Category: Music News

While London’s The Last Skeptik is well known among hip hop heads across the UK, with his latest compilation ‘Same Day Different Shit’ he has announced his mainstream intentions. This is not to deride the albums content, but rather to celebrate the young producer’s potential to create chart destined hits in the near future.

Take his remix of Marina & The Diamonds’ Mowgli Road, already receiving airtime from the likes Huw Stephens and Rob Da Bank, and for good reason. The tracks original vocal takes on a new setting, thriving amongst a clever mixture of dirty electronics and hip hop beats.

Elsewhere Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly guests on a remix of Eslam Jawaad’s Star Spangled Banner, and is also remixed earlier on the disk. This unpredictable choice of source material works in Skeptik’s favour, as he hops from genre to genre, re-working tracks both popular and unknown. So don’t be surprised to find UK chart regulars The Streets and Daniel Merriweather, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Loudmouth Melvin and hip hop superstar The Game.

Instead of clicking “play track”, check out the aforementioned re-working of Marina & The Diamond’s Mowgli’s Road, to sample The Last Skeptik doing what he does best:

Sleekly Brian

Dutch D&B masters Noisia have announced they will release new single Machine Gun on March 8th.

The track, which is definitely an ear-drum blower-outer, is taken from their upcoming debut album Split The Atom which is due for release on April 5th. The single comes with remixes from Spor, 16 Bit and Amon Tobin. Watch out for these guys in 2010, they’re gonna be rampaging!

Check out the video below for Contact, a track they produced for Foreign Beggars, it’s a lot!

Placebo are releasing their new single Bright Lights on February 8th and recently set the Making Of the video for the track live online.

Check it out below:

Having just released a pretty awesome limited edition vinyl of their Ginuwine cover in the UK, Far have presented their public with a unique animated fan-made video that accompanies the track. Check out the unique visual accompaniment below.

The Smoking Hearts will release their debut album Pride of Nowhere on the 8th March.

The band, who has opened shows for the likes of Gallows and The Misfits, recorded the record in Bedfordshire with Nick Mailing (Quireboys / Trashlight Vision) and Russ Russell (Napalm Death / The Wildhearts).

The Smoking Hearts have offered up the first taste of the album for free in exchange for your place on their mailing list. Check out album track George Street Wrestling here.

Intense new London band March of The Raptors have been quietly building a name for themselves. Their music is far from quiet, being an energetic blend of thrash and hardcore which they unleash on audiences at their frenetic live shows.

Featuring former members of Fireapple Red, Adequate Seven, *shels, Mahumodo, Devil Sold His Soul and Smoking Hearts, these guys are definitely ones to watch in 2010. Rock Sound said so after all. Already sharing stages with the likes of Devil Sold His Soul, Shaped By Fate, Hexes, Me Vs Hero and Manatees, they will be touring in 2010 to support the release of their eponymously titled mini-album which is out on 22nd March.

A mouth-watering clip of ‘Grace of God’ can be heard at here.

Forthcoming shows:

Tuesday 16th March – Old Blue Last, London (with Blakfish)
Friday 9th April – Camden Underworld, London (with This Is A Standoff)

Independent hip hop label Def Jux have announced the company will be on hiatus in regards to new releases. The New York label co created by El-P will step back from releasing new music, as the company “re-invents” itself in the changing music climate.

The labels website will continue to function in terms of news and sales of its back catalogue, but the late Camu Tao’s King of Hearts, and a ten year anniversary retrospective are the final scheduled releases.

Meanwhile El-P continues to work on his forthcoming album, tentatively titled Cancer for the Cure.

Male Bonding’s much anticipated debut record will be released on 11th May this year. The album is set to be released through Sub Pop and will be titled Nothing Hurts.

Recorded in Autumn last year Nothing Hurts was mixed and mastered by Pete Lyman, and features Vivian Girls on its final song. Check out the full tracklist below;

1. Year’s Not Long
2. All Things This Way
3. Your Contact
4. Weird Feelings
5. Franklin
6. Crooked Scene
7. TUFF
8. Nothing Remains
9. Nothing Used to Hurt
10. Pirate Key
11. Paradise Vendors
12. Pumpkin
13. Worst to Come (feat. Vivian Girls)

Having already been confirmed to play at this year’s ATP curated by Matt Groening, Cold Cave have announced their plan to play a selection of UK dates around the festival.

The band will also be releasing a new 12” version of Life Magazine around that time, backed with guest remixes that are marked top secret for now.

Cold Cave will play;

May

7th – All Tomorrows Parties (curated by Matt Groening), Minehead Butlins
8th – Nation Of Shopkeepers, Leeds
9th – Captains Rest, Glasgow
10th – Deaf Institute, Manchester
12th – Cargo, London
13th – Great Escape Festival, Brighton