HOME
CONTACT US
GET OUR RSS FEED
READ OUR NME BLOG
FIND US
BUY MUSIC HERE
AND HERE
ARCHIVE
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
Born Free
Rebekah Raa sounds like she was named by a lion. She's the singer with Stricken City, a north London band well-versed in awesomely spiky new wave pop. And she's pals with uber-dude Sportsday Megaphone. She is, in short, amazing.
See Stricken City at the Old Blue Last on 03/03/08. Look out for them soon on ACTH Recordings.
Stricken City - Better As A Girl (Demo) [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 29/02/08
Art Attack
Santogold = ALWAYS AMAZING
XXXchange = ALWAYS AMAZING
Santogold x XXXchange = WOAH
Posted by: Scott 28/02/08
Body & Soul
When he's not bemoaning the ubiquity of those pesky haters, Atlanta's B.o.B is quite a romantic soul. His new mixtape shows that, like fellow ATL boys Outkast, he's as happy rapping about girls as he is the game, while a pretty sample of England's favourite Grammy-winning fuck-up shows he knows a thing or two about making great P.o.P.
B.o.B (ft. Amy Winehouse) - Grip Your Body [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 27/02/08
Get Physical
We don't know how many records have been recorded in scout huts, but Truckers Of Husk's new Physical Education EP must be the best-- five tracks of thrilling, intricate instrumental rock from one of our favourite new bands. If you're in London on 11/03/08 catch them at Huw Stephen's Introducing... night at the Social. They will be amazing because they always are.
Truckers Of Husk - This Odd Modern [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 26/02/08
The Long Goodbye
Two years on and the untimely death of J Dilla is still keenly felt. His old friend Erykah Badu's new album features a collaboration with Madlib called Telephone, a gentle seven minute eulogy to her departed pal. It also sees the duo tackle Eddie Kendricks’s spiritual classic My People (Hold On), a song that last made an appearance on Dilla's final album Donuts and a suitably uplifting tribute.
Erykah Badu - My People (produced by Madlib) [mp3] [Buy]
J Dilla - People [mp3] [Buy]
Eddie Kendricks - My People (Hold On) [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 25/02/08
Time To Shine
Wiley has had a crazy rollercoaster career and little luck with record labels. He’s been dropped more times than Westwood's bomb fx, but thankfully things are now looking up. Wearing My Rolex, his grime-meets-electro smash-in-waiting has been signed by Atlantic and might just make a pop star out of him. Fingers crossed.
Wiley - Wearing My Rolex (Edit) [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 22/02/08
Call Me
The Count & Sinden (ft. Kid Sister & J2K) - Beeper
In which Kid Sister looks outrageously cute, Catchdubs tends shop and crazy Chi-town kids dance on lightning legs.
The Count & Sinden (ft. Kid Sister & J2k) - Beeper (Fake Blood Mix) [mp3] [Buy]
Alphabeat - Fascination(Count Of Monte Cristal And Sinden Remix) [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 21/02/08
I, Robot
Benga has made the first great non-Burial dubstep album. It's the New Forms of dubstep-- a bit jazzy and, if you skip a few tracks (the good ones), demure enough for edgy StoNu dinner parties. The Promobot is on the version we have and he really sounds at home. We feel bad for the Promobot. He has that amazing auto-tune vocal (like T-Pain), is all over everyone’s album (like T-Pain), but never makes the final cut (unlike T-Pain). Has his mechanical flow been deemed too real for the common man? Who knows. Promobot is the Nick Drake of pre-release albums and his genius will not be appreciated in this lifetime.
Benga - B4 the Dual [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 21/02/08
Wake Up Call
Aren't emails great? We got one this morning offering us a DickPlumpingJarrett. We'd have bought one had we not just given all our money to the dudes at MonumentalFuckstickStewart. Anyway, last night a message arrived from Anthony Deptula. He's making a film in LA called One Too Many Mornings. Brad Breeck, drummer with the mighty Mae Shi is composing the score. Here is the theme song. It's so vigorously rousing it has the word Anthem in the title, just so you know what you're getting yourself into.
Brad Breeck - One Too Many Mornings Anthem [mp3]
[You can contribute to the film's funding here.]
Posted by: Scott 20/02/08
Strings Of Life
It must be an amazing time for cellists. First Arcade Fire ushered in a new age of orchestral indie-rock and opened the gates for a thousand string-sectioned imitators. Now the disco revival means dancefloors are bursting with swooping bows in search of a bit of Arthur Russell authenticity. One of our favourite new bands, Free Blood, put those four bass strings to good use on their new EP, the succinctly titled EP2, where you'll find the intergalactic narcolepsy of Adventures Close To Home’s Royal Family remix and glorious disco spazzout, Grumpy. EP2 is out 07/04/08.
Free Blood - Grumpy [mp3] [Buy]
Free Blood - Royal Family (ACTH Remix) [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 19/02/08
Bubble Bobble
Hey Chloë Sevigny! Nice top! We were wondering how to get our hands on one of Luella’s ditzy floral Peter Pan collar blouses, when we stumbled across this little gem from Kim Fowley on said designer’s website. Brilliant, just brilliant. Now we want the blouse and we want to change our name to Bubblegum. Fashion can be so demanding.
Kim Fowley - Bubblegum [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Alice 18/02/08
Let It Bleed
Free Blood - The Royal Family
In which John Pugh bellows like a crazy man in the middle of a desert and Madeline Davy beats the crap out of a suit of armour before they meet up and get down in a strobe-lit palace.
Posted by: Scott 15/02/08
Over & Over
Today is the last day of London fashion week and we're looking forward to eating real food again rather than tiny versions of food swiped from passing trays. At last night's Mulberry party we saw Hot Chip play to a listless herd of fashion pals who after four days of cocktails looked like flamboyantly-dressed zombies (hello Geldofs!). At least Joe Hot Chip is getting the internets all hot and bothered with his latest side-project, Little Boots. He's teamed up with ex-Dead Disco singer Victoria Hesketh for an epic Moroder-meets-euro trance anthem. We hope it gets one of those videos where glamour models dance with power tools.
Little Boots - Stuck On Repeat [mp3] [Source]
Posted by: Scott 15/02/08
Flashback
Kanye West ft. Dwele - Flashing Lights
In which Kanye and co-director Spike Jonze create three minutes of real cinema with a jaw-dropping finale.
Posted by: Scott 14/02/08
The Day The Sky Exploded
Leopardman At C&A is a song written by comic king Alan Moore for Bauhaus. They never got round to recording it so one of our garage rock heroes, motherfucking Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs, took up the challenge. The band's new album We Have You Surrounded is steeped in Moore's special brand of dystopian paranoia and like every Dirtbombs record it jams hard.
The Dirtbombs - Leopardman At C&A [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 13/02/08
Elastic Band
An Elastica song without Elastica. It's like the 90s again, but better.
Talbot Tagora - Connection (Elastica cover) [mp3] [More...]
Posted by: Scott 12/02/08
Grizzly Men
Late Of the Pier - Bears Are Coming
In which three tribes led by three (wise?) men traipse through a forest towards a bleeding box and the floating triangle within. Sounds odd? Wait until you see the ending. Like the song, and indeed the band, this is eccentric, compelling and hard to shake.
Posted by: Scott 12/02/08
Rappy Rap Day - Money Talks
Hey grime! Great job of making everyone excited about you again with all those free mixtapes. And hey P Money! Thanks for giving away last year's Coins 2 Notes and having a ridonkulous double-time flow. How do you breathe? Have you got gills?
P Money - Something New [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 11/02/08
Rappy Rap Day - Star Bucks
The Knux are managed by Paul Rosenberg who looks after Eminem. Check them out before they become fat, creatively bankrupt recluses.
The Knux - Cappuccino [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 11/02/08
Rappy Rap Day - Blood Brother
Vein produced this with Keith Bizz and it is insane. Like a robot being raped by basslines. We wish the chorus would go on forever.
Vein - Get Up Stand Up (ft. Pitbull) [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 11/02/08
Rappy Rap Day - Fit Club
The ever-awesome Mad Decent blog recently introduced Fully Fitted to the world. XXXchange, Devlin/Darko, Chipset, Pasey Pase and Amanda Blank have formed the ultimate NY hipster-hop supergroup in order to tear apart Justice tracks and build amazing songs out of the remains.
Fully Fitted - 100 Million [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 11/02/08
Rappy Rap Day - Is You Iz?
Last week we interviewed the Cool Kids in an empty nightclub. They're great dudes whose enthusiasm inspired us to declare today Rappy Rap Day-- a contrived way for us to introduce some of the amazing new rappy rappers that soundtracked our weekend. First up is Timbaland protégé Izza Kizza whose ultra-modern metaflows mark him as the new king of the sci-fi south. Here's a web-rip of Kizza and Missy destroying Cupid's 3-6-9.
Izza Kizza - Walk The Dawg (ft. Missy Elliot) [web-rip mp3]
Posted by: Scott 11/02/08
Take Me To The River
BLK JKS - Lakeside
In which our favourite dudes provide further evidence of their total awesomeness.
Re-up:
BLK JKS - Lakeside [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 08/02/08
Party Politics
Craze is at Fabric tonight to launch his fine addition to the club's never-ending mix series. Better still, he's got Chicago's amazing Cool Kids on the bill. It's Chuck and Mikey's first ever UK show. With Super Tuesday out of the way, we're hoping Barack will swing by to drop a quick 16 on Black Mags.
The Cool Kids - Action Figures [mp3]
Sunny Day Sets Fire - Stranger (The Cool Kids Remix) [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 08/02/08
Hero To Zero
Ever since Cover Up was cut short by Jon-Erik Hexum's bizarre death we've been waiting patiently for another TV show about a crime-fighting fashion photographer and her ex-Green Beret, male model sidekick. We're still waiting, but Bonnie Tyler's anthemic theme tune has been made into a grime track and that will do for now.
Ghetto - Hero (ft. Devlin) [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 07/02/08
Shave After
Not so long ago a full, bushy beard was a pretty good guarantee of the owner’s awesomeness. A plague of bearded hipsters later and true believers are harder to identify. Yet despite the vagaries of fashion the awesomeness of OG beardos like Destroyer will never be in doubt. A great Queen Bitch-era Bowie impression and being called Destroyer obviously help.
Destroyer - Rivers [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 06/02/08
Diet Coke
Do Clipse deliberately release their mixtapes to coincide with Wire-mania ? And if so, why not get Slim Charles to drop a guest verse? We love Slim Charles.
Re-up Gang - Good Morning [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 05/02/08
X Marks The Spot
We thought Richard X had gone to ground, but oh no, he's producing new stuff for Annie, St. Etienne and the amazing Ebony Bones. When he's not busy with pretty singers we like, we hope he still makes glitchy, Visage-snatching electro doodles like this from five years ago.
M*A*R*Y - 73 Club [mp3]
Posted by: Scott 04/02/08
Top Billin'
How do you become 2008's most talked about rap crew? By sampling old Eddie Murphy films and trancepop guru Robert Miles. Being awesome also helps.
Hood Headlinaz - Soul Glo (Ft. Mata, Mali Boi, Lil' St. Lois & Money Addict) [mp3] [Buy]
Hood Headlinaz - Rollin' (Ft. Jackie Chain & Jhi-Ali) [mp3] [Buy]
Posted by: Scott 01/02/08