Artist: shapes

As a music writer, the first instinct is to compare a surfacing artist to a band with an already established sound. When listening to Bear Attack's EP Shine , I am faced with the difficulty of trying to find any kind of accurate comparison. The synths and drumbeat on opening track "Mother" are reminiscent of post- OK Computer Radiohead; "Exit Hymn," with the LA rain caught on tape and way it grows and swells to an expansive peak could be compared to Sigur Ros; and one can say the powerful, lonely love song "August" has its roots in the sounds of [...]

El trío londinense de pop experimental conocido como Micachu & The Shapes anunció que en julio lanzarán un nuevo álbum titulado Never . El tercer disco de Micachu & The Shapes , Never , será el sucesor de su última producción del 2009, Jewellery y aquel disco en vivo del año pasado Chopped & Screwed . Verá la luz vía Rough Trade el 23 de julio en el Reino Unido. Aún no tenemos adelantos de cómo [...]

Filed under: Beats , Yankee Panky Tagged: magazine , mariah carey , shape

New music from the up and coming rapper.

Genre: Tech House, Deep House, Groove. Deluxe Remixes Part Two released by Neurotraxx Deluxe, includes 10 tracks from artists like: Doomwork, Milton Jackson, Huxley, Danny Serrano, Moonbeam, Aki Bergen and more.

We know only one value, and that is more. Further, faster, heavier than last time. More value, more profit, inexorably gunning the engine to the limit. And so the engine burns out, and we are thrown into the rough. From whence a band like Islet emerge, fresh, experimental, unencumbered by baggage, willing to savour the slow growth and meld of the new – their sonic tendrils wrapping, enveloping us in an otherworldly glow, widening our narrowed arteries with enriched blood. Their album Illuminated People sounds out the grimy birth of post-rock's pups, and seems to sum up, for [...]

Here's Clive Rozario with his thoughts on 2011 and his tips for the forthcoming year. "Do you know what I told myself on New Year's Day, 2011? I promised that after burning myself out in 2010 attending endless gigs, squandering (the majority of my) funds on an unnecessary eight festivals, clogging up my accommodation with Cd's that were only used once (to upload to my iPod), and destroying my Mac with an addiction to downloading new music, that I would [...]

1. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints // Reviewed 4th July by Moker "Past Life Martyed Saints is an organic beast, seemingly fluid, changing with each listen. Anderson has gone headfirst into these songs and the results are so honest, so desperate, so vulnerable that by the time the superbly somber and well placed ' Red Star ' unfolds as the closing track, you'll feel dazed; plunged into Anderson's crazy world and gently escorted out the other side once [...]

H. Hawkline - The Strange Uses Of Ox Gall By Tom Bolton The Strange Uses of Ox Gall opens with a call to "cut the ballast loose", but you might want to think twice before joining in. Things soon get alarming: "Cut your arms off! Cut your toes off!" chants a ragged chorus, backed by a toy organ riff. When the first full length track, 'Funny Bones', kicks in it is tunefully pastoral but also strangely obsessed with body parts. This unsettling, distorted, acid-soaked perspective washes over [...]

Mirror Lady - Shapes (Spiderwoman) The fun part about bed room music projects is the sincerity of them. They don't have to worry about proving to some studio engineer they're supposed to be there. But it allows them to be free and show a depth and sincerity of feeling in all of the ingredients involved. This now Boston, MA native by way of Silver Lake, CA has captured the sound of a dark thick forest in the middle of a July evening in the Pacific Northwest. Everything is swaying with the summer breeze shifting the aural [...]

Last year we pitted label mates Johnny Foreigner and Stagecoach against each other in a battle of all things MANLY to celebrate the release of their split single. We liked the feature so much that we thought we would do the same thing again, only this time - with the two bands having just finished a joint tour - we decided the two challengers would be the mighty Shapes taking on the just-as-powerful &U&I . Let battle commence! Q1. Have you ever been convinced you were going to die? [...]

Planet SHHH & UMFM Present: PULL SHAPES A new Wednesday-night weekly at Greenroom (Winnipeg) 108 Osborne St. / 2nd floor DJs / Live bands / Fun-times With resident DJ Beauchamp (aka Mike B.) & guests Launching November 23 w/ guests DEPARTURES ROB VILAR [...]

Whoah…just got word that "Light Cuts Shapes Sharp" is the first track ever released from the Finnish folk in Indian Trails . Sounds like a dance-y, more upbeat Frightened Rabbit . We can't find any other info on them, so while we hunt them down, enjoy the track in the meantime. To say that these guys offer promise would be an understatement.

Mirror City : Shapes (Spiderwoman) Documenting dangers in the female of the species ("In nothin' but your t-shirt/ She holds you to the wall / And wraps her web 'till you can't move at all"), Mirror City's sweet, percussive-based blast of relationship advice is like a breath of fresh air. There's nothing false or cynical about this style of guitar pop - you try and pick holes but all you're left with is the original. Think Vampire Weekend without the divisive sound. Pomegranates with more of an ability to get to the point. Short-lived, [...]

It's been a long time coming, by Islet have finally confirmed the release of their debut album. Called Illuminated People , it'll come out through their own Shape Records and Turnstile on January 23rd. Luckily for us, the Cardiff four-piece are also giving away a track taken from it. 'This Fortune' is synth heavy and whirring noise - rallying between moments of loud panic and considered calm, much like their excellently loud and energetic live shows, backed by the 'tribal' that we've become familiar with. Needless to say it's good, and the full-length is likely to be [...]

• Islet - This Fortune

As a label, "folk music" doesn't do much for an artist of any kind - especially when what they're making is essentially some form of folk music. But being such a bland and undescriptive tag, it doesn't say much more about the music than the fact that it'll probably have acoustic guitars in the same way something called "rock music" would be expected to have electric guitars. And then there's the problem of stereotyping too, which is so very easy for cynical music listeners of any kind to partake in when approached by something they can't quite put their finger [...]

Four Year Strong are exchanging a stream of their new album, In Some Way Shape or Form , for a 'Like' on Facebook . The record is set for release November 8, 2011 and is the first album since the departure of keyboard player Josh Lyford. Check it out here .

Alright, so last year Four Year Strong made the #2 spot on my best of 2010 so i'll be the first to admit expectations are a little high here. I'm actually dreading taking a full listen to the stream the guys have thrown up as none of the new songs have impressed me much. Regardless, you can check that out below and pick up the new album when it drops on November 8th. STREAM // IN SOME WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM

So in the past couple months I have been in contact with Cory, the head of Indie Buzz magazine about doing something that combines what each of our businesses do best, finding undiscovered independent artists that have the potential to become real special in the music industry. I was throwing artists his way and eventually [...]

• Stream » ap-e4eze1fnpm81.mp3

Shapes deliver a blissfully unmerciful brand of punk rock rife with hardened lyrics about life as they see it. "I'm OK" is sneering and gripping at the same time - you can't deny it's hook but some of you may not abide it's tone. Personally, I love it, so get off my lawn and such. Head to Shapes' bandcamp and check out some more of their music. Download "I'm OK" below. Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp MP3: Shapes - I'm OK

• Shapes - I’m OK