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 [...]
25.02.10.
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 soon catch them at Huw Stephen’s Introducing… night at the Social. They will [...]
25.02.10.
I’ve neglected to mention my FADER column of late. Recently I’ve spoken to the amazing Mazes, the startling The Sticks, and the excellent Egyptian Hip Hop. For some reason I asked them all about fighting. Probably because I’ve “got a lot of guts“..
01.02.10.
The last time we caught up with these bright young things they were called The Mono, which is a bit like being called The Glandular Fever. If their old name referred to a lack of colour, then the new one, The Shimmer, adds a bit of sparkle. Here they glimmer darkly on the b-side to [...]
01.02.10.
Our pals at Family Time have put together an amazing new 12″ compilation, featuring some of our favourite weirdos: Deep Sht, Blessure Grave, Trudgers, Ancient Crux and many more. From it, here is Twin Lion‘s sinewy tribute to the 1st Duke of Suffolk, Henry Grey and his daughter, Lady Jane Grey. (We made that last [...]
01.02.10.
Sunderbans and Pinglewood both have names inspired by Bengali words, but while Sundarban is Bengali for ‘beautiful forest’ and refers to an actual beautiful forest, Pinglewood means ‘tatty bloghole.’ Here, Chris from the lugubrious trio remixes their song Road Kill, making it less about being squashed on the motorway, more about snoozing the day away. [...]
01.02.10.
If you want to save yourself from 12 months of experimental grammar and bad jokes about band names (ie reading this blog) then buy the amazing new compilation from Paradise Vendors Inc and Italian Beach Babes. It’s like someone recorded everything related to the word awesome then turned it into a limited edition 12″. This [...]
01.02.10.
At a recent show, the smaller, blonder half of Pinglewood declared that Friendly Fires sound like, “a chase scene in a Chevy Chase movie.” There is no higher praise. St Albans’ finest are nominated for British Breakthrough Act at this year’s Brit Awards and you should vote for them. If you don’t Pixie Lott might [...]
01.02.10.
[Pic: ilovehotdogs]Hustlers of the world, there is one mark you cannot beat: the mark inside. For Valentine’s we got you this sad and lovely Elliott Smith cover by Cymbals Eat Guitars. Don’t shoot it all at once. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Ballad Of Big Nothing (Elliot Smith cover) [mp3] [Buy]
01.02.10.
Our dude Radiant Dragon says his latest twilight lullaby is about, “The Dark Crystal then, but with fewer puppets. Look out for an album later this year on his own DIY label, Cloud Factory. Radiant Dragon – Preseli [mp3]
01.02.10.