Single Review: Lazyboy - Underwear Goes Inside The Pants

First things first. BlackPlastic is 94% sure this is a one hit wonder. Lazyboy has released what sounds like an album, nay career's, defining song before they have even established themselves within pop culture at all. Having said which, Eminem (whose best work this is closest to) managed to release several whole albums of tosh after his debut, 'My Name Is...' and everybody still loved him...

This is punk hip-hop. Anything resembling actual MCing appears to have been jettisoned in favour of a lazy (hence the name?) style of delivery that half resembles a self-help track, half a smoke-induced rant.

The music is a little formulaic. Strings, beats, samples. This WILL NOT change your life.

What it will do is make you laugh and make you angry.

It's sad because it's true.

Album Review - Lo Fi Fnk


Last year when BlackPlastic visited the glorious land of ice that is The Republic of Iceland (not the shop, obviously) it picked up a sampler CD for that year's Airwaves festival despite that fact that the festival had been and gone without BlackPlastic's attendance. And thank God for that CD, for if it wasn't for that the Lo Fi Fnk album might have completely bypassed this site.

The Airwaves CD featured the fantastic slab of stop / start electronics of 'Change Channels', listening to which felt somewhat like sinking into a sponge of the sweetest sounding electronic funk imaginable. A song that makes the listener think, "they can't keep this up, surely?"

Well guess what? They've only done a whole album... 'City' sounds like the most exciting drive home ever as breakbeats are married to the acid washes and indie vocals and 'Adore' is just as happy. 'System' is a lo-fi robot make-out, darker in tone but still a pure pop moment.

When 'What's On Your Mind?' taunts the listener... "Why don't tell what's on your mind? Nothing's going to change if you keep on whispering... Why don't tell what's on your mind? It's no reason to be all that boring!" it feels like this is an album by a bunch of permanently cheerful ADD sufferers, but it's sooo infectious that you can't help but love Lo Fi Fnk for it.

Lo Fi Fnk is shiney happy music. It is Prince vs Daft Punk. It is broken beat vs funky house. It is fntstc.

Augusto! Song of the montho!

In The Great War of 2009 , later dubbed "War of the Knives's", a ferocious battle with two sides raged between Union of Knives and The Knife. Initially BlackPlastic supported Union of Knives, seeing their anthemic, melancholic yet uplifting call to arms "Evil Has Never" as the sound of a power ballad as played by Radiohead. Brilliant.

Unfortunately, for the Union of Knives at least, BlackPlastic was eventually won over by The Knife and their vicious leader, El Knifo, who launched a fantastic propaganda assault on the senses under the innocent title "We Share Our Mother's Health". Awesome.

Too short by half, "We Share Our Mother's Health" sounds like a revolution in your head. Military forces storm gingerbread houses, tanks crush teddy bears beneath huge rolling caterpillar tracks, attack choppers are cast aside by a gust of wind from a huge oversized pin-wheel.

There's no denying it - this is how pop music should sound.

Comment: Thom Yorke - The Eraser

BlackPlastic has always been a fan of Radiohead but has tired a little over recent years of, if anything, the pretentiousness not of the band but the fans. Nevertheless, a character like Thom Yorke deserves the utmost of respect and here he is with his debut solo LP.

Unsure of what to expect BlackPlastic has just finished listening to opening and title track, 'The Eraser', and all that needs to be said is wow.

"Wow".

Coming on like a cross between Hot Chip's track 'The Warning' (see the BlackPlastic review here) and The Blue Nile, this is special. Radiohead could feasibly have been accused of lacking a little warmth, but there is no way the same criticisms could be levelled here whilst Yorke sings of the impossibility of erasing his subject. If this is anything to go by then The Eraser deserves to be one of this year's albums. More as and when BlackPlastic feels the urge.