Pier Pressure

Four Tet - Fabriclive 59 (Mix Album Review)

2011-08-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, has always pushed musical boundaries. Whether it be with his inimitable style of electronica - glitching up folk samples into haunting hip-hop melodies - or live laptop jamming with jazz drummers, he always manages to do something different and subvert expectations. With the release of his latest and most accessible album, There Is Love In You, he has found himself sitting alongside the likes of Joy Orbison and Pearson Sound on releases and line-ups alike. These pioneers are re-inventing bass music and Pearson Sound's recent Fabric Mix is a good example of where these new genres are headed. If you've come to terms with Four Tet's endless curve balling then you won't be as surprised to know that this mix doesn't pick up where Pearson Sound's left off.

Read the rest over at Blah Blah Blah.

Battery Powered - Tock

2011-07-19T09:40:00.001-07:00

Here's our latest track as Battery Powered, it's a tidy little tech house groove for playing early doors. There's no real breakdown(s) just some subtle rises and falls using a nice balkan horn sample and plenty of percussion.

Tock by Battery Powered

SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Album Review)

2011-07-14T07:21:00.000-07:00

Check out my review of SBTRKT's debut album over at Blah Blah Blah.

SBTRKT - Sanctuary (feat. Jessie Ware & Sampha) on Spotify.

Digitalism - I Love You Dude (Album Review)

2011-07-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

It's been four years since Digitalism released their debut, Idealism. At that time they were one of a handful of pioneers developing the hybrid of indie and dance music and Idealism stands as an important milestone in the progression of what became known as 'nu-rave'. Since then the genre notoriously expanded, diluted and collapsed under the weight of weak immitators and heavy criticism from it's initial supporters. Four years on and everything has changed in the world around them, do Digitalism have what it takes to keep up?

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Digitalism - Encore on Spotify

The Candela Kingdom - A Little Positive

2011-04-18T06:48:00.001-07:00

I proudly present my new project. It's called The Candela Kingom and is a collaboration with my good friend/housemate/occasional Pier Pressure poster. It's 2 and a half minutes of bright summery guitars and synths with emotionally charged, uplifting lyrics and funky bass.

A Little Positive (Demo) by The Candela Kingdom

Munk - The Bird And The Beat (Album Review)

2011-04-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

Munk is Mathias Modica the multi instrumentalist and co-founder of Gomma records. The Bird And The Beat is his third album and provides a deliciously summery dose of disco influenced dance music. Instead of mining disco for samples, however, he's created 14 tracks that put something back into the genre.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Munk - La Musica on Spotify.

Frankie & The Hearstrings - Hunger (Album Review)

2011-04-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Since it's surge in popularity and saturation circa 2008, indie has been in general decline and the standard guitar, bass and drums combo has fallen by the wayside. Three years later and there are a couple of bands reigniting that spark.

Read the rest of the review and buy the album at Ape

Frankie & The Heartstings - Hunger on Spotify.

Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Album Review)

2011-04-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

2010 proved to be a good year for thoughtful electronica, with Four Tet, Caribou, Gold Panda and a few others littering a host of respected 'Best Of' lists. 2011's first contender comes in the form of Egyptrixx's debut.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah

Egyptrixx - Chrysalis Records on Spotify.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing (Album Review)

2011-04-04T07:06:00.000-07:00

I wrote this review for Ape ages ago but i've only just got around to linking it up.

Inspired by the ventriloquist's dummy as a metaphor for uninteresting and easily manipulated individuals, the foursome explore society's dullards in a rather more entertaining fashion. The majority of the eleven tracks are anchored by a super tight drum and bass combination creating such propulsion and groove that they would be all over the dance floor if it wasn't for David Best's dead pan delivery of delightfully drab lyrics...

Read the rest of the review and buy the album at Ape.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing on Spotify.

I love this video too:

Suuns - Zeroes QC (Album Review)

2011-01-18T02:49:00.000-08:00

What to make of Suuns? Let's start with the name. It could be a typo for the glowing ball of gas that we spend our lives orbiting around. Not in the fuzzy warm way East Coast bands make us think of the sun, though. This Canadian four piece have a different idea of what the centre of our universe represents. It's not just our life support system but also a devastatingly powerful source of energy, danger and fear. More Danny Boyle's 'Sunshine' than 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

Read the rest of the review and order at Ape.

Suuns - Gaze on Spotify

The Recommender Party with We Have Band, Mirrors and Bright Light Bright Light

2010-11-29T07:02:00.000-08:00

We return to our new home Audio, Brighton on Sat 4th December with another one of our fantastic Recommender parties. Boasting the strongest line-up yet we've got the dazzling electro-pop trio, We Have Band to headline as part of their European Tour. We've also got the quickly rising local lads, Mirrors, and hot tip Bright Light Bright Light in support.

We'll also be doing our usual extras in the form of the photo booth and free mixtapes for the first 50 people to arrive.

On top of that it's only £7 in advance so cop a ticket quick from, Ape, Resident or Rounder if you're local or buy a ticket online here.

We Have Band - Time After Time on Spotify

Mirrors - Into The Heart on Spotify

Bright Light Bright Light - Love Part II on Spotify

See you there.

Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner (Album Review)

2010-10-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

'Lucky Shiner' is a patient album. It is the result of a patient life. Taking in influences from a two year period spent studying Japanese culture, language and history at the School of Oriental and Asian studies in Japan. It's loaded with family history, relationships and memories - inspired by everything from 'Marriage' to a field recording of Gold Panda helping his Grandma to push a wheelbarrow in the garden. It was even made in a patient environment, a two week house-sit over Christmas for his uncle and aunt in the idyllic English countryside. In relaxed sessions between walking their dog Daisy. It, therefore, requires a little patience in return and on repeat plays the listener can descend into its layers to reveal something truly worth the wait.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Gold Panda - Same Dream China on Spotify.

Mega Mega Mega Tour with Count & Sinden, Mosca and Battery Powered

2010-10-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

Battery Powered have just been added to the Brighton leg of Count & Sinden's Mega Mega Mega album tour with Mosca at Digital. It's going to be awesome.

Get tickets from Resident or Rounder if you're local or online here.

Count & Sinden feat Mystery Jets - After Dark on Spotify.

Who Needs Love?

2010-10-06T00:09:00.000-07:00

Here's our latest track, it's called 'Who Needs Love?'. It's our most 'house' track to date and builds ferociously to a classic 80s vocal before dropping into a bouncing bass line. It's then tickled with snippets of the sample and topped with some peeping synths. Who Needs Love? is the first track we've offered up for download so you can take it away for free.

Who Needs Love by Battery Powered

Chromeo - Business Casual (Album Review)

2010-09-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Business Casual is the new album from besuited time travelling lotharios, Chromeo. With their temporal dial still firmly stuck to the 70s and 80s, they reappear for the third time in the present day with ten tracks stolen from the eras that funk forged and fashion forgot.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Battery Powered Mix for Warehouse

2010-09-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

This Saturday Warehouse launches at Audio, Brighton featuring an awesome line-up of international DJs. As we're residents we've made a mix of our favourite tracks of the last 12 months to promote it. It's exactly the kind of tracks we'll be playing at Warehouse and also includes works by some of the artists who'll be playing there in the near future.

Listen, download and enjoy.

Warehouse Mix Sept 2010 by Battery Powered

Tracklist:
1. Tensnake - Coma Cat
2. Round Table Knights - Calypso
3. Joe & Will Ask? - Man the Cannons
4. Brodinksi & Noob - Peanuts Club (BeatauCue remix)
5. Kelis - Scream (LA Riots vs Battery Powered redub)
6. Boys Noize - Sweet Light (Boris Dlugosch remix)
7. Boy 8 Bit - The Keep
8. Cassius - 99 (Tim Green remix)
9. Duck Sauce - Barbra Stresiand
10. Drop The Lime - Set Me Free (Harvard Bass remix)
11. Spencer & Hill - Jump (Oliver Twizt remix)
12. Jack Beats - Revolution
13. Sound of Stereo - Zipper
14. Congorock - Runark (Jokers of the Scene remix)

Tinashe - Saved (Album Review)

2010-09-28T07:31:00.000-07:00

If, in recent weeks, conversation has been dominated by bemoaning the early yet inevitable passing of Britain's summer. Make sure Tinashe's debut is the last ray of sun you catch before Autumn closes in. Now living in London but originally from Zimbabwe the 26 year old has crafted a truly uplifting collection of tracks.

Read the rest of the review and buy the album from Ape Music

Tinashe - Zambezi on Spotify.

Brighton Fashion Week 2010

2010-09-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

This is the show reel for Brighton Fashion Week 2010. They asked us to produce a track that could be used for the backing so we came up with 'Shooze' and here's the final product.

Fabriclive Mix 53: Drop The Lime (Review)

2010-09-06T01:09:00.000-07:00

Rising to fame during the demise of electro, as fidget house and dubstep emerged so did Drop The Lime. Part of label/party/blog/collective Trouble And Bass he quickly gained a reputation for championing all types of bass music, destroying dance floors worldwide and, more recently, reintroducing vocals to house. Here he takes a step back from the dance-floor and crafts a mix much less for the club, although you'll still need Fabric's bass-bins (or a hefty pair of headphones) to fully enjoy his selections.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Battery Powered - Shooze

2010-08-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here's our second track, 'Shooze'. It's far more electro than Trop, we were working to a brief for a fashion show as they asked us to make a track to put on their show reel. I'll post the show reel later.

Shooze by Battery Powered

Klaxons - Surfing The Void (Album Review)

2010-08-19T04:40:00.000-07:00

In 2007 they produced a hugely experimental album that, despite the odds, garnered a mass of critical acclaim and won the year's Mercury Music Prize. They also released one of the year's best pop songs (according to NME) and invented a whole new genre (again according to NME).

How on earth do they plan to follow 'Myths Of The Near Future'?

Read more and pre-order at Ape

Our Party

2010-08-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a video recorded on the night of our last party a couple of weeks ago. Cool or what?

Battery Powered - Trop

2010-08-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

James and I have been working on a few tracks recently, here's the first one to be finished. It's called Trop. We hope you enjoy it.

Trop by Battery Powered

The Recommender Party No. 6 with The Phenomenal Handclap Band

2010-07-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Big news! We've upgraded to a bigger, better and more respected venue in the form of Audio. Our line-up is also way bigger and better to celebrate our launch party in our new home. Feast your eyes on this:

Sat 31st July
Audio, 10 Marine Parade, Brighton

The Recommender Launch Party with:

The Phenomenal Handclap Band - There's honestly no superlatives or twisted adjectives that could describe just how good this eight piece New York band are. They have absolutely every ingredient to make any party go off. Impossibly entertaining disco, funk, pop and groove are all thumped out by the sexiest band alive today. Prepare to be hypnotized!

David E Sugar - This will be a live set with a band behind this pioneering DJ. Famous for doing extraordinary things with a Speak %26 Spell, you may well have come across this underground sensation on Kitsune compilations. Most recently he's signed to Rob Da Bank's Sunday Best label, which will surely push this artist well and truly overground.

Young Empires - This Canadian three piece are coming to Brighton for the first time ever. They arrive with a tidal wave of hype and hungry A%26R men, alongside their original, percussive, indie pop magic. The new Friendly Fires anyone?

On top of that there'll be the usual Recommender shenanigans in the form of The Photobooth and a free mixtape for the first 50 people all for only £8 plus booking fee which will also get you in to The Recommender Late with:

Rory Phillips - He's the protegé to none other than the DJ overlord, Erol Alkan, having had a residency at London's Trash night and its modern version, Durr. With a truckload of seemingly perfect remixes under his belt, expect a set of the unexpected - of course played using his signature phone set instead of a pair of headphones.

The Recommender DJs - A unique partnership formed from two of Brighton's best DJ teams (Battery Powered and Blah Blah Blah DJs). These guys play everything from upfront new music taken from The Recommender to dance floor smashing house, disco and techno. Expect to move.

You can buy tickets from Ape, Resident or Rounder if you're local to Brighton. If you're from further afield then you can order online from Ape here.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band - 15 to 20 on Spotify
David E Sugar - To Yourself on Spotify

Kele at Digital (Live Review)

2010-07-13T04:54:00.000-07:00

Judging by the amount of Bloc Party T-shirts on display tonight at least half of Kele’s audience must be hoping to hear some of his earlier output. Despite a Bloc Party medley and the final track, however, the night is all about his new material.

Read more at Brighton Calling

Kele - On The Lam on Spotify.

Thanks to Sam Hiscox for the photos.

Mystery Jets - Serotonin (Album review)

2010-07-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

The four lads (and their Dad) from Eel Pie Island are barely recognisable on Serotonin. Proving that 2008's Twenty One wasn't Mystery Jets finding their new sound but merely taking a step on their musical journey. Having already produced with James Ford and Erol Alkan, this time they've opted for Chris Thomas (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Pulp, Sex Pistols) to man the controls.

Read more and buy the album at Ape

Mystery Jets - The Girl Is Gone on Spotify.

The Wave Pictures (Live review) + Save The Freebutt

2010-07-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a review I wrote for Brighton Calling

The Freebutt demonstrates yet again why it's such an important venue for our city and why everyone should sign the petition. Not only because it's the home of One Inch Badge Records (certainly one of the UK's oddest but often totally-on-the-money record labels) who are promoting tonight's show but also because it plays host to bands that wouldn't get a show in Brighton otherwise. Tonight's act don't fall into that category having played down here a number of times already but considering some of those performances were at the now closed and fate undetermined Engine Rooms it seems even more appropriate to mention the Freebutt's plight.

Read more at Brighton Calling

The Wave Pictures - I Love You Like A Madman on Spotify.

Sleigh Bells - Treats (Album review)

2010-07-13T04:13:00.000-07:00

I've started writing weekly reviews for Ape's website. Each week i'll be posting a snippet of the review here and a link so that you can read the rest of the review and buy the album.

Sleigh Bells is comprised of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, one of the most unlikely pairings in music. He was formerly a guitarist for post-hardcore band Poison The Well and she sang in Rubyblue, a girl band for which details are scarce. The coming together of this duo was equally unlikely as he waited her (and her Mum) in a restaurant and happened to mention he was looking for a female vocalist. The rest is (very recent) history as they formed in 2008 and less than two years later have produced their debut album 'Treats'.

Read more and buy the album at Ape.

Sleigh Bells - Riot Rhythm on Spotify.

The Recommender Party No. 5 with The Good Natured and Muchuu

2010-05-07T09:47:00.000-07:00

It seems like I say this after every party that we throw but last month's party was awesome. Both Jukebox Collective and Wild Palms were fantastic. Looking forward to the next one we've got The Good Natured and Muchuu playing for us as well as the usual photobooth and goodie bag shenanigans.

Check out this amazing video of our headliner, The Good Natured:

Tickets are only £4 plus booking fee and are available from Resident, Rounder Records and Ape.

Muchuu - Somebody Tell Me on Spotify.

New Posts

2010-05-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

I haven't been updating Pier Pressure much recently but fear not as I've been writing elsewhere...

Check out my review of LCD Soundsystem's forthcoming album on Blah Blah Blah.

Read my post about Butterfly Bones on The Recommender.

New article on Blah Blah Blah

2010-04-07T06:33:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to start reviewing the Fabriclive mixes for Blah Blah Blah.

Check out my first post here:

Fabriclive Mix 51: The Duke Dumont (Review)

The Recommender Party No. 4 with Wild Palms and Jukebox Collective

2010-04-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

Impressive performances at our parties are getting so common they're almost cliche but we love it. Foreign Office totally wowed me but let's not dwell in the past, our next party with Wild Palms and Jukebox Collective is gonna be a smash too, check out the flyer below.

Get your tickets NOW from Resident, Rounder Records and Ape.

Get more info and updates on the Facebook event.

Wild Palms - Over Time on Spotify

The Recommender Mixtape No. 3

2010-03-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Recommender Mixtape No.3 by The Recommender

Our party is tomorrow, check all the details in the sidebar. Here's the mixtape we gave out at the last one which you can download now. We'll be giving out our fourth mixtape tomorrow exclusively to people who come to the party so get on down.

Tracklist:

1. Gorillaz feat. Bobby Womack & Moss Def - Stylo
2. The XX - VCR (Matthew Dear Remix)
3. Phantogram - When I'm Small
4. Yeasayer - One
5. Theophilus London - Humdrum Town
6. Magic Wands - Warrior (The XX Remix)
7. Penguin Prison - Something I'm Not
8. Shy Child - Disconnected
9. Lo-Fi-Fnk - Marchin' In
10. Official Secrets Act - Believe Me
11. My Gold Mask - Monomania
12. The Hundred In The Hands - Dressed In Dresden
13. Operator Please - Logic
14. Drums - Best Friend
15. The Amplifetes - Whizz Kid

Vitalic at The Brighton Coalition 18.03.10

2010-03-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

Vitalic or Pascal Arbez (as his Mum would call him) is a man who likes to bide his time. With a gap of four years between his first and second albums and a similar period since his last performance in Brighton, his fans have gotten used to waiting for him. Tonight's performance is, therefore, a surprise as he boards the stage at the remarkably early time of 9.15pm.

Shielded by an impressive array of mixing desks and effects equipment hooked up to his laptop he waits for Willerby's last track to fade away. A drum roll rattles out of the speakers, a kick punches it's way through, the bone shattering bass line rolls in and it's all systems GO! Vitalic churns through hits from both 'OK Cowboy' and 'Flashmob' mixing each track together, introducing new themes and layers with the twist of a knob and the cross of a fader. Each track is tweaked making the live experience quite unlike the material on record, at each stage he manages to throw something new into the mix, always increasing the intensity. The entire set feels like it's ascending, building in ferocity so consistently that each climax is immediately smothered with the introduction of an even heavier kick drum and an even more frantic cymbal scatter.

It's more like seeing an electro DJ set circa 2007 than a live performance because it's so tight. Percussion sampled live is set out in 4/4 patterns, buzzsaw synths are layered together with a techno style progression and here and there the odd snippet of female vocal is littered. Predictably 'La Rock 01' is the hit of the night with the crowd (who have certainly done their bit to get into the mood for it so early) raising their hands into the air. The newly installed lights, lasers and smoke machines do an impressive job of making it look like 3am in the morning rather than the 10pm that it actually is. Confusion arises when Vitalic cuts the track short and slams straight into 'Galvanise' by Chemical Brothers which he then mixes back into 'La Rock 01' after a minute or so to huge appreciation from the crowd who are throwing themselves up and down by this point.

It's amazing how truly up-for-it the audience are. They've somehow managed to ignore their body clock which is repeatedly notifying the brain that it's way too early for this kind of thing, extra respect goes to the guy asking for pills considering that when it all wraps up at 10.30pm he'll still have half an hour to wait until the clubs open. He was probably coming up on the bus ride home, although, thanks to Vitalic's performance tonight he won't be the only one feeling slightly euphoric as they leave the Coalition.

Thanks to Mike at The Recommender for the awesome photos.

Vitalic - Poison Lips on Spotify

Pokemon

2010-03-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

When I was younger I was obsessed with Pokemon (if you know me that probably won't surprise you). I played the games, collected the playing cards and watched the cartoons. As I got older the franchise lost it's appeal but Nintendo are changing that. For the launch of the latest game, they're teaming up with Vice to host an art exhibition of cool Pokemon inspired artwork and throwing a party with DJ sets from Filthy Dukes, Friendly Fires and Real Gold. Check out the art and how to enter the competition to win a ticket to the event below.

Vice and Nintendo have commissioned seven artists to create a Pokémon inspired piece of artwork to celebrate Nintendo's newest Pokemon releases on the DS, and are holding an exhibition to showcase the works, from 24th - 31st March, at Blackall Studios. The exhibition opens with a big launch party on the 24th, full of Nintendo product for guests to demo, Pokemon inspired food, lots of booze and a stellar line-up of DJs: Filthy Dukes, Friendly Fires and Real Gold. The event will be guestlist only, attended by members of the press, select tastemakers from the Vice network, and competition winners. Go to www.viceland.com/repokemon to see the work, find out more about the campaign and enter the competition.

Filthy Dukes - Nonsense In The Dark on Spotify

Friendly Fires - White Diamonds on Spotify

The Recommender Party No. 3

2010-03-11T05:57:00.000-08:00

So our last party was amazing with Velo and :Kinema: blowing everyone away. This month we've got an equally special line up starting with The High Wire who have just released their dreamy debut album 'The Sleep Tape'. Then we've got Foreign Office who are releasing their debut single a few days later and topping it all off with Casiokids doing a DJ set for us. Plus more hilarious photos from Eleni's photobooth and free goodiebags including the exclusive mixtape. It's going to be another fantastic night.

Get your tickets NOW from Resident, Rounder Records and Ape.

Check the event for more details.

The High Wire - Odds & Evens on Spotify
The High Wire - It's No Secret on Spotify

Casiokids - Postcard From Congo on Spotify

As a bonus, this is how stupid you can look if you try really hard:

Four Tet - There Is Love In You (Album Review)

2010-03-08T13:03:00.002-08:00

This has been far too long in the writing. Four Tet's latest album was my first purchase of the year (way back in January) and is still my favourite to date. There Is Love In You sees Kieran Hebden delivering the album that his previous works have hinted at. Tracks like 'Everything Is Alright' from Pause and 'She Moves She' from Rounds have highlighted how great a musician he is but are shining gems amongst the less accessible experimentation on each album. This LP really ties his sonic exploration with beautiful melodies and accessible listening across all nine tracks.

Album opener 'Angel Echoes' is just about as beautiful as any four minutes of your life are going to be. Its simple beat and chopped up female vocal smoothing out the album's title in varying arrangements beam down like broken rays of sunshine to be basked in. I would say that it makes my heart swell and my eyes brim if the second track wasn't called 'Love Cry'. It's nine minutes and thirteen seconds of skipping percussion and warbling whatever-it-is. This might sound like a lazy (or lack of) description but if you're familiar with Four Tet you'll understand where I'm coming from. His ability to take recorded noises and instruments then process them through his computer, loop, tinker, warp, reverse, stutter and screw them to the point of being only subconsciously familiar is instantly recognisable. 'Love Cry' is no different and the droning melody is either hot water heating the pipes in a creaky old house as the heating comes or a de-tuned synth. Of the two I'm inclined to believe the former as de-tuning a synth seems too easy and conventional for Hebden. Third song, 'Circling' is the sound track to landing on an alien planet lush with flora but loaded with uncertainty and probable danger. As exploration of this new landscape continues realisation dawns that the planet is not only safe but warm and welcoming too (you'll know what I mean if you've ever played Metroid Prime). The progression of this song is delightful, it starts with oddly off-beat, plucked strings that drift further and further out of time. They threaten to drag the track apart until a duplicate layer is introduced which counterpoints the original and provides the missing half of the melody. These moments thrive and diminish over and over, changing subtly each time so that by the end, the uneasiness of the opening minute has been replaced by pleasant familiarity. Using 'Pablo's Heart' as the tiniest of stepping stones, the listener is thrust headlong into 'Sing', a bouncing, glockenspiel-saturated dance track of the awkward shambling kind (that I'm so fond of). It also seems to use the vocal from Boris Dlugosch's 'Bangkok'.

I could go on like this for the remaining four songs but I think you're getting the point by now which is a) this is a brilliant album and b) i'm fully gay for Kieran Hebden. Do yourself a favour and buy the album, that way if this warm (well, bright) weather continues you'll have something dreamy to walk around to.

Four Tet - Angel Echoes on Spotify.

Related Posts:
Battery Powered Mix

Clock Opera Interview

2010-03-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

The other week I interviewed Clock Opera, you can read it here.

The Recommender Mixtape No. 2

2010-02-22T03:44:00.000-08:00

The Recommender Mixtape No.2 by The Recommender

Here's the promo mixtape for our second show, it features both our guests Velo and :Kinema:. If you were clever enough to come to our first show then you'll already have this mixtape, if not the tracklist is below. Come to our second show to get your up front copy of our third mixtape in the series.

Click here for more info on the show.

1. Hi Tiger - Dance Around
2. CFCF - Big Love
3. The Phenomenal Handclap Band - You'll Disappear (Munk Remix)
4. Feathers - Weird Summer
5. :Kinema: - Circles
6. Pacific! - Hold Me (Breakbot Remix)
7. We Have Band - Honey Trap (Def Starr Remix)
8. Chew Lips - Solo
9. Cassian - Friday Night
10. French Horn Rebellion - Beaches And Friends (Hey Champ Remix)
11. Marina And The Diamonds - Hollywood (Fenech Soler Remix)
12. Fan Death - Reunited (Ccenturiess Remix)
13. Solid Gold - Matter Of Time (Tanlines Remix)
14. Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix)
15. Monarchy - Gold In The Fire
16. Velo - White Nights

Chapel Club at Audio (Brighton) 08.02.10

2010-02-11T05:25:00.000-08:00

After a hectic weekend, a gig on a Monday night can be just the thing to take the edge off of the four more days of work looming ahead. If your definition of a hectic weekend included the increasingly popular past time of feeding plants and making cat noises then Monday night wouldn't have been the place for you.

The Hornblower Brothers provided a much needed beam of sunshine on a day that had already seen a flurry of unwanted flakes drifting down from the sky. Their jaunty indie and amusing subject matter helped to compensate for the missing seratonin. All five of the lads dropping their instruments midway through a cheery number to sing unaccompanied and without microphones was an intriguing way to steal attention from the bar and turn heads towards the stage. A whole evening of this 'jazz/tropical/punk' (myspace) might have been enough to shake off the dreary weather and Monday blues but they were merely the first of four bands on the bill.

Munich weren't having any of that feel good lark though. This band have nailed their name, the city is synonymous with a dreary, dark feeling that these guys create. Somberly clothed and wrapped in scarves, their movement is confined only to that which is necessary to create a wall of sound. Firmly shutting out any light let in by the first band and chasing out the generated warmth, they set the evening's true theme of noise, darkness and depression.

Local band, Lyrebirds raise the stakes on Munich by taking their style and running with it. They add a stronger lead vocal to the Editors/Interpol school of doom pop and a greater degree of intricacy setting them slightly apart from the bands either side of them on the roster. Their music is at once fast and slow, the lyrics stretched and dragged over the top of furious riffs and frantic drums but matched by the sliding synths and wailing solos. Their front man wins the coveted but easily achievable title of 'most charismatic', with a few jabbing fingers and raised arms whilst the rest of the band inspect their battered Chelsea Boots. Visual performances are not high on tonight's agenda.

Final act, Chapel Club haven't been left far to go in this genre. More sharply dressed, motionless men carving out giant arcs of noise from the stack. 'O Maybe I' stands out as the latest single but amidst so much similarity on the bill the rest of the set is just more of the same. They've certainly got a future and alongside a different act would cause more of a stir but tonight wasn't quite their night. Three out of four of the bands choosing not to interact with the audience is an unusual occurrence, especially when it could have generated the distinction that they so badly needed.

Thanks to Mike at The Recommender for the cool photos.

~~No links to Spotify today as none of their tracks are on there but~~ head over to The Recommender to download a Lyrebirds track.

The Hornblower Brothers - Android With A Heart on Spotify.

The Recommender Party No. 2

2010-02-09T03:04:00.000-08:00

Our last party was so much fun. The next one is on Wed 3rd Mar and we've netted white hog blog stars Velo and local favourites/Pier Pressure regulars :Kinema: to play for us. Plus there's the photobooth and goodie bags containing another exclusive mixtape.

More info can be found on the facebook event.

Become a fan of The Recommender on facebook here.

For a taste of what the night will sound like check out The Recommender Mixtape No. 1 which includes a cover of Animal Collective's 'My Girls' by our guests :Kinema:. Our other guests, Velo can be read about and listened to here.

Needless to say we're excited to have such an awesome line-up for our second party.

Tickets only £3 in advance and can be bought from Resident, Rounder Records and Ape. Internet people can ring the shop, purchase tickets over the phone and collect them on the door.

And for those who came to our first party, picked up one of our exclusive gift bags and listened to the mixtape, here's the tracklist:

1. Hi Tiger - Dance Around
2. CFCF - Big Love
3. The Phenomenal Handclap Band - You'll Disappear (Munk Remix)
4. Feathers - Weird Summer
5. :Kinema: - Circles
6. Pacific! - Hold Me (Breakbot Remix)
7. We Have Band - Honey Trap (Def Starr Remix)
8. Chew Lips - Solo
9. Cassian - Friday Night
10. French Horn Rebellion - Beaches And Friends (Hey Champ Remix)
11. Marina And The Diamonds - Hollywood (Fenech Soler Remix)
12. Fan Death - Reunited (Ccenturiess Remix)
13. Solid Gold - Matter Of Time (Tanlines Remix)
14. Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix)
15. Monarchy - Gold In The Fire
16. Velo - White Nights

Related Posts:
:Kinema: - My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)

The Recommender Mixtape No. 1

2010-01-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Recommender Mixtape No.1 by The Recommender

I've just put together The Recommender Mixtape No. 1 featuring a whole host of awesome new music including Plugs and The Woo!Worths, our guests at The Recommender Launch Party. If you like the Mixtape then our party will be right up your street!

Tracklist:

Bear in Heaven - Lovesick Teenagers
Local Natives - Airplanes
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
Memory Tapes - Bicycle
Theophilus London - Cold Pillow
Hurts - Wonderful Life
Marina & The Diamonds - Seventeen
:Kinema: - My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)
Sensual Harassment - Daddy Long Legs
The Sounds Of Arrows - Danger!
Plugs - Imaginary Friend
Wolf Gang - The King And All Of His Men
Kite In The Air - Magic Marker
The Woo!Worths - Plasticine
Riton & Primary 1 - Radiates
Delphic - Halcyon
Golden Silvers - True Romance (Penguin Prison Remix)
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Tinashe - May Day (So Shifty Remix)
Fenech Soler - LA Love (BBB Rework)
Van She - (Don't Fear) The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult Cover)

New post on The Recommender

2010-01-23T06:54:00.000-08:00

My second post is up on The Recommender.

Go check it out and download some new music.

Don't forget to grab your tickets for our party.

Delphic at Audio, Brighton 19.01.10 (Live Review)

2010-01-20T07:10:00.001-08:00

Here's my first live review for Brighton Calling in 2010.

The annual BBC list for who's going to be successful in the next twelve months has the ability to make heroes or villains out of its nominees. Last year's list managed to make both out of some of its acts with the critics who put the artists on the pedestal happily trying to shoot them down by the end of the year. This year both Ellie Goulding and Marina And The Diamonds have been offered the chance to follow La Roux and Little Boots by betraying their loyal blog following and swinging straight for the overly manicured fast buck. Delphic don't have this option which leaves them with taking the White Lies route (releasing a good album but never being heard of again) or crafting their own.

Even the most avid fan will have only heard three of Delphic's early tracks before plumping to buy a ticket in the post 'Sound of 2010' rush. The album was released a mere eight days ago which doesn't allow much time to get to know and love its content and there's a distinct sense of 'What's all the fuss about then?' in the smoke laden air. It doesn't look like they're going to break down this wall of folded arms and judging stares. An impressive lighting rig reminiscent of a Klaxons video or Simian Mobile Disco's live set flashing frantically behind the band's eerily lit-from-below faces isn't permeating anything and even the latest single appears not to make a dent. The cracks, however, are slowly becoming visible. Shoulders loosen and feet begin to tap as the final moments of 'Doubt' build into a tweaked and stuttered 4/4 remix leading seamlessly into the next song.

Anyone dedicated enough to listen to the album on repeat for the last week will notice how, aside from the jam-style endings, the band have also spiced up the live element. Smooth electro pop moments on 'Acolyte' are torn and shredded with far more prevalent guitar slashes, dreamy synth breezes are replaced with swirling blasts and yet the vocals remain pristine. The lyrics keep a lid on the songs whilst the drums and bass line bubble ferociously underneath. When these elements are uncovered they boil up and spill onto the dance floor, making enough mess to convince the audience that they certainly warrant the ticket price.

Mid set, live highlight 'Red Lights' appears with Delphic bathed in (you guessed it) red light. It's enough to melt the crowd's initially icy reception and movement slowly creeps through the assembled Doubt(ers) like a gradually building wind through tall grass. The night is finally turning into the indie disco it was supposed to be. It's the intelligence with which Delphic present their dance tinged live music that distinguishes them from the recently (and thankfully) deceased New/Nu Rave genre. Despite the Skins advert flashing away behind their heads, they far more deserve comparisons to LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture's Echoes than any of the later throw away indie/electro/dance/pop types.

Delphic's final tracks fully lure their audience in with guys at the front singing along, eyes closed and head shaking, it's somewhat of a shame that it's taken them so long to get wrapped up in the gig though. Delphic are the kind of band that should be able to outlast the artificial euphoria surrounding the BBC nominations and their debut. If this performance says anything about their future it's that they'll be better on a much bigger stage and they've got a pretty good chance of getting there.

Thanks to Justin De Souza for the photo

Delphic - Red Lights on Spotify

Looking back

2010-01-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a collection of my favourite albums of 2009 (in no particular order) that I actually posted about with a handy link to the original post:

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

The XX - The XX

Miike Snow - Miike Snow

Filthy Dukes - Nonsense In The Dark

Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve - Reanimations

Frans Ferdinand - Tonight:

Fever Ray - Fever Ray

In fact, that's all the albums I've written about this year so I guess my 2010 resolution should be to cover more albums.

A few that I should have written about:

Florence And The Machine - Lungs.
Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
Official Secrets Act - Understanding Electricity

But enough of looking back, let's look forward. I've already got my hands on the new Delphic and Vampire Weekend albums. Not a bad start.

The Recommender Launch Party

2010-01-13T06:25:00.001-08:00

This is EXCITING. I've teamed up with The Recommender to throw awesome monthly parties showcasing the hottest new bands from around the world. Our first one is on the Wed 3rd Feb with Plugs and The Woo!Worths. We've got a load of surprises and treats lined up too so check the flyer below for details:

Click here for more info.
Click here to become a fan of The Recommender on facebook and receive regular updates.

Here's a couple of tracks to check out.

Plugs - Imaginary Friend on Spotify
Plugs - That Number on Spotify

Download The Woo!Worths - Plasticine from zshare

Tickets are available from Resident, Rounder Records and Ape.

See you there.

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (Album Review)

2010-01-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

This album has taken me far too long to write about, it's easily my most listened to album of 2009. Local Native's debut is a pure delight to listen to from beginning to end even if it feels like the kind of music that could give me a cold. It's got Autumn written all over it, the upbeat indie and light guitar play remind me of the last days of summer and the odd day in October that's uncharacteristically warm, a last snatch of sunshine before the winter sets in. The multi-male harmonic vocals are breezy and strike a chill in a very similar way that Fleet Foxes make the hairs on my neck stand up and fill my nostrils with the scent of pine. The drumming on this album is pretty special too.

In a contrast to some of my recent reviews, i'm going to leave this one short. Just buy it because it's brilliant and I can guarantee you'll listen to it throughout 2010.

Local Natives - Wide Eyes on Spotify.

Related Posts:
NME Radar Tour
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (Album Review)

Crazy Dave's Best of '09

2010-01-11T05:11:00.000-08:00

Just the same as last year, here is Crazy Dave's favourite albums of 2009, as per usual, I haven't heard any of them. If you're in the same position I've got him to pick his favourite song from each album so you can investigate further.

Albums of the year:

1.The Antlers - Hospice.
Listen to Two on Spotify

2.Ramona Falls - Intuit.
Listen to I Say Fever on Spotify

3.Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer.
Listen to Silver Moons on Spotify

4.Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Vs. Children.
Listen to Traveling Salesman's Young Wife Home Alone on Christmas In Montpelier, VT on Spotify

5.Lord Cut-Glass - Lord Cut-Glass.
Listen to Holy Fuck! on Spotify

Other albums that deserve a mention:

Ola Podrida - Belly Of The Lion

Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Handsome Furs - Face Control

M. Ward - Hold Time

The Mountain Goats - The Life Of The World To Come

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk

The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada

God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl

I'll be gathering a selection of my favourites from last year in the next few days too

:Kinema: Single Launch Party with Grovesnor And Hot Chip

2010-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

This really ticks all my boxes, exciting things happening in music and Brighton.

:Kinema:, the Brighton band who pump sex into your ears whilst looking like they've just come from dinner with their Granny are releasing their single 'Circles'. In celebration of this, they've got their pals Grovesnor and Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip to play and DJ respectively. This should be a tip top night by all accounts.

Doors open at 8pm (not 10pm as the flyer suggests).
Tickets available from Resident and Rounder Records.

Related Posts:
:Kinema: - My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)
Grovesnor - Drive Your Car (Single)

Alex Metric Live At Marine Parade's Christmas Party. Brighton Coalition, Sunday 20th December

2009-12-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

It takes something very special to make leaving the house on Sunday evening an enjoyable venture. Especially when the (normally one minute) walk to the bus stop is festively transformed into a death defying five minute uncontrollable slide. Marine Parade's Christmas Party was certainly special enough to make it worthwhile.

In support of the local label a hefty group of people had made the treacherous journey to the Coalition and were greeted on arrival by Nico warming ears with a seasonally confusing mix of jolly balkan beats. She relinquished the decks to label master Adam Freeland who proceeded to hype the home crowd up with some rowdy, bass-heavy, 4/4 fun. This was, however, merely a precursor for the evening's highlight.

Alex Metric has, until very recently, been a producer of breakbeat influenced electro. In the last year he has secured a show on Radio 1 as part of the 'In New DJs We Trust' programme, developed some new French Touch style productions and most importantly created a live show. It would be understandable for someone so used to being behind the scenes to lack confidence or wall themselves in with an array of keyboards and computers. Metric, however, bounds around stage energetically, rushing between his central solo microphone, drum machine and assorted synthesisers. He's joined on stage by a bassist and guitarist who, for the most part, stick to their live instruments. The noise they create is exactly what you'd expect a live take on Metric's productions to sound like. Buzzsaw synths rip jaggedly out of the stacks threatening to bring the ceiling down by cleaving through its supporting pillars, pounding drums punch chunks out of the brickwork and huge bass lines menacingly rumble mortar loose. It's Alex's vocal that makes sure these waves of sonic destruction aren't dealt directly for the dance-floor. If instrumental sections begin to lose distinction between what's being played live and what's been pre-produced, the lyrics remind us that we're watching a band, not just a producer. Not that this is registering with the crowd who have wholeheartedly thrown themselves into the action with arms raised and only a little confusion over whether they should be dancing furiously or rocking out.

The band power through live interpretations of Metric's back catalogue including 'In Your Machine' and his remix of 'All Alone' by Splittr. It's his more recent output that shows his development, however, as latest single 'It Starts' best exploits the live set up. It harnesses Alex's newly found pop sensibilities. Uplifting vocal harmonies, a frantic bass line and guitar stabs dance over his trademark squealing electro. Set closer 'Gusto' gives up on trying to bring the roof down and blows it off instead. Slow-mo guitar grinds against its synth counterpart in an instrumental that would leave MSTRKRFT gasping and Adam Freeland scratching his head for what to play afterwards.

Of course, that's not really an issue. The stage is cleared and filled again (this time with enthusiastic members of the audience), Boy 8-Bit's 'The Cricket Scores' is dropped and the rest of the evening dissolves into the bottom of a vodka bottle.

Alex Metric - It Starts on Spotify

Thanks to Tom Chambers for the photo.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T04:07:00.001-08:00

Whilst I wait for dinner to be ready I thought I'd re-upload my Christmas mix from last year. It'll be something to listen to as you drift in and out of a food coma later. Have a great day.

Download Pier Pressure's Christmas Mix on zshare

Track list is here

There's a tiny little mistake in there. See if you can spot it.

The Recommender

2009-12-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

Some exciting news. I've started writing for The Recommender, it's a fantastic blog about cutting edge new music. It covers the sort of bands that might not even have released a single yet but are almost guaranteed to be huge in a year's time, so much so that The Recommender was asked to contribute to the BBC's Sounds Of 2010 longlist. Needless to say I'm extremely excited at the prospect of being part of it.

Check out my first post here (mine's the middle one).

Battery Powered Minimix

2009-12-18T07:44:00.000-08:00

A new Battery Powered Minimix that I made for Digi DJ is featured on the home page of their site. The tracks are all available on their catalogue. 23 tracks in 10 minutes and 1 second, see if you can pick them all out.

Mum - Live Review At Brighton's Concorde 2 on Monday 7th December

2009-12-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a review I wrote for Brighton Calling.

Should Múm be burned at the stake for witchcraft? Probably not, it isn't exactly legal. Besides they're not the Wicked Witch Of The West types more the kind of enchanted woodland folk that Enid Blyton would have loved to document. Either way, They certainly had Brighton under a spell at the Concorde 2.

Múm lure their audience in with layers of delicate beauty carefully washed together with guitars, drums, cellos, violins, trumpets and all manner of smaller, less definable instruments. Each song is rich, dense and saturated with melody yet intermittently the underlying drone - ever present but usually humming away in the background - swells up and encompasses all. These huge torrents of noise ride in on waves of subtle percussion, carrying the listener in with them and breaking over ear-shattering bass kicks. The resulting wreckage gradually settles and the girls a cappella rise to the surface, briefly buoying the audience and splashing them with playful trills of bleeping electronica. Then they're dragged back under a trip-hop drum line and finally resuscitated by the awkward rhythms of a restarted heart and the kind of lurching dance mentality that Metronomy share.

All the while this Icelandic band sweep through genres far more frantically than their serene image would have you believe. Fronted by two girls, one clutching a melodica tightly to her breast and the other draped in a patchwork tablecloth. They would scream twee if it was possible for them to utter something so inharmonious and if they didn't morph their string drenched folk into Stereolab's loop based electro-funk so nonchalantly. Their song structures are yet another facet that can be safely filed under 'unorthodox'. Catchy phrases that approach from the horizon and sound as if they should be the chorus sink without a trace never to reappear whilst titanic breakdowns occur frequently. They succeed in keeping the audience on their toes, always threatening to carry them out of their depth but never seriously enough to replace the thrill of drifting in experimentation with the fear of drowning in inaccessibility.

Even if the sea side locale and ultramarine lights fail to affect you it's hard not to submerge yourself in their sound. Better still, imagine you're trying to float on your back. Remain too stiff and it won't work, it's much easier to relax, tilt your head back and bob along in Múm's wake.

Múm - Blessed Brambles on Spotify.

Photo by Sam Hiscox, you can see more of his photography as he documents Múm's tour on their tour blog.

Related Posts:
Metronomy - Live
Metronomy - Nights Out (Album)

The XX - The XX (Album Review)

2009-11-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

On a recent trip to Mexico I visited a Mummy Museum which affected me far more than I ever expected. Whilst feeling sorry for myself afterwards I listened to The XX album - a lot - which inspired me to write this.

The XX's songs are delicate creatures, partially preserved and on display. The guitars jut like bones through their paper thin flesh, picked out here yet covered in a Carbon film there. I don't want to move my head whilst listening to this in my headphones as if the slightest of tilts might disturb the music, disintegrating it and causing it to blow away. Surrounding the remains of these songs are the hushed boy/girl vocals, suspended flecks of dust glittering golden in the rare shafts of light, hanging like a last breath attempting to circulate through the perforated bodies. The vocals encapsulate the remaining life in these empty shells, drawing out the sorrow of never achieving anything again or realising the dreams that were always just around the corner. The album itself represents the museum housing this decay. It is quiet, no matter how loud you turn it up, it's still quiet. The kind of quiet that fills huge empty spaces and swallows sound. Whispers die on the lips and anything more than a whisper dare not materialise. It's not quiet because there's an absence of sound, it's quiet because it's supposed to be. It gives room for the individual strands of the songs to be appreciated, allowing the listener to absorb them, breath them in and encircle or be encircled by them.

The percussion is simple and rare and serves only to support the melancholic plucks of guitar and vocal harmonies. It does, however, add an unexpected groove to the songs offering a shuffling lurch that binds these moments to the ground rather than letting them float through the aether un-anchored.

The lyrics suggest young and innocent love but the instrumentation betrays the hope and naivety of it all. It's subtle, fragile and vulnerable in a way that can only be understood by someone who has lived through a relationship that is so encompassing it feels like it's reached into their chest and wrapped its petaled fingers around their heart so tightly it might burst at any moment. Only afterwards can they see that what they had was as fleeting and intangible as the butterfly kisses they'd been enjoying the summer before.

Whether you buy into the isolated decay or the innocent love it's going to make you feel in equal parts like you're witnessing something that has been beautiful but now is lost. The consolation is that you will have this forever and whilst its contents are temporary, its body will last. Perfectly preserved whether you put it in a glass case or not.

I leave you with this track, it's the first on the album so you can listen to it, decide you love it and click on the rest of the album on Spotify without tampering with the order. Just two minutes and seven seconds was enough to ensnare me.

The XX - Intro

Fionn Regan - Live Review at Brighton's Jam on Friday 13th November

2009-11-17T03:01:00.000-08:00

Fionn Regan's trips to Brighton are always a pleasure to behold, not least because he manages to draw a far more attractive crowd than any other artist. This visit was no disappointment, shaggy haired, well-dressed boys cradled effortlessly beautiful girls in their arms in anticipation of the tiny Irishman's appearance. Diverting attention away from the tall girl whose blond locks tumble carelessly down her back is no mean feat but Gloria Cycles succeed with ease. Their fronting boy/girl duo competing for who can be the more striking, him looking like a chipper fighter pilot with wartime quiff, regimented moustache and piercing eyes whilst her slender frame, glitzy shoulderpads and angular hair style receive equal attention. Both their look and music is difficult to pin down, shifting from one genre to another with barely a stop for breath keeps the early arrivers on their toes and entertained.

A short interlude follows with an interesting mix of dubstep and country played to the assembled Regan fans and attention is drawn away from the stage transition to a girl with huge round eyes and skin as pale and pure as the driven snow. Danny And The Champions Of The World make a valiant attempt to snatch the focus back but with only four of their huge band the delicate acoustic songs available on their myspace sound bare. They happen to also be Fionn's backing band for this tour and they excel at this duty, even the red head with a cute gold hair band can't negate the headliners presence. He appears clad in circulation threatening trousers, collarless paisley shirt and a waistcoat propping up his huge bowl of hair that bobs around enthusiastically with even the slightest movement of his head. His set is a fair split between new material that will presumably appear on his forthcoming 'The Shadow Of An Empire' album and old favourites that elicit verbal appreciation from the crowd. His new material is a lot more energetic than the old, whilst still the frontman he merges more with the band allowing the instrumentation to grab the fore as often as his distinctive lyrics. The vibrancy of these songs is driven by a new anger that's present in 'Violent Demeanour' containing the lyrics "I have a violent demeanour" which Fionn spits out with a snarl. This new style acts as juxtaposition to his earlier work but he's undoubtedly at his best when Danny & Co dismount from the stage and allow him to expose his heart with just a guitar for company. In these moments he can really draw the crowd in as he disappears into a world of his own and leads them with him. He performs a couple of solo songs and the spell is only broken when the band join him again and close the set out. Surprisingly even the encore doesn't show any signs of favourite 'Be Good Or Be Gone' appearing. It finally finds its place in the second encore where Fionn has decided out of the two he's going to be good because the sound guy is telling him he should have been gone ten minutes ago. He opts for a Gibson 'Flying V' for his classic and closes the night on a new acoustic track about the Napoleonic War full of his trademark wit, intelligent rhyme and nonsensical structure to everybody's delight.

Fionn Regan - Be Good Or Be Gone on Spotify

Battery Powered Mix

2009-11-15T06:45:00.000-08:00

Here's something else you can download. It's Battery Powered's latest mix containing the elusive 'Battery Powered Remix' of Boris Dlugosch's 'Bangkok' which has resurfaced here as the 'Sorry Boris' Edit. It's also got an exclusive track from our friends France and the new Count & Sinden track 'Elephant 1234'.

Tracklist:

1. Trevor Loveys & Affie Yusuf Bitch Fight (Touch Remix)
2. Dance Area - AA 24/7 (Skull Juice)
3. Fake Blood - Fix Your Accent
4. Cristian Marchi - Love Sex American Express (Instrumental)
5. MSTRKRFT - Heartbreaker (Laidback Luke Remix)
6. Wolfmother - New Moon Rising (Riton Club Rub)
7. Idiotproof - The Deacon (Duke Dumont 'Live From Brooklyn' Remix)
8. Gossip - Love Long Distance (Riva Starr Dub)
9. Boy 8-bit - The Cricket Scores
10. Count & Sinden - Elephant 1234
11. Boris Dlugosch - Bangkok (Battery Powered's Sorry Boris Edit)
12. Cassius - Youth Speed Trouble Cigarettes (Cassius Remix)
13. France - Crooked
14. Zinc - Watch Dis
15. Hess Is More - Ssshhhh (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)
16. Miike Snow - Black And Blue (Savage Skulls Remix)

Download:
Battery Powered's November 09 Mix from Soundcloud.

:Kinema: - My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)

2009-11-14T02:19:00.000-08:00

Chase liked to enjoy himself as much as the next guy.

"Sure I've got a bit of a habit but doesn't everybody these days?" It's something he often said to Ray after a day managing the accounts at Forster & Goldestein and several expensive whiskeys. Ray either didn't seem to mind or care about Chase's conversational unoriginality, he probably didn't care, sometimes it felt like no-one cared.

"Besides, what's a couple of lines of charlie in the evening, at least i'm not one of those stinking hippies, taking acid and getting naked." Chase persevered.

By now Ray had lost interest in him completely, he was eying one of the bar maids hungrily. Ray pocketed his red rimmed glasses and with them the look of a shark circling it's prey, replacing it with s smirk of smug indifference. This is how it always happened and if Chase didn't follow suit Ray would think he was a fag. He knew the drill, he had to give Ray a few minutes before joining him.

Chase made his way through the emptying bar to the restroom, the door swung noiselessly shut behind him drowning out the Dodgers overturning the Yankees for the first time in eighteen years and winning the world series. There was a guy standing at the basin, he could have been Ray - or Chase for that matter - they all looked the same. A fine cut, pin striped suit in smoked charcoal from Harvey's The Tailor on the corner of Sunset and Calgary, shiny cuff links, a crisp new shirt and bright tie topped off with precisely combed back hair. His face wasn't important, nobody looks at that anyway. The clone was inconspicuously checking his nose in the mirror and when Chase's eyes met his reflected gaze, there would have been a moment of mutual understanding if the clone hadn't been so racked with paranoia. He made some incomprehensible noises and exited hurriedly leaving Chase with his thoughts which quickly turned to the cigarette case of white powder he was carrying in his jacket pocket. He moved into a cubicle and time sped up, he emerged moments later like an insect from it's cocoon shucking off his redundant husk of insecurity and compassion. He looked in the mirror and whilst the red eyed beast that snarled back at him was not recognisable as Chase, he found it reassuringly familiar.

Time continued to accelerate and his memory could only hold snapshots of the evening like cheap CCTV. He's telling a joke to the bar maids with Ray. He's leaving with a girl in each arm, Ray has three. The blond is sitting on the brunette's lap in the passenger seat of his convertible white Porsche as he guns dangerously down the freeway. The brunette is staring out at the sea from his glass fronted apartment, champagne in hand. The blond is dancing to the radio, it sounds like something hippies would listen to. Chase takes another line from the glass coffee table to his side, the edges of the world blur and swirling colours saturate his vision. He strides up to the HiFi and puts this song on. He clasps the girl's hands in his and as the music melts into their ears her body melts into his.

Download:
~~:Kinema: - My Girls~~ - Removed by request

If you fancy acting out your own My Girls inspired fantasy then you'll like this:

The band are putting together a video for the track and want YOU to be in it. Follow the five easy steps below to achieve INTERNET IMMORTALITY.

1) Download the Animal Collective – My Girl cover from the link above. Using iMovie and your iSight camera (if you're on a PC that’s cool just use whatever the equivalent is) film yourself dancing to the track.

2) You can dance, narrate a scene, wear masks, fancy dress, anything really but please keep it clean.

3) Please keep video takes around 30 seconds (but you can do as many as you like). This will keep file sizes small enough for us to use on Media Fire / You Send it etc.

4) Try and keep the shots well lit with as much natural light as possible – we do want to be able to make you out.

5) Compress the recording into a Zip file send it to us via Media Fire / You Send It etc. Please send all footage to kinema.info@googlemail.com ASAP!

:Kinema:'s myspace

An Old Mix

2009-11-10T11:36:00.000-08:00

Whilst doing the washing up my Ipod uncovered something I thought had been lost. It's a mix I made two and a half years ago, way before I was Shitronic, Battery Powered or even writing Pier Pressure. It was a few months after I first started DJing, it's created on an old piece of mixing software and is low quality and grainy but the tracks are all pretty nice and they sit well alongside the other music on here. It's also one of the rare pieces of music you can download from this blog so make the most of it.

Download Pier Pressure's 'Old Grainy' Mix Here

I haven't got the tracklisting written down anymore so leave me a comment if you'd like to know what it is and I'll sit down and work it out.

Miike Snow - Miike Snow (Album Review)

2009-11-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

This album has crawled into my ear and started nibbling at my brain, I know what it's doing but I can't do anything to stop it. Now that it's been happening for the last couple of weeks, i'm not sure i'd want to either. I was extremely wary of this band, loving 'Animal' when it was first released several months ago but it's since come to light that two out of three of Miike Snow's cast are the hit factory Bloodshy & Avant. This pair are responsible for the backing tracks to a whole host of chart topping pop stars including Britney Spears and her biggest single 'Toxic'. I'm not disputing that this is a hit, it is and I quite like it but it doesn't have the substance that I normally appreciate in a song. 'Toxic' doesn't exude the physical and emotional struggle it's taken for the artist to extract the words and notes from their head and commit to record. It's pretty obvious that Britney Spears has struggled through at least as much physical and emotional anguish as anyone else but it's not evident in the single because it's too polished, it's an instant hit of sensation but it's ultimately unsatisfying. Like an audio version of MSG, it makes everything taste so much better in the short term but is ultimately unsatisfying. This high quality veneer is present on Miike Snow's debut as well but it's tempered with wavering vocals (courtesy of singer Andrew Wyatt), natural instrumentation and live drums.

Without wanting to further confuse genres or create a new one, it's not possible to describe this album without the words folk and dance appearing in the same sentence. The instruments used are mostly piano and guitar fulfilling the folk side of things but the production is of a dance mentality. The instruments are sampled and then chopped up to create the melodies, building white noise swoops lead up to the quieter moments and the vocals are looped, echoed and tinkered with just like they are in house music. It's how this trio have managed to keep their riffs as catchy as H1N1 without losing the sense of involvement which is noticeably lacking in successful (but disposable) chart music. Opener and lead single 'Animal' is a good example. Chopped, off beat guitars echo into time with shuffling drums underneath the fluttering vocal accompanied by a tinkling piano. It's a sedate pop masterpiece and almost a sensory overload so second track 'Burial' provides some sobriety in the form of a piano and glockenspiel ballad and Andrew simpering "don't forget to cry at your own burial". 'Silvia' is another sombre song texturised with lush synths to create an otherworldly sadness. The album slowly builds its way back up to 'A Horse Is Not A Home' which is propelled by a 4/4 kick drum throughout. 'Cult Logic' is inevitably going to gain comparisons to Passion Pit if not for its wonky-pop synths then certainly for Andrew's adopted falsetto. Second to last track 'Faker' pairs another two unlikely styles, Legend Of Zelda meets The Beatles but it works. Final song 'Billy Holliday' rounds the album out in a similarly cheery note to that which it began in. Miike Snow's debut is either pop dressed as folk or folk dressed as pop, either way it's very pleasing to the ear and not too disposable.

Miike Snow - A Horse Is Not A Home on Spotify

New Pier Pressure Playlist on Spotify

2009-11-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have painstakingly set up a new playlist on Spotify. It's got almost all of the tracks the imeem one had and it's guaranteed to play the whole track and links pretty easily to the rest of the album. I'm led to believe that the artists recoup some of the money from the adverts.

On the down side, if you haven't got Spotify yet then you won't be able to listen to it immediately but Spotify is a pretty good program and worth downloading.

I've added the link to the right of the blog, give it a click and see what you think.

Maps Live At Digital - Friday 20th October 2009

2009-11-08T04:58:00.000-08:00

Maps in their live set up are initially unremarkable. On stage James Chapman is joined by just one other musician (don't believe wikipedia) dressed as if they've been dossing around the house all day rather than about to launch everyone's weekend. It's quite a shock when these two unassuming lads with a small array of synthesisers and a drum machine flick the 'on' switch and start pouring out vast, swirling blasts of dreamy melancholic chords and drum lines that wouldn't be out of place at Digital later on that evening. Watching the crowd lurch from side to side is quite entertaining, the beats demand some sort of dance-like movement but the gloomy melodies and subject matter create a sombre mood. It's like a room full of guys at a prom who couldn't muster the courage to invite the girl they really fancied to go with them and so are shuffling around awkwardly with a grey cloud over their head watching her kiss their best friend. It's only a visual representation though as it's clear everybody is enjoying themselves but finding it hard to make appropriate body movements to the music.

Digital is clearly the right venue for Maps. Standing between the two huge speaker stacks is like being in the eye of a tornado. Multiple synth lines wrap around the listener encircling them in an impenetrable cyclone of sound. The drums are huge station wagons hurtling past in the sonic whirlwind, lifted from their driveways and thrown around with no more effort than a child's toy. Occasionally the squall will lessen but it only makes the devastation temporarily visible and the sobriety returns. Maps should have written the soundtrack to 2012 because it's easy to believe that the whole world is falling down around your ears in a beautifully choreographed CGI sequence. The whole experience makes the listener feel very vulnerable, both physically and emotionally and suddenly it doesn't matter what they're wearing because who are you to judge them?

Maps - I Dream Of Crystal

Friday 6th November

2009-11-05T05:40:00.000-08:00

Battery Powered are going to smash this up tomorrow. Forget Guy Fawkes, the fireworks will be in Audio.

NME Radar Tour

2009-11-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

It's official, synthesisers are the new guitars. It's probably not much of a revelation to many but it was confirmed at the 2009 NME Radar Tour. The NME claim to 'showcase the best in new music' offering up four acts with just two six string guitars between them.

First up are Yes Giantess, a triple-synth and live drums combination appearing out of the smoke and dim blue light to assault the audience with their updated interpretation of eighties electro-pop. Whirling arpeggiations, driving bass lines and punchy drums place them in the dance focussed twenty first century. Whilst smooth, retro string samples, american rock-pop vocals and the typical three minute song structure ensures they never stray far from pop. Comparisons to Daft Punk can only be held at bay until the four piece unleash the synthesised guitar effect from 'Digital Love' albeit they're less loop orientated and laid back than the robotic frenchmen. Yes Giantess make for a promising start to the tour even if they are the most energetic band that will be performing this evening.

Next, bathed in sunbursts of yellow light, are one of the successes of this year's South By South West. Local Natives sport the only two electric guitars of the show, a bass guitar, drums and a miscellaneous guy with a smaller drum set up and the obligatory synthesiser. Four harmonising vocals and the substantial percussion and bass partnership allow the guitars to slide into the background and caress their relaxed rhythms into summer jams. They don't sound much like Vampire Weekend but share the same ethic. One minute they'll be providing the perfect soundtrack to a barbecue and on a sixpence they'll turn it into a raucous feel-good rock out. The last and arguably best track of their set looks to be petering out with their typical percussion patter-off when the lights are cut and the drums dwindle to almost nothing before everything slams back in more powerful than before. A stage invasion from the other members of the tour, all wielding drum sticks, kicks the rhythm through 'elaborate' into 'frantic' and the guitars sieze the opportunity to take the fore with squealing solos. It's a fantastic final minute and they leave the stage to tremendous applause having taken their set to its climax.

Local Natives - Warning Sign

Third to grace the stage are Marina And The Diamonds fully illuminated in white light. There's no shadow or mood created here, there doesn't need to be. The music, featuring bass guitar, drums, backing track and (you've guessed it) a synthesiser is unremarkable. It's the sort of music that you'd hear in a lift and think 'This sounds like a cover version of Keane without the vocals'. But it's not about the music, it's about the front lady Marina. So much so that she actually refers to herself as Marina and the Diamonds ignoring the presence of the other three 'band members'. She waltzes on stage midway into the first song in a thick cardigan with a cute lamb's face on the hood, increasing her initial similarities to Bjork with bizarre flapping of her wool-draped arms. Her voice is astounding and dominates the songs, ranging from gentle high pitched wavers down to low, guttural blasts of power. It's not just her voice that demands attention though, during 'Obsessions' she retreats to the keyboard removing the kooky cardy to reveal a black catsuit clinging alluringly to her perfect hourglass figure. She claims to be embarrassed by her choice of clothing for the evening whilst her lithe form is obscured by the instrument in front of her but her return to centre stage sees a dramatic change in attitude. The quirky jerkings are replaced with a sultry strut, a wiggle of the hips and a heart stopping wink that ensures even the sleepiest of primal urges are now raging in everybody (screams from a gaggle of girls at the front confirm that this isn't just a guy thing). It might seem shallow or even irrelevant to comment on the attractiveness of an act but it's such a commanding notion that supports and enhances the music that it has to be mentioned. Marina And The Diamonds has all the signs of a star - she probably knows that - and she's going to be massive (as in successful, not fat) very soon. In fact, if she wasn't when you started reading this, she probably is now.

Marina And The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot

The fourth and final act are Golden Silvers, the least likely to be classed as 'new' on the bill having already released their debut album earlier this year. They're also the least energetic of the evening making for a bit of an anti-climax. Their four synths, bass guitar and drums are shot in purple and they slowly plod into the first song. It's the same relaxed summery attitude that Local Natives turned out and after the intensity of Marina it feels like the subdued audience and band have been drugged. The lead singer even looks the part, the collar on his denim jacket is popped and his psychedelic paisley shirt peaks through offensively from underneath. He's not dissimilar to an under-the-influence Shaun Ryder woozily allowing the lyrics to roll out with his head lolling from side to side and eyes closed. Thankfully when he speaks it's clear that all his faculties are present and correct and he announces that the next song will be a new one. It's an interesting performance and familiar tracks are tinkered with to give longer misleading intros of synthesised mischievousness. By the time 'True No9 Blues (True Romance)' is played, the low slung funk has permeated the audience's apathy and the atmosphere picks up. The Golden Silvers finish their set in a much punchier fashion, leaving the sleepiness of the first few songs way behind them and the crowd applaud.

The NME yet again pluck out four bands that deserve to succeed. Whether they manage to or not in the coming twelve months is another matter. Tonight has been a very reassuring night for new music.

Golden Silvers - Arrows Of Eros

Thanks to TresDigital for the photos

Reverend And The Makers (Live)

2009-11-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we all have to do things we don't want to. In my case it was reviewing Reverend And The Makers for Brighton Calling. I've always said that I would try not to write negative things about the creativity of others and that's hard for me because i'm extremely cynical but I really couldn't help myself with this one. In my defense this band are already successful and I don't think i'll be damaging their reputation whilst maintaining my own integrity.

Anyone who thinks sweaty, swaggering lad-rock had finally been buried with the (timely) demise of Oasis should trying telling that to the sell out crowd at Concorde 2.

Right from the off Jon 'The Reverend' McClure is charismatically offering pearls of absolute wisdom such as "fuck the BNP" and other pseudo-political quick win quips. His generic banter isn't wasted on the crowd, however, who raise their Red Stripe clenching fists into the air and cheer. It's the second best response that could be generated by that kind of obvious statement, the first being a blanket acceptance that something needs to be done and that providing positive alternatives for voters is much more constructive than giving the BNP even more publicity by self righteously dragging their name through the mud for some cheap audience interaction. Likewise, signing off a song with "peace and fucking love" would be slightly more believable either without the expletive or if it wasn't being uttered by a Sheffield wide-boy who looks like he'd be the first to grab a bottle if it all got a bit 'heated' in a bar.

Frontman aside, the music is similarly entertaining yet unoriginal, heavily, 'borrowing' from Madchester, Punk Funk, Ska and of course Britpop. It's got a groove to it and the synthesiser provides some pleasant variety not least because it's played by the only girl in the group and she can actually sing (although she rarely gets the chance). For a band who rose to fame with indie stalwarts like Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party and The Rakes it's impressive that they still have such a following considering the first two bands have changed their style to stay fresh and the latter have fallen by the wayside because they haven't updated their sound. Reverend And The Makers definitely fall into the 'haven't updated their sound' category and a Jon McClure acoustic solo demands a trip out to the bar for respite as much as another drink where the bar staff can be overheard critiquing the performance.

"It's like Kings Of Leon wrote an album and then Arctic Monkeys covered it" a thin shaggy haired guy offers.
"And someone's shat all over it" interjects a girl in bright red trousers.

It's unlikely that these two are freelance music critics moonlighting behind the bar but they have essentially nailed the performance. The only true originality here is the range of genres and bands that Reverend And The Makers have pilfered riffs from. Even a supposedly serious song about the disadvantages of voting for The Conservatives and the dangers of global warming sounds dated and ineffective. Try listening to Grandmaster Melle Mel's funky hip-hop 'stay off drugs' message of 'White Lines' and you'll get the idea. As a final insult to our intelligence Jon delivers an accapella rapped poem touching offensively casually on topics such as oil and war. It reeks of Nathan Barley, if a message is worth conveying then surely it's worth choosing the words with which to convey the message based on their descriptive, emotive and literary power and not whether they rhyme with 'Iran'. Again none of this matters to the assembled crowd, balding ex-Britpoppers stand shoulder to shoulder with long haired rockers, seemingly happy to have the chance to dust off their leather jackets again. In fact it's difficult to find anyone below twenty five who hasn't been accompanied by their parents. A possible explanation for The Reverend's success is that his fan base has stuck with him throughout their history and instead of relying on new fans they survive on the loyalty of their existing ones. He does seem like someone you could relate to which makes him an even less likely candidate for lecturing the masses but he wins yet more adoration by leaving the venue after the gig and continuing the performance outside under the arches. It's a nice touch but unsurprisingly unoriginal and it's making the evening even longer.

For someone who professes to be a 'Reverend' he should really be providing something slightly more prophetic than "Next time you're watching QVC and you see a toaster-oven you like, just say no because you don't really need it". A similar principle applies next time Reverend And The Makers tickets go on sale.

Reverend And The Makers - The State Of Things

Jeremy Warmsley (Live)

2009-11-02T06:21:00.000-08:00

Another live review commissioned by Brighton Calling

The Jeremy Warmsley gig was a pleasantly cohesive night out. Starting with the newly refurbished New Hero night club (previously renown for being an ironic eighties sauna) which now also makes an apt setting for intimate live gigs. The recently unregulated sound system was lazily spilling out the latest Wild Beasts album whilst ticket holders sauntered in, lining the walls and carefully taking their places at the edge of the arc of light illuminating the stage.

At nine thirty The Wellingtons emerged from the floor and took their place on stage. Two girls, one cello and a handful of small 'percussive devices' have never been so spellbinding. The focus is on their vocal harmonies but the magic is in the inventiveness with which they employ their instruments. The cello is at times played or beaten with the bow and also plucked in a number of different fashions to provide interesting distinction between songs. A tambourine is scratched, bare feet stamped and even a stapler is used to create a beat. The girls' voices float like courting butterflies on the breeze flitting dreamily between call and response, contrapuntal melodies and rounds. It's a beautiful experience and engaging too as their set seems to be over far too quickly. The Wellingtons make you feel like you're in a sassy nineteen-twenties club succumbing to one too many whiskies and slipping into disturbing visions of beautiful but dangerous fairy-tale folk. If you heard their sirens' call on a dark night you'd willingly dash your ship on their rocks.

At ten Jeremy Warmsley takes to the stage and, after some endearingly unprepared chatter advocating the floor as seating, leads into a cover of Billy Holiday. As a solo artist he is typically introverted, singing songs about love, heartbreak, dreams, death and hopelessness. What sets him apart is his expansion on the often formulaic 'these songs are merely a vessel for my lyrics' writing style. His voice soars, emulating the emotion of the words, sweeping through bitterness, depression, angst and occasionally hope. His guitar adds a real feature to the tracks rather than feeling like a generic chord sequence, backing track or an object to hide behind. As an apology for forgetting his set list he offers the audience a chance to suggest an artist for him to cover. Batting off deliberately ridiculous requests he settles on a more sensible call for Daniel Johnston. If the evening wasn't already intimate enough he makes the most of the cosy venue and respectful hush (the bar staff wouldn't even open the till during his set for fear of disturbing the atmosphere) to step away from the microphone, perch on the edge of the stage and play a couple of acoustic numbers. He performs a track by his new band Acres Acres who theme their tracks on "times when life gets so bad you think you might die, but then you don't!". The evening is concluded by his second piano ballad called 'Craneflies' and as with his guitar backed songs the notation is thrilling. His fingers dance and scramble over the keys like the limbs of the insect this song is named after. When it's time for the audience to get up, stretch their legs and dreamily drift out of the building thoughts of bed prevail and only partially because curfew swept by without anyone noticing.

Jeremy Warmsley - I Promise

Fever Ray - Fever Ray (Album)

2009-10-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

Fever Ray is the new solo project of Karin Dreijer Andersson from The Knife. The self titled album maintains her unmistakable voice, electronic experimentation and almost deliberate inaccessibility that listeners of The Knife will be aware of. Unlike her previous band, however, the electro-pop has been replaced with ambient electronica featuring simple sounds layered to create depth and distance without centering them around a dominant ear-catching riff.

Comparisons aside, it seems apt that this is a solo project as listening should be a truly solitary experience. In order to appreciate this album fully you’ll need to pull on a good pair of headphones and lie back in an empty (ideally dark) room. Close your eyes, press play and relax. You’re listening to a broken self help tape, the strings from album opener ‘If I Had A Heart’ rise out of the silence and hover just above ground level giving you a constant to focus on but there’s something unnerving about them. Chanting drifts in and whilst it feels like it’s supposed to help clear the mind, there’s a touch of slick malevolence to it. The whale song, pan pipes and pattering percussion help to abate the sense of pervading dread until Karin begins resonating in her utterly otherworldly voice. Pitched up and down at the same time, she isn’t whispering the expected platitudes of ‘you’re a confident woman’ or ‘you’re making a valid contribution’ but that you shouldn’t be giving up smoking and you definitely don’t deserve that promotion. It feels like hypnotism and if you open one eye you can see Karin swinging her watch back and forth in time to the metronomic striking of chimes and beating of skins.

In one sense Fever Ray is all encompassing. Let your mind wander freely and the shrieking eagles and howling wolves will transport you to a desolate sandy plain bounded only on the horizon by a vast starlit sky. Pressing forward in this isolation is a daunting and pointless task as a glance behind will tell you that your footsteps have disappeared in the wind. You’re alone, forever.

On the other hand, if you take this album to work or listen to it on the bus it proves almost impossible to concentrate on. The smallest of stimuli will draw your attention away and several minutes can pass without your brain having registered hearing anything.

The explanation for this lies in the subtlety with which these songs are put together. Sparse notation filled out with echoes and drones tip toe around smooth glassy strings and Karin’s multilayered vocals. It's an ambitious song writing style; wrapping up swathes of simple noise into a thick sonic fibre making it hard to pick out individual sounds or even tracks. It means the album passes by in one fluid motion without anything demanding particular attention. As such the singles sound underwhelming on their own and aren’t an accurate benchmark for the full length. In fact, Fever Ray is incredibly re-playable as the whole thing becomes a listening experience rather than a combination of identifiable intros, riffs or bridges between riffs.

It’s not often that an album comes out that is as simultaneously captivating and uneventful as Fever Ray’s debut. Even though forty eight minutes of eerie day dreams might seem unproductive you’d be hard pushed to regret it and even harder pushed not to repeat it.

Fever Ray - Triangle Walks

3 Videos

2009-08-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

I have an album review on its way shortly but until then I thought i'd tide you over with 3 good videos i've seen recently.

First up is this extremely well made ode to American Pyscho.

Miles Fisher - This Must Be The Place (Cover) from Miles Fisher on Vimeo.

Next is the new song from Friendly Fires, great song, ok video but not quite as good as Skeleton Boy.

Finally, this is a slice of Hexstatic's closing set at The Big Chill this year, it had me in hysterics.

Leaves and Redundancy

2009-07-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

I wrote this at work today whilst i should have been trying to save my job.

Staring out of the window I can see leaves buffeting in the uncharacteristic blasts of mid summer wind. They cling firmly to their branches for now but in less than a month their luscious chlorophyll pigmented greens will burnish and crisp, giving way to shades of gold and amber. The very body from which they were sprouted will cast them adrift into the Autumnal squalls. Twisting and turning, flaking and fracturing, dried and aged by the now retreating sun they will fall. Finally being littered carelessly on the ground like wrapping paper at Christmas after the presents have been dispensed with. Once so full of life and splendour, now they retain only a fraction of their beauty, the dark sickly kind marred by the sadness that accompanies death and decomposition. Even the thrilling journey through the air fails to enliven these redundant husks, a child’s attempt to re-launch them with an enthusiastic kick and a giggle results in them descending helplessly back towards their final resting place. It’s hopeless, their fate is determined as it has been for so many seasons before and will be for many seasons to come, here they will lay until they mulch and get trodden back into the earth.

This makes the leaves outside my window all the more impressive. They must be aware of their destiny hard coded into their DNA, lying in wait traitorously within their very cells to sacrifice them for the survival of the tree. Why, then, do they grasp so hard, remain so steadfast in their intentions and duties and delay the inevitable conclusion? Can they trick themselves into thinking it might be different for them? Do they banish the final steps of the cycle from their mind or is it possible that the experience of being alive no matter how flitting is enough to render the threat of finality redundant? Who’s to say it is finality? I’ll be in the same place next year staring out of the window at leaves again… or will I?

This isn't really anything to do with Official Secrets Act although the song does seem quite appropriate and i originally listened to this in the spring when the blossom was falling. I should have written about the album 'Understanding Electricity' then but i didn't so instead of an accurate review of how it sounds you'll have to take my word for it and just buy the CD.

Official Secrets Act - Do Not Be Alarmed

Related Posts:
The Rakes, Sky Larkin and Official Secrets Act (Live)

Metronomy (Live)

2009-06-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here's another review i was asked to do by Brighton Calling.

Metronomy are an odd bunch, for starters they're not really a bunch, Joseph Mount wrote all of the music and the other three (including Lightspeed Champion's ex drummer) just play for the live set. They're odd in other ways too, the gig opens in the same vein as their latest album, lumbering forward like a rusty clockwork army to the straining synthesised brass and plucked guitar of battle march 'Nights Out' with three members of the band crowded around the same keyboard playing notes cross armed. The drummer disembarks to her kit and plays the intro to 'My Heart Rate Rapid' and from there on in the Concorde 2 becomes a mass of painfully cute teenagers jumping, dancing and shoulder shrugging in the most angular of fashions. If you were sixteen and trying to woo that indie girl from french this is where you'd take her (or at least try to) chances are you'd buy two tickets, convince your parents to drive you there and drop you off a good deal from the venue so as not to be seen with them only to have her turn you down and look confused because it's the first time you've ever spoken to her. Either way you'd still be able to appreciate the tender moments of human emotion wound up as tight as a spring and drenched in hormones coiling through the quirkiness of 'Heartbreaker' and 'A Thing For Me'. 'Nights Out' walks a very thin line between a dance album and experimental electronica, often peering over the edge into obscurity by toying with the sounds of clashing notes and detuned instruments. Tracks like 'Side 2' threaten to descend into chaos at any given moment but Metronomy tweak this balance for their live show making the whole affair more danceable and less challenging to listen to.

The majority of the evening is focused on their latest full length but 'Trick Or Treats' from the first album makes an appearance and is immediately well received although the highlight of the evening has to be 'Radio Ladio' especially when combined with their budget, tongue in cheek light show. The four band members prance around with circular lights affixed to their torsos blinking on and off in time to the beat and specific to the instruments playing at that time. It makes for a light-hearted visual accompaniment to their awkwardly feel good dance rhythms, the band finishes on 'You Could Easily Have Me' from 'Pip Paine' which turns the enthusiastic dancing that had been prevalent until that point into a full on mosh. Making sure that anybody who was thankful that a quarter of the sell out crowd hadn't bothered to turn up on such a warm night still left the venue a little on the sticky side. Metronomy make for a great live experience but it's evident that they'd be even better on stage at a festival, definitely worth trying to catch this summer.

Metronomy - Radio Ladio

Thanks to Chris for taking the cool photos

Related Posts:
Metronomy - Nights Out (Album)
Lightspeed Champion (Live)

The Rakes, Sky Larkin and Official Secrets Act (Live)

2009-04-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

This is another review i was asked to do by Brighton Calling.

Official Secrets Act - So Tomorrow

Visitors to the Concorde 2 on Tuesday 21st April might well have been quite excited by all three bands on the line-up at this gig. Official Secrets Act filled the opening slot and garnered a surprising lack of attention or attendance considering their fantastic recently released debut album. Those ticket holders not wishing to look unfashionably keen won't have been too disappointed to miss them after experiencing the ear shredding noises being emitted from the Concorde's normally excellent sound set-up. All the high pitch frequencies mashed together to create an assault on the ear-drums akin to that of a brick going through a food processor. Attempting to pull the band's true sound from the debris becomes extremely hard when OSA's frontman often wanders into this frequency range with both his voice and squealing guitar play. They have a good amount of energy and the lively synth and bass partnership power through to remind the listener that this band has several great songs and are just the victims of poor sound, hopefully one of their shows at the Great Escape will reveal a live set that reflects the quality of their recorded output.

Sky Larkin - One Of Two

Sky Larkin have been gaining column inches in music publications recently and have just finished a tour of America making this is their first gig supporting The Rakes. For the uninitiated, Sky Larkin are two thirds of a typical three piece rock band, the bassist sleepily swaggers around with a practiced nonchalance while the drummer pounds away with stick-snapping ferocity. The final third is a quirky female guitarist/vocalist who anchors the band and steers them away from cliche rock territory by replacing sweaty, testosterone-fueled guitar thrashing with a refreshingly cute female touch. They're not doing anything new but they're taking something old and performing it differently, they're the least affected by the sound problems but fail to inspire the crowd, something that's proving to be a recurring feature of the night.

The Rakes - 22 Grand Job

By the time The Rakes arrive on stage attendance has reached its maximum for the night - three quarters full - upsettingly low for a band who have achieved such success during their career and are touring a new album. How enjoyable this gig is hinges on when you became aware of The Rakes. Their early fans will be pleased to hear a hefty inclusion of songs from Capture/Release and few from the weaker Ten New Messages although the men look a lot older and more tired than the four boys full of rebellious punk energy that they used to be. Those that joined the party on the second album are unlikely to have expected the drunken Ian Curtis style shuffling of Alan Donohoe or the exclusion of 'When Tom Cruise Cries' from the evening. New fans would be satisfied with the mix of old and new songs but disheartened by the lack of effort the rest of the band put into playing them. The encore is more promising as they all really throw themselves behind final song 'Strasbourg' but predictably '22 Grand Job' goes down far better than anything they've released since. It seems some things have changed since The Rakes first voiced the feeling of restlessness that so many felt in 2005, not least that bands who rose to fame at the same time (like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand) have produced two better albums subsequently. Some things, however, have stayed the same and in these times of high unemployment a 22 grand job in the city is most certainly still 'alright'.

Related Posts:
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: (Album)

The Whitest Boy Alive

2009-04-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

I saw The Whitest Boy Alive play last night and they were AMAZING but before i can explain how good they were i first have to do something that i should have done before now, which is talk about their two albums. The first album came out a while ago, it marked Erlend Oye's departure from his accoustic Kings Of Convenience sound. 'Dreams' is a collection of sparse indie styled tracks with dance sensibilities created by the driving bass lines and pounding drums that are then licked with guitar and tickled with synthesizers. It's a classic case of 'less is more' as these seemingly simplistic elements combine to make an extremely encompassing listen. The second album uses the same concept but with more focus on the synth causing 'Rules' to sound richer, fuller and better produced, not that this necessarily makes it better than the first, just different. Both albums are great and should have had their own reviews on here, but they haven't and besides, this is all preamble for me describing them live.

I saw The Whitest Boy Alive play last night and they were AMAZING, i've been to gigs before on a Sunday and even if you've had a calm weekend it still seems like a chore to leave the house. I assume this opinion is shared by others in Brighton because Sunday turn outs are often low. This was not the case for TWBA, they managed to sell out Digital on a Sunday with a crowd who were more than up for it and not at all wishing they were at home feeling sorry for themselves. From the first moment Erlend appeared on stage to announce the line up of the evening's entertainment to the final bow of the evening the crowd enthusiastically cheered anything and everything that happened (including the removal of a cardigan). The support band The New Wine played a very similar form of indie-dance as TWBA, they were so good that i wondered if they might upstage the very act they were supporting (they're playing at The Great Escape and i'd definitely recommend seeing them), i don't think i've ever been more pleased to be wrong. TWBA start by jacking up a few of their original tracks, making them slightly more bouncy for the fanatic crowd to dance around to, then starts the real fun as, under Erlend's command, they begin improvising. As he points to an instrument the band member springs off on a tangent whilst the others wordlessly change tact to keep up, just as i'm wondering where this is going and why the bass-line sounds familiar it morphs into a cover version of Armand Van Helden's 'You Don't Know Me' and the crowd erupts, it's absolutely impossible not to smile and dance along because it's simultaneously massively cheesey, quite tongue in cheek and totally AMAZING. Two minutes into the song and with no noticeable signal to each other they mix perfectly back into the original song they were playing to more screams from the crowd. This happens twice more with cover versions of Technotronic's 'Pump Up The Jam' and The Prodigy's 'Outer Space', every moment of the set is unpredictable and yet pure entertainment. In place of an encore (retreat from the stage at Digital is hard to pull off with dignity) they opted for turning the lights out during a break down and then performing magic! Even though the instruments have been playing all the time it's been dark, when the lights come up they've all managed to swap instruments, it's pointless but hilarious and just goes to show the level of showmanship these guys have. Unfortunately the night draws to a close and they leave the stage at the 10.30pm curfew to rapturous applause, this applause then continues on and on, gradually growing in intensity as the crowd chant in an attempt to lure them back to the stage. I've never seen a group of people sustain such a long and determined show of appreciation, nobody had left the venue they were all just waiting and cheering. It worked and the boys re-appeared back on stage and played for a further 40 minutes, getting the crowd to sing acapella whilst dropping the synth line to the recently remixed/re-released 'Show Me Love' during this final cover Erlend got off the stage and performed a leisurely lap of the upper level of Digital, his eventual return to the stage marked the definitive end of the night and their almost two hour set. If you ever get the chance to see these guys play live, don't think about it, just go. Even if you hadn't heard any of their material you would have had a good time last night.

Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage

New Music Monday

2009-04-20T14:05:00.000-07:00

This week we can check out whether all the hype around The Virgins has been well placed.

Tonight

2009-04-18T04:20:00.000-07:00

Battery Powered's official debut.

11pm - 4am
Audio, Brighton
FREE ENTRY

Filthy Dukes - Nonsense In The Dark (Album)

2009-04-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

This is a review i was asked to do for the London Smoke paper, it eventually got cut down but you can enjoy the full version.

The Filthy Dukes, comprised of Olly Dixon, Tim Lawton and Mark Ralph, have come a long way to release their debut album. Instead of the traditional 'form a band then gig until you get noticed' route, they have taken the path less traveled. Olly and Tim formed The Filthy Dukes originally as a DJ duo before going on to promote events (most notably their current night Kill 'Em All at Fabric) and roping Mark in for his production experience on remixes for bands such as Late Of The Pier, The Maccabees and The Rakes. It was only after this that they decided to form a band and produce their own material, Nonsense In The Dark is a true reflection of their experiences in getting to this point. They have created an album that's just as suited for the dancefloor as the bus or the bath tub, this crossover is largely thanks to the album's stellar cast of contributors. The most notable acts to lend their vocal talents to the album are Orlando Weeks of The Maccabees and Samuel Dust of Late Of The Pier but they are surrounded by a host of undiscovered talent and up-and-comers like frYars, Tommy Sparks and Secret Machines. These guests turn the Dukes' unique brand of exceptionally produced, dark, eighties inspired, synthesizer tracks into catchy songs with verse and chorus structures. The opening track 'This Rhythm' sparks into life with a chirruping synth line gently panning from side to side whilst layers build up and break down almost imperceptibly behind it, peppered with retro hand claps, live drumming and Samuel Dust's unnerving vocals about a girl that has undoubtedly been spotted at 5am on a Saturday morning in Fabric. 'What Happens Next' borrows one of MSTRKRFT's basslines, sets the skronk to eleven and lets it loose on The Foreign Islands, whereas, the title track does the exact opposite. The Filthy Dukes gently caress Orlando Weeks' hushed croon with tinkling, arpeggiated synth lines landing like powdery snow flakes on your warm ears. Elsewhere on the album vocals aren't required and the Dukes show that they can write a track with enough hooks to keep even a sober dancer going, 'You Better Stop' sounds like the kind of electro house that would top Fedde Le Grand's charts if you gave it a sexy video and a wailing diva, thankfully neither of these are present. At this point the monstrous first single 'Tupac Robot Club Rock' announces its arrival with an epic assault on electro rap, however, Plastic Little are on hand to roll the beast over and tickle it's belly with playful rhymes about pissing in sinks and referring to their genitalia as ding-a-lings. The highlight of the album is 'Messages', an unashamed, buoyant, electro pop tune with tongue-in-cheek piano break and the energetic Tommy Sparks on vocal duties. The Filthy Dukes have collected together a range of styles, genres and artists and rather than throwing them in a mixing bowl have laid them out in neat rows, thought long and hard and matched them up with exactly what complements them best, like socks.

Nonsense In The Dark succeeds in blending dance and pop to form a surprisingly sensitive and emotional album where the darkness is present but judging by the lyrics, not nearly so much as the nonsense. It doesn't straddle genres, each song sits neatly in it's own genre content to be separated from the other tracks on the CD and yearning for nothing more than to be appreciated on its own merits. An extremely well thought out debut.

Filthy Dukes - Messages

New Music Monday

2009-04-06T10:53:00.000-07:00

It's got to be all about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs this week.

Brighton Calling Monthly at The Providence (Gig)

2009-04-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Living in a city with such a burgeoning music scene is always a privilege but with a seemingly endless stream of new Brighton bands emerging, how are you supposed to decide who to go and see? The answer is to get someone else to do it for you. Step forward Brighton Calling who provide four, half hour slices of the best Brighton has to offer for the negligible price of two pounds (almost all of which goes to the bands).

Friday 27th March saw the two girls of Brighton Calling seizing the chance to take the helm of their monthly night since Lout's departure. With Berni beaming on the door and Lily enthusiastically mingling through the crowd they cultivated a friendly atmosphere (that's so often missing from venues as outwardly devoid of personality as the Providence) and curated an evening of great bands. First on the bill was Guided By Lights playing some pleasant, violin laced, indie folk to warm the crowd. They're a relatively new band and only have two songs on their myspace so it made sense to have them open but their quality really demanded to be higher up the bill especially considering the lack-lustre performance of the second band. On a good day Left Hand Red can belt out energetic rock with a punk edge and are supposedly 'putting the rock back into indie', however, they must be used to longer sets than these half hour teasers as they were cut short and left sounding unfinished. Thankfully, The Valentines were on hand to thoroughly upstage them and get the evening going again immediately with their first song 'Welcome To The Show'. This five piece had clearly made the most effort, four of them wearing suits and polished guitars strapped so high as to almost be at choking point fronted by the disheveled sixth member of the Rat Pack. They look like the kind of band your grandparents wouldn't have been allowed to go and see but they sound like a cross pollination of The Strokes and The Beach Boys. Energetic 60s influenced indie with the drawl of Julian Casablancas and the melancholic drama of The Editors backed by harmonic, surf rock vocal harmonies. Finally, the headliners take to the stage, Educated Animals are a good pick, having had airplay on Radio 1 and been on the Brighton scene for a while they come off like a British version of Shout Out Louds. Twee indie with synthesizers and a dash of electro for the dance-floor rounds the evening out and all by 11pm so those who want to go out and sample Brighton's equally vibrant club scene can continue their journey into town.

Brighton Calling prove that they can sort the chaff from the wheat on the local scene and provide a great value night out for anyone interested in new music or supporting what makes their city so great.

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - Re-Animations Volume 1 (Album)

2009-03-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

Midlake - Roscoe [Beyond The Wizards Sleeve Reanimation]

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve is an odd pairing, comprised of super cool DJ, remixer, producer and my all time hero Erol Alkan and Richard Norris from The Grid who/which i know nothing about other than they produced that novelty dance track with the banjo 'Swamp Thing' (which i occasionally pull out at gigs for comedy effect).

Stranger still is the kind of music these two create when they get together. The first thing i must stress about this album is the title, the twelve songs are re-animations not remixes. This means BTWS have taken the songs apart and rebuilt them from the ground up, often as entirely different tracks keeping only snippets of the original vocal. It's a completely different experience for me as i'm quite used to hearing remixes and having heard a few of these versions accompanying the originals on vinyls and blogs i was rather unimpressed. Initially they seemed like long-winded, uneventful covers, i was also turned off by the term 'Psychedelia' which i had heard in description of BTWS work. In fact the sleeve actually contains a brief analysis of how this album falls into the category of Psychedelia, based largely on the use of reversed notes and the mentality of 'mashing up' a track and turning it ito something else. My recommendation would be to not pay attention to this label because it doesn't do the album justice. I would, instead, suggest focusing on the warm, pulsing, elongated chords that wrap the listener in a warm but slightly unnerving, sonic blanket, or the intricate shuffling percussion that sounds like BTWS have enlisted an entire Brazillian carnival and then dosed them with sleeping pills, or better still the low slung rubber bass lines that drive the songs out of ambience and onto the dancefloor charting a certain level of sobriety that is present both as the sun goes down and toxin levels are rising and vice versa. It amazes me how well these songs fit together on an album, despite being created seperately they sit alongside one another as if each re-animation was written with the next in mind. It's the way the tracks bind that allowed me to appreciate BTWS as they deserve, this isn't a CD of music by other people, it's a CD of music by BTWS inspired by bands you like with vocals that you recognise.

It's difficult to pick a favourite for you to listen to, i adore all of these songs from the carnival re-interpretation of the bonkers Late Of The Pier track 'The Bears Are Coming' to the drug infused house bassline of Tracey Thorn's 'Raise The Roof' and the soft piano chords and tinkles of Badly Drawn Boy's 'Promises' but i've chosen Midlake's Roscoe because it's the first one i ever heard and whilst each re-animation has it's own quality, this is the most beautiful.

Related Post:
Late Of The Pier

Even More Great Escape

2009-03-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

A few more bands have been added to the line up, they are:

Patrick Wolf * Noah & The Whale * Metric
Brakes * Juliette And The New Romantiques
Hockey * Rosie And The Goldbug
Sky Larkin * Hatcham Social Peggy Sue
Baddies * We Have Band

Along with:

Turbowolf, Mechanical Bride, Jakko and Jay, Dan Mangan, Broken Records, The Males, Roses King Castle, Charlie ASH, 80z Kidz, Gable, De De Mouse, TV Off, Planet Earth, Giantess, Solid Gold, I Blame Coco, The Kilimanjaro Dark Jazz Ensemble, Shining, Marnie Stern,The Bewitched Hands On Top Of Our Heads, Soap and Skin, Sad Day for Puppets, Dag for Dag, Hoodlums, Panama Kings, The Balky Mule, Alan Pownall, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Mothlite, Bang Bang Eche, Slow Club, The Phantom Band, Video Nasties, Times New Viking and Crystal Antlers

and all the other bands i've already listed:
here
here
and
here

I can't emphasise this enough, BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW.

New Music Tuesday

2009-03-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Who Made Who is my pick for this week.

More Great Escape

2009-03-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

More bands have been added to the line up:

THE MACCABEES * WHITE DENIM * SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS * CHAIRLIFT * JAMES YUILL * THE BOXER REBELLION * THE MAE SHI * ABE VIGODA * DM STITH * FAN DEATH * HEARTBREAK * MAGIC MAGIC * WE WERE PROMISED JET PACKS * THE XX * HOT SILK POCKETS * CASIOKIDS * ULTERIOR * RAINBOW ARABIA * HARRY'S GYM * THREE TRAPPED TIGERS * THE WEEK THAT WAS * SKINT AND DEMORALISED * TRAILER TRASH TRACY'S * DAN BLACK * THE NEW WINE * RODNEY FISHER * FUTURECOP! * ROGUES * OU EST LE SWIMMING POOL * MORIARTY * HEARTLESS BASTARDS * CONAN MOCKASIN * MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS * MEME LOVE * MIRANDA LEE RICHARDS * THE BRUTE CHORUS

Other bands already announced are here and here.

Have you got your ticket yet? Why not?

Early bird tickets finish this Friday (13th) that means the price goes up.

The Great Escape website.

New Music Monday

2009-03-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

The Poni Hoax album is worth a look this week.

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: (Album)

2009-02-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

It's my first album recomendation of the year so i'll start with an obvious one - Franz Ferdinand's third offering. Cue high expectations, especially considering they'd previously stated they'd be using a lot more synthesizers on this one. Just listening to the first single 'Ulysses' (the first track on the album) sets the scene, soft, off-kilter percussion and a driving bassline with Alex Kopranos' hushed vocals leading to a mighty synth warble and an explosion of that inimitable brand of indie that Franz excel at. The next three songs remind the listener exactly why they loved FF in the first place marrying their trademark energetic, stabbing guitar riffs and strange yet familiar lyrics with a new found pulsing rhythm and dance sensibility. The next few tracks take the album in a new direction with the band introducing some fresh ideas, the influences of pyschedelic rock and disco become apparent and the synths that they promised in their early interviews subtly appear, thankfully never so much that they dominate but enough to give the new songs an interesting variation from the guitar/bass/drums combination and make them stand out against their previous two albums worth.

I particularly like this album because it makes me want to dance to these new songs on a slightly more refined dancefloor with a reasonable grade vodka and coke in hand whilst reminding me of 2004 when i used to throw myself around on scummy, sweaty, sticky indie floorboards spilling large amounts of Snakebite and Black over anybody and everybody nearby. Their debut perfectly embodied the youthful energy and frustration i felt at the time and this new one seems to have progressed in exactly the same way as i have, the frustration is still there but it's subtler, (slightly) more sophisticated and cleverer than it was five years ago. Thank you Franz Ferdinand for a great album, for reminding me how it feels to be 18 and for making me realise that i'm glad that i've grown up a bit.

Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls

The Lost Mixtape

2009-02-22T11:16:00.000-08:00

The Blue Walrus is a music blog that i like to read, every so often they compile a mixtape and this one is particularly good. Almost every song makes me want to check out the band who made it.

Having listened to most of it, i really like Dear In The Headlights and Official Secrets Act. I could talk about it more but i'd just be duplicating what's already been written over there.

Here's the link for the zip file but you'll have to visit the Blue Walrus blog
for the tracklisting and individual files - it's well worth the visit.

Download The Lost Mixtape

Shinichi Osawa - Last Days

2009-02-19T06:00:00.001-08:00

I saw this the other day and i love it, the song is pretty good on its own but the video really completes it.

Directed by TEAM LAB.NET/INOKO Toshiyuki, SUZUKI Yohei & HEARTBOMB Taken from the album 'The One'.

The Great Escape

2009-02-19T05:53:00.000-08:00

More bands announced:

LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION * BRITISH SEA POWER * BLACK LIPS * LITTLE BOOTS * CAGE THE ELEPHANT * HOLY FUCK * MONGREL * IPSO FACTO * THE PIPETTES * LIAM FINN * MIKA MIKO * OX.EAGLE.LION.MAN. * BETH JEANS HOUGHTON * S.C.U.M * HUNTING THE MINOTAUR * SCREAMING TEA PARTY * ARTEFACTS FOR SPACE TRAVEL * THE TEMPER TRAP * EVERYTHING EVERYTHING * THE INVISIBLE * THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART * WOODPIGEON * CHEW LIPS * THE MISERABLE RICH *THE ARKELLS * YOUVES

See my earlier post for bands that have already been announced.

New Music Monday

2009-02-09T14:22:00.000-08:00

After having seen him live at Fabric i would recommend Yuksek's debut this week.

The Great Escape 2009

2009-01-30T04:01:00.000-08:00

January has been slow but seeing the first few bands that have been announced for The Great Escape 2009 has propelled me back onto the internet. Check these out:

Metronomy * Kissy Sell Out * Future of the Left * Ben Kweller * Johnny Foreigner * Esser * Passion Pit * Dananananaykroyd * The Big Pink * The Soft Pack * The Chapman Family * Micachu and the Shapes * Let's Wrestle * Bell X1 * VV Brown * Vivian Girls * Golden Silvers * Official Secrets Act * The Handsome Family * Your Twenties * An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump * It Hugs Back * Pulled Apart by Horses * Middle Class Rut * To The Bones * KASMs * Televised Crimewave * The Joy Formidable * Cassie and the Cassettes * Tin Can Telephone * A Grave With No Name * Yves Klein Blue * The John Steel Singers * Fanzine

Get your tickets now

Goodbye 2008

2009-01-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

In place of an end of year list i present you with some of my favourite favourites that i've written about.

In no particular order:

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

Mystery Jets - Twenty One

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel

Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires

Metronomy - Nights Out

Miracle Fortress - Five Roses

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark also demands a mention but i haven't had time to write about it yet and it came out right at the beginning of the year.

Crazy Dave's Top 5s

2008-12-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

I won't be composing a 'Best Of...' list this year because this blog serves as a record of all of the albums i have particularly enjoyed listening to in 2008 (i may round up some of my favourite favourites), however, Dave has offered me his lists to post up instead.

Top 5 Albums

1. The Wave Pictures – Instant Coffee Baby
2. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
3. The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride
4. Darren Hayman – Great British Holiday EPs
5. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer

Top 5 Songs

The Wave Pictures – Leave The Scene Behind
Herman Dune – On A Saturday
The Mountain Goats – Sax Rohmer #1
Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper
Wolf Parade – Kissing The Beehive

Top 5 Gigs

Okkervil River - The Pavilion Theatre, May 15th
Shearwater – Komedia, November 24th
Bon Iver - The Spiegel Tent, May 17th
Bowerbirds - Prince Albert, September 6th
Frightened Rabbit - The Freebutt, September 7th

Artists who didn’t make the lists but released albums I highly recommend are:
Arms, Ra Ra Riot, Port O’Brien, Beach House, The Week That Was, The Acorn, Department of Eagles.

Thanks Dave

Wave Pictures - Strange Fruits For David

New Music Monday

2008-12-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

Almost nothing at all released this week

Merry Christmas From Shitronic

2008-12-16T12:19:00.000-08:00

Recently i have been accused of not getting into the christmas spirit so to prove these disgustingly jolly people wrong i have created a mixtape. It contains songs about christmas or winter or songs that are named after films that are shown at christmas or in winter and songs that are otherwise very tenuously linked to one of the former. I hope you enjoy it more than i enjoy christmas but not more than you do.

Download Merry Christmas From Shitronic

Tracklist:
1. The Wave Pictures - We Dressed Up Like Snowmen
2. Mystery Jets - Flakes
3. Pacific! -The Tree
4. Metronomy - Holiday
5. Four Tet - My Angel Rocks Back And Forth
6. Super Furry Animals - The Gift That Keeps On Giving
7. Clearlake - I Wonder If The Snow Will Settle
8. Noah And The Whale - Rocks And Daggers
9. The Thrills - Santa Cruz
10. Miracle (Fortress) On 34th Street - Digital Love
11. We Are Scientists - The Great Escape
12. Maps - Stay Another Day

On a final note, this mixtape is one continuous track recorded at 128kbps, it's designed to be enjoyed when listened to but if you particularly like any of the songs on here, please buy their album. I'm not sure how but i got into a bit of trouble last time i posted a mix, please know that i make these to share my appreciation of music and to encourage others to invest in the subjects i care about.

Merry Christmas

New Music Monday

2008-12-15T10:54:00.000-08:00

Not a lot out this week so time to catch up on all the albums that have come out this year.

Miracle Fortress - Five Roses

2008-12-11T12:06:00.000-08:00

It's coming up to christmas which is a time for giving and receiving and getting fat, quite fitting for this post as i gave away the Sportsday Megaphone album and in return i received a recommendation for Miracle Fortress. After listening to all the songs on their myspace player more times than was probably healthy i figured i should buy the album and i'm glad i did because the sheer beauty of this music is intoxicating. 'Five Roses' demanded that i listen to it three times in a row and captivated my attention in such a way that i wasn't able to do anything but close my eyes, lay back on a pile of pillows and lose myself in the music. If this all sounds a bit fairytale then i'd be inclined to agree with you but if you don't commit fully to this album then you won't appreciate the amount of thought, care and love that has gone into making it. With a good pair of headphones and an otherwise silent house you can feel the band playing all around your head, every instrument is panned off centre by a varying degree creating a dense feeling of texture and complexity. Soft layers of warbling synths and guitar distortion bubble up and down and oscillate round and round whilst Graham Van Pelt's soothing and eery multi-layered vocals drift in and out of your consciousness. It's like being wrapped in a big cosy duvet and having someone turn the pillow over everytime you start to get just a little bit too warm. Miracle Fortress is from Canada and this isn't really surprising considering the wealth of interesting and quirky indie bands that have been hailing from there recently (ask Crazy Dave if you don't believe me). This does, however, seem to make the CD quite hard (or at least expensive) to get hold of, thankfully i can trust Resident to always have the goods.

The track i've chosen is 'Next Train' not necessarily because it's the best from the album but it probably stands on it's own better than the rest. This really is another album that needs to be heard from start to finish, alternatively i could have posted the cover of 'Digital Love' by Daft Punk which is brilliant, i thoroughly recommend you listen to that now, it's a real builder and gives me the shivers but it's not on the album (disappointingly).

Miracle Fortress - Next Train

New Music Monday

2008-12-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

The picks this week are Air France and Lele.

New Music Monday

2008-12-01T12:58:00.000-08:00

Apparently coming up to christmas isn't a very good time for new music.

Competition Time

2008-11-25T13:42:00.000-08:00

If poorly worded, irrelevant analogies about new albums aren't reward enough for you, my readers, then this will make all of the difference (to one of you).

The lovely people at Sunday Best have sent me Sportsday Megaphone's debut 'So Many Colours/So Little Time' but i already have a copy so they've rather kindly said i can give it away in a competition. As it's my first ever competition i'm going to make it a little bit tricky, in order to win the CD i would like you to introduce me to a band that i haven't heard before, just leave your e-mail address and the myspace link for the band in the comments under this post, the CD goes to the first person whose suggestion i like.

If you're not sure whether you want to win the CD then my review of the album should convince you.

Happy myspace hunting and good luck.

New Music Monday

2008-11-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

Just look at how many 'deluxe edition' re-release stocking fillers there are this week.

Check This Out

2008-11-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

If you want to see more like this then come and see me and the awesome Tresdigital (creator of my new logo) perform our first DJ/VJ set at Coalition on Friday, check the flyer for details:

Pier Pressure

Four Tet - Fabriclive 59 (Mix Album Review)

Battery Powered - Tock

SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Album Review)

Digitalism - I Love You Dude (Album Review)

The Candela Kingdom - A Little Positive

Munk - The Bird And The Beat (Album Review)

Frankie & The Hearstrings - Hunger (Album Review)

Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Album Review)

Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing (Album Review)

Suuns - Zeroes QC (Album Review)

The Recommender Party with We Have Band, Mirrors and Bright Light Bright Light

Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner (Album Review)

Mega Mega Mega Tour with Count & Sinden, Mosca and Battery Powered

Who Needs Love?

Chromeo - Business Casual (Album Review)

Battery Powered Mix for Warehouse

Tinashe - Saved (Album Review)

Brighton Fashion Week 2010

Fabriclive Mix 53: Drop The Lime (Review)

Battery Powered - Shooze

Klaxons - Surfing The Void (Album Review)

Our Party

Battery Powered - Trop

The Recommender Party No. 6 with The Phenomenal Handclap Band

Kele at Digital (Live Review)

Mystery Jets - Serotonin (Album review)

The Wave Pictures (Live review) + Save The Freebutt

Sleigh Bells - Treats (Album review)

The Recommender Party No. 5 with The Good Natured and Muchuu

New Posts

New article on Blah Blah Blah

The Recommender Party No. 4 with Wild Palms and Jukebox Collective

The Recommender Mixtape No. 3

Vitalic at The Brighton Coalition 18.03.10

Pokemon

The Recommender Party No. 3

Four Tet - There Is Love In You (Album Review)

Clock Opera Interview

The Recommender Mixtape No. 2

Chapel Club at Audio (Brighton) 08.02.10

The Recommender Party No. 2

The Recommender Mixtape No. 1

New post on The Recommender

Delphic at Audio, Brighton 19.01.10 (Live Review)

Looking back

The Recommender Launch Party

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (Album Review)

Crazy Dave's Best of '09

:Kinema: Single Launch Party with Grovesnor And Hot Chip

Alex Metric Live At Marine Parade's Christmas Party. Brighton Coalition, Sunday 20th December

Merry Christmas

The Recommender

Battery Powered Minimix

Mum - Live Review At Brighton's Concorde 2 on Monday 7th December

The XX - The XX (Album Review)

More Videos

Fionn Regan - Live Review at Brighton's Jam on Friday 13th November

Battery Powered Mix

:Kinema: - My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)

An Old Mix

Miike Snow - Miike Snow (Album Review)

New Pier Pressure Playlist on Spotify

Maps Live At Digital - Friday 20th October 2009

Friday 6th November

NME Radar Tour

Reverend And The Makers (Live)

Jeremy Warmsley (Live)

Fever Ray - Fever Ray (Album)

3 Videos

Leaves and Redundancy

Metronomy (Live)

The Rakes, Sky Larkin and Official Secrets Act (Live)

The Whitest Boy Alive

New Music Monday

Tonight

Filthy Dukes - Nonsense In The Dark (Album)

New Music Monday

Brighton Calling Monthly at The Providence (Gig)

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve - Re-Animations Volume 1 (Album)