On our stereo: Mon 17/08/09

From now on we’re now listing these on Twitter, as it takes about a fifth of the time to do (or we will be until we run out of time to do that too).  Sorry for any inconvenience.

Fact of the day:
It takes approximately five times less time to update what we’re listening to on Twitter than it does here.  So we’re doing it there instead, until we realise we don’t have any time left to do that either.  Apologies for any disruption.

(Okay, this is a bit of a cop-out on the fact of the day front, but we really are very, very busy.  More arbitrary educational tidbits will inevitably follow.)

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On our stereo: Thu 13/08/09

Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (Warner Brothers)
Late ’70s indie pop

Zeep – People & Things (Crammed Discs)
Almost folkish pop

Guy Clark – Somedays The Song Writes You (Dualtone)
Skilful guitar playing in this slightly moody Americana record

Grandaddy – Sumday (V2)
Lo-fi indie alt-rock

Tommy Castro – Hard Believer (Alligator)
Deep, upbeat blues

Tumbélé! – Various Artists (Soundway)
Biguine, afro & latin sounds from the French Caribbean, 1963-74

Echaskech – Shatterproof (Just Music)
Squelchy, spacey electro with a robot singer

Conquer The World – Various Artists (Philadelphia International)
Compilation of awesome ’70s soul

Fact of the Day:
ZEEP also stands for Zero Emission Energy Plants, a system that proclaims to use traditional fossil fuels in a way which reduces the CO₂ output by a process called gasification.  (I have no reference for the scientific accuracy of these claims but hit the link above to take a look at their website if you’re interested.)

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On our stereo: Wed 12/08/09

Chris Garneau – Music For Tourists (Fargo)
Laid-back but somehow bouncy ambient alt-pop

Nightmares On Wax – Car Boot Soul (Warp)
Chilled out electro hip-hop jazz

Caribou – The Milk Of Human Kindness (The Leaf Label)
Psychedelic rock/hip-hop

Halou – Wiser (Nettwerk)
Experimental ambience with occasional hip-hop beats

Megafaun – Gather, Form & Fly (Crammed Discs)
Beautiful down-beat indie alt-synth-bluegrass

Portico Quartet – Isla (Real World)
More from the hang-playing jazz band.  This one sounds a bit more ambient than the last one, and a bit darker

We Fell To Earth – We Fell To Earth (In Stereo)
Lo-fi other-worldly electronica

Benjamin Biolay – La Superbe (Naïve)
Upbeat francopop with smoky, husky vocals

Fact of the Day:
If you were to fall to earth from 1km or higher (assuming you are a skydiver in a free-fall position) you will reach terminal velocity, where the drag caused by air resistance will be equal to the gravitational force on your body, meaning your acceleration will be reduced to zero.  You will accelerate up to 120mph, or 55m/s.

V_t = terminal velocity
m = mass
g = acceleration due to gravity (approx 9.8 on most places on Earth)
C_d = drag co-efficient
ρ = density of the fluid the object is falling through
A = projected area of the object

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On our stereo: Tue 11/08/09

Justin Rutledge – The Devil On A Bench In Stanley Park (Six Shooter)
Broad ranging cinematic country

Buck 65 – Secret House Against The World (V2)
Fusion of Americana with hip-hop and dance stylings

RinneRadio – Pole Stars (Rockadillo)
Ambient percussive bizarretronica with choppy vocal samples

Pedro The Lion – Achilles Heel (Jade Tree)
Bouncy but lazy indie post-rock

Baddies – Do The Job (Medical)
Palatable, slightly punky spiky indie

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe – My Brother’s Keeper (Shanachie)
Smooth soul/R’n'B/hip-hop from Lenny Kravitz session saxophonist/flautist/vocalist

Ohio Players – Skin Tight / Fire (BGO)
Amalgamation of the ‘74 and ‘75 albums, from the days when funk bands were awesome

Megafaun – Gather, Form & Fly (Crammed Discs)
Beautiful down-beat indie alt-bluegrass

Slint – Spiderland (Touch and Go)
Moody and beautiful album from the fathers of post-rock

Fact of the Day:
The V2 (Vergeltungswaffe-2), was the world’s first  ballistic missile and the first human artefact to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight, paving the way for future spaceflight.  However, an estimated 20,000 inmates died in the process of constructing them at the labour camp Mittelbau-Dora – according to v2rocket.com, more people died as a result of their production than their deployment.

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On our stereo: Mon 10/08/09

Megafaun – Gather, Form & Fly (Crammed Discs)
Downbeat fusion of bluegrass, psychedelia and stoner-rock

Twilight Singers – She Loves You (One Little Indian)
Covers album in the style of lo-fi experimental rock-pop

Pearl Jam – Ten (Epic)
Classic early ’90s grunge

Wintersleep – Untitled (Labwork Music)
Downbeat, twisty but unalarming rock guitar riffage

Extradition Order – Since The Bomb Dropped (I Blame The Parents)
Experimental no-fi indie-rock.  Due out September

Pedro The Lion – Whole EP (Tooth & Nail)
Epic early post rock with some sweet melodies

Western Star Rockabillies Vol. 2 – Various Artists (Western Star)
Upbeat country/rockabilly compilation from the UK label

Fact of the Day:
I forgot to write a fact of the day last Friday. Sorry.

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On our stereo: Thu 06/08/09

Dub Colossus – Return To Addis (Real World)
Remix EP of the Ethiopian/English dub collective

Joyce & Tutty Moreno – Samba Jazz & Outras Bossas (Far Out)
Stylistically speaking, as per the title.  Although they neglected to include “Awesome,” which it is

Candi Staton – His Hands (Honest Jons)
A powerful soul singer whose career recently reached a peak when she played Croydon Festival (this reviewer is from Croydon)

Bob Holroyd – re : cycled | re : visited | re : mastered (Long Tale)
Diverse album featuring gamelan, flamenco, classical and techno styles

RinneRadio – Pole Stars (Rockadillo)
Ambient percussive bizarretronica with choppy vocal samples

Esbjörn Svensson Trio – Good Morning Susie Sohø (Superstudio)
Jazz from the school of ‘what the hell are they doing to that instrument?’

We Fell To Earth – We Fell To Earth (In Stereo)
Lo-fi other-worldly electronica

Cinematic Orchestra – Everyday (Ninja Tune)
Cinematic (as the name would suggest) epic hip-hop/funk/jazz

Hope Sandoval – Through The Devil Softly (Nettwerk)
Ethereal, downbeat acoustic guitaring and singing.  Available late September (when i really should be back at school)

Fact of the Day:
Luminiferous aether (or ether) was once believed to be a medium or substance that light travels through. Then quantum physics got involved and things got a lot more complicated.

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On our stereo: Wed 22/07/09

Apologies for the complete lack of any news for the last couple of days, we’ve been very busy.  But normal service will resume soon…

Dianogah – Battle Champions (Southern)
Particularly beautiful post-rock

The Echo Hunters – Cabin Fever (Famgroup)
Acoustic themed melodic indie country-pop

Pugwash – Giddy (Ape House)
Retro almost-psychedelic pop

Ben Folds – Fear Of Pop Vol. 1 (550 Music)
An album of instrumental semi-synth pop-rock and spoken word, featuring William Shatner

The Velvet Hearts – Into The World (Aspect Records)
Middle-of-the-road laid-back pop-rock

Paul Burch – Still Your Man (Ramseur Records)
Laid-back, smooth rockabilly

Nine Below Zero – It’s Never Too Late (Zed Records)
Feel-good pop-rock with a smattering of bluegrass

Bo Minx – Neo Noir (Central Control)
Fairly nasty, floaty techno

Our Lady Peace – Burn Burn (Coalition Entertainment)
Epic indie pop-rock

Berkeley – In Moments (Supremo)
Shouty rocky power-pop

Fact of the Day:
Courtesy of Wikipedia, i have learned that on this day in 1933 Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world travelling 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 hours and 45 minutes.

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On our stereo: Mon 20/07/09

The Vapors – Turning Japanese: The Best Of (EMI)
Compilation from the early ’80s pop-punk band

Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba – I Speak Fula (Out|Here Records)
More ngoni mastery; a preview of the upcoming album due out September.

Chris Garneau – El Radio (Fargo)
Laid-back but somehow bouncy ambient alt-pop

Sam Baker – Cotton (Music Road Records)
Relaxing, delicious Americana

The Engine Room – Various Artists (Proper Records)
“A History Of Jazz Drumming From Storyville To 52nd Street,” a glorious 4CD Properbox

Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara – Tell No Lies (Real World Records)
A fusion of traditional West African roots and American blues

Clues - Clues (Constellation)
Trance-inducing other-worldly pop-rock

Speed Caravan – Kalashnik Love (Real World Records)
Balkan dance-rock fusion

Fact of the day:
The world record for most Ferrero Rochers eaten in one minute is 7, set by Jim Lyngvild in Copenhagen, Denmark on 10th October 2008.

What’s this got to do with anything, i hear you ask.  I was actually looking for the world land speed record for a caravan (Speed Caravan, see?) but i couldn’t find it.

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On our stereo: Fri 17/07/09

Prince – Lovesexy (Paisley Park)
One of the diminutive soul/R ‘n’ B master’s good albums

Tumbélé! – Various Artists (Soundway)
The subtitle is “Biguine, afro & latin sounds from the French Caribbean, 1963-73″.  It sounds great!  Due out 5th October, at time of press.

The Gutter Twins – Saturnalia (Sub-Pop)
Throaty vocals & persistent themes of sin and redemption, damnation and salvation

Sonic Youth – The Eternal (Matador)
Surprisingly chilled-out effort from a band who once released an album that was described by the NME as like, “a swarm of bees trying to connect to the internet inside a washing machine”

Smashing Pumpkins – Thirty Three (Virgin)
The single version of one of the chilled-out songs off their seminal Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness album, featuring B, C, D, E and F sides.

Secret Chiefs 3 – Xafan: Book Of Angels Volume 9 (Web Of Mimicry)
Erratic and unpredictable Middle-Eastern folk/electronic versions of John Zorn’s Masada

The Damnwells – One Last Century (Poor Man)
Sincere melodic rock-powerpop

Kate Rogers Band – Beauregard (Kate Rogers)
Slightly odd pop with moments of folkiness and interesting production

Sound Of The World Presents – Otro Mundo (WCJ)
Excellent compilation by Charlie Gillett – 34 artists from 34 countries

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On our stereo: Thu 16/07/09

Inneke23 & The Lipstick Painters – Charcoal (CoraZong)
Rolling country-infused rock from Belgium

Kate Rogers Band – Beauregard (Kate Rogers)
Slightly odd pop with moments of folkiness and interesting production

Netsayi – Monkey’s Wedding (World Connection)
Diverse multi-cultural influences on the musical backdrop accompany the versatile singer

Bonobo - Animal Magic (Ninja Tune)
Ambient instrumental hip-hop

Radiohead - Airbag/How Am I Driving? (Capitol)
Alternative indie-rock, from before they went totally wacko

Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels (Nettwerk)
Wistful, melodic, acoustic album that makes you feel like a small person in a big universe

Echaskech – Shatterproof (Just Music)
Squelchy, spacey electro with a robot singer

Curtis Mayfield – Super Fly (Snapper)
A re-issue of the classic soul soundtrack with a couple of bonus tracks and radio spots.  More about the film here

Fact Of The Day:
Here at Proper Distribution we take our distribution seriously.  We are in the CD business of course and we wouldn’t be anywhere without our customers (the record shops) but, courtesy of Radiohead’s website, i found this disturbing report on the newspaper and magazine distribution industry, which could have serious effects on small newsagents.

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