Duotone

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The A-Z of New Music brings us to the letter ‘D’, and at last, a move away from the twee indiepop as we enter the murky depths of folk. Today I present the mature, intellectual, acoustic sound of…..Duotone.

Work Harder & One Day You’ll Find Her, Duotone’s debut album, was my first stop, thanks to @ladymarples. I was instantly impressed with the album, a collection of 8 tracks (a tad short I know) featuring various stringed instruments (Barney Morse-Brown is the cellist for The Imagined Village) and inventive and intelligent lyrics – although some would say melancholic. On first play it reminded me a bit of Damien Rice ‘stuff’ – but more musical – the instruments, at times, overwhelm the lyrics (not sure if that is a good or bad thing). Favourite tracks off the album: ‘Golden Hair Saved My Life’,  ‘House of Keremma’ and ‘You Don’t Need Church’. The album is definitely a ‘grower’ – I think there’s a lot going on – definitely worth an extended visit. Perfect for the summer: sit in the garden, put the album on, open a bottle of wine and relax….

A new album, Ropes, is due for release towards the end of the March.

Duotone, overall grade B….well worth a listen…..

Just to reflect on the start of this month’s project…..four letters…four new good discoveries…..lovely jubbly!

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter D….

Colour Me Wednesday

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We get to C and still seem to be stuck in the whole indie/pop vibe. Tomorrow, I promise, something a bit different. But for today’s band, a mix of indiepop, punk and ska…….Colour Me Wednesday.

Colour Me Wednesday are a London based 4-piece band who I have had trouble pigeonholing. ‘Purge Your Inner Tory’ is a great little indiepop tune that you can’t help tapping your feet to. ‘Carefree’ has a clear ska influence and ‘Unicorn in Uniform’ is again, a bit more indie, with bigger guitars and drums, or you can have a more tranquil sound with ‘Lost on the Highstreet’. Personal favourites for me: ‘Holiday From Your Life’ and ‘Purge Your Inner Tory‘. Overall, a great little band, should make for a good evening’s entertainment if you get the chance to see them live.

Colour Me Wednesday overall grade a B – like it!

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter C….

Boy Mandeville

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The band grabbing the ‘B’ in the A-Z of New Music, thanks to @nembow, is Boy Mandeville…..

A miserable rainy day outside has not stopped Boy Mandeville from transporting me into the summer. A great indie-pop outfit that creates a truly summer sound thanks, in part, to fantastic calypso sounds, take a listen to ‘Steel Horse’ and you’ll either be on a beach in the Caribbean or at the Notting Hill carnival (without the knives of course). Their last single, released last summer, ‘Gorilla’ is definitely worth a listen, as is ‘Killing the Work’. But my favourite, given that I’ve only been listening to them for the morning, would have to be ‘Christina’, an example of a slightly more ‘indie’ Boy Mandeville. So if you fancy listening to some afro-beat and wonky pop then Boy Mandeville should be your first stop….

Boy Mandeville overall grade a B – for me a bit too much calypso….

Today’s blog has been brought to you by the letter B…

Allo Darlin’

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March’s project, with @davidmarples in mind, gets off to an indie pop feel – although I also like the idea they have been described as ‘twee poppers’….may I present……..Allo Darlin’….

A great start to March’s project!

Allo Darlin’ are a great little band, their self-titled album Allo Darlin’ (which I downloaded after listening to a few tracks on myspace) is packed full of fun little melodies, using ukuleles and tambourines, in a Noah and the Whale styley. ‘The Polaroid Song’ would have to be my favourite, closely followed by ‘Woody Allen’ and ‘My Heart is a Drummer’. Although some older ‘stuff’ is well worth a listen, ‘Henry Rollins Don’t Dance’ is a catchy little number.

I’ve now added them to my must see gig list. Take a look….

Allo Darlin’ overall grade A* – top of the class!

Today’s blog has been brought to you by the letter A……

 

 

March’s Project….

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A-Z of New Music

After much deliberation March’s project has finally been decided…..’Phil’s A-Z of New Music’.

“What is Phil’s A-Z of New Music?” I hear you shout. Well after various ideas from various people: painting, swimming, model making, photography, star-gazing, to name but a few, I wanted something quite relaxing to do throughout March. And thanks to @ladymarples the decision has been made.

February was an interesting month, learning to play the ukulele was not as easy as I first thought, I didn’t seem to pick up the uke as often as I should have. Suffice to say: I’m no expert. Although if Noah and the Whale’s ukulele player suddenly dropped dead, I could probably manage to accompany them on ‘5 years time’ for at least the first 10-15 secs of the track. In a nutshell: I’m no George Formby! (although @kem27 did manage to get him confused with Norman Wisdom!).

So, March’s plan, to listen to and blog about ‘New Music’. Although when I say ‘new’ music, I actually mean ‘new’ to me. I hope to cover a range of genres, so there should be something for everyone!

If you have some some ideas of artists/bands I should listen to feel free to comment….

March?

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February’s plan to learn to play the ukulele didn’t go too well. Although I can definitely play it better than I could 4 weeks ago.

I’m still not entirely sure what March’s project is going to be….

  • One idea was to borrow Amy’s posh camera and try my hand at some fancy photography.
  • Another was to learn to swim better – but after the physical efforts of janathon that may have to wait until the summer.
  • It has been suggested to do some sort of art/painting project.

A decision will be made by the end of the weekend……