North American Indie Mix

Winging its way across the Atlantic comes the appropriately named 'North American Indie Mix' from the fabulous Kat (aka Skyekat). A quick glance through the track the listing shows that most of the bands and all of the tracks will be new to me. North American Indie as a distinct genre is unfamilar to me, I must admit. My knowledge of modern American music probably stops somewhere between grunge and west coast punk, so this should be informative if nothing else. Here we go then ...

01 Me and Mia - Ted Leo

A nice high energy track to start with, choppy guitars and a lot of energy. Thumbs up!

02 Neighbourhood #3 - The Arcade Fire

Ooh, this is different. It sounds reminiscent of New Order circa True Faith, which is a positive thing in my book. It took a few listens to get used to the vocal style, but this has grown on me enormously. Definitely one for further investigation. Two thumbs up!

03 You're Pretty Good Looking (for a girl) - The White Stripes

Now, I have heard of the White Stripes, but this is a new track to me, and to be honest I wouldn't have recognised them if I hadn't had the track listing. I quite like this, in a raw, unpolished, back to basics rock sort of a way. It doesn't outstay its welcome, which is a plus point.

04 King of Carrot Flowers - Neutral Milk Hotel

A bit of a late sixties vibe with the guitars, and perhaps a touch of They Might Be Giants style quirkiness with the harmonica and slightly nasal vocals. Another grower, and one thumb up!

05 July, July - The Decemberists

A bit more quirkiness, and these are even more like TMBG, in a good way. I love the lines about crooked French Canadians and chickens. Catchy chorus too. Excellent stuff, two thumbs I think.

06 A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger - Of Montreal

Talking of French Canadians ... this is a bit different, and I'm not entirely sure about it. The vocals are a bit hit and miss, with more miss than hit I'm afraid. Not quite a thumbs down, but this has me tempted to skip the track.

07 Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley

Another change of mood, to a female songer singwriter (that was a typo but I like it), and it's a definite hit, with a bit of a Stevie Nicks vibe to it. Polished and laid back at the same time, it's only the slightly cheesy seventies style instrumental break that lets it down. A definite thumbs up!

08 Why do you let me stay here - She and Him

From the seventies, to something that is almost a sixties Motown/Phil Specter sort of track, complete with backing harmonies and full on production. I could quite easily imagine the Ronnettes singing this. Thumbs up!

09 Paper Thin Walls - Modest Mouse

Back to a more traditional indie sound now, with echoes of David Byrne in there as well. The name rings a bell, and a quick google tells me that Johnnie Marr (ex of The Smiths) is now playing with them which has got to be worth investigating, I think. This track doesn't really grab me, but I'm still intrigued none the less.

10 The Golden Age - Bridges and Powerlines

Cranking up the energy now, with some solid drumming underpinning some really catchy guitar work. Good stuff, and a thumbs up!

11 Yeah Sapphire -The Hold Steady

More good guitar work, although the vocalist seems to be channeling Richard Butler in a gruff voiced sort of way, and it all goes a bit Bruce Springsteen towards the end of the track with the piano fighting for attention. Possibly a touch pompous, but intriguing all the same.

12 Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs

I was mometarily confused, thinking that these were more like The White Stripes than the actual White Stripes track from earlier on, but google again tells me that it is indeed Jack White on vocals here, with a sort of indie supergroup. Thumbs up!

13 Stop - Against Me

A very anthemic chorus that has me singing along every time, and at 2;33 it's the perfect length for this sort of punky track. Thumbs up

14 Hallelujah The Hills - Hallelujah The Hills

This is the opposite of a grower, I'm afraid. I really liked it on first hearing, particularly the almost C&W use of a fiddle (or maybe a cello), but the vocals shouted through some sort of weird sound mangling device really started to grate on me after a couple of listens. A reluctant thumbs down.

15 Mistaken for Strangers - The National

A more downbeat track now, sounding like something from the miserabilist end of the 80s, but in a good way, along the lines of Echo and the Bunnymen meeting the Cure in a back alley somewhere for a fight. I'm not sure about the end of the track where it sort of fizzles out rather than ending with a bang, but on balance a thumbs up

16 My Moon My Man - Feist

An excellent little track, from a female singer song writer, that bounces along in a rather jolly and catchy way with some nice twists along the way. I like this one a lot, although I'm assuming that the strange bit at the end is a lead in to another track on the cd. Thumbs up!

17 Imitosis - Andrew Bird

Hmmm, this sounds a bit too much like an American version of Sting for my tastes, I'm afraid. Clever and polished, but it rings hollow and it all falls a bit flat for me.

18 Be Good - Tokyo Police Club

In total contrast, this is excellent - tight, compact and to the point, and it receives lots of plus points for references to Samurai. Two thumbs up!

19 BTK Blues - Pink Nasty

Not what I was expecting from the name of the band, it's quite acceptable folk-rock with a southern edge, until the oddly misplaced chorus kicks in. OK, I suppose, but not really my cup of proverbial tea.

20 Paris 2004 - Peter Bjorn & John

Another mild disappointment with this one - I was expecting some sort of Abba tribute, and got a bit of fairly average jangly guitar pop. If my preferred tea is Earl Grey, this is the generic supermarket brand.

21 Black Flowers - Yo La Tengo

Everything sounds like Coldplay now - nuff said.

22 The Greatest - Cat Power

Oooh, this is more like it. Smoky blues, sung with a breathy hint of regret. The singer songwriter equivalent of 'I coulda been a contender'. Lovely. Two thumbs up, most definitely!

23 Sheffield Shanty - Monkey Swallows the Universe

You're cheating with this one, but I'll let you get away with it, simply because this song is simply gorgeous. In an odd bit of synchronicity I saw the singer Nat Johnson supporting John Otway and Wild Willy Barrett a couple of months ago, and was quite taken with her solo version of 'Teenager in Love'. I'd forgotten about her until hearing this track which inspired me to go on a wild google search to buy the MSTU cds and I ended up joining her forum as the first member on the list an hour after it had been launched. This is a lovely song, that wins with its themes of piracy on the flooded streets of Sheffield and also name checking most of the places that I've lived in over the last twenty years. Admittedly, it would have to be a heck of a flood to be able to sail from Broomhill to Walkley, but it's a change from the 52 bus ... :-)

So, on the whole an excellent mix that has opened my eyes to at least a couple of new artists, some of them not even from Sheffield - many thanks again!