When I last wrote about Paper Crows , I opined that they sounded unhurried. (I can't verify the accuracy of this comment, as the song in question has been deleted. From the whole internet. Helpful. We'll just have to assume I was right.) Fast-forward 25 months and there appears much more dynamism in the duo's current self-titled, three-song EP. Electronically-backed, the songs are fist-pumpingly fulsome: from Pieces Of Yourself 's spooked incantations to the slowbuilding, superb euphoria of Changing Colours . If you like what [...]
This weekend my latest romance came off the rails and went wrong; they always seem to go wrong. Sometimes I wonder if they'll always go wrong, if I'm just spectacularly unlucky, if I lack something. But at other times I tell myself to keep trying: that my own little slice of wonder is still out there, waiting to be found. That's exactly how I feel listening to Mt. Wolf 's soothing new song - peaceful, pacified. For more Mt. Wolf, read Indie Shuffle's interview with the quartet, and listen in full [...]
Monday Music’s the one post where Some Of It Was True! drops its London-only rule. Sophie Madeleine - Run With Us This is a cover, but of what? I'll tell you at the end... First, let me reveal that Sophie is a Brighton singer; she gained YouTube fame first via ukelele-based tunes, then by releasing a series of live covers also showcasing the strength of her profound pipes. Now, via Mr. Bongo , comes Runaway Orchestra , a record [...]
Here’s the latest Some Of It Was True! show on Shoreditch Radio . This is #22, with a new Deptford Goth tune, some electronic-classic-triphop, a dose of 'tropical punk' and, in Dolls and Diana Yukawa, the results of two really brave career-swerves... SOIWT #22 by Some Of It Was True! on Mixcloud
hi hey you're seeing someone else what. no i'm.. how do you know i just do ......... oh shit see you but wai- see you. Click here to view the embedded video.
Friday Films returns with a bouquet of new videos by London acts we love: VIDEO OF THE WEEK! Hurts - Blind There's something of True Romance about this: a wry little film about two doomed lovers - one of them Hurts' Theo - who get a little too exhilarated by Cupid's darts. Not all of it's acting: Theo's eye injury is in fact totally genuine, following a recent accident . Click here to view the embedded video. [...]
So I think there are two types of music. There's the kind which you actively listen to, all your being devoted to the pleasure. And there's a kind which seems to forever play in the background; you hear it, but only in a subconscious way, because your mind is busy drifting, off on a mental magic carpet ride. For me, the debut EP by Outlaw Boogie (Michael-James Dent, formerly based in Bournemouth, formerly in Yoofs ) fits into that second category. Listening to its punchdrunk Sunday-night pop, I gaze into the distance and think of ex-lovers, a [...]
I really admire Dolls . After releasing two hip-hop/pop hits via Warner as Nikki Awesome & The Royal Society , she decided to move all the way from Toronto to London and go it alone: the eventual, beguiling result is an entirely self-produced, self-envisioned EP, Secret Sulk , of synthy wave-pop - some of it helter-skelter and laserish, other parts (such as Better Half , below) swampy, vampish and dark. It takes guts to leave the mainstream and try your luck with us fussy, wanky eclectics, and nor does it often end well (uh, really, [...]
Hackney trio Eaux specialise in live electronic music: generally dark, dense, slow-throbbing, graceful songs that you merely admire at first, and then fall somersaults in love with three listens later. It might not even take that long for new song Snow (video below) to seduce hearts: I'm hearing it for the second time and already I'm enchanted, and marvelling at the subtle, serene beauty of it all. After the track plays out, I just sit and listen to the dull whir of my laptop, locked in some sort of euphoric slumber. [...]
Monday Music’s the one weekly post wherein Some Of It Was True! drops its London-only rule. Kirk Spencer - Kukcu A 22-year-old producer and musician from Nottingham, Kirk Spencer apparently melds "together elements of synth-pop, house, club music and Eastern exotica." It's the latter which makes his debut EP Wonderland stand out so much; who knew that oriental sounds could blend so pleasurably with dance music? Featuring Safia May's vocals, first track Kukcu is a [...]
In the bloated, blurry stupor that is Easter Sunday evening, I find myself incapable of the most basic tasks. Musically, that translates to avoiding anything even slightly uptempo and a total inability to follow lyrics. All of which makes laymedown 's latest song (after these two ), Me & U , my own personal miracle. It's a sexy, sleek remix of Cassie 's 2006 R'n'B track of the same name; the original's vocals are distilled to gassy whispers, as stealthy and fine as blown air.
A little over a year ago, I blogged about the very-sudden arrival of Virginia Wing 's: from nowhere, they released the grizzly Divination and grumpy A Worn Path . Both were male-sung, both were guitar-heavy and both were, indisputably, rock. Fast-forward 12 months, and VW have a new tune knocking about. Released via Critical Heights on 6 May, Red Sails is lovely and richly melodic. It's also female-sung, blissed-out and chamber pop / folk. What the what? Can this really be the same band? Because it is, undoubtedly. I'm finding it hard [...]
This new song by Dems sees the trio shimmy down the intensometer. Whereas tunes like Christabel and Inner O were subtle but shufflable, Desire is firmly glowwave; a spectral, sparse tune that hobbles along like a faint but determined heartbeat. See it be officially launched at The Finsbury tomorrow (Friday) night. Click here to view the embedded video. Talking of Christabel , check out DeadExit 's remix of that track: Click here to view the [...]
After yesterday 's "electronic classical trip-hop", it's time to move things along in the form of Portia Graves ' "electronic soundtrack classical". For all my sarcasm, the difference is initially compelling: where Diana Yukawa's music was pensive and precious, Portia's newest tune is far more fraught, far more intense. That makes it no less enjoyable, though: personally, I feel the same thrill here as when listening to a big, bad storm. Then again, if you do prefer things pensive, these swirly, subdued tracks (and indeed all others) from her current album Red Brick [...]
April faded to May which petered out into June which disappeared into July which at some point became August, September and then October which re-branded itself as November which was no different to December which segued into January which morphed into February which quickly called itself March which gave way to April and then a year had gone by and still I missed her, and still I cried most nights, cried for no better reason than just to get the tears out. If you're not familiar with her, Diana Yukawa was a [...]
Monday Music’s the one post where Some Of It Was True! drops its London-only rule. Sonny Low - I'll Be Waiting The single best thing I can say about this gentle soul song is the following: before listening to it, I was feeling glum, useless and a bit lonely. By the end, I felt like hugging myself, phoning my best friend and writing down all my plans. From adjectives to verbs, and all because of an amazing new Belfast talent and his [...]
Finally I have a day off and there's so much to do - wash my clothes iron my shirts look at furniture on ebay clean the car phone my sister vacuum get some groceries transfer some money clear out the cupboard change the air scent retune the TV - but instead I just sit there, a ghoul, listening to Enjoyed , listening to how his house/Italo/electro music expands in ever-new directions, how it slowly comes to understand the world. The Hampshire/London-based Enjoyed, aka Peter Evans-Pritchard, has a debut record, Pieces [...]
Here's the latest Some Of It Was True! show on Shoreditch Radio . This is #21, with two songs by hot new folksters Worry Dolls, the latest JAWS offering, some Turkish clarinet action and the final track from Is Tropical's forthcoming new record. Listen below or download an mp3 version.. Enjoy! SOIWT #21 by Some Of It Was True! on Mixcloud
New videos from SOIWT's favourite London bands: Mt. Wolf - Shapeshift Really like the simple black-and-white visuals on show here, and also the chance to intimately see this hypnotic quartet at work, from lip-trembling vocals to gossamer taps of a drum. Shapeshift hails from their current Hypolight EP. Click here to view the embedded video. Deptford Goth - Feel Real Ceramic shards get tenderly daubed with random [...]
Django Django 's album tune Wor , from their eponymous debut, just got lent an exotic video accompaniment. Vice music channel Noisey filmed riders in India's famous Well of Death in Allahabad, where car and motorbike-driving maniacs perform incredible, gravity-defeating stunts high on the walls of a circular ring. The engrossing film works in accentuating the Eastern-style vibe of this classically mellow Djangos track. Click here to view the embedded video.
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SOUNDCLOUD WRAP: The Swiss
Escucha el ruidoso regreso de M.I.A.
Video: The Postal Service – “A Tattered Line of String”
Cher’s “Woman’s World” is Now on iTunes, Finally
premiere: Mikky Ekko – Kids
