The Easy Gramophone

1. Jamie Radford - This A Breakup Song
Somewhere deep in Georgia there's a man with a thumb-piano and a Bjork sample, Notorious BIG records and a broken heart. This is the sort of break-up that calls for strawberries and cool nights, Nick Drake and too many stars. No anger here - just sadness, sadness. Radford's pragmatic. He's trying not to wallow. "This a break up song," he says, like a hip-hop Eels. "Got me broken up." "I-" Bjork answers. "I- I- I- I-" You what? Just tell us.
Download at: http://www.jamieradford.com/

2. Herman Dune - Suburbs With You
At the time of writing, there are rumours that Herman Dune will be appearing at Mono in August. Is it true? Who knows. If they're not, I say we should all go down there anyway and PRETEND like the French-Swedes are in the room, all bird-legged and scraggly. Andre will have a ukelele and David will have sandals. They'll make a noise for a summer of play, for an afternoon of dance, for daisies and dandelions and playing tag with ex-girlfriends. This is from a 2005 BBC session and will kick your ass straight into the swing-set.
Download at: http://www.hermandune.com/media/livemp3s-oct2005.htm

3. Alec Ounsworth - Dee, Oh Dee
Either you'll like his voice, or you won't. Just as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is, without Ounsworth, only some kids with high-hats and vintage synths, so is a song like this only a man with acoustic guitar and a microphone. But if you like Ounsworth's bleat - a cracked and yearning sound, as much David Byrne as Bright Eyes, - then this becomes a strong, poignant thing. Like Wolf Parade stripped to roller skates; a young man walking home in his underpants and leather jacket.
Download at: http://www.happyhomerecords.com/ao.htm

4. Pants Yell! - My Boyfriend Writes Plays
Pants Yell! play this new, laid-back twee that's descended from Belle and Sebastian and The Lucksmiths but mixed with some Go-Betweens guitar-work and The Shins' sun-baked shuffle. While no one will be buying Pants Yell vinyl to help bring their dancepunk parties to life, if I were Mayor we'd be piping this stuff onto the Meadows on Sunday afternoons. Here a boy sings sadly of his holed-up boyfriend. The dude spends his days, you guessed it, writing plays. And our narrator's had enough. Over a melancholy jangle: "Fuck your stories! I'm leaving, it's true."
Download at: http://www.asaurus.org/records/audio.html

5. Spank Rock - BBC Radio 1 Breeze Block Set
Before Spank Rock hit Edinburgh on August 23rd, get your brain and booty acclimatised with this Breeze Block set from BBC Radio 1. Strange that a thing could feel simultaneously like air conditioning and an overheated room - chilled skin and sweat running down backs. The Philadelphia crew is tight with M.I.A. and Diplo, Baltimore Club and big-beat hip-hop. They wield "Rick Rubin" like a cruise missile, use synths so cheesy you could bake a crisp pizza. They make everything fat and easy, hot and sweet. And their raps ticktock like shoulder-hoisted metronomes.
Download at: http://www.spankrock.net/download.html