2 posts tagged “patrick wolf”

The Wombats - Backfire @ the Disco

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NME presents The Essential Bands – Festival Edition was just released on June 11th, 2007 (available in America as an import on June 14th).

I didn't know how successful they are, but according to the press release that the first two NME Presents album have sold over 600,000 copies. That's actually really good numbers for the UK because they have different standards for certification of "Platinum" (300,000 copies). For trivia's sake, US Certified Platinum is having 1,000,000 copies sold.

Despite Mr C's protests, we cover quite a few NME-hyped bands, so if you want to check out what they sound like, here are some internal links: Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Jet, Patrick Wolf, The Wombats, and The Cribs.

I am actually kind of working on a concert review for the Maccabees and Noisettes entry. I'll give you a preview: the Noisettes are a scary-looking band!  The singer from the Maccabees dances around like he's Ian Curtis!

Track Listing:

NME presents The Essential Bands – Festival Edition

CD 1 01. Kaiser Chiefs - Everything Is Average Nowadays 02. The Killers - Bones 03. Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control 04. Razorlight - Before I Fall To Pieces 05. Kasabian - Shoot The Runner 06. Muse - Starlight 07. The Twang - Wide Awake 08. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Weapon Of Choice 09. Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs 10. Jet - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 11. The Rumble Strips - Alarm Clock 12. The Automatic - Raoul 13. The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love 14. CSS - Off The Hook 15. Noisettes - Scratch Your Name 16. 1990s - See You At The Lights 17. The Maccabees - Precious Times 18. Pull Tiger Tail - Let’s Lightning 19. Cold War Kids - Hang Me Up To Dry 20. Jarvis - Running The World

CD 2 01. The View - Same Jeans 02. Klaxons - Gravity's Rainbow 03. Maximo Park - Our Velocity 04. Bloc Party - The Prayer 05. Low vs Diamond - Heart Attack 06. The Hours Back - When You Were Good 07. Keane - A Bad Dream 08. Thirteen Senses - All The Love In Your Hands 09. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position 10. Little Man Tate - This Must Be Love 11. Gruff Rhys - Candylion 12. Bright Eyes - Four Winds 13. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. - War Of The Worlds 14. Alterkicks - Good Luck 15. Long Blondes - Giddy Stratospheres 16. The Wombats - Backfire At The Disco 17. The Rakes - We Danced Together 18. Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour… 19. !!! - Must Be The Moon 20. The Cribs - Men's Needs

Also, is anyone is interested in a competition to win this CD? If you guys aren't interested, I won't bother to make the effort to set it up.

Links: www.nme.com

The Magic Position Tristan 1 comment Pigeon Song

Patrick Wolf is a mere lad of 23, but has apparently been making music for more than half his life. His first album Lycanthropy was released in 2003 and was met with critical acclaim but strangely enough he has yet to achieve widespread fame and glory. Which is perhaps not such a bad thing, considering the state of popular music these days. But that's neither here nor there. Ahem.

It would be easy to dismiss Wolf as just another pretty face, as glittery style over substance. But he's actually got the musical chops to back it up. His voice ranges from deep growls to effusive whoops, and everything in-between. He plays quite a few instruments, including but not limited to: pianos, violas, ukuleles, dulcimers, theremins, harmoniums, bells, gongs, synthesizers, and handclaps.

His latest release, The Magic Position, is the most "pop" album Wolf has released, as evidenced by the lyrics from the title track: "You've put me in the magic position/ To live, to learn, to love in the major key.../ Let me put you in the magic position, darling 'cause/ I'm singing in the major key." While on past albums his music has been described as "dark" and "apocalyptic," this time around he even sings straightforward love songs ('Enchanted'). That's not to say it's all sunshine and butterflies, however, he's still got a few songs ('Magpie,' 'Augustine') about love's lament (which are my favorite kinds of pop/love songs actually).

I had a difficult time trying to decide on which songs to include here so I tried to choose ones with a somewhat different sound. While I think all three of his albums are equally excellent, I would venture to say that The Magic Position is probably the most accessible to date. Enjoy, and when you realize you can't stop playing his stuff don't say I didn't warn you!

Official website | MySpace

Bonus: video for 'Bluebells'