MP3: The Hermit Crabs - Friends Folk Festival
(Glasgow, 2:49 mins, 127 kbps, 2.6MB)

A 5 piece Scottish Indiepop band with folk nudgings towards the upbeat rather than revolutionary; an arts fair instead of a guerilla war. The Hermit Crabs are walking (perhaps sideways) on rainbow steps of guitar lines, walking a few feet above you - not looking you in the eyes. It is cute; but it’s so smooth and comfortable, you won’t be concerned when this flood of soulful Scottish pop music pours into your very mind.

Buy/ Read/ Hear More.

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also:

Rap represented in mathematical charts and graphs

Radiohead’s album In Rainbows is being released physically on New Year’s Eve. Therefore it can’t be anyone’s best album on 2008. It seems pretty sure to dominate this years lists though, and it just wouldn’t be fair for it to dominate for 2 years straight.

Tags: Folk, Johnny 5 Is Alive, Not London by Mike Smith
1 Comment »

In The Guardian’s music blog, reviews editor at Plan B magazine Louis Pattison recently outlined a rather generalised, narrow, and unverifiable argument about the nature of mp3 blogs. I thought it would be necessary to comment and set a few things straight.

“MP3 blogs are killing music. They don’t mean to. But they are, and they’re killing it with love.”

By the end of the article, after a number of qualifications, we are left with a vague idea that some mp3 blogs (but not the good ones) are in some way helping to undermine the sale of singles and not doing much more.

[Read more →]

Tags: Uncategorized by Mike Smith
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MP3: Head and Neck Sessions - Moya Moya
(Shrewsbury via London, Bristol and Southampton, 3:34 mins, 320 kbps, 8.2MB)

Electronica for the urgent and determined, from a geographical unsure 3 piece. The Head and Neck sessions, are boucing feelers towards you in a very subtle manner; you may not even feel the bleeps and bass engaging both sides of your brain, spinning colours and geometric shapes through your mind and making feel great again. It’s fresh and exciting in a way that doesn’t sound bedroom produced, ill-considered or lost on a journey to nowhere and back. It’s thoughtful and soulful, and there’s not much better to prepare you for a night of excitement, fireworks and bonfires than a some low-key electronica.

myspace.com/headandneck

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Undoubtedly a track of the month already, in high quality sound. Have you got some really good new British music to share? Send me an email.

Tags: Best of NBGL, not-folk-music by Mike Smith
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My favourite discovery of the last month was: The Last Dinosaur: “A song full of clarity, and big ideas realised in a subtle and careful way. They’re not climbing any peaks, or conquering anybody - they are just enjoying the journey, and so should you”

Track of the Month is by: Text Adventure: “this is Scottish folk music with bleeps and hollows in the valley where the machines regroup for the final assault, only to be stopped in there by a lazy stream and a frog.

Release of the month: Radioheads album has been inevitably strong, so I’d prefer to draw you attention to the fantastic Sleeping States album “There the Open spaces” and encourage you to check it out.

Mp3 Blog of the month:
Motel De Moka hit its stride a long time ago. It’s consistent, honest, thoughtful. The community of writers from around the world inject life into their posts and playlists in a way so few other bloggers manage.

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Technical problems and the Radiohead album release denied me from posting as much as much as I would have liked to in October, but having been resolved, and thoroughly listened to, November should provide a bumper crop of new British music.

You can subscribe to the NBGL RSS feed to be kept up to date with the latest posts and new.

As always, comments about the site and suggestions for bands for me to check are always read, and welcomed with open arms. You can email me whenever you like.

Tags: Uncategorized by Mike Smith
2 Comments »