Lonely London Lad

As the name definitely doesn't suggest, Lonely London Lad is in fact an indie rock three piece from just out of California. They are quirky and experimental, with fully streamable music via their myspace, and to be quite honest, you never really know with them what is coming next.

Just by a brief look at their Myspace, you can tell that these guys are determined to make it big. They've just released a 25 track mega-album on their own label Lonely London Lad Records which they have gone about promoting unashamedly, gaining reviews on a wide range of music blogs as well as setting up their own merchandise shop. Its also a breath of fresh air to see a band website that is firstly, genuinely interesting and secondly, updated. They've gone and mixed their new album down into a short sampler which standing at 4 minutes 20 seconds, is actually very entertaining. Once more, they've made confusing and original music videos to match their music, put together eccentrically by the sole employee of LLL records - Rob.

The unconventional art rockers have been together since early 2008, and since then have made over 50 music videos. LLL is made up of two Americans and one Brit, one of which apparently sold his private island to keep Lonely London Lad indie. Lonely London Lad's awkward and somewhat unorthodox nature is certainly reflected in their music. Art rockers is the perfect way to describe them, and a comparison to the UK's Rakes would not be unrealistic.



There is no news of touring, especially not to the UK, but with a large album release and the bands prolific nature - it's only a matter of time. Rarely have I seen a band with so much solid material behind them before they contemplated an album. It'd be nice to see Lonely London Lad back in London, but i definitely can't imagine them being lonely if they played a gig here.

Lonely London Lad are a driven and motivated band on the rise, with a Menomena/Yeasayer influence on Rakes style straight leg indie rock claiming original reviews across the blogosphere.

I've failed miserably at getting hold of an mp3 for you. But the video is a fine one.

New 'Girls' Video - Lust For Life

San Franciscan lo-fi duo Girls have a new video, and it is brilliant.



Girls these days are made up of Christopher Owens and Chet 'JR' White, who came together after Chris's side project with Liza Thorn - Curls, became redundant after Thorn's decision to concentrate solely on her own band BRIDEZ. Chris went on to form Girls with White, while Chris initially (we're talking early 2008) split his time between Girls and his older band Holy Shit.

While their origins may appear complicated, to appreciate Girls you have to let the music do the talking. Girls make a timeless blend of 60s surf pop, 80s punk and tropical thrash which sends those nostalgic shivers of youth right down to the base of your spine. There are a whole host of highly influential bands quite obviously on Girls' influence list. New Pornographers, Spiritualized and Pixies all spring to mind on aural consumption. Elements of early 90s shoegaze pop are also quite clear as well as that timeless alternative rock sound and heart on sleeve storytelling of Semisonic and Counting Crows . Girls draw elements of their outcome slightly from every era, with every distinct influence coming together faultlessly to form what the duo themselves call their own 'punk DIY version of great pop.'

They have half-completed tours across the US this summer and are visiting Northern Europe, and later the UK in September and October. The album, thoughtfully christened album is due out September 21st in the US, and the new single (although the track has been around for some time), out September 7th, is embedded in the video above. Considering I never usually watch music videos as i don't particularly like the idea of them, filmmaker Aaron Brown has done a fantastic and highly appropriate job.

Fred Falke

It's not often I cover artists whose work centres almost solely on other people's material, but sometimes, when a remix artist consistently churns out intelligent and listenable remixes which almost top their originals, you have to give them a mention. Fred Falke has done exactly this. His ventures into music production began in the late 90s (he began playing music a bass player around 1995), and since then he's collaborated with notably Alan Braxe, and more recently French based German DJ and friend Kris Menace.

Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Intro
Alan Braxe - Addicted (Original Mix)

His first record Intro, featuring a sample from The Jets 1987 hit Crush On You, was made in collaboration with Alan Braxe and released in 2000 on the French Vulture label; since then the pair have formed a high output remix duo, remixing bands prestigious as Death From Above, Van She and Justice before their split around the beginning of 2008.

DFA - Black History Month (Fred Falke & Alan Braxe Remix)
Van She - Kelly (Fred Falke & Alan Braxe Remix)
Justice - D.A.N.C.E (Alan Braxe Remix)

Fred Falke's post-Braxe work is where he really shines. He's worked with, amongst others, The Gossip, La Roux, and Grizzly Bear since the split, effortlessly making 4 minute pop songs into 6 - 9 minute excerts of timeless, dreamy house music. His signature sound is full and synth heavy, building up, building down and re-emphasising sounds across the board, to create shining melodic combinations of danceable 90s disco music. Strong beats typically lie beneath spacey, distant vocal takes which throughout the course of the tracks transform from vague, semi-ambient background sounds into widening expanses of electronic euphoria. Listen to his some of his more recent work below via mediafire.

The Gossip - Heavy Cross (Fred Falke Remix)
The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)
La Roux - Bulletproof (Fred Falke Remix)

Plugs.

Little more is understood of British psychedelic three-piece Plugs than that their existence is an alternate project of Does It Offend You Yeah?'s former lead guitarist Morgan Q. He plays guitars and drum machines and sings the lead vocals for the long-since formed Peckham band, and is joined live by the mysterious pseudonymns of his nameless bandmates David Chin and Boomer on bass, keys and backing vocals.

According to the Plugs myspace, the group of electronic musicians have been making Psychedelic/Concrete/Progressive music since their casual formation in London late 2005. They have an impressive Festival season ahead (and behind them) having already played Loop Festival and Field Day this August, with future dates at the BBC Introducing... stage at Reading and Leeds Festivals as well as V Festival on the 22nd.

Plugs only really started playing music regularly once again earlier this year, following Morgan Q's concise and well publicised split with his former band in April, making the claims that Does It Offend were never really 'his sort of band aesthetically' and that he felt he had a better 'creative outlet' in the form of Plugs. Plugs output so far has certainly appeared far more creative than anything made in the form of Does It Offend You Yeah? Morgan's switch marks a reshuffle of priorities - the band has had material for years, even if it got a bit neglected following success elsewhere.

There obviously are elements of the former band incorporated into the new project, whether intended or not - but instead of the synthesizers turned up to 11, chaotic structures and the ferocious live shows they became famous for, the new music is a calmer take on prog-rock style synthpop music. Opener 'Opening Theme' is grand enough to lure any listener into a live show - in a sense, the music speaks entirely for itself. The vocals remain eccentric and distinctly British in humour and delivery, at times they remind of Bloc Party, but the music is often closer to those at the height of electronic creativity, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Octopus Project and even a fuller sounding Portishead spring to mind. Plugs manage to make dark and intelligent music into fun music, Hot Chip style.

As of yet there is no news of an album, but with the band quickly gaining live momentum and a fanbase as dedicated as the last project, an album and tour of some sort is surely only a matter of time. Pick up single Imaginary Friend below.

Plugs - Imaginary Friend

Plugs Myspace

Dorian Concept

Austrian based idm producer Dorian Concept has announced details of his latest LP (the follow-up to February's When Planets Explode) to be released on 9th September by strange name of Trilingual Dance Sexperience. The young Austrian has grown himself a dedicated following around the electronic scene of Vienna, forming a refreshing part of the new wave of glitchy electronica already spearheaded by Flying Lotus, Prefuse 73 and Hudson Mohawk amongst others.

His extrovertive mix of scatty beats, cut up melodies and heavy stacatto sampling have been featured in everything from digital EPs of 2005's Nouns and The Relevance of Wood and 2006's Seek When Is Her to remix work with Mickey Eats Plastic throughout 2006-7. Notable releases which followed included the production of Swedish singer Kissey Asplund's Silverlake EP, as well as a series of appearances on remix tapes and compilations such as Jay Scarlett's Circulations and Here Comes Treble. He also has a series of casual youtube videos featuring himself and a series of Korgs, Micron and Casio synthesizers.

It's a step into new territory for the young Austrian to be releasing a second full length only 6 months after his full debut emerged, but after widely positive receptions, it's one in the right direction. The teaser for the new album (and it really is a teaser!) is streamable from Vienna's Affine Records, and a full length stream of When Planets Explode is available via Kindred Spirits.

Trilingual Dance Sexperience / Tropical Hands - Teaser
When Planets Explode - Album Stream