Anjo Gabriel

Today's highight? Easy. It was hearing Dom La Nena's "Anjo Gabriel" for the first time.

It's all about the voice and the simple, beautiful piano line.  I've Gideon Coe to thank for hearing it and I've The Pastels to thank for being tuned-in to his show when it aired through their tweeting that Swell Maps were being played on it 'right now!' earlier in the evening.  If I'm being 100% honest, I'd rather that Dom La Nena's was the sole voice so that it was hers which was heard last but that's a minor gripe and won't prevent me from thinking of the song fondly and wanting to hear it again and again.  I bet if she teamed up with Francois and The Atlas Mountains the results would be sublime.

Pet Cat

These days, I forget more than I remember.  Listening to Gideon Coe's show to hear Stephen Pastel talking about the new Pastels record, I was reminded that I'd resolved to seek out the group Pet Cat who Gideon played a week or two ago; the song "Puppet", I think.  They're one of the most promising noisy guitar pop bands to chafe my ears since, say, Sweet Bulbs or possibly the Ringo Deathstarr of "Rip".  Just listen to the way "Dreams" picks up momentum over time, getting ever more exhilarating as it goes:

Their debut physical release is a cassette (plus download, of course!) limited to a paltry 50 copies. Best get in there quick!  Part of me wants to hold off, however, in the hope that these songs find a home on vinyl where they'd prosper and grow.  At 9 minutes and 16 seconds, the title track, "Wires", demonstrates that they can produce compelling long-form pieces that are dynamic and varied enough to hold the interest.  It's to Gideon Coe's credit that a bunch of noisy young pretenders can send him an unsolicited tape of songs recorded in a day, receive a fair listen and find themselves blasting out over the airwaves without having a PR machine behind them.  It's how radio should be but so seldom is.  Public service broadcasting at its best, I'd say!