Music: July Playlist

There's a theme emerging this month of my revisiting some old friends whom I had almost forgotten. Arcade Fire, Johnny Flynn, Crooked Still. Thankfully there have been some great new releases this month and I have had the chance to lap them all up. Yum yum yum.

ps. You'll also notice that many of the videos posted this week are live performances. Some are so out of choice, due to the great joy I get from the artists being able to perform so well without backing, and others are so because, well, there isn't anything else.

1) ANAIS MITCHELL - Wedding Song (from the album entitled Hadestown)



Hadestown was released some months ago, and is Anais Mitchell's folk-opera re-telling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. All of the characters are sung by different popular vocalists, including Justin Vernon of Bon Iver as Orpheus, Ani DiFranco as Persephone and Greg Brown as the husky Hades, and the album could have been a disaster but is, in fact, marvellous. The arrangements of orchestrator Michael Chorney are sublime especially, but the whole journey is something you may have never heard before. This track is missing Vernon's accompaniment, but lacks nothing for the angelic beauty of Mitchell's voice. Liquid gold.

2) BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB - Ivy and Gold (from the album entitled Flaws)



Bombay Bicycle Club have followed their debut with a surprisingly solid acoustic album that does no harm whatsoever to their good reputation. This is the first single I think, and despite the somewhat Skins-esque nature of the end of this vid, it really is a lovely little ditty. I shouldn't keep playing it, because that is, like, SO uncool, but it warms my cockles.

3) CROOKED STILL - Golden Vanity (from the album Some Strange Country)



Banjo! YEAH! Fucking love banjo. And the fiddle. Which is why I love Crooked Still, an "alternative bluegrass" group from Boston, MA who write some great songs and display here their extremely high musicianship. This is from their new, fourth album, the rest of which is filled with lullabies, ballads and foot-stompers such as this. Definitely worth a listen if you like country and bluegrass music, especially that with a modern twist like Chatham County Line or Black Prairie.

4) MAPS AND ATLASES - Israeli Caves (from the album Perch Patchwork)



Probably my new favourite band are Maps and Atlases. At first I thought they were a bit like Vampire Weekend just less twatty, but they're closer to a Local Natives or TV On The Radio, even embracing the weirdness of The Spinto Band on occasion (but not too often thankfully). Their new album is euphoric, jubilant and a delight. I highly recommend listening and going to see them now. They will be big. Oh yes, they will be big.

5) MAYLEE TODD - Protection Plan 101 AKA Quit Before Getting Fired (from the album Choose Your Own Adventure)



She's a weird one this girl. One of those American nutbags who seems to see the world as a cuddly cartoon full of bright colours and love and stuff (see Kate Micucci or anything off the Juno soundtrack). HOWEVER, she is in possession of a strap on harp (and we all love a girl with one of those right boys?) and a nice voice, and some of the songs on her album are a treat. It's not the easiest to handle when she's waxing lyrical about some goblin or fairy or made up animal, but when she normalises a little she's actually very talented. Tread carefully I suppose.

6) JOHNNY FLYNN - Kentucky Pill (from the album Been Listening)



Monsieur Flynn is an unfairly overlooked folkster in with the Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, Noah And The Whale tribe, and who has a captivating and beguiling sound. His new album is his second (after the excellent 'A Larum'), and has a bit more bravado, a bit more scope and is soaringly good. It's a great record, uplifting and swelling, and yet still displays Flynn's talent for cutting observation and lyrical poeticism.

7) ARCADE FIRE - The Suburbs (from the album entitled The Suburbs)



This is a VERY impressive fan video for the new Arcade Fire single. More importantly though, the new album from the Montreal band is actually rather good, and does somewhat make up for the disappointment of Neon Bible. It's not there with Funeral, and I'm not sure they'll ever reach those heights again, but it is encouraging and provides excitement to those with the chance to see them this summer. Which includes me. Yippee!

8) LAURA GIBSON - Shadows On Parade (from the album entitled Beasts Of Seasons)



Not one to get the dancefloor jumping this one, but Laura Gibson is a rare talent. She's for fans of Joanna Newsom or Laura Veirs (another excellent female folk singer songwriter to look at if you are that way inclined), and has a gentle melancholy about her that really gets inside you. It's not as creepy as that last bit suggests. Nicer. Not as invasive.

9) AVI BUFFALO - Summer Cum (from the album entitled Avi Buffalo)



One of the hype bands so far this year, and building a quick following, Avi Buffalo do slightly disjointed folk indie type stuff that has an air of the bizarre about it and embraces the contemporary love of all that is falsetto. They're interesting, and write some good melodies and harmonies, so look out for them next time you're bored at a festival.

10) MYSTERY JETS - Dreaming Of Another World (from the album entitled Serotonin)



Not sure what I think about the new album from these local boys of Twickenham. I think I preferred Twenty Two, I think it had more instant hits on it, and was a bit less poppy than they've become. HOWEVER, when you see video as good as this (red smoke!!!) it will undoubtedly improve the song it's accompanying. In ear, this sounds a little basic, but turn it up a little and it really works. Much more of an anthem than I had expected, and better than the flagship single Flash A Hungry Smile.

11) BLACK SABBATH - War Pigs (live in Paris 1970)



The archive this week unleashes Sabbath at their most brutal, their most high energy, their most impressive and most awesomest! Ozzy has always been thought of as a hard drinking, swearing, bat-chewing psycho which is all very true and very well and good, but first and foremost he was one of the best frontmen in history, and had a ridiculous voice. The first time he bellows out "generals gathered in their masseeeeees" you know their about to blow your mind. And then Bill Ward goes absolutely ballistic on the drums and I melt a little inside. Live music has rarely been better I'd argue.