Demob Happy

FIRST PUBLISHED AT THE LINE OF BEST FIT French windows 4/10 In 1994 a law was introduced in France by then culture minister Jacques Toubon protecting the French language. One of the outcomes of this globalisation-resisting move was that two out of five songs on French radio must be sung in la langue maternelle . [...]

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This month I’ve been beguiled by the latest side project by sometime DJ and Kings of Convenience member Erlend Oye. The Whitest Boy Alive hints at Oye’s interest in the hypnotic rhythmic concerns of house music but features the same Simon & Garfunkle-esque vocal style of KoC. Angular – but certainly not abrasive – guitars, [...]

Whitest Boy Alive - Burning [ 3:11 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Yeasayer - Many Waves [ 4:07 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Octopus Project - Bees Bein Strugglin [ 3:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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’4AM At Toumani’s’ 8/10 Damon Albarn’s Mali Music project is an overlooked album of beautiful mood and texture that barely belongs to the hideous ‘category’ of world music. This is very much a subjectivised, western account of African moods and musicianship, taken largely from muddled field recordings and mixed down in London. Mostly the range [...]

Spoons - Mali Music [ 5:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Float away… 8/10 ’20 Ways to Float Through Walls’ may sound like a cryptic title but it’s a fairly literal description of the boundary-hopping eclecticism featured on this fine compilation by the Crammed label. I am by no means an afficianado of ‘World’ music and rarely buy music that might fall into that category. I [...]

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