jonny

It's a real return to form for me - the last few albums have been a little uninspiring whereas this one sounds fresh. Got the CD on order so hopefully that will arrive next week, and looking forward to seeing them later this year on two dates (third time lucky as the last two times they've tried to tour have had to be cancelled!)

Boring. Sounds like a very self-indulgent, unnecessarily elongated b-side/remix album.

First listen and this is a real throwback! Not a sound I've come across recently, and I'm really enjoying it. I've played Fiona Apple/Mystery Jets to death the last week and this is a refreshing contrast.

Who remembers Ghost Frequency? I seem to remember that these guys came out the same time as Foals. They had a couple of catchy indie-pop songs around 2007: Never Before Have I Seen A Man Alive That Looks So Exactly Like A Skeleton oacGAnNx0Kc Nightmare 3iXMYdplEBA 'Never Before...' in particular has a sound which is such a microcosm of indie music of the time period, I think. Unpolished.

hey, yeah they went under the radar and were probably overshadowed by lots of similar-ish indie bands of the time period who managed a bit more success...

Inspired (stolen) idea from Mark's post about some of his favourite indie bands of recent times, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite singles/albums/bands of a (relatively) recent era who either don't produce music anymore or were so obscure that it is pretty impossible to know either way! I'll start with... Tiny Dancers Tiny Dancers released a couple of singles in 2006/2007, culminating in the release of their debut (and only) album Free School Milk in June 2007. Amazingly, two of the singles from the album managed to reach the UK Top 40 within that year: I Will Wait For You (#36) dqC0u49umJ8 Hannah We Know (#33) zyTNJ0PjTC8 At the time, I do remember the singles above but they never really captured my attention. However, i picked up the album from a charity shop a couple of years ago and played it in the car for a few weeks and it's surprisingly quite catchy. I don't think they broke any ground with their sound but I do find their album quite an enjoyable listen. I think 'Hannah We Know' (above) and 'Shame' are my favourite tracks on the record: Shame Anyone else listen to or remember them?

There's some proper classics in here from the era that I really started to enjoy listening to 'indie' music. I recently re-discovered The Long Blondes and their second album really is something special that never got the recognition it deserved. It also reminds me of the days where (relatively) obscure bands would be able to obtain Top 40 singles. It seemed to curtail around 2010 where it became nearly impossible for bands of the likes of Mystery Jets would touch anywhere near the upper ends of the chart.

I'm a bit of a Mystery Jets fanboy, I must admit. Finding the album quite interesting. It's a more refined sound than what they've put out before and it doesn't retain as many of the instantaneously memorable MJ quirks which are present in many of their previous records, but there are elements which are quite familiar. There are some excellent songs, however, many of which will sound wonderful when performed live. I think 'Petty Drone' is my favourite at this moment, if not for anything else than the pulsating verses. I was also quite interested to hear that 'Watching Yourself Slowly Dissappear' was directly influenced by the passing of Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit. Two of my favourite bands but two which have never previously been connected, especially musically, so it's inspiring to know that Blaine was touched like so many more were. It's really evident in the lyrics, actually: U-H8jJAh8W4

I've listened multiple times now and I really enjoy the album; I tend to 'like' songs on Spotify which I really love and nine of the tracks on the record have achieved that which is a pretty high number as I try and be and selective as possible. I'd say that 'Under the Table' is my favourite, followed by 'I Want You to Love Me' and 'For Her'.

I think that there has been a general sense of ineptness which has permeated the Government's response. The fallout, once the dust has settled (so to speak), will be huge, and it will probably provide the Labour party and Keir Starmer with their best opportunity to persuade millions of voters to move back to their party. The saving grace for the Tories has been that their most enigmatic figure has been absent during the period where a lot of the shit has hit the fan. Nevertheless, it speaks volumes about his judgement that he surrounded himself with cabinet ministers who have little backbone, credibility or authenticity - undoubtedly, this strategy helped him[/] look better, but when he isn't there... well, they're not exactly men for a crisis. Speaking of Patel, here's a rare video she once did for That Mitchell and Webb Look: 1GqcL-kMKfo

I think that, when an artist like Apple releases something, considering the fandom and adoration she gleans, there is always likely to be an outpouring of positive reviews, especially from the likes of p4k. I'm on my first listen atm and I do get the hype. I think it's really interesting, lyrically, and sounds like something which I will listen to again. There are parts of it which remind me of Camille, actually. If you like this album you should check out 'Music Hole', especially the song 'Money Note', from Camille. 2dZTZc2W95g

Votes will be coming tonight/early tomorrow morning!

I've listened through each song now and a few things stood out: a. there is only one song which I genuinely enjoy (other than my own) b. there appear to be a plethora of instrumental tracks; whilst I do not dislike instrumental music, unfortunately, when you listen to ~10 songs in a row, nearly, which are like this, I tend to switch off. There are a few which I enjoyed but only a small number c. there's also a lot of female artists; in the previous contest which I entered (a number of years ago), I loved the sounds of Beatrice Eli's 'Girls' and Rainsford's 'Too Close', for example, but I have not been enamoured with what I have heard thus far I've been able to eliminate around half of the songs based on the initial listen but the rest I will give another go.

Picked up tickets to see Mystery Jets in Leeds AND Hull in a few months time. Considering getting tickets to see Jenny Lewis in Leeds but it's on a school night so I'll probably have to give it a miss. :unsure:

Mystery Jets are probably[/] my favourite act of all time. I'm not always sure why but they just are. Pre-ordered the album and the pin badges; going to be seeing them on successive nights in Leeds and Hull on the tour. I haven't seen them live since 2012(!) so I'm really excited!