St. Etienne

And now for something different...

I am a big fan of St. Etienne. Besides writing catchy tunes and having a brilliantly lovely front woman, they seem to be so very well read. I find that less and less these days, so it's particularly fascinating when smart folks do different things. It seems that they have partnered with film director Paul Kelly (they have worked with him a bit in the past) on some short films about London's disappearing cafes. Each is short, somber, poignant, and a bit sad. My fave is #3, but that's because I love greasers. I give these short films a 9.5.

I am not sure what they are for or where they can be seen, but lucky for you they are on Youtube. Please to enjoy.

Top 10 for 2007

Every year I am asked by someone to make my top 10 list, so I planned ahead and already have it ready to go. Please to enjoy:

Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
Lily Allen- Alright Still
LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver
Klaxons- Myths of the Future
The Rapture- Pieces of People We Love
The Long Blondes- Someone To Drive You Home
The Cooper Temple Clause- Make This Your Own
Two Lone Swordsmen- Wrong Meeting II
New Young Pony Club- Fantastic Playroom
Aesop Rock- None Shall Pass

One that almost made it in but is too new to me is Burial's Untrue. More on that one in my next post...

Two Lone Swordsmen

So there's this English guy named Andrew Weatherall. If you know who he is, the you probably know that I worship him. If you don't know who he is, you probably know some of his work. He's had a hand in some of the greatest records of the last 20 years and is still influencing bands like Primal Scream to this day. I won't go into his past much here, you can read about him in the above links. For now let's focus on Two Lone Swordsmen.

The great thing about 2LS (and Weatherall) is that they never put out the same record. The sonic textures may have some similarities, but the songs are from a brand new point of view and even musical background. 2LS's last record (From The Double Gone Chapel) was a punk-funk, sexy electro record with industrial leanings (I give FTDGC a 9). This time out the electro is there, and Wrong Meeting 2 is definitely danceable, but this time out, the angle is much more rock and roll, if not rockabilly. In fact, if you were to meld all of the last 3-4 Primal Scream records together into one, you'd get something very close to this. It's industrial, it's dance, it's rockabilly sneer and it's funky. There are plenty of atmospheric tracks and less grinding rock in the mix as well, with 2LS not forgetting their dub past, but it's still perfectly cohesive. And it's a solid 9 in my book.

Below is my fave track on Wrong Meeting 2. I think's it's obvious why, with lyrics like this: "The angel on the left said beware of her advances, but the demon on the right seen the way that she dances."

Two Lone Swordsmen- No Girl In My Plan


PS Extra super scene points if you can tell me where they got that cover image. More proof of how much Weaherall rules.