Drugstore have announced a new single, 'Aquamarine', to be released on Rocket Girl on April 2nd. There will also be some live shows .MAR fri 16th HEBDEN BRIDGE/Trades Club - http://www.wegottickets.com/ev ent/148681 . .APR fri 6th LONDON/The Lexington (single launch party) - http://www.wegottickets.com/ev ent/150675 .w/ special guests: VADOINMESSICO .APR fri 13th NORWICH/Arts Centre - http://norwichartscentre.co.uk /drugstore/ You can listen to Aquamarine here http://drugstore-aquamarine.bl ogspot.com/ Maps & Atlases release their second album Beware [...]
Hospitality - Friends of Friends from fire records on Vimeo . New York trio Hospitality have signed to Fire Records in the UK, and will release their debut album in April. To get a taste of their music, watch the video for 'Friends of Friends' above, or download the track . North Carolina band Bowerbirds have made another track from their forthcoming album 'The Clearing' available to download: Bowerbirds - In the Yard . Brooklyn duo Cultfever have also made the opener [...]
Iron and Wine have released a new video for 'Godless Brother in Love' from last year's Kiss Each Other Clean:
Following on from the remastered double CDs of classic Kinks albums that have been released recently, Sanctuary Records have put out the first seven albums (Kinks, Kinda Kinks, The Kink Kontroversy, Face to Face, Something Else, The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society, and Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) in a stunning boxset of individual digipaks in a "Dansette", accompanied by a 32-page booklet in the style of a classic pop annual. As a plus, disc 8 features 4 EPs, while discs 9 and 10 contain rarities. Having had a chance to [...]
Having had to be sensible and adhere to day job commitments, your humble scribe did not make the inaugural awards show but by all reports it was a fun and raucous affair, but there's plenty of atmosphere left to soak up as we arrive at XOYO for the live show. Gary Numan was awarded a 'Legend' gong and has been DJing upstairs and in the live room three of tonight's winners are gearing up to play. First up are winners of the best 'heavy' category and they certainly bring the noise. Don't be mislead by the name though, [...]
It's very cold out, and an eerie blanket of mist envelopes the Somers Town Church. It looks quite spooky and isolated as we approach, like the opening scene to Hammer Horror film. Fortunately inside is candle-lit and parochial and full of people in knitwear: the Vicar of Dibley for indie folksters. I arrive just in time to hear the end of Snorri Helgason's set. He is soft-voiced, and liltingly lyrical. When Ms Arnalds arrives for her set she thanks him profusely then dedicates a song to him "I hope his wife won't think this is inappropriate" she says [...]
![[Live Review] St. Vincent, The Fleece, Bristol November 11th 2011](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3860015_lg.jpg)
St Vincent at the Fleece. The Fleece is packed tonight, condensation running down the walls. It's fair to say St. Vincent, previously often described in relation to the Polyphonic Spree or Sufjan Stevens, is a star in her own right. On her third album, Strange Mercy , Annie Clark's aggressive, choppy guitar playing comes to the fore, with wig out a-plenty. Tonight, she's backed by two vocalists (one of them is support act Cate Le Bon), a drummer and keyboardist. She seems excited that the crowd are packed in and standing - the night before [...]
![[Live Review] Django Django, Thekla, Bristol November 3rd 2011](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3860016_lg.jpg)
Django Django London-based Scots Dave McLean and Vincent Neff's bedroom project has blossomed into one of KV's favourite live shows, and the chance to see them on a boat for free was too good to pass up. The band play rhythms like no other, part Arabic, part spaghetti western, part stabby guitar twang, embellished with retro synth sounds and what might well be Early Learning Centre percussion. They soon captivate the passing indie club night kids who I'm not sure were expecting to see a band playing by the bar door. Next year's debut album, preceded over the [...]
Image courtesy of Tom Bedwell It's a Thursday night and there is an autumnal chill in the air; so I head out, cardigan-clad into the Camden night to see Veronica Falls . The London via Glasgow four piece deliver a set of their spirit of C86 sound to a bustling room. The much-discussed nods to 80s and 90s indie like The Pastels and Vaselines are apparent in their jangling riffs and lyrical tales of coy love of which 'Come on Over' is a prime example. They're a tight unit, and the vocal interplay [...]
Image courtesy of Tom Bedwell It's a Thursday night and there is an autumnal chill in the air; so I head out, cardigan-clad into the Camden night to see Veronica Falls . The London via Glasgow four piece deliver a set of their spirit of C86 sound to a bustling room. The much-discussed nods to 80s and 90s indie like The Pastels and Vaselines are apparent in their jangling riffs and lyrical tales of coy love of which 'Come on Over' is a prime example. They're a tight unit, and the vocal interplay [...]
Melody-loving label Great Sheiks are putting on a special gig at North London's Lauderdale House. Advance tickets are available for this event where acts from their roster The Rosemary Works, Whelligan and The A Train, will be joined by strings, woodwind, harmoniums, toy pianos, glockenspiels, theorbos (no us either, until we googled it!)....any way, you get the idea. Tickets are priced £12.00 and punters will be a part of album recordings and a documentary on the artists. All drinks are included within the ticket price and you won't even have to queue at a bar as waiting [...]
In 2007, Brian Wilson and his band came to do a special show at the then newly-reopened Southbank Centre. I was fortunate enough to go along to review it, I danced in the aisles then pondered how it could be that I can be reviewing a legend. Over-used a term as it is, it definitely applies here. Well, it seems I got that lucky twice. So here I go again, writing the review of the fan-girl. This is show of two halves, a proper grown up concert with programmes, and an interval replete with delicious honey and [...]
tUnE-yArDs aka Merrill Garbus likened playing live to going into battle in a recent interview, and there's definitely something of the tribal in her face paint and musical arrangements. This intimate club gig is no battle ground though: in fact I defy you to find a warmer, less affected live performer at the moment. Garbus and her super-tight band are preparing for their support slot with Beirut at the much larger Shepherd's Bush Empire tomorrow with a show that was only recently announced and sold out before you could say 'hey, did you hear about the...?'. Considering [...]
It's fair to say that Iron and Wine's Sam Beam is adored by the Green Man/ End of the Road crowd for his easygoing humour, his outstandingly well-crafted songs and, perhaps most of all, his magnificent beard. The Sunday night headliner, immediately before the burning of the Green Man, there's an almost spiritual air about Iron and Wine's performance. Arriving on stage, in full-on jam band mode rather than the acoustic duo that played the End of the Road last year, Beam tells us that the last time he played Green Man was one of his favourite gigs ('we loved [...]
Lia Ices's 2011 sophomore album ' Grown Unknown ' is an absolute delight which I've grown to adore, so I was rather excited for this perfomance. Live, Lia's voice is every bit as beautiful as on record. The instrumentation is (understandably) a little more sparse than the album, but the overall effect is still spellbinding. The set drew mostly from Grown Unknown , climaxing with Daphne, a gorgeous retelling of a story from Ovid, which was lovely live despite the absence of Justin Vernon's vocals and the guitar malfunction. The big surprise is a cover of Pink Floyd's Wish [...]
![[Live Review] Givers @ Start the Bus, Bristol, 11/8/11](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3650931_lg.jpg)
Givers at Start the Bus Lafayette, Louisiana quintet Givers have been making waves with their disarmingly positive brand of indie pop. Tonight they're living up to their name by performing a free(!) show in Bristol. Live, the band's perfectly matched boy + girl vocals and seamless tempo changes are flawless, and reveal that the band make music that is far more interesting than simple comparisons can adequately convey. The band are open enough about their influences, performing a medley of Talking Heads numbers (although they only tease with talk of a Wu-Tang cover and [...]
We're adding our message of sadness and support for all the labels and associated acts who were affected by the Sony DADC warehouse fire this week. PIAS and AIM (Association of Independent Music) have set up a fund for those who wish to help and issued the following statement earlier today: [PIAS] have been overwhelmed by the response and incredible support offered to both ourselves and the labels that we represent here in the UK. Labels and artists affected by the destruction of the Sony DADC warehouse are faced with incredible pressures on their businesses in [...]
Cheeky Mr Malkmus & co are looking to censor their 'Senator' For the uninitiated, the forthcoming single features a line declaring the man from the Senate's love of fellatio. This as you might imagine isn't going to make the task of radio plugging too easy, so the band are appealing to fans to find a suitable alternative to the word 'blow job'. The winning entry will be recorded for the radio-friendly version when it goes out towards the end of September. The winner will also get a copy of the 73 single with their version on one side [...]
Image courtesy of Justine Louise Photography Much has been made of the sound issues at today's event, but I've yet to go to a large scale outdoor show or festival where this hasn't been a problem. While sound levels certainly dipped in and out, it didn't seem to stop Arcade Fire delivering on a career defining show and their biggest UK gig to date. Before our headliners arrived, the clouds dispersed and the sunshine shone on Hyde Park just as The Vaccines shuffled [...]
"] Two days from the longest day of the year, but all I see outside is grey. Time to pull the blinds, put on headphones and retreat into song. Lia Ices - Daphne [Grown Unknown, 2011] Caribou - Bees [ The Milk of Human Kindness, 2005] American Analog Set - The Only One [Know By Heart, 2001] Iron & Wine - Big Burned Hand [Kiss Each Other Clean, 2011] Bonnie [...]
Kid Vinyl
![Ólöf Arnalds - Surrender [ft. Björk]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/npfolGA__5w_130.jpg)
Miike Snow – Paddling Out (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
Lana Del Rey covers Lovecat magazine!
