Latest articles on Music by The Cool Hunter - for more checkout www.thecoolhunter.net http://www.thecoolhunter.net Thu, 21 Aug 2008 15:53:08 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.thecoolhunter.net Latest articles on Music by The Cool Hunter - for more checkout www.thecoolhunter.net http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1357&Itemid=5 Alan McGee, the man who gave the world Oasis and The Libertines, has found the latest diamond in the rough. Scottish band Glasvegas (http://www.myspace.com/glasvegas) is a four-piece that manages to combine all that was good from the Ronettes-era with all that is bad from modern-day Glasgow to brilliant effect.Despite their obvious influences that range from Phil Spector to Elvis, what they come up with is so remarkably unique that they sound like The Jesus Mary Chain getting drunk and having a go at covering the Grease soundtrack.They draw you in with euphoric and unbreakable walls of sound but there is something so unmistakably bleak – something so unmistakably Scottish – about their sound that, in 2008, they manage to say a hell of a lot more about the state of things than sweaty, prepubescent boys with guitars ever could.Lead singer James Allan has done for a thick Glasweigan accent what Alex Turner did for Sheffield and what Mike Skinner did for Mockney. And singing along in cod-Glaswegian is all part of the Glasvegas experience, as it is live where they excel. - Rob Facey Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:49:50 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1354&Itemid=5 In the midst of festival season, The Cool Hunter thought it timely to highlight the world's greatest festivals. Some of them you may have heard of, others you most certainly haven’t. Regardless, all of them are essential for the worldly music lover. Sonar – Barcelona, Spain It would seem that going to a music festival doesn’t necessarily mean duking it out for three days in conditions not fit for human habitation. Sonar is the festival for the discerning type, swapping mud-swamped squalor for the beautiful Ramblas village district of Barcelona. Exit Festival – Novi Sad, Serbia Held in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, Exit began life as a softly-softly political protest against the Milosevic regime. Now staged within the grounds of an eighteenth century fortress, Exit has grown into a massive four-day cauldron of music and mayhem. Aldrei For Eg Sudur (I Never Went South) – Isafjordur, Iceland Forget rockstar egocentrics and drift to the north of Iceland in the fist thaw of the Easter weekend for a music festival that concentrates on Icelandic talent. With conditions that scare off the average festival monkeyman, Aldrei For Eg Sudur is the most communal of music festivals. Fuji Rock Festival – Naeba Ski Resort, Japan Set amongst the lush forest of a summer ski field, Fuji Rock takes the music festival’s need for a large outdoor area and runs with it, providing one of the most spectacular and tranquil settings you could possibly imagine for a major rock festival. Splendour In The Grass – Byron Bay, Australia Australia isn’t as cheap to visit as it used to be, but suck it up to make it to Splendour In The Grass. Great line-ups are complemented by a relaxed vibe and the spectacular beach surroundings of Byron Bay. - Matt Shea Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:15:27 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1348&Itemid=5 Joining together two modern musical madmen like Beck and Danger Mouse seems almost dangerous, like it could easily descend into a battle of two outrageous imaginations. Instead, ‘Modern Guilt’ (http://www.modernguilt.com/) comes off like a sonic peanut butter and jelly sandwich, where the different elements meld together so simply and naturally that it defies the incomprehensible bent of their partnership. Beck and his music have always belonged in the sixties and Danger Mouse’s captures this in a twisted dream state. You only need to taste 'Modern Guilt' once before you’re stuck in its kaleidoscopic rapture. - Matt Shea Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:27:14 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1343&Itemid=5 Hercules And Love Affair (www.myspace.com/herculesandloveaffair), the musical odyssey of DJ Andy Butler and the likes of Antony Hegarty from Antony The Johnsons, are the current stars of the dance scene. Their sound is so sleek and shiny that it makes you want to don your rollerskates and glide right back to the 70s.Only, this is disco for the modern era. More underground than the pointless retro homages that clog up club playlists every weekend, there is something irresistibly dark and alluring hidden between the synths, trumpets and smooth vocals. Music critics are fawning over the album and the fashionistas are becoming wise to their ways too (Chanel used ‘You Belong’ in a Fall/Winter fashion show).Tracks like ‘Blind’ and ‘Hercules Theme’ are so fresh they leave you aching to strut your stuff. Only in a really cool John Travolta disco way. So, as Hercules And Love Affair finally starts to get the recognition it deserves, The Cool Hunter pays tribute to the label/production house DFA Records www.dfarecords.com/ behind what could be the album of 2008 by looking back over their best musical creations.The Rapture ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ (http://www.myspace.com/therapture) Although it’s little more than Talking Heads fighting Television over a synthesizer, this soundtracked a million teenage parties and had drunken scenesters admiring New Yorkers who had a penchant for jerky riffs and cowbells, rather than skinny jeans and Converse.LCD Soundsystem ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’ (http://www.myspace.com/lcdsoundsystem) James Murphy has a vocal style so unique it needs to be heard to be fully understood. Imagine a bear with a cold singing in the shower and you’re halfway there. Here, he simultaneously scares off the neighbours while inviting in for an impromptu rave.The Juan Maclean ‘Happy House’ (www.myspace.com/thejuanmaclean) This dirty track is so sleazy it has ‘4am at some grotty indie disco, staring at some god awful concoction of a drink you’ve ordered and wondering whether that person with the angel wings and eyeliner is actually a man’ written all over it.Hot Chip ‘Over and Over’ (http://www.myspace.com/hotchip) Not big but certainly clever, this is the sound of pre Nu Rave dance, when crisp yet clunky beats belonged to the streets rather than the High Street. By Rob Facey Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:09:30 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1342&Itemid=5 Economics, technology, ice hockey, tennis, personal grooming: the Swedish list of triumphs is long and extensive. With the new breed of indie pop artists emerging from the kingdom, the rest of the world has yet something else to be jealous about. Here are three brilliant exemplars:When Lykke Li s (http://www.myspace.com/lykkeli)ings her voice is so delicate, so ethereal that she sounds as though she’s transmitting from a submarine stranded on the seafloor. What’s more, Li brilliantly plays to this amazing strength, matching it to productions so lean and carefully stripped back that they drive you straight to the heart of her bristling songcraft. Lacrosse (http://www.myspace.com/lacrossesthlm)West coast-flavoured guitars struck through with bittersweet lyrics and anchored by a skin tight rhythm section, with their debut ‘The New Year Will Be For You And Me’ this sextet have written the soundtrack to the relationship you’ve just ended and are taking a weeklong surf trip to forget. Sweet, cathartic tunes to sooth your irascible soul. El Perro Del Mar (http://www.myspace.com/elperrodelmar) Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:51:09 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1335&Itemid=5 Unlimited credits are in the offing for whoever brought the majestic Al Green (http://www.algreenmusic.com/) together with producers Guestlove and James Poyser. Green’s new album, ‘Lay It Down’, is the best cut of soul you’re likely to hear all year. With guest spots featuring Anthony Hamilton and John Legend this is one very modern album and an absolutely essential addition to your Al Green collection.The other essential Al Green albums?! The Cool Hunter has you covered.Let’s Stay Together – 1972No introduction needed, with a title track that stayed at number one in the US for nine consecutive weeks. The rest of the album may not have been chart-worthy, but it’s nevertheless just as strong.The Belle Album – 1977Expected at the time to be his last secular LP, Green produces himself and lets loose a cracking series of meditations from a man caught between the religious and the secular.I’m Still In Love With You - 1972Released at Christmas of 1972 this, the most slickly romantic of Green’s albums, begs to be busted out next to a roaring fireplace with only the most special of wine and women in accompaniment.Get’s Next To You – 1971The template-setter for the early 70s Green albums, this sounds like tightly reigned wanton madness. Absolutely brilliant.Call Me – 1973Built on Willie Mitchell’s fastidious production, this is Green’s artistic zenith. An absolutely striking masterpiece that totally beguiles the listener. A masterpiece. By Nick Christie. Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:48:12 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1327&Itemid=5 Brooklyn quartet Yeasayer’s music (http://www.myspace.com/yeasayer) is a concoction of indie rock and worldbeat that should probably come off as stilted and manufactured but the band instead, like a pack of hip-shooting alchemists, mesh these genres together in experiments that pay off brilliantly. Guitars, sitars, mandolins, bongos, cowbells, and fretless bass are all run through with driving synthesisers, while ceaselessly harmonising vocals tend to stay deep in the mixes, adding to the ethereal quality of their music. Obvious touchstones David Byrne and Peter Gabriel would be proud to turn out music as brilliant and thoroughly engaging as this. By Matt Shea. Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:41:10 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1321&Itemid=5 Seattle's Fleet Foxes (http://www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes) are the perfect soundtrack to a cold, rainy afternoon. Like a calm Brian Wilson filtered through My Morning Jacket and Band of Horses, the band's lead singer, 21 year old Robin Pecknold is a remarkable musical talent.Like a church choir led by your favorite indie band, the Fleet Foxes sound is a mix of glistening, layered vocal harmonies, softly plucked guitars and a sense of longing and wonder that only open skies and vast wilderness can evoke. It sounds simultaneously now and forty and one hundred years ago.Free of time, this album, this band, Fleet Foxes, are here to stay. By Nick Christie Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:39:34 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1316&Itemid=5 Is it too early for lists? Never, we say. So here they are, all the songs that have set the bar so high for music in '08. 10 - Foals - 'Balloons' (http://www.myspace.com/foals) These Oxford boys "fly balloons on this fuel called love". So they own my favourite lyric so far this year. They also sport snaky, crystal guitar lines and a gurgling brass section - what else can you do but sit back and lap it up? Encore.Tokyo Police Club - 'In A Cave' (http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub) These young Ontarions, do it straight up. The drum beat makes my neck snap, the guitars make me want to jump and the whole thing, in all its raw, snotty glory makes me feel like I did when I discovered punk for the first time. 8 - M83 - 'Graveyard Girl' (http://www.myspace.com/m83) Would getting to second base in a cemetary be awkward/blasphemous? This makes it sound so right. And hot. Snoop Dogg - 'Sensual Seduction' (http://www.snoopdogg.com) Santogold - 'L.E.S. Artistes' (http://www.myspace.com/santogold) Perfect pop. Without borders, without barriers. The best song from hands down the best indie-reggae rock-hop album, ever. The Presets - 'This Boy's In Love' (http://www.myspace.com/thepresets) Like some forgotten gem from Depeche Mode's bombed out basement, This Boy's In Love thunders into the list. It's equal parts new romantic fey-pop and pure dancefloor dynamite. Brilliant. Vampire Weekend - 'A Punk' (http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend) (http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend) Every time lead vocalist Ezra Koenig sings that hook: "Look outside, the raincoats gone" he dangles just one, excruciatingly good 'Say Oh!' off the end of it. I wish he would have given me a more traditional 'Say Oh, oh, oh', but the fact he didn't is probably the reason I keep coming back for more. 2 - The Teenagers - 'Love No (Delorean Remix)' (http://www.myspace.com/theteenagers) Week old pepperoni pizza, Showgirls, broken English and blatant hipster narcissism. Yes, the Teenagers have it all. And this Delorean remix somehow manages to make them even better. Superb.MGMT - 'Kids' (http://www.myspace.com/mgmt) Oh man. The little rising synth, warbling like a bird to the sound of children playing. Is there are more uplifting intro to a song anywhere in the world right now? MGMT make you pump fists in the air, sing at the top of your voice, dance like a fool and smile until you hurt. Thank you MGMT. By Nick Christie and Dave Ruby Howe Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:58:31 +0100 http://www.thecoolhunter.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1313&Itemid=5 Breaking up can be hard. Clearly, nobody told the Futureheads (http://www.myspace.com/thefutureheads) this little fact of life. After the ‘heads and their label 679 went splitsville, the band haven’t slowed down a bit. On their new cut, The Beginning Of The Twist, the Sunderland four-piece come off all perky and energised without the strings attached feel that sometimes comes with the label world. That track has their classic neo-wave jerky guitar sound, ideal for kids in Converse All Stars to freak to at their local indie disco, all mixed with a twist of big-time production from the golden fingertips of Youth (Primal Scream, The Verve). Here I was thinking they’d disappeared with Kaiser Chiefs to planet suck, but the Futureheads are back and they sound better than ever. By Dave Ruby Howe. Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:49:45 +0100