Cougar Microbes

The time is nigh. The hour of reckoning is upon us… again. Elections 2010 and, as usual, politics is popular for a few weeks. This time perhaps even more so, given it’s on the telly.

Unfortunately we don’t have a British Barack Obama able to blend charisma and policy. We have a grumpy man with a creepy smirk, a posh man with a shiny chin and no upper lip, and a posh man who looks like a posh 12 year-old.

If you’re as confused as most people are about what each party actually stands for then visit www.votematch.org.uk and rock on down to the polling booths tomorrow.

TRACKS:

George Pringle – Fellini For Prime Minister

Burning Airlines – Election-Night Special

Radiohead – Electioneering

This is another release I had no idea would end up on this list when I first heard it but over repeated listens George Pringle has gown under my skin.

The diseuse’s (that is “a woman who is a skilled and usually professional performer of monologues“) compositions take on an almost voyeuristic quality as she manages to make even the most trivial matter sound like it is of life and death importance to her.

Back in November I said “This debut is a collection of spoken word treats sprinkled over a series of understated garageband beats and backdrops”.

‘Salon De Refuse‘ may lack an obvious killer hook of other releases but is catapulted skywards by an impressive arsenal of anecdotes and observations. It will be interesting where her music goes to next as a long time on the road will have given her a few more thing to muse about.

TRACKS:

George Pringle – Physical Education (Part 1)

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George Pringle first appeared on my horizon when a superb demo rendition of her track ‘Carte Postale’ was posted online quite some time ago. Despite a considerable google effort the “artist” behind the song remained a mystery. I am glad those early recording caught someone else’s attention because that meant I was able to receive her album ‘Salon De Refuse’ through my letterbox just as my initial curiosity was beginning to wane.

This debut is a collection of spoken word treats sprinkled over a series of understated garageband beats and backdrops. This is not the kind of thing that will sell out stadiums any time soon (and frankly I doubt George would want that) but if you, like me, have been in or around your 20s sometime in the last 10 years you will probably find something to relate to in her musings.

With savvy observations and knowing references to anything from MSN, Patti Smith and The Virgin Suicides this is really more akin to poetry than it is to songwriting per se and Miss Pringle is happy to reiterate that at some point she “stopped playing guitar, let her fingers grow soft and her nails grow”. With half the tracks taking on a melancholic turn its hard not to be sucked in to her upper/middle class accent and detached monologues and imagine you too are listening to techno and shoegaze alone in your room.

‘Salon De Refuse” is out now on Deth To Fals Metal Records

TRACK:

George Pringle – Carte Postale