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 [...]
I'm either in love, or I've got bad wind...either way, Slime 's latest EP is causing movements in my digestive tract. Richard's already fallen for Lean Over , while I'm mostly bouncing to Anni , a driven track, with a tip-toeing double bass riff throughout, layered with haunting saxophone and melting synth chords. Bruised features Tamara Qaddoumi's crystaline vocals, floating above a trip-hop beat and jazzy sax interjections, whilst Cat Bells is a slow jam that traverses the extremes from dark accordian to spangly light harp and soulful outbursts. He strikes a [...]
Monday Music's the one weekly post wherein Some Of It Was True! drops its London-only rule. Tango in the Attic - Easybones ( Inspired Flight Remix) ( mp3 ) Scottish indie-pop-men Tango in the Attic have been glazed over by San Diegan producer Inspired flight. This lo-fi bad boy takes you through the motions, starting with a Portishead-esque entry, with even some Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians blended in, before cracking into some Hed Kandi beats. [...]
No Colour 's Stranger is the musical equivalent of spilling coke on a packet of skittles and leaving them in the sun...you can't quite tell where a green skittle ends and a yellow skittle starts as they sort of clump together, but you know that as soon as you put it into your mouth, you're going to taste that ruddy rainbow. These chaps put on their own night Agree in the Dark , the next of which will be taking place this Sunday (1 July) at the Griffin.
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 .)
My Sad Captains ' latest EP Resolutions ( mp3 ) is a mellow affair. Most notable is lead singer Ed Wallis's voice - Sounds a bit like E from the Eels, where he's a tad slurry and sounds like a 13 year old boy trying to hit top notes in a choir but not quite getting there. That makes it sound bad. It's not bad. Meta and Following Footsteps are both eery yet comforting. Eerily comfortable. Like a cushion with Jeremy Beadle's withered hand printed on it. Title track Resolutions is far more friendly, the [...]
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 )
Growing up is probably the worst thing to happen to anyone. Bye bye sweet naïvety and hello heartache, dejection and taxation. Bluebell have taken it in their stride, quite content to shed the myths installed in young girls by Walt ‘home-wrecker’ Disney, as is clear in Cinderella, featuring on the new double A-side with Normal Heights . You’d expect something mopey and a tad downtrodden, but instead get smacked round the face with defiance. This is one stonker of a track with its industrial grinds and sympathetic synths, so screw Walt Disney, strip off that poofy [...]
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.
Strange Talk - Roxanne Roxanne just got a bit sexed up, which is good news for a whore. Fresh from the land of Harold Bishop and flaming galahs, electro-pop team Strange Talk have stripped her of her tango shoes and are now making her strut in skyscraper heels. Noosa - Walk on By After having received a tonne of plaudits for their first release Fear of Love , Sky Barbarick & Matt Buszko, a.k.a. Noosa have sanded down the super shiny lacquer on their electro [...]
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 ).
Ever walked in on a couple arguing? Aaaaawkward. Thankfully in Nimmo and the Gauntletts Young Light they've already torn each other apart, and are ready to take you through the stages of grief as the realisation of having fucked up settles in. There's sadness, remorse, defiance, reflection and acceptance, all played out with such sensitivity and successfully avoiding wanky clichés. The newly unveiled video for the track is a fitting visual accompaniment, panning between the two singers' numb expressions as they lay their guts out. Click here to view the embedded video.
Right. Alarm bells may go off in the first 10 seconds of hearing Brother's Boat ( mp3 ) by Eliza and the Bear - My concern was that Blink 182 had resurrected. BUT IT'S OK! They're still dead(ish). And from 11 seconds onwards, there is the reassuring undercurrent of calm from a piano and smokey vocals under that angry guitar. In fact, it's intro doesn't do justice to the rest of the track; the texture becomes wonderfully rich and is clearly the work of a discerning mind(s). It's fairly meaty, and with its anthemic chorus, could be compared to [...]
What The Clash would sound like if you popped them in a field: ska and punk, fused with folk; Dirty Nelly epitomises London's love affair with pub-based folk and the sounds of rebellion. They release their new EP Land of Sin this month at the Lock Tavern , and you can listen to a snippet of the title track below.
Some Of It Was True!
Top 10 MP3s of the Week (5/24)
Disclosure – When A Fire Starts to Burn
Daft Punk: When anonymity goes wrong
Earl Sweatshirt ft. Mac Miller – Guild
Boards Of Canada - Reach For The Dead
