST A THOUGHT.....

Listening to that Prinzhorn Dance School album (which is great btw, tho' might not be to everyone's taste) made me think of lots of fine, older albums/artists which may be new to some. As I've got a couple of weeks off work, I may be posting quite a few 'oldies' over the ensuing days. These may include Klang, The Fall, Swell Maps, Young Marble Giants, The Pop Group, Poison Girls etc. Hope some of this may be new to you and that you enjoy a least a little.

THE SHINS 'AUSTRALIA E.P.'

1. Australia

2. Sleeping Lessons (The Rac Mix)

3. Saint Simon (Radio 2 Live Version)

4. Girl On A Wing (KCRW Session)

Download

'PRINZHORN DANCE SCHOOL'

"Swiping their name from Dr Hans Prinzhorn, an early twentieth century psychiatrist who assembled the largest collection of art by psychotic patients in Europe, the band specialise in the kind of boy-girl harmonies and stripped back instrumentation that have served the Kills and the Raveonettes so well. Following the blueprint laid down by Jack White, their untutored rock ‘n’ roll rumble demands attention."

Album is released by DFA Records.

Download

ARKS 'THE INTERNATIONAL'

01 the international
02 candor
03 cars on fire
04 maritime snakes
05 safe and sound
06 the peoples monument
07 customs
08 magnior
09 silver
10 rot it out
11 the spoils
12 stator asymptote
13 tumult
14 sudden freeze-ice shelf-the thaw

"Formed in 2002, in the back room of a Chicago Ukrainian Village apartment, fledgling three piece Arks consisted of bassist Mat Biscan and drummer Bo Altes piecing together minimalist, reverb-laden, ethereal songs based on singer/guitarist Paul Hornschemeier's four track recordings. Over the course of the next three years the group buckled and stretched, recording their first EP "Or Else It's Not There" in 2004, adding then engineer Lanny Oswalt on guitar, and infusing new energy into the percussion with drummer Glenn Rischke. This growth stripped away the reverb and fog, moving to the forefront the group's penchant for driving rhythm made jagged and danceable by wrangled noise. Galvanized by the band's evolution and cemented lineup, Arks entered the studio to graph their progress. The result is their first full length album, "The International." " Highwheel Records

Would you call it post-punk, dark angular rock? - whatever it is, it's FANTASTIC!

Download

SAINT JOAN 'THE WRECKER'S LANTERN'

Just got this in the post this morning, direct from Camera Obscura Records of Australia - and ripped for your pleasure!

"The sea, as every sailor knows, is a cruel mistress—but has also been, throughout the centuries, a powerful creative force. It is present in whaling tales, rhymes of ancient mariners, and now comes sloshing out of your stereos courtesy of The Wrecker’s Lantern, the debut album from Nottingham-based quintet Saint Joan. The landlocked East Midlands gun capital may not be the obvious origin of five wistful oceanographers, but irrelevant of its physical presence, the sea permeates every inch of this album."

Read full review at Stylus Magazine.

"Saint Joan are five musicians originally West Bridgford in Nottingham, England, Mohacs in Hungary and Strasbourg in France. A few musicians have come and gone much like the English summer but they have settled as they are now, and call on the odd flautist, cellist, vibraphone-player, et al, when the mood takes them.

They are inspired by stream-of-consciousness prose, like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, by the "darkness on the edge of town", flawed beauty and black comedy. They listen to many things: Nick Cave, The Tindersticks, Jonathan Richman, The Velvets,Tom Waits and Galaxie 500 among them."

Camera Obscura Records

Download

LAND OF TALK - APPLAUSE CHEER BOO HISS E.P.

This sprung to mind when I was trying to find out who the support act is when The Decemberists tour in the autumn (I'm seeing them at Newcastle Academy in October). Turns out - it's Land Of Talk!

"Montreal's Land of Talk, led by the sparkling Elizabeth Powell, spits out a kind of churning, bright, deliberately melodic rock that embodies the enduring spirit of youth -- that period in our lives marked by overwhelming optimism and uncorrupted naivety. First released in Canada last year, Applause Cheer Boo Hiss, the band's seven-song debut EP, is a record to get attached to: It's inviting, dangerous, charming, and, most important, unravels with layers of complexity."
(Read full review at Prefixmag)

Download

PJ HARVEY - LIVE IN MANCHESTER UK 07-07-07

Good quality audience recording.

01 Oh My Lover
02 Send His Love To Me
03 Mansize
04 The Devil
05 White Chalk
06 Dress
07 Angelene
08 My Beautiful Leah
09 Nina
10 Electric Light
11 Snake
12 Big Exit
13 Down By The Water
14 The Mountain
15 Rid Of Me
16 Applause
17 Silence (new song - not a quiet bit)
18 Horses In My Dreams
19 The Desperate Kingdom Of Love

Part One

Part Two