Wild Nothing 's Nowhere single from last year was an obvious tribute to the Go-Betweens . Australia's Dick Diver have done one better. An entire album that could be construed as a tribute to that great band. The Melbourne quartet is the primary band of Rupert Edwards and Al McKay. They get help from the moonlighting Steph Hughs ( Boomgates ) and Al Montfort ( Lower Plenty, The UV Race, Total Control and Straightjacket Nation ). All four members contribute songs to the record which provides some variety, but for the [...]
The Joy Formidable have recently released their second album Wolf's Law . With loud guitars, driven basslines, lively drums, lovely vocals, and hook-laden choruses, The Joy Formidable have absolutely killed it with this album. AMBY wanted to learn more about Wolf's Law, so the band graciously answered a few questions for us. So have a gander at our interview where The Joy Formidable talk about the album, bus parties, Princess Leia, and more! AMBY: How would you explain your music to others who haven't had the opportunity of hearing you? [...]
El mítico grupo The Bats regresa con un nuevo álbum, Free All The Monsters, así como una reedición especial de su trabajo anterior, en el que se incluyen un total de 3 Eps, 7 álbumes y un par de recopliaciones. Formados en el año 1982 en Christchurch (Nueva Zelanda), por Robert Scott, Paul Kean, Kaye Woodward y Malcolm Grant, son toda una referencia indispensable para entender lo que ha sido el indie-pop desde mediados de los años ochenta, con un sonido que nos recuerda la época dorada del género, que la disfrutéis. [...]
It seemed wrong to do anything outsi de a tribute to the late Jason Molina. Since learning of his passing the other weekend, Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. have been dominating my playlists; in particular the former. Given this fact, I focused on the sub-genres Molina often found himself in - folk, folk-rock, and alt-country. Artists like Bill Callahan, Norfolk & Western, Brown Bird and Hayden all made the cut. Check out the play list below. "Simpletons" by The Bats off Free All the Monsters [...]
I remember precisely when I discovered The Bats . It was 2005 and I was at KZUU; At The National Grid had recently been released. Like many, it was the first I'd heard from the legendary New Zealand band - it was their first record in ten years. As far as indie pop bands go, The Bats are second to none. Their history goes back to 1981/1982. Legendary indeed. In 2013 they return with their eighth studio album, Free All the Monsters , as [...]
The Bats will be returning to America in support of their latest album, Free All The Monsters . The Bats’ original New Zealand label, Flying Nun, along with Captured Tracks from USA, will be re-releasing much of The Bats' back catalogue. Take in the below video for "Simpletons". http://www.thebats.co.nz/ http://www.flyingnun.co.nz/
Bats in the belfry... The Cyprus Avenue bell tower to be precise and this post places me in the midst of a sexually ambiguous quandary. Having received an "official" mail from the nocturnal post-pink ninjas offering manual relief in return for a mention of their March 21st show on Caroline Street, my best bet is to keep to the shadows during their guaranteed frenetically incendiary set. On second thought, Bats are quite fond of the dark so that's a heck of a flaw in plan a. As regards [...]
On The Circus’ sophomore effort Bats , the New Delhi trio find a comfortable middle ground between guitar and laptop music. The one word I associate with The Circus is ‘open-minded.’ Intentions not considered, the record is a big fuck you to ‘rockism.’ Nine out of ten people don’t believe ‘rockism’ is a word but they’re wrong. There’s not just an Urban Dictionary entry but also a Wikipedia page legitimizing the word. A ‘rockist’ is someone in opposition to anything that works in opposition to the ways of rock music; someone who thinks [...]
by Bill Pearis Close Lobsters / The School We already knew that The Monochrome Set would be performing at this year's NYC Popfest (May 30 - June 2) but now the rest of the line-up has been announced and it's pretty great with appearances from New Zealand Flying Nun legends The Bats , two bands who featured on NME's legendary C-86 cassette (Scotland's Close Lobsters [!] [...]
Il Sogno del Marinaio | Whelan's (Upstairs), Dublin (8pm, 4th March) | €5-6 Some dark, gravel-voiced rock featuring Mike Watt for your Monday night. Lianne La Havas | Olympia, Dublin (7:30pm, 5th March) | €21 The wonderfully talented - and not to mention, delectable - Ms La Havas asks the Olympia Is Your Love Big Enough? Mama Rosin | Grand Social, Dublin (8pm, 5th March) | €8 Swiss, banjo-led [...]
From Bats For Lashes' The Haunted Man , her new music video for "Lilies" directed by Peter Sluszka ... Read the full article at http://www.prefixmag.com/news/ watch-bats-for-lashes-lilies-v ideo/72971/
15-year old Leeds techno producer, Happa , mixes in for Mix Mag's Mix of the Week. This kid is talent. Intricate bass kicked rhythms on a techno industrial train headed to a dingy gutted warehouse. He knows exactly whats up... Daphni ignites the cosmic disco dancefloor in the Boiler Room . Nothing but good vibes on his get-down and groovy set. Get connected... Portland experimentalist, BAT (Best Avaible Technology) contributes his mix for the Opal Tapes mix [...]
Dublin based BATS have been around since their 2009 debut Red In Tooth And Claw established them as one of the most impressive new acts of the time; three years later and they have been labelled under more genres than one could expect, but predominantly a post-punk, progressive/metal band. The first band signed to The Richter Collective it seems fitting that their latest record be the last release on the soon to be defunct label, closing an era. The Sleep Of Reason opens with a rhythm more reminiscent of a [...]
Well, I would never have foreseen the Bats having three songs up here on the 'blague. But then, serendipity has always been a big part of the project. This is a driving, feedbacky one from the excellent benefit album for Chris Knox, released in the wake of his tragic stroke. As much as I never believe it when songs tell me "it's alright," I kinda gotta go with them here. The Bats - Just Do It
Set to be the final album from Richter Collective , Bats ' The Sleep Of Reason is to be released on October 20th. Produced by These Arms Are Snakes' Chris Common, if the teaser trailer below is anything to go by it should be as noisy and abrasive a record as we might expect. Tracklisting: 1. Emergent Properties 2. Wolfwrangler 3. Stem Cells 4. Astronomy, Astrology 5. The Sleep of Reason Brings Forth Monsters 6. Heat Death 7. Creatures Collecting 8. Thomas Midgley Jr. [...]
With Oxegen off the festival schedule for at least one summer, there was a danger the Electric Picnic line-up would lose some of its more heavy and experimental acts in favour of the usual stadium fodder. Thankfully, that appears not to be the case, with Texan post rock juggernaut Explosions in the Sky leading a small but formidable band of left field rock acts. Here's the pick of the bunch: BATS ‘Uncompromising’ is an oft-abused word in the world of heavy rock, but it’s hard to argue with the description of Dublin [...]
The first time I listened to Half Right by Zebra Hunt I kept thinking that there was no way that the song could not be that good. It started out with guitar jangle reminiscent of the Verlaines, I thought OK this sounds cool, but kept expecting it to go downhill from there (at heart I'm a pessimist). Next the singer starts to sing "I'm only half right with you" sounding like he's related to both Graeme Downes and David Kilgour. At this point any lingering pessimism has flown out the window and I am now a super fan of [...]
The first time I listened to Half Right by Zebra Hunt I kept thinking that there was no way that the song could not be that good. It started out with guitar jangle reminiscent of the Verlaines, I thought OK this sounds cool, but kept expecting it to go downhill from there (at heart I'm a pessimist). Next the singer starts to sing "I'm only half right with you" sounding like he's related to both Graeme Downes and David Kilgour. At this point any lingering pessimism has flown out the window and I am now a super fan of [...]
Swiss sludge metal outfit Zatokrev has a new album on the way titled the Bat, the Wheel and a Long Road to Nowhere , which is slated for a release later this year on Candlelight Records. When it comes to the heavy, crushing sounds of sludge metal, Zatokrev definitely meets the mark on this new track "Goddamn Lights," but the band goes beyond the call with some pretty melodic guitars, a moody interlude, and a pretty climactic finish. There's a subtle black metal influence going on as well that's blended in nicely.
If your knowledge of New Zealand's music scene doesn't extend beyond Flying Nun Records and Flight of the Conchords, then rejoice — there's a shitload of excellent Kiwi music just waiting to be discovered! With the excellent new album by James Milne — aka Lawrence Arabia — out this week, we thought it'd be a fine time to survey some of the other great music coming out of the North and South Islands. (We're focusing on indie stuff here, so there's nothing from the world of New Zealand dub, which is probably a whole separate post in and [...]
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Hudson Mohawke collaborates with Kanye West on new single
Noteworthy (Stream): Kanye West – Black Skinhead (SNL Performance)
Watch Fred Armisen’s SNL farewell with Carrie Brownstein, Kim Gordon, J Mascis, Aimee Mann
