Superstar DJs here we go! Prolific Philidelphia soundmachine ?uestlove will be taking his extensive experience to London’s East Village for a monsterous three hour DJ set on September 11th.
The DJ has worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, Common, De La Soul, Al Green and J-Dilla to name but a few. In his three hour blend expect a variety of beat treats from vast realms of funk, hip-hop and soul. He will be supported by Spin Doctor and Eric Lau.
Illinois-based rock duo Tweak Bird have announced that their self-titled debut album will be released on August 30th.
The album has been reported to have been recorded in under a week and has drawn strong evocations of sixties psychadelic notions of space travel joined by a sound as heavy as Black Sabbath but catchier and poppier than you might expect.
The tracklist is as follows…
1: The Future
2: Lights In Lines
3: Round Trippin’
4: A Sun / Ahh Ahh
5: Beyond
6: Tunneling Through
7: Sky Ride
8: Hazement In The Basement
9: Flyin’ High
10: Distant Airways
New York’s most reknowned gypsy punks Gogol Bordello have posted a rad new video for ‘Pala Tute‘ that’s as fun as the similarly half-animated half-parading video for Modest Mouse’s ‘Float On’.
See below for the new video and keep reading for the dates the band will be playing on their recently announced UK tour this winter.
26th November – O2 Academy, Liverpool
27th November – Leeds University, Leeds
28th November – UK Dome, Brighton
15th December – HMV Forum, London
16th December – HMV Forum, London
Birds And Planes
Friends Vs Records
myspace.com/dinosaurpileup
This is the first single from Dinosaur Pile-Up’s forthcoming album ‘Growing Pains’. ‘Birds And Planes’ is a tightly wound ball of energy, fuelled mainly by a stonking great riff and some huge hooky melodies. Both catchy and heavy in all the right places and all the right doses, this track has been making headway in the notoriously difficult-to-crack world of music radio. And rightly so. There are no frills here, just honest, straight-up songwriting skills. If you’re after a summer anthem, you need look no further. Matt Bigland’s assured vocals are backed up by an astoundingly massive wall of sound, especially considering this is music from a three-piece setup. Yes, it’s a little bit Foo Fighters, a little bit Nirvana, but ultimately, DPU have breathed new life into an otherwise stagnant genre and created something that, whilst it may not be overflowing with absolute originality, is essentially exhilarating and exuberant.
‘Birds And Planes’ is a slice of catchy rock music that’s not setting out to change the world but is aiming to bring a smile to people’s faces and incite them to sing along with glee. If this single is any indication of what is to come with their album, it’s a record that’s going to be in contention to make many ‘Best of 2010’ lists.
The band are set to hit the road in October prior to the album’s release on 4th October and, assuming they can recreate the massiveness of this single in the live arena, you’re going to want to check them out.
You can listen to the single and download B-side ‘Headspinner’ at www.dinosaurpileup.com.
Winey G
One of the tightest crews in hip-hop are celebrating Paper Tiger’s fantastic new album ‘Made Like Us‘ in style with a fun skate session music video for ‘2nd Day Back‘.
The Minneapolis collective are out in full-force dicking around on the shralp stick to some slick beats, featuring a cameo appearence from the cat-eating alien extraordinaire, Alf. Awesome. Look at it below.
Treats
N.E.E.T.
myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic
A few things you should probably know about Sleigh Bells, if you haven’t already been over-exposed to the details of their being.
This one immediately became an office favourite. Stupidly over-hyped – if you haven’t heard the music itself yet you might be reluctant to give into the craze – but the truth is that this album rocks. ‘Treats’ is a pretty apt title as each track is a nugget of raucous beats and riffs, topped off with some alternately sugary-sweet and military-like shouting vocals from Alexis Krauss. Widely touted as electro or noise-pop or some sort of combination between the words electro, noise, pop and rock, it’s kind of difficult to decide whether Sleigh Bells are more rock-fuelled or more electronic-oriented. They tread the line between the two influences very well indeed. ‘Straight A’s’ in particular is a flurry of fuzzy loud guitar riffs that could only really fall into the rock spectrum of genre classification. This is followed up with ‘A/B Machines’ which incorporates a jangly guitar riff with uber-repetitive vocals and some siren-type noises and clap-like beats.
Throughout the album, programmed bleeps and beats are coupled with Derek Miller’s crunching guitar riffs. One of the main things to hook you in is the damn hypnotic effect of repetitive rhythms in Sleigh Bells’ music. Where in some music, repetition just makes for boredom, Sleigh Bells use it to great effect with the organized pattern of rhythms making their creations even more enthralling. With there being only two members of this outfit, and only one of them being responsible for all the instrumentals, it’s clear that the duo do rely a lot on programming and electronics to beef up their sound. I mean, their sound is pretty beefy. Not songwriting in the classical sense of the word but, however they’ve gone about making this music, it sounds fresh and original and, above all, makes for one of the most fun listens this year.
Winegums
As Pendulum go from strength to strength following the release of their number one album ‘Immersion‘ earlier this year, the drum and bass turned genre twisting beat rockers will be giving 2010 the explosive send off it deserves.
The group will be embarking on their biggest tour to date in December, hitting every major arena in the UK with special guests Hadouken!
The dates are as follows:
1st – Glasgow, Braehead Arena
2nd – Birmingham, NIA
3rd – London, Wembley Arena
4th – Nottingham, Trent FM Arena
7th – Bournemouth, BIC
8th – Manchester, Central
9th – Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
10th – Aberdeen, AECC
For a taste of what to expect, have a look at the teaser below. Exciting barely begins to cover it…
Shoreditch Park, London
24.07.2010
With the festival season now in full swing, it seems as though the country’s venues and fields are taking it in turns to host a myriad of different bands and events. This weekend was the turn of Shoreditch Park, which was the designated location for the increasingly popular 1-2-3-4 festival. As you might expect from a festival based in Shoreditch, the line-up draws largely from the trendier end of the indie spectrum, yet the event promised much variety for a modest ticket price.
After a morning of seeing bits and pieces, London’s A Grave with No Name is the first band to really impress. While the 1-2-3-4 festival certainly showcases a lot of insipid lo-fi jangle, AGWNN pack a little more muscle than some of their peers. The band rattles through a short set consisting of material from 2009’s Mountain Debris, with ‘Sofia’ in particular jumping out of their set as a highlight. There’s something of a slacker vibe about the band reminiscent of San Francisco’s Girls, but their songs carry a weight that is lost among many of their contemporaries.
Next up are the always entertaining Comanechi, who unsurprisingly live up to their reputation. Potty mouthed drummer Akiko Matsuura (also of The Big Pink) is on good form, sporting a giant gold bow to beautifully contrast the filthy angst of songs like ‘Revenge of My Pussy’. Closing their set with a rip roaring rendition of “Death of You”, the Comanechi prove that even on a slightly larger stage the band are able to hold their own admirably.
Moving over to the main stage there are highly anticipated performances from Californian surf punks Wavves, and Peter Hook performing Unknown Pleasures. Last time I saw the former act it was during their infamous meltdown at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival, but they have cleaned up their act a bit since then. This is partly down to frontman Nathan Williams employing a new rhythm section, which are both former members of the late Jay Reatard’s backing band. Even so, Wavves’ sound is mostly swallowed by the big stage, which devours many a band not used to its scale. ‘Hooky’, meanwhile, delivers precisely what you might expect from a bassist covering his former band’s once great songs. Perhaps the diehard Joy Division fans might enjoy this, but Hook’s dad rock posing feels completely removed from what made ‘Unknown Pleasures’ a special record.
While I had my doubts over the scheduling of Rolo Tomassi (one of the line-up’s relatively larger bands) on the festival’s smallest stage, having managed to cram myself into the tent it provided the day’s best moment. Tomassi have quite rightly earned themselves the reputation of one of the UK’s best live bands, but in this intimate setting they are simply electric. The set soon descends into a climbing competition, as members of the crowd follow the example of singer James Spence by scaling the central pole which supports the tent, before launching themselves into the baying audience below. While a dangerous piece of scheduling from festival organisers, this time it pays off and delivers something intimate and special.
Under normal circumstances such a storming set would be impossible to follow, but this year’s festival is headlined by the mighty Fucked Up. There are few bands that can bring off a hardcore show on a festival main stage, but frontman Damian ‘Pink Eyes’ Abraham takes the performance into all corners of the crowd. With his forehead cut open within minutes of the band arriving on stage (a record which Abraham seems continually attempting to better), there are a few frontman who can energise a crowd like this. Ending on old live favourite ‘Police’, Fucked Up provide a spectacular end to the festival, and a promise of much more come on the band’s imminent UK tour.
Sleekly Lion
Made Like Us
Doomtree Records
doomtree.net
Instrumental hip hop is a strange beast. For every DJ Shadow and RJD2, you get a thousand producers who sample an obvious record, loop it for three minutes and stick it on MySpace. When it’s done right however, there’s nothing quite like it and with this record Doomtree’s Paper Tiger has done it perfectly. When his False Hopes EP was released, he showcased his ability to render jaws well and truly dropped thanks to his smooth percussion and understated melodies so breath was certainly held when the announcement of his full-length debut was made.
The Cloquet 7” released around the Doomtree Blowout at the end of last year gave a great indication of what to expect with the tracks ‘2nd Day Back’ and ‘And The Camera’ both included on the album but it’s the third track on the record, ‘The Bully Plank’ that kicks the music into the highest gear. A piano introduction flows into drums and vocal sample that weave magically together to make every neck muscle bulge and force the head to nod. It may not be a club smash, but you’d be hard pressed to find a beat as catchy and instantly enjoyable as this in 2010.
There are vocalists on the album too, with fellow Minneapolis’ Maggie [of Digitata and Lookbook fame] providing the words on ‘The Painter’s Arm’ and Doomtree crew-mate Dessa lending her untouchable vocals to ‘Palace’, the standout track on the album with its dusty drums and twinkly melody winding its way around the singing as well as making an appearance on the aforementioned ‘And The Camera’ which started its life an instrumental. Even when listening in awe to Dessa’s singing, it’s the beat that takes charge with more use of pianos and crisp snare.
Heavier beats can be found on the album too, ‘The Ritual’’s lilting bassline and thunderous drums bouncing off the soulful vocal samples and the preceding track ‘The Tarrio’ also providing a sense of ominous foreboding punctuated with deep claps and legato strings. So, how to wrap up the album that offers so much depth and variety? ‘Cigana’ has beautiful strings and lifts off to place where the sun is setting and the sky has turned orange and pink and the final secret track is as “Paper Tiger” as a track can get, serene lulling vocals and almost reversed melodies, carrying the album to its peaceful end.
Mentioning Papes alongside such luminaries as Shadow and RJD2 could be a little eye-opening, but once Made Like Us has made its way through to the listener’s ears, there’s absolutely no doubting that this man belongs right alongside them. Never brash or in-your-face but always capable of evoking numerous emotions which cry out for the repeat button, Paper Tiger has released one of the albums of 2010.
Abjekt
A new festival is hitting Leeds this Autumn, the creative overload of Constellations…
The festival mixes the best of new music and art to the backdrop of three stages set in Leeds University.
Each stage will be based upon a seperate and unique theme and concept so this promises to be something very much worth your attendance… particularly given the sorts of bands who have just been announced to play the festival.
The event will take place on Sunday November 14th and the following bands have already been confirmed.
Broken Social Scene
Four Tet
Los Campesinos!
Les Savy Fav
Local Natives
More acts are to be announced soon but tickets went on sale today and can be purchased from here.
For more information head over to www.constellationsfestival.com