spinning on alex's stereo: august 08

It's been quite an interesting month around here of late - whether it's spinning on the turntable here in my bedroom, or blasting out through little Coldplay's car stereo, or even serenading me with sounds through my headphones on the train, I've been listening to all manner of new and old and exciting tunes. Yay! Here's five of my picks from the past month...

1. Primal Scream - Beautiful Future


Dreamboat Bobby Gillespie and co. are back, and it sounds like they've turned happy. Weird! Having barely listened to their last album Riot City Blues, I was hesitant to pick this up, but it's actually very very good. Opener 'Beautiful Future' is a chiming slice of pop which makes the band sound like they've never been militant at all, but that's all rectified with 'Can't Go Back'. Meanwhile, 'Zombie Man' completes the 2008 zombie family begun by the Magnetic Fields' 'Zombie Boy' earlier in the year, and the super charming vocals of ex-Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman make several appearances throughout the album. It's all pretty damn catchy, which I guess could be attributed to production by Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn and John fame, and it certainly makes amends for the last album's awful dirty rock blues. I just can't quite accept Bobby G can be quite this happy...and where's Kate Moss?

2. I Smiled Yesterday #4


Once again, our transcontinental friends from team ISY have compiled an amazing new mix of sixties soul, garage, discordant punk and noisy noisy pop to have you shakin' around like no other. In all honesty, these are the best mixes I've listened to in such a long time - it's opening doors to all these brilliant songs I never knew about and makes me want to find out more, which is what you want from a good mix, right? I looooooooove the Fire Engines song they've included on this one, and I can't get 'Low Grades and High Fever' out of my head. Totally addictive. (Download it here!)

3. My Teenage Stride - Ears Like Golden Bats


I've been listening to this album for quite a few months now, and it has really, really grown on me. Brooklyn's My Teenage Stride play the type of classic soaring pop - you know, 80s guitar line charmers, earnest vocals, songs that just build up and build up and build up until, in the last 60 seconds, the dancefloor's crowded and everyone's found a new favourite band. Really, really good. I'm going to hunt down more of their songs - in particular, new EP Lesser Demons, because if all their songs are as amazing as 'To Live and Die in the Airport Lounge', there shouldn't ever be a reason not to smile.

4. Comet Gain - Casino Classics


It's taken a long time to truly understand why everyone loves Comet Gain to bits. I like them, sure, but I don't think I am quite at the stage where I want to go around telling everyone to listen to them. I was like this with The Jesus and Mary Chain about three years ago, but then the 50c piece dropped and they came crashing down on me like $50 notes of noise and love. Casino Classics might just be the Comet Gain album to do this for me, with its combination of noisy boy songs and cute girly songs. It's lyrics like "you've got those French film eyes" that kill me, they really do. I could spend hours with this album, I think, if I had all those hours to spare.

5. Stereo Total - Do The Bambi


Berlin duo Stereo Total played in Brisbane on Friday night, and oh boy, you want fun? Watch and dance and sing along to Stereo Total. Playing everything from garage rock tracks through to German house and glossy electro pop, they were incredibly, incredibly fun. While I've listened a bit to their latest album Paris Berlin, it's Do The Bambi that wins me over. I was slightly disappointed they didn't play my favourite track, 'I Am Naked', but they did include a few other tracks from this, their 2004 release. Momus loves them, I love them, and so will you!