UK Singles Top 40 - Midweek w/e 11.07.09

UK Top 40 w/e 11.07.09 - Spotify Playlist

1 (1) Cascada - Evacuate the Dancefloor (UMTV)
2 (3) la Roux - Bullet Proof (Polydor)
3 (2) Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror (Epic)
4 (4) David Guetta Feat. Kelly Rowland - When love takes over (Virgin)
5 (5) Lady GaGa - Paparazzi (Interscope)
6 (N) Chipmunk feat. Emeli Sande - Diamond Rings (Jive)
7 (6) Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow (Interscope)
8 (7) Agnes - Release Me (3 Beat)
9 (8) Keri Hilson Feat Kanye West & Ne-Yo - Know You Down (Interscope)
10 (39) Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling (interscope) n/a on Spotify
11 (20) Jordin Sparks - Battlefield (Jive)
12 (N) Arctic Monkeys - Crying Lightning (Domino) n/a on Spotify
13 (11) The Veronicas - Untouched (Sire)
14 (28) Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (calle Ocho) (Virgin) n/a on Spotify
15 (9) Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Mercury)
16 (14) Dizzee Rascal Feat Armand Van Helden - Bonkers (Dirtee Stank)
17 (16) La Roux - In For The Kill (Kitsune)
18 (17) Daniel Merriweather - Red (J)
19 (13) Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal (Epic)
20 (10) Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Epic)
21 (18) Florence & The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Island)
22 (32) Michael Jackson - The don't care about us (Epic)
23 (15) Jamie T - Sticks n Stones (Virgin)
24 (12) Michael Jackson - Thriller (Epic)
25 (21) Freemasons Feat Sophie Ellis Bextor - Heartbreak (Make me a dancer) (Loaded)
26 (27) Pussycat Dolls - Hush Hush (Interscope)
27 (25) Michael Jackson - Black or White (Epic)
28 (26) Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana (Epic)
29 (31) Lady GaGa - Poker Face (Interscope)
30 (24) Kasabian - Fire (Columbia)
31 (19) Michael Jackson - Beat It (Epic)
32 (29) Linkin Park - New Divide (Warner Brothers)
33 (23) Soulja Boy Feat. Sammie - Kiss Me Thru The Phone (Interscope)
34 (22) The Saturdays - Work (Polydor)
35 (30) Tinchy Stryder Feat N-Dubz - Number 1 (4th & Broadway)
36 (37) Take That - Said It All (Polydor)
37 (35) Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone (Epic)
38 (33) Michael Jackson - Earth Song (Epic)
39 (N) VV Brown - Shark In The Water (Island)
40 (N) The Jackson 5 - Who's Lovin You (Motown)

Animal Kingdom

When I first got in contact with Animal Kingdom, it was by having their single in my hands.
I didn't like the grey-ness of the cover much, so I discarded it without paying much attention as just-another-job.
I also paid so little attention to them, that I might have called them "Animal Collective" a couple of times, that was how much I really didn't care. Yeah fine... the intro of "Tin Man" was catchy enough to grab my attention when it was on the radio, but other than that, I was blind. Big mistake.

Than thankfully something happened.
As full albums play every day repeatedly in the office, a week or so ago I stumble into this mellow piano-xilophone melody loop, which sounded just like the next best thing compared to Sigur Ros or For a Minor Reflection. Bingo, here was another album worth listening!
Yeah well... when it will be released for listening, cause that was the moment all my carelessness fell. The moment I discovered that what was playing was a song called Chalk Stars, which is nothing but the closing track of the forthcoming debut album by Animal Kingdom.

So, who's behind the Animal Kingdom logo? It's four Londoner lads (Richard Sauberlich, Hamish Crombie, Wayne Yardley and Geoff Lea), still young enough to clearly enjoy and be grateful for the fact their job is playing their music. I was reading through their quotes and I love how it really transpires from every word, the fact that they still cannot believe it and that they are so unbelievably happy and so they give so much. It's so refreshing to see this kind of human enthusiasm, that is set to be eventually hidden by the mystique aura all musicians have to have in order be sold also as an emotion to the public.

Richard is gifted with a voice that makes him the Neil Tennant of our generation, although the style of Animal Kingdom goes nowhere near that direction. They're definitely the most melodic and pleasant to the ears an edgy-indie band, as they're supposed to be, can get.

I bothered my colleagues enough to catch them live twice, and the funny thing is, both times they were the tiniest youngest supporters, yet both times, both friends I took with me, got mesmerized as I did.
Tin Man sounds nice but it definitely does not say enough about this band. If you have patience and give them the benefit of the doubt till September, when supposedly the album will be out, you'll see I'm right. They have so much more potential to unveil and develop. I just hope and pray it will actually be rightfully developed.

Animal Kingdom are actually so good I am not sure I want to endorse them, I wish I could keep them my secret to play only for me.

UK Album Releases - 6 July 2009

Amadou & Mariam - Magic Couple: Best Of 1997-2002
The Benny Andersson Band – Story Of A Heart
Bjork – Voltaic (2xCD/2xDVD)
Bombay Bicycle Club – I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose
Bowerbirds - Upper Air
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Running For The Drum
Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor
Colin MacIntyre - Island
David Bowie – VH1 Storytellers
The Duckworth Lewis Method - The Duckworth Lewis Method
Engineers – Three Fact Fader
Florence & The Machine – Lungs
Grafton Primary – Eon
Jayhawks - Music From The North Country: Anthology
Kings Of Leon – Boxed [Youth And Young Manhood/Aha Shake Heartbreak/Because Of The Times]
Maxwell – Black Summers Night
Paul Child – After All These Years
Slow Club – Yeah So?
Suicide Silence – No Time To Bleed
Teena Marie - Congo Square
Vanessa Williams – Real Thing
Hannah Montana 3 (OST)

UK Singles Top 40 - Midweek w/e 04.07.09

UK Top 40 w/e 04.07.09 - Spotify Playlist

1 (11) Michael Jackson Man In The Mirror (Epic)
2 (N) Cascada Evacuate The Dancefloor (Aatw/ Umtv)
3 (1) La Roux Bulletproof (Polydor)
4 (2) David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland When Love Takes Over (Positiva/ Virgin)
5 (4) Lady Gaga Paparazzi (Interscope)
6 (3) Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow (Interscope)
7 (6) Agnes Release Me (3 Beat)
8 (5) Keri Hilson feat Kanye West & Ne-Yo Knock You Down (Interscope)
9 (25) Michael Jackson Billie Jean (Epic)
10 (7) Pixie Lott Mama Do (Mercury)
11 (23) Michael Jackson Thriller (Epic)
12 (28) Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal (Epic)
13 (10) The Veronicas Untouched (Sire)
14 (N) Jamie T Sticks n Stones (Virgin)
15 (9) Dizzee Rascal Feat. Armand Van Helden Bonkers (Dirtee Stank)
16 (30) Michael Jackson Beat It (Epic)
17 (8) Daniel Merriweather Red (J)
18 (12) Florence & The Machine Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (Island)
19 (16) La Roux In For The Kill (Kitsune)
20 (45) Michael Jackson Black Or White (Epic)
21 (14) Jordin Sparks Battlefield (Jive)
22 (50) Michael Jackson Dirty Diana (Epic)
23 (13) Freemasons feat. Sophie Ellis Bextor Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) (Loaded) n/a on Spotify
24 (29) The Saturdays Work (Polydor)
25 (20) Kasabian Fire (Columbia)
26 (15) Soulja Boy Feat. Sammie Kiss Me Thru The Phone (Interscope)
27 (38) Michael Jackson Earth Song (Epic)
28 (44) Michael Jackson You Are Not Alone (Epic)
29 (47) Michael Jackson The Way You Make Me Feel (Epic)
30 (17) Tinchy Stryder feat. N-Dubz Number 1 (4th & Broadway)
31 (18) Pussycat Dolls Hush Hush (Interscope)
32 (24) Lady Gaga Poker Face (Interscope)
33 (48) Michael Jackson Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough (Epic)
34 (19) Linkin Park New Divide (Warner Brothers)
35 (57) Michael Jackson Bad (Epic)
36 (31) Noisettes Never Forget You (Vertigo)
37 (54) Pitbull I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) (Positiva/ Virgin) n/a on Spotify
38 (67) Michael Jackson They Don't Care About Us (Epic)
39 (22) Take That Said It All (Polydor)
40 (21) Basement Jaxx Raindrops (XL)

For a Minor Reflection - Live at 229, London, 17.06.09

(Originally written for GodIsInTheTVzine.co.uk)

For a Minor Reflection - Ókyrrð


For a Minor Reflection might need an introduction if you've not yet heard this wonderful Icelandic band. They are already a great, established act to me, to the point where I actually waited impatiently for them to come back to London and play a headline set, after they supported Sigur Rós during their last tour. So impatient was I that I had promised I would fly all the way to Holland if they didn't add UK dates to their European tour. Thankfully, they took pity on me and the other hundreds of people who were still waiting for them, and came to play at the 229 in London on June 17th (the national Icelandic Day). Background info on For a Minor Reflection includes: a link with Sigur Rós, similarities with Explosions in the Sky, the fact that they're not even 20 years of age and yet they have already accomplished the aforementioned. As for Sigur Ros, it might be that their fans have quite an ear for melancholic and melodic music, hence Minor Reflection being their support act last autumn, but I honestly think the most prominent link Sigur Rós have with Minor Reflection has to do with the Holm family (Georg, the bass player from Sigur Rós, is the big brother of Kjartan, the main guitar player from Minor Reflection), but music-wise they go in a different direction, for some reasons, even a step beyond. The term ‘post-rock’ is often stirred in their direction because they have instrumental tracks which are built around beautifully crafted music loops and split in movements which actually form separate branches of songs. But what put distance between them and the main exponents of post-rock, from 65daysofstatic to Godspeed you! Black Emperor is the higher value they put on melody over the experimental concept of ‘sound, successfully filling an area which personally I had given up believing would ever be considered. So if they play instrumental 12 minute long melancholic tracks with two guitars (occasionally left for a four-hand played piano), a bass and a drum, how is it even possible that they're also the best crowd engagers I have had the privilege to see in years?

When I was honestly giving up, accepting the idea that the more a band feels ‘indie’ the more their presence on stage is merely about music performance, but definitely not about crowd acknowledgment, these four Icelandic boys come and prove me wrong. If anything, I would expect a lack of interaction from them, because compared to UK bands they have a language barrier, and their volume is such that they would not even need a working microphone on stage! Yet they have it and they use it and they make you feel good because by interacting with the public they show an interest and care which has been taken for granted far too much. And by the time they bet against their tour manager on London asking for an encore, the crowd is too taken away by these four lovely boys not to let them win hands down. Truth is, they have some special skill which makes people feel good about themselves when they're in proximity. I honestly believe no glittering rock'n'roll after party had me smiling as much as when chatting to Kjartan, Guffi, Elvar and Jóhannes. While I discovered some new things I would never have imagined, such as the fact that they are actually still unsigned and that, despite the deep meaningfulness anyone can see in their music, they're not necessarily depressed or constantly introspective. All this and the fact that they are still only 19 years old - boys who are nice and funny, and just a tad silly when they can let themselves be. Ironically, another level I see them connected with Sigur Ros is this supposed ‘seriousness’. In my mind, I like to believe this quote, from Kjartan Sveinsson from Sigur Ros, somehow applies to For a Minor Reflection as well: ‘When people listen to our music they take us as really serious persons, they put us in that "composers" and "artistes" league, which is crap. We make fart jokes all the time, you know, we are not very serious people. When we make music there is nothing behind it, there is no concept at all.’

For a Minor Reflection have released one album so far: Reistu žig viš, sólin er komin I loft… (‘Rise and shine, the sun is up…’). I keenly await the band’s new full length album, pencilled in for release next fall.

UK Album Releases - 29 June 2009

Ali Campbell – Flying High
Aswad – City Lock
The Boys Choir Of Kenya – Spirit Of Africa
Candy Dulfer – Funked Up
Freemasons – Shakedown 2
Honey Ryder - Rising Up
Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage
La Roux – La Roux
Lenka - Lenka
Michael Jackson – The Hits
Moby - Wait For Me
Nanci Griffith - The Loving Kind
Nouvelle Vague – NV3
Rob Thomas – Cradlesong
Sarah McLachlan – Closer: The Best Of
Silicone Soul – Silicone Soul
Steely Dan – Very Best Of
Tinariwen - Imidiwan Companions
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

UK Singles Top 40 - Midweek w/e 27.06.09

So, as we started the weekly appointment with the Album Releases on Mondays, this is the first weekly appointment which will happen on Wednesdays, with the Midweek Charts for UK Singles.
Why? Because:

1) Midweeks are interesting yet rarely diffused charts, I'm doing a cultural service. If I were to offer the singles chart on a Monday I would've just been redundant since everyone puts out the singles charts on a Monday.
2) To make it worth, I decided to make the Top 40 a Spotify playlist, which you will find linked here every week starting today.
I hope you'll find this useful!
3) To make it mine, bolded are the songs actually worth listening to (IMHO)

Now, onto business

http://open.spotify.com/user/sheentylla/playlist/3oGCHYLHlRknxQYzs9FNpI

1. (N) La Roux - Bulletproof (Polydor)
2. (1) David Guetta ft Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over (Positiva)
3. (3) Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow (Interscope)
4. (4) Agnes - Release Me (3 Beat)
5. (5) Keri Hilson ft Kanye West & Ne-Yo - Knock You Down (Interscope)
6. (8) Lady Gaga - Paparazzi (Interscope)
7. (2) Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Mercury)
8. (6) Dizzee Rascal ft Armanc Van Helden - Bonkers (Dirtee Stank)
9. (7) Daniel Merriweather - Red (Jive)
10. (15) Freemasons ft Sophie Ellis Bextor - Hearbreak (Loaded) n/a on Spotify
11. (10) The Veronicas - Untouched (Sire)
12. (N) Florence & The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Island)
13. (12) Soulja Boy ft Sammie - Kiss me Thru The Phone (Interscope)
14. (11) Jordin Sparks - Battlefield (Jive)
15. (13) Tinchy Stryder ft N-Dubz - Number 1 (Island)
16. (16) La Roux - In For The Kill (Polydor)
17. (18) Pussycat Dolls - Hush Hush (Interscope)
18. (14) Kasabian - Fire (Columbia)
19. (21) Linkin Park - New Divide (Warner Bros)
20. (9) Take That - Said it All (Polydor)
21. (N) Basement Jaxx - Raindrops (XL)
22. (20) Lady GaGa - Poker Face (Interscope)
23. (19) Empire of the Sun - We Are The People (Virgin)
24. (17) Paloma Faith - Stone Cold (Epic) n/a on Spotify
25. (25) Katy Perry - Waking Up In Vegas (Capitol)
26. (24) Lily Allen - Not Fair (Regal)
27. (22) Lenka - The Show (Columbia)
28. (31) The Saturdays - Work (Polydor)
29. (29) Calvin Harris - I'm not Alone (Columbia)
30. (26) Eminem - We made You (Interscope)
31. (27) A R Rahman & Pussycat Dolls feat. Nicole Scherzinger - Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny) (Interscope)
32. (23) Little Boots - New In Town (679)
33. (32) Beyonce' - Halo (Columbia)
34. (28) Prodigy - Warrior's Dance (Take me to the hospital) n/a on Spotify
35. (48) Noisettes - Never Forget You (Vertigo)
36. (30) Flo-Rida - Sugar (Atlantic)
37. (N) Cameleonz - Shoul I Stay (Jet) n/a on Spotify
38. (36) The Yeah You's - 15 Minutes (Island)
39. (38) Enrique Iglesias ft Ciara - Taking back My Love (Interscope)
40. (40) Gossip - Heavy Cross (Columbia)