Buzz

I've had Vampire Weekend already. Yeasayer soon. All I need is Black Kids and MGMT to complete the American hype/buzz bands set! It's like Pokémon all over again. Gotta catch 'em all. So today, I have "new" tracks from #8 and #9 in the BBC Sound of 2008 (a good a measure of buzz bands as any) poll for you.


Black Kids really captured the imaginations of bloggers worldwide with their free 'Wizard of Ahhhs' EP late last year. While I was more reticient, others clamoured to portray them as the next big thing with an Arcade Fire-meets-The Go! Team sound.

6 months or so on, the hype is still around but as with any hype band, their music now has to stand up to the increased attention. And 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' has certainly done the business, just missing out on the top ten in the UK singles chart. I think it's a fantastic indie pop track but do they really have anything that even matches that track? I'm not so sure. In the meantime however, let's enjoy what they've achieved already.

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You (Live On Later With Jools Holland) [Yourfilehost D/L]//[Sendspace mirror]
Black Kids - Hurricane Jane (Live On Later With Jools Holland) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

Unlike Black Kids, MGMT's hype came long after they'd started and even quite sometime after inking a major label deal. The benefits of this meant the band could release an album on the back of all the hype and that proved to be a successful ploy. #12 in the UK albums chart isn't bad going at all. While the immediacy of Black Kids pop tracks meant they had more attention than MGMT initially, as the psychedlic electropop of MGMT set in, the hype-ball began rolling. And they dropped the whole "it's pronounced management" business, which was a bit silly anyway.


The reviews of 'Oracular Spectacular' suggest the album isn't just 'Electric Feel' and 'Time To Pretend' (two definite standout songs, and obvious singles) and a lot of filler. There are a few album tracks on the MGMT MySpace, so you can head there and judge for yourself.

MGMT - Time To Pretend (Live At SXSW 2008) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

And considering it dropped in my inbox recently, here's a nice mash-up of MGMT, Daft Punk and a bit of The Doors by Immuzikation.

Immuzikation - One More Time To Pretend [zSHARE]

Wow! I just checked my inbox as I was writing this and he's sent me another mash-up, this time melding MGMT's 'Kids' and 'All My Friends' by LCD Soundsystem. Apparently, this was inspired by Alfredo's grandmother. Aw, I love mash-ups. I think I love Immuzikation, even though the track lasts forever!

Immuzikation - All My Children [Yourfilehost]//[zSHARE]

Will MGMT and/or Black Kids stand the test of time? I can't possibly say. But while people like Immuzikation are around, immortalising these bands with ace reinterpretations, I think everyone's a winner.

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Some of my past readers might have noticed a bit of a layout change. If you haven't, press F5 (or whatever the refresh button is) and take a looky. Unless my ugly mug has made your computer break.

What do you all think of the new template? I really like the banner but I'm not so sure about the colour scheme. Also, is the font big/small enough for everyone? Any improvements you can suggest, please do! Let me know if it looks funny on your computer too, I dunno if it will work in all browsers.

And if you prefer a more simple method of feedback, there's a poll on the right, where you can vote for whether the new layout is any cop. Hope you like it and cheers!