When it was announced, I thought The Verve headlining Glastonbury Festival was a bit of a weak move - The Verve have been split and silent for years now; Richard Ashcroft's solo output has been the sub-MOR equivalent of dipping your head into a stagnant duck-pond; surely they're doing one more comeback for tax reasons, etc.

Watching their headline set on TV, I realised that, fortunately, I was super-wrong. Instead of the expected clunky phoning-in of their 90's hits, they were all the things they used to be, and more. Epic songs about love and loss from a band that has so much confidence in itself that they finished off not with their most famous song, but a brand new single, which - guess what - is ace. I was thrilled and a bit ashamed to have been so cynical.

It also struck me that what made them so great was simply that, while in the 90's they were, on the surface, just another rock band wearing cagoules, that exact quality was now what set them so far apart from their current peers. To differentiate yourself from the skinny jeans 'n' ties hoard is to be automatically ahead of the pack. So, Today's New Band are Saboteur. They don't sound like The Verve, but they do sound different to the Haircut-Indie bands. Their starting point and ethos isn't the usual Joy Division/Strokes/Boomtown Freaking Rats yadda-yadda. Oh and they're German, further compounding that niggling feeling I've been getting that German music is really good at the moment.

Song Love Spreader, whilst sounding slightly obscene, is a chiming treat, devoid of posing, archness or cynicism. It pulses with the simple delight of being in a band and making music. A Cabbage White is the same. Saboteur remind me a little bit of forgotten 80's band The Chills, who possibly because they were from New Zealand and thus were Not Cool, didn't become as big as they deserved. So listen and enjoy Saboteur right now, while you can.

Labels: 90's, chiming, German

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Soft is bad right?

• Soft rock - Poodle haired, tight-spandex-trousered nonsense
  
• Soft drinks - Pale in comparison to alcoholic ones: there's a Roman God for wine, but not for Sunny Delight
  
• 'Soft Skills' - Management Bullshit for 'being able to talk to people and be nice'
• Soft Mints - Specifically designed to remove fillings

Well, Jackson and His Computer Band, today's new band, make music that sounds... soft. But in a great way.

Electronic music, almost by definition , sounds metronomic, precise and clear. The music of Jackson and his Computer Band does share some of these traits, it's true. But a little bit like how Boards of Canada make warm and organic electronic music - J.A.H.C.B. makes dance music that sounds analogue - all warm and clicky - as if it was made by some crazed human-computer hybrid that was designed in the 70's, rediscovered yesterday and told to make music for tomorrow. Visit his Myspace page and listen to Teen Beat Ocean - it's great.

Oh, and he's French and is living in Germany, and so yes, it does sound a bit like Daft Punk crossed with Kraftwerk.

Labels: French, German, human-computer hybrid

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Just like clichés involving buses, waiting and bewilderment at two arriving at once - you wait for one German band for ages, and then lo and behold, another follows almost instantly. A few days ago, Like A Stuntman wowed us as our New Band of the Day, and now - look! - here's Emi & Sophie, just as Germanic and, stereotypically, just as efficiently great. They're a duo - a bit like Roxette, but happily without the BIG HAIR and stadium pop tunes.

In some respects, it must be head-throbbingly frustrating being in a German band. Germany has it's own thriving musical scene, yet to the rest of the world, Kraftwerk loom large over the whole damn thing, and every band that sounds vaguely electronic is condemned to comparison.

As such, it would be a shame not to continue in that vein. It is hard not to reference Kraftwerk's stark electronic sounds when listening to Emi & Sophie. Help Me on their MySpace page www.myspace.com/mondwasser does all the bleeping and blooping you'd expect, but in such a winningly simple home-grown way, it will leave you feeling mildly joyful. In all, the songs sound like they've been knocked up on a Bontempi keyboard and will always continue to be - but like that's a bad thing. Emi & Sophie are the sound of the German Bedroom Electro Scene* and all the more likeable for it.

*A real scene, honestly, Scenesters.

Labels: boy/girl duo, German, simple sounds

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And because at A New Band A Day we love you, reader, here’s a 100% legal download of aforementioned song:

http://www.archive.org/download/jpt007/JPT007-01-Like_a_Stuntman-Stan_Places.mp3

In the meantime, if you find out what Stan places, or where he does it, please let us know via email as soon as possible.

Labels: German, slightly mournful

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