Cougar Microbes

It is somewhat poetic that ‘We’re New Here‘ would turn out to be Gil Scott-Heron‘s last release before he sadly passed away in 2011. In a career where he distinguished himself for confounding expectations it felt like the tracks from ‘I’m New Here’, his triumphant comeback album from 2010, where ripe to be quoted, sampled and bastardised like much of his back catalogue.

Instead Jamie xx did something different breathing new life into these compositions. To tag this simply as a remix album would be disrespectful to the young producer as his concise ideas mix perfectly with the words ensuring the legends musings are projected to a hungry new audience.

‘We’re New Here‘ therefore serves to show how universal the appeal of Scott-Heron is while showcasing the versatility of a young British star. Cougar writer Thom puts it best when he says “Jamie xx can do little wrong. Whilst turning a younger audiences taste buds to the back catalogue of Gil Scott-Heron, his gorgeous use of pips and twinkles have utterly enchanted his loyal fan base”

TRACKS:

Gil Scott-Heron And Jamie XX – NY Is Killing Me

Ah summer time! Debating whether to get out of the sun for a few minutes to go get an ice cold beer because your just too ruddy comfortable. Your friends are all together in a summer oak meadow with a pair of speakers, a swimming lake and a sniff in the air that you might just get laid tonight.

Tieranniesaur fit those summer speakers perfectly. Some of the best booty-shaking, bowel movement assisting bass lines and the sweetest melodies from one of the most exciting acts of this year.

A duo who made a home made, self titled album that spiralled into a neat ten song album that could be played in a dirty club or a dance tent. It’s dirty and it’s disco, it’s slightly kitsch but it’s angular.

The opener, ‘Rockblocker’ is as catchy as it is grimy, a fantastic opener to this creative album. It’s a curious mix a low-fi Hot Chip with a duet between CocoRosie and Lykke Li.

‘Sketch!’ is an awesome little pop hit, playfully bouncing along to sweet vocal lilts and playful instrumentation.

Many of these tracks feature an almost African pop sense of melody, weaving it’s way in and out like Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’, as if you could hear most of these chorus’ being sang in a African choir and they would still be cool.

This is probably the best thing about this album, it’s almost child-like in its creativity but with an actually very complex engine of rhythms and sounds.

‘I Don’t Stop’ has a bass line that I wish I’d have written. It’s punk and it’s dance. It is ‘The Sex Bassline‘. It is probably that song that if you are sitting in that summer meadow with all your mates with the speakers and the lake and the sniff of getting laid, that you would make your move. The sun is going down and they’re all dancing and youre eyeing out the bird- Sort of like the beginning of Jaws, without Jaws obviously.

‘Here Be Monsters’ could be a remix by Jamie XX. Its subtle electronic twinkles are hypnotic against a strong simple beat, whilst ‘Remember My Name’ belongs on the soundtrack to ‘Little Big Planet’, it’s psychedelic vocals against a sunset backdrop and euro pop beat.

This is my favourite record this year and I’m not just saying that as it will help me get laid tonight. I do love summer.

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Post by T.R Wicks

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TRACKS:

I do feel that a festival wouldn’t be a festival without these three things; A truly great live act, some nominal nudity and someone gravely (and most of the time deservedly) injuring themselves due to a moment of awe inspiring stupidity . We shall return to this nugget of festival wisdom in a bit.

Beach Break Live festival is nestled in a mass expanse of Welsh sand dune and pinewood forest, where thousands of students and idiotically fashionable, sexually charged young things pitch tents on the rolling hills, sleep the day through and get up underneath the stars to go crazy to reasonably priced booze and all night tuneage.

For those bothered enough to get up during the day, the beach was heaving with water sports and the fields busy with games, early chilled live acts and burlesque / pole dancing lessons. I was there for the music, however as a journalist I deemed it my duty to casually but insistently peek in the burlesque tent.

I’d been looking forward to seeing We Are Scientists for a couple of years and wasn’t disappointed to watch them blow away a strong afternoon crowd with hit after hit, with young Andy Burrows mullering the skins behind two of the stongest song writing teams around.

I hadn’t heard of Beardyman before, and naturally pictured an old man slithering to the stage in a cardie and massive beard, shitting us tales of woe. He was actually awesome. A sort of live producer and sampler, he beat boxes to synths, drum machines and other electronic paraphanalia, but not only this, he can sing; and well, morphing us in and out of his own tightly packed anthems and reworked covers such as MGMT‘s ‘Kids‘ and ATB‘s ‘Til I Come‘ (Even cooler than the XX‘s live version.)

The two musical highlights for me were from very different corners of the festival. The first was an eight piece folk band named Robbie Boyd Band, a truly charming and enthralling live act playing three times over the course of the five days in different forms. Front man Robbie Boyd is as talented as he is self-deprecating, hollering timeless The Birds and Everly Brothers-like tunes and pulling even the early hung over audience to their feet to participate his irresistible chorus’s.

Of course, the truly great live act I was banging on about at the start was a band I hadn’t even sniffed before this weekend. White Lies blew me and the already riled up crowd of mentals away. The punishing bass lines were as harsh as the beautifully haunting melodies. I’ll admit, I was probably slightly dazed at the time as some berk elbowed me in the back of the head and probably sent me into a slight state of euphoria but never the less this is one of the strongest headliners one could ask for even a slight concussion.

So I guess the injury sustained was my own, but the truly great live act was of course White Lies and I won’t bore you with the details, but the burlesque tent really was fantastic.

Cougar Microbes attended Beach Break Live 2011 as part of Lucozade‘s Play Festivals campaign. Make sure to check back as we join Lucozade in bringing you more events through the summer.

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Post by T.R. Wicks

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TRACKS:

The sad news came through this week that legendary artist Gil Scott-Heron has passed. In many ways it was fitting that his last album ‘I’m Still Here‘ was released just last year. It was through this work, and the recent Jamie XX remixes, that a generation of new fans could discover his great body of work.

I have seen many eulogies in the past few days but perhaps the best tribute I have read comes from Justin at Aquarium Drunkard who wrote this touching post. I feel there is not much more to add. Rest in piece.

TRACKS:

Following a refreshing break in the sun Cougar Microbes should be back in full swing soon. Here’s a sweet cover by Gorillaz to bring us back with a bang.

TRACKS:

On Thursday the 4th of November music collectives Greco Roman and Moda are presenting Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs latest EP ‘The Household Goods‘ launch party. Live from The City Arts & Music Project in Shoreditch you can expect his very own dancing dinoasaurs on stage.

If you haven’t heard Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is the newest and most exciting thing to hit the electro scene this year. His sound is up upbeat and melodic with feather light vocal touches. It’s got the space and feel of The XX with the dance roots of Crystal Castles. His latest single ‘Garden’, featuring Louisa from Lulu And The Lampshades, even throws in a few pop references just to be safe.

Come down to fulfill your Jurassic Park fantasies.

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Post by the jetsetting Ruby
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TRACKS:

Cougar Microbes caught up with Alice Costelloe, one half of upcoming East London duo Big Deal, for a brief (and often humorous) email Q&A.

Here is what we found out:

- Cougar Microbes: What time did you wake up today? Was it out of choice or necessity?

- Alice Costelloe: Necessity, we had to get on our tour (mega)bus at 11 to come home from Manchester.

- CM: How do you kill time when waiting to go on stage and in between dates, any hobbies?

- AC: We eat a lot of ice cream.

- CM: What have been your favourite venues to play so far? Any venues you absolutely hated?

- AC: The Stags Head where they started playing a cd over the first song of our first ever gig. That was awesome.

- CM: Are you able to write when you are on the road or do you do this in your off time?

- AC: There’s no off time in Big Deal.

- CM: Favourite Big Deal track and why?

- AC: ‘Homework’, it was the first one we wrote and came about completely accidentally.

- CM: A lot of your tracks have a back to school feel to them with classroom, parents and studying references. Is this an intentional choice and does the inspiration form your current set?

- AC: So far we only have a few songs recorded, and we wrote them in the summer when we were feeling nostalgic. Hopefully we’ll get over it.

- CM: You have covered Big Star‘s track ‘Thirteen’ on your b-side to ‘Homework’. Have they been an influence on your sound?

- AC: That song yes, it was the first song we learned how to sing together, and the first song we recorded.

- CM: Any plan for other covers?

- AC: Kc wants to cover some nineties hip hop…so no.

- CM: Do your songs go through many revisions via demo recordings?

- AC: No, we just record when we’ve finished writing, which is how the song ends up.

- CM: What is more important, the lyrics or the melody?

- AC: Kc says melody I say lyrics.

- CM: What are your views on auto tune?

- AC: It makes the news a lot more entertaining.

- CM: Any other band/bands from your local scene we really should know about?

- AC: Our friends bands, Wet Paint, Round Ron Virgin, Hella Better Dancer.

- CM: Most flattering thing you’ve read about yourselves?

- AC: That we sound like The XX. Lol.

- CM: What was the first record/tape/cd you ever bought?

- AC: Destiny’s Child – ‘Survivor’

- CM: What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

- AC: The song before they start the films at the cinema.

- CM: What was the last show you paid and queued up for?

- AC: Broken Social Scene at the forum.

- CM: If you had to bring on artist back from the dead in exchange for sending a living artist down ,which artists would it be and why?

- AC: Insane Clown Posse for Jesus.

The wonderful Big Deal release their debut single ‘Homework / 13′ on November 8^th.

TRACKS:

Big Deal – Locked Up

For this year’s Bestival we decided to take a different approach by sending in our very own young festival rookie to soak up the atmosphere. Here is her account:

As a festival virgin and an indie music newbie, Bestival was a much needed and appreciated experience. Dotted over the net are paragraphs of negativity directed to the weekend of new age fun with a vintage feel; sure it was a reunion of East London trend setters and what with the fantasy theme it soon unravelled into a gathering of narco-unicorns, high flying fairies and dehydrated Avatars, but there was so much more going on that critics seem to forget.

To start I could mention the line up,; all I can say is that The XX with their melodramatic faces and basic guitar strums were loved passionately and practically had their own venue; a music composition which was in fact a dark room with three screens, each focusing on one of the three artists and their particular instrument in the foreground.

Dizzee Rascal, whose music I never quite appreciated, turned the tables with an hour-long energy wave and a Nirvana tribute. Hurts who cracked us up with their synthpop break-up recovery lyrics – “I don’t want your happiness. I don’t need your happiness. So never show me happiness. I don’t want your happiness”. The Prodigy whose crowd instigation and angry lyrics were a natural firestarter, created walls of death that gave me bruises, plastic bottles hit my head and there was no need to jump around for the turbulence was doing it for me. Honestly, I’m more for unicorns than devils so I much preferred Eliza Doolittle’s ‘Skinny Genes’. Apparently she camped for the weekend with us plebs without bodyguards (somehow this created a buzz).

Not to mention the major array of DJs and MCs (who I’m more acquainted with) such as the likes of Mylo (m*therf***ers gonna drop da preshaah), Rob da Bank (erstwhile curator of Bestival) and Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip (…just a band…just a band…)

On another note, the venue was huge and set in a pretty country park with cows grazing in adjacent fields and all sorts of arenas; from the Bollywood Tent (basically Fabric’s drum ‘n’ bass night), a solar powered bandstand and bicycle powered phone charging hut, Arcadia – an outdoor spider robot club with special effects and pyrotechtechnic treats, a suspended castle in the sky that blew up in flames with a background of fireworks on Sunday night and a Cabaret Tent which housed some hilarious comedy acts (my favourite being Frisky and Mannish’s musical comedy (they’ll be in London’s Bloomsbury Theatre in December!)

On the costume front: no one does it better (or takes it more seriously) than the Brits; the best being the big groups coming as different characters such as the huge body parts. Naturally Alice in Wonderlands and associates were plentiful, as were Dorothies and Where’s Wallies, Avatar Smurfs and Oompa loompa fairies but there were some odd ones too; I spotted a Jesus and some Roman legionaries holding his cross, a handful of Bucket O Soldiers, a toilet, the Incredibles family (kids included)… and 46,000 other bizarre creations.

I thought it was fun, except the porter loos, and even waking up to a shrieking: “There’s a mouse nest in my tent… eww mouse babies” added to the hoopla of the camping experience. All in all Bestival’s boutique success was fun and I might have learnt a little something about the festival culture and music madness!

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Post by the rickrolling Marianovella

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TRACKS:

The XX – Crystalised (Popular Damage Assimilation Remix)

The Hood Internet – Girls Just Wanna Fix Up (Cyndi Lauper vs. Dizzee Rascal)

The Prodigy – Out Of Space