Ah, singles!
For many, consigned to the rubbish heap of history, to be replaced by exclusive downloads and the ethereal pleasures of the interweb. However, we at Clash Towers hold out a glimmer of hope for those plastic discs – after all they make great frisbees. Combining one off releases, film soundtracks and some special collaborations, this week’s releases out line the case for the humble single: long may they continue!
Single Of The Week
Robert Wyatt & Bertrand Bergalat – This Summer Night
Even with a back catalogue as stunning as his, this is a wonderful return from Robert Wyatt. Teamed with French producer Bergalat. ‘This Summer Night’ is as refreshing as a glass of water after a quick stroll through the Sahara. A disco stomper (yes, really) blended with the effortlessly inspiring voice of Wyatt, this should have been released in late August but can now serve to rid us of the first chills of Winter. The perfect soundtrack to long red skies, falling apples and gently growing lawns, ‘This Summer Night’ is our single of the week!
Bloc Party – Talons
With a release schedule more convoluted than the world banking system (though slightly more pleasurable on the ear) Bloc Party return with their new single. Opening with a heavy electronic influence, ‘Talons’ blends together the two diverging elements of recently released album ‘Intimacy’. Perhaps their best attempt yet to blend sharp as barbed wire guitar lines with electronics, it finds Kele in confrontational mood. A swaggering, confident return from a band many had judged to be in the throes of an identity crisis – who’d have thunk it?
Last Shadow Puppets – My Mistakes Were Made For You
Everyone seems to have gone Bond crazy this week. Last Shadow Puppets carry on like a couple of Shirley Bassey enthusiasts, with some twanging Hank Marvin guitars and a suitably grandiose orchestration. Of course, that sort of thing should be outlawed in this day and age, but somehow we can’t help but get caught up in its superbly etched melancholy.
…a completely forgettable song
Keane – Lovers Are Losing
Ah, Keane. The house band for a posh formal we were never invited to, they are easy to mock but difficult to discount. Back from rehab, its good to see that the group’s love of a thoroughly pedestrian melody is still intact. Piano led, vaguely melancholic and distinctly forgettable.
Liquid Liquid – Remixes
New York disco-punks Liquid Liquid straddled the divide between uptown and downtown, blending cerebral rock to the rhythmic raunch of disco and Hispanic music. Reinterpreted by producers such as Matthew Dear and Optimo, these twelve-inch remixes find some superb modern talents rediscovering themselves amidst the infinite space of Liquid Liquid’s minimal grooves.
Jack White And Alicia Keys – Another Way To Die
With all the talk over whether this is a commercial move too far, or an experiment in cultural fertilization, it shouldn’t be forgotten that is a completely forgettable song. ‘Another Way To Die’ grasps towards the dynamics of classic Bond themes from the past, but fails to hold onto them A basic Raconteurs retread with the added bonus of some horns and a vocal by Alicia Keys, it finds White relying on reworking past ideas for the first time in his creative life.
