What's Wrong With The Mainstream Playlist Feb '09

I'm quite pleased with this month's playlist and after good (offline) comments about last month's it's got a lot to live up to. It certainly starts strongly.

I'm going to try something a little bit different this month and put each track up as a separate post so when one gets taken down by the evil blogger police the rest don't get taken down as well. Enjoy and, as always, thanks and comments are always appreciated...

Too Fake - Hockey

I tend to spend a bit of time going around all the blogs I like downloading tracks and then listening to them all together. One problem with this is that I don't remember where I've got a track from and also sometimes all that new music just blurs together. That's what happened with this track, it was only when I heard it on the radio that I realised what a good track it was and that I already had it. Don't make the same mistake I made...

MP3: Too Fake - Hockey

This Is Our Perfect Crime - The Von Bondies

I read a review recently that didn't rate The Von Bondies new album, saying it didn't compare to their 2004 album, Pawn Shoppe Heart. Well I don't know what the rest of the album sounds like but this track is great.

MP3: This Is Our Perfect Crime - The Von Bondies (YSL)

Death By Misadventure - All The Kings Men

Recommended by regular reader and occasional writer for this blog, Schonberg, recommended this next track. Keeping it indie rock these Brit upstarts are sounding pretty good to me...

MP3: Death By Misadventure - All The Kings Men (YSL)

From The City To The Sea - The Sunshine Underground + Fc Kohuna

With The Sunshine Underground in the studio we have been treated to this freebie from the band. They have teamed up with FC Kahuna and sampled the Aphix Twin track Window Licker. it's not going on the album as it's "too different". I agree with that, I would never have placed it as a TSU track but it's still good.

MP3: From The City To The Sea - The Sunshine Underground (YSL)

I'm Beginning To Think You Prefer Beverley Hills 90210 To Me - Fight Like Apes

I think it was November's playlist when we first brought you Fight Like Apes, the tracks I heard then were quite thrashy, this one has calmed down a bit but is a cracking track. I guess one of the reasons I like it so much is that my wife is pregnant and, with our surname being Lamb, it's quite cool having a song about Mary having a little lamb. If only my wife was called Mary.

Oh, by the way, you're so FIRED!

MP3: I'm Beginning To Think You Prefer Beverley Hills 90210 To Me - Fight Like Apes (YSL)

(I've just checked, it was actually back in August's playlist that you last heard FLA, time flys when you've got great music...)

Happy As Annie - Larrikin Love

Every year I like to put together the NME top 50 tracks as a playlist. It's a great way to discover tracks I might have missed (often they become hits the next year) and it also makes a pretty good playlist. I've also started working back through the years putting the previous lists together as playlists. Again this has uncovered some great tracks I have missed. This is one of those tracks, from 2006, I believe the band have now split up which is a real shame.

There's a bit of a banjo/folk feel to start with, don't let that put you off it's a great track.

MP3: Happy As Annie - Larrikin Love (YSL)

Replacement Man - Dan Sartain

This is another song I discovered from the NME lists so thanks to Rock List Music for reproducing those lists. I think this track sounds like The Last Shadow Puppets but obviously this was out before they probably even met each other.

MP3: Replacement Man - Dan Sartain (YSL)

24 - Tom Williams

I believe Concentrate by Tom Williams is being played on 6Music a lot at the moment. I thought I'd post a different track, 24, which I think is as good if not better. I'm pretty sure I got it from likesounds.com which seems to have Tom Williams on there all the time. So if you want more info you know where to go.

Oh and don't confuse Tom Williams with the Ashley FC right back or the grumpy lawn mower seller in Minehead.

MP3: 24 - Tom Williams (YSL)

Run Run - Those Dancing Days

This is a track that's been sat on my iPod for six months but never got the attention it deserved. Not unlike Florence and The Machine / Ida Maria this indie pop track is just the kind of thing you would hear on 6Music.

MP3: Run Run - Those Dancing Days (YSL)

Waiting - The Tunics

Straight from the off this song has got a British feel to it and I like it. From what I can work out from their web site and MySpace site they are from London but that's about all I can find out. I've read some reviews of theirs and people talk about Oasis and Pete Doherty but I actually think they've got a good sound of their own. Check out their MySpace to hear more www.myspace.com/thetunics

MP3: Waiting - The Tunics (YSL)

Sunlight - Harlem Shakes

For a band that have been together since '06 (well the drummer and lead singer) it's taken Harlem Shakes a long time to get around to producing an album. To be fair to them they did go to college and "go nuts" in the meantime but I think that kind of time together should have produced some good results. Certainly going by this song and the other song I have heard it's not going to be bad.

They have toured with Vampire Weekend which is a bit of a guide to their music - they've also toured with Arctic Monkeys which is not. Anyway their album is out, I assume in the States, in March and they are touring at the same time, sadly again in the State only.

MP3: Sunlight - Harlem Shakes (YSL)

Chained Up - Voxhaul Broadcast

As far I'm aware this band weren't formed from people who work at the Vauxhaul car plant well not unless they're from the USA version General Motors. These guys come from LA where they were voted third best band in 2008.

MP3: Chained Up - Voxhaul Broadcast (YSL)

You, Me & The Bourgeoisie - The Submarines

This song's from an advert, it's for some MP3 player or phone or restaurant finder or games console or something. I think this song starts strongly but actually tails off at the end. Again note that Apple are using a female voice to promote their product.

MP3: You, Me & The Bourgeoisie - The Submarines (YSL)

Summer Shakedown - Slow Club

likesounds.com seems to be the main source for my playlist this month as this is another band they've pointed out to me. I'm told they are from Sheffield, which is always a good start, and that this track is from 2006. I think they have been compared to The White Stripes but I think that is purely because they are a two piece band, a boy and a girl. That's the only similarities I see...

MP3: Summer Shakedown - Slow Club (YSL)

On My Knees - Aqualung

I don't know much about Aqualung apart from Strange and Beautiful that was used in a car advert some years ago. This song however has grown on me and people who like Kubb, Morning Runner and Keane will enjoy this song.

MP3: On My Knees - Aqualung (YSL)

My Girls - Animal Collective

Last month everyone on the blogs was posting about this song and in true What's Wrong With The Mainstream fashion I am posting it a month late. I try to give songs a good listen before they make it on to the end of month playlist and the playlist is designed to be a guide to what I have been listening to during the month. Personally I don't think it's as good as the song I posted last month by the same band.

MP3: My Girls - Animal Collective

Oblivion - Wintersleep

Starting off sounding a bit like Bloc Party and ending up sounding like a cross between an upbeat Interpol and Editors I'm not sure what to say about this band. They are currently touring and after hearing the track I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that they are supporting White Lies on tour.

MP3: Oblivion - Wintersleep (YSL)

Mind Your Own Business - Delta 5

This is an odd track that I wouldn't normally put on the playlist but it's just got stuck in my head and I can't get it out. With a great bass line and repetitive lines you try getting it out of your head. I discovered it on the Stranger Than Fiction soundtrack that I mentioned earlier this week.

MP3: Mind Your Own Business - Delta 5 (YSL)

Aerodynamic - Daft Punk

If you read this blog often you will know I love adverts and the quality of music played in them seem to be improving all the time. I remember when I was growing up you only used to get English Man In New York. You could just picture the ad men sitting down their middle aged clients saying we recommend this. Of course they said OK, they only had Sting and Genesis CDs in their cars.

Anyway Check The Availability spotted that the advert for Pantene Pro V with Myleene Class playing the piano actually features none other than Daft Punk. Do you think the ad execs had to turn it in to the piano version before they would even consider it? I wonder...

MP3: Aerodynamic - Daft Punk (YSL) (3rd Link)

Paper Planes (M.I.A. cover) - Pale Young Gentlemen

As last month I'm ending this month's playlist with a cover and I was interested in this one as a friend of mine mentioned he was going to have a go covering it. My friend however is not a member of Pale Young Gentlemen, in fact I know very little about them. What I do know is that this sounds like Get Well Soon and certainly is a different take on the song. See what you think, no tacky sound effects if that helps...

MP3: Paper Planes (M.I.A. cover) - Pale Young Gentlemen (YSL)

All Hype - Longpigs

As this blog nears ten months old I thought it was about time I submitted it to Hype Machine. So to celebrate our inclusion on the web site I thought I'd post All Hype by Longpigs. A great band and if you've not done so before check out their The Sun Is Often Out album. Yes it's got a very 95-96 feel about it but it's got many quality tracks that are still great to listen to now. This is one of the album tracks...

MP3: All Hype - Longpigs (YSL)

Pulp - Sunrise (Used in the BBC Six Nations Adverts)

I keep meaning to write about this track every time I see the BBC advert for the Six Nations rugby. We Love Life is such an underrated album by Pulp, it is packed with quality tunes and, in my opinion, much better than the bands previous album This Is Hardcore.

I always like it when a band saves a quality track until the end of the album, one that builds up and up to a big finish. This is a perfect example of this, it starts of as quite a bland, weak song and ends with a great instrumental that can get the hairs on the back of your neck standing to attention.

If you've not heard this track before, or if you've dismissed it in the past, give it a try and stay with it, as I said it starts slowly but at the 2:29 mark the big build up starts...

MP3: Pulp - Sunrise (YSL)

I've just listened to the rest of the album again and stand out tracks are definitely Weeds, Bad Cover Version, Trees, The Birds In Your Garden and Sunrise. Can you spot a theme?

Stranger Than Fiction - Soundtrack / Mini Review

When I started up this blog the aim was to promote songs that were either hard to find or not getting they should be i.e. not mainstream. At times I've got distracted but I'd like to think that this isn't one of those times.

Stranger Than Fiction is a film that didn't get the promotion in the UK that I think it deserved, in fact we didn't discover it until we saw its trailer on a DVD we own. Its a film with a great cast, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson and the lead character is played by Will Ferrell. This is Will Ferrell not in his usual, churn them out, ten a penny, "Blades of Glory" performance but as an actual different character. The film is about Will's character who wakes up one morning to hear someone narrating his life and, even worse, proclaiming that he will die in the near future.

From there on it's a heart-warming tale of his life and him trying to change for the better (that sounds like the start of Quantum Leap). I'm not going to give any more away than that but I definitely recommend it. Below is the song that for me sums up the film the best and gives it that feel good, independent feel.

MP3: That's The Way We Get By - Spoon (Box link, I've dumped zshare for now) (YSL)

The Virgins Tour The UK

I've just discovered that The Virgins are touring the UK and not only are they coming to Bristol but they are playing my favourite venue, Thekla. Hopefully by the time you read this I will have my hands on two tickets to see them. Full UK tour dates below:

Apr 14 2009 8:00P
Digital Brighton, UK

Apr 15 2009 8:00P
Thekla Bristol, UK

Apr 16 2009 8:00P
Ruby Lounge Manchester, UK

Apr 17 2009 8:00P
Cabaret Voltaire Edinburgh, UK

Apr 18 2009 8:00P
King Tuts Glasgow, UK

Apr 20 2009 8:00P
The Cluny Newcastle, UK

Apr 21 2009 8:00P
Rainbow Birmingham, UK

Apr 22 2009 8:00P
Cockpit Leeds, UK

Apr 23 2009 8:00P
Heaven London, UK

MP3: Love Is Colder Than Death - The Virgins (Box link) (YouSendIt Link)

Brit Awards Run Down

The funniest moment I have seen on TV for years has to feature the Hoff and what better place for it to happen than at the Brits. Known to have a slight drink problem (see video below), The Hoff was asked, along with Elbow whether they were going to party afterwards. Guy Garvey turned straight faced to The Hoff and asked him if he fancied a drink tonight. The best bit was I think Elbow and Fearne were oblivious to their faux pas despite presenter James Corden mentioning his YouTube "moment" earlier in the show.

Sadly the only true controversy was Duffy winning three awards. THREE. that's right, the one hit wonder took away THREE awards. I was majorly peeved with this and reading around other sites, many people are. The thing is, when it comes down to it, it's all about taste. One person commentated "Spiritualized were a glaring omission". I like Spiritualized with the best of them but come on, get real. Duffy sold lots of records and that, when it comes down to it, is what the music industry is interested in. Yes, Duffy won the Breakthrough Act thanks to Radio1 listeners but British Album and British Female Artist are voted for by industry bods.

Anyway enough of my rant, my favourite musical part of last night was the Ting Tings combing with Estelle. While it had already been done by The Hood Internet as a mashup of Shut Up And Let Me Go and American Boy they took it one extra step and brought That's Not My Name in at the end. No recorded loops were required as Estelle added the extra vocals needed. Check out the video below as well as the original mashup from The Hood Internet.

MP3: Shut Up, American Boy (Estelle feat Kanye West vs The Ting Tings) - The Hood Internet (YSL)

Skint & Demoralised

It turns out that The Sunday Times have an exlusive download for Skint and Demoralised, well them, iTunes and anyone who follows this link Skint and Demoralised

So if you enjoyed the song on last month's playlist go and grab another slice of the Wakefield / Sheffield duo...

Let Your Love Flow (or not) for the Barclay Card advert

You can't turn the TV on at the moment without seeing a comparison web site advert or the Barclay Card advert. Like it or not the Barclay Card advert just gets in your head and is your ear worm for the day. I've only just come across the phrase ear worm but it perfectly describes that song that gets in your head all day long.

I actually thought the advert was mainly CGI but it turns out they did do work at a water park, had a slide in a library, a supermarket and more impressively put big blue tubes down in Rio. See the making of video below and also the mp3 of The Bellamy Brothers song Let Your Love Flow.

Is that the best job in the world?

MP3: Let Your Love Flow - The Bellamy Brothers (YSL)

The Simpsons Go HD

Thanks to Every Day Is Election Day for pointing out this new start to The Simpsons. They've gone HD and updated the intro. I'm sure there'll be a shorter version but it's pretty cool. I wonder how many meetings they had to decide on this one?

As an added treat how about Green Day doing their version of the theme tune for The Simpsons film and a text alert of Mr Burns doing Excellent.

MP3: The Simpsons' Theme - Green Day (YSL)

Wav: Excellent - Mr Burns (YSL)

Valentines Day

I should hate Valentine's Day, I really should, I was scared on a few occasions as a child as I played with fire. I remember at primary school, aged about 10, we had to make cards and then were sent in to the class room, one by one, to put our card secretly on the desk of your chosen person. I was a little shy so I put it IN the girls desk. It wasn't discovered for a week and when it was, four girls all took it to the teacher and proudly announced that it was mine. Brilliant. By the way, the picture at the top is the card Lisa Simpson gave to Ralph on Valentines day. Those were the days, when Lisa Simpson was innocent and not doing lewd acts for the London 2012 Olympics...

Anyway, I actually think Valentine's Day is a great idea and always went on the theory that you couldn't complain about not getting any cards if you didn't send some yourself. I agree it's all a money making thing and so I usually make the card and don't go over board with the present but I'd be killed if I did nothing.

If you're struggling to think of a present, why not put together a valentine's day playlist, here are some ideas:

MP3: I Love You - Dandy Warhols (YSL)
An underrated album track from them.

MP3: Ten Storey Love Song - The Stone Roses (YSL)
My favourite track off Second Coming, mainly because it reminds me of an old girlfriend.

MP3: You Are My Sunshine (cover) - Frank Turner (YSL)
I can't help but listen to this song and think of football fans chanting along to it. I'm guessing our readers from other countries don't have the same problem.

MP3: This Must Be Love - Photons (YSL)
A quality song, not to be confused with Madness It Must Be Love

MP3: That Kiss - The Courteeners (YSL)
This song has really grown on me over the past few months, may be not as instant as their other singles but definitely another quality track from them.

MP3:Baby I'm Yours - Arctic Monkeys (YSL) Taken from their Leave When The Lights Come On EP, this is a real slow, swing track. In fact it was one of our "last dance" tracks at our wedding. Ah, sorry you'll have to supply your own bucket.

White Lies Offer Free Instrumental Album Download

White Lies have taken the unprecedented step of offering their album as a free instrumental download. It may be Friday 13th but maybe it's our lucky day?

Whether this is to try out some new software (you go to a web page that checks you have bought their album) or just to promote their new single, Farewell To The Fairground I don't know. However, if you have bought their album either through iTunes or as a CD you can go to here and download the whole album. I have only listened to Death so far but I can't imagine why it will be listened to a lot. Anyone fancy a White Lies karaoke party? Dress code: Black

Mini Mix - Fatboy Slim

Now I think I should explain what the BBC Radio 1 Mini Mix is as I don't think enough of you took advantage of the last Mini Mix I posted by Mark Ronson. It's a five minute mix where an artist is asked to mix as many or as few songs as they like. Some DJs like to use it as a way to promote their own music. In this mix Fatboy Slim mixes in some of his tracks, some other tracks he likes as well as some of the original tracks that he's sampled from. Let me know what you think of it.

MP3: Mashup Mini Mix - Fatboy Slim (YSL)

Elbow - Live With The BBC Concert Orchestra

Elbow recently played with the BBC Concert Orchestra and previous winners of Choir Of The Year for Radio 2. As you might expect the result was fantastic. Listen to this recording of One Day Like This. I would have thought the whole concert will be released on CD at some point.

MP3: One Day Like This (Live) - Elbow With The BBC Concert Orchestra

Excellent Track - Listen To It Now!

OK, I've just found out I'm way behind with this but who cares. It's the first track I have ever bought off iTunes solely on the preview. I don't know how I ended up looking it up but it is my favourite track to run to at the moment. It gets your heart racing, it gets quicker and you half want to turn it up and half want to turn it off!

Have a listen and see what you think. It's the live version taken from the Ed Rec Vol III compilation.

MP3: Stress (Live) - Justice

Rocknrolla: Mini Review / Soundtrack

Rocknrolla came out on DVD last week and it was hailed as a return to form for director Guy Richie. It certainly has its moments, his films are steadily getting more polish (and better actors). The star of the film has to be Toby Kebbell, nominated for a BAFTA rising star award*, who is excellent. He plays a gangster's son, think Russell Brand crossed with a young Al Pachino.

The soundtrack sounded great as well, which is no surprise going on the past Lock Stock / Snatch releases and thankfully there isn't a Madonna track in sight. See divorce can be good sometimes. With the likes of The Clash, 22-20s, The Hives, Lou Reed there's a strong line up on the soundtrack. However, the song that goes around your head when the film is finished is Rock & Roll Queen by The Subways who perform it live in the film. You may already have that track but it's time to revisit it.

MP3: Rock and Roll Queen - The Subways

*Noel Clarke, who played Mickey in Dr Who, won the award last night.

Talented Artist

I thought I'd post about something a little bit different today. You've got the long end of month playlist to be working through so I thought I'd point you in the direction of a talented artist. Martin Joiner runs the Open Mic Night in Taunton at Perfect. He's a former art student who is know for his Explosion paintings and is establishing himself more and more, recently moving in to a new studio.

Martin's also a bit of a poet (hence the open mic nights) and I thought I'd point you in the direction of one of his readings. He talks about modern day life (it's about a girl he's infatuated with over the internet that he's never met). Listen to it and enjoy, go on, it's only 1 min 30 seconds long.

See YouTube profile for his Explosion paintings and Butterscotch World for more info.