Notes From A Small Office

I have that frustrating thing at the moment when your new favourite band has only TWO songs to be found anywhere on the internet so you have to listen to them repeatedly, which is fine because you really seriously like the songs, but then you get a bit panicky that you might start not liking them because you’ve listened to them too much, and you never want to not enjoy the songs because they’re so good.

But I’m just going to continue listening to Sweater Weather and Female Robbery by The Neighbourhood because both songs are bloody excellent.

Anyone else hearing Lana del Rey, especially in Female Robbery? I would welcome a male Lana in my life, so, yes please.

http://soundcloud.com/theneighbourhood

It took me a long while to come round to Mystery Jets having written them off as another standard Indie band with guitars and not very meaningful/exciting songs.

HOW WRONG I WAS. From the fun, dancey, eighties-inspired Girl Next Door to the frankly euphoric Seratonin, this band is poppy, catchy, but above all interesting, and produces bloody excellent music.

Their new song, Someone Purer, has not disappointed. Listen here: http://www.weallwantsomeone.org/2012/03/06/new-mystery-jets-someone-purer/

I’m seeing them in Brixton in May so will report back than with live news.

Better late than never. 

That’s what they say isn’t it? 

One month on, it seems like the right time to tell all you internet people, who live within the wires and pixels of the web world, about Beirut’s Brixton Academy gig of September 2011, a short month on.

When a band has such a niche and multi-layered sound it was with minor trepidation that I booked tickets to see them in one of the larger venues they’ll play. I needn’t have worried. Beirut’s sound, delicate and soaring in equal measure, was perfectly set for the room, filling every last Victorian (Victorian?…I’m going with Victorian) nook and cranny with triumphant brass, beating drums and the near-ubiquitous Beirut ukulele.

Zach Condon’s band have returned with their latest album, The Rip Tide, with no intention of moving in any rogue musical directions. The trumpets still soar, the drums still beat militaristically in the forefront of the songs, and Condon’s voice still glides amidst the harmonies. Stand out tracks included Goshen, Santa Fe, and an old favourite played ukuloustically (acoustic ukulele, get with it) right at the end, The Penalty. Special mention also to the support act: The Tune-Yards. Enjoyable, even with the use of saxophones.

Ukuleles, trumpets, accordions and popular music. It shouldn’t work, and yet it does. Very well.

NFASO has recently discovered short films thanks to a brilliant night held at Cafe 1001 on Brick Lane. The perfect Monday night remedy to not wanting to watch anything too time consuming or that demands much attention, short films are snappy, often funny, and always opinion-provoking.

The best one this week was a THIS IS IT film, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared.

Watch and comment - it’s brilliantly eccentric and very funny.

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared from This Is It on Vimeo.

It’s been a long time since we had a proper music post that’s been relevant to the title of this blog.

Sometimes in a Small Office (especially on a Friday) you find your mind wandering as you carry out a task that doesn’t require much concentration, or indeed one that requires a lot of concentration but that you aren’t all that keen on concentrating on. This might mean looking at a computer screen, pressing the right buttons, but not really being aware that you’re doing it because your mind is running through how to dress for the leopard-print themed party you’re attending that night, and what might be the best way of creating leopard-print icing on a chocolate biscuit cake (if anyone has any ideas, they’d be gratefully received, as we’ve run out of our own).

When you’re done with mulling over the leopard-print question (and after much thought, it’s probably going to be chocolate icing with white chocolate buttons and carefully-placed black licorice laces that could well end up looking more like an ugly carpet from an office decorated in 1985 but hopefully Birthday Girl will appreciate the thought) a far more valuable way of using up this time is listening to GREAT music from a GREAT website.

That website is ILikeMusic.co.uk. It’s got lots of good articles and interviews but we think the best thing about it is how it hands you these excellent playlists on a plate. No more wracking your brains to decide what to listen to next, or going on YouTube to be confronted with the terrible list of suggestions it gives you. Pick from Urban, Hip Hop, Pop, Indie, Rock, or Dance and away you go. Our personal favourite being the Pop playlist - it’s not what you think; there’s no Saturdays or The Wanted there, it’s only the best quality pop music. Try Kimbra’s Settle Down for a start.

Playlists on a Plate - the new Friday Feeling. 

Visit ILikeMusic.co.uk

A cynical and brief plug for a new site the office is working on at the moment:

Fashionling.com

That is all. Thanguverymush.

Bon Iver return with Calgary - a song that sounds like it is what Coldplay tried to create with their last album, but failed. It’s a bit more synth than his previous songs, and certainly less guitar-filled, but it’s still got the epic feel of a Bon Iver tune, as if it was built to soundtrack an emotional slow-motion montage at the end of an American drama episode. But it would be wasted there. It’s better here:

Star Slinger - May I Walk With You by aggressivechimp

Star Slinger, you now have my permission to walk with me.