Track of the week: Otis by the Durutti Column

Don't go looking up tour dates for this band unless you live in the UK because they don't play outside too often anymore, they're from the late 70s and got their start on Factory Records, the same label Joy Division was on. They play a unique blend of spacey quiet rock with echoes of classical music and even feature vocals, occasionally. This happens to be one of the few songs with vocals and they compliment the music perfectly. I couldn't find a freely available studio version but here's a live version that gives you close to the full effect:

Compact disc/mp3 album review no. 2: Friendly Fires by Friendly Fires

I found this band in a weird, roundabout way. The story starts with me listening to an old post-punk band called Section 25. They were on the Factory Records label, the same label Joy Division and New Order were signed to, I'd found them on Factory compilation I'd just bought on iTunes and that I plan to review some time soon. I was listening to one of their songs and saw that it was called "Friendly Fires" and I thought to myself, that's a strange title but I think I've heard it somewhere before. It turns out that I'd spied it, and you'll all probably notice that this is a recurring theme on my blog, on the title of a song on one of Pitchfork magazine's top 100 songs lists. The song was called "Paris" and so I downloaded their debut, self-titled, album to see what all the fuss was about (the song on the Pitchfork list was remixed by someone else so I had no idea what Friendly Fires actually sounded like by themselves).

I was pleased to find a thoughtful but dancy electronic band upon listening to Friendly Fires. Though they're heavy on synths and super-streamlined electronic production there are plenty of times where the old-school, bass driven post-punk beats leak through to reveal their influences. FF's drumbeats and soulful funky vocals fit in perfectly with cool electronic contemporaries like James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem. I expect great things from FF in the future.

I'll keep it short and let you all decide what you think, if you haven't already heard the album, but here are some of my favorite songs from Friendly Fires:


Lovesick^


Jump In The Pool^


In The Hospital ^