Right, let's try out some reblogging and then crowbar in the rest of this post.

hoowww-dooo-weeee-juummpp-tthhhiiisss-hiiighhh by kisskitty:

HOOWWW DOOO WEEEE JUUMMPP TTHHHIIISSS HIIIGHHH!?!

cannot get enough of this band right now.

“this future fell out of the school doors right on the heels of the last one / repeating formulas into the same stretch of patterns / are we that eager to become the past? / earning money that isn’t real and inhaling air we can’t breath!”

How Do We Jump This High? Randomly found from KissKitty. I like these, reminds me of stuff I used to listen to at school when we'd lend each other tapes (tapes!). If I had the time and enthusiasm I might also check out everything on this blog: Brand New Beatniks. By the way, KissKitty picked out the best track as well.

And I'll take this chance to go through some other "new" stuff I'm listening to. New as in "new to me" as I recognise that I'm old hat now as far as being down with the kids goes.

  1. Ladyhawke - Bought this because it was 3 quid on Amazon MP3. And I liked the Paris is Burning song. This is one of the few albums where I like all of the tracks. The Wombats also managed this. I can't think of anything else recently. But, normally you hear a good single, check out the album and the rest is a disappointment - a benefit of Spotify, etc, but still annoying all the same.
  2. Dananananaykroyd - like Los Campesinos!, listening to the Huw Stephen's Introducing podcast pays off every so often. Dananananaykroyd remind me of early Idlewild stuff. Black Wax is a fab song. So is Infinity Milk. But unfortunately not every other track is in the same class. Also, it seems I have to be 15 to like them.
  3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Zero was near the top of Annie Mac's list for awhile, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I heard it. It's grown on me a bit since though. Heads Will Roll though is proper good. Best on the album, easily. The rest of the album hasn't grasped me yet. Skeletons is particularly bizarre with some Irish Jig weirdness going on in it. And the rest just passes by and you kind of forget you are listening to it. It's not bad. You just don't notice it. Until a few minutes after it's finished and you realise the background noise has cleared. Shame.

So, yeah, being officially old, it's difficult to find the time to check out new music. I'm no John Peel; often it is far easier to just listen to old stuff you know you like. But I try and make a bit of an effort and listen to the Introducing podcast and Annie Mac's Mini Mix. I used to listen to the Homegrown one, but gave up after over a year of no hip-hop, just weird garage/grime(?!) stuff.

In days gone by I used to listen to the radio or rely on friends to find new music. Now that's been replaced by last.fm and spotify, which are great in that it is easy to check out new bands, but I still think I preferred the days when I could (afford) to go to record shops and just buy random CDs and swap them with friends - and I think that's because you'd made an bit of an investment in that band, etc then. So you are going to listen to the whole CD/tape. And also perhaps because there's a bit of positive peer pressure to make an effort to check something different out; sometimes things take a few listens.