Foxygen - "No Destruction"

In the movie 'The Fly' the scientist enters the matter transporter (disintegrator-integrator), which transfers matter from one pod to another, without realizing a fly had also entered the pod, resulting in a 'half man-half fly' after their atoms were mixed. Foxygen's "No Destruction" sounds like the result of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed (Velvet Underground era) entering the transporter.

The Associates - "Tell Me Easter's On Friday"

The Associates single "Tell Me Easter's On Friday" from 1981, is the best song played on Bitter FM with Easter in the title. No it's not here just because it fits the Easter criteria, but because it deserves a ressurection. Have a great Easter.

Scalper - "Zero"

Scalper is the name that Nadeem Shafi of London band Fun-da-mental chose after going solo. He moved to New Zealand in 2007 and released his debut album 'Flesh and Bones' in 2010. If you think "Zero" sounds familiar.... you may be right.



Public Enemy - "She Watch Channel Zero"

3Ds - Beautiful Things

3Ds were one of the great Flying Nun bands of the 90's. The band name comes from their names all starting with D, although they didn't change to 4Ds when the fourth member David Mitchell joined. The Dunedin alt rockers released two brilliant albums (amongst other releases), Hellzapoppin' in 92 and The Venus Trail in 93. "Beautiful Things" was a single from The Venus Trail and on the 7" version it is sung by David Mitchell, although the album version is sung by Denise Roughan. Both versions are great so we play them both on Bitter. "Beautiful Things" they are.



Live in Dunedin 1996 (David Mitchell on vocals)

The Lovin Spoonful - "Darlin' Be Home Soon"

"Darlin' Be Home Soon" was released as a single in 1967 by The Lovin' Spoonful. Written by John Sabastian, "Darlin' Be Home Soon" was originally released on the soundtrack album for Francis Ford Coppola's film 'You're a Big Boy Now' in 1966. It wasn't their biggest hit but it is my favourite of the Lovin Spoonful songs that I am aware of. John Sebastian played it at Woodstock as a solo artist after he had left the band. Okay, I've got no more trivia regarding this song so let's just press play.

Demetri Martin Jokes (Naming the things)

I ran out of time to put a blog post together tonight - so here is a short comedy interlude from Demetri Martin.

GIANT DRAG - "WICKED GAME"

Yes, another "Wicked Game" cover that is played on Bitter FM. Unlike the chilled out covers by Widowspeak and Washed Out, Giant Drag add a bit more grit with the guitar as the dominating force. Giant Drag were predicted to be indie darlings after the release of their debut album 'Hearts and Unicorns' in 2005 ("Wicked Game" was a bonus track from that album). But they kind of went unnoticed and have only just released their second album this month. Annie Hardy is the guitarist/singer and Micah Calabrese plays drums and keyboards, usually at the same time. Annie has a frivolous personality and she also entertains audiences with her banter between songs. The song titles from the debut album are a perfect example of her personality.

Atoms For Peace - "Ingenue"

The much talked-about and highly anticipated 'Atoms For Peace' album 'Amok' is out now. Atoms For Peace are the supergroup featuring Thom Yorke, Flea, Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco and the album shouldn't disappoint anyone, regardless of the angle... whether it be Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers or the curious.

Haley Bonar - "Candy Machine Gun"

I've been listening to the 'late night dispatches' podcasts from NPR's 'All Songs Considered' show. The late night dispatches were a nightly review of what the 'All Songs Considered' host, Bob Boilen, and regulars, Robin Hilton, Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers had been to see during the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Usually at about 2.30am they would excitedly tell us about their experiences and make us all envy. It has to be the single greatest music festival on the planet and every year I hear of their action packed experiences and want to be there. Although, I didn't even get to the Laneway festival in Auckland earlier this year so I doubt if I will ever get off my ass and get to Austin. Anyway, these guys fit so much in every night, it is hard to believe it's still only a small percentage of what is going on. From Nick Cave to Jim James and Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Flaming Lips... well the list goes on and on. A couple of acts also spotted by at least one of them were Dessa and Haley Bonar, which interested me - partly because they are both fantastic and also because they probably won't ever come all the way to NZ for a concert. I'll have to work on a Bitterfest in Taupo and give them top billing.



Live acoustic version

Delcroy - "FRESH"

The previous post brought me to this song "Fresh" by Delcroy. Kotomi a.k.a Lauren Hillman, from Los Angeles, was the, quite brilliant, guest vocalist on the Germany Germany song of the previous blog post and that led me to further investigation. Like a detective looking for evidence, I found something that had to be bagged and sent to forensic. So here it is... a guilty plea is expected.

Germany Germany - "Real Hero" ft. Kotomi

Germany Germany are an experimental-electronica or chillwave band from Canada (although, probably a bedroom producer with guest vocalists). They have self released a couple of albums and they also offer a free download of an EP on bandcamp http://grmnygrmny.bandcamp.com/
"Real Hero" is a cover of the French hit by 'College featuring Electric Youth' released in 2009 but it was the inclusion on the soundtrack of 'Drive' in 2011 that gave it wider exposure. Germany Germany have done an outstanding job with this song.... they have added some modern flavour with the beats but have cranked up the 80's synth sound at the same time. Brilliant!

Gil Scott-Heron - On Coming From A Broken Home (Part 1)

"On Coming From A Broken Home" is a nice tribute from Gil Scott-Heron to his grandmother Lily Scott, who raised him like one of her own. It also pays tribute to all the women who played a part in his upbringing. It samples Kanye West's "Flashing Lights", although the sample itself is subtle and the strength is in the lyrics and baritone delivery. It is from his album 'I'm New Here' released in 2010. With his untimely death a year later, his first album in 16 years, was also his last.

Swimming In Speakers - "In Knowing"

Swimming In Speakers are an upstate New York folktronica duo with a vocalist, Meadow Elizabeth, who will take your breath away. Their debut album 'Guessing the Others' has only just been released, although some songs go back to their self titled EP from 2009. "In Knowing" is an upbeat song that sounds like a pokie machine with a cool beat... and then the vocals come in and the jackpot is hit.

Crystal Castles - "Affection"

Toronto experimental electronic duo Crystal Castles released their third album (III) last year. "Affection" is the third single and is getting plenty of air time on Bitter FM. The album is dark and bleak, although I wouldn't expect anything different from them. It won't cheer you up, but it will certainly move you in a couple of ways.

Allo Darlin' - "Kiss Your Lips"

"Kiss Your Lips" is from the self titled debut album by Allo Darlin' released in 2010. Elizabeth Morris has one of the finest voices in the business and this video reveals that she also has plenty of stage presence. "Kiss Your Lips" is part twee, part country, part folk and a portion of indie pop... and with a line in the chorus such as "then I kissed your lips and they were kind of salty" it's no wonder we play it here in Bitter FM.

Frank Bennett - "The Way You Make Me Feel"

When I first heard Frank Bennett's cover of Radiohead's "Creep" I was hooked. There was no doubt that this was novelty music, but it was the idea of bringing these two worlds together. He obviously named himself after the two leaders of big band, lounge, swing - Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett and wore his influences on his sleeve. The difference, of course, was the choice of material. The album 'Five O'Clock Shadow' featured the aforementioned "Creep" along with Pearl Jam's "Better Man" - Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm" - Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" - Tricky's "Poems" and others from U2, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and this song, Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel"... the 50's never sounded better. He's just too hip baby!

Mademoiselle Nineteen - "Quelle importance"

Mademoiselle Nineteen is the pseudonym for Belgian chanteuse Juliette Wathieu. She released her self titled debut album last year and it would easily fool many into thinking it was recorded in the 60's. She has recreated the French ye-ye sound so expertly. April March would happily hand her the baton - after years of perfecting the sound herself and keeping all of us francophiles happy... having already consumed everything from France Gall and all the other French chanteuses and still wanting more. Quelle Importance? It matters a lot.

Oasis - "Live Forever"

In 1991, when writing "Live Forever" Noel Gallagher remembered Nirvana's "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" and he explained his reaction as (quote)"Well, I'm not fucking having that. As much as I fucking like him [Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain] and all that shit, I'm not having that. I can't have people like that coming over here, on smack, fucking saying that they hate themselves and they wanna die. That's fucking rubbish. Kids don't need to be hearing that nonsense." (unquote). So "Live Forever" started out as a retort to "I Hate Myself and Want to Die" and it became their first Top Ten hit. The inspiration for the melody came from "Shine a Light" by The Rolling Stones after he was listening to 'Exile on Main St'. He aimed high for his inspiration and got the rewards... and I haven't even mentioned The Beatles yet.



Nirvana - "I Hate Myself and Want to Die"

Kevin Ayers - "whatevershebringswesing"

We recently lost another forgotten legend. Kevin Ayers, the singer/bassist for Soft Machine before releasing his solo debut album in 1969, died on the 18th of February. "whatevershebringswesing" is the title track to his third solo album. It's typical of the Harvest label output at the time... eccentric folk or even lo-fi psychedelic. whateveryousayitisfuckingfantastic.