Music: August Playlist

Due to my having been vacationing, last months playlist hits you full in the face a good two weeks late. How dare I. But it's still here, and crammed with some good stuff, some even gooder stuff, and admittedly some filler that I may well never listen to again after I've written this but that, for some reason, grabbed my ear in the month of Augusta.

1) BEST COAST - When I'm With You (from the album entitled 'Crazy For You')



This song is the bonus track from the debut album of a band who have captured many a dreary London heart with a heavy dose of sugary teenage California love-pop. Best Coast are every one's favourite new surfer band, and join The Drums, Surfer Blood and the like in invading the UK consciousness with scuzzy aplomb. Plus the lead singer is a GIRL!!! And she plays GUITAR!!! And she doesn't look like COURTNEY LOVE!!! HOORAY!!!

2) RAY LAMONTAGNE AND THE PARIAH DOGS - Repo Man (from the album entitled 'God Willin' And The Creek Don't Rise')



The husky-voiced singer comes back at us with a great band and good new album, and it is, majoritively, a success. We grumpy brits seem to dislike his voice more than those on the stateside, however the composition of this new record, a more bluesy, more heart-wrenched, gutsy and painful collection of songs than he has played before, presents Lamontagne with a secure base on which to do his thing. In this video he sounds like he's had a few too many rollies, but on disc it all comes together rather nicely. More than just dinner party stuff, thankfully.

3) KIDS OF 88 - Downtown (from the album entitled 'Sugarpills')



For fans of Miami Horror, Neon Indian, Goldfrapp and other such dance-pop stylings, Kids of 88 have all the bass for your face that you need. A New Zealand outfit, they're a bit filthy, both musically and lyrically, and though they aren't going to win any Novello's, turn it up loud enough and there's not much you can do to stop the head bobbing. Infectious, like crabs in a jacuzzi.

4) MOUNTAIN MAN - Animal Tracks (from the album entitled 'Made The Harbor')



At Green Man festival this year they failed, quite spectacularly, to light up the stage, annoying and mumbly enough as they were to bring even the twee-est of middle-class mud-trudgers to wander off for a Pie Minister. HOWEVER, despite their letting me down so, I have still come back to their album, because it is a wonderfully frail, delicate and beautiful collection of expertly harmonised ballads. Yet another group, therefore, to add to the girl-folk vocal talent pile, along with First Aid Kit and The Unthanks and the like.

5) J. TILLMAN - Three Sisters (from the album entitled 'Singing Ax')



The bearded blues genius returns with a new record, and yet again my heart melts. This man will NEVER fail to tickle and tweak my heart, with his haunting voice and subtle, downbeat guitar coming together again in a flood of imagery and emotional weight. More and more brilliance, and this is the first track from the album, set to some sort of crap photography show. Ignore the pictures, just listen to the song. BLOODY LOVE IT.

6) ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN - You Won't See Me Down Again (from the album entitled 'Hawk')



She's a Glasgow girl who sung with Belle and Sebastien, he's a burly American rocker who sang for Screaming Trees and was once a member of Queens Of The Stone Age. You'd never put them together but Hawk, their third album, proves once again that this a duo with a wealth of talent and spirit between them, and who possess an insatiable, sexual, harmonious chemistry. This song is from that third album, and is drenched in Americana, which in turn makes me a little damp. I'll be listening to this album for a while yet...

7) DYLAN LeBLANC - Emma Hartley (from the album entitled 'Paupers Field')



More American singer-songwriter now, and this guy is a special talent. He's got the early Neil Young long hair, the pitch black wardrobe, the heart-broken songs, tales of lost loves and nature's power. He's pretty much the full troubadour package, and he's written a brilliant debut album which will please many a Ryan Adams or Ray Lamontagne fan. What's more I know a girl called Emma Hartley. Go figure...

8) KLAXONS - Echoes (from the album entitled 'Surfing The Void')



Brits ahoy!!! I only realise while adding this Klaxons effort that they might well be the only British band on my list. OOPS. Oh well, you like what you like don't you. Nevertheless, this new single from Les Klaxonnes is a good return from the band who have taken a while to get back to us after their barn-storming debut a few years back. The new album, though I haven't given it the most time, seems to be more traditional than their first, which may be a sign of the group maturing, but may also be a sign of label influence in trying to homogenise a less marketable, less stadium-filling sound. Let's hope it's the former. Atlantis to Interzone will always rule for me, but this is a solid effort.

9) LE LOUP - Forgive Me (from the album entitled 'Family')



A little Animal Collective, a little Arcade Fire. A little boring at times, if I'm honest, but then I never have been a huge fan of that brand of that "epic", layered indie sound. It's not too bad, but it's not going to grace the iPod for too long I don't think. MOVING ON!

10) BLACK MOUNTAIN - Old Fangs (from the album entitled 'Wilderness Heart')



BOOSH!!! Black Mountain come storming into the place, kicking you off your stool and drinking your shot of Jack before making out with your wife. I think they're awesome, real good rock and roll like Zeppelin used to make, with some spacey effects and thick riffs and enough mustangs and heavy metal hair to get a cactus pregnant. Last album, In The Future, was great, and the new album is just as good. Industry insiders love them, and there is about to be a resurgance in the classic rock scene, with bands like Warpaint and Sleepy Sun making waves around the world.

11) WEEZER - Say It Ain't So (from the album entitled 'Weezer (Blue)' or something like that, who knows...)



With their new album out and sounding brilliant, I have revisited Weezer's old albums and found that they still give me that warm and tingly feeling inside. Many a classic grungy track stands up to the critical modern ear, but for me it has always, and will always, be Say It Ain't So that makes me sing and shout the most. A truly brilliant track that epitomised a period of American rock music. "Somebody's Heiny, is crouding my ice box, somebody's cold one, is giving me chills..." GENIUS.

See you in a couple of weeks my lovers x