Weekly Column: The Hot Five
- Written by Tom Fake
The Hot Five – My views on five tracks that have attracted my interest in any given week, usually with an older track thrown in the mix for something a bit different. Tracks usually concentrate on guitar-based releases, but really focusing on anything and everything that comes to my attention. Shameless – follow me on twitter @tomfake
Track of the Week: Lady Danville – ‘Kids’
I clicked on this track on a ‘hipster’ (I know, I know) playlist on Spotify. Okay, so maybe it’s not the best way of finding new music, but I was there. Anyway, I found this track. From the intro you’d have no idea that it was a cover of the MGMT hit. It really works in a more acoustic setting too; the vocal line is complemented with a great unison/harmony line that’s really pleasing to the ear, and the guitar and piano are good substitutes for the samples and electronic instrumentation of the original version. Just a great arrangement, really.
Howie Payne – ‘The Brightest Star’
This track is only a demo version of this song. That doesn’t put me off though, I like that this folk rock track isn’t over-produced, and has a very authentic feel to it because of that. There’s a bit of a Bon Iver sound to it, with the double tracked vocals that aren’t quite in sync, and it works nicely. It reminds me a little bit of Blitzen Trapper’s ‘Furr’… See below! Quite honestly, there’s not a huge amount to say about this track, but have a listen and hopefully we’ll be on the same wavelength!
The Travelling Band – ‘Hands Up (Acoustic)’
After a session in the BBC's 6 Music studio with Marc Riley and a 24-date UK tour, Manchester folk act The Travelling Band are showing potential. Not only that, they won Glastonbury Festival’s 2008 New Talent award, and are set to release their new album on 20th May. The vocals in the track itself are fantastic, with an edge of reverb, subtle harmonies and backing vocals really drawing you away from the refined instrumental element of the track. It really is a shame that you are taken away from it, because there are some really nice guitar parts in the song too. All in all it’s just a nice track to chill out to, there’s no huge climax or build up, it’s just subtly great.
Ty Walker – ‘Rabbit Hole’
I’ve found myself humming this over the last few weeks. This track comes from Ty Walker’s debut EP Connection Errors that was released last month. It’s got a classic, catchy chord progressions with a killer bass line, and I think that Dave Grohl would quite enjoy the guitar run at the end of the song. It’s an honest, relatable, and tight 3-minute rock song that fits into a genre, I think, in need of a kick up the backside… It’s definitely time for another Is This It? or Whatever People Say I am, That’s What I’m Not sort of album.
Hidden track of the week: Blitzen Trapper – ‘Furr’
After mentioning this song above, I decided that I wanted to share it. I have iTunes to thank for this track. I probably wouldn’t have even heard of Portland-based Blitzen Trapper if it hadn’t been for this track being available as a free download as Track of the Week. The very folky guitar enters along with the double tracked vocals that don’t quite match and it’s just truly entrancing. The vocal tells of a man becoming a wolf until he meets a girl that he marries. So yeah, your average boy-meets-girl life story really… Does the job for me anyway; the song demonstrates a great talent for storytelling regardless of normality of the story it’s telling.