My favourite blog right now is Bobby Solomon's Kitsune Noir. His combination of gorgeous art and design finds, savvy new music picks and elegant writing is pretty potent.
Yesterday, he introduced me to Belgian duo Hermanos Inglesos and their new video for 'Wanderland'. I love the song itself and the Kosheen-esque vocals from Meme but better yet is the video by Kristof Luyckx and Michele Vanparys , which features a bird on a hallucinogenic 'trip' after inadvertently ingesting a psychoactive berry:
Dublin folk, be sure to visit http://short.ie/accident and pop in your details to get free entry to Accident As Soon As You Emergency this Saturday, 31st of July in Twisted Pepper.
I previously expressed my indifference to Jamelia sound-alike Neon Hitch. Seemingly, however, I'm not the authority on who makes it in the music biz (who knew?) because the London-based circus performer turned singer has landed a massive record deal with Warner, having been signed by American Idol's Kara Dioguardi.
She's currently working with top notch producers on her debut album, 'Beg, Borrow and Steal', but as a means of drumming up some early interest, has produced some timely covers and mash-ups.
These 'interpretations' are slickly produced and inventive and, although I'm not someone who likes to admit I'm wrong, I'll concede I was probably too hasty in making a call on Ms. Hitch initially...
English illustrator Zara Picken's nostalgia-tinged work combines humour and retro graphics, with the effect of making me hanker for a period of time that I'm not sure existed.
I really love what Swedish alt-pop princess Robyn is doing with her Body Talk triple album. Although recent efforts by Janelle Monáe and The xx are strong arguments for preserving the 'album' format, it's true that the traditional 10 - 12 track LP, spanning approximately an hour, is becoming increasingly redundant in the digital era.
Robyn's approach of releasing digestible batches of songs every few months, allowing her to avoid long gaps between releases or singles becoming 'stale' by the time they're ever officially released.
The first installment, 'Body Talk Part 1', was a triumph and early reports suggest that 'Part 2', set for releases in September, is shaping up quite nicely. The first single will be 'Hang With Me', which appeared on 'Part 1' in an acoustic form.
A simple but effective video to accompany the track has materialised and, already, the remix artists are getting hot and heavy over this slice of electropop.
I first stumbled across big-voiced Birmingham belter Clare Maguire when she featured in Illegal Tender's 'tips for 2009' and I immediately fell in love with the demo for her track 'Strangest Thing'.
Over a year and a half later and the final version of that same track has surfaced and, oh boy, was it worth the wait. I defy you to tell me that this isn't a little bit special. Clare Maguire - Strangest Thing by thebubbleboy
You liked that? Well, I suggest you download the track for free over on Neon Gold.
Clare's debut single proper is due in September. An album will follow in the new year. The countdown begins...
Partly inspired by Quarter Inch, I've decided to try out a new feature on the blog, whereby I get people who's taste in music I appreciate to put together a little playlist for me.
First in the series is the lovely Éimhín Ní Cionnaith, who's launching a brand new night called Anatomy in Dublin's Twisted Pepper this Saturday, the 31st of July. The first installment in Anatomy is 'Womb With A View', which, as the name suggests, is a bloody tribute to the female reproductive system.
For her 'Framboise' playlist, Éimhín has assembled a fine arsenal of bass-heavy behemoths. I'm particularly taken with the Fake Blood Remix of Bonde Do Role's 'Marina Gasolina' and the mash-up of M.I.A's 'Bucky Done Gun' with Digitalism's 'Zdarlight'.
Still trying to catch up on a back-log of posts. We'll figure it out somehow. I know it.
At the moment, I'm currently besotted with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinsoaurs and his All In Two Dancehalls EP. It's an eclectic little dance record, the highlight of which is 'Garden', featuring Luisa from Lulu and the Lampshades on guest-vocals.
Over the past nine months, Heineken Green Spheres have hosted a series of free gigs that have featured the likes of Miike Snow, Bombay Bicycle Club, Foals, White Lies, Marina & The Diamonds, Digitalism and Passion Pit.
I've trekked to Carlow and Cork for previous gigs and, all going well, I hope to make it down to Kilkenny for the next Green Spheres installment over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Whereas previous events have generally been one off gigs, this time it's set to span the entire weekend, with a mouth-watering pick'n'mix of homegrown and international acts performing at local hotspots. Line up is as follows:
2manydjs @ Langtons / Sunday 1st Aug (apply for tickets over on Heineken Music)
Classical musicians fed on club culture, Thomas Roussel and Yannick Grandjean team big beats with sweeping strings to craft a distinctive brand of electropop. I'm especially enamoured with their recent single '5am' and its New York ramble of a video.
I'll admit to being a tad underwhelmed by Sky Ferreira's Big Debut Single™ 'One' initially but, over the past few weeks, its nestled into my brain and set up residency there.
The Rankin-directed video is clearly pandering to those who see Ferreira as a style icon, looking like a shoot from a high-end glossy, with plenty of gratuitous hair-tossing:
A couple of days ago, a sneak preview of a glorious dubstep mix of the track by BAR9 surfaced. Utterly. Hooked.
Last weekend, Eimear and I journeyed to Balado in Scotland for the annual T in the Park festival. Now in its seventeenth year, the festival plays host to 85,000 music fans every July and typically has a similar line-up to Oxegen, which takes place the same weekend.
I've always been one of those people who's quite regimented about trying to squeeze in as many bands as possible over the course of a weekend festival. And this weekend was no different.
On Friday...
We touched down just in time to catch the last few songs in The Temper Trap's main stage stint. The crowd were lapping up the Aussie outfit's set but there was definitely a considerable portion of the audience waiting for The Song. Sure enough, once they launched into the opening bars of 'Sweet Disposition', the crowd erupted and it was the first of many Lovely Festival Moments™ that the weekend had in store.
Next up, was Cockney hero Jamie T, who managed to draw out the rowdier side of the Scottish crowd (who I soon learned will launch into a chorus of 'Here we go! Here we f*cking go!' if you get them the slightest bit excited'). Looking decidedly hairy, Jamie induced mild hysteria and more than lived up to his main stage billing.
The King Tut's Wah Wah Tent seemed to be the spot where we spent the majority of the weekend and first to initiate us into its canvas confines were La Roux. Despite making various attempts to see Elly Jackson previously, this was my first time to catch her and I was blown away. The set reminded me how laden La Roux's self-titled debut is with killer pop hooks and, despite Elly's claims that she was under the weather, I was pleasantly surprised by how well her voice holds up in a live setting. A cover of The Rolling Stones' 'Under My Thumb' was a particular highlight.
Both Hot Chip and Calvin Harris had to contend with power outages during their sets in the same tent on Friday evening. Calvin fared a little better. seeming largely unfazed by the technical difficulties and delivered, for me, one of the best performances of the weekend. I'm not huge fan of his latest album but I remember him stating at the time that he wanted to make 'stadium dance music' and, based on his stonking laser-equipped live show, I guess he succeeded.
On Saturday...
We woke up to heavy rain showers but we didn't let soggy weather prevent us from making it back to the Wah Wah tent for Diana Vickers. Yes, really. The trumpet-toting former X Factor contestant completely surpassed my expectations. I'm not sure if she has a lengthy future in pop but, if it all falls apart, I suspect her pitch perfect voice will land her plenty of work on The West End.
Next we managed to catch Kid Adrift. I'd stumbled upon their track Oxytocin a while back and it flagged my interest, so I decided to investigate further. Their music is curious genre-melding stuff, occasionally verging on punk rock before veering into experimental indie, with smatterings of electronica thrown in for good measure. Some of the tracks were carried off better than others but they're definitely an intriguing prospect.
Example managed to pack out the tent he was playing in ten minutes before his set even began but, to be honest, I wasn't particularly fussed on him. Fake Blood in the Slam Tent was far more up my alley. Serving up a combination of original tracks and remixes (this was a particular highlight), the mixmaster was aided by an incredible sound system and visuals. Mindblowing.
Some timetable confusion meant we missed most of Laura Marling and, based on what we saw, I was kicking myself all the more for not getting there on time. Julian Casablancas was every inch the rock star, swaggering around the stage in the Bedroom Jam Futures stage. Thankfully, his performance vindicated his posturing, '11th Dimension' being a particular highlight.
On Sunday...
The weather picked up somewhat and we set about squeezing in as much as we could muster into our last day.
First up was Daisy Dares You, back at our trusty Wah Wah tent. The only track she played that I was familiar with was pop anthem 'Number One Enemy' and this was the odd one out in a set of guitar driven guitar pop. Daisy is gorgeous, a dab hand at the guitar and, even if her high-pitched voice is something of an acquired taste, she's an accomplished singer. It's just a shame (but perhaps not surprising considering she's just 16) that she seems to be experiencing something of a musical identity crisis.
Daisy was followed by Darwin Deez who were probably my highlight of the week. The New York four piece ooze positive energy and their ludicous synchronised dance routines between songs immediately endeared them to those unfamiliar with their music. 'Radar Detector' and 'Up In The Clouds' were especially well received and I came away from their set in a haze of good humour.
Sadly, Mancunian synthpop duo Hurts didn't have quite the same effect. I saw them play in Whelans a couple of months back and thought maybe the venue was the reason for everything not seeming to come together just right. However, playing in the Bedroom Slam Futures Tent, there still seemed to be some vital ingredient that was absent. Maybe it's the deliberately staid delivery from frontman Theo Hutchcraft that makes it so difficult to get excited? I'm not sure. Whatever it is, here's hoping they can figure it out because they've got some cracking pop tunes in their arsenal.
Ellie Goulding's album 'Lights' has been one of the musical lowlights of 2010 for me so far, mainly because I had really high expectations and it fell drastically short. Some consolation comes in the fact that most of her songs sound better when played live. Opening with the song 'Lights' that was criminally tacked on to the album as an 'iTunes only exclusive', Ellie rarely set a foot wrong, finishing with the spectacular trio of 'Salt Skin', 'Under the Sheets' and 'Starry Eyed', all the while thrashing violently on a drum and cymbal.
Before legging it to catch a flight, we managed to squeeze in a few songs by Northern Irish outfit Two Door Cinema Club. The fact that their music has been used to soundtrack umpteen television adverts shouldn't be held against them because their hook-laden pop rock packs a potent punch. This week they announced that they'll be playing at Electric Picnic thus year and I certainly intend to catch their full set. [Darwin Deez image: DonkeyJacket45]
I really love this short film by recent IADT graduate Conor Finnegan. Combining stop-motion, live action and hand drawn animation, it tells the story of a man's mixed relationship with mother nature.
Have you succumbed to my Janelle Monáe propaganda yet? Well, if not, here are another batch of arguments to convince you that she's set to become a superstar.
Janelle Monáe performs Charlie Chaplin's 'Smile' for Billboard website:
As well as the official 'Wondamix' re-swizz, there are a couple of other fairly decent remixes doing the rounds. I particularly like the Organized Noise Remix.
It's no secret I've been generally crap at blogging of late. Seeing as we've reached the half-way point of 2010, I figured it was as good a time as any to do a little post about some of the albums I've had stuck on repeat the past few months but might not necessarily have got around to posting about before.
Delphic - Acolyte
Although their outright dismissal of the constant comparisons to New Order is probably a tad disingenuous, there's certainly more to Delphic's debut album 'Acolyte' than rehashed influences. Seamlessly marrying gurgling dance-beats, swirling synths and rock sensibilities, the band have crafted a truly modern-sounding record that more than justifies the litany of 'tip for 2010' rosettes hurled in their direction.
Although I'm hearing reports of ropey live shows, PETA's number one enemy has produced one of the finest electropop records of the year so far in 'Fleshtone'. Kelis has been one of the most sonically adventurous popstars of the past decade, hopping between genres like nobody's business and dancefloor diva is seemingly a role that she wears well. The album's segues are probably a little unnecessary but there's scarcely a dud track.
I think maybe I confused Sleigh Bells with School of Seven Bells, which might be the reason that, despite the fact that this album inspiring mild blogospheric hysteria, I took ages to get around to listening to it. The debut by New York 'noise pop' duo Sleigh Bells is a genre-melding masterpiece. Signed by the poster girl for musical innovation, M.I.A., the pair's songs rarely run longer than three minutes but are positively bursting with fresh sounds and ideas.
Prodigious brother and sister pair Muchuu have crafted a gorgeous debut that combines fantastical lyrics, synthy soundscapes and dreamy vocal harmonies. One of the tracks is called 'Getaway Train' and that pretty much sums up the type of glorious escapism that Milky and George serve up throughout the course of the album's twelve tracks. Recently, I've discovered that it's the perfect soundtrack to lying in the grass on a sunny day.
With her distinctive tailored suits, a swagger she's gleaned from Outkast's Big Boi and a gravity-defying quiff, Janelle Monáe certainly makes a memorable first impression. However, it's her earth-shatteringly soulful voice and arsenal of genre-melding tunes that sets her apart from the slew of overstyled wannabes that have been vying for our attention in the post-Gaga era. The Arch-Android deserves to be a monster success when it's released here next week.
We're likely to hear plenty from Robyn over the course of the next few months as she has decided to stagger the follow-up to her eponymous 2005 album over three parts. Here's hoping the remaining installments of the trilogy are up to the high standard set by Part 1. From the understated acoustic heartbreak of 'Hang With Me' and the electropop gleam of 'Fembot' to the reggae-tinged 'Dancehall Queen' and Swedish folk song thrown in for good measure, this is an album that covers a lot of ground despite its short run-time.
The (former?) Sigur Rós frontman has produced some incredible arrangements in this solo record that really does reveal itself more and more with every listen. Flutes, piano courtsey of Nico Muhly, luscious strings, electronic bleeps and a variety of percussive instruments all combine to produce an utterly symphonic collection of genre-defying songs that feature Jónsi's first ever English-language lyrics. Masterful.
It took me a while to warm to this album but, after the seeing the band live in concert, I have a whole new appreciation for their follow-up to 'Antidotes'. Yannis and co have crafted an album that's deliciously textured, oscillating between sombre, subdued moments and bouts of frenetic guitar-pop. 'Spanish Sahara' initially sounded like an oddity but makes sense in the context of the album and is one of my favourite tracks this year.
Both Ellie Goulding and Marina were frequently mentioned among 'tips for 2010' at the beginning of the year, with Ellie seemingly the tastemakers' favourite. However, in terms of their debut releases, Marina produced an infinitely better record. As good a study of the ego/insecurity dichotomy of the high achiever as you're likely to find, 'The Family Jewels' is choc-a-block with catchy pop hooks and anchored by Marina's distinctive voice.
Chew Lips' intricate arrangements, range of tempos and knack for pegging down killer hooks serve them well throughout Unicorn's ten tracks but there's no question that Chew Lips' trump card is frontwoman Tigs. Whether snarling and wailing on the anthemic 'Slick', or tenderly crooning on 'Piano Song', she is commanding throughout and her charisma and energy percolate through the record.
My favourite blog right now is Bobby Solomon's Kitsune Noir. His combination of gorgeous art and design finds, savvy new music picks and elegant writing is pretty potent.
