Pony will keep going through the summer, in the form of longer, monthly posts, rather like this one in fact. There seems to have been a splurge of incredible new music in the last 3 months or so, a lot of which has got the coverage it rightly deserves- just to make sure you don't miss out, here's an impeccable rundown of things that'll make you bite your bottom lip to stop it trembling..
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Flying Lotus - Los Angeles
Truly a modern masterpiece. His last release, 1983, set him apart from the glitch-mobbers, Dabrye and Prefuse by being simultaneously deeper, more melodic, simpler and intricate; ultimately, an extremely creative, exciting record. So what's new? Well, everything's the same, just better. Tighter beats, ingratiating basslines, melodies that leave nothing to the imagination.. it's truly cinematic, built more of atmospheres than beats. Prefuse came close- Detchibe is evocative, but still rather simple; Lotus has completely changed the way we can think about hiphop and beat culture, injecting the whole scene with an optimistic urgency after this finely wrought throwdown. If Burial was the soundtrack to your winter gatherings, this is truly the colour of your summer. Check the taster below, but get straight on the album here after.
MP3: Flying Lotus - Parisian Goldfish
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Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Already the toast of the leftie press and bloggers everywhere, Fleet Foxes should need to introduction. But if you've been living in a cave, take note, and if you didn't believe the hype, start believing. It's a bit of a grower, but nurture it and you'll never look back. There's a lot of moments where you think "hmm, that sounds exactly like this bit in this record, and the vocals are bit like this, and that guitar sort of sounds like..." but then you loved all those records, so stands to reason this one is, well, better, mathematically? True bearded delight from start to finish.
MP3: Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
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Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Heartcore
Another ridiculous recording. A Swedish duo signed to Leaf, they battered the emotions the first time I heard them, leaving me unable to form proper words and cooing gently like a climaxing pigeon. It's basically just percussion and vocals, but with vocals that happily join Kate Bush, Antony Hegarty and Bjork in the league-of-their-own, um, league [tautologies are entirely appropriate here], the lack of complication makes a lot of sense. It's pointless to try and pen them in with contemporaries- better to let them run free, frolicking in the sunset round some burning maypole atop a mountain. With a faun. Absolutely choice. Catch them live at the End of the Road festival if you get the chance.
MP3: Wildbirds and Peacedrums - I Can't Tell In His Eyes
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Deerhunter at the Barfly this Friday 20th
Feeling mesmerised and sublime, if a little confused? No? Well come along on Friday and top up your wonder-count. The earnest trippyness is the right side of drone irritation; really they're just a jangly indie band with extra fun fuzz, perfect for a summer's evening, especially when there's so few other gigs going on.
MP3: Deerhunter - Lake Somerset
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Mary Anne Hobbs - Evangeline
The first compilation put out by the husky-voiced Radio 1er brought a carefully chosen range of tracks together under the same umbrella, to devastating effect. JME's Pence rubbed shoulders with techno from Andy Stott, and worked well. Here, an almost identical formula has been applied- substitute Claro Intellecto for Andy Stott (on the same label aren't they? Not a hard decision then!) and Wiley for JME, and churn it out. Well, not quite. Throw in the Unitz record The Drop (exclusive, not available on vinyl), Ligma VIP, and a glut of other stand-alone brilliant tracks, and you have an album that simply can't be passed over. The Souljazz Box Of Dub comps always seem a bit barren, and contain tracks that've been around for ages; MAH has obviously flexed her not inconsiderable influence to get the freshest of produce, so don't miss out.
MP3: Unitz - The Drop *web exclusive* (96k version, buy the album for real quality)
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There's also the White Denim album, Dirty Projectors, Mae Shi, James Yuill new single, all that stuff we already told you about, remember? Coming soon though, Bestival best-of, to get us all in the mood, and Show Pony II- deadline 30th June, get your submissions in soooon.
