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The Hot Five - October #1

  • Published in Columns

The Hot Five – My favourite new tracks of the week, usually rounded off with a classic, obscure or alternate track from my music collection.

Track of the week: Thom Yorke – ‘A Brain In A Bottle’

Thom Yorke clearly doesn’t lead a boring life. There I was, sat watching the Ryder Cup on relaxing Friday when the news breaks: there’s a new Thom Yorke album, it’s called Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, and it’s out now via BitTorrent. With a recent history of unusual album releases and a series of mysterious tweets from the studio where Radiohead have recently regrouped, many fans were right to be on their guard. Thom Yorke’s solo material generally takes a slightly different route to that of Radiohead. Sometimes this more electronic-based composition style is unfairly criticized, but Thom Yorke will demonstrate time and time again his natural talent for creating delicate melodies over a variety of innovative sonic backdrops.

 

Lorde – ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’

I can’t imagine there are many people that haven’t heard of The Hunger Games or Lorde, so I’ll keep this one short and sweet. ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ is the lead song from the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. It’s been 12 months since Lorde’s critically acclaimed debut Pure Heroine. In that time she has firmly established herself as one of the most vibrant and current female artists in music today, with her latest track only adding to a reputation that I’m sure will continue to grow.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 will be released in cinemas worldwide on November 21, 2014.

The Who – ‘Be Lucky’

The Who are kicking off their 50th anniversary celebrations with ‘Be Lucky’, their first new track since 2006. With WHO HITS 50, the new greatest hits album, being released on 3rd November to coincide with the band’s anniversary tour of the same name, it’s sure to be a big year for The Who. ‘Be Lucky’ is an old school track with modern cultural references to Daft Punk and AC/DC. The track was produced by Dave Eringa, who recently worked with Roger Daltrey on his 2014 album with Wilko Johnson, Going Back Home. In keeping with their ongoing support for Teenage Cancer charities, the band have donated their royalties from the song to Teen Cancer America, a charity founded in 2011 by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.

ETCHES – ‘Ice Cream Dream Machine’

‘Ice Cream Dream Machine’ is the brand new second single from Liverpool band ETCHES. I’m going to be frank for a minute: The song title is weird. The video is a bit weird. The music? Well, it’s bloody great. The vocal has character, and I love the atmospheric production of the track. ETCHES are demonstrating great potential, it’ll be good to see what they come up with next. ‘Ice Cream Dream Machine’ is released on October 13th via CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH with supporting shows at St Pancras Old Church, London (Oct 1) and East Village Arts Club, Liverpool (Oct 2).

 

Hidden track of the week: Nine Below Zero – ‘Eleven Plus Eleven’

To mark the re-release of their two critically acclaimed A&M studio albums from the 1980s, Don’t Point Your Finger and Third Degree, the original line-up of Nine Below Zero have reformed for a special UK tour this autumn. The original band line-up famously appeared on the very first episode of BBC sitcom The Young Ones, which starred Rik Mayall and Ade Edmundson. ‘Eleven Plus Eleven’ was released in 1982 and appeared on Third Degree. Nine Below Zero will be touring the UK until the end of November, performing songs from the band’s first three albums only.

You can follow Tom on twitter @tom_fake.

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