South London electro-pop band, The Chap, are unique and inventive. They are signed to Ghostly International, which issued their album Mega Breakfast in the US in July 2008 as their first official American release.
Supertramp / Breakfast in America
We love eating breakfast and we’ve just been to America for the first time. So there! But the whole album of the same title is an all time classic. Smooth and sharp at the same time. And so emotional. It’s been with me since my older sisters had it on heavy rotation when I was seven.
Adam Boman / The Troops Move Through The Undergrowth
Adam is one half of The Boman Brothers, who were the best London improv/performance art act I have ever witnessed. Whenever you meet Adam, he takes a moment here and there to mumble something into his dictaphone. These recordings are later integrated into the most amazing sound collages. This track is from an album which charts Adam’s Christmas visit to his mother’s house, amongst other things.
Dirty Projectors / Police Story
Dirty Projectors are one of our favourite current bands and this is them filmed by this guy Mathieu, a video artist from Paris who produces the so called Take Away shows (actually, we recently did one), in which he places groups in unusual, sometimes uncomfortable environments and gets them to perform acoustically. In this, he has Dirty Projectors in Central Park, performing their interpretation of Black Flag’s rather, shall we say, uncompromising song about the police, right next to a police officer.
Van Halen / Jump
Berit, our keyboard player, has a particular taste for this. She integrates the song’s keyboard motive into one of our songs. I used to integrate Europe’s Final Countdown, although it’s not one of my favourite songs. When we play to a young audience, nobody reacts to this.
Justin Timberlake / Sexyback
This is that really famous Justin Timberlake track in which he keeps going ‘Yeah’ and says ‘V.I.P/drinks on me’. It’s so amazing. Unfortunately, it has the worst ever song title.
Omo / Her Body
This is a duo Berit is in with an Austrian gentleman called David, and they are releasing their debut album later this year. This song deals with a chicken laying an egg, I believe. It has a beautifully clear sound while very nicely juxtaposing Berit’s chicken monologue with a sampled loop of her voice.
Mi Ami / African Rhythms
I’m not sure about the rest of their material, as I am not normally a big fan of this tribal-drumming-freak-out-with-lots-of-echo sort of thing. But this has, as they say, great energy.
Steely Dan / Everything
You ought to ask our drummer Keith about this. About half a year ago, he realized that Steely Dan is the best thing that ever happened to him outside of his marriage and playing in The Chap.
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