Must be tough being Thom Yorke’s brother, for one you’d probably have to put up with his incessant experimentation. Could be enough to make one lose all love for music especially as the ideas begin to falter. As it goes, Andy Yorke has a tidy collection of tunes to his own name even if the Unbelievable Truth seem to have disappeared into the ether (he has since gone solo). ‘Solved’ was a single from way back in 1998 and revealed the frontman’s talent for understatedness. On first impression the song may seem like a simple and effective effort but it is also extremely well crafted. The split momentum is classy but not overbearing enough to drown out Yorke’s deeply vulnerable vocals. KD

The Unbelievable Truth - Solved

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More Info: Official & Andy Yorke
Buy Songs: The Unbelievable Truth
Year: 1998

*** This is our song of the week (#4) and will be played on The Golden Maverick's PowerFM show (99.5 FM) this Friday afternoon ***

I guess there is only so many times you can go to the well and come back with something thirst quenching. The template as espoused by Cymbals Eat Guitars is one that Stephen Malkmus had drawn up a decade previously yet Joseph D'Agostino has dreamed up a thousand new ways to make it sound fresh and exciting. ‘Why There Are Mountains’ has been knocking around chez hugger for almost a year at this stage yet it still reveals tempting nooks and crannies that up to now remained undiscovered. It’s an album of lavish ideas with many of the songs' epic nature meaning their origins deviate wildly from their destiny. There are plenty of straight tunes too, like this gem ‘Indiana’ which finds D'Agostino in swaggering form alongside the bulging brass, dainty piano and multi-focused chords. A once in a generation outfit no doubt. KD

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Indiana

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Cymbals Eat Guitars
Year: 2009

While mention of Camera Obscura is generally a pleasant exercise in extolling the wonderful vocals of Tracyanne Campbell’s it must not be forgotten that there is much more to the Glasgow collective. On ‘Lunar Sea’ Campbell actually takes a back seat and it adds a beautiful diversity to the album (‘Underachievers Please Try Harder’) it’s taken from. This is softly focused indie pop and it has meant that the band have slowly wrestled the crown from fellow Glaswegians Belle & Sebastian. Their latest album ‘My Maudlin Career’ protects that status and will surely be given a lush runout when they hit the Andrew’s Lane Theatre this Thursday (30th April). We’ve got 2 pairs of passes to the gig so if you’d like to go just drop us an email quickly to avoid being left heartbroken.

Update: Congrats to Justin, Mark and friends! Tickets are still available here. KD

Camera Obscura - Lunar Sea

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More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Camera Obscura
Year: 2003

And so it came to pass that after 14 months of contined door knocking (on the same one) we finally scooped the residence of our dreams. For a man and woman who can scarcely change a bulb between them the renovations will amount to an obscene learning curve but the rewards include not having to circumnavigate clothes mountains and shoe cities on the way to relieving oneself. The city centre will no longer embrace us to her bosom and instead we shall take those subtle yet vital decisions that make getting to know ones suburban neighbours an improbability. It’ll be a pleasant change to own a square yard of living nature too and I’m sure we’ll treasure those springtime dalliances involving garden appliances. It’s time to grow up and more importantly it’s time to offer up a bed instead of cold floorage for weekenders. Negotiations are progressing well too re freeing up space for a music room to contain me during blogging related activity. Ah, life is good but builders as I am slowly going to learn over the next few months are not in the least bit. KD

Primal Scream - Don't Fight It, Feel It

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Screamadelica
Year: 1991

This is great, not just because it has been given away free by its creator but because well, er, it’s great. Eureka Brown has a thing for sharing his music and it seems to be paying dividends as he’s already picked up airplay on the BBC (6music). Not bad but you can see the attraction on tracks like ‘Make It Stop’ from his debut ‘Future Vision of the Digital Universe’. This is a lo-fi gem featuring unhurried boy/girl singing and an eclectic range of instrumentation. In many ways it charts it’s own path, shaped only the Brown’s unique homespun charm. KD

Eureka Brown - Make It Stop

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More Info: Official
Download Songs: Eureka Brown
Year: 2007

I preferred Edmund when he was wide-eyed and scraggly haired. A young buck recording songs that made it onto cult soundtracks. In the intervening period the schtick and alter egos have replaced the naivety and raw talent and in the process the goods have become muddied. That’s not to say that he hasn’t soundtracked a thousand drunken nights across the land but when the hangovers clear you’ve really got to grapple for decent substance. I’m sure deep inside lurks a substantial creative but whether he’ll retrieve it remains to be seen. On current evidence it would have to be a negative. ‘To You I Bestow’ still sounds fresh and exuberant, a real you and me song that no amount of face paint can ever hope to compete with. KD

Mundy - To You I Bestow

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More Info: Myspace
Buy Songs: Mundy
Year: 1996

They may have coined paranormal rock to define themselves and I can see the logic given that ‘Symptoms’ comes from a time long since departed. I’m thinking early 90’s dream pop but with a slightly frayed edge. In circumstances like this lyrics generally take a back seat but that’s not to say that the vocals aren’t what makes it special. And so it comes to pass that Caleb noises like he means it and it hardly matters that we know not what he sings. It’s just better to go with the flow and lap up the wonderful sway in the mosaic of sound. Very, very nice and the sort of composition that generally finds favour in our top songs of the year each December. KD

New Ruins - Symptoms

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: New Ruins
Year: 2009

Fuck, this is about as bruising as a tumble from an aeroplane and just as thrilling. This 8-piece haven’t just happened upon a winning formula through good luck though because a glorious racket takes something more than an ear cocked on the history of rock and roll. The impetus is Stuart McLamb who spent much of ‘The Love Language’ alone with his 4-track piecing together an audio sorbet to cleanse his mind. And what a job he did with songs like ‘Lalita’ vying for mixtape favouritism, it’s about as ramshackle as they come but the blurred riff gives it that distinct whiff of greatness. No need to pack a parachute. KD

The Love Language - Lalita

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: The Love Language
Year: 2009

Oh what a blissful set of lazer guided melodies on this one. Not that we should be too surprised given the personnel involved. Sombre recorded his self-titled LP in New York with guiding interjections from Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum), Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham (Luna) which resulted in those customary psychedelic meanderings. The album will be set free early next week and is a godsend for those pining for the lazy hazy days of late summer. Listen in and just feel the wrinkles on your brow iron themselves out of existence through the oasis of calm. ‘Little Bit Of Heaven’ is just irresistible, a harem of exotic noises topped off by Sombre’s softly coaxing vocals. I’m sure I’m missing out by not being able to inhale. KD

Cheval Sombre - Little Bit Of Heaven

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Cheval Sombre
Year: 2009

The voice eh, where would we be without it? Music for one thing would be diminished. But, what if the music you listened to consisted of vocals alone? You probably wouldn’t call it music at all I’d wager, that’s unless you hadn’t heard of Hyperpotamus of course. He is a Madrid artist who went acappella after getting fed up with the same old band/label/instrument merry-go-round. Good decision it seems given that the short ‘A Melancholy Hyppo’ leaves such an indelible impression. There are a sprinkling of the lads live performances on his myspace which are both eerie and transcendent. There may be acappella like this doing the rounds the length and breath of the continent but to these naïve ears this is something fresh and original. Hyperpotamus’ self released debut ‘Largo Bailón’ is out now. KD

Hyperpotamus - A Melancholy Hyppo

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More Info: Official
Buy Songs: Hyperpotamus
Year: 2009

Much of the joy (besides the cutesy storyboards on the inlay cards) of early Belle & Sebastian singles was what you might discover on their b-sides. In some cases they even outmanoeuvred the lead track. The ‘Dog on Wheels’ EP is a case in point, the release itself being the first of an unrivalled triumvirate of EP’s that followed in the wake of their best album ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’. ‘Belle & Sebastian’ is as twee as it gets with Stuart Murdoch’s vocals representing fey as a seriously misunderstood art form. Elsewhere the music is a triumph of simplicity, focusing the attention back on the singer’s outpourings yet at the same time leveraging the song into the realms of greatness. This recording was prised from a cassette in a shambolic attempt to get you to appreciate the DIY aesthetic of B&S back then. You should own the original anyway. KD

Belle & Sebastian - Belle & Sebastian

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More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Belle & Sebastian
Year: 1997

*** This is our song of the week (#3) and will be played on The Golden Maverick's PowerFM show (99.5 FM) this Friday afternoon ***

Flippin YEEEES! This is flooding my head with happy inducing endorphins. What a chorus, what a rush (album title too), I wanna jump from our third floor balcony and don’t care whether the slightly brownish hedge fails to break my fall. Yeah, sometimes the music just takes me to another dimension, a place where the mundanity of life seems inconsequential. Black Gold are a relatively new Brooklyn duo who’ve had touring stints with among others Swervedriver and Ambulance LTD (bonus points awarded). ‘Detroit’ doesn’t reveal its most precious cargo immediately; it could even be regarded as sluggish initially yet this only underlines the thrilling centrepiece. I really am gonna pull a hamstring with all this jumping up and down. KD

Black Gold - Detroit

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Buy Songs: Black Gold
Year: 2009

Bear with them as they tune up, the piano gently lilts and you hope that is not heading down a noodly cul-de-sac. But as soon as the 80-second mark is breached a wonderful thing happens to ‘It’s All You’, namely it turns into a cherishable little stomper. Much of the credit must go to lead singer Frode Strømstad’s vocal turn, which squeezes as much melody from his parts as possible. Sufjan Stevens also gets in on the action at some point but I can’t for the life of me work out where exactly. Regardless, this is just one nugget from what should be a delicious self-titled record from the Norweigan band, due out later in the year. KD

I Was A King - It's All You

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: I Was A King
Year: 2009

And so it goes and this most precious Pittsburgh band goes all soft centred and release a song that could yet be soundtracking the next Bond movie. Anyone who has heard their debut album ‘Meal Ticket To Purgatory’ (it’s on indiecater folks so no excuses!) will know what a colossal proposition they are. But ‘Lovely In Akron’ seems somehow restrained, it still has randomness poking out at obtuse angles but the intense experimentation has been tempered a tad. Not that it dilutes the shock and awe though, nope ‘Lovely In Akron’ still stands head and shoulders above most other music being recorded today. Tamar Kamin's vocals are as immense and welcoming as ever and the swirl of instrumentation is tailored with a master’s eye (you know who you are). The song will be one of several on the Van Allen Belt’s forthcoming sophomore ‘Superpowerfragilis’ and we gotta give thanks to Ben from the band for allowing us to share it with you. KD

The Van Allen Belt - Lovely In Akron

More Info: Official
Buy Songs: The Van Allen Belt
Year: 2009

The thing that really left an impression on me was how both the Bottecellis and their label thanked me for doing a small review about their debut album ‘Old Home Movies’. It’s the little things that really make a music blogger’s day. When I think about it a bit more though I probably would’ve been partial to the Bottecellis even if they’d turned out like the Boxcutters front man such is their rampant 60’s powerpop sensibilities. I mean how could anyone with a set of functioning ears not be swept away by the surfed up melodies of ‘Awaiting On You All’. The song was written by George Harrison but I’m sure even he would have been impressed with cascading harmonies and jaunty chords. KD

The Botticellis - Awaiting On You All

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More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Old Home Movies & Old Home Media
Year: 2008

Price: 10 euro (Currency Converter)



If this site was a messageboard it would have the coolest threads. Because mp3hugger is not the former here’s our attempt to have the latter. So may we present the inaugural mp3hugger t-shirt. Limited edition of course and if its sells well there will be a neverending supply! The t-shirt comes in size large, is navy in colour with yellow lettering. In buying it you will not only be supporting the mp3hugger cause but you’re also likely to become a beacon for the opposite sex. I tested this claim on Mrs. Hugger and much amore ensued. It costs €10 which includes worldwide postage so don’t be surprised to see these devils doing the rounds in Tasmania the next time you make it down there. While you’re making up your mind here is a surprisingly restrained My First Days On Junk singing about a related matter. KD

My First Days On Junk - Your Shirts Are My Favorite Color

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More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: My First Day On Junk
Year: 2008

Could they have finally rediscovered their mojo? Maybe or maybe not as I haven’t heard Gomez’s newbie ‘A New Tide’ yet apart from this excerpt. My optimism is tempered by what has gone on before but ‘Airstream Driver’ has a certain joie-de-vivre that has been missing from their artillery. Their debut ‘Bring It On’ was undeniably a classic record yet everything else they've recorded since has failed spectacularly to live up to that early billing. ‘Airstream Driver’ is deft, bedecked in youthful vigour and reminiscent of the baggy shapes thrown by old tracks like ‘Whippin’ Piccadilly’. It might lose some of its spark towards the end but there’s no denying that the Southport lads have a newfound pep in their step. KD

Gomez - Airstream Driver

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More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Gomez
Year: 2009

Here is another Swedish band consistently releasing great music. I’ve had this in my ‘waiting’ bank of mp3s for over a year, forever hovering over the move-back-to-general-populace button but never able to wean myself away. Taken from 2005’s ‘A Sunset Panorama’ ‘Destinymanifesto’ doesn’t bear a chorus, merely a stream of pretty consciousness over its short running time. It is cleverly constructed, the instrumental parts gently collide while Mattias Friber voice has that affecting just out of bed languidness. Logh appeared again in 2007 with their ‘North’ album but things have gone very mirror lake ever since. KD

Logh - Destinymanifesto

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Buy Songs: Logh
Year: 2005

With a name like that you’d think he might be out ploughing fields in deepest Tipperary but our John instead furrows the leftfield from his Brighton base. With considerable success it must be said, ‘You Shine’ could even be Gilbert O’Sullivan were he not well into middle age and reliant on a decades old back catalogue. As it is ‘You Shine’ is starting to get pretty aged itself having sprung from 2002’s ‘Happy-Go-Unlucky’. Thankfully it retains a youthful vigour, semi-Beatlesque demeanour and some really cool trumpets. In fact so well fashioned is it, it really makes no sense at all why hasn’t been used to prop up the marketing campaign for at the very least Scuff Kote’s. Heck, I bet Tipp FM would even playlist it. KD

John Cunningham - You Shine

More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: John Cunningham
Year: 2002

Every now and then a tune comes along that offers little more than itself, it plays its cards straight and without beating around the bush delivers undiluted thrills. ‘Pictures’ is one such song, a bolt from the blue armed with the necessary retro indie kicks to lighten up a Friday night in your local dive. You’ll hear Editors, the Cure and Interpol throughout but despite the influence leak it could quite easily build up its own rabid fanbase. Pushboxer formed in Oxford in 2006, yet this month’s ‘Pushover’ single is their first official recording. And what a start it is, sounding as if it were brewing in their loins forever as it jumps from the speakers like a starving wild cat with eyes only for your tender lobes. KD

Pushboxer - Pictures

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More Info: Official & Myspace
Buy Songs: Pushboxer
Year: 2009