Blog: This Music Wins

Austrian based idm producer Dorian Concept has announced details of his latest LP (the follow-up to February's When Planets Explode) to be released on 9th September by strange name of Trilingual Dance Sexperience . The young Austrian has grown himself a dedicated following around the electronic scene of Vienna, forming a refreshing part of the new wave of glitchy electronica already spearheaded by Flying Lotus , Prefuse 73 and Hudson Mohawk amongst others. His extrovertive mix of scatty beats, cut up melodies and heavy stacatto sampling [...]

London twee pop band Fanfarlo ( previous post ) have announced a full UK tour with folk band First Aid Kit, along with a money-saving presale via MusicGlue . If you haven't already heard First Aid Kit, they are a swedish acoustic duo, made up of Klara and Johanna Söderberg from Stockholm Sweden, who got quite a following after covering Fleet Foxes' Tiger Mountain Peasant Song late last year. Following it's success, they set up their twitter to take requests for more songs to cover. The first video of the lot, a cover of Buffy Sainte-Marie's Universal [...]

Staffordshire based dream pop band Epic45 have announced the pre-order sale for their new mini album In All The Empty Houses which, according to the band, will go on sale 'soon'. According to the bands myspace, videos for the new album's tracks are also imminent at their website . The band have over 20 releases since 1995 and have built enough of a reputation to gain contributions from Simon Scott ( Slowdive and Televise ) and from newest member Paul Mannasseh . Their sound [...]

Two man noise punk outfit No Age have announced a free stream for their latest installment of guitar-bashing atonal pop music; this time in the form of the Losing Feeling EP , coming out on mp3 and 12" vinyl but not on compact disc . The four track is set for release in both formats on 6th October in the US, and is available at a discounted price if you pre-order. As for content, supposedly Genie was recorded in the bands [...]

• No Age - Teen Creeps

Quirky indie rock band Wild Beasts have released a new Daytrotter Session at SXSW showcase this year in support of their fourth album Two Dancers. The session does not sadly feature the fantastic Hooting & Howling (the video which you can find HERE in a previous post), but does contain the next single (adjudged purely by the band on crowd reception) All The King's Men as well as the bands 'rock' This Is Our Lot . There is also a nice version of the vocal showcase of a [...]

Gold Panda has always been known as a remixer, in fact since his emergence on the lo-fi electronica scene a few years ago he's already reworked artists as big as Little Boots, Simian Mobile Disco and Bloc Party with his toned down, chrome finished take on electronic music. Originally from Essex, he's now based in London, and has worked on notable projects with Ninja Tune underground dance/hip-hop artists Shuttle and Infinite Livez. These days he's trying his hand publicly at solo material for the first time, and the 500 copy-limited edition Quitters Raga [...]

London based experimental two piece Fuck Buttons have released the first scratch of new material from their upcoming second album the Tarot Sport LP - the eagerly anticipated follow-up to 2008's brilliantly received assembly of drones Street Horrrsing . Recorded with legendary producer Andrew Weatherall , the band are already calling the product of their time in the studio 'the most exciting document' they've produced thus far, and have released a shortened version of the lead title for our eager ears to hear. [...]

Dark Sparks are a reformed and adjusted indie rock band from Sheffield who, with the boost of a new line-up on top of already garnered success in autumn 2008, are looking to take their infectious mix of darkened 80s post-punk and contemporary British indie rock to even wider audiences than they managed last year. In their relatively brief time together as a band (they only formed in January 2007) they've toured and written extensively, and played a prominent selection of support slots with the likes of The Enemy, Boy Kill Boy, The Whip, The Courteeners, Air Traffic, Blood [...]

Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze, also known as the pair behind shoegazy electro band The Big Pink ( who you can read about here ), have confirmed the date, and the full details behind their forthcoming debut album, set to be released on 4ad records September 14th . This will sit comfortably between a series of summer UK festival dates and a full UK tour scheduled for October. The album, entitled A Brief History Of Love , will feature previous singles Too Young To Love , Crystal Visions and [...]

• The Big Pink - Dominos

Magic Wands are a new and heavily buzzed boy/girl due based just out of L.A. Their well-deserved rise to mainstream attention is being propelled almost exclusively by the force of their one part dream pop, one part blues rock single 'Black Magic'. This track is seriously addictive, with a luscious, bluesy, overdriven riff artists as diverse as White Stripes and Michael Jackson will be kicking themselves for not coming up with. Its clear from the outset why Magic Wands have already come straight off the back of US tour support slots with some of the [...]

The Octopus Project are an electronica/post-rock band formed in 1999 in Austin, Texas. They make experimental pop music with elements taken from rock, indietronica, post-punk and post-rock. It is quite difficult to categorize their music down into any single genre. The new EP presents the listener with exactly the same non-problems. The lead single from the 5-track EP, entitled Wet Gold , is stunning. A fast paced percussive track with disorientating electronic effects throughout; this song sounds like Black Moth Super Rainbow crossed with the muffled vocals of Metric . It is not [...]

6 Day Riot are an ecletic London based folk pop band quickly gathering momentum and garnering increasing industry attention after just five years of music making. Their latest album, 6 Day Riot Have A Plan, came out on July 6th of 2009, and was hotly tipped this January by The Times in their Top Ten Picks for 2009. They play a whole host of folk instruments including ukulele, tenor guitar, double bass, accordions, trumpets, and electric and acoustic guitars. The result is a punchy indie pop sound slightly reminiscent of Vampire Weekend, Foals, in places Ra Ra Riot and even [...]

Wild Beasts are a Kendal, UK based indie rock band who I saw for the first time last year on tour with Foals at Southampton Guildhall, and despite the repeated warnings from their promotion team at the front entrance that they were 'too weird' for most people, i don't find them that strange at all. I think the main reason people find Wild Beasts odd is lead singer Hayden Thorpe's crispy clean falsetto voice. He is not afraid to use it to dominate Wild Beast's music. It is very high pitched and combined with the foals-esque ambience which [...]

Billy Mack Collector are an experimental folk band from Pennsylvania who have come straight off the back of a 3 month US tour into promoting their third album 'Stingrays'. The first line of their myspace sets out their mission statement perfectly. "Billy Mack Collector come from the mountains of pennsylvania to play in your living room." Hopefully soon it won't just be living rooms. They sing songs about 'being awkward' which are put together [...]

Meursault are an up and coming electronic folk band based in Edinburgh, UK who have just released their latest effort - the Nothing Broke EP . If you've heard their first album ' Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues ' this will be the best news you've heard all day . The new EP takes the quiet and intimate parts of the debut and focusses mainly in and around main man, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Neil Pennycook . The whole album as a result calms down so to speak. While much of the first [...]

Some dubstep conspiracy theorists claim that Burial (Will Bevan) and Four Tet (Kieran Hebden) are in fact the same person, and this is not unreasonable to believe. They both attended The Elliott School, London (as did three members of Hot Chip) and Burial keeps his identity buried exclusively within the mystery of his music. They both make experimental electronica, each drawing influence from the other, Burial venturing more into ambient dubstep with Four Tet indulging in everything from folktronica to underground dance. To further excite the conspiracy theorists, Radiohead, who have worked with Burial, listed a post [...]

I've fallen victim to yet another female solo artist, this time welsh-born solo artist Marina & The Diamonds. Supposedly the diamonds are her fans rather than her backing band, but the word bears a curious resemblance to her Greek last name Diamandis. She is based in London and has already played slots at Glastonbury festival (which i missed!) and Radio One's Big Weekend. She was recently signed to Neon Gold records. She's had her fair share of controversy, last year she was noted for throwing an infamous 'girly punch' at a man in the [...]

Animal Collective were a band i knew would highlight Glastonbury, and they fulfilled the expectation of every corner of their ecletic turnout with their futuristic mix of 60s harmonies, loop heavy electronica and freak folk. For three albums their experimental rhythms and their complex, inaccessible ear for a melody has consistently intrigued a small, sophisticated and devoted fanbase, but Merriweather Post Pavilion has taken a definitive step towards wider acceptance. The turnout for the park stage was large and diverse; the foot tappers and idle head nodders were won over and the long term fanbase were sucked in [...]