What you up to tonight? Yeah I didn’t get invited to the Brits either. No I’m not watching it on the telly. Yes I suppose it is because of my punk attitude and refusal to be part of the establishment. But mainly it’s because our telly doesn’t pick up ITV.
And before you can tell me it’s streaming on the internet, I’ll distract you with this week’s best new tracks, featuring Chicano Batman, At the Drive-In, Snoh Aalegra, The Dears, Tashaki Miyaki and HEALTH. I’m very sorry that Dermot O Leary won’t be presenting them, as he’s busy this evening. Can I offer you instead Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood?
Chicano Batman – Angel Child
Our highly esteemed ‘Track of the Week’ award (which I’ve just made up purely so I can heap extra love on this gorgeous song) goes to Chicano Batman’s ‘Angel Child’. The LA psychedelic-funk quartet wrote ‘Angel Child’ in tribute to frontman Bardo Martinez’s daughter Yemayá, As Martinez states, “This song is a celebration of my baby’s existence. It is a feeling that all parents feel. It is a feeling that we can all embrace because we are all part of this cycle of life and love.”
And in tribute to my own newborn daughter, I’ll continue to write about songs I like on the internet.
At the Drive-in – Incurably Innocent
After some fairly lacklustre reunion shows, At the Drive-in are officially back with brand new material and it isn’t half bad! In fact after a couple of listens, I proclaim this new track “a bit of a grower.” Sure it’s no ‘Pattern Against User’ but what the hell is? ATDI’s new album in • ter a • li • a is due out May 5th and is likely to piss off any reviewer who forgets to copy and paste the title.
Snoh Aalegra – Nothing Burns Like the Cold
Prince’s protégé for the two years prior to his death, Snoh Aalegra has just released ‘Nothing Burns Like The Cold’ featuring our own current rap hero Vince Staples. Sure you’ve heard this Isaac Hayes sample before on Portishead’s ‘Glorybox’ but you can forgive hearing it again – it’s just so damn good, and Snoh’s vocals make the whole thing utterly exquisite.
The Dears – To Have and Hold
In the weekly round-up we play it fast and loose with our own rules. For instance this track from The Dears first appeared on their 2015 album Times Infinity Volume One but the Montreal duo have only just released a video for it, in support of a UK February tour. And besides, who cares about arbitrary rules when you get to discover a track as warmly mellifluous as this…
HEALTH – Euphoria
Your mum’s least favourite scuzzy hipster band are back with the latest in a series of dance reinterpretations of their proper studio albums. DISCO3 features remixes of tracks from 2015’s Death Magic by Purity Ring, Preoccupations and Roly-Poly (who probably isn’t anything to do with 80s comedic dance troupe – although I haven’t actually double checked). HEALTH have also provided a few brand new tracks too, included the following “banger” (their term).
Tashaki Miyaki – Girls on TV
LA duo Tashaki Miyaki release their debut album The Dream on April 7th, and here’s the video to its dreamy, country-tinged lead track ‘Girls on TV’. It’s directed by some jack-of-all-trades nobody called James Franco. I’m sorry, I lashed out. I love Franco. I’m just jealous he gets to play Tommy Wiseau in a movie about The Room.
As always, here’s a Spotify playlist containing all the best new music from January and February 2017.
That’s it for this week. Be on your way. Don’t forget to take your belongings with you – I will rifle through anything you leave behind.
