Late of the Pier

As you can tell from my top lists, I do have a thing for electronica/dance, so it should be no surprise to you that I have love for Astralwerks Records. The label is home to some of the best and most well-known bands/DJs, including Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, Röyksopp, Air, Beth Orton, just to name a few.

Astralwerks' latest release is Fantasy Black Channel from the band Late of the Pier, based out of Castle Donington, England. Now the band had already a few very limited singles on WayOutWest Records (the owner also run an all-ages club of the same name) before being picked up by major label Parlophone Records.

UK fans have already been enjoying Fantasy Black Channel since last August, but the US version is finally available today (January 13^th). The album did extremely well in the UK, Guardian Arts calls it "Review of the Year", NME put it #18 on "Albums of the Year", Mixmag's #5 "Albums of the Year" - well you get the idea. There's a huge buzz for the band.

So if you've waited this long to get the US version of the album, I'm happy to report that US version is that it contains two extra tracks, "Very WAV" and "The Bears Are Coming (Emperor Machine Remix)", while the iTunes version contain those two tracks and an additional exclusive track, "Heartbeat (Hot Chip Mix)". I don't have any of those songs on my review copy, but I can tell you that "Heartbeat" is pretty good, so the Hot Chip Mix couldn't make it worst.

Anyway, I checked their myspace and it doesn't look like they're doing much promotion in the US, at least not currently, but I suspect that will change once they wrap up their UK tour dates through February. Edit: Yes, there will be a US Spring Tour according to this, stay tuned.

So unlike Astralwerks' techno/electronica that they're known for, Late of the Pier doesn't really fit in. There are elements of synth and tech-music, but their music is more like new wave - especially with the deep, deep north-ish British vocals of Samuel Eastgate (aka Samuel Dust). Their sound and vocals are often compared to Gary Numan, which I'll have to say I agree with.

My favorite song on the album is "Space and the Woods", their first song they wrote and released. I haven't heard the original mix, but the album version is the Cenzo Townshend Mix, which appeared as the main track on their re-released of Space and Woods in 2008.

Other songs worth checking out is "Broken", originally appearing on the Kitsune Maison 5 Compilation. The version that appears on the album has an extended non sense experimental-sounding bit at the end, which I can appreciate, but personally, I could use without the extra noise.

Another fun song is "Focker", which sounds as it's spelled. The lyrics said he wants to be your friend, but you know otherwise. I'm actually kind of disappointed that they didn't say "focker" in the song.

If you like odd bits and sounds (a toy piano on "Random Firl" with pots and pans?) and generally having a fun time ("so put your hands on your waistline and move your body to the bassline" from "Bathroom Gurgle"), you'll love dancing to this album.

Fantasy Black Channel can be purchased at any decent record store, as well as digitally. I recommend getting the US version for the bonus tracks (see details above) and checking them out live when they tour here, as I think they're probably best experienced live based on their songs.

UPDATE 1/20/09: I just receive this image about the US release of their album.