LISTEN: Black Lips - Let It Bloom (2005)

Boomerang

Hippie Hippie Hoorah

Gentle Violence

Let It Bloom (Rate Your Music)

Jacques Dutronc

I discovered Jacques Dutronc thanks to the Black Lips' cover of his song 'Hippie Hippie Hourrah' and fell in love with a best of compilation I came across (Spotify link). Jacques is currently married to singer Francoise Hardy (since 1981) and is a French singer, composer and actor. He began as a guitar player in the group 'El Toro et les Cyclones' and also played backign guitar for a number of French stars. After landing a job as assistant at Vogue Records he produced several songs for a number of lesser known artists. Dutronc got his big break after one of the stars heard a demo of Jacques singing a song he had arranged for him and insisting he perform it. 'Et moi, et moi, et moi' was his first single and turned him into a star in 1966.


His sound has been compared to that of The Kinks, with people often labelling him 'the French Ray Davies'. I won't bore you with a long list of other comparisons, so instead take a listen to these tracks!

 

Albums I Enjoyed In 2009

I think it would be impossible to even attempt to compile a Top 50 of 2009, simply because one, I probably haven't listened to 50 new albums this year and two, if I had there's no way I could've given them all the attention they deserve for them to become a favourite. Therefore, I thought I'd list some albums I enjoyed from 2009.
Obviously, you'll probably read it and say "I can't believe he missed this or that", but if you think I should give something a listen please leave a comment. Sure, there are a few albums that featured heavily in major lists that I didn't care for too much, but there are just as many that I just never got around to listening to.

There are quite a few albums I'm just getting round to listening to and would probably make the list, but I haven't given them enough attention yet for the to join the list. For example, I recently got into Kurt Vile, but haven't got round to listening to his latest album 'Childish Prodigy' and I love Espers, Bob Dylan and Sufjan Stevens but haven't listened to their latest albums as of yet. Also, I've recently been listening to Dam-Funk's 'Toeachizown', Dinosaur Jr's new album, The Mantles and Flaming Lips' 'Embryonic' and I like the sound of them, but just haven't heard them enough to warrant a place in my favourite's list.



Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Grandes Exitos (tour release only)
Atlas Sound - Logos
Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand
BLAKROC - BLACKROC
Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer EP
Bon Iver - Blood Bank
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Beware
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Smoking Acid EP
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - One EP
Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream
Cass McCombs - Catacombs
Conor Oberst - Outer South
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Devendra Banhart - What Will Be Will Be
DOOM - Born Like This
The Duke & The King - Nothing Gold Can Stay
El Michel's Affair - Enter The 37th Chamber
The Felice Brothers - Yonder Is The Clock
Ganglians - Monster Head Room
GIRLS - Album
Grizzly Bear - Veckamist
The Horrors - Primary Colours
Lee Fields & The Expressions - My World
Leonard Cohen - Live in London
Leonard Cohen - Live at The Isle of Wight
The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Monsters of Folk - S/T
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Q-Tip - Kamaal The Abstract 
Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx II
Real Estate - Real Estate
Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns
The Strange Boys - The Strange Boys and Girls Club
Tom Waits - Glitter and Doom Live
Ty Segall - Lemons
U-God - Dopium
Wavves - Wavvves
White Denim - Fits
Woods - Songs of Shame

The Strange Boys

 The Strange Boys released their debut album, 'The Strange Boys And Girls Club', earlier this year after having released their first EP back in 2004 ('States Newest Noisemakers EP'). As with many new bands, it's rare for me to actually listen to an album at it's time of release and I have only really got round to listening to their debut for the first time in it's entirety today. The band is on In The Red Records, where fellow garage-punks Black Lips and King Khan & The BBQ Show have also released albums. The band are from Austin, Texas and kinda sound like a rawer Brian Jones era Stones with Pete Doherty ('Up The Bracket' era) as the singer. The band play a mixture of RnB, garage psych and acoustic songs that barely last 2 or 3 minutes. If you're a fan of The Brian Jonestown Massacre's mid-90s work (especially 'Take It From The Man'), this will definitely appeal to you. Chech the album out for free on Spotify:

The Strange Boys And Girls Club


the strange boys -this girl taught me a dance. from george trimm on Vimeo.

My most played tracks of 2009

1. Black Lips - Short Fuse (17 plays)
2. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Can't Hear My Eyes (16 plays)
2. M.I.A. - Paper Planes (16 plays)
4. The Felice Brothers - Penn Station (14 plays)
4. Leonard Cohen - Memories (14 plays)
6. The Tallest Man On Earth - Honey Won't You Let Me In (13 plays)
6. Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers (13 plays)
6. Blitzen Trapper - Furr (13 plays)
6. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Can't Take My Eyes Off You (13 plays)
10. Black Lips - Drugs (12 plays)
10. The Felice Brothers - Roll On Arte (12 plays)
10. Raekwon - The Return Of The North Star (12 plays)
10. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - The Drummer (12 plays)
10. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Interesting Results (12 plays)

My most listened to artists of 2009

Most blogs tend to release a Best of 2009 around this time of the year, but what you think was the best music of the year doesn't always match up with what you actually played the most:


1. Bob Dylan (427 plays)
2. Leonard Cohen (316 plays)
3. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti (254 plays)
4. The Felice Brothers (250 plays)
5. The Brian Jonestown Massacre (195 plays)
6. Raekwon (194 plays)
7. Black Lips (162 plays)
8. Tom Waits (128 plays)
9. Blitzen Trapper (124 plays)
10. Animal Collective (112 plays)


http://www.last.fm/user/markwales

The Smith Westerns

There seem to be a lot of Black Lipsesque bands around these days. Not that they're innovators or anything, but they definitely came to mind when I first heard The Smith Westerns. Here are two of my favourites of the album, which is well worth buying/downloading. I could provide a link, but you all know where to look...


This one definitely has a T.Rex vibe to it:





This one is just nice and hazy and chilled:

BLAKROC

Although I've not listened to the new BLAKROC album too much yet, these songs were instant head nodders (partly due to the fact that Raekwon's on one and Rza the other!):


Following Only Built For Cuban Linx II, Raekwon can do no wrong!








In case you didn't know Blakroc is a rap rock collabo album between The Black Keys and a few of hip-hop's legends. Following the Black Lips' recent collabo with Gza and Jesse's (Eagles of Death Metal) plans for his solo project ("I'm trying to work with Dr. Dre and my dream job of all time would be to work with [Outkast's] Andre 3000) it's definitely good to see more rock artists emrbracing their love of hip-hop. Check out one of several making of videos: