September 2011
1 post
1 tag
WatchSometimes you just have to break a vow of silence.
Free Download - Golden Small EP by Skye Wide Sea
wearethreadbare:
GOLDEN SMALL EP - FREE DOWNLOAD
Hey folks! Golden Small EP is the debut release from one of Threadbare’s founding fathers Jamie Russell - aka Skye Wide Sea.
It’s a free download on over at Bandcamp. Apply to ears and share liberally.
Thanks for listening!
Monkton x
December 2009
2 posts
4 tags
Monkton: Jingle Bells, Rudolph smells, Jesus all...
It’s gone all quiet on the Monkton front of late, so I best pop my head round the door and ho ho hopelessly apologize for my seasonal absence. And how’s about this for a start!?
MP3: ‘Boy Lilikoi’ - jónsi
Forgive me such a personal question, but can anyone else feel their cockles warming? This track has got me so giddy about the Sigur Ros frontman’s upcoming album...
3 tags
Plankton: Please steal this blog post
The ’60s had Motown and The Beatles. The ’70s was punk rock and disco. The ’80s spawned laser portraiture and synthpop, and the ’90s, well, the ’90s had hammer time. So what are we supposed to remember the ’00s for?
I’ve been pondering this question for a while. The most cohesive endpoint I could muster is the lumbering monster of indie music - but...
November 2009
7 posts
2 tags
Plankton: Shiny New Antiques - the dog and the...
It’s coursing through my body, and streaming through my bones. Today, there is no school like the old-school. Today, my human friends, I listen to Dr. Dog.
- they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But you can teach a new dog old tricks, as demonstrated by Dr. Dog, a very new dog with reassuringly old tricks.
MP3: ‘The Ark’ - Dr. Dog MP3: ‘From’ -...
1 tag
Plankton: Fall Be Kind, Indeed
Such is the regularity of their releases and the endurance of the hype, it seems like an absolute age since we were last treated to a new Animal Collective release.
That wait, (brother) sports fans, is over.
The material is traditionally dense, and unsurprisingly for a post-Merriweather EP, its a close sonic cousin to its predecessor, albeit with a largely frugal approach to bass and a touch...
2 tags
Monkton: When You Walk in the Room, and other...
Consider this: You are an expectant parent, expecting… well you’re not really sure… but you certainly have expectations. Great ones. But there are also things you don’t want. Like a child with a beak or a suspicious moustache. And the suspense is unbearable. I expect. How then, could it even come to pass that the name ‘Fyfe Dangerfield’ was ever so daringly...
2 tags
Monkton: Slarafalafel. Or something.
Slaraffenland. My, it feels soooo good just to say the word. Sssla-raffff-enn-lannnd. Glorious. I might even go one further and form a Danish supergroup - Slaraffenklang - if it hadn’t happened already. Too good to be true for fans of phonetics and Scandi post-rock alike. But alas, that was 2008, and I have definitely missed the boat. Cue We’re On Your Side, the latest installment...
1 tag
Monkton: Mudskippery
Sometimes I’d like to throw in the towel on all this music blogging and opt instead for the simple existence of the mudskipper.
This little fella is clearly the result of drastically unsupervised evolution. A fish. Out of water. Somewhere along the line this partially aquatic gobie (yep, I’m talking zoo lingo) was going through what can only be described as a biological identity...
3 tags
Plankton: Reconstructing Radiohead
Radiohead may be one of the musical wonders of the world, but they sure have a tendency to frustrate even the most of ardent of their fans; be it studio recordings that betray the spirit of the originals, live classics that never see the light of day, or painfully slow recording cycles.
I’d complain - I can throw a rather accomplished hissy fit when called upon - but their outrageous...
1 tag
Plankton: Is this the most underrated album of...
Not to go around pulling unnecessary punches - after all, For Emma… was a great record - but in the face of Timber Timbre’s self-titled, Bon Iver’s cabin heartache feels decidedly tame. While Justin Vernon was warming up by the fire, Taylor Kirk (aka Timber Timbre) was contracting a deadly fever. It’s here, committed to tape, a distinct earthen charm that we’ve...
October 2009
12 posts
1 tag
Monkton: Love Lust
My instincts may be off the mark here, have been known to be, but I suspect the man’s gifts are most likely ensnared in the towering majesty of that superb quiff - admittedly not a hypothesis worth testing with an all-over shave, but food for thought nevertheless. Or just pure drivel. What can be said is that King Charles is dextrously disheveled, hastily verbose, the very idea and...
1 tag
Monkton: Swim Until You Can't See Land
Re - Plankton: Happy Birthday Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the aquatic microbe is right! Oh how we were condemned as fools for imagining this day would ever come! Today Monkton vs Plankton is one year old! Consider all naysayers well and truly smoted. But truth be told, smoting is not our forte - in fact we’re rather fond of saying nice things about nice things - and so in the vein of free...
5 tags
Plankton: Happy Birthday
Who’d have thunk it - it’s a whole year since Monkton Vs Plankton sprung from great blogging below. And a lot has happened in just twelve months; there’s been banter, there’s been bombast, and some extraordinary music along the way (remember that sensational Patrick Watson show?) - we were even one of the chosen few to hear the notorious Merriweather Post Pavillion before...
1 tag
Monkton: Good manors
You best bag yourself a place at the edge your seat: Local Natives are poised to give us a tour through Gorilla Manor and I’ve a notion it’s a real contender for this year’s best animal/house themed record - dare I say one of this year’s best LPs full stop. Yes sir, that’s two of the most sought-after appointments on the music calendar. Indubitably. The lazy writer...
2 tags
Plankton: Starting to feel the Temple Pressure
You should recognise the formula by now - the spits, the flits, the convulsions - this is 21st century freakpop, named after 21st century freakpop, made for 21st century freakpop fans. It’s a massive cliché, but I can’t help but buy into it: this is Alvin Band.
Sure, the whole thing is an immense rip-off of Animal Collective, but it’s so good I really don’t give a...
1 tag
Plankton: Óh, lafur...
To complete today’s Nordic hat-trick, I present the compelling campfire-esque flicker of Ljósið by Ólafur Arnalds.
Beautiful stuff.
Plankton x
3 tags
Plankton: Thom, Thomas & The Tallest
You could say I’ve had a long day. I blame bad plumbing; a single burst water main, and suddenly my half hour bus journey home became an epic two hour slog. Here’s a distilled soundtrack from my travels -
MP3: Hearing Damage by Thom Yorke
Welcome to October 2009: Twilight is EVERYWHERE. Thom Yorke has written a song for the new movie, and there was a thirty year old man (at my best...
1 tag
Plankton: RE: I wish I wish
What a strange feeling to be confronted with on a Thursday evening; watching Monkton’s video I couldn’t quite shake it - a very definite déjà vu - and it’s clear to me now; I know that wishbone. We go way back.
An unusual claim, admittedly, but should you need proof, here is the aforementioned ‘bone, in a trailer for its very own biopic:
The man responsible for...
1 tag
Monkton: I wish I wish
It really speaks for the capacity and confusion of the human heart that I seriously feel for the wishbone here. But then I have been known to swoon at the ickle feet of all things miniature. Stirring stuff from Dead Man’s Bones…
Monkton x
1 tag
Monkton: Family matters
This being a family blog it seems only too appropriate to stand in solidarity with brotherly/sisterly ventures all abouts. And not in the Meg White / Jack White are-they-aren’t-they-will-they-won’t-they sense - we’re talking true blood music. The sounds that come out when siblings aren’t bickering like Wainrights - the primordial sound of the same gene pool bubbling and...
1 tag
Monkton: On their way (into your face and ears)
While The Temper Trap’s sweet disposition has clearly got soundtrack producers salivating in their mastering suites, there’s another kind of sweetness around the corner, this time with a Swede disposition (oh yes) - they’ve got facial hair, a cowbell and good ear for straight up rock-and-pop, and for this I am very thankful. Yes, I do need to cut down on punning, but I...
1 tag
Monkton: Phrazes for the Young
Re: A spot of hype-mongering
Let’s shed some more light on that Julian Cas-a-ber-lan-cas solo project, which could be accused of being a little shallow were it not for this beautiful little piece of work -
I personally find this very exciting. Monkton x
September 2009
9 posts
3 tags
Monkton: OMG AB+SV = YAY
Thank you La Blogotheque. I may have just crapped my pants. And fallen in love -
SDP #9: Andrew Bird et St. Vincent
Trouble viewing? Try this link instead.
Monkton x
7 tags
Monkton: Rerererererererereeeee
There’s a lot to cover here so let’s get down to business - Re: RE: A spot of hype-mongering Re: Soundbites - this is what my week sounded like
1) ‘M&S bluegrass’? Now there’s a quote the Mumford & Sons won’t be using in a hurry. That said, it’s an improvement on what you said about ‘Tesco Value Joanna Newsom’, which I think Regina...
4 tags
Plankton: Soundbites - this is what my week...
Intuit by Ramona Falls (aka Brent Knopf of Menomena) Brent used thirty-five special guests in total for his debut release Intuit, and it’s certainly reflected in the quality and character of the record; delightfully schizophrenic, mischievous, and altogether compelling - MP3: ‘I Say Fever’ by Ramona Falls
Up From Below by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros In deep contrast...
3 tags
Plankton: RE: A spot of hype-mongering
Whilst Monkton salivates over the mystery Vampire Weekend woman™, I think the rest of us have better things to be getting on with. For one, Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas appears to have fallen into a synth-induced 80s disco haze -
MP3: ‘11th Dimension’ - Julian Casablancas
- and it’s a pleasant surprise to hear him emerge from the great production disaster of ‘06...
3 tags
Monkton: A spot of hype-mongering
It’s the muso equivalent of clipping one’s toenails in public, but it must be done - I have not listened to the record the whole way through yet, but oooeee ‘Bicycle’ is good enough to share so here it is, a slice of Memory Tapes’ LP Seek Magic. You had me at track two. MP3: ‘Bicycle’ - Memory Tapes Track three I flagged a little. And then I was...
1 tag
Monkton: Hear ye hear ye hear ye some of this
There’s a lot of love going round for ‘Surf Solar’ at the moment, admittedly less reserved for its edited down errr ‘radio-friendly’ counterpart than the original ear-trembling masterpiece that opens play on Tarot Sport, and since I know a good band wagon when I see one, I thought I’d share it in all its naked glory. Seems to me Fuck Buttons are pushing the...
2 tags
Monkton: The 'Music I listened to the other day,...
While we all bask in the incandescent glow of this year’s Mercury Prize, we might take a moment to imagine a world without such a beacon of aural enlightenment and cultural consensus… Or not. Alternatively ->
From the boughs of the family twee, Sounds Familyre bring us the familiar sounds of Ortolan, familiar in the ‘déjà vu’ sense, like I is well heard this before...
5 tags
Plankton: Dream Collaborations
Something wasn’t quite right. Wiping the dried saliva from my cheek, and with my brain still beating a heavy, alcoholic pulse, I searched the room for clues. There was certainly plenty of damage from the night before, as expected. But the couple slumped against one another in the corner seemed oddly familiar - from the dream… they were in the dream, right? They played music on the...
2 tags
Plankton: Seven shooting stars in one night...
Introducing another fine candidate in the long line of mild mannered musical eccentrics that Scandinavia has to offer…
…ladies and gentleman, Peter Broderick. First spotted lending a multi-instumentalist hand or two at Efterklang shows, before releasing the gorgeous Home in 2008. The common sell would pitch Broderick somewhere between José González and Nick Drake, but that...
August 2009
2 posts
2 tags
Plankton: he was in a rock band, don't you know
- ok, so I’m aware that my burgeoning obsession for the Tallest Man On Earth is starting to become a tad worrisome, but I promise, this is the last one for a while -
I present to you Swedish rock band Montezumas:
From left to right: don’t care, don’t care, The Tallest Man On Earth (note: smallest man in band), don’t care, don’t care.
A discarded relic from...
4 tags
Monkton: Out mit das alt und in mit das NEU!
What with the coming and going of Monkton’s annual holiday, not to mention Plankton’s field trip to Bulgaria to scout out the crème de la crème of the Balkan noise scene - there has been very little, arguably nothing, to feast your ears on in these parts. Hopefully as a sign of a changing tide and the baying of a veritable tsunami of music critique and well-meaning banality, I...
July 2009
14 posts
1 tag
Monkton: Wash your ears out with Soap&Skin
This track is like a head cleaner. For your actual human head. Although, judging by the press photography it doesn’t double up as shampoo. Which I must say is not a problem for me. I’m completely smitten.
MP3: ‘DDMMYYYY’ - Soap&Skin
Monkton x
2 tags
Monkton: Pieces of You
Well, if you’re going to get heads talking, you may as well do it with a winsome nod to David Byrne & co - and here it comes ( / here it comes…) courtesy of Wolf Gang, the new darling of Neon Gold - the UK label that brought us Passion Pit’s sleepy kind of head -
MP3: ‘Pieces of You’ - Wolf Gang
Of course that nod wouldn’t be worth mentioning if it...
3 tags
Plankton: Openers that kick ass, from albums that...
Sometimes a killer opening track is an omen of terrible things to come.
Case in point: Simian, who, previous to their golden years as a celebrated Mobile Disco, were a (lesser celebrated) electro-rock band. Their 2002 release We Are Your Friends is probably best known for the Justice remix one of its better tracks would one day spawn, but in my heart it will always be remembered as a distinctly...
1 tag
Monkton: Strawberry Swing
In my experience, it’s best to remain ambiguous in one’s attitude towards the bounding pop juggernaut of Coldplay (the war between album sales and forum rage isn’t likely to abate and, quite frankly, it can speak for itself) but there are times perhaps to hop off the fence on one side or the other. This may be one…
StrawberrySwing from Coldplay on Vimeo.
There are, I...
2 tags
Plankton: ...travels through time with Justin...
It’s a disturbing fact, I know, but Justin Vernon did actually exist before he summoned up the winter strength in conjuring Bon Iver. Heck, not only did he exist, but he did so as a living, breathing, musical entity.
Under the Vernon guise he released two albums, Self Record and Hazeltons. For what it’s worth, they are mostly unexceptional - Bon Iver without the log cabin charisma...
4 tags
Monkton: Here be Monsters...
Here’s the first sniff of Monsters of Folk in all their ironical grandeur. From what I can tell, M. Ward was put in charge of the verses, Conor Oberst tended to the chorus and Yim Yames, aka Jim James, is the one wielding the filthy great electric swooning in the background.
MP3: ‘Say Please’ - Monsters of Folk
(Don’t forget to say p-l-e-a-s-e)
Monkton x
1 tag
Monkton: Bibio cheats Old Father Time with yet...
That Bibio has already wheeled out his second album this year leads me to believe that it’s not just a vintage 4-track and a knack for a timeless tune up his sleeve. Two albums of epoch-traversing sonic experimentation in 5 months? This is definitely the behaviour of a man with a time machine stashed away in his rumpus room.
Me, I have a soft spot for the folkier moments of the first...
3 tags
Plankton: Thom Yorke plays Miracle Legion
(via Stereogum)
Plankton x
Monkton: How sad, how lovely
From the liner notes of Hospice to the liner notes of MvsP - I have just stumbled on a tip-off somewhere in the desolate fathoms of our comments thread. It goes something like this -
In the dictionary of the celebrated uncelebrated, Connie Converse is a relatively new entry, but - in true celebrated uncelebrated style - she hasn’t actually made music in a very long time. In fact,...
1 tag
Plankton: Hospice by The Antlers
A great album can happen for many reasons. Radiohead produced the remarkable Kid A from the shuddering bowels of self-resentment. Bon Iver reveled in the winter pangs of a relationship broken down and left behind. Paul Simon found inspiration in Africa, twisting and contorting the sounds of the continent into Graceland.
Clearly it’s no coincidence that most albums worth waxing lyrical over...
2 tags
Monkton: Two Birds, One Stone
Well, actually, that’s one cat, some fruitbats - and one blog-post. Hopefully the cat will keep the bats distracted while I take aim…
First up for today’s gentle stoning is London-based Rescue Cat, who’s new offering ‘£10 Bag’ takes us on a late night cruise through 80s computer games, heroin and childhood (and we’ve all been there right?) - it’s...
2 tags
Monkton: Musical Predictions 2009
(Re: Plankton’s post)
If we can, for a moment, tip the bandwagon on its side and roll around among the fruit, it is really quite clear that La Roux’s best effort to date is -
‘Bulletproof’ - La Roux MP3 / Spotify
- and also that 80s revivalism is not a bad thing. From the pixelated phunk of Metronomy to the M83’s great nostalgia binge in Saturdays = Youth,...
2 tags
Plankton: Musical Predictions 2009
“What do you want to hear repeatedly on the radio this year?”
…of course, this video fails to parody the 80s revival that is (unfortunately) all the rage right now. Note, however, the revival itself is not all bad - on occasion it is damn great -
‘In For The Kill’ - La Roux Original: MP3 / Spotify Skream Remix: MP3 / Spotify
And yes, I know I’m somewhat...
1 tag
Monkton: Noah and the White Elephant
Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed it lurking in the corner - a trunk-load of melody and flaking magnolia - shuffling somewhere in line between Florence’s machine, Peter’s wolf and Joe’s dangling jing jang jongs.
What I think, and this comes from the deepest reaches of my heart (‘heart’ being the NATW buzzword), is that if we can all bear to look at Lady...
June 2009
9 posts
4 tags
Monkton: Ying and Yang
Such is life - the same week the world of music lost Michael it gained Mikhail. Gorbachev. Ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. MP3: Doroxhka - Mikhail Gorbachev Which leads in kind to the discovery of my new favourite last.fm artist - Tuning CD - who appears in Gorbachev’s ‘Similar Artists’ feed. I haven’t had a chance to listen the whole way through yet, but I do think...
1 tag
Monkton: Too Many Djangos
MP3: ‘Love’s Dart’ - Django Django
Were these guys any better, they would have been named three times - not only the dawning of a new age in pop nomenclature but also a goddamn mouthful - so I suggest you get in line now before that debut album sends them catastrophically trinomial. After all, who wants to be left behind the parade, sweeping up the mess of too many Djangos? No...
2 tags
Plankton's Alternative Guide to Glastonbury...
AKA: five things you’d be a fool to miss out on…
1) The Stone Circle at sunrise or sunset
If you haven’t seen Glastonbury from the Stone Circle, you haven’t seen Glastonbury. The Stone Circle is home of many things, in particular “all that is good and spiritual” (a convenient umbrella term for hippies, narcotics and general deviance). If that’s not...