In new music blogging there’s definitely an ever-present element of optimism, and rightly so. In reality, we’re dealing with embryonic projects, so you either lapse into silence or stick it all on red and see what happens. It’s only regrettably rarely that a band pops up with such a steady approach and singular sound that the prospect of a debut album starts to look like a seriously exciting prospect, but the more that Glass Animals release, the more that looks to be the case. “Black Mambo” is their long overdue follow up to last year’s “Leaflings” [...]
Reinvention can be the mother of all evils. Just take Lee Newell for example, who attempted to obscure his past in the Thatcher-eclipsing malevolence that was Brother by inventing a gloomy 80s pop tribute. But in the case of Liverpool band All We Are , their traversing from ethereal folk to the irrepressible psych lethargy of ‘Utmost Good’ is already looking like the best reinvention since bread reimagined itself as sliced bread. The Joe-Wills-produced single is due to drop into the purchasable world on the 17th June, and the timing couldn’t be much more perfect; [...]
Apologies for periods of much too silence recently, I’ve been getting mercilessly wringed through the process of university, with little else for respite apart from this incredible collaboration between two of music’s brightest talents (and biggest fans of the upper case) – so although it’s been knocking around for at least two weeks, I’m going to break all the rules and just make absolutely sure you’ve heard it. To be fair, you might consider me a pretty biased source of praise for this new REID restructuring of SOHN’s “The Wheel”, having many a time made clear [...]
“On Your Own (Pt. 2)” is the latest darkly comedic step towards Fryars’ debut album, which is looking increasingly like it could be filed somewhere near Autre Ne Veut in your record collection, though of course with the addition of Benjamin Garrett’s unique take on despondent pop music. There’s something brilliantly direct about the bluntness of the delivery, as a deadpan Fryars paints a rather downcast scene in which relationships are false, life is imprisonment, and everyone is ultimately unhappy. Charlie Brooker is almost certainly a fan. “Don’t matter if you’re rich, you’ll die alone” is destined to become the [...]
One of the following is definitely true; either I’ve been effectively propagandised, or By The Sea are one of this country’s most underappreciated bands. Their LP from last year was certainly one of my favourite of the year, but on the evidence of this recently surfaced live video of new track “Endless Days”, the band are already moving onto more expressive and developed sounds. “Endless Days” itself somehow has more Real Estate vibes than even Real Estate themselves (which is definitely a good thing ), coursing along on waves of languid guitar tones. What is [...]
We were getting our collars hot about low-key producer FTSE back in the day (ie last month), but the vowel-averse beat creator has genuinely surpassed all expectations with ‘CNT HLP MSLF’. It’s a grimy, pummelling off-centre beat that welcomes you into three and a half minutes of constantly changing electronica. Not only does the track collapse to reveal a tender vocal, but at one point FTSE somehow ends up borderline rapping over a rumbling bassline that isn’t millions of miles away from something that The Weeknd would be proud of. Awaiting news of a release expectantly. [...]
Mixing introspection with something that will see a few people shuffle onto the dancefloor is tough to pull off, which is why we got so excited about Cork based producer REID last year. Recently surfaced new track ‘Wake’ proves right our suspicions that he might just be insanely talented. ‘Wake’ itself is a pulsating five minutes of musical hypnosis; it revolves, rises and falls like a blissed out Chris Hoy navigating the velodrome while rammed with opiates. Considering ‘Wake’ is so detailed, its appeal is surprisingly simple; that high-end melody burrows inside the head [...]
The title of Bristol-based Casimir ’s debut EP Not Mathematics seems like a direct mission statement, as these five introductory tracks are governed by a taste for exploration that guides them away from the pitfalls of becoming just what modern music does not need - another typecast Foals-indebted group of introverts flopping their fringes about the edges of dysfunctional indie music. That Casimir certainly are not, as Not Mathematics has a much stronger sense of its own identity, a fact evidenced from the teasing 120 seconds of false-start ‘Balancing Act’, to the unabashed [...]
Today should have been an enormous day or unravelling the myriad of conflicting identities in colonial Indochina – instead, I have spent most of it mirroring the precise percussion of Brolin’s infectious ‘Reykjavik’ using anything within reaching distance: biros, bananas, Gladstone’s memoirs. Anything would do. It probably shouldn’t be a surprise that Brolin’s maudlin anthem should be so impressive from a production point of view, as it was conceived by Brolin, Luke Abbott and David Pye (Wild Beasts). ‘Reykjavik’ is a wonderful approximation of all their talents, too, encapsulating the icy honesty of Brolin’s voice, Abbott’s minimalist beats, [...]
So I usually attempt to pretend that my e-mail inbox doesn’t exist simply to avoid the thousands of e-mails containing faux-personal messages from people I’ve never met unconvincingly pretending to love me in order to try and trick me into listening to their jazz-reggae-dubstep fusion. Occasionally, though, I am inexplicably overcome by a benevolent desire to help out my fellow humans, just for the rare pleasure of finding things like Edith Beake’s ‘Always In Love’. Edith, so she tells me, used to be in a synth-pop band called Sunsquints who were featured on a few incredibly hip [...]
Unfortunately, the disconcerting reality is that so many of the new bands that us music blogs construct new ways to be hyperbolic about won’t actually make it round to making an album of any note that will be remembered in one year’s time, let alone ten. So the fact that THUMPERS are having to give away faultlessly put together disconsolate pop songs like ‘Velveteen’ that didn’t even make the cut of their debut 7”, ‘Dancing’s Done’, is more than encouraging. It’s hardly like melodically driven indie pop is much of a startling revelation, so it says [...]
Big Black Delta made a big impression on us back in the dark days of 2011 with“ Huggin’ & Kissin’ ”, which drove one avid listener to offering the wise comment “so 80’s! Hot!” on our Soundcloud, which remains our favourite/only comment to this date. Perhaps it will be eclipsed by the reaction to new track “Side Of The Road”, which actually is quite 80s in its balance between Depeche-Mode-esque gloom and an unexpectedly carefree chorus. It’s yet another clever pop song cloaked in an eccentric mindset, but there’s no way to completely hide the pop mentality that juts out [...]
Leicester/London based producer FTSE has been making promisingly murky sounds for months over on his Soundcloud page, but yesterday's unveiling of new tune “Float” confirms that his thick, shuddering soundscapes are more than just promising - he’s sort of got it all worked out already. “Float” itself is a grimy, restrained tune that steadily builds towards a dense, groove laden climax. It’s not all about his present, though – his banging “Begin” Mixtape is available on a name your price basis over at Bandcamp , which is an even more in depth introduction to FTSE’s shadowy beats. [...]
Drenge continue to excite and terrify in equal measure with the towering muscularity of “Bloodsports”, a song so imposing and yet evocative that it should have sound-tracked any of the many massacre scenes in the new Tarantino film. The name,“Bloodsports”, is even an inspired one-word-critique of the film. But although they didn’t make the cut for Django Unchained, the Sheffield boys have been coming good of late, having announced a tour with Deap Valley across February and March, and apparently they are currently adorning the Radar pages of NME this week. Get on their Facebook , check their tour [...]
We couldn’t be more glad that the originally-Australian George Maple has been sucked in by the musical black hole of London, because she’s starting 2013 by drawing together a couple of 2012’s finest traits. On “Uphill”, she’s skilfully drawing together the fragile, honesty-laden vocals of Jessie Ware and understated washes of production that allow room for her pensive thoughts on the indistinct line between friendship and romance. As far as we’re concerned, there’s no doubt about it, and friendship definitely isn’t an option, we’re head over heels already. Just don’t be fooled by the fact that the name [...]
It’s unsurprising that Wirral duo Two Sunsets credit the Beach Boys and Beach House as influences - on “Searchlights”, melodies bleed into a fog of drowsy electronica that lands somewhere between the two bands, and yet manages to sound nothing like either. Instead, “Searchlights” leads you away into a world of its own, plunging you into a disorientating reality of hypnotic beats, revolving hooks and vocals buried under entire oceans of reverb. It’s been many months since a talented new band with such a fully formed aesthetic came out of Liverpool – hopefully they’ll continue to just craft [...]
Beneath is Part II of our massively drawn-out Twenty Tips for 2013 feature – Part I can be found here . As we said then, we can’t honestly give you that popular hyperbolic introduction which promises you that you will listen to nothing else in 2013, and that they will usher in a new era of trans-national harmony, they’ve made some great music and are very likely to go and do the same again pretty soon. Dante It was pretty frustrating that Dante , the source of what could [...]
Below are the first ten of the twenty artists who we’d shamelessly recommend to you to get intimate with this year. Just to lay down some straight-faced guidelines first - in no way is this a prediction of who’s going to do ‘well’ in a commercial sense this year, or even who might get all the blogs rolling off superlatives about - it’s simply new artists who have proven themselves either by consistently releasing interesting new music, or in a couple of exceptional cases have released just one track so peerless that we’re breaking our own rules and including them [...]
The tip off for K H U S H I came in the form of an e-mail which simply linked to the Soundcloud in an approach which stretches the term ‘understated’ to the boundaries of laziness, but it was all that was needed. The London based singer-songwriter saturates his romantic odes with such understated passion that nothing else is needed. Add to that his silky, naturally melancholic voice that takes prominence in each of the heart-breaking four tracks currently available online, and you’ve suddenly got someone who’s worth keeping all your eyes on in 2013. [...]
If the monumental bastard that is the triple dip recession has left you looking for Christmas presents in increasingly thrifty places – then consider your search to be over. Jack Robert Hardman ’s icy introductory track “Plymouth” is currently available on Soundcloud for the very reasonable price of free, and therefore makes the ideal slanted folk/pop crossover present for the demanding music connoisseur. But even if you’ve already finished your Christmas shopping, consider picking the track up anyway, because its poise between emotive, multi-layered melodies and something that sounds very much like pop music is pulled off really well. [...]
Not Many Experts
Watch The Lonely Island rap through mid-life crises in “Diaper Money” video
MVSCLES- Sweet n Sour
The National
James Blake- A Case of You (Joni Mitchell cover)
Video: Kanye West – Black Skinhead / New Slaves (Live on SNL)
