Oh I do love it when old favourites return to visit. It's like an completely unexpected knock on the door and instead of the mormons, it's actually someone you want to see. So two acts I really quite like but probably not written about enough have returned this week with fairly exciting new music. Let's have a looksie, shall we (yes, we shall is the correct and only answer to that question)...
Dan Black - Weird Science:
I first noted Dan as one of my acts to watch in 2009 and he didn't disappoint me. Alone was a jerky, intruiging slice of electronica, although it was the arrival of Umbrella-sampling, instantly euphoric Symphonies that had me completely hooked. I found it so inspirational, so engaging, so elegant - I fell in love with the way it made me feel about me each time I listened to it :P That's entirely too cheesy but it's actually quite quite true. Quirky inventive tracks like Pump My Pumps kept my interest in the album through to the autumnal deluge of Christmas contenders at which point I sadly neglected it. The wise and venerable XO is quite right though - on return to the album, while Symphonies is still utterly brilliant, it's the less immediately glitzy tracks like Let Go and Life Slash Dreams that now stand out. Weird Science is a brilliant free mixtape that mixes together his favourite pop hits, strips them down to bare essentials, then lovingly crafts them together so they seem altogether familiar yet totally like a Dan Black song. While there are 6 goodies to choose from, I'm going with the obvious - Gimme Into The Cloudbursting is a near flawless, inviting mash of Into The Groove and Cloudbursting. Not only a creative piece of music (with painted pictures to match the tunes), but an excellent way to market yourself to a new audience (note: Simon Curtis mixtape 8BitHeart is still on it's way and still excellent. Just thought you should remember that!)
Sergey Lazarev - Heartbeat:
Ah adorable Sergey is finally returning with the long awaited (by me anyway) follow up to TV or Radio. Again, I've experienced a surge of renewed interest in Sergey lately thanks to the enthusiasm of Larry Flick when I introduced some of his songs to him :) He's been piddling around with the (admittedly quite good) track here and there since Flyer, so bring on a planned album and lots of singles please. The first one is Heartbeat. Built around an insistent, continuous drum rhythm (linked carefully to the lyrical content - I like when songs do that!), and pretty piano chords before building into a laid back yet addictive percussive groove powered forward by those sweet Sergey vocals. It's perhaps more organic sounding than some of his recent electronica and more suited to those that fell in love with Everytime and Shattered Dreams. Shayne Ward would and should kill for a song like this - it seems very now, while borrowing from the elements of classic pop tunes (I can't listen to any song with a syncopated drum beat without thinking of Abba's seminal Soldiers Write The Songs...) All in all, a pleasing return to form and obviously an album I'm quite excited about...
More soon. Work so so busy!!
