Psychedelic Prog-Metal is hardly my cup of tea but London-based Purson sweeten their long-haired riffing with some solid tunes and have a hell of a lead singer in Rosie Cunningham. They would make the ideal soundtrack for an old Hammer film involving witchcraft and virgins being sacrificed on pentangles.
Is this going to be the next big thing? Time to break out the velvet flares and Dennis Wheatley novels.
I was never a big fan of Cilla’s voice but she really nailed this one. Pretty much any version of this song gets me choked up but hers turns me into a puddle.
I’m well past the age when I’m supposed to think modern pop music is rubbish and I do 99% of the time, thinking it’s mostly a narcissistic, autotuned horrorshow. But I’m not ready to move to a retirement home with my Human League and Madness records just yet so I’m very thankful for spunky young pop tarts like Charli XCX for showing me that it’s still worth bothering with.
Charli (aka Charlotte Aitchison) is a 20-year-old Hertfordshire lass who’s been putting out self-penned singles for a couple of years now and she’s just released her debut album True Romance which is stuffed with moody electronic dance-pop that sounds like Britney Spears going through a Goth phase. It’s highly poptastic and warms the cockles of this old man’s heart to know I’m not dead yet.
Kids today, they’re not so bad sometimes.
Fab new single from Glass Candy who are part of the same crew as the Chromatics and play a similar sort of hypnotic electro-disco but given a more pop/New Wave edge by the deadpan, stoned-Debbie-Harry vocals of the lovely Ida No. I’ve been listening to their terrific 2007 album B/E/A/T/B/O/X a lot lately (see right) and they have a new one out later this year.
Download this track for free here.
Here’s another raven-haired beauty for you. Haven’t had any Bobbie Gentry here in way too long. An obvious song choice but I’d never seen this clip before and it’s just sublime.
I saw The Banshees live several times in the early 80s and they never failed to be brilliant. I had one of those Star of David t-shirts too, it went very well with my black jeans and suede Chelsea boots. It looked better on Siouxsie though.
Blazing guitar work by John McGeoch in this clip too.
Angel Olsen is a folk singer from St. Louis with an extraordinary voice that goes from the soft rustic warble of Vashti Bunyan to the operatic intensity of a female Roy Orbison. Her raw vocal style can make her an acquired taste at times but at her best she sounds heart-stoppingly beautiful. This is from her album Half Way Home which came out last year. Gorgeous video too, and Angel is rather easy on the eyes herself.
As a bonus here she is singing another song from the album live. Prepare to be blown away.
