Midnight Juggernauts - Shadows (M83 remix)

I'm a big fan of M83 and this remix is just so epic and beautiful I had to post about it. I've not herd of Midnight Juggernauts before so I can’t comment on how M83 has changed the track. I found this tune on the Fluo Kids blog there site has some really good stuff on it. So shadows is a cinematic soundscape of which we are use to with M83, its not to far removed from his latest album Saturday = Youth. Check it out for your self either at the Fluo Kids link above or bellow.

Midnight Juggernauts - Shadows (M83 remix)

Jimi The Exploder – Fucked Up Face (Film Mix)

This is my most successful digital DJ mix, I’m use to spinning records on the old ones and twos, but for this I decided to try something on my laptop. It came out really good and has been a hit with my friends. Its inspired by some of my favourite films or songs from them. Other songs I just liked so much I put them in anyway, maybe one day they will be in a film. The mixing is minimal so I could let the songs talk for them selves. I hope you enjoy it.

Fucked Up Face (Film Mix)

My Own Private Idaho fucked up face intro
Pixies - Where is my mind?
Les Savy Fav - What would wolves do?
American Werewolf in London transformation (Blue moon remix)
Wolf Parade - Modern world
Control love lost seizure poem
Joy Division - Love will tear us apart
Philip Glass - Heroes (Aphex Twin Remix)
Donnie Darko rainy bike INEXS ride
A Scanner Darkly paranoid bike conversation
M83 - Teen Angst
My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes
Radiohead - Idioteque
Burial - Archangel
Orbital - Time becomes......Planet of shapes
Withnail & I will be eating a Camberwell carrot
with a bed of Jean Michel Jarre served with Oxygen (Part I)
24 hour party people the wheel of history
Orbital - Belfast

Lou Reed - Perfect Day

Genoud – Mobius

More Minimal greatness from Igloo, This may even top the fantastic Seph - Goust EP. Mobius is really subtle, warm and techy. With really wet sounds like drops and plops, the cover art might hint at this. Each song is a real treat hypnotic and inventive. The double header Possing A Theory, which is split into a Plan A and a Plan B is pretty special B is the dub version of A and its super hypnotic and warm, like an underwater dance floor. The track Aun no es tiempo, is a beautiful piece I can’t get enough of it. Enjoy it for your self by clicking the link below.

Genoud – Mobius IN018 can be found in the net-releases section.

Boy 8-Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats remix)

This is a big dirty as hell dance floor bomb. Boy 8-Bit has been making some dance floor waves recently, I esspecialy like his remix of Burial's Archangel. Jack Beats are a couple of scratching masterminds behind the desk, Dj Plus One (Scratch Perverts) and Beni G (Mixologists) check it out. The EP is available to buy from Juno.

Boy 8-Bit - Fog Bank (Jack Beats remix)

Ghostly Swim

This is a nineteen-track compilation that you can download here for free, I don’t know how long it’s up but it’s worth it. Ghostly Swim is a collaboration between the TV show Adult Swim and the Record Label Ghostly International. I don’t know what made them want to work together but this is a top compilation. Ghostly Swim is full of warm sounding, old school dance tracks all on the odd side and wonderfully retro. There are bubbly acid numbers and synth led bubblers. There are even some breakbeat numbers that verge on the trip-hop. It reminds me of stuff on Ninja Tunes and Warp. My favourite tracks so far are:

Aeroc – Idiom
Cepia – Ithaca
Dark Party – Active
FLYamSAM – The Offbeat (Well Wonky Beats)
JDSY – All Shapes
Matthew Dear – R+S (Which is simply amazing)
Michna – Tripple Chrome Dipper (Another awesome tune)
Milosh – Then It Happened
Mux Mool – Night Court
The Chap – Carlos Walter Wendy Stanley (Insane English pop)
The Reflecting Skin - Traffickers (Dark and slow burner with a real attitude problem, brilliant tune)

Enjoy.

Seph – Goust

This is a free net release from Igloo an IDM and Minimal record label from Argentina. Goust is an eight track EP of Minimal Techno that really hits the spot. The title track has a subtle groove with woops and bleeps riding the low bass. The drums are tight and punchy. It doesn’t build too much but does work well as a DJ tool. Vitrios the second track as an evil sounding Minimal groove, the bass is especially evil. The breakdown is a freaky click out with what sounds like some one rubbing a finger over a shiny surface. Then ups the intensity a little before pouring shattered glass over you for another break. Dust Chords is maybe my favourite track on here the drums are excellent and the bass plays well with the rhythms. There are also wonderful warm synth pad sample loops, cut up to good effect to create the melody. Vamp is a slightly more aggressive number that again brings the evilness. With disjointed pianos and a hard-hitting fast tempo. The bass is really phat on Vamp and the higher register synth bleeps add some nice tension. There is a nice bubbling Acid undertone to this track as well. Monstruitt, has a growling intro, and mad scrapes before the bass drum kicks in. These layer up and elements are added until they are all playing there own part in a alien groove. Tangoc; has a really warm bass line and plucky little synth line. Espectros (feat. Dilo) is pretty scary with breathy vocals at the beginning before a wet squelch appears and echoes around, and then enters a deep sub bass. Ghostly and brilliant, the groove grows and takes you with it. Each track has micro precision and good execution. The final tune is a remix of the title track Goust by Someone Else. The bass drum actually blows air at you from the speakers. The sub bass helps things along nicely too. The clicks, blips and noise add something to the original track and make it a banger. I’m no Minimal expert but Seph’s Goust EP hits the spot for me. I’m sure there is more to come from Igloo too.

Seph – Goust IN004 can be downloaded here in the net-releases section

Crystal Castles

No blog would be complete without something on Crystal Castles; they seem to have been all over the Internet for a very long time. The debut album has only just arrived however, so I will add to the hype and review it. I have been listening to various songs and remixes of theirs for what seems like an age now. My favourites being the remix of Klaxons ‘Atlantic To Interzone’ and Good Shoes ‘Leni’ all of which can be found out there in the blogasphere I’m sure.

Crystal Castles self-titled debut be described as bleepy as fuck, yet I don’t see this as a hindrance. There sound is abrasive and enjoyable, the use of Gameboy sounds makes you wonder if they are going to get sued by Nintendo any time soon. The vocals are often screamed and sound not unlike CSS in places. There seems to be about three moods on this record: the slow and dirty number, the disco dance off and the hardcore bleep out. I really enjoy the slower numbers, as they have a wonderful mood and make the bleeps so sad and beautiful sounding. I say beautiful, yet the tunes rarely stray far from abrasive.
The stand out tracks for me are: Untrust Us, the opener that samples my beloved Death from Above 1979 (RIP), the vocal sample loops are spot on and make this into almost pop. Alice Practice is one of the aforementioned dirty slow numbers, with drawn out bleeps and growls from Glass the singer. Crimewave (Crystal Castles Vs. HEALTH) is so good and I have mentioned it previously on my blog here. HEALTH is one of my favourite new bands, this remix, revision or what ever you want to call it. Makes the beastly tribal noise into sweet pop hooks and bubbling synth lines. Xxzxcuzx Me can be filed under the hardcore bleep out section, it comes top of the class in its group mind. Air War is a nice disco number with moving bass and nonscence vocal loops hoping along, all in all quite enjoyable. Courtship Dating is my stand out track of the album by far. It’s the one that Timberland stole for his single Ayo Technology with Timberlake and 50 cent. It’s a real slow bleepy, and sweeping pop song. The mood and atmosphere is so good, it draws me in closer with every listen. Glass’ vocal squeal on top of Kath’s soundscapes in excellent fashion. Vanish is another disco style tune not unlike the others, yet has a nice growl to the synths, and samples Van She who make some dirty electro stompers. Black Panther should also get a honourable mention. Many of these tracks are however, filler. But not a disappointment, I don’t think any one expected a full album of bleeped out insanity that could float everyone’s boat all of the time. When it works it is outstanding, when it doesn’t it is bleepy as fuck. There has been so much hipster hype around Crystal Castles that a backlash will no doubt start soon. I’m going to defend this group for the joyful bleeps they bring. Plus what an excellent name Crystal Castles have it brings back nostalgia of She Ra and computer games of old.

Sally Shapiro

She has such a beautiful voice and the music is pure Italo-disco. For some reason I’m yet to come across a copy of the album Disco Romance, yet I’m still in love with this music. It is produced by Johan Agebjorn and sung by Sally Shapiro, if that is her real name. There are also many brilliant remixes floating about, my current favourite is; Time to let go (Lindstrøm remix). Lindstrøm makes some beautiful music that is so deep and builds wonderfully, it works a treat with Sally Shapiro’s lovely disco. Check it out for your self here.

Sally Shapiro - Time to let go (Lindstrøm remix)

Wolf Parade - Call It A Ritual

Call It A Ritual, is the first track I’ve herd from the album At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade. There last album Apologies To The Queen Marry was a very special piece of work. This is a slinky piano lead number with wonderful echoes vocals. It could well be just a snippet of what is to come from Wolf Parade, but what a snippet it is. Hear it for your self here.

Fuck Buttons – Street Horrrsing

The opener Sweet Love For Planet Earth is very special indeed and sets the tone perfectly for the album as a whole. Its full of sweet tinkles and grinding buzz saw noise that builds with some growling throbs. Fuck Buttons make pretty simple yet experimental noise music that builds and builds over the course of its six tracks. The treatment to vocal noise is so good and one of my favourite things about this band. They sound so scary and evil yet also strangely beautiful. The use of primal rhythms is good too on the second track Ribs Out. The track Okay Lets Talk About Magic and Race You To My Bedroom / Spirit Rise reminds me of a Thomas Bangalter track from his Irreversible soundtrack, but nowhere near as good. The final section is a corker the lo-fi house beats of Bright Tomorrow are a joy to behold after the last two tracks. There is also a beautiful organ part, which rides along nicely over a glitch ridden, bright feedback, and looped rhythm, this is the sound of a horrible comedown, drenched in sadness. It has a simple cord progression, like much of the Fuck Buttons tracks; they often stick to the same formula. This works on the two-standout tracks, Sweet Love For Planet Earth and Bright Tomorrow. This isn’t an album to put on repeat, for me at least. I find it to be a bit repetitive in places, the mid section of the record kind of sags in my opinion. This holds it back a little and means I don’t truly love Street Horrrsing. Sweet Love For Planet Earth is one of my tracks of the year so far though. Fuck Buttons have managed some how to get lot of praise in many strange places for the Street Horrrsing, such as the NME, Guardian, Mojo, etc. Hats off to them for that, but I want them to try harder next time. I’m sure this album will open a lot of peoples eyes to some good Noise, such as Black Dice, that’s my limited knowledge of the subject exhausted any way. P.S. the name of your band and album sounds like a Nathan Barley joke gone wrong.

Rolo Tomassi – Digital History / Beatrotter 7”

This is an exclusive 7” limited to 500 pressings only available from the band or Holy Roar, it won’t even appear on their forthcoming album. It’s a beautifully made record hand painted by the band, white and in a clear sleeve. Both the tracks are on one side with no gap in-between. We start off with a digital pulse and heavy electric guitars before slamming into the brutal screaming. This stops and some really beautiful and spooky sections come in and vibrate around, before slamming into some more beastly-spasticated grooves. A metal section and even a lounge Jazz section appear. I’m very fond of the final section in which the girl sings drenched in dub like echoes. As always Rolo Tommasi bring everything to the table all at once and it’s a wonder to behold.

Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim

Laura Marling is so very talented this whole album is a joy to listen to. Each song is beautiful and catchy, with a sad undertone and folk instrumentation. Her voice is wonderful and her lyrics beautiful. After hearing this album I have developed a mini crush on her. Alas I Cannot Swim is a laidback affair worth a listen, especially on a Sunday I find. This could be one of my favourite albums of the year so far, its been with me a while and I keep going back to it. The stand out tracks are Ghosts, My Manic And I and Night Terrors. The latter being my true choice pick, for its amazing brooding atmosphere. For a debut this is wonderful stuff, Keep up the good work Laura. And indeed she has done just that on the excellent recent single from Mystery Jets, Young Love… Fade to bird song…

Mrs Boyes' Bingo featuring Mark Sanders @ The Shed 26th April 2008

Where to start to describe this gig? You where greeted by Mrs Boyes and handed Bingo cards, then you could head to the bar and your seat. First on the bill where the Jazz Improv duo: John Edwards (Double Bass) and Mark Sanders (Drums & Percussion). They eased us in with some really quite inventive sections of Jazz, this ranged from atmospheric scrapes and shuffles to full on noise and rocking sections. They played off each other beautifully especially in the more intense periods. Edwards really worked every aspect of his instrument, its hard to imagine any bit of the Bass he didn’t play, I think I spotted he missed doing something with the holes on the side, but I could be wrong. Sanders, was pretty special and played his heart out, really working the drums in ways I’ve not seen before. I was especially mesmerised by the use of bells and, excuse my lack of knowledge, smaller drums on top of the regular kit to mute and add new dimensions. The duo really locked together on the loud sections, with awkward time signatures that chopped and changed, you didn’t know where it was all taking you, wonderful stuff.

Now on to the main event: Mrs Boyes’ Bingo Featuring Mark Sanders. This is hailed as a modern-day classic on The Shed website, they aren’t far wrong either. We are all familiar with Bingo the classic random number game, which involves crossing off lines and full boxes. That isn’t the surprising bit, that was left to the addition of Mark Sanders from the aforementioned Improv Duo. He played drums and percussion to accompany and distract the proceedings. I for one am so glad he did as Bingo rarely floats my boat. This was a wonderful addition to the traditional game. Sanders played off Mrs Boyes just like he would off any of his Jazz contemporise. His style has quite a range that added to the drama of the game. You never quite knew if you would be quietly serenaded with flicks and clicks or pounded into submission with smashes or cymbals and snares. I especially liked it when he caught Mrs Boyes off guard, as this added humour and also slowed her down, which was a godsend to us novice bingo players. The prizes where your usual affair; towels, lamps, gammon, electric hand whisk, the bottle of port got the best audience reaction. I was lucky enough to win a bottle of Irish Cream, which I’m pretty sure is a cheap imitation of Baileys and six shit glasses for a full house. You really had to shout to get herd over the numbers and drums, especially at this rapid fire pace. By the last few games every one was concentrating and trying there best, thinking they had finally come to terms with this magical combination. Then Edwards sneaked onto stage for some Bass action. This again added to the proceedings, as Mrs Boyes didn’t see it coming either.

Yet again another triumph for The Shed, I continue to love this place for its joyful and inventive shows and diverse audience. Mrs Boyes’ Bingo with Mark Sanders was a mischievous combination that you just had to love.

Ricardo Villalobos – Fabric 36

Villalobos has been a favourite of mine ever since I lay my hands on his 12” of ‘What You Say Is More Than I Can Say’ in 2006. That tune opened my eyes to a wider spectrum of dance music and the minimal scene, which I had only been vaugly familular with by listening to Ritchie Hawtin mixes and thinking wow what is this stuff.

The Fabric mix serries has some gems in it yet this one stands out, as it is also a full artist album. Villalobos has decided to make a mix of entirley new matterial made by him and featuring some colaberations. This strikes me as a brilliant idea on how to showcase new music. Its also a nice way to stop people from stealing the tunes and mixing them them selves. This keeps Villalobos’ music exclusive and makes his live appearences more of an event. Pretty clever stuff.

If you have herd Villalobos before you knid of know what to expect, really warm sounding minimal grooves, expertly blended seamlesly for amaizing effect. He takes influences from all over the world and slips them into a techno tapestry. There are ellemnts of Jazz drums and at one point a whole folk song re-made into a peak time minimal party anthem. The whole mix is a joy to behold with some wonderful builds and twists. If I had to pick a standout track it would be the centre piece ‘Andruic & Japan’ by Richardo Villalobos & Andrew Gillings. This track groves along nicley until a break down coems in which explodes with samples of Japanes drumming. The ryhthems realy hit hard and build to a cresendo then when the beat drops again the drum samples are choped up to fit the 4 x 4 house drum beat again, its an exciting moment.

A supurb tallent on the decks and in the studio, What will Ricardo Villalobos do next, I for one can’t wait to see.

Lykke Li

This girl mesmerises me at the moment. Her videos for the single ‘I’m Good, I’m Gone’ and the EP track ‘Little Bit’ are beautiful performances. Lykke Li has an amazing voice its beautiful and soft. The musical backdrop is also pretty special, ranging from electro style blips to organic loops of found percussion and acoustic guitars. Have a listen for your self; Click the links for the songs I found online.

Lykke Li – Dance Dance Dance
Lykke Li – Tonight

Murcof – Cosmos

Darkness falls a silence comes over you there is something brewing, something beautiful. A truly ghostly atmosphere swells out of the almost non-existent drones. The tension builds and builds with each string and organ flourish. Cosmos opens up a huge soundscape of classical instrumentation with a subtle digital edge. Murcof manages to sound huge yet spares and minimal all at once. When percussion is used it is a cross between minimal techno and a more subtle ambient works era Aphex Twin. Sometimes you feel like your listening to silence but its still beautifully compelling. There is a mellow sadness to this piece of work it almost makes you feel alone in space. Cosmos has six tracks that would blur in and out of each other if the snippet of silence weren’t so noticeable between tracks. You notice the subtlest of changes in Cosmos as you find your self listening so hard and intently. Murcof is a Mexican musician who uses classical instruments and electronics in such harmony you can hardly tell which is which. His music has an epic wide screen effect on the listener; you can almost imagine some of your favourite and darkest moments in film being soundtracked by this. It’s a struggle to pick a stand out tune as the album works so well as a whole. Cosmos is almost like a minimal Burial, Murcof has created a masterpiece here: a truly wonderful brooding masterpiece.

The Future Is Fight Pop

What the hell is Fight Pop? You may well ask, and I’m not quite sure but I like the idea of it. I’m talking about two new bands that excite me this year they are Johnny Foreigner and Dananananaykroyd. The phrase was found on the latter bands myspace page to describe their sound. I’ve gone and lobbed Johnny Foreigner in with this description to, which seems fair as they have a planed tour together. The similarities don’t end there either, both write amazing, joyful, energetic, powerful and rocking Indie Pop. They are different enough however, to have a distinct sound of their own.

Dananananaykroyd are a Glasgow six piece with plenty of balls to the wall energy and inventive tunes. They have released two 7” before and both of them have sold out, unfortunately way before I had ever herd of them. I will be making up for this by buying their new EP ‘Sissy Hits’ from one of my favourite record labels Holy Roar on 9th June 2008. I’ve only herd the songs on the myspace page and they are a real treat, plus a review on Drowned in Sound was one of the most glowing I’ve read for a new band. Who could resist the excellent name Dananananaykroyd anyway?

Johnny Foreigner are, I think a three piece, yet there are two more mentioned on their myspace, from Burmingham. They released an EP called Arcs Across The City that I have previously reviewed on this blog. Their debut album will be coming very soon and goes by the name of ‘Waited Up ‘til It Was Light’, I have a feeling it will be absolutely wonderful. The songs are again full of power and passion like all good Fight Pop.

Fight Pop Forever!

Foals – Antidotes

I don’t really know where I stand with this band. I saw them play live on Scarborough beach last summer and I really wasn’t impressed. Apart from the Gwen Stefani intro, which was fun it was all pretty generic sounding and didn’t really take off. They have been much hyped in the music press, which also puts me on my guard a little. Then the album was released and I decided to give them a go.

Foals have a robotic almost cold and mechanical sound, with Indie disco beats that have been so prominent of late. This makes the sound more accessible I feel. The guitars play off each other quite wonderfully in parts, and are used in a very percussive way. The album has added horns that weren’t present when I saw them live. This adds something for me, after first not being convinced. They bring some heart, warmth and much needed crescendo. The vocal performance to my ears is pretty terrible and can be annoying, this was less so live; it seemed to have more energy and power. Now onto the songs;

The French Open starts the proceedings with a nice slow groove to draw you in before the disco starts. Cassius was a single and has been herd a lot I would imagine, maybe too much for my ears as it gets into my head and stays there to the point of annoyance. The lyrical content is almost a side thought for me its mostly small repeated section just used as more rhythm to the tracks. I admire their determination to create such percussive and accessible music with a normal band set up of guitars, bass, keyboards and drums. There is however, some emotion in soon to be single Red Socks Pugie and it works pretty well being a stand out track for me. Olympic Airways sounds to me like a striped back Klaxons crossed with some Bloc Party, which isn’t a bad thing. I just get a feeling of I’ve herd it all before with Foals. Like Bloc Party without the choruses or Klaxons with African guitars and stripped down. Electric Bloom tells us to watch out for a warning shot and then carries on in the vain of many of the other tracks. Compared to some of the demos and early recording I’ve heard the tracks on Antidotes are slower and the production is more polished. Some people say this is a shame, but I think it makes it more listenable as an album in your home. They have been pretty open about making pop songs with strange influences and if people want the energy go see them live as they amp it up a bit. Balloons; is a catchy number for a single, one of the album highlights. It’s well executed, building layers or guitar playing off each other and booming percussion. It’s also less annoying than Cassius too, bonus. Heavy Water is a bit boring; it kind of just rolls along like an Indie disco ballad with no real emotion until it perks up a bit in the build up. The highlight of this song and indeed many on the album is the guitars. They intertwine and play off each other back and forth with energy and fun. Two Steps Twice is a highlight of Antidotes, it works well as a dance floor tune not unlike Balloons in style. This is what Foals do best fun dance floor tunes. Its nice of them to try and make an album with other moods to it, they don’t quite pull it off this time. Big Big Love (Fig. 2) has a nice atmosphere to it with grinding drums rumbling away. It’s one of the better album tracks. Like Swimming fades in and hand claps its way out in a haze of echo drenched clean guitars before cutting into digital noise that makes you think the album is broken. This cuts right into the final track Tron: which is unremarkable and brings the album to a close in a fairly lack lust form.

In conclusion Foals are a fun band and the album is enjoyable overall, yet I’m finding it hard to fall in love with them. It’s a perfect album to have on as you get ready to go out and have a drink to. It lacks substance and emotion in my eyes. Foals have achieved the feet of producing an album that is pretty popular and not your general Indie pop nonsense so I take my hats off to them for that. Maybe next time they will win me over.

Johnny Foreigner - Arcs Across The City

I'm a bit late on this EP but I thought I would track it down as I'm excited about seeing them with The Mae-Shi in the near future. Arcs Across The City is a wonderful energy burst of powerful guitar songs. It has a heavey ish sound not unlike parts of Los Campesinos! but not quite as twee-core. There are again boy and girl interchangeable vocals, which I find fun and endering. Each song doesn't sway to far away from one particular sound of high energy indie rock goodness, and why should it on an EP, just to make sure there is a hidden track at the end which has a mellow side. My favourite song is Suicide Pact, Yeh? followed by Yes! You Talk Too Fast which is handy as its the next song. Sofacore has to get a ention as the name makes me giggle. This EP is something pretty nice and special each song delivers everything you could want fo a young band yet to release a debute album. I look forward greatly to seeing Johnny Foreigner live with The Mae-Shi, two of the most exciting bands around at the moment.

Erol Alkan

This year seems like a busy one for Erol Alkan. He has been producing for several bands and seems to be on a mission to keep kids dancing. He has produced the Mystery Jets album 21, which has the excelent singles Young Love featuring one of my favourite singers Laura Marling and then there is the up and comming single Two Doors Down, which is just a perfect pop hit if ever I saw one. Then Erol has been at it again with The Long Blondes on there second album Couples. This has a heavey disco/indie/pop crossover sound not disimular to Giorgio Moroder. But right now I think his next producing project with Late Of The Pier will really get the kids dancing. The two songs I've herd are Bathroom Gurgle, which has been around quite a while and sounds a bit like queen doing a klaxons cover or the other way round. My favourite is the tune Bears Are Coming, this has growling syths and irrasistable drums that make it hard not to move to a yur local indie disco, the bleeps are also a treat. So the mission seems to be going well for Erol Alkan the kids will keep dancing. I just want more DJ mixes from him and more in the vain of his Hot Chip remix.

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others

I love this new song, its beautiful and really gets in your head, like a ghostly pop song. It is a bit of a move on from the excelent album Yellow House in that its more electric. This transition can be seen on some of the tracks on the more recent Friends EP. Anyway hear for yourself as Grizzly Bear have posted a live version for you to download.

Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others [Live on KCRW]

Burial - DJ-Kicks (Word from the net)

"Coup!
!K7 are buzzing on the announcement that the next installment in the DJ-Kicks series comes from the hugely acclaimed, underground dubstep producer BURIAL at the end of June. The South London producer is notoriously shy of press and public performances yet his last two albums on Kode 9's Hyperdub label have established him as one of the global leaders in this exploding scene on word-of-mouth alone.
The latest DJ Kicks from Four Tet, Henrik Schwarz, Booka Shade and Hot Chip have all pushed new limits in eclecticism, making linear genre-specific DJ mixes a thing of past... so who knows where Burial will take it next. We hear whisperings from the studio that he may treat his dearest dubstep, techno and even r'n'b tracks with his unique production style before mixing them with exclusive material and... well watch this space."

This is news I didn't expect to hear.

Los Campesinos! Hold On Now, Youngster...

Pitchfork inspired Twee-Core? Maybe, its mostly high energy indie pop at its best with interchangable girl boy vocals and groupe sing alongs. This is done to a brilliant bring all the instrumnts you can and rock out kind of way. Its thourghly enjoyable like a sugar rush after eating all your favourite sweets, then running round a feild. It wares its influences on its sleave and doesn't stray far from what it does well. Which is a cross between parts of Broken Social Scene and a more hardcore rocky sound. The vocals really stand out in places when the girl and boy interchange or the girl brings the sweetness like on the break down to Don't Tell Me To Do The Math(s). This track has its awful moments though with the out of tune vocals that spoil it for me. The track names are perfect for the tunes I love the sound of track names Drop It Doe Eyes, This Is How You Spell "Hahaha, We Destroyed the Hopes And Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-Romantics" and Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks. My favourite track is the single You! Me! Dancing! which has a indie disco feel to it in the lyrics about not being able to dance. The music feels a little Sonic Youth in places too. This is British indie that has grown up looking to America and why not they pull it off well with energy and fun. Death To Los Campesinos! No I will let them live.

Nine Inch Nails - Discipline

This yet agan came out of the blue today from Trent Reznor, it sounds like he is having fun. Its a new single and its free from http://www.nin.com/ how ace is that. I was just musing today over my newley aquired Ghosts CD that I wanted some vocal stuff then this pops up. Its a fun dancey number with disco rock drums with open high hats. The title is typical NIN and so is the music and lyrics. pretty much about not being able to stop your self, I persume from dancing as Reznor asks us to take our shirts off and dance on his blog. There is a big dirty bass and guitar line that brings the funk and rides the drums. All in all enjoyable and a nice extra after the instrumental pecies on Ghosts. Well done again Reznor.

Seb Rochford

This is my one of my favourite musicians. He has many projects and many styles, the ones I've found are Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear, Fulborn Teversham, Room of Katinas and Basquiat Strings. There could be many more he seems prolific. Seb Rochford plays drums, percusion and writes pretty much any style with a Jazz edge. Depending on what project you catch him doing it can range from frantic rock drums in Accoustic Ladyland to more subtle complicated drum work outs on Polar Bear. Each project is outstanding here is a little over veiw of them:

Acoustic Ladyland - Started as a Jimi Hendrix tribute act played on acoustic instruments, re-interpreting his songs in a jazz style. This soon evolved into a beast of its very own, they got them selves electric instruments and decided to make there own rock jazz hybrid Hendrix would be proud of. I recomend the last two albums; Last Chance Disco & Skinny Grin.

Polar Bear - Have two albums only one of which I've herd; Held In Finger Tips, it was nominated for a Murcury Music Prize one year. It is a more organic sounding jazz group with complicated rhythems battling sax, solid bass and truley amazing electronics from Leafcutter John, which is th only electronics in the group. This in some ways is as intense as Acoustic Ladyland, brilliant stuff. New album maybe on the way?

Fulborn Teversham - Are on Pickled Egg Records and have an album called Count Herbert II. This is a pretty funky and punky lot, and as with Acoustic Ladyland they pull it off in a unique and inventive style. Not your generic Punk Funk or Jazz Rock which could make so many run for the hills. This group has awsome sythn work with a truley quirky vibe to it and also beautiful vocals from Alice Grant that range from brutal to sweet often in the same song. The tunes are very wide ranging its a truley great album.

Room of Katinas - I have just stumbled apon myself, from the samples on the website its a project in the making. It seems to be just Seb Rochford in his room with minimal instrumentation, mostly just drums and accoustic guitar. This could be one to watch.

Basquiat Strings Feat. Seb Rochford - As far as I am aware this Murcury nominated album just has Seb on drums and not wrting much, I could be wrong. His beats set a beautiful bed for the Jazz string section to work over. The styles go from jazz to classical and even some salsa style funk.

Live these groups are really special and I will be suporting them any time I can with going to gigs and buying records. Check them out my words can't do this justice.

Atlas Sound - virtual 7" No. 3

Bored Dub & No Longer

As Bradford Cox can't stay still for long he always posts new music on his blog. These are typical spaced out songs the first Bored Dub has some really dubbed out moments as the title would suggest and Cox singing on top, it soudns like he is in darkness. the we get to No Longer on the virtual flip side and its as though the sun is rising, with bright loops and ticks flowing along nicley. I don't think its one of my favourite peices thats been posted but I think his blog needs more attention as its constantly evolving with new songs and updates. Find more here http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/

Zyron - Mellow Dream State (Expanded)

This is a mix I was directed to on Discogs by some one I have no idea about called Zyron, it won a mix compition though. This mix realy caught my ears as it has the strangest track list for a dance mix I was expecting some minimal stuff. This i realy off the wall the track listing is:

http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/160453

Rupert Hine - Samsara
Peter Gabriel - We Do What We're Told (milgram's 37)
Talking Heads - Listening Wind
Porter - Champagne and Valium
Jean-Michel Jarre - Diva
Landscape - Computer Person Aural
Exciters - Emile (Night Rate)
The Beatniks - Ark Diamant
B.E.F. - Groove Thang
Fujiya & Miyagi - Cassettesingle
Kraftwerk - Antenna
U2 - Bullet the Blue Sky
Ultravox - Monument Front
242 - Art and Strategy
Sheila Chandra - Missing the Voice
Alan Vega - American Dreamer
B-52's - Queen of Las Vegas
David Bowie - African Night Flight
The Human League - The Black Hit of Space

Its all kinda slow funky out there old school indie type music mashed together with ease and perfection. It sounds like it could have been made anytime in the last 20 years. its all strangley fammilular yet allien all at once. It takes a few spins to sink in and grab you, even then I asume some people will find it to much of a head fuck. Thats there loss I say. Good work Zyron who ever you may be.

Ellen Allien - Sool

Sool is the lattest offering from Ellen Allien, I'm not to familular with her work before this, apart from the odd track in mixes. I've had a sneeky listen to this record, which I beleave is released in May. Its super minimal in places with some atmospheric sections and some dance floor bangers. Sool works as a whole unlike some dance albums. There are sexy breathy vocals looped into the mix of some tunes that add a really nice female touch that is missing from sme minimal stuff. I really like the track Sprung with its clangy honcking synth hook then fat bass drum kick, which builds and builds with some ouble kicks and other percussion, then drops some atmospheric pads in snipets. all these tunes are really minimal and not affraid to admit it. Elphine is maybe my favourite track on Sool, its a quirky number with an ace bass line and old school sounding drum kick and beautiful vocal loops that echo around you. The peccusion is spot on and clicky too, its real dance floor beast. The edits really make it to with suden yet subtle builds with tiney whistles, echoes and loops, before that bass kicks in again. Truley wonderful. The song Its sounds to me like the Jaws theme in a minimal techno style, which is no bad thing and reminds me of a Ritchie Hawtin 12" I have from the 90's. Its a delight to listen to if your in a dark moody minimal state of mind. I need to dig into this scene more I'm to out of touch with this wonderful music. It's some of the most exciting stuff happening in dance since acid house and techno came about.

Conor Oberst (AKA Bright Eyes) and the Mystic Valley Band

Mystic Valley Band is a Conor Oberst solo project with a diffrent backing band. He ha been playing some of the songs writen for the up and coming album live, some of which can be found online on bootlegs from shows. I'm a big fan of Oberst his vocals and lyrics move me with his beautiful picture painting. The instrumentation on these new songs are pretty standard folky acoustic stuff just like Bright Eyes, but maybe a bit more stripped down compaed to the last Bright Eyes album Cassadaga. These tunes might not be the finished artical by any means. I don't think this means the end of the Bright Eyes project, fingers crossed any way as I would love to hear more stuff like Digital Ash Digital Urn. Cape Cañaveral is one of the live tunes I've tracked down and its a pretty joyful tune, one of the standouts. Milk Thistle is a slow sad acoustic number Conor does solo and its beautiful. This album could well be excelent and moving.

M83 - Saturdays = Youth

The cover of this album is a sun drenched green park with pretty young things beautifully posing together like a bunch of old teenage film cast extras, my favourite is the guy in the skeliton suit and the girl in the hat with ears doing a peice sign, you choose your own. Saturdays = Youth is a perfect title ofor this album it is joyful, epic and full of teenage angst, just like going out on a sunny Saturday when your to young to go out. The music of M83 is often over blown with massive sugar rushes and a heavey cinimatic influence. This is no diffrent yet it opens up the scope of his sound even more. The last record Before The Dawn Heals Us was full of melodramatic rushes of digital bulid ups and rock instumentals, it was huge sounding. Saturdays = Youth is slightly less over blown and melow, with more of a shoegaze feel to it. There is a proper 80's feel to it too. The stand out tracks for me sofar are Couleurs and Up! They have a New Order meets Shoegaze meets Kate Bush feel to them. The boy, girl vocals are really sweet and dramatic. I'm in love with this sound, and it adds yet another string to the bow of M83. I bet a live show is spectacular.

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I-IV

I got my CD copy today through the post. I've had chance to listen to this quite a bit already and its damn good. Its perfect music for playing computer games to or as a sound track to a dark, grimey si-fi film. There are some really interesting sounds on here, many of which are twisted and out of tune. They make for good listening. Part of me wants some lyrics on this record, but this will do. It reminds me in places of soundtracks to games of my youth like F-Zero and that one I can't remember the name of that was like a new version of F-Zero with lots of Chemical Brothers on it. Its pretty sad and melloncholy sounding, but pretty with it in its own way. Spread over two CD's this can get a bit much and blurs into one some times. I do however, really like to use some of the tracks in mixes. The art work is really quite nice indeed, some of the pictures are beautiful, and if my memory is correct on this, visual insperation is what spured this project on. Reznor as produced a unique package here and fair play to him for releasing it how and when he wanted.

The Shed @ Hovingham Village Hall

The Shed is one of my favourite venues for music and other excelent forms of entertainment. It is small, it use to be in an even smaller place mind, but it punches above its weight for the acts it brings in. I have been going here for quite a while now and when a new seasons line up is anounced I get a smile on my face, as there are usualy some excelent supries. I have seen Fulborn Teversham, Polar Bear and narrowly missed Acoustic Ladyland (its ok I saw them at Fibbers in York a bit later on). These are some heavey weight Jazz beasts to play a small village hall in the wildrness of North Yorkshire. Leafcutter John; was another highlight with his lap-top folk-tronica and the best use of a slinky I've ever seen. More musical highlights have been Charlie Dark and his African inspired dance floor beats with live percusion, that really got pretty much every one who was able to dance, danceing by the end of the night. I think this venue is just as inspiring to the artists that play here as well as the crowd. Some of them see truly overwhelmed at the reaction, love and respect they get. Its not your usual gig venue, Tom Cawley who has played keyboards as part of Acoustic Ladyland and his own solo show at The Shed; mentioned to the crowd that he hadn't seen a crowd be so quite and listen so well durring his quite songs.

There is more than just music here too. There has also been brillint performances by comidian Stuart Lee and soon to come Ritchard Herring. Lee really worked the intermate room and even stood at the back selling DVD's and talking to people at the end. I'm also looking forward to the intreguing Mrs Boyes' Bingo featuring Mark Sanders. This is traditional Bingo with a Jazz Improv twist, just to spice things up Mrs Boyes and Mark Sanders fight for our attention. This is just the surface of this unique venue. I haven't even mentioned the sessions in skips and the fish and chip van tour. More information can be found at http://www.theshed.co.uk/

Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality

If you like the sound of a sexyer version of Justin Timberlake being produced by Dr Dre and Daft Punk in France then this album is for you. Its a G-Funk, Daft Punk soul disco master peice. Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo is the producer and this can be herd on the beautifuly retro phat sounding sythasizers and vocoder vocals. I have no idea where the G-Funk comes from, but I like it. Its all pretty laid back and pretty heart on the sleave cheesey pop in places. The song Divine is even Frances Eurovision Song Contest entry. Don't let all this put you off, honestly its worth a listen. Sexuality is slick and the stand out tunes are the opener Roche; which ignites with a beautiful car staring up, maybe a supercar that you had a poster of in your room when you were young. Divine; is excelent and catchy, its got my eurovision vote. The real stand out is Sexual Sportswear; this is a dance floor instrumental, a bit like Daft Punks Veridis Quo's older brother, I really love that song. This is a bit like Discovery era Daft Punk that has matured and is writing songs with lyrics. Sebastien Tellier's voice is sweetly sung and has real depth and emotion. Some places are beautiful some bits make you cringe, but it wares its heart on its sleave and pulls it off well.

P.S. I usualy post the album cover, but I really like this picture.

¡Forward Russia! - Life processes

This is the follow up to Give Me A Wall and they seem to have grown up quite a bit since, the sound has matured. It's epic compared to the jagged guitar wall of the first album. life Processes isn't as imediate as their debut, but I think it brings more to the dance punk sound. The lyrics are still pretty cryptic and sung with a heartfelt emotional all over the place style, which may put some people off. My pick of the tunes so far are; We Are Grey Matter, which has a really nice deep and bassey drum pulse that progresses into monster guitars. A Prospector Can Dream; has a really good vocal hook and building drum lines. Breaking Standing; is the lead single and I wasn't to taken by it at first, after listening to it in the album contex its winner though. Gravity & heat; is probibly the heaveyest track on the album and not to far away from the brilliant limited addition single Don't Be A Doctor from a while ago. My personal favourite is the albums closer, this is the epic Spanish Triangles. I keep finding myself humming this tune. Overall this album is more of a subtle grower than Give Me A Wall. There are acctual song names instead of numbers, if you hadn't noticed as well. the songs are still complexed with twists and turns but this is done with less jagged edges and more power this time. I've herd some of this album live and it stood up really well with the older matterial.

The Mae-Shi - "HLLLYH"

This is another lot from LA like HEALTH and No Age in my other posts. Again they have a infectious energy, solid tunes and some kind of warped pop sesibility. This album is a sugar rush full of great hooks, 8-bit sounding synths, pure dance drums, heavey guitars and a lyrical flow some where between shout and American squal. the songs have a great hummour to them, I'm going to see them Live next month so I will post about that too. some songs that stand out for me are PWND, The Melody, Run To Your Grave and Kingdom Come. esspecialy the latter two, run To Your Grave is a pure pop gem and maybe the album stand out. Kingdom Come is an unexpected twist in the album, its an eleven minute dance floor beast, full of lo-fi synths and old school house beats. Its like a band deciding to play techno for a bit of a change and its pulled off beautifuly. Listen to The Mae-Shi and try not smile, go on I dare you.

Why? - Alopecia

Why? Well because their brilliant. I haven't herd of this group before, the name cLOUDDEAD rang some bells for me when I dag a little deeper into the history. Alopecia is a strange beast of an album its not quite hip-hop and its not quite indie. the lyrical flow goes from rap style rhymes to an almost sung more emotional verse, or some place inbetween its hard to pin it down exactly and its all the better for it. The lyrics paint pictures like only a great song writer can. They are wordy tunes, which it has in commen with hip-hop. They are tender moments and hummorus ones, there is a really beautiful melloncholly to this album, which is missing from many a rappers repatouir. When I get into this album more I may print some of my favourite lyrics. The music these wonderful flows of storys and images ride on top of is far removed from hip-hop. It has more in commen with laid back indie in places, the beats have a nice breakbeat style. This album is so hard to pin down and a real grower. The song These New Presidents really grabs me as does The Hollows. Probibly another contender for one of my albums of the year so far.

No Age - Nouns

I've had a sneeky listen to this album and on first hearing I don't think its as good as Weirdo Rippers. Teen Kreeps, Sleeper Hold, Here Should Be My Home and Brain Burner are the stand outs for me so far. There isn't as many open passages of layerd noise that I loved so much on Weirdo Rippers. I can even hear either stripped of fuzz electric guitar or almost accoustic guitar in places as well. I think this album will keep growing on me, as it still has the energy, spirit and fuzzed out lo-fi grungy songs. All in all its short, sweet and sweaty. No Age rule!

Youthmovies - Good Nature

This album starts off as though you are being transported to a planet through space; there is a hum and drone that opens up into spacey melody. Then the guitar and vocals come in and the planet we arrive in is Earth. This is the opener Megdalen Bridge, with crisp drums, beautiful guitar melodies and really good use of horns. It’s a perfect opener for an album.

The Naughtiest Girl Is A Monitor is the first single to be taken from the album; it comes in with some sweet synth sounds and the drum rolls into beautiful lyrics about teenage landscapes. The main hook is infectious and is a real grower. The song chops and changes in song structure with the guitar, drums, bass and horns intertwining and gaining in intensity.

Soandso & Soandso starts with a horn hook that really gets in your head, I find my self humming it some days. Then a wall of heavy guitars comes in with a more complex take on heavy metal; This soon switches to more sweet, softer, melodies and then back again. Taking you with it on every turn. This music is defiantly from the heart. The lyrics ‘if you can’t please your self then don’t try please anyone’, followed by the chant of ‘It bubbles and blisters’, is really well executed. This song then seems to deconstruct its self as it comes to a close with epic segments of guitar and horn flourishes. It almost feels prog rock in some places yet stay the right side of ridicules at all times. It’s a mix of post rock with some math sensibilities.

The Last Night of The Proms comes on like a Metallica song with a tighter shifting rhythm section. It has chugging and duelling guitars. The vocals as always are really sweet and sweep over the soundscapes. It all breaks down into an epic spazed out guitar rhythm that builds back into the metal riffing. This album has many complex twist and terns.

Cannulae is possibly my favourite on the album it comes in with a sweet acoustic hook and lyrics and an irresistible percussion section that punches in at you like an old house record, that goes from 4x4 time to more complex and shifting rhythems and back again, into a full on house beat. Beautiful strings and horns also accompany this, it’s a beauty to behold. The whispered chant of ‘rattle snakes, snakes snakes’, that it finishes with really burrow into your brain too.

If You’d Seen A Battlefeild is another favourite of mine there are some beautiful tappy guitars. The lyrics really stand out in this song they really work well with the guitar and horns. The drums as always are very tight and really bring this record to life. This song burst into noise and then kicks of on a chugging grove with horns and guitar playing off each other to tremendous effect. Then back into the main lyrical hook again. This shifts into some funky guitar work and a nice bit of bass work in another section of the song, there are so many bits to each song that each one takes you on a journey.

Shh! You’ll Wake It again starts with a bright horn hook and intertwined guitars, its really energetic and joyful. Then comes the sweet melodies of the vocals and strings sweeping through which lock to the drums and propel forward. This all spaces itself out into group sung vocals.

Something For The Ghosts is another sweet sounding one with beautiful melodies, skitting drums and vocals all over it. This breaks into some rhythmic bass and spaced out guitars that marches along almost to prog rock territory. This stays away from that mind by having spaced out noise guitar solos and tappy rhythmic clean guitar lines. It is however, extremely epic. It’s a good album track, not my one of my favourites though.

Archive It Everywhere I really like the use of the word ‘Alveoli’ in this song it’s sung beautifully it’s achingly beautiful; the guitars work really well with the bass here. The mid section of this song brings out the epic sweeping melodies again and not the heavy guitars.

Surtsey is the final track and comes on like a jolting rubix cube, with jittering guitars and drums. Then drives off, taking you with it, with a joyful energy. The sweet vocals skip through and heavy guitars come and go as they switch with beautiful melody strewn pieces.

We don’t stand still often with Youthmovies, its all part of the joy of them. This album is a real grower and has so much to explore and much of it burrows deep in your brain. Its sweetness is beautifully offset with complexity and heavy sections that play off each other and dance together. Then it suddenly ends with a jalt. This is one of my albums of the year so far.

KeToLoCo: Wish I could go

I have lots of love for these guys Danny Raper has excelent taste in music, plus Pauly P may play to and he is my step bro. http://www.ketoloco.com/ for more details.

Tubelord @ The Basment Bar, City Screen, York. 24th March 2008

This was a much quiter gig than I expected, the room was only half full. Tubelord wher by far the stand out band on the bill. They said it was one of their most laid back gigs but that didn't detract from their music at all. They have mellody and riffs coming out of their ears and a really infectious energy. They have a clean and tappy guitar sound that has a real edge to it. the rythem section is also tight as hell. It all makes you want to move. I look forward to more from these guys.