Introducing.. Veronica Falls (Captured Tracks/Trouble Records)

Veronica Falls - Found Love In A Graveyard 7" 
(Captured Tracks)
(Unsigned)
Gothic/Pop/Shoegaze

I had been confusing Veronica Falls with the rather more subtle Ramona Falls until a couple of weeks back, when i went to investigate the new 7" coming out on March 1, and became somewhat confused after signing on to the band's Myspace. Sadly, the eery Menomena spin-off band remain silent, but i'd accidentally (as if by fate) stumbled across a fantastic new lo-fi band from London. Found Love In A Graveyard was first released last year, and is such a typical Captured Tracks release (the same DIY label which houses Thursday night's Spectrals), that I couldn't have been happier with the twist of fate which had occured. They etch a lo-fi stamp on to Art-Fag-esque arrangements, mixing the DIY finish of PENS with the melodical accomplishments of Dum Dum Girls and Male Bonding, the former of which incidentally they are playing with next month in London. They coat indie pop and twee in a somewhat darker and infinitely more awkward murkiness which rattles along at a steady pace. They have all Joy Division-esque eery post-punk arrangements of decades gone before and just as much of the happy-go lucky attitude of Pains of Being Pure at Heart, drenched in a matured reverb fashioned far beyond their youthful years. Pick up the single below - due out on Trouble Records in the UK tomorrow.

Veronica Falls - Found Love In A Graveyard (MP3)
Veronica Falls - Beachy Head (MP3)

Order Veronica Falls on Captured Tracks via Myspace.
Found Love in a Graveyard / Starry Eyes - Single on Amazon.com MP3

Preview: Born Ruffians - Say It (June 1, 2010)

#1. Born Ruffians - Sole Brother (MP3) 

(Warp Records) (due June 1, 2010)

Warp Records signing Born Ruffians have announced the tracklisting, cover art and release date of Say It, their sophomore album and the follow-up to 2008's Red, Yellow and Blue, for worldwide release on June 1, 2010. The Canadian trio put out one of my favourite albums of 2008 - mixing quirky guitar tones with then-Vampire Weekend style afrobeat percussion and scratchy vocal arrangements together into a captivating experimental mix. The new album seems to be promising more of the same, at least as far as the new single suggests. Sole Brother is the only track available from the new one, and plays to Born Ruffians strengths exactly as did Red, Yellow & Blue. With the usual laid-back acoustic rock feel, the Ruffians harmonize guitar lines - leaving simple percussive sections and punchy basslines to lay the foundation for storytelling lyrics and quietly optimistic chorusses. Pick up Sole Brother below, pre-order the album below that, and pick up Four Tet's total rework of 2008's I Need A Life as a bonus.

Born Ruffians - Sole Brother (MP3)

Born Ruffians - I Need A Life (Four Tet Remix) (MP3)

Pre-order from BLEEP Records.

Pre-order from Paper Bag Records.

New Tunng Video, Bloc Party Remix + MP3 for 'Hustle'

Tunng - ..And Then We Saw Land
March 1, 2010
Full Time Hobby Records

Tunng's new album drops on March 1 (along with several other of my extreme anticipations - Frightened Rabbit/Ellie Goulding.. the list goes on), via Full Time Hobby Records, and as if to raise the hype amongst fans even further they've given us the video to the Hustle 7" single. After spending the past year on tour with Tinariwen, both a distinct African pop influence and selection of classic Tuareg licks show up heavily on this track - which takes a positive turn from the usual dark, introvertive folktronica arrangements of this British electro-folk collective. In fact, all of the new tracks seem to take a grander approach to Tunng's rigid sound, in particular the fingerpicked folk song-turned-stomping electric guitar anthem Don't Look Down Or Back. Hear for yourself below, or pick up the scatty new Bloc Party remix.

Tunng - Hustle (Radio Edit) (MP3) (from March 1, 2010's Don't Look Down Or Back)
Tunng - Hustle (Bloc Party Remix) (MP3) (taken down by box.net under their TOS)

Buy ..And Then We Saw Land on Amazon.com

Preview: Lightspeed Champion - Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You

Lightspeed Champion -'Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You'


Domino Records (Feb 15, 2010)

Surf/Acoustic/Soul

Devonté Hynes has been a busy musician in the past couple of years, and if you think he's been tucked away in his bedroom since 2008's Falling Off Lavender Bridge, you'd be very wrong. He's moved to New York to record his 2nd album Life Is Sweet, Nice To Meet You with Animal Collective's producer, (out on Domino Records last week), as well as making and touring his funk/soul side project Blood Orange. He's also featured on Basement Jaxx's My Turn and had throat surgery. To top it all off, from what i've heard so far, the new album is sounding like everything it promised to be - a funky mix of 70s surf, soul, and the British acoustic pop of Lavender Bridge.

Lightspeed Champion - Devil In Disguise (MP3)
Basement Jaxx - My Turn (ft. Lightspeed Champion) (MP3)

Buy Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You on Amazon.com

New Music - Broken Social Scene, The Morning Benders, Treetop Flyers.

#1. Broken Social Scene - World Sick (MP3)

(Arts & Crafts) (from Forgiveness Rock Record, due May 4, 2010)

Post-rock/Indie Pop/Experimental

I've always been quite a fan of Canadian music, and in particular the Toronto based Arts & Crafts label. With its own distinctive sound, its churned out some of my favourite artists ever - The Most Serene Republic, Stars and Phoenix are just some of the names on the roster since its 2002 launch. Broken Social Scene founded it, and although my collection doesn't extend far beyond 2001's Feel Good Lost and 2003's You Forgot It In People, the new track is fantastic, even by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning's disproportionately high standards. As with much of Broken Social Scene's music, World Sick takes its time to make its mark, and following the timed emergence of a hazy (and distinctively 1901-esque?) vocal, a burst of energy meets the loosely held structures of the introduction to form a euphoric chorus intertwined with cascading guitar lines.

Broken Social Scene - World Sick (MP3)

 #2. The Morning Benders - Excuses/Promises (MP3)

(Rough Trade Records) (from Big Echo, due March 9, 2010)

Indie Pop/Acoustic/Folk

The Morning Bender's latest tracks are respectively the second and third of this post that you've probably already heard. But my conscience would be eternally guilty if i was to leave this mention off altogether. Better late than never as they say. The new album is the follow up to 2008's critically acclaimed Talking Through Tin Cans and follows a move from +1 Records to Rough Trade. It was recorded in San Francisco and mixed in Brooklyn in just 11 days by Chris Chu and Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear). Excuses is a grand folk track with (big) echoes of Beirut (sorry), but Promises is far more Grizzly Bear, with a quirky folk-rock groove. Pick them up below, and a brilliant live acoustic version of Crosseyed, from Talking Through Tin Cans.

The Morning Benders - Promises (MP3)

The Morning Benders - Excuses (MP3)

The Morning Benders - Crosseyed (Live Acoustic) (MP3)

Pre-order Big Echo on Amazon.com

#3. Treetop Flyers - To Bury The Past EP

(Rough Trade Records) (from September 28, 2009's To Bury The Past EP)

Folk Roots/Country/Soul

Treetop Flyers are obviously the least known of the three artists in this post. They play roots/folk music perfect for a lazy Sunday. Not the most technical description i know, but you need to see for yourself. They formed in West London in 2008 and put out their Rough Trade Records release last year. They are also currently preparing to head out on tour to Austin, Texas, following a couple of intermittent UK dates in the near future. They've picked up glowing mentions in the UK from NME, Radio 1 and Artrocker magazine. Even if nothing comes of it, they are well worth a listen; their debut EP is out now on Amazon MP3 for just $4.45.

Treetop Flyers - Mountain Song (MP3) 

Buy The To Bury The Past EP on Amazon.com MP3 here.

3 More To Watch - The ABC Club, Rosie and Me, Hot Vamp Club

#1. The ABC Club 

File Next To - The Strokes, Little Joy,

In the same way their name takes the basics of education, The ABC Club take all the basic guitar pop elements and mould them down into an easygoing and quite clearly Strokes inspired collection of tracks. With crunchy guitar tones, punchy bass and incessant swirls of luxurious overdrive to lead, the dreary twee female vocal completes their youthful and naive sound. Simple bars of percussion begin single Thieving Magpie, before a jarring and jingling lead line exacerbates the mood into something vastly more upbeat in chorus. If you care to venture over to Highbury & Islington, the band are holding their Thieving Magpie single launch party at the Buffalo Bar this Thursday.

The ABC Club on Myspace.

Single Pre-order, via Rough Trade.

The ABC Club - Get Set Go (MP3)

#2. Rosie and Me (props to The Music Ninja)

File Next To - Kings Of Convenience, Emiliana Torrini, 6 Day Riot

Totally unbeknownst to me, Rosie and Me had been on my Itunes for months, and all it took was a quick post from The Music Ninja reminding me what I was missing out on for me to reconsider. Honestly, i can't believe these guys fell through the net. Rosie & Me are a Brazilian band firmly rooted in American/British folk music who's Bird And Whale EP has two lovely new tracks to offer. The first of these, Bonfires, strikes a dashing similarity to Kings Of Convenience's I Don't Know What I Can Save You in make-up, and even aside from the structural similary across the two songs, Kings of Convenience is probably the most accurate tonal comparison I can think of in terms of the guitar recording. As with any talent, there comes a point where you don't need to innovate groundbreaking new musical styles to make it huge. Rosanne Machado's voice, believe me, is more than adequate to satisfy the terms of my spontaneous musical thesis. She beautifully winds her words around the organic tones, and a maturity far beyond youthful appearances seeps out from every recording. Pick up two of the finest below.

Rosie and Me on Myspace.

Rosie and Me - Come Back (MP3)
Rosie and Me - Bonfires (MP3)

#3. Hot Vamp Club

File Next To - Magistrates, Good Shoes, Goodbooks

Bournemouth's music scene is hardly buzzing. It saddens me to say it, but i've seen perhaps two local bands which have impressed me in the last year or so. The first of these is an alternative grunge band by name of Deltorers, and the more recent wow comes from indie pop band Hot Vamp Club. They contacted me a couple of months back about doing a live review for them at local venue iBar, but on the night, due to a combination of last minute line up changes and the rest of the bands on that night being unbearable, i ended up missing out on what i hear was a fantastic show. But when i thought back to my promise of a live review, i decided that my arrival at the wrong time shouldn't stop a tight new band from being heard, so here they are. Hot Vamp Club formed in 2009, and with the hushed vocals of Darius Rodrigues and the soaring lead lines of guitarist Harry Martin heard on Track Thirty Six, it seems Hot Vamp fully deserve the attention they seem to be getting. They were introduced on Radio 1 last November and are playing a series of shows in London and Portsmouth, including this years Live & Unsigned competition. Hot Vamp Club are a nice listen, and even if they don't make it big, they're a friendly addition to anyone's itunes. Pick up two of the best below and expect to hear more news on this band from me as time ticks onwards.

Hot Vamp Club on Myspace.

Hot Vamp Club - Track Thirty Six (MP3)
Hot Vamp Club - White Sheets (MP3)

Gigi - Maintenant (Feb 10, 2010) REVIEW

Maintenant has long since been one of my most anticipated releases for this year, but after a series of setbacks (amazon hold-ups, UK release date alterations) its only now, close to a month after i expected, that this 60s inspired masterpiece has finally reached my letterbox. The Tomlab records release is a collection of collaborative recordings made between May 2005 and August 2009 under the command of Vancouver based singer songwriter Nick Krgovich (also of NO KIDS) and engineer and producer Colin Stewart, who upon feeling inspired by the latter's acquisition of two huge vintage plate reverbs five years ago, set about recording an album at Vancouver's esteemed Hive Studios.

With the sole aim of recreating the style and inspirations behind the 60s hit parade, the duo collected contributions in one form or another from over 40 collaborators, including Owen Pallet, Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls as well as Katie Eastburn, Rose Melburg and Karl Blau. The purpose of Gigi is rooted in the member's deep respect for the 60s pop, and appears on 2010's release list as a self-described tribute to past times rather than as just another hopeful candidate for the next chart-topper.

Maintenant certainly has its flaws, indeed a large part of the album was recorded live into a two track, but in time with this album you come to appreciate, rather than discard them. For example, within such a tightly self-defined genre, variation proves difficult. You can listen comfortably through the album several times without distinguishing tracks individually, but with each rotation, Maintenant ingrains itself deeper and deeper into that part of your mind which tells you that you've known a track all your life. At 15 tracks, with each standing around the 3 minute mark, even if a track goes wrong for you, there's room for manouvre. This is an album filled with loungy instrumentation, lazy brass harmonies and sublime melody which lodges deeper than you think.

The bubblegum girl group harmonies and archaic pop piano complement the clanging of bells and rattle of 60s organs on One Woman Show ft. Joey Cook, and 2006 recording Some Second Best features the five-piece Gigi chorus heavily. But probably the two most complete and best constructed of all the arrangements are by name of No, My Heart Will Go On and Pitchfork reviewed single Strolling Past The Old Graveyard featuring once again the Gigi chorus and the incredibly talented Karl Blau respectively. The first of the two totters along with increasing intensity (as far as 60s pop can) towards a euphoric outro and bright finish, with loud proclamations that "I can't shake shake shake your loving smile" to follow an intro which balances out the other side of the coin "every day, that goes by, i die a little more." The Old Graveyard does a similar thing, but in a much more serious sense. With a stronger beat, but a far darker feel, the track deals with dark emotions within the 60s showtune frame, with the chorus line of "strolling past the old graveyard, waiting for you to come around//i might see a ghost or a hobo, but you've got me feeling like i'm bedlam bound." But one of the greatest performances Gigi has to offer is Rose Melburg's Alone At The Pier. With a hummed melody and quivering guitar strums, her stunning and essentially 60s voice is joined by finger clicks and handclaps in chorus, and heavy brass in the next verse.

Maintenant represents the kind of album that pays tribute not only to its inspirations but also to the talent of its creators. Its the kind of album that if you'd engineered, you could die proud in the knowledge of its existence. Maintenant is by no means a perfect album, but the sheer scale of hard work and dealings that Krgovich and Stewart have done over the past five years have contributed entirely to the album's release. For the ideal chillout band album, or the ultimate attempt at recycling a half-century old movement, then look no further than the link below.

Buy Maintenant on Amazon.com

1. No, My Heart Will Go On (Chorus) (MP3)

2. The Hundredth Time (with Duffy Driediger & Ryan Peters) 

3. Dreams Of Romance (with Zac Pennington) 

4. Alone At The Pier (with Rose Melberg) 

5. One Woman Show (with Joey Cook) 

6. I'm Not Coming Out Tonight (with Sydney Vermont & Marissa Johnson) 

7. Some Second Best (Chorus)* BONUS TRACK 

8. I Can't Bring Myself To Smile (with Bobby Birdman & Katy Davidson) 

9. The Old Graveyard (with Karl Blau) (MP3)

10. The Marquee (with Katie Eastburn) 

11. Impossible Love (Chorus) 

12. Wont Someone e Can Tell (Ryan Beattie) 

13. Someone Tell Me (with Mirah Yom Toy Zeitlyn) 

14. I'll Quit (with Owen Pallett) 

15. Neathe The Streetlights (with Nick Krgovich)

Marina & The Diamonds w/ Clock Opera @ Audio, Brighton Feb 15, 2010

Seeing Marina and The Diamonds down at the Audio was a nice way to break up our mini-holiday in Brighton earlier this week. She's another one of this year's top tips that i missed out on at the festivals last year and its a shame my first live experience of her had to come so close to her album release and subsequent break into the mainstream. But nevertheless, i'm fairly pleased that her debut, 'The Family Jewels' is out in the very near future, and although the majority of my enthusiasm has taken a hit after its peak around last summer, the tracks from the album for me are acting as a polite, but firm reminder that Marina Diamandis' music is not going to 'do a La Roux' and become the bane of everyone's listening this summer. In my opinion, if we're going to persevere in looking to last year for our superficial comparisons, then we should look no further than Florence and The Machine. Marina may not have such a euphoric songwriting style, or such an intensely individual voice, or quite as much of a cult following as Florence had last September, but she definitely fits in the same kind of 'acoustica turned Radio 1 popstar' category that Florence made and outgrew in the lead up to 'Lungs'.

Marina's songs are in fact, far simpler than Florence's ever were; instead of the harps, guitars and organic sounds of Welch's floral, and somewhat excessive live band - Marina sticks to a timeless set up (excuse the synths of Starsmith) of bass, guitar, drums as well as vocals and keys which she divides her attention between throughout. Spending the latter part of her Audio set behind the keyboard, she emerged dressed in a flamboyant yellow top/bear outfit for which the reasoning behind i accept, despite being totally unsure of. She rattled through her album full of songs with the utmost of confidence to an aged and intent Audio selection, and i can't help but think that once her album is out and she's played the festivals this year, she doesn't realise quite how much younger her new found Radio 1 audience is going to get.


I always say in music its better to play simple things well than to play complicated things badly, and that's what Marina did - she played simple songs perfectly. I'd even go as far as to say she sounded far better live than she did on her demos, even if some of that studio production was lost. The bare-bones of many of her new songs, rather than detracting from the substance of the set, left room for her voice to shine through. We've really got a talent on our hands with Marina & The Diamonds, and in my opinion, its definitely a talent for the quieter side of pop music.

GIRLS

SEVENTEEN

OUTSIDER

I AM NOT A ROBOT

OH NO

NUMB

OBSESSIONS

ROOTLESS

SHAMPAIN

HOLLYWOOD

-----------------------

MOWGLI'S ROAD

Marina & The Diamonds - Mowgli's Road (MP3)

Buy Family Jewels on Amazon.com

NME Tour Feat. Maccabees w/Bombay Bicycle Club, The Big Pink + The Drums @ Bournemouth O2 Academy, (Feb 16, 2010)

The structure of this year's NME tour, in a nutshell, consisted of a few hundred teenage Maccabees fans turning up to see the quiet-of-late indie rock band, with what they considered two or three other of NME's more recent additions warming up as support. This lack of understanding couldn't have been demonstrated better when a completely motionless crowd stood and chattered through a stunning Big Pink set, only to turn into a swarm of over-enthused teenagers when the single 'Dominos' ended. The crowd was divided, a few stood back and gave cynical looks at the hyperactive 'jumpers' (for lack of a better word), but the vast majority proceeded to take part. It saddens me to say the least; it was the first time i'd seen them after failing to track down the Queen's Head Stage at Glastonbury last June, and to have it ruined by the unconcerned and checkered shirted Bournemouth youth was a shame. It made a shocking contrast from the nicely matured Brighton Audio crowd i'd been a part of the previous night.

But i'm not here to talk about the lack of a decent crowd, i'm here to talk about the music, which on the whole was really well put together and played convincingly. The Big Pink as i've mentioned before, put out a great performance. With Furze's leather jacket and fantastic stage presence, the tag of 'shoegaze' can be applied to the sound but not the cultural descent of the band. The term originated from the same magazine that was putting on the show tonight, after what i believe was an NME journalist (correct me if i'm wrong) noted how many reverb drenched noise pop bands simply stood and motionlessly 'gazed' at their 'shoes' throughout their live shows. Furze and his now full band set-up did quite the opposite; they put on what can only be described a smoke-drenched 'rock show', with a huge and crushing wall of sound seeping over their scatty electro beats.

Bombay Bicycle Club are the band out of the four at the show who I am least familiar with, although i'm not entirely sure why this is. I've read about them and owned their album for months, its just when it comes down to it I don't find them nearly as interesting as the other bands on that night. I'd already missed the Drums, which was a shame, but putting a band on stage at 7.15 I find frankly a bit of an insult.

Now-veterans The Maccabees completed the night, and perfectly in keeping with the increasingly rowdy trend i've noticed for this band's followers, my standing position near the front I was instantly swept away from. I felt like i was at a teen-metal gig. Not nice, and uncalled for, especially from Maccabees fans, a band i actually find far more relaxed and far more intricate than any of the other bands present.

I think you'll find far more pleasure in these MP3s than I did in the typical Topman infested 15 year old crowd. As great as the bands are, having a nice atmosphere is just as important; but these days, what can you expect from the readership of NME? I've attached The Big Pink's Velvet, The Drum's I Felt Stupid, The New Maccabees collaboration with Roots Manuva, and finally the original-topping James Rutledge remix of BBC's fantastic Always Like This. One last thing, hope you like my somewhat blurred original photography up top.

The Drums - I Felt Stupid (MP3)
Bombay Bicycle Club - Always Like This (James Rutledge Remix) (MP3) 
The Big Pink - Velvet (MP3)
The Maccabees ft. Roots Manuva - Empty Vessels (MP3)

3 More To Watch - Islet, The Shimmer, Chapel Club

 picture courtesy of ShakerRecords

#1. Islet (Indie Rock/Math-Rock/Post-Punk)
The saying goes here as much as ever "you want what you can't have", and its definitely the curiousity described here that makes me as determined as ever to get hold of some online material about Islet, a band who's live show i've heard so much about. They've ended up gaining as much industry attention for their publicised 'shun' of the internet as they have for their music, exchanging their online promotion for wowing audiences in person. There's two main members and often two drummers to accompany, and although i've never had the pleasure of seeing them live - a couple of enthusiastic fans have gone about collecting all the information they can on this band @ thisisislet.com. Its on that blog that you're going to find about as much information as there is, including Islet's first ever BBC Cardiff session. The indie rock band includes members JT and Mark from Them Squirrels and Attack+Defend respectively, as well as Emma formerly from Victorian English Gentleman's Club.

  
#2. The Shimmer (Shoegaze/Psychedelic-Pop/Noise Pop)
London band The Shimmer make fast-paced dance/newgaze music with an Ian Curtis/MBV vocal dubbed low behind euphoric dance beats and a distinctively Dandy Warhols recording style. Ths result is a huge emalgamation of styles including psychedelia, dance, shoegaze and noise pop into music short, simple and extremely accessible. The Shimmer is a band you can put on in the background, on the dancefloor, in the car - anywhere. Pick up No Surprise At All below.

 The Shimmer - No Surprise At All (MP3)

#3. Chapel Club (Indie Rock/Alternative/Britrock)

Chapel Club are a post-punk band formed in 2008 in the shadow of St. Luke's Church, London. They sing songs of love, lust, anger and frustration beneath thunderous guitar work, intricate lead lines and reflective lyricism. "Oh Maybe I, should settle down into a quiet life, Or maybe I, should chance it all on a perfect night." They're currently unsigned, but with the clear echoes of contemporaries such as White Lies there to be heard within their music, its a matter of time, not a matter of further musical development, before these guys make it big to some degree. They've booked themselves up a huge UK Tour next month (match up your local venue via myspace) and currently have three tracks for streaming. You can pick up "O Maybe I" below.


Chapel Club - O Maybe I (MP3)

New Wild Beasts video "We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues"

As if to mark one month until Wild Beasts venture to Bournemouth, they've dropped a new video to "We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues." It features the band members floating around in a partially comatosed state, with a few disorientating close ups of a horse, drenched in light blue aquatic lighting. According to Domino Records, and inferred by anyone who cares deeply enough to listen to the lyrics, the song is a tale of "insatiable lust, full of twisted bawdiness and louche adventures." Quite how the video matches up remains a mystery to me, but it makes for an interesting watch. Not that it makes much difference, as i've already got my ticket, they've also extended their tour and confirmed support, dates for which are below.

Wild Beasts - We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues (MP3) (Buy Link Below)


17/02/2010 - MINNEAPOLIS, MN 7th Street Entry **
18/02/2010 - CHICAGO, IL Schubas **
19/02/2010 - CHICAGO, IL Schubas **
20/02/2010 - DETROIT, MI Pike Room **
22/02/2010 - TORONTO, Ontario Horseshoe Tavern **
24/02/2010 - BOSTON, MA Great Scott **
25/02/2010 - PHILADELPHIA, PA Kung Fu Necktie **
26/02/2010 - NEW YORK, NY Bowery Ballroom **
27/02/2010 - WASHINGTON, DC Black Cat **
28/02/2010 - BROOKLYN, NY Music Hall Of Williamsburg **
03/03/2010 - PORTSMOUTH Wedgewood Rooms *
04/03/2010 - LONDON KOKO* SOLD OUT
11/03/2010 - WARWICK Warwick Un *
12/03/2010 - BOURNMOUTH 60 Million Postcards *
13/03/2010 - LEICESTER Uni Queens Hall *
15/03/2010 - NORWICH Waterfront *
16/03/2010 - EXETER Phoenix *
18/03/2010 - LIVERPOOL Academy 2 *
19/03/2010 - NEWCASTLE Cluny * SOLD OUT
20/03/2010 - MANCHESTER Academy 2 *
22/03/2010 - LONDON KOKO w/Everything Everything + Esben And The Witch
25/03/2010 - GALWAY Roisin Dubh ***
26/03/2010 - CORK Cyprus Avenue ***
27/03/2010 - DUBLIN Academy ***
01/04/2010 - NANCY L'autre Canal
02/04/2010 - LYON Epicerie Moderne
03/04/2010 - MARSEILLE Cabaret Aletoire
04/04/2010 - GRENOBLE Le Ciel
06/04/2010 - LAUSANNE Le Romandie
07/04/2010 - ST GALLEN Theater Palace
08/04/2010 - MAYRHOFEN Snowbombing
09/04/2010 - BOLOGNE Locomotiv
10/04/2010 - ROME MIT Festival
11/04/2010 - ROME MIT Festival
12/04/2010 - MILAN Magnoli
13/04/2010 - MUNICH Kranhalle
15/04/2010 - PARIS Maroquinerie
16/04/2010 - BRUSSELS Botanique
17/04/2010 - COLOGNE Gebaude 9
19/04/2010 - HAMBURG Uebel and Gefarlich
20/04/2010 - BERLIN Lido
01/05/2010 - LEEDS ‘Live At Leeds’ Met Uni
22/05/2010 - GLASGOW ABC Stag & Dagger Festival
27/05/2010 - SPAIN Primavera Festival
28/05/2010 - SPAIN Primavera Festival
29/05/2010 - SPAIN Primavera Festival

* with Erland & The Carnival, and Lone Wolf
** with Still Life Still
*** with Villagers and Lone Wolf

Buy Two Dancers on Amazon.com

Chillwave, free EPs from MEMORYHOUSE + MillionYoung.

If you're anything close to a regular reader of TMW, you're going to be pretty familiar with our obsession with the chillwave/dreamwave movement that has emerged out of dreampop and surf music in the last couple of years or so. A week doesn't go by recently without a mention of bands like Toro y Moi (who's Causers of This is getting oh so close!), Golden Ages, Washed Out and the like, and for this reason amongst others, we couldn't help but share with you a couple of great free EPs from the inbox which epitomise what both this movement, and our enthusiasm is rooted in.

The first of these digital releases is by MemoryHouse, a Canadian musical duo consisting of Denise Nouvion and Evan Abeele, who started recording songs in early 2009, inspired by wintry mornings and the nostalgic onset of the seasons. With incredible maturity they darken out the ethereal soundwaves they create into something both airy and not quite seperated from the abstract moods which waft through their lyrics and instrumentation. The result is dreamy, spaced out wash-pop reminiscent of the paradoxical musical consistencies of a revamped Mercury Rev or a decontextualised Washed Out. Timeless and trippy, they set out to disorientate - and the listener is brought sharply back down to earth with contemplative lyricism, put together throughout last summer under the tributary moniker of German Composer Max Richter's seminal work, MemoryHouse.


DOWNLOAD MEMORYHOUSE - THE YEARS EP (MEDIAFIRE)
The second release i'd like to share with you is the work of Michael Diaz aka MillionYoung, who self-released his debut, the sun-drenched SunnDreamm EP in 2009 with the Pitchfork-featured track Weak Ends as single. His latest, the Be So True EP, follows suit in terms of sound and came out on January 19, 2010. Rather than singing about the seasons and emotional dwellings of the winter month's thoughts, MillionYoung seems a far more danceable character than the former; his remix of MemoryHouse transforms the ambient electronica arrangement into an ecstatic and pulsating dreampop/dance track, and you only have to take one look at his collection of upcoming shows to tell he's all for hipster dancefloor filling this summer. At times with vaguely Strokes-like vocal intensity, MillionYoung scatters dance beats amongst crispy acoustic recordings and hazily hypnotic samples. You can pick up his equally brilliant, if not better EP below, via his website.

And if full length EPs just aren't your thing, don't think we haven't catered for you. Pick up two MP3s and the remix below.

Download the SunnDreamm EP/Stream the Be So True EP via MillionYoung.com
MEMORYHOUSE - To The Lighthouse (MillionYoung remix) (MP3)
MEMORYHOUSE - Lately (Deuxieme) (MP3)
MillionYoung - Chlorophyll (MP3)

Introducing.. MiniBoone - Big Changes EP

(Rock/Indie Pop/Avant-Garde)

MiniBoone are a Brooklyn band who jumped out at me during my usual routine inbox sift a couple of weeks back with a friendly email (believe, me that's more than a lot of bands) and an enticing name drop of Phil Spector and Talking Heads. It was definitely this which led me to download their January 25th released EP 'Big Changes' which incidentally was out on Drug Front Records that very day. They play avant-garde indie pop music with a fairly standard set up, there's no synthesisers or crazy electronic sounds which accompany most of the bands i've introduced on here recently, instead MiniBoone work with guitar, bass, drums, keys with refreshing expertise. They are an incredibly tight band, who pack in not only a host of time and rhythm changes but also a great fun attitude, some really heartfelt delivery and Maccabees-esque instrumentals. 

I was directed by the band to their track Devil In Your Eyes, and cleared to post it, but now more than ever i urge you to get hold of the EP, because there's a lot more to this band than this single song. There's a lot of emotions and a lot of different moods, which the band schizophrenically cycle through from verse to verse, song to song, and section to section. A little bit of this seeps through on the lead track (listen at 1:03), where the upbeat and pop-ridden chorus subsides into an intense and far more serious second verse "I'm the friendly fire, i'm the one who sees the sickness in your eyes". You'll need to grab the EP to get the full gist of this, and i hope you do, but for now, enjoy the single available for download below.



MiniBoone - Devil In Your Eyes (MP3)

Buy the EP in Digital or Physical format via Bandcamp. 

Yeasayer - Odd Blood (Feb 8, 2010) ALBUM REVIEW

Yeasayer have been an extremely busy band since their debut came out in 2007; they quickly found themselves on tour with MGMT (an arrangement which becomes less surprising with every release), guesting on Bat For Lashes' Two Suns and contributing the vocals of their lead singer to Simian Mobile Disco's Audacity of Huge. The industry connections and widespread exposure granted them not only the freedom to take a lot of time over their follow up, but also to hone it into one of the strangest installments of psychedelic pop music 2010 has seen yet. Far more polished, and infinitely more expressive - Odd Blood is a far more charismatic and overconfident version of All Hour Cymbals. The days of downbeat acoustic songs for charity compilations are over; because nowadays everything about this Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel band screams DANCE; and not in your conventional sense. This is hipster dancefloor 80s inspired funkpop with the sensibility of Peter Gabriel, worldbeat percussion and the downright quirkyness of Gang Gang Dance and Dirty Projectors' endless list of mad collaborators.

The only real anomaly on the album comes before you're even paying any proper attention, in the form of opener The Children, building up with Animal Collective style waterboard synths and an equally overmanipulated fuzz drone of a vocal. After a just-about-bearable amount of time a Fuck Buttons-esque drone emerges and Phoenix style skewiff melody takes its rightful place above the cascade; and a few seconds later, Odd Blood really kicks in. Ambling Alp is a killer lead single from the album that's been around on the internet for months, and from airy keys confidently explodes an infectious lead line and philosophical lyrical content "And if anyone should cheat you, take advantage of, or beat you//Raise your head and wear your wounds with pride." The song develops as furiously as its intense and bipolar lyrics suggest - into a synth heavy bout of anger with squealing falsetto vocals, and euphoric 80s pop post-chorus.

You barely get a break across the entire album, only 80s power ballad track I Remember ("You're stuck in my mind, all the time") and off-beat psychedelic interlude Strange Reunions detract from the huge mood this album expresses. The latter is where Animal Collective's offbeat vocals and weirdo sound pallete shine through again rather than the usual of Montreal styled indie funk which rings loud and clear on number 9 Mondegreen. The chunky brass sections of Mark Ronson's Version combined with the rushed dancefloor vocal of Michael Jackson take precedence here as ever, driving this overpopulated dancefloor filler to ever more intense heights.

If people say that this album loses its sheen as it progresses, or bunches its singles at the start, I'm going to directly disagree; its not that this album becomes filler, its just that it becomes infinitely weirder as it goes on. As if the beginning wasn't strange enough? Single Ambling Alp, Gang Gang Dance psych-dance track Madder Red and perhaps my personal favourite O.N.E are all single-worthy and lie in the first half, but you only need to take a look at the titles of the last two songs, the manic saxophone filled ska track  "Mondegreen" and anomalous album ender "Grizelda" for confirmation that the ending is really going to live up to the name 'Odd Blood'. With such a huge range of sounds, structures and melodies flying off in all directions - Odd Blood is a genuinely ecletic album, drawing comparisons to everything from Michael Jackson to High Places or Panda Bear, and at no point does the album get too weird. Yeasayer have succeeded in exactly what Vampire Weekend have already failed to do in 2010, producing a second album which has added depth not at the expense of appeal, freshness or their long-running fanbase.

8.4/10

File Next To - Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, of Montreal
Yeasayer - O.N.E (MP3)
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (MP3)
Buy Odd Blood on Amazon.com

Introducing.. Golden Ages - Tradition (2010)

Golden Ages is the anonymous bedroom electronic music project of one man, a Philly native, who supposedly dubs himself creator of psychedelic pop, as arrogant as that may sound? But if you have time to have a listen to a few of his tracks (download below) you'll come to realise that whether he created psych-pop or not, you have a quite special guy on your hands. Merging luscious M83 style melodies and soundscapes with the looping, whirring and structurally challenging creativity of Fuck Buttons, Golden Ages is as much a part of the emerging dreamwave market as Toro y Moi or Gold Panda. He released his first EP Sitting Softly On The Sea in 2009, and its follow up Tradition, is out now at Itunes and Insound.

Electronic/Experimental/Psychedelic/Chillwave
File Next To - Toro y Moi, Panda Bear, Gold Panda
Golden Ages - Everything Will Be Alright (MP3)
Golden Ages - Be Cool (MP3)

Technoir MA - 2/B EP REVIEW

Technoir MA - 2/B (Feb 2, 2010)

Post-Punk/Alternative Dance/Live Electronics

Yesterday saw not only the official release date of Technoir MA's debut EP '2/B', but also its perfectly timed arrival in my letterbox, and by that time, unbeknownst to its creators, it had become a certainty for me to review. Justin Vassalo and Colin Green have featured before on my blog - i called them a band to watch in 2010 back in January - and i make no apologies for featuring them again in a very much positive light. Their brand of New Order meets tech-dance drum machine pop music has been captivating my recent listening to a stage high enough that i've been excitably jumping at every parcel waiting for this one to arrive in the last week or so, and here's why. Richly decadent lead guitar lines intertwine amongst themselves, subsiding only for short and euphoric sections of clear cut overdrive - which, all the time almost drowning out the distinctively New Order-style vocal sound in its entirety, make for 4 minute interludes of intense and euphoric guitar pop music. Heavily instrumental, the two musicians masterfully wind their full sounding melodies around each other, and let the Alesis SR-16 retro drum machine sit in the driving seat. Building to almost mechanical peaks, their awkward and colourful flamboyances excel through stunning guitar work into a four-track masterpiece of brilliantly and tactfully written alternative guitar music. Technoir MA are nothing short of a thrilling new pop duo from Massachussetts who wear their Joy Division and New Order influence on their sleeve (they even name their tracks in exactly the same style, rarely using more than one word in their song names), and with a clear enthusiasm for high octane pop music this hard-hitting, its difficult to blame them. Return however is a melancholy and drooping shoegaze anthem with the awkward vocal styles of Ian Curtis and controlled background overdrive of his more downbeat punk contemporaries. Use Of Force is a nine minute outro to the EP which at first swaps the guitars for airy synthesized swirls before developing into a crunchy and upbeat, if slightly erratic, ending song to 2/B. The length and accomplishment of the ender matures the album from the two opening tracks of the four, which seem to portray a much younger band obsessed with floor filling drum beats and shiny leading melodies. 2/B is a short EP at 22 minutes, and definitely starts off better than it finishes, but as long as the band continue churn out music with enough of a new angle on what has gone before it, they shouldn't have a problem in building up some serious industry consideration in the coming months.

7.5/10

Technoir MA - Sparks (MP3)
Technoir MA - Return (MP3)

 

buy the album direct from the band

Showstar - Think Ringo (Feb 1, 2010)

(Indie Pop/Alternative/Indie Rock)

Belgians Showstar have more in common with the indie pop from out of Scandanavia than they do with the indie rock bands sweeping the British charts throughout the 90s. Despite having toured throughout their 8 years together with the likes of The Rakes, The Thrills, Maximo Park and The Charlatans - to me they sound more like Finnish indie pop band 'Cats on Fire' or Swedish band 'Days' when i hear what their promo album has to offer me. Most of their 2010 bio, and indeed a lot of their activity to date, however, attempts to suggest otherwise. They quote Pulp and Blur as their main influences, and to an extent this is justified, but at the end of the day, if Blur played out some of the songs Showstar's third album Think Ringo has to offer, they'd be a far more interesting band than the real Blur could ever wish to be. This album is definitely not as Britpop as they claim it is, and it works to their advantage.


What I propose that Showstar actually are, is a vastly underrated European band who make radio-friendly indie pop hits. There's no shortage of eery pop chords, jarring basslines, crisp lead lines and cleanly recorded vocal harmonies which add urgency into the mix. The album is upbeat in its entirety and euphoric at times, see (Love) What's more, the band have been playing together years enough that they are tight as anything, and this really translates well on to their latest effort, produced in its entirety by Gareth Parton (Foal, Go! Team, Killers, Rakes) in London and Belgium. 'Think Ringo' is a logical continuation from 2006's Dot, an album which saw a marked rise in the band's maturity from their debut. In terms of genre, they lie somewhere between the 'Slag pop' of Dirty Pretty Things and the grainier vocals of bands like Mumm-Ra and Milburn.


The problem with this album is that whilst it has all the happy go lucky feel of the 90s Britpop scene, they play music of a style which in the eyes of many is dying. This album gets a decent mark from me because they do what they do very well indeed - just fails to get a plus mark because what they do has been done many, many times before - and keeping an album so rigidly styled interesting for more than 5 tracks or so is a feat they struggle to pull off. If solid indie pop/britpop bands are what you're looking for, look no further. If you're looking for an album which is innovative and forward-thinking, you've come to the wrong place.


(Love) is one of my favourite's from the album - its a nice and simple track with Carl Barat style guitars and classically Showstar, grainy but intense vocals. Have a listen below, or simply buy the album through the myspace of Vespasonic Records.

6.3/10

Showstar - (Love) (MP3)

Preview: New Yeasayer, Broken Bells, Caribou.

Yeasayer - O.N.E (MP3) (from Odd Blood, out Feb 8)

Yeasayer's Odd Blood is out this month on Secretly Canadian and to fuel our anticipation, which in my case is already to breaking point, they've dropped us another track by name of O.N.E. Its a glitchy psychedelic pop song, think MGMT messing with time signatures, with a punchy bassline and erratic synth lines. With the occasional reflective interlude, Yeasayer take a lot of time out of their songs to try and really mess with your head. Yeasayer in my eyes are getting 'madder' and more flamboyant by the second, and from the days of ambient pop folk on 2007's All Hour Cymbals, they've gone from an Animal Collective style weird cult following to a far more polished and expressive sound. What can I say, Odd Blood is shaping up to be one of my favourite releases of 2010 so far.

pre-order Odd Blood on Amazon.com

Broken Bells - Vaporize (MP3) (from Broken Bells, March 9)


Supposedly Broken Bells self titled debut album, due in March, has already leaked to bittorrent websites, but i'm faithful to to the industry like that, so i haven't touched it. What i have touched though is the latest track to appear in my itunes from the Shins frontman James Mercer and Black Keys producer (amongst many, many others) Dangermouse. As ever form these two, its oozing with 60s goodness, but this one provides a far more acoustic tone than the other two tracks i've posted a couple of months back. I really, really like this track - it sounds far more like Shins than the others.

 pre-order Broken Bells on amazon.com

Caribou - Odessa (MP3) (from Swim, out April 20)

Dan Snaith aka Caribou's last record Andorra was universally acclaimed and even scooped a Polaris Prize for its ethereal brand of psychedelic dance pop, and main man Snaith, a little over two years later, has announced his second effort 'Swim' for April 20th. He's already described its sound mainly in terms of water (hence the name) and is recently is quoted as having said that on the new album he aimed to make "…Dance music that sounds like it’s made out of water…”. He even uses the word 'slosh' to desribe its sound. The new track is definitely a signpost for what is to come - its a little more direct and definitely more danceable than his previous efforts. There's a solid beat, calm, soothing vocals and to top it off, strange, eery underwater sounds which litter the song-floor.