Every now and then I like to round up the best music that finds its way to my ears, and the last week has seen missives from new faces and old (no offence to anyone). This roundup features Prince Edward Island, Luke Joyce’s I Build Collapsible Mountains, the guitar genius who is RM Hubbard, A Band Called Quinn and The Seventeenth Century. That is a great line-up in any language and listening to their work together puts me in the best of moods.
First off is You Look Like You Need a Drink the new single from Prince Edward Island and which acts as a taster to their forthcoming album This Day is a Good Enough Day. There are suggestions of Ballboy and Arab Strap in their sound which I hope excites you as it does me:
Last year saw the release on Peenko records of A Month of Lost Memories the début EP by Luke Joyce, otherwise known as I Build Collapsible Mountains, and as many will know it was one of my favourite pieces of music of the year. Well he has been over to the States to garner even more acclaim and now he’s back. His new album The Spectator and the Act is due in October, and, once I work out how to open the file he sent me with the album on it, I will write more fully about it (it really is a miracle that this blog makes it out). In the meantime here is the opening track Face of Thunder:
Last Wednesday saw the launch of the paperback version of The Year of Open Doors (see The Year of Open Doors) and as well as the impressive selection of writers and readers there was one RM Hubbert playing the most astonishing music. The man’s work was new to me, but after getting a copy of his album First and Last I’ve been listening to little else since. It’s a great introduction to his work but he really flies live. If you get the chance to see him I suggest you grab it eagerly. This is Frost and Fire:
Next is a song which you may already be familiar with but it is included here because the video has been selected for the Bornshorts Film Festival. It’s a proper piece of old school horror and is a reminder that video, at its best, is as much an art form as any other. This is Wolf Cries Boy from the wonderful A Band Called Quinn, and the song can be found on their underrated album The Beggar’s Opera. Don’t have nightmares:
Finally there is the latest video from Scots Whay Hae! favourites The Seventeenth Century, one which captures the magic of their live shows. You can find it on their EP The Seventeenth Century (Part II). This is Banks of Home: