Monday Music – 6 February 2012

(Monday Music’s the one weekly blog where SOIWT abandons its London-only focus, and goes global)

photo by Rianna Cox

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Dark Dark Dark – Daydreaming (mp3)
This is my favourite song in a very long time. Full of gorgeous nostalgia, it revolves around hearty piano chimes and Nona Marie Invie’s voice, so rich and rueful that I want to write to every ex-girlfriend immediately, and ask if we can’t try again, it would be better this time? On and on it goes, the whole world irrelevant, just me and this song, me and this song, locked together in a chamber where no-one can hurt us anymore, me and this song. Oh, the unspeakable things…

Au Palais – Tender Mercy
Some days, when I’ve got nothing to do and the world’s better escaped, a hangover can be a good thing. My head goes thick, dull, zoned-out, and I wander around in a kingdom of my own making, with passion and pretty lights, with returned lovers and shining armour, with constant photo moments and no holes in my shoes, with time rendered powerless and obsolete. This gothic electro-pop song from Toronto, captive and demanding of full attention, is a bit like that.

Tashaki Miyaki – Get It Right
Here’s some fagged-out haze-pop perfection, pleasantly distorted, distant and blissful. Music for rainy days and looking through windows.

Beth Jeans Houghton – Dodecahedron
Thinking man’s Florence? Less crackers Kate Bush? The mightily talented songstrel Beth Jeans Houghton seems to inspire no end of comparisons, yet perhaps we should just enjoy her for what she is: a truly great singer. Hers is a kind of chamber folk: brambly, sedative and lush.

Lil Daggers – Dead Golden Girls
The genre of doo-wop rock is largely untapped for obvious reasons (the same ones that explain why ham & lemon curd sandwiches haven’t yet caught on). But, unexpectedly, in the case of Miami quintet Lil Daggers, the blend works well; the result is a grumpy bruiser with a soft-touch surf-pop underbelly, woo-hooing all the way to the beach. (via SEXBEAT)

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