FriendBurst Blog

I got into Junior Boys (that sounds bad) in 2006.  That was when album number two was released.  So This Is Goodbye immediately reminded me of Cabaret Voltaire – on the opening track (Double Shadow).  Just a minute and a half into the song, I knew I’d found something special.  Count Souvenirs sounds a lot like Depeche Mode (circa 1987).  The vocals are reminiscent of Prefab Sprout and Scritti Politti.  Junior Boys’ sound is crisp and clear.  The songs are imaginative (even visionary).  The two members of Junior Boys work separately (they reside in different countries) yet they have managed to produce four cohesive albums in seven years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy-8V5oFXfQ&feature=related

The first album (Last Exit) was released in 2004.  It was re-released with bonus tracks, shortly after So This Is Goodbye was re-released (with a bonus disc full of satisfactory remixes and live tracks).  Begone Dull Care (2009) was a bit more ‘poppy’.  It sounds like a cross between Erasure and Jamiroquai (especially on Hazel and Bits & Pieces).  There are some ‘classic’ Junior Boys moments though.  Work is a fantastic piece of bubbly minimal house.  Dull To Pause is reminiscent of early Kraftwerk (and Ulrich Schnauss).  The fourth album (It’s All True) was released last year.  It is an adequate offering, but not quite as good as Junior Boys’ previous output.

Inspired mostly by Daft Punk, Justice (another French duo) released the debut album (generally referred to as Cross) in 2007.  Fans of Simian Mobile Disco may like it, although it is more ‘stabby’ and abrasive (and generally more like Daft Punk).  Justice also made several remixes.  A live album (A Cross The Universe) was released in 2008.  Justice released album number two (Audio, Video, Disco) last year.  I haven’t heard it yet.

Kosheen’s first album (Resist) was a success.  The Bristolian band fused drum ‘n’ bass with trip-hop and pop.  The singles Hide U, Catch and Hungry were very popular.  On album number two (Kokopelli) the trio went all moody.  It’s less like Hybrid and more like The Cure and Massive Attack.  The third album (Damage) was far less successful.  I haven’t heard it, because I can’t seem to find it anywhere.  It appears the record label anticipated poor sales and manufactured a limited amount of CDs.  Kosheen’s fourth album (Independence) is due to be released in June.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TzEcnSIeSc

The Killers (who took the name from a New Order video) released Hot Fuss in 2004.  The band soon became hugely popular worldwide.  The mixture of dancefloor-friendly pop and rock appealed to a wide audience.  The band’s eagerness to perform live kept pushing the album further up the charts, as they gained more exposure.  The second album (Sam’s Town) marked a change of style.  The inspiration came from The Killers’ home land (whereas Hot Fuss has a UK indie-rock feel to it).  Sam’s Town sounds more like Bruce Springsteen than Joy Division.

The last ‘proper’ album (the underwhelming Day & Age) was released in 2008.  Before that, The Killers released a compilation of b-sides and rarities.  It is called Sawdust and it’s pretty good.  It contains a few cover versions (from Joy Division to Dire Straits).  Lou Reed also contributed vocals on Tranquilize.  There is a remix of Mr Brightside at the end.  Brandon Flowers released a solo album (Flamingo) in 2010.  There were some favourable reviews.  The Killers’ fourth album is currently under construction and is likely to be released before the end of the year.

Francois Kevorkian’s Masterpiece is a triple-disc set, featuring three separate DJ gigs by the legendary German producer.  The sets are smooth but often quite boring.  Dance music does tend to be very repetitious.  Eighty minutes of four-to-the-floor is normally about as much as I can take.  Francois Kevorkian started his music career as a DJ (in the early eighties).  He later mixed and mastered albums for Depeche Mode (Violator) and Kraftwerk (Electric Cafe) – among others.

Further listening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHlR_scDDP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4odL2d7TgrI