I really like this rare quality in some artists that choose to remain coy and elusive about their appearance, musical output and whereabouts. The absolute kings of this are Daft Punk who still hold a real mystique in this age of bearing all for everyone to see at any given opportunity. So when a tune leaks and someone somewhere says it’s Daft Punk the excitement begins; is it theirs? is it not? is it Pilotpriest? is it some other bedroom producer? is it some other stadium dance duo? Does any one really care, because regardless of any of this, Daft Punk are still amazing and The Crash is still an absolutely HOOJ CHOON!! Enjoy the next 12 minutes of your life, on us!
It’s Christmas!! Probably time to revisit this awesome wintery video for Rachael Dadd’s “The Wires” by the talented hands of Elliot Dear. We’ll be releasing Rachael’s gorgeous new mini album Moth In The Motor on February 15th, and I couldn’t be more excited. Check it out here. Merry Christmas ya’ll x
Tomorrow sees the release of “Beautiful Star: The Songs Of Odetta”. It’s a truly fantastic tribute to folk hero Odetta, who passed away in December last year. Curated and released by one of our favourite reads- Wears The Trousers, it’s a fitting tribute to one of folk’s most influential artists. Having spoken with WTT’s brilliant editor Alan, it’s clear that this is a true labour of love. This will be the first release for Wears The Trousers and Alan’s passion for Odetta’s work completely shines through. The care which he’s taken in picking the tracks is clearly evident- a personal favourite being Ora Cogan’s stunning take on Motherless Child. The album will be released as a limited edition digipak with silk screened CD, and all profits will be split between two charities - The Fawcett Society, and Women’s Resource Centre. All in all it’s a massively honourable undertaking, and beautifully executed. To get yourself a copy, you can order it right here.
This week saw the release of one of my favourite albums of the year - BiRd-BrAiN by tUnE-yArDs. It’s a difficult album to describe. In it’s root, it’s the sort of lofi folk that I seem to have become obsessed with over the past year - but there is so much more going on in this release. There are some brilliant nods towards hip hop, electronica, afrobeat, and gospel amongst all sorts of other fantastic homemade sounds and beats. Merrill Garbus’ voice is stunning, and she opted to knock out all of her vocal tracks on a cheap digital voice recorder, then mixed the album using free software. The result is a ukele-driven folk album with beats and basslines that are guaranteed to upset my neighbours for many months to come. All of my favourite musical worlds have collided, and I couldn’t be happier. Touches of Soko, a little Micachu, a splash of Four Tet, and a whole lot of awesome. An absolute masterpiece.
This is a post that’s been a long time coming. The Mariner’s Children have been responsible for some of my favourite gigs this year, and tomorrow they’ll be kicking off a tour with our other favourite souls- Peggy Sue. Awesome. The dates are:
27th Nov - Royal Park Cellars, Leeds
28th Nov - Jack Lyon’s Concert Hall (supporting Arthur Rigby and The Baskervylles), York
29th Nov - Deaf Institute, Manchester
30th Nov - Unquiet Desperation at Bungalows and Bears, Sheffield
If you are anywhere near these towns, I massively recommend you take the opportunity to catch a band that have never failed to plaster an epic grin onto my face. In fact even if you live miles away, in a different country altogether, make the journey - it will be totally worth it. We only ever write about bands that have some video footage available, these guys are so totally brilliant I’ll make an exception. To hear what I mean, check out their stunning live session for our podcast here.
To make such a chaotic collision of fuzzy noise and experimental distortion work so brilliantly well can only be described as genius. And Fuck Buttons are definitely well on their way to ‘genius’ status with their latest release, the Andrew Weatherall produced ‘Tarot Sport’ on ATP Recordings.
‘Surf Solar’ is the opener and like the rest of the record, it’s frantic, chaotic, epic and downright soaring in electronic glory!
I recently went on a journey through Cate Le Bon’s debut album ‘Me Oh My’ and what an utterly enjoyable journey it was. The record goes from beautiful melancholic folk to dirty blues rock and is all served up with a very edgy and very Welsh female vocal.
It’s little wonder why it didn’t take her fellow Welsh counterpart Gruff Rhys long to snap her up onto his very own Irony Bored label. Here is the fascinating video to one fine piece of psychedelic folk known as ‘Hollow Trees House Hounds.’
Last Monday Lulu & The Lampshades released their debut single Feet To The Sky. It’s absolutely brilliant, feels like summer again. It’s also the first release from Voga Parochia, what a truly epic start for a label. Exciting things to come from these guys I’m sure. Show them some love here, and try and track down the 7″- there were only 200 pressed but it’s well worth the hunt.
Of course, another reason to love Lulu And The Lampshade is Cups (You’re Gonna Miss Me). Lulu told me that smashing around cups like this is “really easy”. I have my doubts.
Playing at the Feet To The Sky single launch was a guy who I’m loving more and more with every gig - Tristram. His songs are stunning, his delivery is immense, but it’s always all so beautifully understated. A really incredible lineup, including Becca “The World’s Busiest Cellist” Mears (who provides strings for other such favourites as Peggy Sue and The Mariner’s Children, amongst many others) and Greg Griffin who seems to be able to play pretty much anything he lays his hands on. Another real highlight comes from Tristam’s drummer, Tom Heather, who’s been responsible for some of my favourite beats of late. This particular night saw him using an old leather case as a bass drum to brilliant effect. Ledge. Three cheers for Tristram and company…
Tonight brings the second helping of what is rapidly becoming one of my favourite nights out - The Allotment. Get down to The Betsey Trotwood in Clerkenwell for an epic lineup of The Dufflefolks, The Momeraths, Brooke Parrott and Broken Sound favourite, Alessi’s Ark. Which is about as much of an excuse as I need to post this rather gorgeous performance of Over The Hill…
