Blog Me Tender

So I though I'd take a break from the electro bangers and listen to some alternative/indie stuff over the weekend. First up, I was skimming through Micky Green's debut album, White T-Shirt. The lead single 'Oh !', is an above-average pop release, which strolls along pleasantly enough - using a deep synth and some powerful piano stabs to give it a bouncy, slightly dark, rhythm. The only other stand-out song, for me at least, is the album's namesake 'White T-Shirt'. The track starts with just some simple, beautifully gentle, backing vocals and a slow soul click supporting Green's floaty, melodius singing. It softly rises to a climax, with a smooth bass thump and some relaxed drumming coming in over time to lend some support, before it finishes with about 5 seconds of funky guitar and heavily reverbed drums. Overall, it's pleasant, mellow and captivating in it's simplicity. I can't really say much for the lyrics, though.

I discovered delphic. about three days ago, when I was searching for The Streets' hidden tracks on myspace. The hidden track itself, Never Give In, was a bit of a non-event. Surprisingly though, delphic. himself was a bit of revelation. All the songs on his page were good, but I highly recommend the powerful electro/rock anthem 'Submission'. Light, rhythmic, almost dancey synths and strings are married to some heavy guitar chords and banging drums. The result is nothing short of epic. The man's vocals also display impressive range and pitch (probably computer aided, but who cares?), and they are just powerful and anthemic enough to match the tempo and atmosphere of the song. Pretty bloody good.

Last but not least, London indie rockers' Captain caught my attention. The band have yet to make a real splash on the commercial market, but they seem to be heading in the right direction. On 'Keep An Open Mind', Rik Flynn's almost aggressive vocals are accompanied by some powerful drumming, heavily manipulated guitar and energetic, if plodding, piano chords. The track rebounds vibrantly between the loud, and particularly catchy (if pretty meaningless), chorus into mellow piano riffs and soaring strings, giving it a nice balance between light and dark. It's a pretty handy attempt at some good old indie-pop, don't let that desctiprion put you off, and probably the band's most commercially viable release. (But it's still ok to blog about them, because they're not mainstream yet.)

Oh yeah, and here's a banger from The Touch. I didn't take that much of a break, obviously.

The Touch - Le Night Dominator Buy
Captain - Keep An Open Mind Buy
Micky Green - White T-Shirt Buy
delphic. - Submission Watch*



*As far as I can ascertain, there's nowhere you can buy delphic.'s material. However, if you're interested in seeing him, he's performing at the Manchester 'Night & Day Cafe' on the 29th November. The amazing Islands are performing at the same place, on Wednesday 24th September - I'd highly recommend them as well.