The Maccabees are an indie rock band from Brighton, England. Debuting in 2004 with the You Make Noise, I Make Sandwiches EP, they scored a minor indie hit in 2006 with the post-punk influenced single Latchmere before inking a deal with the Polydor imprint (and former home of The Cure) Fiction Records.
The band released their debut album Colour It In in 2007, which spawned a number of catchy, cheerful singles filled with art-pop hooks and jangly guitars. Two years later they are a back with sophomore Wall of Arms, a record that shows a dramatic shift in tone. Leaving behind their upbeat early cuts, the quintet roped in producer Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire, Bjork, Coldplay) to add some of his brooding quality to the table. This resulted in a distinctly darker long player that will please fans of Arcade Fire, Editors or White Lies.
Wall of Arms is set for a May 4, 2009 release, preceded by the single Love You Better (out this week). Visit The Maccabees on MySpace for more details and tour dates.
tenek is the latest project from Geoff Pinckney (The Nine/Mesh) (vocals, programming, synths & bass) and Pete Steer (vocals, guitar, bass, synths & programming). Already being cited as one of this year's most vibrant and infectious electronic acts, the duo makes classic electronica fused with a contemporary twist.
tenek released their eponymous debut EP CD in September 2007 before returning to the studio to work on their first long player. Stateless was finally released through the Toffeetones label on the 20th March 2009 under critical acclaim. This is a record filled with great melody and hooks, the perfect marriage of pop and despair wrapped up in an industrial strength electro jacket that is destined to bring mayhem to dancefloors all around the globe.
If you're into synthpop pioneers such as The Human League and Depeche Mode or dig Cicada, The Crystal Method, Infusion and Mesh, you've just discovered your record of the month. So forget for a moment all the hype that surrounds acts like La Roux or Little Boots and give these newcomers a chance. They may lack in terms of PR but they surely have the tunes. Highly recommended!
Visit tenek on MySpace for upcoming show details and buy their album from Toffeetones here.
I've just finished a new mash-up for your listening pleasure. Instead of going down the electro or drum & bass path as I did in the past, this time I decided to make something rather dreamy and mellow. I used the vocals from David Guetta's club hit The World Is Mine along with the ones from UNKLE's Heaven (and the opening sample from Eye For An Eye). As for the instrumental, it's Sombre Friday by newcomers Tenek (more about them in a future post). So give Heaven In My Sombre World a listen and tell me what you think.
PS. A big shout out to Rob Dust who added some of his magic in the mastering. Live long and prosper Rob!
Some specialists in music said that 2007 was the year of France, 2008 was the year of Sweden and (as they claim) 2009 is going to be the year of Spain.
Cof Cof are from Valencia, ES. Visit their myspace profile (click to the link above) for listening to their music and learn more about them.
Ana & Alex are very good friends. Their friendship started because of this band. They started adding beer and good wine to their meetings, and that's how their friendship started.
No other writer has had as much influence on pop music as J.G. Ballard who died last Sunday (19 April 2009) after a three-year struggle with prostate cancer. Best known for novels including Crash (in which characters become aroused by car crashes) and The Drowned World, and for his wartime memoir Empire Of The Sun, Ballard wrote about dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments.
Ballard's visionary imagination grew in the realms of dreamlike, subjective science fiction and gradually came to embrace an aseptic hyperrealism. His precise, disenchanted intuitions of a future life governed by the concepts of anti-utopia and disaster inspired numerous artists. Examples include albums such as Metamatic by John Foxx, various songs by Joy Division (most famously The Atrocity Exhibition from Closer), the songs Down in the Park and Cars by Gary Numan and Warm Leatherette by The Normal.
This influence goes beyond the British post-punk groups, though. The 2007 album by the British "new rave" act the Klaxons takes its name from Ballard's collection of short stories Myths of the Near Future, while an earlier recording of him speaking in an interview is sampled in the Manic Street Preachers' song Mausoleum from the 1994 album The Holy Bible. In the sample, Ballard, probably referring to his novel, Crash, states : "I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit, I wanted to force it to look in the mirror...".
Still not convinced? Suede's sound might have been a retro-leaning Bowie/Smiths homage, but their lyrics depicting high rises, asphalt underpasses and dysfunctional lovers adrift in the city are unashamedly Ballardian; Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke posted extracts from Ballard's anti-consumerist novel Kingdom Come on the band's blog, in the months leading up to the release of their 2007 album, In Rainbows; Andrew Eldritch, frontman of The Sisters of Mercy has posted his favourite works of Ballard on his site; the much hyped Empire Of The Sun took their name from Ballard's novel; Nine Inch Nails' concept album Year Zero describes a world where the governments put sedatives in the water to keep the masses blinkered, dirty bombs go off in Los Angeles, climate change wreaks havoc and war is a constant reality. Sounds familiar? Even the opening song title of Madonna's Ray of Light album, Drowned World/Substitute for Love (and the Drowned World tour title) is said to be inspired by the apocalyptic 1962 novel The Drowned World.
So put something to drink, turn down the lights and immerse yourself in the world of a Ballardian band, while reading The Atrocity Exhibition. R.I.P. J.G. Ballard. You will be missed.
(((S))) is a mysterious one-man-project from Copenhagen. There are no pictures of either himself or his studio band. Their music nevertheless creates whole worlds. The sinister serenades of the debut Ghost switches on your head and set your imagination running wild with its gentle sounds and dreamy sad dancefloor fillers.
Set somewhere in the dynamic field between The Cure,The Jesus & Mary Chain and Tiamat, the Scandinavian singer's songs touch and move you. Mezmerized and Fall With Me are catchy wave-jewels while Naked and Dying are full of dark atmosphere. The fabulous Beatles cover Help gives the impression the original was by Pink Floyd.
Floating above it all is the ghostly voice of (((S))), like Johan Edlund from a far and more "comfortably numb" than David Gilmour. Ghost is the ideal soundtrack to an evening with wine and candlelight but also an earthquake on the dancefloor.
The album will be released on the 20th of April on afmusic. You can also download an EP with five songs for free on www.af-music.de.
The Horrors have their origin in the early 2000s where they became interested in obscure vinyl and DJing. During trips to London and on the Southend circuit, Rhys Webb met Faris Badwan and Tom Cowan, who had attended Rugby School together, through their shared interests in 60s garage rock, and, in 2005 the three formed a band with Joshua Hayward and Joseph Spurgeon.
The band received great support from the British music press (NME in particular) and as a result their hyped to death debut Strange House (2007) entered the UK album charts at #37. A gorgeous and strange blend of punk, surf and gothic organs, this particular brand of retro goth garage is obviously built on an extremely derivative foundation of 60s garage, the Cramps, the Damned, the Birthday Party and Ministry.
Two years later, and where most bands would be happy to rest on their laurels, the black clad quintet returns with sophomore LP Primary Colours (out in May 5th on XL Recordings). Instead of trying to perfect the garage punk stylings of yore, they brought in Geoff Barrow to produce a record that sounds as if it comes from an entirelly different band. Mr. Portishead gave the boot to most of Strange House's influences in order to make way for My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Canand Joy Division. The result is in parts dark and claustrophobic like The Cure's Faith and Bauhaus and in others it has the groove of Neu! and the pop of the Psychedelic Furs. So, it is this reinvention of The Horrors that proves wrong anyone who believes they are at their best in front of a camera rather than behind instruments.
Preorder Primary Colours from Rough Trade here to get an exclusive bonus mix CD by Tom Furse and Rhys Webb, and visit The Horrors on MySpace for more info and tour dates.
Starting out on London’s live circuit in early 2004, London-based four piece Remodel started to come into their own in mid-2006. Since then, they have supported the likes of Babyshambles, The Holloways, The Sunshine Underground and The Paddingtons, taking their short sharp shots of pop-punk-perfection to new audiences. Partly mod-inspired, Remodel's tunes combine catchy lyrics with racing guitars and prove that this lot have got talent by the bucketful.
Their long anticipated debut single, the double A-Side British Racing Green / That Obscure Subject Called Desire was released in April 2007 on Sad Gnome Records, followed by Formula / Cognoscenti in early 2008. The latter song in particular is the best track Kaiser Chiefs never wrote and one of my top dancefloor fillers so far; suffice it to say that it will have you dancing your tits off in no time.
A year later the lads are back with a brand new single. La Belle Dame Sans Merci will be out next month backed with Us And Them and you can listen to both of them at the band's MySpace. So if you are a fan of Maximo Park or The Rakes stop reading now and go check Remodel out!
1/4 The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build A Home Au Revoir Simone - Take Me As I Am Bon Iver - Blood Bank Feist - The Water Papercuts - You Can Have What You Want Waz - Hardly Enough The Bird and The Bee - Lifespan Of A Fly
2/4 Hari and Aino - On My Usual Catch Up With Cecilia Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band - Nikorette No Doubt - Stand and Deliver Little Joy - The Next Time Around Metric - Parkdale Awesome New Republic - Birthday Franz Ferdinand - What You Waiting For? Polyphonic Spree - Lithium
3/4 Florence and The Machine - Dog Days /Are Over (Otimo Remix) Violens - Already Oslo (Lilys Remix) Annie - Anthonio (Designer Drugs Remix) YACHT - Summer Song Lady Gaga - Money Honey Peaches - Talk To Me The Marches - 4 a.m. Is The New Midnight
4/4 Asobi Seksu - Lions and Tigers Bat For Lashes - Use Somebody Pete Yorn - Lose You Patrick Watson - Tracy's Waters Trifonic - Lies Greater California - Disappearing The Dears - Lights Off
Patrick Wolf and Bebo are joining forces to give one girl and one boy the opportunity to win a music lesson with Patrick in London.
To enter, get yourself on film playing an instrument of your choice then send it to patrickwolfbebocompetition@live.co.uk. You can record any song you like, it’s how you play it that matters! Patrick will pick his 2 favourites and the winners will be invited to come to London in June 2009, for their music lesson.
Peaches just presented her new video for the track 'Talk To Me', the first single of her forthcoming album 'I Feel Cream', which is going to be released on May 4th.
They released their "Kopf Auf" album in late 2006, but people didn't pay much attention. Now, their track "Keine Melodien" has been received a 'facelift' and is featured in the latest Volkswagen Golf ad, so we could be listening to these Berliners quite a lot in the future.
Since the early eighties, TB Frank and Dirk Da Davo have been the creative forces that have made The Neon Judgement a household name in circles where musical narrow-mindedness is not considered a bonus. Emerging vibrant and violent from the small town Leuven near Brussels, in the early eighties, they started to build up their own sound. Considered, along with their Belgian peers Front 242, to be one of the original pioneering EBM bands, Neon Judgement fleshed out their herky-jerky rhythms with guitar and droning vocals.
Their early work combined low-fi technology and emotional sincerity to create a sound both warm and alienating that inspired today's artists like Tiga, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, Dave Clarke and Black Strobe. Tracks like The Fashion Party sound fresh even 20 years after their release, thus proving that these two Belgians have been way ahead of their time.
Now, 11 years after their last release, The Neon Judgement return with a brand new album. April 28th sees the release of Smack, a record that proves the relevancy of their presence on today's music scene. Here's a band that is still angry - song titles like The Great Consumer, Leash and Smack! live up to their promise - and, most of all, still vintage Neon Judgement: recognisable yet firmly rooted in the new century, brawly and without compromise yet swinging and hopeful. It's good to know they're there.
Shimmering streams of chiming guitar cascade over deep, dark undercurrents of bass and drums … it’s a unique sound born in the drizzle of Manchester, England, and raised in the sunshine of Huntington Beach, California, as were twins Joe and Luke McGarry who head up indie pop outfit Pop Noir.
Sons of an artist who designed record sleeves for such Mancunian luminaries as Joy Division, Slaughter & The Dogs and Jilted John, and played in bands alongside the likes of Primal Scream’s Toby Toman and Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio, the McGarry brothers were weaned on the post-punk sounds that emanated from the North West of England in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Echoes of the era’s influence can be heard in the music that Joe and Luke create: hook-laden songs that delight in dragging indie rock out on the dance floor for a whirl. The first thing that comes to mind when listening to their tunes is New Order. 'Nuff said...
Visit Pop Noir on MySpace for a taste of pop at its most infectious and stay tuned for their forthcoming EP.
I've been a fan of Los Angeles 4-piece War Tapes for a while now (check my older post here) and I was more than delighted to hear that they are putting out their debut album next month. Featuring a bunch of new songs plus remastered versions of older tracks, The Continental Divide is set for a May 26th release on Sarathan Records. As a gift to fans the band is offering the brilliantly reworked Dreaming Of You (which made it into my Top 3 tunes for March) as a free download. Think of it as The Cure meets Interpol meets White Lies minus the gloom.
Visit War Tapes on MySpace to listen to even catchier tunes and buy their self-titled EP before it sells out!
LACRIMOSA counts to the worldwide most successful and most respected acts of the alternative music scene. Over the years the band released 9 studio albums, two live double albums, several singles, VHS and DVDs. In the German Media Control charts her albums place themselves in the foremost ranks. A collaboration with London Symphony Orchestra, Co-headliner from Marilyn Manson, sold off tours in Europe, Middle-, South America and Asia are only some highlights in her musical career.
After 4 years comes now "Sehnsucht" (longing) the long expected 10th studioalbum, which will be released on May 8th 2009. Why longing – longing is one of those powerful emotions that enable the individual to develop and to feel – not without reason has LACRIMOSA sung of it in various situations in the past. If, on the other hand, one wishes to consider the subject in all its facets, if one wishes to take it as the focus of attention and examine it from all sides, more is needed than the mere mention of the word itself. And this is the way this album has been put together: in ten compositions, ten facets of longing are put to music.
Pennsylvanian electro-rockers Patrick Nissley (vocals, programming), Kris Barman (guitar, synths, programming), Jesse Cronan (sampling, synths, vocals) and Jared Piccone (drums) decided to join forces and form InnerPartySystem in 2006. With a band name loosely derived from the Orwellian classic 1984 don't expect sunny and upbeat tunes but be prepared for a hummable throb of synth-heavy, melodramatic, emoish dance rock.
IPS have a distinctive vision as their songs incorporate electronic beats that nod towards Pendulum, The Chemical Brothers and Squarepusher but also the melodic and aggressive energy that’s not far from what you’d find in Nine Inch Nails,Julien-K or even hardcore punk. Add to that some influence by The Killers and Shiny Toy Guns and you get the picture.
Their self-titled debut (2008) reeks of talent and shows a band with great potential. Hefty dance grooves, soaring guitars, emotive vocals and heavy synths are perfectly mixed, thus creating an undeniable energy destined to bring havoc to any dance floor cloaked in black. Fans of White Lies should really check them out.
The quartet is now putting out a new single filled with unreleased tracks, so head over to their MySpace page for more info and tour dates.
Three days ago I was sitting in my office in the Navy bored to death as usual (still 1 month to go), when it struck me; how about making a new mash-up to pass the time? Being creative is way better than peeling potatoes or moping the floor, isn't? So I immediately got down to work.
Since my last mash-up effort turned into an electro banger (Metallica vs. Black Strobe), I decided to change genre and see if I could get away with drum & bass. Still affected by The Cure gig in London, the idea of messing around with Robert Smith and Co. came naturally, but I still had to find another track to fiddle with. Luckily, a few minutes later I read about Bloc Party's forthcoming remix album and that was it. Why not make my own bootleg remix, I wondered. Thus A Prayer In The Forest was born. Give it a listen and send me your comments. You can also check out my previews mashups, too.
BTW if you feel like making your own Bloc Party mash-up, head over to www.blocparty.com. These Brits are offering the parts of Signs, Ares and Ion Square as a free download for your remixing pleasure.
1/4 The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build A Home Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge Lady Gaga - Poker Face (Acoustic Version) Metric - Help I'm Alive (Acoustic) Florence And The Machine - Girl With One Eye Tori Amos - Welcome To England Bang Gang - Stop In The Name Of Love O+S - Lonely Ghosts
2/4 The Ballet - I Hate The War Psapp - Mister Ant Mike Flowers Pops - Venus As A Boy Death Cab For Cutie - Talking Bird (Demo) Harlem Shakes - Unhurried Hearts (Passaic Pastoral) The Main Drag - Take Them Down VV Brown - Leave! Malajube - Porte Disparu
3/4 Animal Collective - My Girls Little Boots - Stuck On Repeat The Freemasons - Heartbreak /Make Me A Dancer (feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor) Ladytron - Tomorrow Patrick Wolf - Vulture Dolly Parton - Jolene (Jonathron Remix) The Killers - Four Winds
4/4 Beirut - My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille Fever Ray - Seven Uh Huh Her - Common Reaction PJ Harvey & John Parish - Black Hearted Love Gomez - Airstream Driver The Marches - Cold Shoulder Rod Thomas - Same Old Lines
I was gonna give you naked people. But this is funnier.
Yesterday at midnight was the World Premiere of Tori's Amos new video for 'Welcome to England',
the first single of her forthcoming 10th studio album 'Abnormally Attracted to Sin', which is going to be released on may 19th.
The Prodigy are going to release Warrrior's Dance, the next single from their No.1 album Invaders Must Die on May 11th, 2009. The artwork and full track listing of the remixes will be revealed next week, but the video has just been premiered on MySpace and it looks great!
The band is currently invading Europe with more US tour dates to follow. The final UK date is Saturday April 18th at Brixton Academy and Liam has promised to drop a couple of old tunes for the lucky bastards who will make it on that day. Visit theprodigy.com, vote from the following list and you'll get to hear the two most requested tracks on the night.
RHYTHM OF LIFE / WIND IT UP / GIRLS / THE HEAT THE ENERGY / MESCALINE / BREAK N ENTER / NO GOOD
My vote would certainly go to Break And Enter and Rhythm Of Life ;-)
The Foxglove Hunt is an electro-pop duo from Phoenix featuring Rob Withem (formerly of Fine China) and Ronnie Martin (Joy Electric). Formed in 2006, the band’s first release came out on a 3.5 floppy disc - I guess their future singles should be released in USB format :-P
Anyway, their debut full length Stop Heartbeat followed last year, and we're talking about a record filled with synth textured chambers and dance-pop beats. These blokes are huge fans of the 80's New Wave movement and electro-pop outfits and it shows as they are definitely channeling Bernard Sumner and Co. Culling from influences from New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Tears For Fears and even The Cure (I know, you saw that one coming from a mile away :-P), The Foxglove Hunt manage to produce upbeat and danceable tracks destined to make your day and leave a smile upon your face. At least all the necessary elements are there: catchy electronic beats, dreamy synths and high-pitched, breathy boy vocals.
With all this '80s nostalgia revival that is evident in today's music, especially due to The Killers and their peers, one can only wonder why The Foxglove Hunt haven't make it big yet. I mean, just look at the hype surrounding bands like Cut Copy and Empire Of The Sun. The Phoenix duo runs circles around them! This is one of the rare times I listen to an album and dig ALL of its tracks! So what are you waiting for? Visit The Foxglove Hunt on MySpace now!
In late 2004, the future members of Blacklist were disenthralled. Living in the supposed capital of bohemian pleasure, these New Yorkers watched in disgust as independent music became an orgy of similarity, lawmakers banned smoking in bars, and the Republican National Convention came triumphantly to midtown. Fashion set the rules for the art world and philosophy had become little more than a cynical slacker's hobby. It was in this atmosphere that Blacklist was born.
Inspired by groups such as The Comsat Angels, The Manic Street Preachers, Suede, The Sound and For Against, Blacklist is simultaneously celebratory and melancholy, replacing the hysterical protest song of the 20th century with anthems for a new generation weaned on amusement and starved for confrontation. In today's world of faith-based violence, global disjuncture and volatile identity politics, they create the soundtrack to an explosive resistance. The snide refusal of nihilism makes a loud and heavy romantic sound.
Download the Blacklist EP, MP3s, videos, DJ sets, and other exclusive content for FREE by subscribing to the Blacklist Podcast.
The Maccabees are an indie rock band from Brighton, England. Debuting in 2004 with the You Make Noise, I Make Sandwiches EP, they scored a minor indie hit in 2006 with the post-punk influenced single Latchmere before inking a deal with the Polydor imprint (and former home of The Cure) Fiction Records.
