I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

Yesterday I wasn’t compelled to write about “Destroyer” but now I am. All that the Destoyer track “European Oils” makes me think of is a character in ‘Dr Strangelove’ who is paranoid about a communist conspiracy to impurify bodily fluids. The piano at the start almost made me turn off immediatly but this anti-ballad works against the piano to rant and rave before the commies finally gets them. The lyrics were what kept me listening. Vocalist Dan Bejar is get a bit manic (see guitar solo @ 1:58) as the General’s paranoia becomes self-aggrandisement to the point that he can’t see anything that I happening around him. He’s just spinning around and around firing his revolver at the taps, bottles, and communists around him. This is experimental music that doesn’t sound really fucked up or just plain noisy. It doesn’t come along that often and when it does, it usually doesn’t work. When it does, it’s pretty timeless.

Artist: Destroyer

Mp3: European Oils

The album is available for free on Emusic if you sign up for the no obligation trial with which you get 25 free mp3s to keep after the trial finishes.

Tags: UK Music by Mike Smith
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I’ve been pretty busy lately…

First up, I got me some credit card akshun - and immediatly signed up for Emusic’s Free trial with which you get 25 Free mp3’s and access to all the exclusive free EMusic downloads. So far I have downloaded free tracks by Devendra Banhart, Jens Lekman, Mountain Goats, Tapes and Tapes and I’ll be using my 25 free downloads getting:

• Some of Forward Russia’s debut album “Give Me A Wall”
• Tracks from Beirut’s debut album “Gulag Orkestar”
• The entire Fiery Furnaces album “Bitter Tea”

Pretty good deal for £0. Sign up here. If that sounds good.

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I’ve also started reading a few more fantastic blogs including Scatterbrain (who led me to Fiery Furnaces and Matt also digs Los Campesino’s, which makes him cool and hip), EarFarm (who has weekly live music, news and mp3s), the superb “Record Robot” (wierd wierd music - check out the Skiing music and Mexican music directly below. You can’t help but smile.) and don’t forget to check out some new UK mp3 blogs and Shane at the Torture Gaden has the Go Team remixing the Polyphonic Spree and a shedload more music, I’ll be playing the Go Team covering Sonic Youth on the next Podcast…

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The podcast will be out this week (looking to be the best one I’ve released), before I head off for a week in the Sun on friday, then a couple of days in a field in Oxford for Truck Festival courtesy of Drowned in Sound. A couple of prewritten posts should magically appear on the blog while I’m off galavanting. So no cold turkey guys and girls. Although I could really go for some Cold Turkey right now.

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And finally some tracks I’ve downloaded and enjoyed, but not felt compelled to write about:

Destroyer - European Oils

Islands - Rough Gem

Tags: UK Music by Mike Smith
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Something didn’t go to plan. Somewhere in the creative process somewhere someone didn’t tighten up all the bolts, turn on all the machines, dot all the t’s and cross all the I’s.

One minute we are floating around some monochrome dreamworld, walking awkwardly with all the blindingly bright light disorientated most of our 7 senses. Then 2:24 happens and then someone presses that button and the song mutates, the bright colours are replaced with glass of cold water to the face, and the monochrome dreamworld becomes a technicoloured, semi-transparent riverboat suicide boat trip to the waterfall. So everyone thinks.

Shapes and Sizes are gonna roll up some wondeful sounds into a ball, throw it about a bit, unroll it, marvel at their creation and bottle the sounds that pop out.

Others said: “they’re all over the place” “like a compendium of of everything good in music right now, never predictable but always fun to listen to”

Artist: Shapes and Sizes
Mp3: “Islands gone bad“

Tags: UK Music by Mike Smith
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Music bloggers and podcasters were asked describe the best song they’ve legally downloaded in the past month in the form of a journey.
Last month, I asked bloggers to describe the best song of the previous month in 12 syllables.

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Eric Hamilton Knobtweakers
The Song: Ashbury (Morgan Page Remix) by Shine

stream:

The Journey: My heart would always race as I arrived at the late night teenage hang-out. Would she be there? I would swing by regularly, looking for her. If she wasn’t there, I’d leave, and come back later. I moved away for a while, and didn’t hear from her for years. She didn’t know if I was still alive. When I returned a friend told me she saw her, so I hit the road, and headed back, where we used to be… but are we the same? There she was, years later, as beautiful as ever. I guess we’ve changed a lot, and there’s no going back, but we’re still together.

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Mike Smith, Nothing But Green Lights
The Song: You’re so Warm by Jamie Radford

Stream:

The Journey: Catching the last train in the middle of the night, he is by himself in a cold carriage with the windows stuck open. He chooses a seat facing the wrong way, unusually. He sits and watches the lights run past and away from him. After a normal stop in an unusual station, the usual girl comes and sits beside him, as usual he doesn’t say a word and as usual she talks all the way there. Unusually he laughs at her jokes.They leave the train when the sun starts to rise. They get to the airport and straight onto the waiting plane. She falls asleep, he begins saying all the things he can’t when she’s awake. They wish the journey would continue forever, but their batteries are about to run out.

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Tim Young, The Face of Today
The Song: Dance Anthems by Hong Kong Cinema

Stream:

The Journey: Stumbling half cut out of the flat on my way to buy cigarettes I walk past the local pub. There’s a band blasting something out. I’m not really listening. I buy cigarettes but realise on the way back that I don’t smoke anymore.

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DH, Short Attention Span Radio
The Song: Beanbag Chair by Yo Le Tango

Stream:

The Journey: I was lost, as usual. In fact I didn’t even know where I was headed. It was hot, and I needed to get somewhere, but somewhere wasn’t coming to me. I turned a corner. There, just passing the time, was an old friend. I had no idea we’d meet up now. We spent a while catching up, talking about what we were going to do, and went off for a drink. I didn’t care where I was going for a while after that.

Tags: UK Music by Mike Smith
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“Summertime cowboy” in an inexplicably chilled tune from Finnish Group “Husky Rescue”. It’s like some ranch hand from deepest, darkest Texas got teleported to Lapland with his horse trusty steed named Jonathon Valiant . When he comes to (after the inexplicably ardous teleportion) all he can hear is the electronic pixies chasing him with their synth powered arsenal in the distance. This is the song that soundtracks his Epic (but ultimately unsuccessful) journey trying to get home across the frozen tundra. Riding across the North Pole seemed like a good idea at the time. Tipping toeing floaty indie music.

Artist: Husky Rescue

Mp3: Summertime Cowboy

Stream:

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Spoilt Victorian Child spoils us with some fantastic old school soul from “Garnet Mimms”. I’ve listening to it more than anything (except Los Campesinos) in the past week. Not only that, but the SVC post is a clickable sketch. I totally had that idea last year.

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In “Mike is going to be judging a contest with some other mp3 blogger news”: Remix a track by Shapes and Sizes and win some $goodies$ More details

Tags: UK Music by Mike Smith
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