I loved the Rhye debut but then lost touch with them … Spotify told me to listen to this, so I did. And I love it. I don’t know the original but this track is a beauty all in it’s own right. Oooof. I am pretty blown away by this one.
Month: October 2018
October AOTM: Micha P. Hinson – and the British Broadcasting Corporation
Micha P Hinson has been on my radar since his debut ‘ Micah P. Hinson and the Gospel of Progress ‘. There was something about that album that ticked so many boxes for me. I think more than anything I bought him. It all seemed so honest and real; him and the album.
Since his debut I have kept him on my peripheral, but more to the tone of having him on a playlist here and there and that’s about it. It wasn’t until a while ago when I was driving home in the middle of the night and heard his live version of “The Life, Living, Death and Dying of a Certain, LJ Nichols’ did this live album hit my radar. When I say hit, it was more of a punch in the face in the nicest of ways. WTF was this song; and why did it blow me away? The album was ordered; and a few months later you too now will be adding it to your collection.
Live albums are a funny thing; thee aren’t many and there often is a very good reason for that. Not many artists can pull it off. This is less Eric Clapton on MTV and more sitting in a bar and hearing a guy sing his hart out to a half hearted audience. This album is raw; and highlights how raw Micha P. Hinson is as an artist. Hey, and it’s got the BBC stamp of approval… so that’s got to mean something right?
I will say that it took me a few listens to fully get into this album. Hayley still doesn’t fully get it. Although she has pointed out that since visiting the small town in Canada that I’m from she understands why I love it.
His lyrics are solid but deep and work. He doesn’t rhyme just to do so, his content is wholesome. ’Seven Horses Seen’ may just be my current favourite song; it’s catchy and brutal. I’ve changed the lyrics majorly and have started singing it to Olive… she likes my version.
The ruggedness of his singing style isn’t for everyone, but it grows on you. I’m starting to think that he’s a guy that I would like to sit down and have a beer with.
I’m mindful that this is a risky one. It’s not for everyone. But that’s why we’re here. Even brother Joey who is a fan of Micha P. Hinson may have mixed feelings about this album. If I can ask one thing of you; like a good bourbon it may be rough around the edges but give it a little time to sink in.
I look forward to your thoughts.
Tunng – ABOP
Remember Tunng? I’ve loving their new track!
Little Dragon – Lover Chanting
This!
Ullswater: Luke Abbott remix
I know I loved this album more than the rest of the Brothers did, but COME ON, what a remix this is. Just brings the whole song alive so beautifully.
September – Chris
Yes, I’m late, but it’s worth it, I hope. This album is the first artist to land a second AOTM, and after the effect the first had on all of us, it seemed almost too obvious to revisit it when there’s so much other music around. However, it’s actually a choice that makes so much sense, because really, there’s a definitive break from the past, and perhaps the appearance of one of the most exciting pop music artists for a long while.
So, what did we learn from Christine And The Queens’ sparkling debut in 2016? An album that was a spring sleeper hit (two years after it surfaced in France), relaunched in a post-Brexit haze where we all needed some musical escapism. In my case, I was one of those wandering around in a teary, beery, existentialist haze at Glastonbury whose day was transformed by one of those ‘moments’ that makes the festival so magical. Christine And The Queens’ set on the Other Stage as the rain fell was one that’ll stay long in the memory. There’s no way a French artist complete with slickly choreographed dancers should’ve melted muddy hearts but Tilted, iT, Narcissus Is Back and Here were pop music of the absolute finest. Rubbery synths, crisp percussion, and beguiling vocals singing about love and loss that sounded as enticing in English as in French. A star was born. But… what next?
The answer, flippantly, would be ‘Chris’. But for Héloïse Letissier it was more than just a change of title. The relentless touring and punishing nightly dance moves had transformed her into a leaner being, and with her success came sexual conquests too, but not man or woman, more whichever took her fancy. Pansexuality, freedom and inspiration. Yet the sonic inspiration for Chris – ‘Christine’s androgynous, confident, male-world-view alter-ego – harks back to the 80s and 90s, where r’n’b was in a renaissance with Michael and Janet Jackson at the fore. You can almost hear the Jam and Lewis influence in tracks like Girlfriend and Doesn’t Matter. But it’s original, punchy hooks and oblique lyrical references that are all her own rather than borrowed from the past, as she explores pansexual conquests from the side of the male gaze.
The result is an album that feels it could only be made by a French artist, such is the ambition, and openly artistic musings that would be sniffed at in England. A staggeringly individual collection of songs where Letissier writes, performs and produces almost every single note, and that should fire her even higher into the pop firmament. Fantastique!
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