If you've visited the site recently you may have heard us - specifically our newest contributor Max - raving about Anchorsong. Max saw Anchorsong supporting Belleruche last month and was blow away. Some people apparently describe the show "like watching a painter drawing on a white canvas"; Max said he's pretty sure the guy uses some kind of black magic to make his live show work. Whatever it is, you've got the chance to see him touring his awesome debut Chapters , starting in London's Cargo on March 22nd . [...]
Okay, it's a little more specific than the title suggests, but not by much. Producer/band member Johnny Jewel has done an interview with Self-Titled Magazine , which suggests that we can expect the long, long awaited album at the end of this month. As a teaser, they've released their fourth single from the upcoming LP, Kill For Love , called 'Candy'. That's the video you can see above. While we've all been waiting for the album to meet Mr Jewel's exacting standards, the [...]
It's pretty back-to-front, playing live an album that was created from samples. But somehow Introducing did it - and they did it well - with one of the defining albums of the 19902s. DJ Shadow's Endtroducing was a true labour of love, crafted from hand picked samples that he created, one by one. Nowadays it doesn't sound that impressive, but when you think of the technology we've got that Shadow didn't, it becomes a much, much bigger achievement. Enough about DJ Shadow though. Introducing, the live 10-piece band, have turned their sights [...]
This the band Escort, originally a production duo that has grown into a seventeen piece live band, who make some awesome 'nu-disco'. Except it's all done live, by such a large group that their tour bus is probably a double-decker bendy bus. And I can imagine that booking them isn't all that easy, as it means finding a backstage area enough to hold them all as well as putting them all on stage at the same time. However, if we stop concentrating on the minutiae, you'll see/hear that they are really bloody good. I stumbled across them on [...]
I f*cking love Rye Rye. She is awesome... a mix of dirty rap, sex, feminity, B-more and she's got a sense of humour about everything she does. On top of this her songs are always awesome. The list of people she's worked with reads pretty well too, with MIA, Diplo and Sinden among some of the big names. She recently (this week) played one of Noisey's Special Engagements in Seattle which was livestreamed across the internet. In case you weren't lucky enough to catch it, they kind people at Noisey have put up a video from the gig, [...]
The man who's the brains behind Sheffield/London based Secret Diaries was recently asked to make a mix for Stock-71 , the French music website. Unfortunately he's not all that good at following instructions... Luckily this means he made two mixes, instead of the one they asked for. He's split them into 'Day' and 'Night', with the songs he's selected fitting the moods appropriately. The first mix is a melange of experimental dubstep, two-step and upbeat melancholia. It never crosses the line into inaccessible, remaining engaging [...]
I've been sitting on this for a week now, enjoying it all to myself. And I really have been enjoying it. Quantic is a name that ought to be used as an adjective: "That track is so Quantic", "I just had the most Quantic meal" and "I met this girl last night and we totally bumped Quantics". Okay, so that last one wasn't an adjective, but who cares. My point is he's been consistently great for over a decade now and reassuringly this new album seems like it's going to stand up next to his previous ones (of which there [...]
It's two slices of Groove Armarda for you today, although they're both remixes. The first is by my favourite camp disco producers The Twelves. This is a more sedate slice from them, but it's got all the ingredients that make a fantastic Twelves production. It's still funky, dance-worthy but if it's on a little quieter then this would go down a treat for a chill. Groove Armarda - Drop The Tough (The Twelves Remix) [...]
We get loads of music to listen to every week (which we like) and a good chunk of it is really good (which we really like). Unfortunately it's impossible to put everything we like up, but we'll have a crack. Here are five songs from signed and unsigned acts that have ended up in the Safety, Fun & Learning inbox this week. First up we've got a song from Kaylee Johnston. This song is a lovely slice of acoustic pop [...]
Bands doing covers is a risky game. There's every chance - nay, likelihood - that they'll make something that either sounds too similar, too twee or just naff. Luckily here we have two bands who have done it right. First up is a cover of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' by Revere featuring Toumani Diabaté. The original song is melancholic enough, but these guys have turned into something almost haunting. The simple, acoustic instrumentation allows the vocals to really come to the fore in a way that they don't in the original. And the Cello, oh the Cello! [...]
So the time has come to announce another big album release for 2012. It's only been 18 months since Serotonin came out, but they've been to Austin, TX and recorded a whole bunch of new songs that they want to share. In the video above they're all on their best behaviour, describing how great it was to be out there and the likes. I don't doubt it for one minute and I'm a little jealous, if I'm being perfectly honest. Anyway, the release date is 30th April and leading up to that they've got a whole [...]
A couple of weeks ago I went to the Jazz Café for HMV’s next big thing, whilst the show was undoubtedly stolen by Belleruche (hardly surprising what with them being and the headlining act) a special mention needs to be made to Anchorsong. Anchorsong (aka Masaaki Yoshida) is a Japanese artist and producer who uses a sampler, a keyboard and some sort of black magic to create incredible electro music. It's rare enough to find this kind of music that I'll listen to let alone really like, but this really hits the spot. Ghost Town and Plum [...]
- So basically I was on youtube earlier and "re-found" this video, it was posted about a year and a half ago and is pushing 18million views. Most of what makes this video is the seemingly impossible stunts being effortlessly performed by Danny Macaskill, but after I'd got past the awe and jealousy I realised that the music not only fits the video incredibly (a lot of that has to do with good editing I'm sure) but is also really good. The first song Wax and Wire [ [...]
It's funny how things work out. I went and saw Big Deal play in London back in November and made some notes so that I could do a quick write-up. That never happened, but I've still got them tucked away somewhere. Anyway, when I got an email telling me Toy had done a video on Noisey.com I figured they were worth looking at again. Especially now that I've heard they're being tipped for big things this year. My main memory is the song 'Left Myself Behind' and their [...]
Considering I only ever planned to have this feature go for maybe a month or two, it's surprising that we've now been running it - infrequently, I should point out - for over a year now. Hopefully there have been enough good songs in here to make it worth coming back to. And hopefully today's two choices will work for you too. It's a Sunday, so we all deserve to chill. First up it's a remix of Gang Colours' 'Fancy Restaurant', taken from his forthcoming EP of the same name. Spacy and laid back, it's bassy enough to [...]
The rather superb SoKo is back. After her song 'I'll Kill Her' went big on the internet, she seemed to disappear for a while. Apparently it was due in part to her wanting to focus on her acting and in part because she got fed up with only being known for that one song. Well, luckily, she decided that the best way to throw off the shackles of one-hit-wonderdom was to make a new album. It's streaming on Stereogum for next few days, so head over and check it out. [...]
Photo by James Buckle // @BuckleTweets Today I've got something from a guy you almost certainly haven't heard of. He's a 17/18 year old guy from South London and he goes by the name of Spara-Drap. I remember him as this little kid who used to get the same train as me and we'd rip on but since then he's clearly become pretty cool. It's laid back, glitchy electronic music with garage influences and he uses some pretty cool vocal samples that pop their heads over the ramparts every now and then. [...]
This song has been on the internet for three days and it's had coming on 40,000 hits. It's no Rebecca Black, but pretty impressive nonetheless. The Kills have covered The Velvet Underground's classic 'Pale Blue Eyes'. It's harsher, lacking the just-woke-up vibe that a lot of The Velvet Underground's slower songs a slathered with, it's good. Alison Mosshart's vocals are predictably great, adding a little edginess where Lou Reed deal in a smooth, chocolate-coated delivery. Listen to the two below and compare them... The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes [...]
This is a band called Niteflights. I have to apologise at this point, because they sent me their stuff ages ago and I've only just really started listening to it. I saw it on my phone and was curious. Well, I'm happy about the way things ended up. This Kilburn-based band use guitars that sound lifted out of a Bowie or Orange Juice record, with some 8 bit programming over the top. Vocally the lead singer sounds a bit like Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - it's got that slight fragility which makes it quite accessible. They [...]
I hope you've heard about Willy Moon. If you haven't then here's your chance. If you have then you know what they're missing. Taking the best bits of the 502s - namely the guitars, the frantic energy and the look - Willy Moon is effortlessly cool. His songs are class, blending the vintage vibe with breaks and hip-hop beats and some electronic production to top it off. It's energetic, enigmatic and quirky enough to stand out from the crowd. His debut album is due out on Island a little later this [...]
Safety, Fun & Learning
![Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Bárbaro - Look Around The Corner [live]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/p4yJp4CLRL4_130.jpg)
![Anchorsong - Ghost Touch [live]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/K0CwUprXUIU_130.jpg)
MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
Listen to producer Jacques Greene’s “On Your Side,” featuring How To Dress Well
Daft Punk – “Doin’ It Right” ft. Panda Bear
