Anyway, I was on holiday last week, so to fill the space in my Editor’s Letter column, where I would normally moan on about something that had happened during the week, I pre-prepared a list of ten tracks from new(ish) acts I’ve been listening to of late. And now, just for you, I’m reporting it here. Have a listen.

Suzanne Sundfør
There’s nothing quite like the feeling you get when you completely fall for a song on the first listen, and ‘White Foxes’ was one of those moments. There are few songs I’ve listened to as much this year and it runs excited chills through me every time I hear it still. The album it is taken from is available on iTunes now, and while you’re frantically downloading that, her previous album ‘The Brothel’ is also very much worth checking out.

John Talabot
Released through Permanent Vacation last month, John Talabot’s debut album, ‘Fin’, has been getting some heavy play in the CMU office of late. Taking his strong songwriting skills and drawing heavily on house, bringing to mind acts like Pantha Du Prince and fellow Spaniards Delorean, the record is filled with standout moments. Here’s one, ‘Destiny’, the first of two collaborations with Pional on the album.

Sleep Party People
The solo project of Scarlet Chives member Brian Batz, Sleep Party People’s music is slow, twisted pop that sits somewhere between dreamlike and nightmarish – mainly due to the heavily-effected vocals that are melted almost beyond recognition. This feeling often comes through in SPP videos too, particularly the one for the track below, ‘A Dark God Heart’, which slowly morphs from innocent to morbid. New album ‘We Are Drifting On A Sad Song’ is due out via Blood And Biscuits next month.

THEEsatisfaction
There’s no denying that THEEsatisfaction’s music is ambitious, but its success is in sounding effortless. Allowing hip hop, jazz, funk, Afro-Futurism and psychedlia to run together is not something that has never been attempted before, but to balance it so perfectly is no mean feat. ‘QueenS’ is taken from the duo’s debut album proper ‘awE naturalE’ which is out now via Sub Pop.

Clean George IV
Clean George IV, aka George McFall, first emerged in 2007, releasing the brilliant ‘First Blast Of The Trumpet Against The Monstrous Regiment Of Women’. But the project went on hold for a few years, in which time he began a classical music degree and got sued by Kraftwerk (I’m not sure if these two things are related). He returned last year with debut album ‘God Save The Clean’, sounding like Andrew WK on a bad comedown.

Julia Holter
Last year Julia Holter found herself with an underground hit on her hands with debut album proper ‘Tragedy’. Quickly snapped up by RVNG Intl, she released the follow-up, ‘Ekstasis’, earlier this month. Her sound is unusual and experimental but also warm and welcoming, never attempting to block the listener out with its weirdness. Even her FACT mix, which was largely made up of field recordings with the occasional track dropped in amongst them, manages to pull this off. Here’s the opening track from ‘Ekstasis’, ‘Marienard’:

Bernholz
It’s occurred to me now that I’ve started writing these blurbs, how much of the music here is experimental but with leanings towards pop. Bernholz is no different, although he stands out because while his early releases were completely abstract, latest single ‘Austerity Boy’ sees him attempt to step almost completely over into pop by creating a three minute update of Madonna’s ‘Material Girl’ for modern Britain.

Asbjørn
I first discovered Asbjørn at last year’s SPOT Festival in Denmark. Wandering into his show for no clear reason, he turned out to be very popular amongst his home audience already, performing to a capacity crowd of around 1500 people in the middle of the afternoon. It was clear to see why too. Still in his teens he makes highly polished, infectious pop and knows full well how to perform it.

Team Me
I bang on about Team Me quite a lot, so forgive me if I’m covering old ground here. They are my favourite indie-pop sextet of the moment though. Their debut album, ‘To The Treetops!’ was released earlier this month and features ten unashamedly poppy songs, including the wonderful ‘Dear Sister’, which first appeared on their eponymous 2010 debut EP.

ScHoolboy Q
‘There He Go’ by ScHoolboy Q has spent extended periods of time jammed in my brain since I first heard it on Jon Hillcock’s New Noise podcast back in January. His second album, ‘Habits & Contradictions’, was released the same month and, while maybe not treading much new ground in hip hop terms, it nonetheless does it well. It also features a roll call of other up and coming rappers, including that A$AP Rocky fella.

New Noise
Jon Hillcock’s New Noise podcast is always a great source of new music, but the first edition of 2012 was particularly good. After I listened to it I went and downloaded ever single track featured on it, because they’re all great. The likes of ScHoolBoy Q, Tonstartssbandht, and Altarboy particularly stand out.

Listen to the whole podcast here:

Julia Holter
Julia Holter released a great album called Tragedy last year, and has another coming out via RVNG Intl in March, which, from the sound of the track below, Marienbad, will be even better. Aly at CMU has this one covered.

Marienbad:

Mallard The Wonderdog
I think David Williams is a shockingly underrated songwriter. As frontman of Derby band Plans & Apologies he churned out countless brilliant songs, and has an amazing way with words. Now recording as Mallard The Wonderdog, he released his second proper solo album this week. It’s called Miserable Fuck and is only a quid on Bandcamp, why would you not buy it?

Rock Bottom
I’m not sure Rock Bottom is that great name to give a band, any band, but that’s what these guys have done and we’re just going to have to live with it. They make up for it by playing really good, no frills hardcore. There are three new demos streaming on their Facebook page now, which you can also download here.

Flight
This isn’t really new, it’s from 2010, but I only heard it last week thanks to DðlfinZ on a recent edition of the Song, By Toad podcast. Something about Witch Hunt Town by Flight instantly grabbed me, so I shot off and bought the whole The Lead Riders EP on Bandcamp, which contains yet more lo-fi joy.

Graphics
Producer Alfie MacGibbon has released a number of EPs as Graphics through various labels, with the latest, Mama Grizzlies, out via GETME! two weeks ago. The title track, which you can hear below, is a stunning piece of work that has no real business being a chilled as it is, considering its component parts.

Mama Grizzlies:

Akira Kiteshi
When I first heard Akira Kiteshi a year or so ago he was already making fairly heavy dubstep. Since then he’s ramped the levels right up and branched out into other areas of bass music. I’m intrigued to hear the whole album, but for now here are some short snippets of each track.

Industrial Avenue album sampler:

Postiljonen
I don’t know a great deal about Postiljonen beyond the fact they’re from Sweden and what little I could decipher from the brief write up of this track on French blog Fluokids. And, yes, I could look them up, but until I absolutely have learn more about them I’m just enjoying the images the choir-heavy 7 conjures up by itself.

7:

Skirt
Another one from Fluokids, this track by Skirt is a nice slice of creepy minimal techno. You can hear the first minute and a half below, or download the full track here.

Racing The Sea (clip):

Gracie
Every project needs a good back story, and Gracie‘s Andrew Balasia’s is that he’s a dog. I suspect he isn’t. Whatever, he has an EP called Treehouse coming out via Small Plates Records later this month. Check out the video for a track from, the laidback, dubby Southern Place, below.

Sleep Party People
I spent about an hour rifling through Sleep Party People videos on YouTube a few weeks ago, so when a new one popped up in my inbox this week, I hit play straight away. Accompanying what is probably their most beautiful song A Dark God Heart (from their We Are Drifting On A Sad Song album, which is out in the UK in April) the video is very good, but also a bit NSFW.

Tracklist:

01. Excision – Boom (Feat. Datsik) (0:03-1:01)
02. Two Fingers – ? (0:32)
03. Eskmo – I Dream I‘m Flying (1:55)
04. Amon Tobin – Theme From Battery (3:11)
05. Amon Tobin – Slowly (4:04)
06. Eskmo – San Francisco (The Rhythm) (4:59)
07. Photek – Deadly Technology (8:50)
08. Dom & Roland – Sylo (Feat. Amon Tobin) (11:19)
09. SPL – Nihil (14:00)
10. Spor – Three Faces (Feat. Infiltrata) (18:22)
11. Evol Intent – 8-Bit Bitch (Spor Remix) (19:00)
12. ?? (20:30)
13. Two Fingers – ? (21:40)
14. Two Fingers – ? (23:42)
15. Two Fingers – Sweden Rhythm (27:04)
16. The Sea Nymphs – Sarah On A Worm (30:03)
17. Amon Tobin – Technique (32:00)
18. Amon Tobin – Taxidermia (34:07)
19. Amon Tobin – It’s A Lovely Night (35:42)
20. Two Fingers – ? (38:22)
21. Two Fingers – Better Get That (Instrumental) (39:42)
22. Two Fingers – Don‘t Hurt Nobody (Feat. Ms Jade) Acapella (39:42)
23. ?? (41:18)
24. Amon Tobin – Taxidermia (Edit) (43:56)
25. The Sea Nymphs – Tree Tops High (46:26)
26. ?? (48:00)
27. Amon Tobin – Kitchen Sink (48:40)
28. Ms. Jade – Jade’s A Champ (49:42)
29. Amon Tobin – Big Furry Head (51:48)
30. Broken Note – Dubversion (53:39)
31. ?? (54:38)
32. ?? (57:42)
33. Spor – The Eyes Have It (59:44)
34. Dom & Roland – Deckers Theme (65:02)
35. Amon Tobin – Straight Psyche (67:50)

So, my plan is to start pulling together bits and pieces I’ve enjoyed recently every now and then, some of which I will have already written about, some of which I won’t. If nothing else, it’ll help me remember what I’ve heard and enjoyed.

Porcelain Raft
Porcelain Raft‘s Strange Weekend is my favourite album of the year so far, and I expect it to stay at or near the top of my personal chart for the remainder of it. I wrote about the album here, and Mauro put together a brilliant playlist for CMU here.

Put Me To Sleep:

Suzanne Ciani
Often compared to Delia Derbyshire (although her advert jingles probably put her closer to Raymond Scott), Suzanne Ciani is an award winning and influential electronic composer. Next month Finder Keepers will release a compilation of her work from 1969 to 1985.

Lixiviation:

Magical Mistakes
Producer Erik Luebs formerly went by the name Death By Panda. Having switched to his current Magical Mistakes moniker, he release his debut album, Dislocation, last summer and has just put out a new EP, called Special Friends.

Supermoon Crashed featuring Mutual Benefit:

Bernholz
Producer Jez Berns, aka Bernholz, began releasing singles through Anti-Ghost Moonray Records last year, and his latest, Austerity Boy, is out in February. It’s a great odd pop track that pays strange homage (maybe homage isn’t the word) to Madonna’s Material Girl.

Austerity Boy:

Frankie Rose
When I’ve not been playing Porcelain Raft’s album lately, I’ve mostly been listening to Frankie Rose‘s solo debut, Interstellar. It’s a very lovely record and will hopefully do very well. My colleague Aly Barchi wrote about Frankie for CMU here.

Know Me:

Asbjørn
I first heard Asbjørn when I saw him play to a packed 1000 capacity room at last year’s SPOT festival in his home town of Aarhus, Denmark, when he was going by the name Asbjørn And The Strange Ears. Still in his teens, he’s already written a raft of great pop songs. I wrote about Asbjørn for CMU here.

The Criminal:

Die Hard
Somehow involved in the set-up of Glasgow label Halleluwah Hits, Die Hard make music it’s hard to define. They remind me a bit of The Beta Band, although that might just be because they’re Scottish and make off-kilter pop music. Their debut album is out in February.

Nailed To The Cross:

Bad Weather California
Psych-rock outfit Bad Weather California release their new album Sunkissed through Akron/Family’s Family Tree Records label next month, and if it doesn’t put a smile on your face then you must be having a very bad day.

You’re My Friend:

A Whisper In The Noise
I love the back story to A Whisper In The Noise – it’s almost to perfect to be true. Until fourth album To Forget, which is out next month, all their music was written by one man, West Thordson, in the now abandoned primary school he attended as a child. Now a duo, they write music on a farm in the middle of nowhere. It’s very cinematic. I wrote about this for CMU here.

Black Shroud:

So, this is most likely a big fuss about nothing. In fact, a cynic might suggest that this whole controversy over whether or not Kele Okereke is still Bloc Party’s frontman or not was some kind of carefully crafted PR stunt. But that cynic would be an idiot, because nothing about this seems careful at all, let alone crafted.

This story begins on 27 Dec last year, when a picture was posted to Bloc Party’s official Twitter profile showing all four members together (with a dog who had hitherto not been part of the band and has not been mentioned since). As people tried to decipher the cryptic message that was attached to the picture – “Merry Christmas from the Bloc” – experts all agreed that this meant that the band were definitely about to break the hiatus they had begun in 2009.

It looked more like that was a correct assessment in March, when Ash frontman Tim Wheeler told The Sun that Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack, who had been moonlighting with the band for about a year, was leaving. No one said he was leaving to rejoin Bloc Party, but hopes were raised further.

And those hopes were fulfilled the following month when Lissack confirmed that there was new Bloc Party material on the way. He told NME: “We met up at Christmas … and talked about doing another record. Kele and I started working on Bloc Party stuff together and separately. We’re having a bit of a break until the festivals are over, because people have commitments during the summer, but we’re going to get back properly in September and sit in a rehearsal studio to work on new band material”.

Bang! There you go, it’s happening. Definitely happening. Definitely. Except that come September, Okereke announced not that he was going into the studio with Bloc Party, but that he had already recorded a new solo EP and would be releasing it in October. Not very much about that would suggest he was about to start working with his bandmates on new Bloc Party material.

So, the obvious question came a few weeks later when he was interviewed by NME – what’s going on? “I was actually having lunch about three weeks ago, just here on Eighth Avenue and I saw somebody walk past and I recognised the haircut”, he said. “It was Russell. I was like: ‘Hey!’ but he didn’t see me and I followed him around the corner and then I saw Matt, Gordon and Russell [ie all his bandmates] all standing outside this rehearsal space. They all went inside”.

He added: “I hope I haven’t been fired. I don’t really know what’s going on, because we haven’t really spoken recently and I’m a bit too scared to ask”.

Asked to comment on Okereke’s remarks on Twitter, Lissack said: “I expect they [NME] will be announcing the auditions soon”. At the time, most took this to be a sarcastic comment, though a week later that is exactly what happened. Well, sort of.

In an interview with the music weekly, the guitarist said: “It’s not really a secret because Kele’s been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he’s going to be doing that a bit longer. The other three of us wanted to meet up and make music. We were talking about just doing an instrumental thing, but now we might get a singer as well, to properly put some music out and play some shows”.

Confirming that there had been no contact with the band’s former frontman, he added: “I haven’t spoken to Kele for a couple of months, I guess since the festivals when I was doing stuff with Ash. But there’s no bad vibes”.

That’s right, Lissack returned to Ash as well. Who’s the real bad guy here? It doesn’t really matter, the story was broken – Kele Okereke is being replaced as the frontman of the band he co-founded and that made him famous. His bandmates planned to carry on without the very man that many would probably see as their key member. Shocking news.

Of course, Lissack never actually said that Okereke was out of the band. Actually, saying “Kele’s been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he’s going to be doing that a bit longer” would more likely suggest that Lissack expected Okereke to come back at some point. But whatever, it did seem that the other members of Bloc Party were planning to do something without him.

Commenting on the NME story, Okereke wrote on his blog: “Hmm, I don’t know what to make of this. A big part of me is laughing HARD at all of this but another part of me is all like WTF? I’m quite curious as to what a Bloc Party audition would be like? I wonder if they would let me sit on the panel so I could be a judge Tyra Banks style?”

Maybe he could, that sounds like fun. And reality TV shows have been created on flimsier premises. Plus it would be fine, because Okereke is actually still a member of the band. We know this because Si White, who co-manages both Bloc Party and Kele’s solo career, tweeted on Wednesday: “For those that keep asking, Bloc Party’s membership consists of the same four people it has consisted of since 2003″.

To confirm, those people are Russell Lissack, Gordon Moakes, Matt Tong… and Kele Okereke.

The same day, the Bloc Party website was insisting that “Bloc Party is still Bloc Party”. Although that does tell us less about the current line-up. I mean, The Sugababes are apparently still The Sugababes, aren’t they?

But I think what’s happened here is simple confusion has allowed this story to run out of control. Back in April when he announced that the band were planning to work on new material, Lissack also said: “I’ve really missed playing some of our songs again. The time away has really just reignited the passion I have for Bloc Party”.

The real story, the story it’s somehow taken over 1000 words to get to, is that three quarters of Bloc Party are planning to do something together that might be quite cool, but which will ultimately be something of a side project while they wait to get back to work properly once Kele is available. They probably should have let Kele know this though.

But anyway, narked that they are being accused of making up the whole thing, the folks at NME have released the audio of their recent interviews with Okereke and Lissack conducted by writer Dan Smith, so you can make your own mind up.

Kele:

Russell:

Someone on Twitter yesterday (I forgot who, sorry), was wondering why rock n roll spawned a genre called rock but not another called roll. I don’t think it was a serious question, but if that genre were to exist, bands like Wild Beasts and Talkers could definitely be in it.

Sometimes I write about rolling guitar lines, or rolling bass lines. Maybe even rolling drums. But in these songs, everything rolls. They’re tracks without punctuation, just one long sentence. Not in a bad way. Ozzy Osbourne speaks in long sentences without punctuation, but they don’t sound like that. Maybe like a cross between Ozzy and Terry Wogan. Does that sound bad? Yeah, it probably does. Oh well, it’s too late to change it now.

Anyway, Talkers are not bad. They are good. At this moment I know nothing about them, other than that they have two demos up on SoundCloud. And that two of them definitely wear woolly hats at least some of the time.

I came across Talkers on Jon Hilcock’s excellent New Noise podcast, which you should listen to every week without fail.

Also, for the record, I like Wild Beasts’ high-pitched squawking.

Stream and (most importantly) buy the compilation via the Bandcamp widget below:

I did a short interview with UK-based writer and broadcaster Laurent Fintoni, who arrived in Japan for a six week holiday the day before the earthquake and tsunami hit. On Monday, he teamed together with three producer friends in Tokyo and pulled this entire project together in just five days.

“I love this country, I love its people and I’ve always felt spiritually connected to it,” Fintoni explained. “Within 48 hours [of the disaster] it became clear that while we were all here, there was a growing feeling of helplessness among us – we can donate money, and some of us blood, but that’s about it at this point.”

“On Monday, we started to talk about various music-related ways to generate money and interest, and that’s when this idea came up,” he continued. “Five days later we have the most heartening tracklist we could have ever hoped for to try to raise awareness and money for those who need it most – the nearly half a million displaced Japanese who live in the northern prefectures hit by the tsunami/earthquake combo.”

Read the CMU piece in full here. More information on Nihona Kizuna is available from www.nihonkizuna.com.

Download this track for free from threetrappedtigers.heroku.com

Aptly, she explains the inspiration for the title thus: “The Magic Place was a tree on our farm. It was in the back pasture. It was one tree that grew up, down and around. You had to crawl in and once you were inside, it was like there were different rooms, and you could actually lay in the branches. We named it ‘The Magic Place’ because it really was magical — especially for a kid… and that’s how I feel about my life right now — without trying to sound too hippy dippy or cosmic, this year has definitely been a magical one”.

Listen to the album in full here: