MUSIC: This Week We’re Loving…

Why this month's most uncomfortable listen is also the best. Plus, James Blake cheers up, Frank Ocean drops a new track, QOTSA carry on being awesome and Joel Compass floors Ents Ed Jenn Selby with his 19-year-old brilliance.

The Knife

Track: Various

From: Shaking The Habitual, Brille, Out Now

If you ever wondered where that quirky, uniquely Scandinavian brand of electro-pop - touted by the likes of Robyn and Niki & The Dove, among others - came from, look no further than its concentrated source: side-leaning brother/sister duo, The Knife. The siblings have long been known for their outlandish experimentalism, off-beat hooks and ever-changing character personas (Venetian plague doctors were the order of the day for their last proper album release, Silent Shout, in 2010. Sure.), but no matter how far their imaginations took their music in the past, they were still definably 'a pop act'. Not anymore. Shaking The Habitual sees the pair embark on a journey  into stark, androgynous, industrial new territories. It's an unsettling, sometimes uncomfortable listen, but a stroke of electronic genius none-the-less. Which is why I haven't been able to break the loop cycle since it came out earlier this week. Check out their video for A Tooth For An Eye below (seriously, what is it with Scandinavian bands and 80s gyms?) and download it on iTunes here.

James Blake

Track: Various

From: Overgrown, Polydor, Out Now

How it is it that every James Blake album review EVER starts with referring to 'Blub-step', 'Sadcore' (Soz Lana, totally stole that from you) or 'Electro-choly' (Annnnd I totally made that up)? Including this one, apparently. Walked right into that trap. I loved him when he fitted into this well-worn category - all side-swept hair and morose, bass-y minimalism. But now we've got Overgrown. And I'm obsessed with it.  Not just because it features the granddaddy of electronic experimentalism, Brian Eno (BRIAN ENO!), and even a hip-hop track with Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, but because he's honed his songwriting to nigh-on perfection, flipped the lid on RnB and made gospel influences cool again. There are few to compare his sound to, really, such is JB'suniqueness. But the last album of this ilk to have such a profound effect on me as this was Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. And there's nothing down about that. Spend your pennies wisely, and download it here.

Angel

Track: Rocket Love

Album: About Time, Island Records, 15 April 2013

Speaking of my undying love for Frank Ocean, here's a song he wrote for someone else about getting it 'awn with a space woman (niche). It appears on singer/songwriter Angel's forthcoming debut album: the London-based multi-instrumentalist, who boasts Outkast's Big Boi, Trey Songz and even the One Direction (…) among his fans. Oh, and, not sure if you've heard of her, but some artist called Rihanna has requested his songwriting skills for her forthcoming material? No, I've no idea who she is either. Anyway, you can pre-order the album here (worth buying purely for the bonus track titled #Justsayin!). And take a listen to Rocket Love, too. It sounds just like Frank minus his vocals. Did I mention I love that guy? I love that guy. 

Joel Compass

Track: Back To Me

From: Astronaut EP, Black Butter Records, TBC

While we're on that whole ALL ABOUT FRANK OCEAN thing, let me introduce you to some awesome, Ocean-inspired new music: 19-year-old Brixton singer/songwriter Joel Compass. If he doesn't flaw you with his stripped back, minimalist beats, lilting, The Weeknd-style vocals and stunning sophistication (19?!), you have no soul. You are but an empty husk of a human being, entirely void of feeling. Be warned - the heavily-stylised video below is a little disturbing in places (Snakes. Bullet holes. Small child with a gun. You catch my drift.). BUT if you're not offended by your own shadow, it's pretty a cool watch. 

QOTSA

Track: My God Is The Sun

From: Like Clockwork, Matador Records, 3 June 2013

There was never a moment of doubt in my mind that Josh Homme - inarguably the hottest flame-haired man in rock history - would deliver the goods on the new Queens Of The Stone Age material (though my nerves did falter a little when I heard that they would be collaborating with Elton John (a repeat bizarre duet offender), the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, Arctic Money's Alex Turner and Trent Reznor, among others, on the album). He did not disappoint on single number one. Behold - My God Is The Sun. And mine is Josh Homme. And Frank Ocean.

UNTIL NEXT TIME…

THE MOST BIZARRE MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS. EVER.

OUR ODE TO KAREN O

INTRODUCING… BEATRICE ELI. LIKE THE SWEDISH JESSIE J. BUT WAY COOLER.

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