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- New music: MNDR – Caligula (Cold Mix)
Like La Roux, MNDR are a duo with the guy hiding in the shadows. Also like La Roux, they know how to make belting synth pop
You may have heard of MNDR via their excellent EP, entitled E.P.E. Or, more likely, you saw one half of the duo – singer Amanda Warner – cutting some slightly awkward shapes in the video for Mark Ronson's Bang Bang Bang, to which she also lent her vocal talents. While Warner cuts a striking figure in over-sized glasses and 80s styling, producer Peter Wade hides in the shadows, following a trend started by La Roux for ladies doing all the hard work. As with La Roux, MNDR also create infectious electropop, with Caligula – a taster for their forthcoming debut album – morphing from tribal-sounding processed beats to throbbing, hands in the air like you just don't care synth pop.
You can download Caligula (Cold Mix) for free from here
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - Degrees of Gaga: education of a Lady
As an American university offers a module in Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame, we wonder what might be on the syllabus ...
It would certainly make for a memorable episode of The Apprentice. Lord Sugar turns his face, strangely like that of a bored dachshund, towards some incompetent besuited buffoon, raises an accusatory finger and barks: "Alright gimpo, I gave you the task to design and sell as many hats as possible around Canary Wharf, and you sold precisely none of your 12-foot marmalade headpieces in the shape of the Arc de Triomphe. Why shouldn't I fire you right now?" To which the cringing moron stammers, "I don't understand it, Lord Sugar. As you see from my CV I have the perfect qualifications for this task: a 2.2 in Lady Gaga ..."
As if capless tuition fees and crippling student debts won't make it hard enough for graduates leaving higher education, there's now the possibility they may be lumbered with a £90,000 loan and a qualification gained from taking lessons in Lady Gaga. It's something even humanities students would sneer at, since logically the only career choice at the end of the course is, well, the post of Lady Gaga, which I suspect might be something of a closed shop, no matter how well connected your parents might be.
That Professor Mathieu Deflem, the academic introducing the module – entitled Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame – at the University of South Carolina, reportedly owns hundreds of copies of Gaga's (one) album, has followed the singer on tour, and met her often enough that she knows him by name. He suggests the module could turn out to be an undersubscribed self-indulgence, and a prelude to Deflem building his own Gaga Institute out of his copies of The Fame or lobbying for his university to be renamed the University of South Germanotta.
Nonetheless, there are issues to be studied here: for example, the blink-quick image-shifting Gaga utilises to reflect her audience's consumption habits as the first truly net-generational superstar, or her rise as a social-networking phenomenon (although in teaching this topic Deflem should surely start at Justin Bieber and work his way down). But those will only take up a couple of lectures, and this module has to last an entire semester. So what else could we learn during our Gaga BA Hons seminars?
Advanced Abattoir Fashion 2.1
Study topics: does ham clash with beef jerky this season? How best to stitch a steak to a trotter? Could you get away with wearing a whole inside-out cow to the Grammys next year? In addition, the pitfalls of meat clobber: how to avert the inevitable "wardrobe malfunction" associated with walking past Battersea Dog's Home, or the best ways to evade Johnny Vegas and his gigantic bap.
The Postmodern Pop Glare 3.7
Study topics: gormlessness training – how to drain yourself of all character and charisma so utterly that your entire personality is transferred into your clothes; thinking of the money – how to perfect the ultimate dead-eyed photoshoot stare; and magazine cover etiquette – topless or not topless? (Answer: topless. Obviously.)
Androgyny for Beginners 1.1
Study topics: how to start your own viral penis rumour; how to make your jockstrap double as a useful picnicking container; the bubble-wrap leotard: Barbarella chic or disappointing night down at Manumission?
Applied Crazy Talk 7.3
Study topics: bisexuality can be made to sound really, really boring – discuss; the horrific personal and cultural consequences of the phrase "pop stars should not eat"; 10 examples of vaguely surreal gibberish designed to freak out Graham Norton; how to drop in the odd genius spark of self-awareness: "A year from now I could go away and people might say, 'Gosh, whatever happened to that girl who never wore pants?'"
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - Music Weekly: Bird on a Wire director Tony Palmer
Welcome listeners. This week, Music Weekly ventures into slightly different waters for an extended interview with acclaimed director Tony Palmer. Palmer is responsible for some of the finest music documentaries ever made, and his latest has been a very long time coming. In 1972, Palmer followed Leonard Cohen on tour to record the singer-songwriter's life on the road, but a convoluted series of events conspired to keep the film from being released – until now.
Palmer talks Rosie Swash through the extraordinary series of events that led to the film finally seeing the light of day 38 years later, and the panel discuss their favourite music documentaries of all time.
This week on Singles Club Tim Jonze joins Rosie and Alexis Petridis to discuss Crystal Castles' Not In Love, featuring Robert Smith, Gatekeeper's Chain and Lykke Li's Get Some.
That's your lot. We will be delighted, as always, to hear your thoughts. You can find us on Twitter and Facebook. Until next time, enjoy!
Переслать - Readers recommend: comeback songs
Last week was all about heralding the break of day. Now we'd like you to suggest songs that herald an artist's return
For the first time in years I actually got all the way to last Sunday morning without realising the clocks had gone back. I was delighted when I realised, as it meant an extra hour in bed. Only later though did I realise the truth was more exciting; not only had I slept, I'd started an RR topic that had some relation to events in the real world.
So as dawn moved an hour earlier to help all those Scottish schoolchildren, so the best songs about the breaking of the day were being nommed on this blog. The A-list was difficult to select but follows here (plus the the column explaining the choices): Morning Has Broken – Cat Stevens; Pink Light – Laura Veirs; Sunshine – Jungle Brothers; All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem; Dawn Chorus – Boards of Canada; Banana Boat Song – Harry Belafonte; Dawns of Lawns – Nico; New Day Rising – Hüsker Dü; Gerry and the Pacemakers – Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying; Watch the Sunrise – Big Star
Now for the B-list. It's shorn of little descriptions, I'm afraid, as I'm off work and should really be buying my wife a birthday present. However, just to say that, as was observed on the thread last week, these "B" choices are as much about the music as the lyrical content: I love the percussion on the Weather Report; Jimi's riffs (of course); Bobby Womack and Ian Curtis's vocals – almost diametrically opposed in style; and everything about Mary in the Morning.
Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) – Jimi Hendrix
New Dawn Fades – Joy Division
Dawn, Marshland – Brian Eno
Daylight – Bobby Womack
As the Dawn Breaks - Richard Hawley
Nubian Sunrise – Weather Report
Sunrise – Divine Comedy
Mary in the Morning – Glen Campbell
Into the Dawn – Accadia
Dear Prudence – The Beatles
Comeback songs then. I think on one level the rubric is clear – I want tracks that herald the return of an artist after a time away. Pick at what "back" and "away" might mean, however, and things become less certain. Is it a song that announces a new record, or a return to form? And if they've been away, does that mean they haven't been recording or just recording sub-par material? My feeling is that both types apply. I hope it may prove an interesting week for biographical detail. If you know why a song matters to an artist, to their fans, to their career, then I'd love to hear about it.
I'll be on the thread on Friday to answer any questions.
The toolbox: Archive, the Marconium, the Spill and the Collabo.
The rulebook:
DO post your nominations before midday on Monday if you wish them to be considered.
DO post justifications of your choices wherever possible.
DO NOT post more than one third of the lyrics of any song.
DO NOT dump lists of nominations – if you must post more than two or three at once, please attempt to justify your choices.
Finally, no biting, burping, bugling, feuding or fuguing.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - Move over Jay-Z! Guardian readers pick a hip-hop playlist for beginners
We asked you to select tracks that would best introduce a newcomer to hip-hop. So here's your playlist for rap rookies
To quote Kritik from yesterday's blog about Jay-Z's choice of hip-hop tracks for rap rookies: "Picking a playlist is tough." That it is, Kritick, which is why we asked you lot to do it. Bear in mind the task was not to compile a "best of" list, nor provide a rundown of hip-hop's canon – the idea was to capture the kind of appealing words and noises that may persuade novices (especially Radio 4 listeners) sceptical about hip-hop to give the genre a go. That's why NWA's She Swallowed It was never going to make the list, no matter how many recommendations it got.
Edifice said: "Hip-hop was a social oppression-emergent music genre, so if you want to sample a little of its politically molten core, with some intellectual stimulation to boot, try (among others) Public Enemy – Bring the Noise". You'll find few dissenting voices to that one.Other readers have previously tried to induct newbies to hip-hop, namely their relatives. "I did this with my dad a while back", explained Kissmeneck. "He wanted to know what on earth I could possibly see in hip-hop after 20 years of listening to it, so I played him Dead Prez – Hip Hop".
JohnCondor said: "I've noticed repeatedly that people who hardly know anything about hip-hop really get taken by surprise and then carried away by Mobb Deep's 1995 album The Infamous." So I chose Hey Luv (featuring 112), from 2001's Infamy, to show off rap's senstive side.
While we're on the subject of relatives, I couldn't help but add john615's recommendation of Luniz's I Got 5 On It. Not necessarily the most popular choice, but it still sounds great, and I recall an older relative being exposed to this song on repeat at one family gathering only to finally ask: "What's this song about then?" Failure to grasp its meaning may bode well for those who, while objecting to drug use, can't resist a sample of Club Nouveau's Why You Treat Me So Bad.
There were various suggestions for Mos Def, mainly for Mathematics, which doesn't appear to be on music streaming service We7 (which I used to build the playlist), so we opted for another popular choice – Ms Fat Booty, if only to impress upon the ignorant ear of a hip-hop novice the prevailing popularity of large female behinds within the rap community.
There were several nominations for Gang Starr, and we sided with Virtuallycircus's choice of Moment of Truth. Oh, and while I query whether an album in which one man offers to sodomise another with a piping hot coathanger is really a wise choice for the sceptical rap novice, there's no denying Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers) was a popular choice (so I opted for Bring Da Ruckus). Similarly, Kanye West's name was mentioned numerous times, as was his album The College Dropout, so in goes Jesus Walks.
I couldn't help noticing a lack of female nominations, perhaps unsurprising given I am a female who was always more fond of MC Lyte and Missy Elliott. With the brief in mind ("What's this hip-hop you speak of?" etc) I took up the few suggestions for Missy and added Work It.
Delving further back into rap history, Cytoskeleton offered "some classics from the days before sampling became outlawed. Rap music went down rapidly after that....", namely The Message by Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. Similarlly, Kezabien picked Pharcyde's Passin' Me By and many of you wanted Erik B a& Rakim's Paid in Full. Equally, there were many nods for the Roots, and I think The Seed (2.0) is a good place to start for those who like a groove as well as beats – similarly, in goes A Tribe Called Quest's Can I Kick It. NWA, Lupe Fiasco, Dead Prez, Biggie, Outkast and Roots Manuva all got your recommendations too.
Thanks for all your suggestions, I haven't had this much fun putting a playlist together in ages.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - Calling all readers: help Damon Albarn relax
As Damon Albarn forms yet another new band, we thought you might be able to suggest some other hobbies he could take up instead. After all, what's wrong with clay pigeon shooting?
To be honest, yesterday's news that Damon Albarn has decided to start another band in addition to the 25 other projects he seems to be involved in was hardly surprising. In fact, the only way that "Damon Albarn starts new band" could surprise us is if it's followed by "with Liam and Noel Gallagher" and that their aim is to "cover the Backstreet Boys in the style of a Hungarian folk trio".
As with that other prolific pop star, Jack White, Albarn seems to thrive on having 14 different things on the go. Not content with re-forming one of Britain's best-loved bands in Blur, he's also the mastermind behind Gorillaz and the critically acclaimed supergroup, the Good, the Bad & the Queen. Plus, he found the time to compose an opera about a monkey and collaborate with everyone from Amadou and Mariam to Massive Attack.
But here at guardian.co.uk/music we're getting worried. We feel the need for an intervention. Damon, if you're reading this, take a break. It's not that the music is suffering, it's more that we know what it's like to work tirelessly, to feel that you need to keep being creative and to just be so damn committed to your art (ahem). So, we've drawn up a short list of things we think Damon should do in order to help him chill out a bit.
Go to Center Parcs
Why not take your mind off things with a nice round of clay pigeon shooting? How about a lovely afternoon sat by a lake doing a spot of fishing? Or, alternatively, you could sit and reminisce about the good old days of Britpop while painting a Union Jack on a ceramic mug during an introductory art class and then form a band with the other members and … doh!
Resist perfectionism
Damon strikes us a bit of a perfectionist, but the key (according to this self-help book we found in the stationery cupboard) to being more relaxed is to realise that not everything you do has to be absolutely perfect. We would suggest thinking back to a time when perfectionism seemed a distant memory. We would suggest listening to Think Tank.
Scrapbooking
Keeping a scrapbook can be incredibly relaxing and is a great way to deal with your past and move on. For example, why not work through your back issues of Select and Melody Maker, cut out pics of Liam Gallagher or Brett Anderson and make witty comments underneath. This will also be something to show the grandchildren who by then will be familiar with Gallagher only as the man who came fifth on Strictly's 25th-anniversary series.
We've made a start, but can you think of any more relaxation tips for Damon?
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать - Did Jay-Z pick the best tracks for rap newbies?
When Evan Davis asked Jay-Z to suggest tracks for people who 'don't get' hip-hop, the rapper picked Lauryn Hill's To Zion and Tupac's Dear Mama. But you can do better than that, right?
As wake-up calls go, it was enough to make you choke on your morning espresso: "Hey, this is Jay-Z and you're listening to the Today programme with Evan Davis and Sarah Montague." But that's what Radio 4 listeners will have heard just before 8am this morning to introduce Evan Davis's interview with the rapper, in which they discussed business, Barack Obama and growing up in the hood.
The encounter was, as you might expect, a rather awkward exchange. But Davis did acknowledge this by asking Jay-Z to suggest songs that people who "don't get" rap and hip-hop should listen to. Jay chose Lauryn Hill's To Zion and Tupac's Dear Mama as the quintessential "starter" tracks. So what do we make of these choices?
I'm with Jay on Lauryn Hill – she is, after all, one of the poster girls for mainstream hip-hop – but that particular track falls more into the pop/soul category for me. I'd have probably gone for a Fugees track such as Ready Or Not or Fu-Gee-La, perfect introductions to a female hip-hop voice.
Tupac's Dear Mama, however, is a travesty, and I will not stand by and let Davis blindly venture on to Spotify searching for it. Yes, I realise the anger is muted, the vocals are soft and we all love our mums, but for me it's a little saccharine, humourless and slow paced. For the rap beginner, you need songs that personify what hip-hop is really all about – tracks that are lyrically astute, funny and tell a real story. I'd go with Pharcyde's Runnin', a stoic rallying call to step up and face your problems, or A Tribe Called Quest's Electric Relaxation: Q-Tip at his best, feelgood vibes, and an insight into New York hip-hop. For current UK sounds, I'd go for the political punch of Lowkey's Long Live Palestine.
So which tracks do you think could convert rap-phobic Radio 4 listeners into hip-hop heads?
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsПереслать
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