The Go! Team have never rocked my world, particularly, but they rarely make music I fail to enjoy.  Their boisterous, brassy TV theme pop tunes have a kind of carefree verve to them that simply bypasses my No Fun in Pop snob filter, irrespective of the fact that I don’t really engage with their albums in a particularly in-depth way.

When they start rapping, I must confess, I do start to clench up just a little bit, but that is just a style of vocal delivery which I have never liked and there is not much which can be done about it.

Otherwise, the chimes, the seventies dance party vocals, the stylish, but not too serious aspect to the music just gives this album a good vibe.  There are tunes like Apollo Throwdown which could be from any Go! Team album, ones like the opener T.O.R.N.A.D.O., which has a much harsher edge to it than I am used to from them, and then some glistening shimmer pop, reminiscent of Saint Etienne.  This variety, as much as the brevity of the songs themselves (thirteen in forty minutes), keeps the album fresh, even though this doesn’t particularly sound like a band ruthlessly challenging itself at every opportunity.

A lot of people complain about there being too much music out there, from the perspective of not getting to hear all of it.  I find the issue to be slightly different: there’s so much music out there that you need never stray away from things you already know you like.  That’s why things like the radio are important, because it is a medium more likely than any other I can think of to play you songs outside of your comfort zone.

The Go! Team are a band who I would probably never listen to of my own volition, but who I always enjoy when someone else puts them on the stereo, and this push and pull at the fringes of our music taste is something we are all in danger of surrendering in the current, highly specific channels of media consumption.

The Go! Team – Apollo Throwdown

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The Go! Team – Yosemite Theme

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It’s relatively quiet in Edinburgh this week, but next week is going to be a bit mental, so perhaps taking it a bit easy for a few days is advisable, eh.  Oh well, perhaps not then.

First up is the Lets Get Lyrical Festival.  A bit more cerebral than your average stale beer-scented alternative music show, and hopefully as far as possible from the Drew Barrymore/Hugh Grant carnival of horror you see illustrated on the right.

Their full lineup of events can be found here, although sadly the King Creosote/Ziggy Campbell one at the Caves to tomorrow is apparently sold out.  And then I am away down South for the rest of the week.  Arse.

On the plus side, though, I am away down South to do a wee interview with BBC Introducing on Wednesday and then hang out with some of my long-neglected London pals for the next few days, so it should be an extremely good week for me, I reckon.

Thursday 3rd February: Born to Be Wide Music Photographers Night at Electric Circus.

This is almost sold out, apparently, so if you want to go I would recommend getting your tickets in advance.  Sitting through seminars may not seem like the best way to go about doing something which most people do as a creative outlet, but I promise you that these things can be extremely useful either the more you go to, or the more specific the

Friday 4th February: Esben & the Witch, Trophy Wife & Wintergreens at Sneaky Pete’s.

Presumably because of the name I think I dismissed Esben and the Witch as just another London (slightly)alternative folk band, but actually they are a bit more of a somewhat shoegazey guitar band.  I’m not massively familiar with the album yet, but what I have heard sounds really quite promising. The Wintergreens are an Edinburgh band who are a little less loud, but who also make rather promising sounding atmospheric guitar songs – they’ve been around for a while actually, and I have still not managed to see them play live.  Shame on me, I think it’s safe to say.

Esben & the Witch – Marching Song

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Friday 4th February: The Go Team at the Liquid Room.

This should be really quite fun.  I’ve always been a passive fan of the Go Team for ages – never wildly excited, but nevertheless happy to enjoy their stuff as and when it has crossed my path.  They have a new album out shortly too – in a week, I think – which I will review as and when I have had a chance to listen to it, which isn’t quite yet.  Still, there’s a four hour train ride to London to deal with.

The Go Team – Buy Nothing Day

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