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It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Pelle Carlberg - Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls [link to streamable from Pelle Carlberg's own website]

A quick look back suggests that there has been no B-ingAYD since 2013. This is a shocking state of affairs. Especially since I have at least one guest tune queued up.

Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls is a track ChrisC unearthed on t'internet a few months ago, and I love it. It's one of those cute, summery tracks that is just what you need on a June Friday afternoon. There are some other listenables on his website.

Clever Girls... is far and away the stand-out track of the album In A Nutshell; however, the album is a jolly pleasant slice of twee indie pop. If you like that kind of thing, I'd definitely recommend it as an addition to your summer listening.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you were invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Boothby Graffoe - Spelling Sheep [link to mp3 download expired, or YouTube link may still be active]

Boothby Graffoe is my kind of comedian. He doesn't pick on people, he doesn't ruminate on how amazing it is that everyone keeps bits of string and old nails in drawers. He walks on stage with a guitar on, does chunks of surreal stand-up and occasionally lapses into song. Some of the songs are silly, some are thoughtful. Many are both.

This is his song of insomnia, which is something I know a few people on my friends' list are suffering at present. I'm not sure it'll be a good solution to insomnia, to be honest, but it's a cute song. And gently boogieable, I think.

This song comes from the oddly-named Songs for Dogs, Funerals..." but for once I don't recommend you go and buy it. Quite a few of the songs are a bit... odd out of context. Instead, I recommend you go and buy a ticket to see Boothby Graffoe somewhere. He's ace :)

(The title of this song is, according to the album, Spelling Sheep but it seems to be credited other places as A to Zzzz. The title in the metadata of the mp3 is flippin' ridiculous, and I strongly suspect that Mr Graffoe himself may have done the Gracenote entry for the album...)

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you were invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Menswe@r - I'll Manage Somehow [link to mp3 download expired, or YouTube link may still be active]

Yes, hold on to your hats, boys and girls... I'm suggesting a Menswe@r song which isn't Daydreamer[*].

Also I'm, er, suggesting a Menswe@r song. About that... see disclaimer about BAYD tracks never being all that credible.

But I'm a big fan of I'll Manage Somehow. It has a very particular sound which I've never quite been able to place; possibly it sounds like a lost Beatles track. I'm not actually a particular fan of the Beatles, but this song always makes me think that it must be summer.

And it is, and I'm about to go on holiday. So, as is often the way round these parts, let's dance like it's 1995.

[*] Would you believe? They had, like, 3 albums or something. I am only familiar with Nuisance. (I checked on Wikipedia: 2, not 3. And the second was only released in Japan. Though I'm suspicious that my household may have a copy in it.)

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to a guest tune from ceb:

The Savoy Ballroom - The Tale of the Graveyard Waltz [link to mp3 download expired, but YouTube link may still be active]

I hadn't heard of The Savoy Ballroom, but CEB's recommendations are usually worth a listen so downloaded Roustabout, and have been rather enjoying it. The only thing I have against The Tale of the Graveyard Waltz is that it's not a waltz. But world of popular music is pretty low on 3/4 tunes.

It's got real live instruments, and engaging lyrics, and catchy tunes, and nice walking bass. Good for fans of, say, Bitter Ruin. Or people who like knitting Actually, I think the male singer's voice sounds exactly like Voltaire's, but don't tell CEB that because I don't think she'll like it.

This is the last of the guest-recommendations for BAYD, so if you've still got a brilliant dance-along song up your sleeve, please do share it.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you were invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Allo Darlin' - Capricornia [mp3 download expired, YouTube link may still be active]

Something rather gentler today, suitably for boogying quietly while looking out at the early summer sunshine. While it lasts :)

I met Allo Darlin' at an all-day gig at the 100 Club a few years back (the line-up was basically "loads of bands I don't know, plus Ballboy headlining"). Allo Darlin' turned up looking very French in stripey t-shirts. In fact, I seem to remember they were French, but Wikipedia says they're from London.

I downloaded a few tracks, and more or less forgot about them until the Rough Trade Album Club popped their new album through my door last year. It's called Europe (they really do want me to think they're French) and is a very pleasant slice of pretty, twee indie pop.

And it's got windmills on the cover. I like windmills.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Mixtapes - I'll Give You A Hint, Yes [link to mp3 download expired, YouTube link may still be active]

Another of my Banquet Records finds: Mixtapes. I can't remember how Banquet described them, but the internet says "Ohio pop-punk". I'd say a Tullycrafted version of Less Than Jake. I'm a sucker for any band with a boy/girl vocal combo :)

I bought Even on the Worst Nights and have been revelling in the sort of bitter, cheery, sad, passionate highschool music that seems to suit the intermittent attempts at summer we're having. If you enjoyed I'll Give You A Hint, Yes you might also like to try Anyways.

It seems Mixtapes have a new album out, too, and you can stream a track from it, should you be so inclined.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger [link to mp3 download expired, YouTube link may still be active]

Well, I don't know about you, but I am celebrating the first UK number one in 2013 that I've actually known: Get Lucky. It is, of course, the return of everyone's favourite dancing French robots Daft Punk.

I know that the canonical Daft Punk floor filler is One More Time, and that's got some great bits (ok, mostly a great bit when the melody comes back after an extended absence). But for joyous electronic funkiness and vocoded[*] nonsense, I've come round to Harder Better Faster Stronger as my BAYD choice.

The only Daft Punk album I own is Musique Vol. I 1993-2005, which one can have from Amazon for less than £5 these days. It's got all the big hits on it (discluding Get Lucky, of course), plus a good handful of repetitive drum-based woogling. All the Daft Punk you really need, in my estimation :)

[*] OK, I have no idea what technology Daft Punk actually use to make that noise. It probably isn't (just) a vocoder. And I'm not even sure if "vocoded" is a word.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to a guest tune from bateleur:

Infected Mushroom - Never Mind [link to mp3 download expired, YouTube link may still be active]

Bateleur actually suggested several different tracks as suitable for at-desk boogying. Of this one, he said:

"This is the track most likely to make me literally boogie at my actual desk, so it has to make the shortlist."

I listened to it, and thought... what? Who'd boogie to that?

Still the idea of guest BAYD posts was to come up with new and interesting tracks that didn't fit into my usual rut of taste, to I persevered and listen to Army of Mushrooms.

It's what I think of as "programming music". If you ever look at my last.fm profile and find I'm listening to Front Line Assembly, I can pretty much guarantee that I'm churning out code by the bucketful. (FLA doesn't make me write code faster, by the way, it's just the sort of thing I want to listen to when I'm doing so already.)

Anyway. I've been listening to Infected Mushroom, and you know what? It's grown on me. I have been boogying at my desk :) Further listening: check out their cover of The Pretender.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to:

Pete and the Pirates - Motorbike [mp3 download, or listen to it on YouTube]

I have a rule - or at least a guideline - for checking out new bands. If you tell me about a band, and say they're good, I'll check them out. But as well as that, I'll investigate any band that I hear about in passing from three separate and at least vaguely-reputable sources.

I think I first heard (or, more probably, read) satyrica talking about Pete and the Pirates. And then someone else (maybe zenithed?). And then Andy von Pip[*] and I thought right, better go and investigate.

Disappointingly, I did it just in time to find that they'd released the excellent One Thousand Pictures and then promptly split up. So I was a bit late to that party.

However, One Thousand Pictures is jolly excellent. It's poppy, but also melancholy and a bit guitary and a bit dark and all-round very listenable. There isn't really a stand-out boogyfest, but there are a few good contenders of which Motorbike is just one. Others are Half Moon Street and Come To The Bar, if you fancy some further listening.

[*] Occasionally, people accuse me of being well-informed about new bands. I realise you're not supposed to show people how the magic works, but actually, I'm not particularly well-informed. I just read The Von Pip Musical Express.

It's Friday! It's about three o'clock! It's time to Boogie At Your Desk!

( You what? )

If you like the track, go out and buy the album it belongs to - I'll try and recommend a suitable CD to purchase for any BAYD track.

The link to the mp3 will expire at some point in the future.

Today you are invited to Boogie At Your Desk to a guest tune from ChrisC:

The James Taylor Quartet - Blow Up [link to mp3 expired, YouTube link may still be active]

(For the avoidance of confusion: The James Taylor Quartet does not involve James Taylor. At least, not that James Taylor.)

This is a bit of a con in many ways; for years ChrisC has been suggesting tunes for BAYD. However, that's a side effect of our having largely overlapping[*] taste in music, talking about music a lot, and having access to each other's CDs.

However! On any number of occasions when I've been wandering around the flat on a Friday morning asking "What shall we boogie to this afternoon?" he's suggested Blow Up.

Go on, he says, it's great. He met it in The Coven[**] in early university days, and finally learned what it was after asking the DJ on a number of separate occasions. It's a fun floor-filler, and ideally suited to at-desk boogying.

And I've always said "... nah" because although it's upbeat and it's got woogly Hammond organ I just don't really get it.

ChrisC's top tip is to buy Mission Impossible for all the instrumental Hammond Organ fun you could possibly want, and then ignore everything else the JTQ ever did. (If you're curious then yes, it does include the theme from Mission Impossible.)

And if you fancy providing the next guest tune, you should recommend one.


[*] According to ChrisC, I like good music and all that gothy shit.
[**] A now-sadly-deceased nightclub in Oxford, home to various club nights including the fabulous Panic! organised by the Indie Music Society when we were first years.