Played postman for some Coil related email today. Sent me on a trip watching Coil videos on YouTube where I found this remix of “The Dreamer Is Still Asleep” by Datenverarbeiter.

Norwegian Wo Shoegaze. From the album Simon Says No! (2010).

Look at these young Russians doing the 30 year old classic Virgin Prunes track ‘Come to Daddy’.

“On August 23rd 2009, a group of Radiohead fans descended on the Výstaviště Holešovice Exhibition Hall in Prague on a mission to capture the band playing using as many different angles as possible. Bringing together the exceptional talents of many contributors, here’s a glimpse of the result.”

The footage was shot by 50 people using Flip cameras. Radiohead provided audio masters to the makers of this DVD, shot on 23 August 2009.

Free download in various formats

The hair stood up on the back of my neck watching Arcade Fire play Reading on BBC 3 the other night. The band has uploaded the entire show to YouTube.

Enjoy this happy little ditty by German composer Max Richter.

www.maxrichter.com

Curated for DIS Magazine, a 32-minute “Raver Stay Wiv Me” mix by Salem. Unchained Melody + Forever Young + trance/rave, slowed down and fucked up.

This sounds too Eurotrash (read: Dutch) to me, though. Much prefer their creepier ‘I buried my heart inna wounded knee’, which I linked last week.

Download

Simple Minds lost their way a long, long time ago. Now Jim Kerr’s trying it solo, as ‘Lostboy AKA‘. The album’s apparently not making any waves yet, but I’m surprised by this single in which Kerr marries 80′s ‘big’ guitar sounds with a 90′s danceable groove. Just misses the mark, but at least it’s not ‘Belfast Child’.

Lostboy AKA on Spotify

I don’t listen to music as intensely now and I couldn’t tell you the titles of the songs of many of these albums, let alone what they’re about. I couldn’t tell you much about the bands or artists either. And I don’t pay as much attention to lyrics as I used to. Music plays while I’m doing something else and I don’t wallow in it. Occasionally a phrase will stand out, but I’m going mostly by melody now. So consider these the best melodies I heard in 2009.

U2 are the odd one out in a field of not so widely knowns. I don’t agree with Rolling Stone all too often, but yes, I too think Moment of Surrender is the best piece of music that I’ve heard this year, and possibly the best piece of music U2 have ever written and Bono’s ever sung. It should have been the single.

1. The Airborne Toxic Event – The Airborne Toxic Event
2. A Mountain Of One – Institute of Joy
3. M83 – Saturdays = Youth
4. Eden Ahbez – Eden’s Island
5. Moderat – Moderat
6. Darker My Love – 2
7. Reverend and The Makers – A French Kiss In The Chaos
8. The Black Atlantic – Reverence For Fallen Trees
9. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
10. TV on the Radio – Dear Science

Other albums I listened to that didn’t make top 10:

Bat for Lashes – Two Suns, La Roux – La Roux, Masters of Reality – Pine, M83 – Before the dawn heals us, The Horrors – Primary Colours, MGMT – Oracular Spectacular, Empire State Human – Audio Gothic, Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak, Wild Beasts – Two Dancers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!, Martha Wainwright – Martha Wainwright, Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring, Soulsavers – Broken, The xx – xx, Julian Plenti – Julian Plenti is skyscraper, Joe Henry – Blood from stars, TV Ghost – Cold Fish, White Lies – To Lose my life

Natasha Khan’s tom-boyish, goofy performance was alright and the music was solid and I loved the way she dressed her stage… but I wasn’t feeling it. I hear so many other artists in her music and voice, and I’m not sure what makes Khan’s music hers. I kept thinking ‘Sounds like Tori Amos sounding like Kate Bush, not as distinctive’, ‘Sounds like Sinead… not as other wordly’, ‘Gosh, this is very Olwen Fouere’, (Who?), ‘Bit of Bjork, not as barking…’ I left before the end of the show. Ben Christophers played keyboards in the band. I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.