Chin Up, Chuck

I kinda love this video, 'Things To Learn', by Christian Borstlap and Paul Postma for Dutch children’s charity, Kinderpostzegels.

Super stuff.

Eye Of The Storm

Anybody managed to snap up tickets for Florence & The Machine's 'Cosmic Love' tour? I failed spectacularly but I'm happy enough to settle for the three amazing gigs of theirs I caught last year.

I'm delighted to announce that the winner of last month's Spherical Notions Florence & The Machine competition is Ms. Trudi McDonald. Trudi wins a copy of the deluxe edition 'Lungs' release, courtesy of the lovely people at Universal.

Coincidentally, the video for Florence's fifth single from Lungs, 'Hurricane Drunk', has surfaced and features Florence behaving typically wacky in all manner of mad frocks. Ch-ch-check it out.

Run To The Hills

We already have a video for the radio-edit of Marina and the Diamonds' 'Hollywood' , and one for the stripped down 'acoustic' version, but this new one to accompany the Gonzales mix is probably pick of the bunch.



I've had a sneak preview of Marina's imminent debut album 'The Family Jewels' and it's a superlative-inducing masterpiece.

'Hollywood' is out next week.

Stuck On Repeat

Miike Snow - Billie Holiday (free download)



Pony Pony Run Run - Hey You (Crystal Fighters Remix)



Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Russ Chimes Remix) (free download)



Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk (Crystal Fighters Remix)



Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya) (Brad Walsh Remix)



Gorillaz - Stylo



Miami Horror - Sometimes

[Image: Jeremy Geranen]

The Kids Are Alright

Australian five-piece Teenagersintokyo may have the most annoying band-name this side of Does It Offend You, Yeah? but, thankfully, their music more than compensates for this.

Their new single 'Peter Pan' is a pop-rock triumph and was actually what prompted me to check up on Pin Me Down and discover their excellent new single, 'Time Crisis'.

Is it just me or does the lead singer Samantha Lim remind you of Saffron from nineties flash-in-the-pan Republica?

The band are currently working with Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten on their debut album. 'Peter Pan' is available on from Back Yard Records on 1st of March.

Giggidy Giggidy

Florence and the Machine today announced that they will be returning to Dublin's Olympia Theatre for two dates in May, after performing to a sold-out crowd (that included yours truly) in the same venue in December.

Tickets for the May 2nd and 3rd dates go on sale this Friday, the 29th of January at 9am for the extremely reasonable price of €28.

I'm seriously considering investing in a ticket to see the band for the FOURTH time in twelve months and I'd strongly advise you to do likewise. The band could easily pack out The O2 so, although The Olympia is the ideal venue in which to see the band, tickets will probably be impossible to get your hands after 9:05 on Friday morning.

Other upcoming gigs I'm getting excited about are:

Alex Metric @ Wax, Friday 5th of February:

Crystal Fighters and Lorcan Mak @ Andrew's Lane Theatre, Thursday 18th of February:



Final Fantasy/Owen Pallett @ Whelans, Thursday 18th of March



Wild Beasts @ The Academy, Friday 27th of March

Pin Ups

One of my favourite tunes of 2008 was 'Cryptic' by Pin Me Down, a collaboration between Bloc Party's Russell Lissack and New York-based vocalist Milena Mepris.

Teaming Lissack's trademark monster basslines with 80's guitar riffs and Milena's snarling vocal, 'Cryptic' was a pop-rock gem and subsequent tracks 'Ticking' and 'Pretty in Pink' proved just as infectious.

But then.... nothing.

There was nary a peep out of the band for over twelve months and, honestly, I presumed the project had been scrapped altogether. Then, a couple of days ago, the pair returned, all guns blazing, with a snazzy new website and a new track, 'Time Crisis'.

The track is in a similar enough vein to its predecessors but, to my ears, it's a winning formula and I hope Pin Me Down stick around a bit longer this time. Download the MP3 for free here.

Iron Man

I'm really digging the work of Swedish image manipulator Erik Johansson. I'd seen some of his images before but never realised they were all by the same person. See more of his trickery here.

In Another's Company, By The Sea

The xx rather conveniently sidestep a potentially awkward reminder of the recent departure of keyboardist Baria Quereshi by getting two actors to stand in for them in the heart-warming video for their latest single, 'VCR'.



Lovely.

Super News

The lovely boys from supersuperdisco have been kind enough to give me and Eimear a shot at spinning some tunes at their night this coming Saturday at Tripod. We're on from 11 - 1 so, if you fancy comg to offer some moral support and/or have a bit of a boogie, let me know and I'll do my best to get you on the guestlist.

Wonderfully wacky ensemble The Amazing Few will also be staging their Tennessee Sweepstakes Pageant Show downstairs on the night so it's shaping up to be a bit of a mad one.

Oh, and any suggestions for our setlist would be very much appreciated.

Colours and Carousels

The video for Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' has materialised and it doesn't disappoint.

While I'm not especially taken with the dancers flanking Ms. Goulding throughout, I think the team behind her have done a great job at styling her and the glittery, magical aesthetic complements her music really well.

I particularly like the dramatic camera shudders and Ellie's impressive levitation skills.

Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed



The single is out 19th of February, rather shrewdly scheduled just days after she collects her Brit Award, when interest in her music is likely to be at an all-time high.

Incidentally, her performance of 'Starry Eyed' at the launch of the Brit Awards Nominations (full list of nominations here) was nothing short of, er, stellar.

Stuck On Repeat

I Blame Coco - Caesar (Miike Snow Remix)



Birdy Nam Nam - Love Your Enemy (Kill Your Friend)



Toro Y Moi - Low Shoulder



Barretso - Midnight Walk



Puscifer - The Mission (featuring Milla Jovovich)



Miike Snow - Silvia (Sinden Remix)



Velo - Trading Alibis



[Image: Geetarooman]

Love Harder

Since stumbling across his track 'Diminishing Returns' in one of the Skins advertisements last week, I've developed something of an infatuation for Ali Love.

Even if the name doesn't ring a bell, you've surely encountered Love before as the vocalist on The Chemical Brothers' monster 2007 hit, 'Do It Again'.

The Prince-esque electro-funk of his first album didn't really grab me but, after hearing his track 'Love Harder', that gradually builds around a chunky bassline borrowed from Frankie Goes to Hollywood's 'Relax', I think I've been converted.

The sound reminds me of a more synthy Esser and I suspect Love will continue to draw comparisons to The Purple One. However, if these two tracks are anything to go by, Love's forthcoming album might see him ruffle the perfectly-preened feathers of the reigning synthpop princesses.

Ali Love - Diminishing Returns



Ali Love - Love Harder



Download this track for free via the lovely Nialler9.

Band Aid Bébé

Blog favourites Attention Bébé are hosting an Emergency gig this Friday in the Button Factory to help raise funds for Partners in Health, who are providing vitally needed aid to the people of Haiti in the aftermath of last week's devastating earthquake.

Tickets are €10 and all proceeds are going to the charity, of which 94% will be invested directly into aid programmes.

If you've ever seen Attention Bébé perform you'll know that your guaranteed a whale of a time. If you haven't, well now's the perfect opportunity to get acquainted.

Support on the night will come from Mob Fandango and the rather excellent DJ Frankie Grimes. There will also be an auction where the top prize is the chance to have Attention Bébé perform in your house.

Going once. Going twice.

I Change Shapes...

Pop heavyweight-in-waiting Sky Ferreira has wisely decided to give away her stunning cover version of Miike Snow's 'Animal' as a free download.

We've yet to hear a single track from her album (those on her Myspace are apparently some that didn't make the cut) but, considering the mouth-watering roster of producers she's worked with, expect her to lay a claim to the 2010 Pop Princess tiara.

Sky Ferreira - Animal (free MP3 download)

Hit Me With Lightning

I've already set my alarm clock to get up early on Saturday and book myself a ticket for Ellie Goulding's debut Irish headliner in The Academy on 14th of March.

It'll be interesting to see how quickly tickets for the gig are snapped up and whether topping all those 'tips for 2010' lists has translated into genuine interest in her music. I'm certainly not taking any chances anyway.

Meanwhile, some very reliable sources have been suggesting that there are some life-changing remixes of Ellie's debut 'major label' single, 'Starry Eyed' in the pipeline.

In the meantime, we'll have to make to do with the brand new mix of 'Starry Eyed', with a new vocal and spruced up production, which will hopefully infiltrate radio station playlists galore in the coming weeks.

Chew Fu

A while back, my friend Ian introduced me to DJ Bynar's rather excellent weekly 'Indie Disco' podcasts. (If you're prepared to endure sleazy pictures of scantily clad ladies, they're well worth a listen.)

It was through one of these that I first encountered Chew Lips and their track 'Solo'. I was instantly drawn to the London three-piece's combination of spiky electronic beats and Karen O-esque vocals from frontwoman Tigs.

I wasn't quite as keen on follow-up single 'Salt Air' but anything else I've heard from them since has been more to my liking and latest track 'Play Together', for me, seals the deal.



I fully intend to invest in the band's fantastically-titled album, 'Unicorn', when it's released on January 25th.

Trip The Light Fantastic

This video was made from roughtly 300 still images: