Month: January 2012

An album arrived on my doorstep this morning. The 2 Bears’ Be Strong. I know there’s been a lot of hype about it, but what I really like is that it’s not tryig to be ‘cool’, and with Joe and Raf in ill-fitting costumes I’m not sure they could be. It’s just modern four-four house music that nods to the past, and I can’t really fail to just enjoy it. It’s not ground-breaking, earth-shattering cutting edge stuff, but then it doesn’t have to be sometimes. Just two people making music they really love and that’s refreshing sometimes with all the hipsters hanging around trying to tell us what’s supposed to be the next ‘cool’ thing to listen to in Dalston.I’m also biased as I’m a proper Hot Chip nerd, but with Greco-Roman and Gabrielle last year it’s clear that Joe Goddard’s more than just the cuddly guy on the keyboards.

Work’s probably my favourite at the moment, and I love the video as it’s shot down my way.

 

 

I’m looking forward to getting to know the whole album much better over the next few weeks. You?

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I will admit that I don’t ‘get’ all her albums. Some of them are a bit too musically difficult to penetrate for me (yep, and I don’t mind saying that), and I lean towards the ‘softer’, more acessible songs. I love Stories From The City Stories From The Sea, which is mesmerising. But her latest album is better than even that. Summing it up as a ‘concept album about a very English view of war’ is hardly going to prick some people’s ears up, but it’s a beautiful whole, and the time invested in it is worth the wait in my opinion.

There’s not really a weak song on it, but my favourite is probably Let England Shake.

 

 

There’s something very British about it, its subject thrown right across the battles in the past, not just recent ones, that are fresher in the memory, and easier to grab attention, but back to the First and Second World Wars, and it was a subject I was fascinated in (in a macabre way as much as anything) when I was a kid. I’ve met as many people that like it as don’t, die-heard PJ fans included, but I think it’s a worthy Mercury winner. There’s something vital about a record that is about such an emotive subject, and also seeks to cast back into history rather than just pitch for Iraq or Afghanistan.

I’d be really interested to hear what people think of it.

So, I am building a list of potential albums for the ‘This isn’t happening’ brotherhood when it’s my turn. At least half I reckon you probably already have so I thought I’d share this with you brothers.

Artist: Marvin Gaye / Album: What’s Going On

One of my favourite albums of all time, I adore it. The reason I am writing about it now is due to our previous discussion about it being difficult to get into ‘old’ albums unless you lived through them some how (even if by proxy, through parents, relatives or friends). I did not live through this album. I was introduced to it … and I realise I loose any cool points that I might have had before admitting this … but I was introduced to this album through Cuba Gooding Jr singing the title track at Tom (I am definitiely not ((Marvin)) Gaye) Cruise’s wedding in the film ‘Jerry McGuire’. I think I was in 2nd year at Uni as I bought it at Polar Bear records in Headingley Leeds and loved it instantly.

Anyway, David mentioned it being important to understand how albums came into the world and why perhaps they were ground breaking or important or brilliant or all three.

Please, give a brother 25 mins and listen to this podcast, you will not be dissapointed. I love this story and I adore this album ….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/gaye