“And all of my dreams are only dreams
And all of my schemes are only schemes
And if this is my punishment
Then I want my crime to fit”

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. I don’t like the Fakery, the band better known to the world as The Bravery.  You want contrived? Check? You want boring? Check? You want lacking in ideas and a band bereft of any inclination towards anything resembling a tune. You’ve got the Bravery. Here’s their new single called Slow Poison. Enjoy it now because I’m sure you’ll forget about it by this coming Tuesday, the first of December when the record Stir The Blood is released.

Before I get the hate comments, let me simply state that I thought the self-titled debut record was decent enough with songs like Unconditional & An Honest Mistake. The problem for me was simply that a) the record did not meet the hype which was really not their fault, to be fair. b) much like the The Fillers’ Hot Mess aka The Killers’ Hot Fuss, the record was extremely top heavy and by the second half, you knew what you were getting, weren’t floored by what you heard before and found yourself filing the record away in your cabinet.  That’s not what I want from the music I listen to. I want something vital. I want something to fall in love with the process of discovering music all over again. Never mind the fact that if you listen closely, the chorus closely resembles that of Bombers Bay by Echo & The Bunnymen, it only adds to the Bravery’s list of crimes against humanity. It all adds up to why The Fakery simply don’t do it for me and there you have it.

The Bravery on MySpace
The Bravery on Facebook
The Bravery on Twitter

“Slow Poison” by The Bravery, taken from the forthcoming Island/Def Jam release, “Stir The Blood”

After long last, it is official. There is a new record from the trip-hop giants known as Massive Attack. Ladies and gents, welcome to Heligoland! Not too long ago, I waxed poetic about the first single from the record called Splitting The Atom. It caused quite a stir throughout the blogosphere as one would expect when talking about such an influential act such as the Attack. It’s awesome to finally have something to look forward to in the new year. The record is out in the UK 8 February and hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for news on the US release. It’s about time…

The tracklisting shall be as follows…

Pray For Rain
Babel
Splitting The Atom
Girl I Love You
Psyche
Flat Of The Blade
Paradise Circus
Rush Minute
Saturday Come Slow
Atlas Air

“This time we will end it
This life ain’t got no future, girl
Don’t say it’s not my business
It’s tragic you don’t feel my pity
Just think of all the others
What they think they feel they say
But the letters are not golden
Till they write them on your tombstone, girl”

It isn’t often when you come across a piece of music so cold and so relentlessly haunting that you simply must take your temperature afterwards to make sure you haven’t lost a couple of degrees. Coming across Germany’s Konstantin Gropper who performs under the moniker Get Well Soon, it was quite a revelation to see that dark chamber pop music isn’t dead. Gropper’s new record entitled Vexations is due out in January but methinks I won’t be able to wait that long to get my grubby paws on this record based solely on the beauty of the first single featured here entitled If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting.

I hesitate to use the words goth or gothic to describe the song or the artist simply because of how cliche and boring the genre is but there are definite overtones here right down to the accordion, the minor chords and of course, Gropper’s stentorian baritone vocals. It really is a beautiful track. Granted the song lyrically talks of rationalising suicide from a man to his girl, it is still a very pretty arrangement and still a quite brilliant pop moment in my humble opinion.

If you’re like me and not afraid to delve into the darker shade of pop music, definitely give Get Well Soon. They should find a bigger audience with the new record and it would be well deserved! It’s out 25 January via City Slang.

Get Well Soon on MySpace

“If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting” by Get Well Soon, taken from the forthcoming City Slang release, “Vexations”

“I’m coming round and now my vision is so clear
If I could change my state of mind then I would disappear
The love I get from you is something I can’t chance
And I could let you slip away without a second glance“

Oh hai, Calvin! You’re back! Third time’s the charm, eh? Your new record Ready For The Weekend has been playing at Chez Billy for quite a spell now and I must commend you on this most solid choice of a third single. Continuing in the arena electro you’ve been on, Flashback does not deviate from that path one iota. One part kitchen-sink drama and two parts non-stop fist-pumping action and all fire. It’s hard to say which track is my personal favourite from the record but it’s safe to say that so far you’re coming up aces in what songs are being tapped for mass consumption and I do believe the masses are consuming! By the way, I better see some free tix coming my way when you come back to New York. These glowing words of praise don’t come cheap, ya know?

Your pal, Billy!

Calvin Harris on MySpace
Calvin Harris on Facebook
Calvin Harris on Twitter

“Flashback” by Calvin Harris, taken from the Ultra release, “Ready For The Weekend”

Always nice to hear some new tunes from a band with a very bright future ahead of them. You may remember I first mentioned the delectable British electro-pop band Heads We Dance back in May and took quite a liking to their bouncy poptastic sound. The band is now back with what they surely hope will be a smash hit in the UK and beyond. This one is called Take My Picture. Take a little bit of dueling male/female vocals a la Don’t You Want Me?, add a foot-stomping chorus and you’ve got a song worthy of being called a single. I’m personally rooting for these guys to get their name out there and it goes without saying that you should do the same. The single is out 14 December via Gash Digital. Need I say more?

Heads We Dance on MySpace
Heads We Dance on Facebook
Heads We Dance on Twitter

“Take My Picture”, taken from the forthcoming Gash Digital release, “Take My Picture/After Dark”

I’ve recently made a revelation.

Most, if not all, of the music I’ve been covering in this here blog has been focused primarily on artists and bands who call New York or England their home. Naturally there have been some rare exceptions along the way but for the most part I’ve been kind of predictable. Allow me the opportunity to make a slight deviation from my tried and true formula. I’d like to present a pretty spiffy indie rock band that’s been making some waves for the past year but is about ready to drop their eponymous debut that will be sure to rattle the senses soon enough. The best part? They’re not from New York and they’re not from London or Manchester either!

Nope. The Soft Pack come to us from the sunny and very friendly confines of San Diego, California. When this band first started out, they were known as the Muslims. Personally I thought the Muslims was a great name and rather ballsy given the current climate we find ourselves in. Unfortunately since we tend to share our planet and on a more micro level, a music scene with bumbling and stumbling idiots, the Muslims thought it better to change their name. Luckily for us, the name change was not followed by a change in sound. This quartet brings their tightly wound and rapid fire assault on the nerves in the form of The Soft Pack, the self-titled debut via Kemado Records on 2 February.

If you’ve happened to catch these guys in concert in the last couple of years sharing the stage with the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Phoenix, White Lies and Friendly Fires, you know that the songs are brief in length but simply blistering and full of panic. Just the way we like it. The lead-off single taken from the record entitled Answer To Yourself should serve as a more than acceptable introduction to the band for those previously unaware. Very accessible. Very poppy and oh so hummable. Is 2010 the year of the Pack? I dare say we are about to find out…

The Soft Pack on MySpace
The Soft Pack on Facebook
The Soft Pack on Twitter

“Answer To Yourself” by The Soft Pack, taken from the forthcoming Kemado release, “The Soft Pack”

“Late at night, I’ll run through the streets and empty corridors.
I’ll find my counterpoint, inside a red room locked behind a door. Behind a door”

I mean, really. It simply is not fair. There must be more musical talent in Manchester, England than the whole US eastern seaboard. You know the names that have come out of that town from the past and the present so I won’t waste your time here. This post’s aim is to add another name to the Mancunian legend. Today I bring you Delphic! A talented quartet whose sound aims to bring back the point in trance music by bringing it back to basics. To be more specific, theirs is a sound that simply reduce the trance form down to its most basic element: a song. They take it from there with that mindset and create something very pure and very enticing to the listener.

This is quite evident here in the song featured here which is their debut single entited Counterpoint. It’s a song Paul Van Dyk could have written if he focused more on songwriting instead of his grandiose epic journeys. It really is a beautiful song to say the least. The production is right on. The arpeggios. The pristine drums… I could go on but you simply have to listen for yourself!

The band’s debut record Acolyte is due to hit stores in January via Polydor. It’s a safe bet this will be a early highlight of the year in music 2010.

Delphic on Facebook
Delphic on MySpace
Delphic on Twitter

“Counterpoint (Live in Amsterdam 19.02.2009) by Delphic. Original version featured on forthcoming Polydor release, “Acolyte”

La Roux. Ben and Elly. Winter 2010. Tour.

Need I say more?

Sure to cap off what has been one of the best years in their storied history, the Pet Shop Boys are set to release a Christmas EP simply titled….Christmas. It’s due to be released on 14 December in the UK with no US date at the moment and includes five tracks. One of these tracks definitely should be interesting to fans who hadn’t had a chance to see the Boys perform it during the Pandemonium tour…

It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas (this one’s been around since 1997 but it’s been re-recorded for this EP)

My Girl (Madness cover)

All Over The World (new version)

*Viva La Vida/Domino Dancing (The former is the highlight here. A studio version of the Coldplay smash and produced by Stuart Price)

My Girl (Our House Mix)

Needless to say, this is a must buy.

Yes friends. The time is nearly upon us. 2009 definitely came and went pretty qucikly, wouldn’t you say? It began with such promise and I dare say to this point, it really has been the best year for music that I can remember in quite a while. That said, it’s about the time when all of us music geeks start looking over our I-Tunes libraries and cd collections and pick out the records that made our hair stand on end over the past year. I’ve got a few records that immediately come to mind and I’m sure those of you who have paid attention have a pretty good idea as to which ones those are.

I plan on doing a best of list very soon but I’m also interested in hearing from all of you, my dear friends. Let’s make things interesting, shall we? I’m interested in doing a readers’ best of. Go ahead and send me your top 20 records of the year between now and December 1st. I will tally up the submissions and post the final poll when I post mine. Do it up and it should be lots of fun.

A word to the wise. Any votes for Lady Gaga will immediately be disallowed as will the rest of your submission. There has to be some quality control here.