LISTEN: Stornoway - 'Excelsior' (Edward Nesbit and Tom Hodgson Rework)

Somehow, criminally, I haven't posted about Stornoway here yet this year. Let's fix that. It is a Monday night (almost) in June, after all (IYKYK.) They've a new acoustic version of Anwen on the way this week which I am very excited to hear having listened to Brian and Fyfe Dangerfield playing the track a few times at the London Wetland Centre during and after their album launch event there last year. 

For now, though, I'm enjoying this latest version of Excelsior, a reworking of the track by composer Edward Nesbit and my friend Tom Hodgson, a beloved member of the extended Stornoway touring party, featuring Sydney Wang on piano. The track was already beautiful, a highlight of one of my favourite records of the last few years, and this version is a stunner. Tender and poignant and somehow mournful and celebratory at the same time, I love it. 

I'm reading How To Read A Tree by Tristan Gooley at the moment (among far too many other books to admit) so trees are very much on the brain at the moment, and this song is about ash dieback, a fungal disease affecting our ash trees. The ash tree's scientific name is 'Fraxinus excelsior' (hence the name of the song) with excelsior translating from Latin to 'ever upward'. I think that the song is a kind of call to arms to do what we can to protect nature, to appreciate the wonders of nature around us - something that is at the heart of everything the band do. 

Talking about the track, Ed and Tom share: “When we first heard Excelsior, we were struck by its expressive beauty and lyricism, and immediately started to think of ideas for a new arrangement. Our version, with a new accompaniment inspired by romantic piano writing, attempts to capture the beauty of nature, as well as sorrow at its loss.”

You can catch Stornoway at a few more festivals before the year is out - all the info on upcoming shows here.

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LISTEN: Dizzy (MUNA remix) - 'Sunflower'

Happy... Thursday? April? Maybe?! No posts for a few days as I've been busy tinkering away behind the scenes with the spreadsheet I use to organise basically every single aspect of the blog. Lots of hours and many tweaks later and I'm loving it even more than I did (spreadsheet nerd here) and even created a 'Milestones' table to stare at if I ever get confused about why I spend so much of my time rambling away here. Looking back at how blown away I was to reach 10,000 page views after about nine months, to now be nearing 150,000 page views is slightly overwhelming.

Time for a song. I don't have much to say about this one because I want to let the song speak for itself. I shared the new Dizzy track Sunflower recently - they're a Canadian band I first discovered at The Great Escape a couple of years back, and whose debut album Baby Teeth I completely adore. One of the greatest achievements of my life is getting a couple of my friends to love it as much as I do when we worked at HMV and listened to it a lot. (A lot.) I'm not always much of a fan of remixes but I am loving what MUNA have done with Sunflower. It feels like new music isn't really getting through to me so much at the moment, it's a bit easier to fall back on old favourites, but this got through and I am LOVING it. On repeat.

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LISTEN: Evergreen - 'Foreigner' (Franc Moody remix)

How to improve one of my favourite tracks from this year's Evergreen record Overseas, you ask? Let Franc Moody loose on it. The London group have remixed The Foreigner and it makes for one of the best tracks I've heard all year. Up there with the best remix I've heard this year, alongside the Everything Everything reworking of Rae Morris album title track Someone Out There. If you like what you're hearing below, I implore you to listen to both Overseas (listen out for other favourites Gemini and Bloom) and the Franc Moody EP Dance Moves which is the ultimate bop from start to finish.

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Follow Franc Moody online - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: Pale Seas - Someday (Everything Everything remix)

After blowing my mind with their remix of Rae Morris' Someone Out There earlier this year, Manchester's Everything Everything have done it again, this time with the Pale Seas single Someday. I'm not often one for remixes, but they've taken the track, flipped it on its head and given it a pretty magical reworking, with lead singer Jacob's original vocals shining through a pop beat and otherwise almost robotic vocals. The track is going to be available in a limited run of 7" vinyl through the band's app and at shows - you can catch them live in London on September 2nd at The Five Bells - info here!

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Follow Everything Everything - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

LISTEN: Cosmo Sheldrake - 'Wriggle' (Mr Jukes Edit)

Since discovering his music a few months ago, I've been pretty smitten with everything Cosmo Sheldrake has released, and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of his debut album The Much Much How How and I on 6th April! I'm continually amazed and mesmerised by the incredible sounds that emerge from Cosmo's tracks, particularly upon finding their often unbelievable sources. His latest single Wriggle is an instant favourite, jostling with the likes of The Moss and The Fly (the lyrics of which are from the William Blake poem of the same title) to be named my favourite tune of Cosmo's. If I thought that I couldn't love Wriggle any more however, I was wrong... Mr Jukes (aka Jack Steadman of Bombay Bicycle Club) has shared his edit of the track and it is completely incredible, in my eyes (and ears.) Take a listen...

Pre-order your copy of The Much Much How How and I here from Cosmo's site, where you can also check out his upcoming tour dates!

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LISTEN: Public Service Broadcasting 'Marks To Prove It' (The Maccabees) remix

Last summer, during a train journey to London with a friend, I was introduced to a number of new artists, one of which was the unique and brilliant Public Service Broadcasting. I love their record Inform-Educate-Entertain, and have recently bought their new record, The Race For Space - but I'll post about that another time! Yesterday Noisey premiered a PSB remix of the latest track by The Maccabees, Marks To Prove It. The bands are in my opinion two of the most exciting at the moment, and two of my personal favourites, so it's a dream remix for me. As Public Service Broadcasting don't use vocals but instead play music alongside segments of archive broadcasts, public service  announcements etc, this remix makes the track sound like it could be a PSB track in its own right, without taking away the charm of the original track.