First of all, I feel terrible. I have a serious bout of man-flu and I'm feeling very sorry for myself. Please feel free to inundate me with sympathy. But this isn't what I need help with...
I was very lucky this Christmas and got a shiny new toy from Santa that means I can now listen to music while I walk to work. I know, I thought it was witchcraft too, but I've since grown to enjoy it. Now, having this new toy means I've had to scour my CD collection for some of the best songs to put on it, and I've been loving listening to albums I haven't heard for ages.
One of the greatest re-discoveries was a band called Lowgold. I had the pleasure of seeing them support Coldplay about 8 years ago and they were fantastic. I bought their debut album immediately and after listening to it again today I can highly recommend it. Obviously only if you're a fan of 'fantastic atmospheric guitar rock' (The Times). Those of you in to 'crunk' or 'bouncy house' might not be so taken with it.
Alas for Lowgold, the album didn't do that well and the follow up even worse. They disappeared for some time before releasing a 'come back' album last year which was well received by the critics but didn't really touch the charts. I find that to be a real shame. They are genuinely talented musicians who know how to craft beautiful songs, yet it seems they just missed the boat when it came to that corner of the market. I was lucky enough to meet them after the gig (and Chris Martin. He wouldn't let go of my hand when I shook his. Maybe he knew I'd filled my boots with the free lager and would be quite freaked out by it. He's married to Gwyneth Paltrow now, so I win), and they were very good company. They can do very good impressions of darts players AND they beat Reef at 5-a-side football. Amazing.
There must be so many bands out there who didn't quite get the break they deserved, and as a result have only been exposed to a relatively small, yet appreciative audience. So my advice is, if you haven't heard them before, get the album (Just Backward From Square its called). But please do me a favour. If you know of a band that are brilliant and are deserving of a listen then suggest them to me. I promise I'll find their music and give it a go.
If its very good I'll put it on the shiny new toy.
1 comment:
I love The Afghan Whigs. They too never had commercial success, but Black Love is without hype (or doubt) my favourite album ever. Although, I've always thought it isn't really very 'me' (lots of thinly veiled threats and references to dark sexual things, you know, "untie me now/I'm ready to get down/get down and move around", that kind of thing). Of course, maybe I've massively misjudged other people's impression of me. Actually, that line is from their follow up and final album. I haven't thought this through. Anyway, yes, "Black Love" is my recommendation to you. Try this for a taster:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lzaG-Pn9kPU
I assume you already know about Wesley Willis. If you don't, get him on there. It always cheers me up when one of his crops up on shuffle.
Post a Comment