Blog: The Line Of Best Fit

The recently-reformed Afghan Whigs have unveiled some brand new material, their first in all of five years. But while it's a new recording, it's not a new track entirely. The song is a cover of 'See and Don't See' by Marie "Queenie" Lyons, originally recorded in 1970. You can listen to the track now over at Rolling Stone , and download it shortly from the band's official website . The Afghan Whigs are set to appear on Jimmy Fallon next Tuesday (22 May). Check back for a video [...]

Homeboy Sandman is one of the most exciting recent additions to the Stones Throw roster. The New York MC has released two EPs of strung out, hyper-literate hip-hop on the California label, and has also turned in some excellent guest appearances (see particularly his verse on Gensu Dean's recent 'Ramesses' ). 'Look Out' is the opening track from his latest EP, Chimera , and it is a pretty perfect indication of what it is that makes Sandman so special. The delivery, which sees cascading lines continuing, unbroken, apparently ad infinitum, is [...]

Kanye West is set to premiere a new film at the Cannes film festival, a short art clip entitled 'Cruel Summer'. According to Pitchfork , it is inspired by the G.O.O.D. Music album of the same name and will involve a "seven-screen experience" (as shown in the photo below). First rap, then fashion, now film. Is there anything Kanye hasn't dipped his proverbial finger into? Kanye's film 'Cruel Summer' will air at the Cannes Film Festival on 23 May. Tickets and info can be found here .

Hot on the back of a phenomenal London outing at St Pancreas Old Church, Perfume Genius is giving away a MP3 for free. The track in question, 'Rusty Chains', is a bonus track off the singer's latest album Put Your Back N 2 It and can be download here . The man otherwise referred to as Mike Hadreas had this to say about it: "It's a song for a man whose lover has died. He remembers a time, before his partner took sick, where everything [...]

• Perfume Genius - Rusty Chains

Dad Rocks! has announced that he will play a trio of dates in the UK over the coming weeks. The Icelandic singer, real name Snævar Njáll Albertsson, will support debut album Mount Modern with a show in Oxford and two in London - including an appearance at Brainlove Festival . Anybody with a ticket to the fest will get the chance to go to the first show for free. While it's a solo venture on record, Dad Rocks! will make a UK debut as a full band live. Those all important dates [...]

"I don't like sitting around too much," states Sir Tom Jones as he welcomes me to the hotel lounge that will be his press-hosting home for the day. "Something to drink?" he offers hospitably as he generously fills a glass. I thank him and place it on the table, knowing full well that I'll be far too nervous to ever touch it. It's a miserable London day outside, drizzly, grey and dull. And in front of me is Tom Jones, dressed entirely in black save for a handsome grey scarf, his LA/St Tropez tan radiant against the darkness of his attire. [...]

Kurt Vile , Perfume Genius and Deerhoof are among a list of names added to the forthcoming The National -curated ATP festival billing. Also announced in this second wave of acts are the likes of Kathleen Edwards , Local Natives and Bear In Heaven . Already unveiled were The Antlers , Owen Pallett and of course The National themselves. The full list of newly-confirmed acts are as follows: [...]

The superlative-warranting, San Fran group Girls are set to play their only UK show of 2012 in just over a week, with tickets already sold out. But alas, not to fear as you too could be catching the band on 28 May at The Forum in London. Girls will appear as a full eight piece band, including their wonderful R&B-style backing singers, in what will likely be their last UK appearance before another album release. Support will come from the brilliantly shoegazey Weird Dreams . To win: Simply follow [...]

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There seems to be something in the bottled water they're giving electronic music's best and brightest producers during their live sets at the moment, with recent times seeing a huge growth in musicians setting up their own labels. Of course there was Flying Lotus quite a while back, but both Gold Panda and patten have also announced their plans to put out vinyl in the last few months. Next in line to follow suit is Bristol dub man Julio Bashmore , who has unveiled his new imprint [...]

Holograms are a band blighted by short time bad timing. On the eve of a recent London show, that Tupac moment at Coachella happened. Any promotion via social media channels must surely have been wiped out by a flurry of other topical Twitter jokes within seconds. And without looking, you can half-expect that just Google searching "Holograms band" will return a plethora of mocked-up festival posters. But hopefully they'll manage to wrangle the publicity they deserve, as this new track truly warrants it. 'Chasing My Mind' is probably the most listener-friendly output you'll likely [...]

Rufus Wainwright appeared on Conan O'Brien's U.S. late night just a few hours ago and thanks to the wonder of the internet, the waking British public can catch up with it now. Rufus played the title-track of his most recent album, Out Of The Game . Watch it below. But if that isn't enough you can also catch our recent session with the singer performing that very track here .

Azealia Banks has announced that she will drop a new mixtape in July. Announced via the rapper's official Twitter feed , the mixtape will see the light of day on 4 July to be exact and will be called 'Fantastic'. Banks posted the following tweet: Looks like the release date for the "FANTASTIC" mix tape is JULY 4th !! YAY — ♥ YUNG RAPUNXEL ♥ (@AZEALIABANKS) May 17, 2012 The R&B starlet also recently confirmed that her belated [...]

Montreal duo Handsome Furs have announced they are to break-up. The indie-pop husband-and-wife pair made the announcement via their official Facebook page and have also cancelled their current tour due to "urgent health issues". The band - consisting of Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry - released this statement: "With a heavy heart the time has come to let all of you know that Handsome Furs are no more. The most important thing that needs to be said right now is how extremely grateful [...]

Canadian-born, London-based singer songwriter Cold Specks (a.k.a. Al Spx) has been drawing hushed plaudits over the last couple of years with her brand of spectral southern blues. Dubbed "doom soul" by Spx herself, the Cold Specks style revolves around a heady blend of simple, slow-burn melodies and a sepulchral atmosphere suited to combing the unforgotten past, summoning vengeful ghosts. And then there's Spx's voice, a gravelly wonder that tempers its power with a texture and tragedy that's often reminiscent of Billie Holiday at her world-weariest. As Cold Specks' first full-length showcase, debut [...]

Of all of these reissues, Isn't Anything (1988) is the one that most needs attention. Oft-overlooked in the wake of the sound and fury that followed, it finds My Bloody Valentine at a weird crossroads: not quite shorn of their more indiepop sensibilities, the divebombing sonic attacks occasionally sound welded-on, or at the very least, jarring against what lies beneath. Like the smoke wisp of a photo that adorns its cover, the album sometimes allows its gauzy barrage of effects to overwhelm the actual songwriting. The structures and hooks aren't quite there - especially [...]

Hearing songs and albums in a circular, cyclical fashion and relating them comfortably to what has gone before is a part of how our lovely little brains have been conditioned. It's also how we tend to write about them - our conclusions tied, often tenuously, to our propositions, our pre-existing notions fortified by even more tenuous "proof" torn from the canvas of the music and patched together to prop up our pre-conceived ideas. With improvised, or maybe more accurately "free" music, you don't necessarily get that set of boundaries or easy reference points. Mike Watt's The Hand [...]

I first came across the work of Yuri Landman a little over six months ago in a former coachworks turned ad hoc venue-cum-studio in Brighton. He had spent the day building a collection of rather Heath Robinson, vaguely guitar-like things with a workshop of eager locals. For the evening's performance he conducted this ensemble of new luthiers, some of them as young as eight years old, through a storming set of weird overtonal krautrock driven along by Sam Dook from the Go! Team on drums. Meanwhile, a thin wire, strung precipitously from the edge of a table on stage up [...]

R&B slickster The-Dream has unveiled the release date for his forthcoming new album. His fourth record to date and follow-up to last year's 1977 mix, the release will surface on 14 August. Terius Nash made the announcement of the LP set to be called Love IV MMXII via Twitter : LOVE IV isthe BEST Album I've made. I don't care what the saleswill be. I will do my best to Challenge your Taste And Knowledge....... — Terius Nash (@MrTeriusNash) May 16, [...]