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The Gallery al fresco
- Luxury outdoor kitchens and al fresco living.

Align Massage
- Sports & soft tissue massage.

CDO Developments
- Midlands-based property development company.

Climate Retail
- Supply and delivery of Interiors & POS Display.

Harris Steels
- Quality steel stockholder.

Iyla Rose Foundation
- Funds for children & families with complex needs.

Le Beau Fief
- 19th century French gite to rent.

Mabel's Label
- Pet-friendly cleaning products to order.

Mick Poultney
- Mick Poultney's Bostin' Compostin' blog.

My Handy Helpers
- Get you jobs done: Achieve domestic bliss.

Picture-This Books
- A celebration of creativity, individuality & play.

Proper Ryder Cup
- Literally, the proper Ryder Cup. Not literally.

Redditch Dog Walking
- Dog walking services in Redditch and Studley.

Skyline Ductwork
- Ventilation ducting and flue systems.

Steve Hawkesworth
- Artist: Finest quality handmade woodwork.

Stourbridge Historical Society
- Meetings, outings, activities and membership info.

Sunday Roast Club
- Birmingham's finest Sunday Roast #influencers.

Swinford Prestigue Haulage
- Transportation and delivery of prestige items.

The Bridge House
- Multi-purpose venue, café and children's centre.

Tulip Hair
- Award-winning hair salon in Stourbridge.

The Gallery
- Luxury fitted kitchens in the West Midlands.

The Pole Hub
- Pole dance and fitness classes in Hertfordshire.

Woofy Woods
- Dog boarding kennels in Worcestershire.

What's Your Language?
- Quality French & Spanish tuition in Stourbridge.

Bungalow
- Monthly evening of debauchery in Stourbridge

Lick of the Wik: {2010} {'11} {'12} {'13} {'14} {'15} {'16} {2017}
- A weekly music review

The Kage
- Online music / arts magazine.

Get in touch
- Contact El Grabbo

{ Lick of the Wik: 2011 }

Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the name of this section...

'lick' is jazz-slang for 'some music' apparently, where 'wik' is the equivalent of 7 days, in the Black Country.

 

{2010} {2011} {2012} {2013} {2014} {2015} {2016} {2017}

 

12/12/11
Julian Casablancas - I wish it was Christmas today

A slightly more realistic wish than that of Wizzard, and about time too.

A very merry Christmas to all three of you. x

 

05/12/11
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - All I want for Christmas

No, it's not that one.. sorry.
Some bands quickly get found out when they try to do a slow one; these lot have never had that trouble.

 

29/11/11
Lucy Rose - Driving home for Christmas

It will soon be apparent that I'm trying to make a point about Christmas music, and how some of it is actually palatable. 'The rose that grew from Warwickshire' as no one calls her, is the reason Bombay Bicycle Club narrowly escaped being labelled the "Bore of 2011." She can sing, play the organ and a drum at the same time. Although it did break my little heart when the camera panned across to the bassist and drummer.

 

21/11/11
Bear Driver - Never never

Not to be confused with Beard River, or any other made-up facial-haired Mid-Westen band for that matter.

 

14/11/11
DJ Shadow / Little Dragon - Scale it back

DJ Shadow proving he is much more than the Frankie Dettori of vinyl, with what can only be described as 'An actual song.'

 

07/11/11
Tom Waits - Back in the crowd

"Surely this isn't the official video?" I hear you ask.

Time waits for no man, but Tom Waits has been telling stories like this for over 40 years now.

 

31/10/11
Standard Fare - Philadelphia

Sitting equidistant between The Long Blondes and Moldy Peaches, this is the sort of thing you'd expect to hear in the eagerly anticipated 'Juno 2: Missing the kid.'

 

24/10/11
Dum Dum Girls - Bedroom eyes

Just realised there's a song accompanying this video.

 

17/10/11
Girls names - I could die

Some are claiming the 'Belfast surf scene' to be the sound of tenties, most are not.

 

10/10/11
Blouse - Into black

Imagine a sombre-er *Drums with a female lead-singer. Not that i'd ever allude to Jonathan Pierce being a big girl's blouse. 'Dream-pop' as a genre, has the biggest gulf between how bad the name is, and how nice the music is. Dubstep has this same quirk, but for the opposite reason.

Can't believe no band has ever used the name 'Blouse' before; talk about missing a trick. Not as catchy a name as last wiks' lick though.

* [The]

 

03/10/11
Tashaki Miyaki - Somethin' is better than nothin'

AKA Mary and the Jesus Chain.

You may also be interested in: their cover of The Everley Brothers' All i have to do is dream. You may also not be interested in it.

 

25/09/11
Florence & the machine - Breaking down

Flo's USP is that shouty-singy bit; which, has been building for the last couple of minutes of her harp-heavy hit... so a song where she doesn't do this is a bit of a dive into the abyss.

Apologies for the choice of video, the sound was awful on the live version (and she screamed a bit, and it features an 8 foot harp.)

 

18/09/11
Zulu winter - Let's move back to front

Don't let the title fool you, this is not a party-tune in which everyone who even barely resembles a female gets up and is told when to slide to the left / clap your hands &c.

 

11/09/11
Baxter Dury - Trellic

At the age of 40, he's finally picked up Daddy's rythym-stick.

 

03/09/11
Akira The Don - Babydoll

Can only be described as a Pogueian 'Where did our love go.'

 

10/09/11
Bombay Bicycle Club - Lights out, words gone

If you're going to have an album with only 1 interesting track on it, make sure it's a thing of beauty.

 

26/08/11
Fool's Gold - The dive

Any band named after the greatest band ever's worst song, has some serious explaining to do. According to their Wikipedia page: the band have a "...Shared love of various forms of African music (specifically Congolese, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Malian)."

Ahhhh the old Anglo-Eritrean 'who did jingly jangly first?' debate.

 

19/08/11
Jonathan Richman &the Modern Lovers - Ice cream man

A blast from the past to mark the end of summer and the beginning of S.A.D. Quit while you're ahead though Jon.

 

12/08/11
Cults - Go outside

A 2-piece when the cheques come in; but a 5-piece when they're playing live. The cheques in this case, coming from evil cider companies. A cool, crisp, naturally sparkling sound nonetheless.

 

05/08/11
Hollie Cook - That very night

Not just another cod-reggae album from someone famous's daughter.
This time, it's not the offspring of 'him from the Vindaloo video,' but the result of a Sex Pistol using his.

 

27/07/11
Bandana Splits - Ricky dee, ricky da

Any girl-group which bases it's look on a packet of Campinos, is alright in my book. (or blog)

All they're missing is a slightly bi-polar producer. [hint hint] I won't do anything weird, honest.

 

20/07/11
Little Dragon - Ritual union

Melodic monotony from yet another bunch of talented Turnips. Can any potential remixers please note: Just bass the bass up a bit, and all the kids will love your song.

If only the video was as good as this one.

 

13/07/11
Art Brut - Sealand

A nice twist on a desert island romance. Those of you who fail to recognise Sealand as an independant principality/micronation, don't deserve to hear this quite interesting fact: Frank Black of The Pixies has produced their new album.

 

06/07/11
Washed Out - Eyes be closed

Another hazy lazy summer one.

If the Sex Pistols inspired a generation to pick up guitars, then Washed Out must surely have inspired one or two people to pick up a laptop and learn how to mumble.

 

30/05/11
Sleigh Bells - Rill rill

A nice assortment of Bells and clicks and crazy lyrics.

Follwing in the footsteps of The Kills, Raveonettes and White Stripes; these guys are destined for great Ting Tings.

 

23/05/11
Cornershop ft Bubbley Kaur - Supercomputed

What self-respecting music snob would not try to settle his conscience with a health dose of 'world music?'

 

16/05/11
The Horrors - Still life

From spooky B-movie noise pervs to alt-etherial gods. A rare case of the dreaded third album attracting more fans than it alienates.

The transition from the sound of The Horrors' second album to this one is a mirror's image of the moment The wizard of Oz turns to technicolour.

 

09/05/11
Michael Kiwanuka - Tell me a tale

Sadly, this gem will not get anywhere near as much air-play as someone repeating 'i need a dollar' until the music buying public oblige and hand over their 79p's. Talk about brainwashing.

Aged just 23 and from London, I'm about as shocked as the day I found out Steve Marriott wasn't a black, American female; - or any combination of these three things.

 

02/05/11
The Bookhouse Boys - With you

Next Wik's will not be as dark, promise.

 

25/04/11
David Holmes - I heard wonders

If you've ever seen an advert, or watched a film; then you have probably already experienced Mr. Holmes, but just didn't know it.

 

25/04/11
The Tamborines - Indian hill

Upbeat shoegaze with a hint of keyboard. Keen ears will note the I'm Alan Partridge inspired lyrics. "I tell you what, I tell you what, I tell you what, (...it's 9 and a half thousand pounds)

 

18/04/11
Raveonettes - Recharge & revolt

The distortion-driven Danish duo return with a track which probably took 10 miuntes to write, but begs the question "why doesn't anyone else do it?"*

* Quite so well.

 

11/04/11
The Jezebels - Disco biscuit love

Not to be confused by a similarly named track by The Rubettes. Lines such as "he only loves you when he's on pills" refers to the frustrations of the emotioal side of disco biscuit love, as apposed to the physical impracticalities of the act itself.

 

04/04/11
Cut Copy - Need you now

White lies return with their...I mean:
Eighties-ing their way out of the blossoming Ausrailian music scene, much like the band above {which was posted and reviewed in the future} Cut Copy must be given credit for striking a balance between moody and funky.
FYI: The rest of the album isn't as overtly nu-wave, and I'd recommend listening to this without watching the video; it's awful. I nearly spewed up my own pelvis.

Click here for Architecture In Helsinki's remix, which may well be better.

 

28/03/11
Metronomy - The look

The fluorescent adolescents are the sort of 'band' you would expect to see live - each playing a different, brightly coloured laptop. Luckily for me, and my sweeping generalisations, they seem to have swapped their synths for a good old electric organ. Just 23 seconds into this song, you know what you're in for: "You'll never get anything better than this... 'Cause you're going round in circles." sums it up better than I ever could.

 

21/03/11
Cud - You sexy thing

Unlike 'My generation' by The Oasis Brothers, this is a brave attempt at an otherwise ropey song. Trying to resist using a saturday-night-karaoke-show cliché, but: they really made the song their own. the reason for posting a cover, if you're wondering, is the same reason The Simpsons puts out a clip-show every so often.

 

14/03/11
Felt - Primitive painters

Felt were the musical equivalent of a crystal ball. shaping what was in store for British independent music. Fellow West Midlander Martin Duffy who would later play keyborads for Primal Scream, was a founder member. The Cocteau Twins add a touch of the ethereal to this track, which born in August 1985, make it slightly older than a certain anonymous music reviewer-cum-web designer.

 

07/03/11
British sea power - Who's in control

Not since Tinchie Tempah's 'arse out, glarse out' song has an artist spoke so explicitly about Britain's current political climate, showing support for local libraries and even the odd protest.

 

01/03/11
Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken

Hailing from a nation of battered mars-bars, battered football fans and battered so-on; Scottish bands seem to off-set these batterings by leading the way in what's known as twee-pop. Prolific performers Camera Obscura were asked by John Peel to put some Robert Burns poems to music over 10 years ago. Keen to appeal to music fans who aren't trawlermen; they released some comprehendible pop gems too.

 

21/02/11
Grinderman - Palaces of Montezuma

Cave, minus his Bad Seeds (who confusingly, are all in Grinderman) are in the midst of a legal battle with an unsigned Scottish band. Frankie Duffy of Kalel claims Grinderman stole the chords A, E and B. Presumably, Duffy believes the Kiwis should have used C, D, F and G; as these chords have never been used.

 

14/02/11
Those Dancing Days - I'll be yours

The all-female Swedish sweetie-pies release the 1st single from their new album. Known more for their brilliant pop melodies than their complex lyrics, in 2007 they were signed to the Wichita label, not bad for a band who formed while still at school, singing in their second language. - Even the screaming at the end sounds good.

 

07/02/11
Bibio - Lover's carvings

Elgar, Goldie, Bibio. These three one-named wonders all hail from the windy city that is: Wolverhampton. With a sound more 1989 Manhattan, than modern day ring-road-encased Wolvo; the 1st part of the song makes you want to watch Juno, with the second part encouraging you to buy some e-books or somethin'.

 

31/01/11
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie xx - I'll take care of u

Serial remixer Jamie (of the) xx has struck a great balance of what the kids are listening to, and what the kids should be listening to. GSH's timeless vocals lend a hand to a tune which is very close to descending into a subwoofer tester for a Renault 5; reminding us: The revolution will not be televised, - but will be available on BBC iPlayer.

 

24/01/11
Angus and Julia Stone - Big jet plane

Awkward Antipodean brother-sister duo prove that you don't have to dress like Jimmy Krankie to be taken seriously down under.

The official video is worth a look, but it's quite rare to see a lady playing the harmonica, most versions have a string-section instead.

* Note Julia's little wiggle at 2 minutes 50 seconds.

 

17/01/11
Anna Calvi - Blackout / Desire (live)

Just as soon as I've started to appreciate PJ Harvey; and feel quite proud of this fact, Anna Calvi comes into my life and takes over. I'd like to say I used this video because I unearthed Ms. Calvi from an obscure French arts channel, but in reality it's because it features two of he best tracks from her debut album.

The presenter sums her up with "très originale." All the other stuff he says is spot-on too, trust me.

To label Calvi: Siouxsie + the Machine, would be unfair, particularly as there is no machine. The whole album seems to be a score from a spaghetti-western,

I feel my second coining coming on: Baroque 'n' roll.

 

10/01/11
PJ Harvey - Written on the forehead

It's taken 8 albums and 24 years of music, but I finally appreciate a song by PJ Harvey.
Hopefully it's not just for the cheeky sample of Niney the Observer's 'blood and fire.'

Rumour has it: she adopted the 'initial-initial surname' to combat the phallocentric music industry of the 21st century, in the hope people may thinks she's a man and buy her books... i mean buy her records.

 

03/01/11
Fiction - Big things

Orange juice anyone?

 

{2010} {2011} {2012} {2013} {2014} {2015} {2016} {2017}