Thought this week would be a good one to do an album run down for. I'm pretty busy at the moment so I haven't got time to do full reviews for them all, sadly. This Monday there was so many worth mentioning so I'm giving them all a quick run down because none deserve to go unmentioned. Hope you're having a good week, and that at least a couple of these are soundtracking it for you. ALBUM OF THE WEEK: First Aid Kit - The Big Black And The Blue [...]
This came out a week ago today, but I needed at least that long to properly get inside this one. People are comparing them to The Horrors this time round, in that they've returned with a second album that blows their debut stylistically out of the water. But 'Beat Pyramid' which was released almost exactly two years ago this week lay the perfect foundations for what was to come, heralding the emergence of an act to be reckoned with. 'Hidden' is the full realization that These New Puritans are every part the powerfully intimidating prospect that we suspected. [...]
I forgot my camera so picture credits go to David Emery . It seems impossible that it was a whole 2 years ago that I sat down to review Vampire Weekend's first album, such has been their ridiculous omnipresence ever since. But they're back with new music at last, and we hold our breath collectively in anticipation of what they've come up with. With a debut like theirs it was always going to be hard to work on a sophomore, made near impossible by its [...]
This year we're not gonna bombard you with a bunch of HOT TIPS!!! like we have done before. There's enough expectation on emerging artists already without me declaring who should or shouldn't get big in '010. So we're carrying on with On The Radar simply to promote new talent. And there's no new artist with more talent than 21 year old Brooklynite Theophilus London, or 'the-coolest-thing-we've-ever- seen'. In a time when hip hop, rap and grime are dying genres in every sense, he has appeared to breath new life into an old style, dragging it kicking and screaming into [...]
Hopefully this won't come as news to you, but Manchester is happening right now in terms of new bands. Sure, London churns out a group of young pretenders every day, but there's something a bit more interesting going on further North right now. Possibly the biggest hopefuls to emerge on this new wave are Delphic - sing handedly ending the guitar rock bloodline from Oasis to The Courteeners and hailing the return of Hacienda type, the indie/dance scene, smart synths in the city. It all sounds pretty exciting but there is an unavoidable cloud of hype hanging over them. Like [...]
A new SebastiAn track has surfaced this week; the 13 minute 'Threnody'. To say that it's divided opinion is an understatement but something like this was always going to. The new song from the Ed Banger electro hero is essentially an 11 minute build up of searing electronic strings and a 2 minute drop showcasing the man's instantly recognisable brand of hard hitting synth crashing into distorted vocal samples. The build up sample this Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima - hence the name - performed by the Polish National Symphony Orchestra. SebastiAn's offering comes from a new [...]
Yes, of course, our Album of the Year 2009 is 'XX' by The xx. Those who know me will have seen it coming - my room at uni has so many X's in it that it looks like their merch stand. But this is an album impossible for me to ignore. Released in mid-August it woudl initally seem like the least summery record ever, but in actual fact it complimented the back drop of heady mid-summer nights perfectly. It's telling that as well as toppiong countless end of year lists, it has already earned places in Best of the Decade [...]
This is it, 2STEPSFORWARD4STEPSBACK's Top 10 Albums of 2009. These are the ten records that defined my year, truly. They were there through it all, soundtracking the highs and lows of my 18th year. Personally I think it's been an outstanding year for music. It's genuinely life-affirming to see such innovative talent still emerging despite the general public still buying rubbish, despite the money being less and less, despite the leaks, the ringtones, and the X Factor. Great music will never die. I hope you've enjoyed reading. [...]
The end of 2009 draws closer, and so our Albums of the Year list is getting nearer to its conclusion. We're in the top 20 now where it all gets quite interesting. These are the albums that will really be remembered, by me at least, for some years to come. Read on: 20: Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another Until this year I'd always found Welsh-rockers Future Of The Left a bit too in your face and scattered. But there was so [...]
Yo, hope everyone's still chilled after a good christmas and all. There's only 4 days left of the year so we're powering through our Albums of the Year countdown. If you've just joined us we've already covered albums 50 through to 31 which means we're on Number 30, here we go.. 30: mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All A Dream! It's Alright The most unusual and enigmatic band on this list returned with a change of direction. Their life-changing [...]
Welcome back, I hope this finds you well etc. If you're reading this, hopefully you will have seen the previous post, 50-41. This time we've got some kooky ozzies, aggro from Watford and a vacuum cleaner. So without further ado, here is the second part of 2STEPS' Albums Of The Year list 2009, enjoy.. 40: Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter With his 6th album Richard Hawley achieved his masterpiece. You could have seen it coming but when it did, it surpassed expectations with stunning [...]
First of all, Merry Christmas! Hope you had a good one. So here it is: Part I of 2STEPS' official albums of the year list. We love lists here, even if there has been a slight overload this year what with the decade ending and all (more on that in the coming weeks) But this is always the most important. Come the end of every year I look back and bask in all the great music we've been graced with over the last 12 months. It's inspiring when you look at it - innovative and great music is still being [...]
"a wonderful dose of anarchy" At 9 o'clock this morning something magical happened on the airwaves. Rage Against The Machine managed to screw the BBC AGAIN, (see Reading festival '08 when they got the crowd to shout the forbidden swear words for a live radio performance) this time live on breakfast radio. It came on Nicky Campbell's Five Live show where the band were invited to be interviewed via live feed, followed by a live performance of the song. Until now I'd be pretty cynical about the facebook-led campaign to stop X-Factor [...]
Thought we'd start this year's rundown with the albums that just missed the top 50, so those of you keeping up with the countdown won't have your fingers crossed for U2 all the way til the end only to discover that they're naff and of course nowhere to be seen. But actually, no they're not on this list either. This whole thing has taken a long time due to a ridiculous amount of assignments I've been battling with before I can go home for Christmas. Uni eh? So here we are, some albums I loved but not quite enough. The [...]
The future is here. Rock is long dead, synth electro has got boring and let's not talk about the charts. 2010 will herald the emergence of MASKS . Two 18 year old guys from a sleepy seaside town (mine) along the south coast where there's nothing to do but create your own fun. They formed about 6 months ago but already people are starting to take notice. Influenced by other brave artists experimenting with sound, they draw from HEALTH, Dan Deacon, Fuck Buttons but add an epic build-up element that frees them from any old noise band. [...]
^^ Click. Last week it was Spotify, this week it's Twitter. It's like the millennium round here at the moment! But anyway, we decided that seeing as everything's a bit hectic at the moment, twitter might be a good way to keep people interested when there's not as much going on here. So click the banner to go to the 2STEPS twitter page and start following us around and stuff. Hope this finds you well. Here are some 5th November related songs to keep you busy. Yes it's late, but I can still hear fireworks as I write [...]
So I've moved to East London, to Queen Mary University. It's good here, I finally feel like I'm not hanging around waiting anymore. And everyone likes good music! I've been to 3 gigs so far - money has stopped me from seeing more, most painfully Biffy Clyro with Manchester Orchestra and Frightened Rabbit, nice one money. Here's the run down of those I did catch. Monday 21st September THE VEILS w/ Swimming, So Say So - London Scala This was an exciting one. 2 days into living in London [...]
What's up. Yes Halloween's tomorrow but I'm a busy lad so I'm giving you your presents on Christmas eve. We've made the move onto spotify, for better or worse and this means you get a spooky halloween themed playlist of 22 songs. I won't give the tracklisting because it's a scary surprise! But if you're having a house/flat party this weekend put some of this on, it's a mix of devils and dancefloors so you're set basically. Annoyingly spotify didn't have a load of stuff I wanted to put up, even some really well known stuff (Friendly Fires - Bring [...]
You may not be aware of Pharaohs - yet. Their debut EP 'We've Tried Nothing And We're All Out Of Ideas' will be released through All Aboard Records next week and hopefully it'll kick things of for them. The 4 Kent based lads have played alongside Venice Ahoy, Minnaars and recent radar stars Swims, which gives you a good idea of where they're coming from. The press release for this calls it technical indie but math pop is more fitting. Pharaohs belong to the scene centred around Big Scary Monsters but have a head on most of their competitors in [...]
Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel turned happy, catchy, poppy fun Alan Wilkis style. Great to have this land in my inbox, have been listening to this on repeat since I got [...]More about Yeasayer
Hot Chip’s latest One Life Stand is out TODAY released by the good people at Parlophone. MP3: “We Have Love” by Hot Chip [...]More about Hot Chip
I am back! Bonne année! Happy new years! Hope you all had a great x-mas and new year’s and yada yada yada. And if you [...]More about Massive Attack
Last week Vampire Weekend stopped by BBC’s studio’s to record a live session for Zane Lowe. Usually band’s are allowed to pick a song to cover, and [...]More about Vampire Weekend
You guys have waited pretty patiently for me to get off my lazy ass and get my best of 2009 lists out to you. I [...]More about Phoenix
For many jazzophiles, The Allen Room in Lincoln Center is Mecca. The space is intimate, the acoustics are phenomenal, and the dramatic wall of glass offers one of New [...]More about St. Vincent
The new Beach House album Teen Dream is out next week via Sub Pop. On top of being a joy to listen to, both the CD and [...]More about Beach House
Kid Cudi took a break from touring with Lady GaGa recently and made a stop in Ann Arbor. I was beside myself when I saw he was [...]More about Kid Cudi
Spoon's new album Transference comes out next week and this is the b-side to the lead single. It's a pudgy little track with broken glasses and sloppy, [...]More about Spoon
AAaah! Finally, the Gorillaz are back with a new ablum “Plastic Beach”. The release of the album is set for March 8th. The first single “Stylo” will [...]More about Gorillaz
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB | UNDERCOVER MARTYN
The Strange Boys - Be Brave
Phonat - "Love Hits The Fan" music video
Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja (Official)
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields - Official Trailer
New Releases V2.9
2010 Bonnaroo Artists Unveiled
New Nas & Armand Van Helden
