Cougar Microbes

As a teenager I dragged my dad to see Radiohead‘s The Bends tour in Milan most likely making me the youngest person in the audience and him the eldest. At the time I thought this would be a momentous occasion as we both witnessed a phenomenal show from what I was certain would be my favorite band for years to come.

Instead I began to lose interest/patience in the Oxford band somewhere around the turn of the century as they shifted towards megastar status. While I respected the compositions on the likes of ‘Amnesiac‘, ‘Hail The Thief‘ and especially ‘Kid A‘ I could not quite understand the level of adulation reserved for every beep and sound they produced.

While ‘In Rainbows‘ went a long way to repairing my relationship it is ‘The King Of Limbs‘ that won me back as a fan. In under 38 minutes Thom Yorke and co. reminded me of exactly why I loved their band and, crucially, allowing me to rediscover those releases I had been snubbing for all these years.

Make no mistake; this is not included purely on the romantic notion of a past love affair being rekindled.  TKOL represents as consistent set of tracks as the band have ever produced and an album that I have been able to listen to over and over again.

TRACKS:

Radiohead – Little By Little

Whilst reactions to Radiohead‘s latest album ‘The Kings Of Limbs‘ were generally very mixed (personally I really liked it) the Oxford band still managed to generate the usual interest we associate with them.

Likewise, there seems to be quite a buzz about ‘How Do You Sit Still/ Putting Ketchup In The Fridge‘ which surfaced today. The track is supposedly a Bends era outtake boasting Thom Yorke‘s unmistakable vocals over some early 90′s style alt rock.

So what do you think, is this a Radiohead b-side or just a very good impersonation?

TRACKS:

Radiohead – How Do You Sit Still/ Putting Ketchup In The Fridge

Thom Yorke is taking over the 6 Mix this Sunday at 8pm GMT and I’m particularly excited to hear he will be revealing some exlucsive tracks that did not make it to ‘TKOL RMX 1234567‘.

On top of that you can expect him to expose the music he is loving at the moment from a diverse range of artists. This is a good time to mention Cougar Microbes will be doing a collaboration with BBC6 Music in the coming month or so. Will keep you posted!

TRACKS:

Thom Yorke 6 Mix (BBC 6 Music) teaser

Little by Little – Shed RMX by Radiohead

It has been a long time since I last visited a proper music festival. I have always hated camping. An attachment to home comforts – colour TV, hi-fi stereo, designer sofa, electricity, running water – exposes me for the materialistic 80s brat that I am. So it was with a degree of apprehension that I migrated north to the Lake District for a summer weekend of music.

Many of this year’s festivals have struggled to shift tickets but Kendal Calling had no such worries. The boutique event sold out well in advance and upon arrival it was immediately obvious why. Showcasing acts like Blondie, Chase & Status, The Cribs and Frank Turner against a backdrop of beautiful rolling hills – and the occasional lake – certainly makes for sunny faces.

We pitched our tent with surprising ease and headed for the arena just in time to catch hip hop old-timers House Of Pain break into ‘that’ song. So we jumped around a bit, investigated what the modern music festival has to offer – posh pizzas apparently – and then checked out headliners Chase & Status. We found the Londoners on hot form, whipping up the masses into a Friday night party. Yes.

Easy Star All-Stars set the beaming Saturday mood with dub and reggae renditions of classics from The Beatles, Radiohead and Pink Floyd. It was certainly a very pleasant way to start an afternoon before the festival’s stand-out act, angular rock outfit Young Knives, took to the stage. I am reliably informed it was front man Henry Dartnall’s first ever topless gig. The three-piece didn’t let that phase them as they stomped through favourites from ‘Terra Firma‘ to ‘Weekends & Bleak Days‘ – complete with appropriate sing-along line “hot summer, hot hot summer!”

After a few complimentary shots of Lucozade – thank you sunburnt Lucozade man – we headed over to watch the fittingly energetic punk outfit The Minx bound around stage to rapturous applause. There was just enough time to scoff a gourmet kangaroo (!) burger before seeing Japanese Popstars take over from where Chase & Status left off the previous evening. An incredibly striking aspect of the weekend was the energetic crowds. Though we did our best to keep up we headed for our nylon home some time after one am with the party still in full swing.

Drawing from a distant memory I somehow had the impression that the final day of a festival has the potential to be an anti-climax. Not so at Kendal Calling. After taking in some festival art and expert hula-hoop performances we decided to plonk ourselves at the main stage for Lancashire Hotpots’ northern humour and Frank Turner’s folk punk. Neither disappointed but the top act of the day was Cougar favourite Blondie. Not looking a day over 26 – ok, maybe a day or two over – Debbie Harry belted out hits including ‘Hanging on the Telephone’ and ‘One Way or Another’ to give this charming festival the rousing send-off it deserved.

Cougar Microbes attended Kendal Calling 2011 as part of Lucozade‘s Play Festivals campaign. Make sure to check back as we bring you more events through the summer.

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Post by Kenny.

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TRACKS:

Dear Radiohead fans (and the others of course), We present an all Radiohead mixtape by American  dj  Death to the Throne.

He describes the mixtape as “think Girl Talk, but with all Radiohead songs and not as good. and short“. Although I am not quite sure what he means, the mixtape is worth listening to ( at least once).

I particularly enjoy the surprising opening with a sample of LL Cool J‘s ‘ I Can’t Live Without My Radio‘ that smoothly gives way to the unbeatable beat of ‘Idioteque‘, mixed with ‘Fade Out‘.

The mixtape blends some of Radiohead‘s best repertoire ( think ‘Fake Plastic Trees‘, ‘Fittier Happier‘…) with a certain ingenuity, and most importantly respects the original essence and spirit of the band’s music.

The different approaches to ‘Creep‘ ( including an interesting mix with ‘15 Step‘) make us consider this overheard song in another light and is finally followed by the depressing and poignant ‘Gagging Order‘.

Overall, I wouldn’t say this mixtape certainly has some flaws, as you would expect considering it features 50 tracks. However, in light of 99.9% of the world’s disappointment with their last release, I believe it’s always nice to go back to basics and this mixtape proves to be an enjoyable listen.

If you find Radiohead too mellow this more electronic version of the songs offers a different approach to the music…

TRACKS:

Radiohead posted a bunch of remixes to remind us (once again) that their latest batch of tracks can easily rub shoulders with the rest of the band’s impressive discography.

Of course when you are as well known/connected as the Oxford quintet it is easy to have the likes of Nathan Fake and Caribou remixing your work.

Cougar HQ is still busy enjoying ‘King Of Limbs‘ and whilst it’s early days I think there is a good chance that album will make our top of 2011 list. Too soon?

TRACKS:

I have been meaning to write about Tyler, The Creator and the whole Odd Future phenomenon for a while. Originally I was planning to feature ‘Yonkers‘ as part of our Weekend Videos feature but by the time I got to see the video it had already racked 6 million hits.

Surely there weren’t that many more people still left I thought and I was wrong because the video now stands at over double that somewhere in the region of 13 million hits. Not bad for an LA skater kid with a questionable attitude.

You may be familiar with Amp Live for his reworking of some of the best moments from Radiohead‘s ‘In Rainbows‘ album. Personally I completely loved him for the work done on Cougar favourites WHY? and their catalogue.

In any case he has gone and joined forces with Jazz Mafia to recreate these interesting re-runs from ‘Goblin‘. I had been wondering how long it would take before some decent remixes from would pop out, I just didn’t expect something like this to be made.

TRACKS:

Last week modern gods Radiohead also got themselves involved in the Record Store Day shenanigans releasing 2 new tracks from the ‘The King Of Limbs‘ sessions. Both ‘Supercollider‘ and ‘The Butcher‘ would be potential singles, rather than outtakes, for lesser bands.

Our reviews of ‘King Of Limbs‘ as well as The Strokes recent ‘Angles‘ album sparked an interesting discussion at Cougar Microbes HQ. The problem for bands such as Radiohead or The Strokes is that have given us, in my opinion, two of the best albums of all time early in their careers.

As fans we always come back to these and therefore expect so much from them. It seems that we are never satisfied and this is because we inevitably compare every subsequent release with the raw diamond that will inherently never be reproduced, and this is to point out that we sometimes fail to appreciate great music just because it is not another ‘Last Nite‘ or ‘Karma Police‘ .

Going through reviews for both these releases I found it almost impossible to find one which did not refer to the both band’s “golden egg“. It is as if we were asking them to recreate ‘Ok Computer‘ and ‘Is This It‘ over and over again, but in that case would these albums be as special as they are?

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Post by Olivia

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TRACKS: