Day 5 - 1man goes all tribal

Basement Jaxx - Remedy
Great, more dance music. Here we go. Whats this?! A guitar? Yes, it was too good to last. It doesn't take long to descend into plinky plonky (as a friend of mine put it recently regarding Aphex Twin) electronic gibberish. I suppose if you like your dance music a little more interesting than just "boom boom boom" then its okay, but its not my cup of battery acid. You all should know by now that rock and metal is my thing, where the music is often repetitive in the form of a riff, but where I can listen to that sort of stuff, this kind of music with repetitive dance beats and people going "oh yeah!" every four seconds is just grating on the ears, and once again its "YOU" not "U" ! Sheesh!
Standout Tracks: Jump 'n' Shout (vaguely amusing), Red Alert (although only because its familiar)





Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People say I am, That's what I'm not
Given all the hype that surround this band, this is one I was looking forward to, and its not disappointing! Plenty of cool guitar work to enjoy, and every track so far is just bursting with energy and northern cheekiness. The songs are very well crafted indeed, the arrangements are done well enough to keep you interesting until the end of the song, despite the simplicity of the music. There is nothing complicated here, just straightforward, energetic, guitar pop. Finding it hard to pick out standout tracks though, as I must admit I've rather liked them all so far ("Dance Floor" gets in there as I liked it before I heard this record). Reminds me a lot of the music my roommate at University used to listen to, that I hated at the time, but have mellowed to since - that sort of guitar based indie pop stuff. All in all, an excellent album, and probably one of my favourites so far.
Standout Tracks: I bet you look good on the dance floor, Perhaps Vampires is a bit Strong, From the Ritz to the Rubble





Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako
So ... world music I suppose this is. Its quite interesting, lots of things going on percussion wise which results in a foot-tappingly pleasant rhythm. Its all in French, so I hope I am not missing something deep and meaningful in the lyrics. Some super guitar playing too, which as a guitarist I am obviously enjoying (solo in Coulibaly for example). In fact there is some great guitar playing throughout this album, which gives it a good contemporary feel. And you know, the fact that it is all in French is actually just adding to the music - it's like African dance music with some jazz and folk guitar thrown in, plus a couple of pretty much reggae tracks.. Not bad.
Standout Tracks: Coulibaly, La Realite, La Fete Au Village, Politic Amagni






I rather enjoyed two out of three albums today (well actually it was yesterday but with one thing and another, and pesky work getting in the way, I only got around to posting it today before embarking on a new musical meander). The Amadou and Mariam stuff was really good to listen too - tinged with African beats, but with loads of great quality guitar playing throughout. I think the fact it was in French actually added to the enjoyment for some odd reason. Arctic Monkeys were a bit of a revelation for me; I had only ever heard one or two of their tunes before (and the one that the Sugababes ruined), but the whole album I thought was stellar from start to finish. Bright, interesting, cheeky, down to earth guitar fun for the whole family (except the kids!)

And as for Basement Jaxx ... well yeah. File under the b1n along with Aphex Twin.