With Alex Turner currently preoccupied with his Last Shadow Puppets side project, Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders makes a rare venture into the limelight with his contribution to the Late Night Tales series. Essentially an iPod shuffle playlist of his favorite tunes, the 20-track compilation shows that the Yorkshire sticksman's influences extend far beyond the angular post-punk and poetic indie rock sounds that dominate his day job. Indeed, despite forging an unlikely friendship with P. Diddy, it's still a revelation to ...
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With Alex Turner currently preoccupied with his Last Shadow Puppets side project, Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders makes a rare venture into the limelight with his contribution to the Late Night Tales series. Essentially an iPod shuffle playlist of his favorite tunes, the 20-track compilation shows that the Yorkshire sticksman's influences extend far beyond the angular post-punk and poetic indie rock sounds that dominate his day job. Indeed, despite forging an unlikely friendship with P. Diddy, it's still a revelation to see a track list which suggests a longtime love affair with hip-hop, with obscurities from both European MCs (DJ Format's "Charity Shop Soundclash," Modeselektor feat. Puppetmastaz's "Dark Side of the Sun") and U.S. rappers (Viktor Vaughn's "Vaudeville Villain," Ty's "Break the Lock") nestling alongside vintage urban classics such as Luniz's stoner anthem "I Got 5 on It" and Mos Def's Aretha Franklin-sampling "Ms. Fat Booty." There are still a few forays into more familiar territory, such as the garage rock of the Stooges' "Dirt," the New York dance-punk of the Rapture's "Olio," and the Scouse folk of the Coral's "Grey Harpoon." But for the most part, Helders uses the opportunity to showcase his eclectic tastes thanks to tracks like Goblin's theme to the Italian alien exploitation movie Contamination ("Connexion"), Johnny & the Hurricanes' '60s rock & roll instrumental "Sheba," and the delightfully bizarre Japanese-French psychedelic funk of Yamasuki's "Yama Yama." While these random selections are likely to leave much of his Monkeys' audience scratching their heads, there are two brand new tracks which should more than appease their bewilderment. "Dreamer" is an affectionate electro-clash cover of Livin' Joy's '90s dance classic, produced by Ross Orton (M.I.A.), while continuing the series' tradition of ending with a spoken word piece, "A Choice of Three" is a charming tale of a love triangle both written and narrated by bandmate Turner himself. Like most of the series releases, Helders' mixtape is a hodge-podge of sounds which is unlikely to be entirely appreciated by many, but it's still an intriguing insight into the musical mindset of one of the noughties' best drummers, which is just as likely to provide a few undiscovered gems for the band's detractors as it is for their huge fan base. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi
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