NYLON - March 2009 - (Page 172) edited by cut off your hands you and i (FRENCHKISS) New Zealand quartet Cut Off Your Hands seems to live, eat, and breathe pop. No surprise, then, that while recording their debut album, You and I, frontman Nick Johnston sought inspiration in doo-wop groups like the Ronettes and the Crystals. “Happy As Can Be” is a fist-pumping, stadium-shaking update of that ’60s sensibility, and energetic follow-ups like “Turn Cold” and “Let’s Get Out of Here” maintain some of the momentum. But as the album progresses, the band switches out its power chords for more wistful styles, as on the sedate, folky “Jesus Christ” and the promnight ballad “Heartbreak.” Binding it all together: Johnston’s plaintive-yetpowerful voice. ALEX LITTLEFIELD mixtape: bloc party bloc party’s newest album, intimacy, is an affair of sirens and synths, drum and bass, and jerky guitars. but before the east london gang-of-four heads out this month for a north american tour, we got drummer matt tong to make us a mixtape. “in a jar” Dinosaur Jr. Laconic vocals? Check. Peculiar song structure? Check. Bass played like a guitar? Check. Indescribably huge riff two-thirds of the way through? Check. Combine these ingredients, and you have everything that was so “OMGzzzzz” about Dinosaur Jr. in 1986. Best listened to whilst tumbling about in a pile of decaying leaves with your mum’s best mate who looks a bit like Kate Bush. “life goes off” Jim O’Rourke This song is an incredibly poignant smart bomb of quiet and implausibly sad resignation that’s almost over as soon as it begins—which is crazy, because it’s nearly sixminutes long. I listened to it once, walking down the street with a familysize bag of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa, and just burst into tears. “message personnel” Françoise Hardy I recently found some Françoise Hardy songs on my wife’s mp3 player. Now I’m thinking of leaving her to camp out on Madame Hardy’s front garden. attempts at walking. But what the hell, if he happens to live a life only partly imbued with the spirit of Cohen’s brand of womanizing misanthropy (the part before he went to live in a monastery), then he’s going have a great time. “negative creep” Nirvana Had Kurt Cobain not decided to drop off this mortal coil and instead had gone back to dropping classic cuts like this, then I would have more than enough music to soundtrack my psychopathic biannual trips to the Bluewater Shopping Centre. “mama said knock you out” LL Cool J I must have been 14. This song came on, and for no apparent reason I sprang up and did a dance, and everyone in the room started laughing. LL Cool J had a wide appeal, one which reached the local kids on Raleigh Marauders. I was one of that unruly gang, still am, and if anyone wants to laugh at my booty dance, I triple-doubledare you. “number our days” Max Tundra This cut is complete mind-melting insanity, and suddenly a pop hook appears from out of the ether that is so undeniably great you’d just love to see Max Tundra let loose on The X Factor. “festival” Dungen It’s all a bit “Kumbaya” until around 1:25, when something crazy happens: The walls start dripping, the meaning of life is unveiled, and the Rapture occurs. “hijackin’” Hijack (Herve remix) My old pal Paul Epworth put this on a mixtape for me, and instantly my ears wrinkled up and almost fell off—such was the power of the crushing bassline assaulting me. “make it easy on yourself” The Walker Brothers This is one of the very few songs I can sing almost perfectly at karaoke. “death of a ladies’ man” Leonard Cohen My best friend has a young child, and this seems to be the constant soundtrack to the toddler’s tentative mixtape illustration by rachel lattimore.
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