TRACKS OF THE WEEK - 29/07/12 - DIIV, Death At Sea, Frank Ocean, It's a Bird! It's a Plane

Here are four tracks to help with the heat!

Flycasual:-
Diiv - Air Conditioning (2012)

As the mercury finally soared this week, the aptly titled 'Air Conditioning' was like taking a soothing bite out of your favourite popsicle (ooh, a Fab for me please). It was instant musical gratification, I must have played it a good few times on my way home from work. The tranquillizing bass line and the jangly guitar work, reminiscent of The Cure, maybe The Smiths and perhaps inevitably, a little sprinkling of Joy Division. Also with elements of Krautrockers Can thrown in for good measure as it drones on.  Formerly Dive and renamed DIIV, to avoid any legal wrangling with a Belgian industrial band with the same name, hail from the musical talent pool of Brooklyn.

'Air Conditioning' is taken from their debut album Oshin, released in June. Click here to read more on them.....


SFW:- 
Frank Ocean - Sweet Life (2012)


Frank Ocean has been getting a lot of 'hype' recently. He seems to be on the radio, blogs and various news outlets, so I decided to check him out. Ocean has been a ghostwriter for Brandy, John Legend and Justin Bieber and featured on the Kanye & Jay-z album "Watch the throne". This track features on his debut album 'channel orange'. Produced by Pharrell Williams, it has tinges of John Legend (unsurprisingly) and dare I say it, Stevie "The musical genius" Wonder. Give it a go - perfect for sunny days and hot night. Enjoy!



Old Pa's Corner :-
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! - Crow Hill (2012)

It is a bit quiet on the new release front at the moment, maybe its the Olympics or the record companies are timing the new releases for the Autumn and Christmas markets. While I was browsing the other day, I heard this little gem, It was by a Swedish group It's a bird! it's a plane!. What a strange name!. It is called Crow Hill and is from their Album Here Comes the Sun released earlier this year. I don't know too much about them really but I like this catchy tune and have been humming it all the way to the Beach.  That can't be  a bad sign, can it?.





Shell Hunter:-
Death At Sea - 'Drag' (2012)

The last time I was recommended to listen to a track by London Scouser (see his guest spots here) it was Gotye's 'Somebody That I used to Love' and look at the phenomena that became! I thought I'd best check this recommendation out too. As it happens, I really like it. The vocals remind me slightly of Echo and the Bunnymen but there was something niggling me when I first heard it. The guitar riff sounded so familiar, but where the hell did I hear it before? All of a sudden, I just thought of the great film 'Singles'. Could it be from that? my first thought was Chris Cornell's 'Seasons' and POW that was it! The repeating riff is really similar! Well, that's done it for me! The grunge rock influence has made me want to hear more. I haven't been able to find out too much on the band other than they are based in Liverpool and their debut EP 'Life and Youth' was out in February. Follow them on Facebook or check out their official website www.deathatseaofficial.com because I'm sure they are destined for great things.

What are your tracks of the week? Let us know!