Listening to these two sleepy, trance-like songs by London's Heavy Heart feels like being adrift in a murky electronic sea that's thick with regret. The waves aren't too strong and you're a decent swimmer, but at the same time there's obviously no way this will end well; the weight of broken dreams, lost lovers and forever-unsaid truths is going to drag you down soon enough. But the revelation of sinking, of an imminent and unavoidable end to all this, brings in itself a surprising peace: the ultimate painkiller, the definitive argument-winner. Click here to view the [...]
Sometimes I hate Oxford Circus - everybody going everywhere, no-one stopping, too much rushing, too many ways to look, too much hubbub by far. But tonight it slowed, it all paused briefly, and I had a magical moment. Will more magical moments follow? I hope so. Click here to view the embedded video. (More - what more there is - on Real Life here and here .)
Brixton sextet Melodica, Melody + Me have been on the radar for yonks - check out this 'New Band of the Day' plug on Guardian.co.uk from August 2010 - but without lift-off and also without (pretty much the same thing) a SOIWT blog. The latter is here now, and the former may follow thanks to new song Imperfect Time . Unlike the phlegmatic breakthrough song Piece Me Back (the first video below) and reggae-tinged Runaway (the second), this new single - once more graceful folk-pop spiced up with a charango (a South American ten-string lute) - is more outgoing [...]
As I said while recording our radio show earlier, it's sad that it takes a death to prompt me into blabbing about Echo Lake 's lustrous dream pop. But that's what happened - the extremely sad and untimely (at age 25) death of drummer Pete Hayes has jerked me into a long overdue post about this talented lot, and their soothing, spooked music, all coasting keyboards and thick wisps of electro smoke. The early signs are the band will continue, which is great news. In memory of Pete, money will go to the British Heart Foundation ; a [...]
Monday Music’s the one weekly post wherein Some Of It Was True! drops its London-only rule. Mirror Lady - Shapes (Spiderwoman) Impossibly atmospheric, this paranoid atmo-pop number tells a terrible tale of a nasty, arthropodic female as a cassette deck flickers menacingly in the background. Bos Angeles - Pretend For You The last few days have been bad, and the secret, as ever, as usual, is to go hide in my [...]
Collating recent videos by London acts we like... Holy music blogs, Batman - Friday Films is back! Fear of Men - Green Sea We recently featured this Sunday papers-style song, and here's the equally sleepy, strangely out-of-focus video: Click here to view the embedded video. Lucy Rose - Lines London songstress Lucy Rose is consistently churning out great tunes - very singalong-able tracks with more [...]
I've been oohing and aahing about featuring Digits , as the producer is both Toronton and London-based, and SOIWT is generally London-only. But in the end, so damn cool are his tunes that I can't resist. Comprising impossibly suave and laid-back poptronica under deadpan vocals, Digits' current and entirely free Death & Desire EP is the perfect dinner-party record. It's full of quirky, catchy beats, all twiddles and keyboard notches, and yet refreshing devoid of the frenetic feverishness of most other electro-based efforts.
This is my favourite Slime track ever, simple as that. I love the trumpetry, I love the bubble-bath electronica and I love the abseiling female vocals, but what I love most of all is how the three merge: how the trumpets become electrical, how it all swarms together in one delicious musical hash cloud. It's a song to dance to as you get dressed; a song to tap along with delightedly as you write the last paragraph of your dissertation.
England have won, they're through, they're safe, and the streets are full of elation, of drunken bonhomie. Strangers only hours ago, united fans now sing songs and vomit their beer together, a kinship formed, a one-night-football-stand started. A daring, murderous hope lifts in the air. People dance home, giddy, heavy-headed. It's been a while since we felt like this. We're determined to enjoy it. Click here to view the embedded video. (More on Two Inch Punch )
With its tales of extraordinary sweet cherries, sun-stroked floatiness and parched guitars, Splashh 's All I Wanna Do makes for perfect summer-evening listening; the kind of blissed-out, good-vibe tune you want to play as you flop onto the sofa, a bit drunk, a bit tired, a lot happy. The fact that we haven't currently got any summer evenings to enjoy is but a minor setback, and needn't stop you relishing hazy treat. Click here to view the embedded video.
Fresh new dub-tinged r'n'b from AlunaGeorge , this time ( previous time ) weighted much more towards the r'n'b corner (via Tri-Angle ).
As Abeano explains, Deptford Goth 's busy making his second album and this sublime demo track, People Get Still ( mp3 ), hasn't even made it! That despite a beautifully trudging tone neatly shrouding tinkerbell keys and perkily upbeat vocals. If such wonder only merits the cutting-room floor, you gots to wonder what kind of magic actually did get the vote? Sometime this summer/autumn, the eagerly-anticipated answer will arrive.
Sunless '97 's new single, Body Weather/Azul , confirms the London trio as fabulous eccentrics who resist piffling things like genre or classification. Body Weather is an energetic construct of bouncy electronics and euphoric echoes while the saintlier, excellent Azul throws together sedated sax ( courtesy of Eddie's uncle , Cameroonian saxophonist Yebka Likoba), taut, fraught vocals and a generally epiphanic feel. The single's released on 18 June on Not Even as a digital download, with a limited 123 vinyl edition following on 16 July.
Monday Music’s the one weekly post wherein Some Of It Was True! drops its London-only rule. It's raining, it's pouring and it's bloody boring. Someone make it sunny? Still, what better to while away half an hour inside than a dose of Monday Music? Jake Bugg - Lightning Bolt This is Dylan-esque folk rock relocated to chavvy Northern England in 2012, and ain't it brilliant? Nottingham talent Bugg has a Gallagher-like look and a chirpy-chappy voice, but don't let that fool you: this [...]
"Pop music that was imaginative, exciting and interesting.” That's what London fivepiece Citizens set out to produce on their debut album, Here We Are (out now via Kitsuné ), and, on the evidence of the two songs below, they flipping nailed it. Pop's very much the word: this is fun, chirpy, cheery and frivolous, but in a very talented way. True Romance (the first) has the additional boon of being recorded with Franz Ferdinand and Alex Kapranos. Reptile (the second) is a bit Eugene McGuinness, which is no bad thing. (via Trendland ) [...]
This stunner is mercilessly intense and raw; as though Monument Valley has drip-access straight into your brain, and everything else therefore ceases to be. It's a simple song - guitars and singing - but, heck, the full-on vocals are so good, so pure, that it's like wizadry. It's out now on Everybody's Stalking . (via Sexbeat ) Click here to view the embedded video.
Plant Plants ' first album, EP1, was a bit of a mixture, both in terms of genre and, I thought, quality. But this first track from the East London duo's follow-up, called, you might have guessed, EP2, positively reeks of quality. It pongs with quality. It mings with quality. It.. okay, you get the picture. Premiered on Guardian.co.uk , the song pairs twinkly keyboards with deep-pan vocals in a most appealing manner. Click here to view the embedded video.
The maladjusted, much-maligned Friday Films page returns with some more videos fr0m London acts we heart: Breton - Jostle (Live) This yellowy, captivating live video accompanies the release of Breton's latest double-A single (out on FatCat on 2 July) and was recorded by and for the wondrous French site La Blogotheque in Paris. Jostle (which can be heard properly here ) is from current album Other People's Problems , while Foam is just a lovely bonus track (and is listenable [...]
We're new to O Children , but Chimera is just the latest release from their current second album, Apnea (out now on Deadly People ). Sexbeat calls it post-punk, but that's total poppycock: it's actually floataway, elegaic indie, dynamic and yet nicely subdued. Click here to view the embedded video.
What with a late entry onto the Field Day main-stage line-up, blog acclaim galore and 6 Music plays, our favourite all-female fourpiece Savages are really building momentum. The A-side to their debut single is now available, and it's the maudlin post-punkers' most accessible track yet: an intense, kohl-eyed, guitar-driven tale of drama at 30,000 feet. (For more, try this Stool Pigeon interview )
Some Of It Was True!
Maribou State feat. Holly Walker - Tongue (Official Video)
Ears Wide Open: Ocha la Rocha
Tracklistings: Wale’s ‘The Gifted’
