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)

Reach The City Steps Tonight

Miike Snow's 'Silvia' is one of my favourite tracks from their hit-heavy eponymous debut. It's a great example of a song that 'goes somewhere', beginning as a fairly pedestrian ballad before escalating towards an explosion of synthy goodness.

I'm glad that they've opted to release it as a single and, although it's a shame they've had to lop two and a half minutes off the original edit to make it 'radio friendly', the accompanying eerie post-apocalyptic video offers some consolation:

Emerald Warriors

Crikey, what a week. After graduation taking up the best part of Monday and Tuesday, I spent the latter half of the week chasing Marina & The Diamonds around the country.

First stop was her debut Irish headliner at The Academy on Wednesday. For me to review her performance on either night would be pointless as it'd be equivalent of me writing the word 'amazing' 500 times but there are some great write-ups of Wednesday's gig by fellow-Emeralds here, here, here and here. Great photos from kDamo can be found here also.

Thursday then saw myself Patrick and Paula, Eimear, Pops and a few others make the journey down to Carlow for the Heineken Music Green Spheres event in Dunn Rí.

All credit must go to Heineken for the fantastic set-up. The huge club, which features two separate stages, was doused in green light for the occasion and two characters in green full-body lycra suits (that brought to mind the Durex sperm) greeted us as we entered.

Marina was first up to perform and once again delivered a performance worthy of several hundred 'amazings'. Although the audience were obviously not as familiar with her music as those in attendance at The Academy the night before, she gave just as much on stage and no doubt recruited a few more additions to her ever expanding collection of precious stones.

Next came Swedish-American indie-pop purveyors Miike Snow, who arrived on-stage sporting white face masks. I'd gathered from reviews of their shows that they generally play relatively short sets and enjoy toying around with the songs for a live setting so was pleasantly surprised that I got to hear most of my favourite tracks including 'Burial', 'Animal', 'Black & Blue' and especially 'Silvia'.

Miike Snow have expertly adapted their debut album to a live setting and, even if the latter part of the set did descend into a jam session of sorts, it'd have been worth the hassle of a trip down to Carlow and back purely to see them.

Headliners Digitalism performed their set in a separate space. Even if some of the crowd were a bit 'over-enthusiastic' when the German dance act took to the stage, it didn't stop us busting a move to tracks like the indisputably epic 'Pogo', all the while illuminated by some excellent visuals.

Heineken are already working on events in December in both Cork and Dublin featuring White Lies and Neon Indian. I suspect word of mouth from the Carlow gigs will make it somewhat more difficult to get your hands on tickets, so be sure to sign up here pronto.

[Images: Eimear Fitzmaurice (1), Heineken Music (2-4)]

Can Has Cheeseburger

I've wanted to post about rising star Sky Ferreira for a while but there's always been one fairly significant hurdle to overcome: the girl has no songs.

The 16-year-old model and singer from L.A. has had all manner of music industry elite fawning over her but the only chance the general public have had to hear what all the fuss is about has been a guest spot on The Shoes' remix of The Virgins' track 'Teen Lovers' (which essentially just involves some breathy counting on Sky's part...)

Although we'll have to wait another while to hear what she's been cooking up in the studio with superstar producers Bloodshy & Avant, a couple of slightly incredible cover versions have started to crop up online.

The tracks have been perfectly selected, the first being a cover of Miike Snow's indie-pop anthem 'Animal', completely pared back to just piano and Sky's staggeringly mature-sounding vocal:



I know, right? Amazing.

Next up is an interpretation of Ellie Goulding's 'Wish I Stayed', presumably recorded during one of her sessions with the song's writer Frankmusik. Using the same backing track, Sky's version isn't a drastic departure from the original but is a pretty stonking rendition nonetheless.



Sky Ferreira: coming to a 'Tips for 2010' feature near you.

Miike and the Mechanics

If Hype Machine trends are anything to go by, it seems that the music-loving masses are converting to the cult of Miike Snow. And well they should.

With an album as solid as their debut, it's probably a tough process choosing the singles. In this case, they've plumped for 'Black and Blue' and, to accompany its release, they've produced a lovely video:



Niice, guys. Niice.

Two-Headed Beast

Miike Snow have premiered two videos for 'Animal', which is just one of many brilliant tracks on their album but seems to be the one garnering the most attention.

Britney's mates Bloodshy & Avant and vocalist Andrew Wyatt have been pretty publicity-shy since beginning the Miike Snow project, so it's nice to be able to finally get a glimpse at what they look like. Perhaps making up for lost time, they've decided to give us a choice of angles from which to view them.





If you like this, try get your hands on the album. It's one of the best I've come across this year.

Slumdog Miillionaire

That seemingly superfluous 'i' is brought to you by Miike Snow, as is this rather charming video for 'Burial'.



To be honest, I still prefer the Benny Blanco Remix featuring Neon Hitch but maybe that's just me.

The Brains Behind Britney

A couple of weeks, Lou Bru drew my attention to British poptart Neon Hitch. Her issue-laden tracks reminded me of some of Jamelia's better stuff but I wasn't completely sold on her.

Yesterday however, Lou Bru sent me a link to a remix of a Miike Snow track, 'Burial', that featured a guest spot by Neon. Although my thoughts on La Hitch were largely unchanged, by drawing my attention to Miike Snow, Lou Bru introduced me to a new obsession.

The group is made up of Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson, and Pontus Winnberg. Wyatt is currently working on material with star-in-the-making Amanda Blank and although Swedish pair Karlsson and Winnberg might not be household names, their alter-egos Bloodshy & Avant might be more familiar. The pair are best known for their work with Britney Spears and have co-written and produced what are, in my view, some of her best tracks (including 'Circus', 'Piece of Me', 'Toxic', 'Radar' 'Phonography' & 'Trouble').

Miike Snow's eclectic alt-pop is nothing like the body of work the band's members have produced for Ms. Spears or Amanda Blank. However, the project certainly highlights the kind of talent and musical ingenuity required to produce a perfect pop track.

The band release their self-titled album in a couple of weeks and, after previewing the tracks on their Myspace, I suspect the record will join When Saints Go Machine's 'Ten Makes A Face' among my favourites of 2009.

Check out Sylvia:


[Image: Pitchfork]