16 posts tagged “uk”

Well I may have been living in a musical hole lately but one thing just struck me; regardless of the Hip, Rock, Synth, Electro or just Cheesy prefixes, there's a hell of a lot of British Pop acts around right now, and they appear to be taking over the charts left right and center. Well, inbetween Jacko that is.

Almost Top of the Pops right now is young 'un La Roux. Here she is trying to recreate the 80s pop sound again, in a suitably VCR quality vid of her Glastonbury appearance not too long ago.

Then there's BBC's Sound Of 2009 postergirl Little Boots, who gets my vote for best Glasto outfit. The hairdo ain't bad either. What? The music?! Erm... you decide. EDIT: Well that didn't last long. Well done BBC, ruining the promotion of artists once more... Here's the promo then: I passed on chart darlings The Ting Tings until I heard Mrs Ting speak. Jesus she sounds more of a northern lass than I do. Which isn't quite right... But anyways, I promised to post some so here they are in all their delay pedal glory:

And I better post this before I feck it up so... more to come in a few mins.
Ooook... and resume. Lily Allen. Love her or, more likely, hate her, Pop's current front woman can hardly be ignored. So hear you go. I'd post some of her Glasto appearance but I think we've had enought of 5 Kbps video for one post... So here's the official vid for "The Fear".
You didn't think I'd get through a post without writing about one person you've never heard of, did you? Well thanks to the BBC's current video-article on the UK Club Pop scene - today it's Dan Black and his current single that should probably be harrassing the charts much more than it is right now. It's not like it's the wrong genre or anything...

And how can I leave without a nod to yet another decent band to come out of sleepy University town Aberystwyth - The Hot Puppies. Luckily these lot were around while I was doing my degree, so I actually got to see these lot play for once. I'm sure I've posted about them here before but can't find the video so... And I've no idea what they're doing now, but Wikipedia suggest... I hate to be rude but... much Sleeper-esque inbreeding going on ;o) Oh those dirty dirty puppies. Anyways, I'm not sure they're not quite as poppy as the above but what can you do? And I swear I've posted this vid before... where is it? Vu? You didn't steal it again did you? Update: I forget the Noisettes' current gift to the advertising gods - Don't Upset The Rhythm.

So that's it. Is the UK pop scene back to full force? Or just a pop in the pan? In true DiS style... Discuss. Below. Somewhere. If you can find the button...

- Christpopher

Another case of other less important things getting in the way. I first received this album in *cough* April. I've been a bit selfish haven't I?

Never fear, the people in my office do get to hear it, be it recycled through my brain and translated into sallyvoice.

Impossible, is the debut album by Bristol band, Bronze Age Fox. For starters, individually the tracks are diverse, but also as a whole, the album is quite different from anything I've heard. I see names like Simian, Boo Radleys and Phoenix being batted about and I can see where they're coming from, but I wouldn't say the similarities are exact.

I'm quite enjoying the mellowness of it all. The jangly synth sounds, especially in Denizens Of The Deep and Pinstripe. The track that most closely resembles hard-ish rock is Hidden Track, but it's still quite mellow with lovely lady backing vocals. Bouncy, pretty, poppy, perfect dancing material.

Is it bad that the very beginning of the track You Wouldn't Want Me To Lie makes me picture Mr G from a certain Summer Heights High? Well it does. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about, right? ok. However, after the first few bars, after I've gotten that image out of my head, the song steers away from the effeminate male drama teacher sound to a more hearty and textured song.

Some interesting facts about these guys:

• The NME described them as “possibly our (UK’s) classiest leftfield pop band”
• A previous release in the form of a compilation album of some of their singles was cunningly called ‘Compilation’.
• David Edwards (drummer and programmer) has received very critical acclaim for his solo side project, Minotaur Shock.
• Dominic Jones (singer) has been "singing like a girl" as electronic artist Red Setter.
• Thom Stone (guitar) has been kept busy trying to keep Amy Winehouse out of trouble as her tour manager.
• Will Edwards (bass) has been playing bass for Minotaur Shock (his brother) on his live jaunts.

 

Overall, if we're talking opinions, I think Bronze Age Fox are brilliant. I'd crank this and do some serious vacuuming any day... or better still... spending an hour or so laying in a park in the sun listening via personal music device (as i type this on a cold raining wintery night)... Bliss.

See more?
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bronzeagefox
SVC Records: http://svcrecords.co.uk/

You can get your hands on Impossible via their MySpace and the SVC records pages.



Sally
sally@weheartmusic.com

KILL IT KID
killitkid.com ♥ myspace.com/killitkid

Kill it Kid is a fairly new band from London, formed only about a year ago. I got a note today that they're heading out on tour and then supporting Brandi Carlile in August - just in time for their release of their new 4-track single Burst Its Banks.

With themes on "Heaven Never Seemed So Close", "Burst Its Bank", and "Send Me An Angel Down", I get the impression that they're heavily influenced by religion. Combining a weird blend of southern blues, with rock, and with that struggling vocals from Chris Turpin - this should be an interesting band to watch out as they develope.

There is one song on the EP that's a bit of a gem for me, it's called "Private Idaho" (I'm assuming this was named after the movie?). The acoustic song is short and sweet and sung by, I think, Stephanie Ward. It just really stood out because the other three songs have Turpin on vocals, and suddenly this woman started singing on this song. Which also means this song sounds nothing like their other songs, that it wouldn't be such a great song to represent them.

You can grab their teaser single, "Send Me An Angel Down" on their record label, Indian. Look for Burst Its Bank and forthcoming album in the coming months.

PS, I quite like the cover for Burst Its Banks. I believe the art is by David Gibbons (not to be confused with Dave "Watchmen" Gibbons), whose style reminds me a lot of Paul Pope.

Ze! - I Am Glam Ze! Tour Dates 06/26/09 tbc Berlin 06/27/09 Ghetto Noize (with GoldieLocks) Zurich 06/27/09 tbc Zurich 06/28/09 Kinki Mag interview @ Soul*sol (kinkimag.com) Zurich 07/01/09 @ Villa Berlin 07/03/09 Bangers & Mash @ Proud, Camden (postponed!) London 07/10/09 Hot Cheese Crew ARN Gallery Kassel 07/11/09 tbc Berlin 07/15/09 Fantasio @ Korsakoff Amsterdam 07/17/09 tbc Delft 07/18/09 LoveDance Festival (with Don Diablo, Jessica 6 of Hercules & Love Affair, Wannabe a Star, and more!) Spaarnwoude 11/30/09 Zigfrid Von Underbelly (Art Bar, East London) London

ZE!
zebrainpink.com ♥ myspace.com/zebrainpink

When bands submit one or two songs, we generally just ignore them. We seem to get a lot of demos, remixes, or a random b-side from a 6-track EP (talk about odd). And I would've ignored Ze! altogether, if not for her funky MIA-esque look.

You know that saying, "never judge a book by its cover"? It doesn't apply here, she's what you'll expect, and that's not a bad a thing. I mean it would be awful if it turned out she was singing polka or something (which actually now that I think about it, that would sound cool).

Ze! (pronounced "zay"), according to her biography is influenced by (who else?) MIA, Santigold, Yelle and Peaches (whom, for one year I saw saw her and Gonzales play four times at different dates). Her background is from television commercials, before venturing to rapper then to hip hop/drum 'n bass.

It said she's released a full length, Shameless, in 2005 and an EP in 2003, but those releases sounds very different than her current music. And currently, "I am Glam" and "Hello Disco" are both excellent electroclash dance songs. The lyrics are simple and not to mention catchy ("I am glam, glam is what I am" and "take me to the disco/bring me to the disco") which suits this style of music. You're not really concern with what she's singing, only that it sounds good (however "Disco" sounds deep in some parts).

I think Ze! has a lot of potential, but people might be turned off by the MIA-crazy-outfits-look. You can pick up her latest songs from popcuts.com. She's doing some live dates through the UK.

Longtime readers to W♥M will note how we really love Sia (I reviewed Some People Have Real Problems, Gus wrote Zero 7, and Christopher thinks Sia sounds like Kimya Dawson). When I heard that latest release will be a live DVD called TV Is My Parent (to be released next week, May 19^th on Monkey Puzzle Records/Hear Music), I had to get my hands on this for review.

Sia - Academia 1 comment Destiny 6 comments

Looking over the setlist from this show, I recognize most of these songs from her later works, from her recent album and her collaborations with Zero 7 (check out "Destiny"!) to Colour the Small One (the crowded loved "Sunday"!).

The entire one hour show, includes a "pretend encore" encore (The Zero 7 song, "Distractions"), was shot at the Hiro Ballroom in NYC on September 12^th, 2007. I think they were just finishing up Some People Have Real Problems around this time, so you do hear some of her new songs on this DVD release ("Academia", "Day Too Soon", and "You Have Been Loved" to name a few).

The DVD opens up with the hidden-track from Problems called "Buttons". Combining "crude" child-like drawings with neon fluorescent colors (an wonderfully catchy song to boot) it was really hard to top that. Although I will confess that "The Girls You Lost To Cocaine" came very close.

The best part of the show was when Sia pulled a tooth out of her bra shortly before "Breathe Me". The tooth was from her guitarist, who had the tooth taken out the previous night. What I took out of this is what a strange creature Sia is. She's like this child, keeping a tooth close to her chest the whole time!

Sia and company seems at ease on stage, not at all nervous. They knew the show was being filmed, but you get the impression that Sia welcomes this. The video editing by director Nic Wrathall and 5.1 surround sound are excellent. I'm just surprise it took them this long to get the whole thing together as a DVD release. I don't think there is a bluray version, but seeing as it was shot in high-definition, I wouldn't be surprise if they decide to release a bluray version later on.


The special features includes four official music videos, including the wonderful "Soon We'll Be Found" video. The rest of the features is Sia and friends recording random "Behind the Scenes" snippets. These bits aren't very long, but it gives you a glimpse to the band and what they're like on tour. It's really meant for hardcore fans as it will just seem boring to casual fans... But if you do decide hunt for the eastereggs, try and find "pushups for shots" videos. I love hearing "Too easy, mate! Too easy!", followed by Sia's pushups.

For those wondering, the complete song listing is here:

SETLIST
1. Buttons
2. Little Black Sandals
3. Lentil
4. Day Too Soon
5. Sunday
6. Destiny
7. Breathe Me
8. Electric Bird
9. You Have Been Loved
10. Academia
11. The Girls You Lost To Cocaine
12. Distractions

Be sure to pick up the DVD next Tuesday, fans who pre-order TV is My Parent gets a chance to get their DVD autographed by Sia, herself. It's quite limited, only 10 will win.

Can't get enough of Sia? She recently released an exclusive iTunes live EP called Sydney. It's seven tracks from her in-store performance at the Apple Store in Sydney, Australia, and it's available now for $7.

 10/05/2008 14:19:02  ♥ written by vu ()

The truth is, I am (or was) a huge Oasis fan. Back in the day when the single Supersonic hit our college radio station, KFSR 90.7 FM, I knew this band was special. Of course, all the press (NME, Melody Maker, etc) was already "mad for it" as they say.

They were perhaps the biggest hyped band, next to Suede, at the time.

I had requested to interview and see Oasis in Sacramento, and at the time no one knew who they were (at least in the US). Of course, I couldn't understand a word that came out of Liam's mouth. I think he said something like "becos I'm the fookin' singer, yea?"

(note: the cover artwork for "Slide Away", one of my favorite Oasis song, has all the band member's autographs - including the rare Noel Gallagher who refused to sign my copy at first.)

By the way, no one recognized Liam, sitting outside the venue (I forget what venue it was), and he and Bonehead was outside smoking and talking to random audiences that came to see the band. Such a different picture now, isn't it? Now you can't even go near them with a ten-foot pole.

Oh and it was such an exciting time, remember the beef between Oasis and Blur? Oasis was "working class" from the north, representing the everyman... and that one time they both release their single at the same time. Oasis and Blur fans were both divided in the middle, you either love Oasis or Blur.

I will confess, I was a bit of a rocker back then, so it was Oasis for me. As it turned out, Blur did end up winning over Oasis with 274,000 copies of "Country House", just about 50k over Oasis' "Roll with It".

Say what you will, it was good publicity, I don't know if an average album even move that many units these days, let alone a single.

By the time Oasis came back for (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, they were selling out near-Stadium shows. I did went to see them in San Francisco and I remember having to borrow someone's bionocular to see Liam on stage. Oh man, when they broke out their "I Am the Walrus" cover, everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was belting out their best Beatles "cuckoocachoo!".

I won't go into more details about my relationship with Oasis, but I wasn't so impress with Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, Heathen Chemistry, Don't Believe the Truth. There are some outstanding songs on each of the albums, but let's just say I wasn't really into it as I should.

So what do we have here, Oasis is releasing Dig Out Your Soul this coming Tuesday (Monday for UK, October 6^th).

I see that Noel Gallagher have soften his grip on Oasis and have let his brother Liam and others write and contribute songs to the new album. I know he slowly started letting the other band members contribute songs, if you recall Liam's "Little James" on the Standing record (which I actually will admit to not liking that song).

On this record, I see that Gem and Andy contributed some songs (they've been doing it since Heathen).

I thought the relationship of the two Gallagher (one writes, the other sings) worked best. I don't normally like Noel doing the singing (he sounds like he tries too hard), but I really love "Falling Down" on the new record. I think Noel is one of the best song writer, even his lyrics on this one have improved from his early days.

If you like Oasis, it doesn't really matter, you'll probably buy the CD anyway. They are offering a very expensive package Super Deluxe Boxset for $99 that comes with 2 CD, 1 DVD, 4 Vinyls, a hardback book in a box, and digital downloads. As much as I love Oasis, that price is too ridiculous for me right now - but if this was available in 1994, I would've slap down my Benjamin for this.

Oasis is about to set out on tour, go a head and see them. Bring binoculars.

 09/23/2008 08:36:42  ♥ written by randy ()

Tour Dates Discography

Let It Slip EP (Jun 2008) CD-EP

All I Wanna Do (Apr 2008) 7" Single

I regularly get unsolicited "friend requests" from bands on Myspace, but I rarely like any of their music. I always listen to their songs and give them a chance, but it seems more "miss" than "hit". In the case of The School, however, it was love at first listen... I was blown away.

The School is a six-piece band from Cardiff, Wales (UK). The current members are Liz (vocals, keyboards), Ryan (bass), Joshua (drums), Ceri (guitar, vocals), Steph (violin, vocals), and Harri (guitar/glock/vocals/percussion). They were signed to Elefant Records (Spain) in the Summer of 2007 after performing only four shows. Early this year they released their first single on 7" vinyl, titled "All I Wanna Do". Their first E.P., "Let It Slip", was released this summer.

If you give their songs a listen, it will become quite obvious they're heavily influenced by 1960's motown and girl-groups. Their songs are upbeat and catchy without being mindlessly cute or "twee". It's likely that anyone who likes Camera Obscura will find it easy to to like their labelmates The School. They could also be compared to other 60's-influenced bands such as The Pipettes, Belle and Sebastian, and Lucky Soul.

The song I'm attaching here is the title track from the "Let It Slip" E.P. Containing four outstanding songs, this E.P. is well worth the purchase. The standout track for me is "I Want You Back"... it's the type of song that gets stuck in your head for days, and won't leave you complaining about it for even one second. I imagine they'll be releasing a full-length album at some point, and if their two releases so far are any indication, it's going to be nothing short of fantastic.

 07/09/2008 08:24:50  ♥ written by vu ()

Bearsuit Records is a small label based in Leith, a part of North Edinburgh, Scotland. Vu covered their compilation A Weevil in a Biscuit back in January. One of the artists featured on that compilation was Harold Nono.

Harold Nono graduated from Edinburgh Art College with a painting degree. Listening to his third release on Bearsuit Records, To the River Lounge, his degree is quite fitting. The album sounds like layers of paint, juxtaposed, and organized in his own unique way. It opens with "Lullaby", a downtempo track that features a woman's voice singing over a head-jerkin drumbeat. The following track "A Shining Space" reminds me of some creepy Japanese horror film like Ju-on. Next is "Rain" and it makes me feel like I'm floating above a body of water on a beautiful sunny day. "Waterspeakers" brings the listener back to the water and features bells of some sort and a looping hum that sound like waves. Later in the album, "Tacky Tigers" comes and sweeps you out of the water and into a fairy-tale with its glistening flutes and innocent and playful tone. To the River Lounge is truly a great album and different from what I normally listen to and post on W♥M.

For more information on Harold Nono and/or purchase the album, visit his site or Bearsuit Records.

 04/18/2008 23:41:50  jason my♥posts myspace.com/haroldnono myspace.com/bearsuitrecords