Arcade Fire SNL

Here are The Arcade Fire performing Keep the Car Running on Saturday Night Live.



I cant wait to see them in the Summer!

Shy Child

Last year I recieved a copy of Noise Wont Stop by Shy Child and was completely blown away, even though the band have two members they have a really full sound. I was lucky enough to catch them at last years Dot To Dot Festival and they were easily one of the bands of the day.

This week sees the release of the bands new single Drop the Phone/Down On Yourself, which is another fantastic slice of live electro/dance. They have just finished an extensive tour of the UK, so be sure to catch them in the summer.

Stream: Drop the Phone

Andrew WK!

Andrew WK will be playing bass for Current 93 at ATP Versus the Fans, which has starting a posting frenzy on the drowned in sound forum which led to a petition being started to get Andrew WK to do a solo performance at the festival.

Even if you are not going to ATP this May sign the petition to get Andrew WK to play!

Link

MP3: When I'm High

Hold Steady

Went to see The Hold Steady and The Cold War Kids on Friday night, The Cold War Kids were really disappointing I thought and seemed to loose the crowds attention for a large portion of their quite short set. The real highlight were the support act The Hold Steady (they always were to be fair) whose Springsteensque stadium sized rock gems completely blew the audience away. They are touring in the UK for a bit longer so be sure to check them out.


Here is a video of the band performing on Letterman.

Deerhunter- Cryptograms

Deerhunters second album Cryptograms took two years to make and took the group to breaking point following two distant recording sessions. This reflects in the structure of the album where the opening few tracks are generally slow and mostly instrumentally lead, picking up on infulences as diverse as Brian Eno to Sonic Youth.

As the album takes a less ambient, more melodic, poppy direction towards the end but never looses its edge, its a really interesting listen as you can really hear the fall and rise of the band within the recording period in the album. This album has already seen some great reviews and I wouldnt be surprised to see this with the albums of the year come December.

MP3: Hazel St.

Tropicalia- A Brazilian Revolution In Sound

After starting some work experience at a Brazilian Record Label, I have been very keen to listen to some classic Brazilian music, this album has been critically acclaimed but I was not prepared for how brilliant this music actually is. The album centres around six artists few of which I was familiar with before, I am a huge fan of Os Mutantes but the rest of them I was relatively new to.
The album attempts to pick up the politics and musical style of the Tropicalia movement and succeeds, its incredibly hard to pin point a genre to the music, funk bass, tropical rhythms and Santana like guitar.
There are elements of more familiar artists in the music like the Beatles and The Velvet Underground in these songs which makes it easier to listen to but they originality of the music shines through, this is a fantastic compilation and I would recommend it to anyone.

Buy it here

MP3: Gilberto Gil & Los Mutantes- Domingo No Parque

New !!!

I cant wait to see !!! in March, this video for their new single Heart Of Hearts (taken from the forth-coming Myth Takes album) completely sums up their live show and its also a really funky tune.

Pre-order

UK Tour

FEBRUARY
20 Newcastle, UK - Northumbria University w Maximo Park SOLD OUT
21 London, UK - Astoria - NME Awards Show w Maximo Park SOLD OUT

MARCH

16 Galway, Eire - Roisin Dubh
17 Dublin, Eire - Village
19 Glasgow, UK - ABC Tickets
20 Manchester, UK - Ritz Tickets
21 Leeds, UK - Leeds University Tickets
22 London, UK - Shepherds Bush Empire Tickets
23 Nottingham,UK - Marcus Garvey Ballroom Tickets
24 Bristol, UK - Bristol University Tickets

AUGUST
31 Dublin, Eire - Electric Picnic

Maximo Park and the Kaiser Chiefs

Here is the video for the new Maximo Park single 'Our Velocity', it sounds an awful lot like Devo. Its nice to hear them doing something a little different. Rather than bands like The Kaiser Chiefs, whose Drummer Nick Hodgson told The NME that "music is so average nowadays."

"There's so much shit in guitar music at the moment. You imagine an A&R man seeing this bandwagon, jumping on it and signing any old shit with a guitar around its neck. I was watching this film about The Ramones - it got me thinking how everything was so average nowadays."

Hats off to Nick Hodgson, musical pionneer and television funny man, I just forgot how original and talented the Kaiser Chiefs actually are, they invented Indie you know... "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby" ....... inspired.

Acoustic Ladyland

Formally a Jimmi Hendrix tribute band, Acoustic Ladyland's debut album Skinny Grin out now on V2 was one of most original UK indie releases of 2006. I remember hearing a track on a Artrocker complilation in early 2006 and the track stood up head and shoulders over the other tracks which included several groups who went on to bigger things.
The group fuses a traditional jazz/ska sound with a more contempary indie infulence, they have a couple of London dates coming up this month before a European tour at the end of the month. They have a stream of rave live revews behind them and are clearly an incredibly tight band, well worth checking out; I know I definately will.

Myspace

MP3: Cuts and Lies

Bargain Gig!

Got my Ticket the other day for what will be the hottest ticket in town! Cold War Kids and The Hold Steady at Club NME at Camden Koko, tickets are only £5 to boot! Get a ticket while you can!

Myspace: Cold War Kids
Myspace: The Hold Steady

The Blow

The Blow's Paper Television is a diverse record, it reminds me of a less self indulgent version of Brassy, what you dont remember Brassy? Oh. Nevermind. I didnt know what to expect from this album but I was instantly impressed. The group fuses dance, rock, indie and hip hop together, its kinda like Mates of State produced by the Neptunes. Its pretty fantastic.

MP3: Parentheses