The Bass Is Good

Its Monday again and that means only one important thing, The Weekly Stew is back to dish you up another serving of scrumptious music! It seems that last week's post 'Magic Wands For Drumsticks' was our most popular so far, giving testament to the fact that South African music is rather fantastic at the moment. In fact, a big congratulations has to go to Mr Matt Mole who was featured on this blog last week. If you remember, I mentioned that he was involved in a Converse competition. He won that competition and is now set to play at the iconic 100 Club in London. South African music on the world stage...I will take that on any day of the week! Matt only won after he was featured on this blog, so I think we all know why he won. (Definitely wasn't because of the hundreds of votes).

This week we go back to our more traditional roots (yes we are allowed to have roots after only 4 weeks), and bring you another 5 tracks of musical bliss. This week we have harps, harmonies and bass lines to make girl's knees go weak.

1. Active Child - Playing House

Active Child is the stage name for American electronic artist Pat Grossi. Grossi is a former choirboy (amazingly not from Kearsney) who has transfixed audiences around the world with his hypnotic beats and harmonies. I was lucky enough to see Active Child live in February and was amazed to see him pull out a harp on stage and play it throughout his set while still managing to hit every note thrown at him. It really is quite a shock to see a grown man playing a harp onstage infront of an audience at an indie music festival. 'Playing House' is one of his more popular songs and as you listen, you will see why a man with a harp can still get legions of girls chasing after him.

2. Ball Park Music - Surrender

I was lucky enough to spot this beauty last week while perusing the web, it took me a while to find out who the artist was but when I did I wasn't disappointed. 'Surrender' is a future indie pop star, it's one of those songs that just get better every time you listen to it. The Brisbane locals have been causing quite a stir in Australia with their latest offering and a new album is on the way soon from the 5 piece band. This song just fills me with joy every time I listen to it so why don't you brighten up your Monday as well? The music video has some seriously rad special effects in it that kind of makes up for the freaky makeup on the lead female singer.

3. Interpol - Evil

The blog has become such a hit in Europe that they threatened to shut us down unless we featured their law enforcement agency. Okay, maybe thats a little bit of a lie. The band Interpol aren't even from Europe, they are actually New Yorkers who make some pretty fantastic music. Interpol have been one of my favorite bands for a few years now. Their bass lines are among the smoothest in the business and their vocals can give you goosebumps for days afterwards. These guys rival even The Strokes for the title of the coolest in the business! 'Evil' was the first single off their 2004 album 'Antics', and is still one of the most played songs on my ipod 8 years later.

4. Razorlight - America

Razorlight are an English band that play what I like to describe as glam rock. Big, shiny guitar riffs and squeaky clean vocals. It makes for an enticing combination that Razorlight have really run with over the years. They are the type of band that you can easily listen to an entire album from start to finish, and then start it all over again, hearing something new in their songs every time you listen. That's really something that I love to hear when I'm listening to a band. 'America' is Razorlight's marquee track, it's a little bit more chilled than most of their songs but it builds throughout to end in a veritable crescendo of musical delight. You too will probably be longing for America after listening to this song.

5. Bombay Bicycle Club - Shuffle

For our final track this week we take you on a journey to India. We take you across vast oceans of grass and vivid landscapes to end up at the foot of towering mountains that are capped in snow. Ok maybe we don't do that, but Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC), certainly do in this song. BBC are actually in my top 3 favorite bands, which is really a high honor for a band (if I do say so myself). They are an indie rock quartet that cut their teeth in the London music scene until they managed to win a competition to open 'V' Festival. When I first heard BBC they had an extremely indie sound to them, but they have managed to alter that over the last couple of years to become a festival favorite around Europe. Shuffle is one of the happiest and most invigorating songs I have ever heard. From the jangling piano at the start, right until the funky ending you will find yourself wishing that you knew how to do the Bombay Bicycle Club Shuffle.

I trust that you enjoyed this week's playlist. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.