We may well all be well into the Christmas mood, as we all try to get home by shovelling snow, but I can think of no better way to start off the winter shenanigans than with a party/showcase from Young & Lost Club and Hit Club . Counter Culture was the venue, and you could be nothing if not impressed by the quality of talent playing that night (all photos by Anna Bo ). When I strode in (relatively early for once), the folkish delights of Hot Feet were playing in the [...]
We are good humored people. Never have we minded being the object of the Coen Brothers' playful derision. We don't even care that New York and Los Angeles have a hard time placing us on the map. Nor do the country bumpkin Midwestern jokes get too far under our skin. In fact, the people of Minneapolis, MN are well versed in the ways of the breezy, the ebullient, and the lighthearted. We love a good bit of sarcasm and a health dose of irony. When my favorite local band Halloween, Alaska ( MySpace ) included [...]
Sports ( MySpace ) are a local band hoping to make it big, having opened for such blog favorites as Stars and Ra Ra Riot. The five-piece’s music draws easy comparisons to Elvis Costello & The Attractions. They mesh jumpy pre-punk with harmony and keyboards into an agile, sweaty set. The songs aren’t flowery or drawn out; the longest track on their self-titled debut clocks in at three-and-a-half minutes. Not that they need to be: the band writes great pop songs, and they allow them to speak on their own without dressing them up in extended [...]
Sports ( MySpace ) are a local band hoping to make it big, having opened for such blog favorites as Stars and Ra Ra Riot. The five-piece’s music draws easy comparisons to Elvis Costello & The Attractions. They mesh jumpy pre-punk with harmony and keyboards into an agile, sweaty set. The songs aren’t flowery or drawn out; the longest track on their self-titled debut clocks in at three-and-a-half minutes. Not that they need to be: the band writes great pop songs, and they allow them to speak on their own without dressing them up in extended [...]
Just because it's coming up to Christmas doesn't mean that we don't have room for some pulsating electronic jams. Lucky then, because our friends over at Kitsuné have decided to give away this hypnoticDecember delight from French electronic whizzkids LOGO and it sure as hell has nothing to do with Santa. [BUY] LOGO - La Vie Moderne from Kitsuné .
Being natives of Oxford we are lucky in having a still vibrant local music scene thanks in no small part to the success of heavyweights like Radiohead and Supergrass and new indie superstars Foals, as well as genre influencers like Ride and Swervedriver. So there are a few bands on the brink of making the step-up to being genuine ‘big-name’ contenders. Trophy Wife are newly signed to Moshi Moshi, Stornoway released one of the singles of the summer in I Saw You Blink, and the Jonquil bandwagon seems to keep gathering momentum. However, we’re hoping [...]
Being natives of Oxford we are lucky in having a still vibrant local music scene thanks in no small part to the success of heavyweights like Radiohead and Supergrass and new indie superstars Foals, as well as genre influencers like Ride and Swervedriver. So there are a few bands on the brink of making the step-up to being genuine ‘big-name’ contenders. Trophy Wife are newly signed to Moshi Moshi, Stornoway released one of the singles of the summer in I Saw You Blink, and the Jonquil bandwagon seems to keep gathering momentum. However, we’re hoping [...]
Rough Trade Records' Warpaint have just announced a return to UK/Irish shores in the form of a May 2011 tour. If you haven't heard the sound of this stunning quartet yet, jump on the bandwagon and download an MP3 below. The LA four-piece, consisiting of Emily Kokal (vocals/guitar), Theresa Wayman (guitar/vocals), Jenny Lee Lindberg (bass/vocals) and Stella Mozgawa (drums), have recently toured the US coast to coast alongside Mercury Prize winners The XX. The announcement of these 2011 UK and Ireland dates come hot on the heels of their recent sold-out headline shows in the UK, [...]
Maybe it's the sharp contrast to the sub-zero temperatures which I found myself in a mere seven months ago, or maybe it's the generally relaxed feeling that resonates throughout the city, but whatever it is Nashville seems to be giving me what I've been looking for. Coincidentally, it appears that I'm not the only one who has taken a liking to the city as a few major outlets have recently profiled its burgeoning underground music scene. In her profile of the city and its artists, Nylon Magazine's Rebecca Davis explained, "From honky tonks on Broadway to the house parties hidden [...]
Promised Land may not be a new track, with the original crooned by Joe Smith in 1989, but it's Findlay Brown 's version that has found its way into my heart after I picked up the Pilooski edi t last summer. It's now getting a proper release though the fine folk at Record Makers. And it's on 103 gold vinyl. Fuck yeah. On remix duties we've got the previously mentioned Pilooski , along with Hypnolove , Acid Washed and Mellow . The video is a hazy summery piece of beauty from [...]
I've been in love with Pallers' slow and sweeping electronic goodness since I first got my ears on their Humdrum EP (we also later featured The Kiss on the Immersed in Wires mixtape ), and thanks to our friends at Labrador we've got another little gem from the band for these cold night in the form of Arctic Hymn. One and a half minutes of glistening cosmic beauty. Pallers are currently in the studio working on their debut full length. Pallers on MySpace | Twitter | Labrador [...]
Although not all of us want to admit, we love Christmas songs. The problem has always been the cheesy pop nonsense that is usually regurgitated into the charts around December the 10th or X Factors totally unrelated song which attempts to sweep away the Christmas top spot. Hope has always lied in the lesser heard alternative artists that produce a Christmas track just for fun of it. American Store Target has got together with some of the newest and innovative artists across America to produce a free alternative Christmas compilation, complete with sleigh bells, Santa and snow. Guster, [...]
Although not all of us want to admit, we love Christmas songs. The problem has always been the cheesy pop nonsense that is usually regurgitated into the charts around December the 10th or X Factors totally unrelated song which attempts to sweep away the Christmas top spot. Hope has always lied in the lesser heard alternative artists that produce a Christmas track just for fun of it. American Store Target has got together with some of the newest and innovative artists across America to produce a free alternative Christmas compilation, complete with sleigh bells, Santa and snow. Guster, [...]
I seem to have missed Gowns when they released the drone-folker Red State in 2007, or were on Upset The Rhythm last year, but as they have gone the way of the dodo, Erika Anderson has started a new project by the name of EMA and brought it right into 2010 with some feedback, some heavy reverb and some just wonderfully beautiful songs. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints LP should be out sometime in spring 2011 on Souterrain Transmissions (Europe). EMA - The Grey Ship [...]
We may be the in bleak mid winter here in the UK, with more snow than you can shake a stick at, but that hasn't stopped TBW favourites Noah and the Whale ( MySpace ) from setting free their latest release Wild Thing . Sonically it follows the sound of The First Days of Spring, and is beautiful and uplifting. A perfect way to relax into a snowed in weekend. Listen to Wild Things in the rather fancy tape player below, or download for free. Noah and the Whale - Wild Thing [...]
Wednesday 23rd November saw Leeds based indie pop champions Blood Oranges launch their debut single ‘The French word for Love’. Formed at Leeds University in 2009 and quickly creating a name for themselves around the country, with a great selection of other northern indie bands they filled the bar at The Nation of Shopkeepers for a night of indie pop frivolity. There is always a great atmosphere and a feeling of exclusiveness when seeing a gig at Nation and this was to be no exception. New kids on the block Post War Glamour Girls were the first on [...]
As if you need a reason to get yourself down to Counter Culture again, the lovely girls at Young & Lost and combining musical forces with Hit Club and are taking it over for their Christmas Party on Wednesday 8th December and it sounds like it will be one hell of an evening with a whole host of live acts and DJs spinning the night away. Live in the two rooms they've got Get People , ExLovers , Fixers , The Van Doos , Entrepreneurs , The [...]
As if you need a reason to get yourself down to Counter Culture again, the lovely girls at Young & Lost and combining musical forces with Hit Club and are taking it over for their Christmas Party on Wednesday 8th December and it sounds like it will be one hell of an evening with a whole host of live acts and DJs spinning the night away. Live in the two rooms they've got Get People , ExLovers , Fixers , The Van Doos , Entrepreneurs , The [...]
This may have been first released all the way back when I was 16 and still grasping and groping in the dark at life, but fuck me does it not sound just as sweet now as it ever did. And lucky, then, that those purveyors of all things electro-beauty, Kitsuné , are re-issuing Black Strobe 's Me & Madonna, still reigning supreme as one of the best darker disco jams. They haven't scrimped on the remix duties either, with offerings from Grad Crue, The Twelves, Tape To Tape, and Jolie Cherie. All twisting and bending the [...]
Leeds, one of the most exciting and creative cities in the UK, was graced by the fresh and new Constellations Festival last weekend that brought with it the latest in new alternative music and arts. The festival filled three stages across the Leeds University Union including: the intimate underground Mine, the union’s main club and gig venue Stylus and the legendary Refectory, home of many famous past gigs, particularly the recording of ‘The Who Live at Leeds’. A great diversity of acts played, with the headliners of Four Tet, Broken Social Scene and Sleigh Bells, as well as a fair [...]
The Blue Walrus
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Stone Temple Pilots - Out Of Time (Free Download)
