This began as a quick plug for the appearance of The Melting Ice Cap's at Specks In The Sky on Sunday the 11th November (£4 entry featuring The Ice Caps, Owen Duff (Joni Mitchell via Nick Drake? Maybe) & Zoe Konez (6Music love her). Full details on their Facebook page. But then The Ice Caps distracted me by releasing a cover of that most covered of songs " My Way " as a little apéritif to both their album " Permissible Permutations " [...]
The lovely people at the station the BBC wanted to kill but the public wouldn't let them, 6music, asked a select few (hundred) music bloggers their favourite three artists as we reach 20122s half way point. On Sunday the 24th of June (6-8pm) they'll join forces with blogging zeitgeist'ers The Hype Machine and declare Purity Ring the winner unveil the top 25 artists of the year so far (according to pale white guys who spend far too long on their computers). It's always very nice to be asked to participate in these kind of things, but [...]
Last year's Oxjam Walthamstow gig ((dis)organised by this very blog) was fortunate enough to have a stonkingly good line-up. Now, by chance, B.Dolan, The Melting Ice Caps, Akira The Don, and Barbarossa all have new music ready and waiting at pretty much the same time. B.DOLAN I was going to say " House of Bees Vol.2 " started life as a mixtape, but it still is a mixtape, just one that was a year in the making and more than stands up against any "official" release. The NWA [...]
Out of the hundreds of gigs I've been to over the years I can't think of an occasion where I've given the promoter or organiser of the night much thought, beyond perhaps.. which idiot chose this support band or an exasperated, the running order says stage time 9...Its 9.20! After "organising" (in the loosest sense of the word) Oxjam Walthamstow I'll forever have a respect for the hidden promoter and their secret language of backlines, di's, breakables & get-ins. In the months between committing to put an Oxfam gig and the night itself I've gone from angst to [...]
On Wednesday October the 19th 2011 Music Like Dirt is organising a charity concert as part of Oxfam's month long " Oxjam Festival ". All proceeds from the night will go to help Oxfam's work and some of my favourite bands and musicians have kindly agreed to play. There are styles to suit all tastes, from indie to pop, to hip-hop to electronic soul...So great music, great cause... its a win win! Ahead of his 11 night run at Camden's Roundhouse , the highly acclaimed PolarBear will be bringing his beguiling mix of spoken word [...]
On Wednesday October the 19th Music Like Dirt will be joining forces with Oxfam for a charity gig featuring some of my favourite music of recent years. Its all part of the Oxjam festival which sees hundreds of gigs across the country to raise money for Oxfam's work. Check Oxjam's website to find a gig near you, or even better buy a ticket for my night from We Got Tickets for the very reasonable price of £6. I am both honoured and excited by the artists who've agreed to play but [...]
Here are the videos that caught the eye of the Devil this week... PRDCTV Metropolis Metropolis by PRDCTV from Plastic Horse on Vimeo . Mike Marlin Play That Game Alpines Drive The [...]
H Bird From: London, United Kingdom Alt-pop trio H Bird are fluffier than a lamb after a trip to a car wash! Their quirky modern pop is shot through with enough sing along melodies to satiate the most jaded of indie-pop palates. With an ex member of Devil favourites (and much missed) 18 Carat Love Affair ( Time To Return To The Gold Standard ), and collaborations with David Shah of Luxembourg and The Melting [...]
So after months (I mean weeks) in the planning, editing and rerecording, I'm finally unleashing the first ever www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk podcast on the general public. Well I say first but Owain has been releasing his ace Quackspout podcasts for a good while and they are in truth the inspiration behind mine. I've still got teething problems with the voice recording ie my mic, so if it sounds alternately like I'm down a well on a speaker phone, or speaking through a cup held together by two bits of string, I apologise! You can click the link below to [...]
I realize that I post a lot of news and finds on my twitter @eardrums that never gets published on the blog. I'll try to post some of it here and also some of the stuff I get in my mailbox that I never manage to do something about. I'm hopeless with continuity, but I will at least try to do this weekly. Let's start with some "VERY SHORTIES" and below this, you will find a lot of free goodies: [...]
Over the last year or two Ive cut back on gig going, not because I enjoy live music any less, there's just been other things I wanted to do more. For special bands though I'll always try and make an effort. So at the tail end of an 80 hour week of night shifts I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled bleary eyed across London to spend an hour in the company of the idiosyncratic David Shah aka The Melting Ice Caps. As it turned out it was more like 20 minutes than an hour. [...]
I found all the best tracks this week at the last minute before posting. Sometimes it just happens that way: Brazilian duo Sabo & Zeb's 'Sangueboom' is a favela-funk-fusion of frenetic Drums and sweet Latin vocals from Andrea Monteiro. The Organ solo halfway through is on fire. Stacy Epps reminds me of a female Lupe Fiasco with rhymes that hit just as hard. The production on 'Cold Times' is a subtle mix of Jazz, Funk and Dancehall flavours. [...]
Ryan (StopMe): After a months break I feel refreshed and ready to bring you another TEN4SE7EN. By the way, if you're a Simon & Garfunkel fan, HMV are currently selling a boxed set featuring their entire recorded output (That's 71 tracks across 5 albums) in Deluxe-Vinyl-Replicas plus a live DVD for just £8!!! Truly music has no value anymore, I'm trying not to think too hard (It makes my head hurt) about whether I'm contributing to that situation or helping to promote artists. As usual you'll find links at the bottom to buy music from this [...]
This is a band I really don’t know much about, other than that they come from London and that they sound very nice. All their singles are given away for free on their website at http://www.themeltingicecaps.c o.uk/ and they are all worth a listen or two. The Melting Ice Caps have just released their 4th free single, and they have also made a video for one of the songs. Here it is, – enjoy! The Melting Ice Caps – Misa En Scene [...]
I've mentioned London artist, David Shah, a few times before on this blog; first, in my post on his enchanting project The Melting Ice Caps, and second, in my post of singles, which featured the split single for both The Melting Ice Caps and Shah's other project The Soft Close-Ups. Additionally, I featured The Melting Ice Caps' Selfish Bachelor in my Breakthru Radio setlist. Shah also happened to be in one of my favourite, but all too brief, bands, Luxembourg. A few weeks ago, I received a six-track disc of Soft Close-Ups songs from Shah and [...]
I realize that I've generally been in the habit of reviewing full albums (or at the very least a substantial amount of tracks from an artist) rather than just singles. There's a good reason for that: I don't like writing really short posts if I don't have to. Not to mention it's sometimes difficult to judge an artist by one or two songs. However, lately, I've come to the conclusion that some singles deserve a proper public airing, especially as they fill my inbox with aural euphoria, so I'm going to start a semi-regular series that showcases these singles independent [...]
Ryan (StopMe): I can highly recommend two new charity albums from Warchild and 4AD . They're packed with essential covers and exclusive recordings but posting mp3s of two charity records would be like stealing from a collection tin, so click here and here to buy them. Luckily this week has overflowed with many other excellent songs and here's the best ten: Alif Tree's 'Way Down South' is an atmospheric Blues cut featuring the rumbling vocal-chords of Tony Joe White . Maybe [...]
Luxembourg was an English indie band that lasted from 2001 to early this year, and I wish I had been aware of them before their split. They had the melodrama and vocal warble of Roxy Music paired with witty lyrics worthy of Jarvis Cocker, but after only officially releasing one album and before the second album was completely finished, they disbanded. However, lead singer David Shah went on to create a solo project called The Melting Ice Caps, an equally offbeat, but achingly genuine affair with an operatic, literate flair akin to The Divine Comedy. Thus far, The Melting Ice [...]
Λονδίνο, 2008. Πολύ λίγοι οι φίλοι των The Soft Close Ups στο Myspace, πολύ λίγες και οι πληροφορίες γι'αυτούς. Καμία κυκλοφορία, κανένα label. Μόνο δυο φίλοι, ο David και ο Aug , και μερικά μελαγχολικά electropop τραγούδια.. Κι όμως.. αυτή η φωνή παραείναι γνώριμη.. Μια μικρή αναζήτηση και ιδού η λύση του μυστηρίου. Ο David Shah είναι, ή μάλλον ήταν, ο τραγουδιστής των αγαπημένων και παραγνωρισμένων Luxembour g , τους είχαμε παρουσιάσει κι αυτούς στις αρχές [...]
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