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It’s been 4 years since Tame Impala released their third studio album Currents and it feels like it. Hopefully the wait has been worthwhile and the first signs are good. A fortnight ago, the band released the single ‘Patience’. Patience indeed.
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Fans of Tame Impala, prick your ears. It’s been far too long since the release of Currents; and Innerspeaker and Lonerism seem like distant memories. So what a delight to hear the psychedelic pop sounds of Yuno Moodi, a 27-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida (his parents are British and of Jamaican descent). Last year, Sub Pop signed him and shortly thereafter, Yuno released Moodie. The EP features ‘No Going Back’. Rejoice Sub Pop. Rejoice Juno.
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‘The Less I Know the Better’ was released by Tame Impala towards the end of 2015. Selected as the third single off the album Currents, the song flows from Kevin Parker’s love of “dorky disco”.
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Formed by Midlake’s Eric Pulido, BNQT (Banquet) is a supergroup comprising Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell, Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, Fran Healy of Travis, and Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle. Songwriting duties were split between the five singers for their upcoming album, Volume 1, while the remaining members of Midlake provide the backing band. The whole is groovier and heavier than the sum of its parts. Like Tame Impala flirting with Bolan-esque glam.
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‘Sweep Me Off My Feet’ will feature on Pond’s forthcoming psychedelic offering Man It Feels Like Space Again, which arrives in “early 2017”. Once again, sometime bandmate Kevin Parker is heavily involved, producing the album to obvious sound effect. Pond and Kevin Parker are becoming one.
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Like a cross between MGMT and Tame Impala, Temples are UK purveyors of psych-rock. They have released the second single from their second album Volcano. ‘Strange or be Forgotten’ is my kind of groovy. Have a great week.
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As we emerge from a wet weekend, I use the tenuous opportunity to segue the ‘The Whale’. Off the ELO’s unreal gatefold album Out Of The Blue, this ambient track feels forever current with its Tame Impala-style trippy disco, vocoder sounds and electronic funk. Jeff Lynne, you are an unlikely genius. Have a great week.
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Western Australia has given us its fair share of quality electronica – Empire of the Sun and Tame Impala to name but a couple. Methyl Ethel added their name to the list with last year’s album release Oh Inhuman Spectacle. The off-key androgyny of Jake Webb’s vocals give ‘Idee Fixe’ added credentials. One part The War on Drugs, one part Animal Collective, one part Methyl Ethel.
This year’s been chock-full of classy sounds. In no particular order…
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Honourable mentions also go to: Outfit for ‘Smart Thing‘; Shura for ‘2Shy‘; Lindstrøm for ‘Home Tonight‘; Foxes for ‘Body Talk‘; Sufjan Stevens for ‘No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross‘; and, yes, Justin Bieber for ‘What Do You Mean?‘.
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‘I Follow You’ opens Melody’s Echo Chamber’s eponymous debut album. And what a start it is too – lush guitar hook, melancholic vocals and an overtly psychedelic production. It may sound a little bit like Lush, but this is in fact the musical collision of Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and My Bee’s Garden’s Melody Prochet. The result was Melody’s Echo Chamber and the collaboration was more than just musical.
I am holiday proper for the next few days. So, please enjoy some reblogging of the best tracks of the last 5 or so years. Neatly following on from the last couple of posts, I start with 2010 …
In no particular order …
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Honourable mentions also go to: Broken Bells for ‘The High Road‘; Band Of Horses for ‘On My Way Back Home; MGMT for ‘Flash Delirium‘; and Laura Veirs for July Flame.
In no particular order …
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Honourable mentions also go to: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti for ‘Round And Round‘; Broken Bells for ‘The High Road‘; Band Of Horses for ‘On My Way Back Home; MGMT for ‘Flash Delirium‘; Foster The People ‘Pumped up Kicks‘; Villagers for ‘Becoming A Jackal‘; The Besnard Lakes for ‘Chicago Train‘; I Am Kloot for ‘Northern Skies‘; Massive Attack for ‘Paradise Circus‘; Caribou for ‘Odessa‘; and Laura Veirs for ‘July Flame‘.
In no particular order …
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Honourable mentions also go to: Burial for ‘Ashtray Wasp‘; Bat For Lashes for ‘Laura‘; TNGHT for ‘Higher Ground‘; Field Report for ‘Taking Alcatraz‘; Lulu James for ‘Be Safe‘; Family Of The Year for ‘Hero‘; Grizzly Bear for ‘Sleeping Ute‘; San Cisco for ‘Wild Things‘; RY X & Frank Wiedemann for ‘Howling‘; Chrome Sparks for ‘Send The Pain On‘; TR13 for ‘Fly‘; and Grimes for ‘Oblivion‘.
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Somewhat unusually, I feature the same band two weeks in a row. But their new single ‘Let It Happen’ is worth it. No lead guitars from the usually psychedelic Tame Impala. At eight minutes long, singer-songwriter Kevin Parker instead delivers a disco workout. Have a great weekend.
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Tame Impala may be a psych-rock outfit, but ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’ always had the potential for a broader audience. It found it through a number of covers, but the band itself were accused of plagiarising Pablo Ruiz’s song ‘Océano’. In this case, the event of unconscious plagiarism feels like a modern hazard.
