New Favourites 2010

I have prepared a CD-R of my favourite new (to me) tunes of 2010. You can have a copy if you want; let me know and I will make one for you. Here is a list of the tunes with information on where they come from and links to where you can read more about the artist in question. Art Bears The Song of Investment Capital Overseas From a private compilation of music featuring Dagmar Krause called Some Questions About Dagmar Krause Veronica Falls Found Love in a Graveyard From the Indietracks Festival 2010 compilation Everybody Was In The French Resistance… Now Billie's Genes This riposte to Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' appears on the album Fixin' The Charts, Vol. 1 Lady Gaga Telephone From the album The Fame Monster The Blood Arm Suspicious Character From the album Lie Lover Lie Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes Home From the Rough Trade Shops compilation Counter Culture 2009, which I seem not to have reviewed online. The Duckworth Lewis Method Test Match Special From the untitled album by the Duckworth Lewis Method Electrelane To the East From the album No Shouts, No Calls Cate Le Bon Eyes So Bright From the brilliant album Me Oh My. I hope I have not buried this track here where people will not realise how great Cate Le Bon is. Cluster Heisse Lippen From the Soul Jazz compilation Deutsche Elektronische Musik: Experimental German Rock and Electronic Musik 1972-83 Fever Ray Seven From the untitled album by Fever Ray Cineplexxx Para Mi From the Indietracks Festival 2010 compilation Las Cuervas Chan Chan From the album De Mi Ciudad Te Traigo Omar Souleyman Hafer Gabrak Bidi (I Will Dig Your Grave with My Hands) From the album Jazeera Nights: Folk and Pop Sounds of Syria Group Doueh Ragsa Jaguar From the album Treeg Salaam Terrifying Tibetan Child and His Father Vocal with Erhu From the Sublime Frequencies album Streets of Lhasa Gerald Barry L'Agitation des Observateurs, le Tremblement des Voyeurs From the CD given away with the Irish Museum of Modern Art's Boulevard magazine. Trio Scordatura Invocation From the album Dubh The Streets of Lhasa From the Sublime Frequencies album Streets of Lhasa An inuit panda production

Fever Ray [untitled Fever Ray album]

Hey, what's this? Me buying a record released in the last two years? Surely some mistake! Anyway, as you know, Fever Ray is the one-person outfit of the woman from popular Swedish band The Knife. People have been gamely including tracks by The Knife and Fever Ray on compilations for me for some time now, and I have gamely been ignoring them, until recently. Then I started listening to these tracks and was impressed enough to pick up the Fever Ray record when I saw it marked down to a tenner.

And srsly, what is not to like here? Spooky electronic music, heavily treated vocals, and a general air of doomy art-ponce action like mama used to make – where has this been all my life? This is easily one of the best records I have heard all year, and it will not be long before I pick up more from the Fever Ray-Knife axis.

This album is apparently some kind of concept album about childhood, making it especially fascinating to those of us who were once children. I am not sure I would have noticed this had I not read it in an interview with Ms Ray, but keeping it in mind does add a certain something to the rather odd lyrics here.

Anyway, I recommend this album unreservedly, it is awesome. I think it might also make a good winter record. Time will tell.

An inuit panda production

edited to remove reference link to website blocking hotlinking to record cover; they obviously do not want the traffic.