Music Titbits & Burnout Paradise

Just managed to recover from a 3 day bender this weekend, not had one of those in a while. One of the main things that got me through a painful Sunday (apart from an enormous amount of Smash and sausages) was Laura Marling's new album. New single Devil's Spoke is a good example of how talented she is. Tender, touching and just wonderful stuff really. Scary to think she's younger than me as well. Not the most reassuring thought when you've got a mouthful of mash potato, a head full of hangover and you're glumly staring at a laptop in your pants. Today I also found a couple more leaked Flying Lotus tracks which again are fantastic. They're not on Youtube yet but the obscenely outstanding Computer Face is. I'm almost counting the days for this one. 3rd May, 3rd May, etc. Also listening to MGMT's new album currently. Remember them claiming to be influenced by all sort of obscure musicians and whatnot. Which makes them sound unbelievably cool obviously. The album leaked so they're streaming it for free on their site, which is nice. "We wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn't make sense to anyone but us" they claim. It's alright really, nowhere near as spectacular as I'm sure many will claim. Brian Eno will undoubtedly appreciate the track dedicated to him as well. You can really feel the ambient influence. Also, fuck me, the new song by The National is incredible. Another cracker for May then.

Had my first foray onto Big Surf Island in Burnout Paradise as well today. 1000 points seems like a lot of money but now I've played it I think it was well spent. The island is much open for want of a better word, with jumps and secret routes all very well integrated in the map. In fact it's better than the main game really for that, I certainly enjoy it a lot more. Apart from the events are quite tricky, or I'm just not used to using the insane beach buggy. Fun as hell though so glad I bought the game at all. Time for a sequel Criterion?

5 Albums for 2010

So I've been thinking today about music I'm looking forward to. I tend not to get in a frenzied excitement like I do with games (I'm going to have a sad little cry the first time I see Mass Effect 2 in the shop and realise I can't afford it). That's probably because the coverage tends not to be like a flood of information though. "Breaking News: They're still making the album". Although saying that I remember from my NME reading days there was a fair bit of that. So here's the 5 I'm almost quivering in excitement about. Almost being the key word, because this current quivering is from the painfully depressing cold of my house. So, so cold. Also, before the list, the picture is really shit. I felt guilty choosing it, it's like something you'd see on a BBC article talking about "modern music" or something.

1. LCD Soundsystem - TBA
There's no real order for this list although if I was pressed I imagine this would creep in near the top. Sound Of Silver is undoubtedly one of the best records in my collection. Although I own a Junior Senior album, so you could argue it's not exactly a challenge. There's an April tour over here in the UK and I think the album is down for March, so I guess we'll find out soon enough. Could go either way with this one I think.

2. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
If you're one of the 10-12 people who aren't wildly in love with Frightened Rabbit yet then you need to firstly question where your life went so wrong and then have a listen to The Midnight Organ Fight which is one of the best albums of the last decade. Still feels weird saying that. Ten years ago I was 11. Scary fucking stuff indeed. Lead single Swim Until You Can't Sea Land encapsulates everything that makes them a great pop act. Melody, catchy, great lyrics and a little bit of a Scottish accent. Got to love Scottish vocals. Due to "drop" in March.

3. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
This combination is like a musical wet dream. Danger Mouse and that bloke from The Shins. He has a name, but it's not relevant. Only heard The High Road a few weeks ago and it's infectious to say the least. So catchy it almost counts as physical abuse. But in a good way. Apparently (as in this did happen) the album leaked around Christmas, although you'd be hard pressed to find it now. I say that because I couldn't find it. But there is only so much work Google can do for you. Also out in March. Going to be a heck of a month.

4. Arcade Fire - TBA
I can safely assume I'm not the only one excited about this, my love for Funeral was rekindled not so long ago so it's very much at the fore front of my mind. I wasn't a massive fan of Neon Bible as well which makes me slightly more nervous. Although in fairness I didn't give it an awful lot of time. But given this isn't rumoured to arrive till May (for a change) I've probably got enough time to mend that.

5. Radiohead - TBA
Would any list from be complete without Radiohead? Well, yes. Any that doesn't involve music for a start. Anyway, they've been beavering away on this since 2007 so it's about time you'd hope. But of course it's Radiohead so they might just hide it in skips around the country and not tell us for 6 months just to be difficult. They've certainly got to top the drama of In Rainbows release anyway. Judging by last year's These Are My Twisted Words it's going to be as unpredictably perfect as ever. I would hazard internet meltdown in Autumn.

There's a few other biggies coming out this year; The Strokes, Flying Lotus, Laura Marling, The Streets, Gorillaz, Deftones, Daft Punk to name but a few. I've still got to listen to Vampire Weekend as well (sort it out Spotify!). So at this stage my album of the year is Hot Chip. As it's the only one I've heard. But that's not even out yet. Dear, oh dear.

Mumford & Sons, Volcano Choir & Deadmau5

I thought I'd have a think about what I've been listening to for the last week. I'm fairly sure all of the records are new(ish) releases but its hard to tell with Spotify. They tend to just appear with little to no fanfare. Anyway, Mumford & Sons are part of that nu-folk scene that's been cropping up from London for the past few years. Noah And The Whale, Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn; you know the score. They share a lot in common with the first in that list really, although the songs are a bit more of a bluegrass style than the straight folk pop of Noah and co. They're definitely made for big things, by that I mean of course mild indie cross-over success. The album certainly has the singles on it, "Little Lion Man", "The Cave", "Roll Away Your Stone" all have the hallmarks of quality on them. They'll be the darling of Radio 1 shortly enough.

Volcano Choir are a misleading entity. Anyone with broadband and ears should swoon with joy when anyone utters the perennial audible delight that is Bon Iver. So when hearing that Volcano Choir are a little side project of his you are not surprised when you find yourself frantically hammering the keyboard in search of "VOLCANO BON IVER" or whatever. The similarities between the two records however are few and far between. This has more in common with modern American oddity bands than the flannel-shirted musings of despair. Its an alright album, it certainly starts well and ends badly. On its own merit its enjoyable enough, but on the coat-tails of old Justin Vernon this will probably end up under-listened in most people's music library.

Something a little bit different is the Canadian knob-twiddling rodent Deadmau5. Probably the darling of the electronica scene right now or 6 months ago depending on the timing of my appearance to this party. I'm not sure if he's revolutionised dance music, but that's usually the only thing used to describe someone new in this genre. No matter what the tag line for his success is the album "For Lack Of A Better Name" is fantastic. Pretty much every track is a winner and the (possibly only on Spotify) inclusion of a mixed version of the record is a well-judged implementation. It'll get you dancing, or at least you should.

On a side note, the Tubelord album should be with me today. Its not, I'm not even sure how I'm receiving it (steady now). Oh well, tomorrow. There's always tomorrow.