Qwel must be trying to win the “hardest worker in hip hop” title lately, as he’s got yet another record coming out.
The Galapagos 4 member has teamed up with Silence to bring out a limited CD called Nerdy which you can pick up for $18 if you live here in Blighty by emailing jeff@galapagos4.com. It’s going to be a very limited disc and won’t be around long so if you want it, hook it up yourself suckers!
To give you an idea of what to expect, here are 3 snippets from the album:
Nice and simple for this news story – Richie Cunning has put up a new track on his myspace which you can download.
Fun times will be had by all and dancing will occur in the streets. Something like that.
Hit up the link below for all the juicy goodness.
Every Time I Die have put a new song on their myspace site.
Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Battery is taken from their upcoming album called The Big Dirty which is scheduled for a September release through Ferret Records.
Click here to check out the new track.
Noise merchants The Locust have posted up a new video.
The video is for the track AOTKPTA and comes from their recently released album New Erections. And that’s basically that. Click here to view the video.
Scroobious Pip v Dan Le Sac
100 Club
13.06.07
The 100 club wasn’t packed by the time we got in there, but looking around showed a veritable who’s who of the grime and UK hip hop scene. Dotted around the venue were the likes of Sway [wearing his own merch], Skinnyman [who didn’t stop dancing], Fire Camp, Ghetto and more. My thoughts on Scroobious Pip can be viewed in my El-P review, and I’m sticking to my guns. He didn’t get a great response, which came as no surprise, and soon Bizzle took to the stage.
Alongside his hype man 2Face, Bizzle strode on stage with a larger-than-life gold chain to match his larger-than-life charisma. Breaking out his MySpace favourite Dickhead, which Sway was singing along to in the crowd, Bizzle set the tone for the rest of the night, bounding around the stage and getting himself and the crowd hyped.
He raced through some new tracks, including Babylon’s Burning with a special appearance on stage from Akira The Don and the new single Bizzle Bizzle, both of which got a great response from the crowd. But he also hit us with some old favourites from Uh Oh to Fire and even More Fire Crew’s Oi before blazing out with Pow!
Bizzle is is a man full of charisma, energy and fun and all of these things came through in his live show. With his new album coming out very soon, he did himself no harm tonight – a quality show.
Abjekt
Photo by Chris McShee
Shepherd’s Bush Empire – 26.6.07
Tonight is the final show of Devo’s first UK tour in 17 years, and it seems that absence really has made the hearts grow fonder. It may not have been a total sell-out (probably due to the rather pricey tickets), but a brief glance at the queue outside the Shepherd’s Bush Empire reveals no end of Devo-tion on show from the fans; many of whom are adorned in trademark Devo yellow boiler suits and red ‘energy dome’ hats. Fashionable they certainly aren’t, but such dedication makes for a great atmosphere – and let’s face it, there are plenty of bands out there that would envy such a partisan following.
But then, Devo aren’t – and never have been – like most other bands. Bizarre sartorial sense aside, the Ohio quintet’s heavy use of synthesizers effectively paved the way for New Wave music in the late 70s, whilst their fascination with the concept of devolution (effectively, evolution in reverse) offered plenty of lyrical food for thought. Something of a geek’s wet dream, then, but it’s hard to argue with tunes like ‘Girl U Want‘ and ‘Whip It‘ – most of which still sound as good tonight as they did back in the day.
Their surreal sense of humour also remains intact after all these years; with guitarist Bob Mothersbaugh shuffling onstage in a zimmer frame before casting it aside to play his instrument. The band may be well into their fifties (with the exception of drummer Josh Freese), but they sound superb, and look as endearingly ridiculous as ever. We’re treated to plenty of robotic dancing, and a change of stage garb to black, cyclist-esque outfits; but nothing can quite top vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh‘s re-appearance as the band’s beloved ‘Booji Boy‘ creation for the finale of ‘Beautiful World‘. Dressed like a schoolboy and singing in a falsetto, he is an indication of why Devo fans ultimately learn to expect the unexpected.
“How many of you believe that devolution is real?” asks bassist Gerry Casale, to cheers of affirmation from the crowd. “You don’t have to look very far for evidence, do you?” A fair point, indeed; and reason enough for Devo to have a good laugh behind their detractors’ backs. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait another 17 years for their return.
Alex Gosman
Fantastic acoustic singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner is touring the UK in July, and if you’ve never heard of him, he is definitely worth checking out. Amazing voice, ridiculous guitar skills and with every performance being mesmerizing, you’d be an idiot to miss these dates:
8th July Newcastle Academy
10th July Sheffield The Boardwalk
16th July Norwich Arts Centre
20th July Cardiff Club Ifw Bach
24th July London Union Chapel
26th July Glasgow
27th July Leicester Y Theatre
I know he looks a bit like Mick Hucknall but don’t let that put you off. Newton is actually good.
For loads of info, go to www.newtonfaulkner.com
The brilliantly named Guff will be blowing off… er… in, with their new album.
The band have released Symphony Of Voices today and will be supporting the release with a two week stint on the Warped Tour with plans to come to Europe later this year.
If you can’t get to see them at Warped, you can check out the stream of five tracks from the album at the link below.
Going back to a time when everything was better is often a good move, which is what the Beastie Boys have done with their all-instrumental release The Mix-Up.
Similar sounding to the lounge-jazz tracks from previous releases Check Your Head and Ill Communication, this album won’t blow your mind, and the general consensus is that everyone would rather put one of those albums on instead.
It does however fill the silence with sexy bass and organs, topped off with Mike D’s simple drumming. It’s an album you’d put on to chill out to and drink margaritas in a smoky (well, not anymore), dimly lit jazz-bar and wondering who these cool as hell dudes are on stage wearing Raybans and pork-pie hats. Just don’t expect any banging tracks in the same vein as Intergalatic, etc, etc.
Because of the extreme laid-backness and easy listening vibe of The Mix-Up, it’s hard to pick a standout track or tracks for this, as it all blends together into one smooth groove and isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, but ‘Rat Cage’, ‘Off The Cage’ and ‘The Melee’ do it for me a bit more than the others.
Saying that, this shows that the Beasties still enjoy going back to real instruments and are much more talented musicians than pretty much every new, complete bollocks indie band coming out every other week. This album could have been made at any point in the Beastie’s hiphop career, and fingers crossed, is the lead-up to something much bigger.
The Chemical Brothers have been wowing audiences all over the globe with their potent mix of dance beats and hook-laden hits and now they are back with a new album, We Are The Night.
The new record brings forward all their experience and panache and matches it up with their unfaltering guile and innovation, proved brilliantly by the new single Do It Again.
Featuring the vocal talents of Ali Love, the track begins with a thumping bassline, propelling the beat into the catchy hook and the bleeps that get that body swerving and head banging.
Love’s high pitched vocals fit perfectly into the mix and confirm just why the producers are so highly thought of when creating their tunes which are both mainstream and yet firmly esconsed in the dance world they came from.
With guest spots from the likes of Klaxons on All Rights Reserved which is another club banger, harking back to the early and mid 90s, and Fatlip bringing some rap to the plate in a strange but very powerful collaboration on The Salmon Dance, this album is one that demands to be listened to.
Abjekt.