There’s something endearing about the eccentric pop music that My Toys Like Me jam out. We first covered them here on The Recommender over two years ago (see that piece here), around the time of their debut album, Where We Are, but now they’re back with a new album.
Where they’ve been in recent months was a mystery to us until they explained how a few difficult hurdles had to be overcome to reach their sophomore work, including a burglary at their studio and their drummer moving to Canada. Considering the difficulties, the first impressions of the new album, Come On Sunshine, sees them return with confidence and a surprisingly positive outlook.
The new release is very welcomed on our pages, as we think they provide a gap between genres. They’ve kindly handed us an exclusive track, Matador, which will once again draw comparisons with early Tricky, particularly with his Martina Topley Bird collaborations, but My Toys Like Me fold a lot more saccharine coating and punchy hooks into the usually darker trip hop. One thing we love about them is their ability to produce music that’s as rounded as it is edgy.
Frances Noon’s vocals once again draw the focus, with her helium-fuelled vocals that remind us of the way Aluna George often lighten this style of grooved, shuffling electronica. The new work could carry them even further this time around, as it just feels like the world is more suited to their original, aggressive pop now. The new album is out on Dumb Angel on September 5th. Go. Buy. It. (MB)
If you correctly come to this blog for fresh new music, then you’re gonna love this post. Indeed it’s so good it may well be precisely why we evolved ears. Enjoy using them on our bahalf…
CRYSTAL FIGHTERS
Have we just heard the future coming? Blogs have gone all flushed and it’s time to take note. Drawing our breath off the trickle of musical bubbles as they float past us, this London 5-piece came by as a rapid blast of oxygen to the brain. That’s not to say you will fall in love immediately. They will split you like a tidal wave of Marmite. It took us a while, but we realise that our growing fondness has now turned into a full on love affair, like all good, lasting relationships do. It’s without doubt a tough pigeon hole, but perhaps they remind us of the time we first found Klaxons, with which Crystal Fighters share a mixed up blend of influences. Yes there’s a selection of Rave chords and punchy House rhythms, but you will also hear strange accented vocals and tribal sounds straight out of frontwoman Laure’s native Basque region. It’s fresh and different, but just as importantly it hooks you – like a giant fleet of Japanese whalers!!! You will find the below track picked up on the recent Kitsune Maison 7 compilation. As if that isn’t a stamp of cool enough, you can check them out below for yourselves. And breathe… (MB)
Consistent with Brooklyn’s tradition of pumping out bands, here’s another promising one for you. New Numbers are composed of members from 3 other bands joining together to make something altogether new. At least that’s their self-professed mantra. The result is some occasionally swirling, often straining guitars, catchy lyrics and a melodious rock organ that moans away in the background. Their songs are a touch psychedelic, with a healthy amount of tambourine and maraca shaking added in for good measure. Having listened to their original bands (Jealous Girlfriends, The Comas and Sam Champion), it’s pretty clear which bits and pieces have been lovingly dragged over to this new Indie-Rock concoction. Luckily it works! There are some real gems on their new self-released EP, Islands, which they’ve made available for free download on their website. Still unsigned, they’re due to head back into the studio to work on a full length album after completing their current North American tour. So, if you like what you hear, you’ll have to keep an eye out for more in the near future. (OG)
Here’s a band creating something that operates on a very different planet to the one your sitting on right now. In the race for originality, lots of bands provide fresh and creative directions all their own, but most end up churning out music that has you on the very next rocket back to planet Earth. We are pleased that isn’t the case here. This London 2-piece, which has evolved into a 4-piece more recently, whisk you away on a dreamscape of drifting melodies and delicate samples. Francis Noon sings over Lazlo’s elegant mixture of beats, breaks and Jazzed grooves, with a voice that sounds like it started out life as a small child, but has subsequently been tipped into a giant Japanese cute-machine and come out the other end covered in pink candy. We think we’ve spotted a mood on here that’s reminiscent of early Tricky, which is definitely no bad thing. They released their debut album, Where We Are back in May this year. You can catch them playing live if you’re off to Glastonbury Festival this summer. We couldn’t imagine a more perfectly playful surrounding in which to enjoy them. (MB)
Hope you’ve enjoyed the meandering ramble into this post. It seems that it’s indirectly themed all about new adventures and fresh invention and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer group of people in which to ramble with than our lovely Recommender readers.
