Nothing else released this year was so Rock 'n' Roll, so full on, so
fucking LOUD. Nothing made BlackPlastic want to throw a TV out of a
hotel window quite as much as 'Pogo'.
"We could get wasted if you bring it on" indeed. Whatever mix you
chose the chugging synths and "Hey, quit bullying me!" drums truly
rocked BlackPlastic's block this year. Pogo probably sounds more like
a dance rock song than anything anyone else has managed, including the
Klaxons.
BP x
Having teamed up with the ever talented Erol Alkan for production duties the next Mystery Jets album is an enticing prospect. In anticipation of that next full release The Mystery Jets are offering up the Alkan produced that 'Flakes' to anyone who signs up to emails over at their site.
BlackPlastic won't ruin too much of the surprise, since it is free you really should check it out, but it is suffice to say that they have knocked out the sexiest guitar ballad BlackPlastic has heard in years and it literally sounds like snow flakes - no bad thing at this time of year - and is probably the best new song heard round these parts for a good couple of months.
If the Alkan / Mystery Jets collaboration is always going to yield music this good BlackPlastic is excited.
BP x
Take the best song off one of this years' best albums. Add warm
basslines and sunny twinkles. Leave the vocal in tact. Throw in mild
distortion. Decimate with the filthiest, sunniest acid line
imaginable. Done.
Van She Tech's remix of Feist's '1 2 3 4' is a thing of pure,
unadulterated joy. It's warm, infectious, naughty, cute, hopeful,
sunny, gorgeous and virtually perfect. More than anything it is LOUD.
Skip back to the beginning before you let it finish otherwise the
goosebumps will fade. If you needed a pick me up this year, this was it.
Despite some recent commentary in the blogosphere to the contary the new Hot Chip single 'Ready For The Floor' is more loveable pop goodness.
The vocal snatches make no real sense but the overall impact of the record is this:
It sounds like your Casio keyboard is diddling your girlfriend's skittle whilst your too busy dreaming about clouds shaped like women. This record sounds like the smiles of coy but sexy girls in skirts which is interesting because it may or may not have been written for,
and rejected by, Kylie.
What's important is that this is on lockdown on the stereo. Oh, and he Soulwax remix with its rolling drum breakdown is the bomb too.
BP x
Never one for lists, BlackPlastic is taking December as the
opportunity to touch on some good things that happened in 2007. Some
may have been mentioned on these pages before, most will not have.
Part One - Groove Armada release an album that doesn't suck and is, in
fact, surprisingly enjoyable.
After the disaster that was the critically lampooned Lovebox, 2007
should have seen Groove Armada packing up their toys and heading back
to the land of 'Ultimate Chill With a Pint and a Bag of Chips 08' or
something. Instead they teamed up with an unemployed ex-Sugababe
(someone get them a union) in creating one of the best pop singles for
this year in the form of 'Song 4 Mutya'. Blackplastic cares not who
you think you are, if the "bam BAM!" noise don't get ya something is
amiss.
What's more, there was more good stuff on the long-player... Check out
the distorted pop-soul of 'The Things That We Could Share', Candi
Staton's guest spot on the wide-screen emo-disco-breaks of 'Paris' or
the tick-tick-boom of 'The Girls Say' where they out-Outkast Outkast
whilst throwing in some acid for good measure. The chill-out crowd are
even catered for in the form of 'From The Rooftops'...
If GA can sound this enjoyable when they do pop BlackPlastic will take
a fraction of the fun available here over a hundred albums worth of re-
imaginings of 'At The River'.
BP x