New Music Recommendations
Posted by: Nick Lees on 01 April 2011
A place to tell folk about music you've bought that's....either recently been released, or is new to you and sufficiently off the beaten track to bring to people's attention (so that, nice for you as it might be that you've bought Kind Of Blue, most folk know all about it).
Major releases (such as the recent Elbow) may well be better served in their own thread.
Pictures are fine, as long as they're accompanied by a few words describing the sort of music it is, whether it's good, bad, indifferent and maybe a "If you like this you might also like..." recommendation.
And on a personal note, I'm more than happy for anyone to say "Listened to your recommendation Gary and it stunk" 
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Modified Toy Orchestra - Plastic Planet
This is another recent find from The Freak Zone, and it's a bunch of people playing electronic music through old Casios and electronic toys (Touch 'n Tell, Mattel toys).
It's wonderful - they have blended it all in so it doesn't sound cheesey and they are all worked around great tunes. THis one is definitely worth a picture, and the CD comes in a toddles-style thick cardboard book which, though it's a non-standard size, add tremendously to the pleasure of ownership!
And finally, you can listen to the whole album here: http://www.myspace.com/toyorch
I've been listening a lot to Matt Berry - Witchazel as a result of hearing tracks on Freak Zone.
It's great - never fails to bring a smile to my face, but then it does take me back about 45 years :-)
He's the bloke from The IT Crowd and Mighty Boosh, and the album's mostly all his own work. It's got a pre-psychedelia late 1966 sound that mixes up (to me) a bit of Donovan, Roky Erickson and Bill Faye and a dash of acid folk, without sounding like pastiche. And more importantly he writes very good tunes too (though it has to be said he hasn't got a big voice - hence lots of multi-tracking that adds to the period sound).
You can listen to the whole album for free here: http://www.myspace.com/mattber...s/witchazel-17482786
Yesterdays - Holdfenykert
This lot are ethnic Hungarians living in Romania. A bit difficult to place musically, but I'd be tempted to put them in the Renaissance-type genre - a folky, melodic prog with lots of flute and mellotron. It starts out very mellow and gradually gets proggier.
Have a listen to Seven (parts 1 and 2) here: http://www.myspace.com/bogatiakos/music
Or the whole thing here on Grooveshark: http://listen.grooveshark.com/...nykert/5186258?src=5
I'll try one of yours if you try one of mine...
This was easily my album of the year last year.
He's famous for his soundtracks (Amelie in particular) which he usually performs alone, but his studio albums with his band are something else, and this is a particular departure for the multi-instrumentalist. They are all songs, and in English. It is full of breathtaking musical ideas and lots of tunes played on an array of instruments, including a fair amount of guitar. And no accordion.
A stunning, hard to categorise, album, but I'm sure it would win anyone over.
Must be plenty samples to listen to out there, including some on his own website yanntiersen.com
Jen Olive - I Say Love EP
All 6 tracks can be heard here http://www.lighterthiefproduct...e_I_Say_Love_EP.html
On April 1 , Jen Olive’s follow-up to her Ape House debut album Warm Robot (featuring Andy Partridge of XTC) drops out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, by way of Swindon, UK. Titled I Say Love, it’s a six-song EP showcasing, as Warm Robot did, Jen’s singular reinvention of the modern pop song. As Mark Fisher described Jen’s take on songwriting in The List, “So catchy...you’ll forget most music ain’t made this way.”
Featuring songs from Warm Robot, b-sides, remixes and the title-track single – as well as contributions by Andy Partridge and producer Stu Rowe – I Say Love bridges the gap between Warm Robot and Jen’s next full-length album (due later in 2011). If you haven’t heard Jen Olive yet, I Say Love is a good introduction.
Jen’s idiosyncratic approach to songwriting begins with the guitar. Her playing has been dubbed “high life guitar from Venus” thanks to her odd time signatures, intricate fingerpicking and quirky jazz/folk sensibilities – “This astounding allegro algorithm from Albuquerque,” as Andy Partridge puts it. This, coupled with equally strong vocal melodies and layered harmonies, allows for the creation of a musical world that is uniquely Jen Olive’s.
Jen splits her time between the U.S. and the UK, and is set to tour the UK in the summer of 2011.
I came across Jen's music after downloading the 3 Lighterthief EP's (headed by Stuart Rowe) here http://apehouse.prevuz.com/ape-artists/lighterthief/ There is some good music coming out of Swindon, with Andy Partridge's APE Label encouraging musicians with inventive ideas.
Denis