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Back Of The Sofa, Part III

Fraser McAlpine | 17:46 UK time, Thursday, 13 September 2007

sofa.jpg

Once again, I've been rooting about down the back of the ChartBlog sofa to find another selection of slightly raggedy, careworn tunes which possibly won't be giving chart compilers sleepless nights, but which are well worth a listen nonetheless.

Here's a good example of what I mean. It's called 'Excuse Me', it's by a collective called Oli 'N' Clive (Oli being the singer, and Clive being the rest of the band), and it features someone playing the saw. And it's rather lovely.

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Envelopes - 'Life On The Beach'

You've got to love optimism, haven't you? A band who are prepared to release an ode to the delights of sitting on a blanket with sand between your teeth, in SEPTEMBER. Mind you, Rihanna's 'Umbrella' was released in early summer, and look what happened there. This could be the difference between a rubbish autumn and one of those late-blooming heatwaves that generate record traffic to the nation's seaside resorts during half-term week. Fingers crossed!

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Jakobinarina - 'The First Crusade' (album)

Being in a band is often a massive excuse for letting your inner smart-arse out and making him (it's usually a him) do a sarcastic dance for the cameras, as if to prove you, the performer, are TOO CLEVER, to be SUCKED INTO the FAME TRAP. Here's a perfect case in point.

Yeah! That's US TOLD! Fans of the sarcastic pun, or withering scorn in general will find much to love in Jakobinarina's song titles alone. There's 'Monday I'm In Vain' (the Cure had a song called 'Friday I'm In Love', see), 'His Lyrics Are Disastrous', 'Sleeping In Seattle', and my personal fave 'Spit Me In The Eye'.

Beat that, Gallows!

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Malakai - 'The Battle'

WARNING! Don't watch this video if you're of a nervous disposition, or you're easily disturbed by clashing colours, or you just plain don't like dung-beetles. But DO watch it if you're missing some psychedelic funk in your life. OK?

Malakai hail from Bristol, and this song is taken from what I'm assuming is their first EP, called 'EP1' (can you see my workings-out there?). Personally, I don't think dung beetles get enough coverage in this crazy business we call 'show', especially the psychedelic ones, poor blighters.

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ida_maria_150.jpgIda Maria - 'Oh My God'

Now, this song hasn't even had the chance to GET lost down the back of the sofa yet. It's not out until October 1st, there's no YouTube video (beyond a lady acting the goat in front of her video camera, which is , if that's what you're into), AND while it's a great song, the B-side 'We're All Going To Hell' is EVEN BETTER.

SO, here's what we're going to do. You're going to pay a visit to the band's MySpace page (), and check out 'Oh My God', then you're going to come back here and watch the band create a mass singalong, even though what they're singing about is pretty bleak if you believe in that kind of thing. AND it's actually quite uplifting. Bizarre!

There, see what I mean?

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NOTE: This blog posting is for wider-reading purposes only. The chances of finding The Future Of Music listed here are quite slim, however the chances of finding a song or band who you grow to love because of their underdog status, well that's almost a given!

Previous rummages:
Back Of The Sofa V
Back Of The Sofa IV
Back Of The Sofa II
Back Of The Sofa I

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