BBC Sound Of 2012 Longlist revealed.

At the end of every year a list is created telling us who will be big in the next year to come, it’s somewhat forced upon us through the medium of Internet and radio and precedes from January to December in that fashion until repeat. For the first time the list released for 2012 I totally disagree with what has been released.

The BBC Longlist sound of 2012 is as follows :

1. A$ap Rocky
2. Azealia Banks
3. Dot Rotten
4. Dry The River
5. Flux Pavillion
6. Frank Ocean
7. Friends
8. Jamie N Commons
9. Lianne La Havas
10. Michael Kiwanuka
11. Niki & The Dove
12. Ren Havrieu
13. Skrillex
14. Spector
15. Stooshe

The first highlight for me is the severe lack of guitar based music, the closest to come to the genre are Niki & The Dove, Spector and Dry The River, and none of them are new to the music scene but are signed and have industry backing.

Further up the list is NME cool lists number 1 Azealia Banks, an MC based in London VIA Manhattan already pulling in the plaudits and leaving labels scrambling for her signature. The list is top heavy in beat based or rap music with Dot Rotton, A$AP Rocky and Frank Ocean.

A sound firmly leaving a mark on the year just past was Dubstep. In the summer of 2009 Skream released his remix of La Roux’s ‘In For The Kill’ a track that would put the genre on the map, nearly 2 years later Skrillex is riding that wave. Alongside Skrillex is Flux Pavilion, Another producer who has been around since the late winter of 2010 playing numerous shows in support of Skrillex and many others.

Weird pop outfit Friends, a year too late Jamie N Commons guarantee a number 1, Corinne Bailey Rae throw off Lianne La Havas, surprise act Michael Kiwanuku(who could steal the whole list) and Micha B meets Daphne & Celeste pointless girl act Stooshe fill the blank ‘insert pop act here’.

It leaves me scratching my head as a DJ, I am partial to all the genres shared and love myself a good pop hook but a complete disregard for certain genres leaves me in complete disappointment of the 100 or so industry heads that compiled (or moulded) the music that is set to come through your television sets, radios and downloads over the year to come.

EP Review : Niki & The Dove - The Drummer

Niki & The Dove are a musical project from Sweden fronted by lead vocalist Malin Dahlstrom, Most recently seen on the NME Radar Tour. After being tipped in Scandinavians new sounds EP in 2010 the 3 piece jumped the water to break further. Most recent release ‘The Drummer EP’ was strongly pushed on the NME tour and boasts a late 2000’s electro sound which would cross Passion Pit with Little Boots. Other contrasts include tip of being a veiled La Roux. 

The EP starts with intro ’Sundog’ quickly and strongly with title track ‘The Drummer’ it’s fresh and new to the current electro scene though some could concede that there is too much going on, drowning vocals and scattering music to intensely. ‘Last Night’ slows the tempo into a mid album Empire Of The Sun type coma, Dahlstroms vocal are distinctive, endearing, easy on the ear and complimentary to compositions.

‘Mother Protect’ strips everything back to electro basics until a very abrupt vocal onslaught continuing  until the end. Short track ‘The Breath Of The World’ is an intermitted deluge of what sounds like Nintendo and Sega sound bites played through a very driven bass.  ‘Manon’ is reminiscent  of a Kate Bush vocal with foreign twang though once again the track lets itself down by including too much. Final track ‘The Birth Of The Sun’ eases us out of ‘The Drummer EP’ gently with euro synth.

It’s clear ‘The Drummer EP’ wasn’t set to break moulds in the UK but to imbed the name and sound into the mind, single ‘The Drummer’ is available to buy online. It is probably one of the best tracks of 2011 for myself and many are waiting for an endless amount of remixes. The future is bright for the Swedish 3 piece, a support slot for a major band and a headline tour in 2012 will settle them well into the current scene.

The Drummer by Niki & The Dove

DJ Setlist : Wolf Cub Club @ The Edge Of The Wedge

This is my setlist from last night Wolf Cub Club at the edge of the wedge. For anybody that has never witnessed me do a DJ set and such like...This is what you get, and a few little suprises in between too!

22:05 : Bear Cavalry - Dragon's Milk

22:07 : Vampire Weekend - Cousins

22:19 : Beats International - Dub Be Good To Me

22:21 : M.I.A. - Paper Planes

22:38 : MGMT - Time To Pretend

22:39 : Mark Ronson & The Business INTL - Bang Bang Bang

22:42 : Jamie T - 368

22:43 : Gorillaz - Stylo 

22:43 : Jamie T - 368

22:44 : Florence And The Machine - Drumming

22:48 : Beyoncé - Crazy In Love

22:51 : Soul II Soul - Back To Life 

22:55 : The Chemical Brothers - Galvanize

22:58 : Adele - Rolling In the Deep

23:00 : Survivor - Eye of the Tiger 

23:03 : White Lies - Fifty On Our Foreheads

23:06 : Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

23:11 : De La Soul - Me, Myself and I

23:13 : No Doubt - Hella Good

23:16 : Blur - Girls & Boys

23:18 : Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

23:20 : Friendly Fires - Skeleton Boy

23:23 : Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor

23:24 : Far East Movement Feat The Cataracs & Dev - Like A G6

23:26 : Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream (South Central Bootleg)

23:28 : Major Lazer - Pon de Floor feat. Vybz Kartel

23:30 : Beyonce - Run The World (Girls)

23:32 : Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World)

23:36 : Wildchild - Renegade Master (Fatboy Slim Old Skool Edit) 

23:37 : Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden - Bonkers

23:40 : Gossip - In The Way Of Control (Soulwax Nite Version)

23:44 : Jamiroquai - Canned Heat

23:45 : The Black Eyed Peas - My Humps

23:48 : Run Dmc - It's like that

23:50 : Supergrass - Pumping On Your Stereo

23:51 : Rick James - Super Freak

23:53 : Sting & The Police - Roxanne                       

23:57 : Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down

00:01 : Bloc Party - Flux

00:01 : Reverend & The Makers - He Said He Loved Me

00:04 : Editors - Munich

00:08 : The Killers - Mr. Brightside

00:09 : Kings Of Leon - Fans

00:13 : Primal Scream - Loaded

00:13 : Happy Mondays - Step On

00:16 : The Mighty Boosh - Cockney Rap

00:18 : Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain

00:19 : Lost Prophets - Last Train

00:24 : Blur - Country house

00:27 : Oasis - Wonderwall                    

00:28 : Jay-Z - 99 Problems

00:31 : Fugees - Ready Or Not

00:34 : Ace Of Base - All That She Wants 

00:39 : Jamie T - Sticks 'N' Stones

00:42 : The Specials - Too Much Too Young 

00:44 : Madness - Night Boat To Cairo

00:45 : The Prodigy - Out Of Space

00:47 : Fatboy Slim - The Rockafeller Skank

00:50 : SL2 - On A Ragga Tip

00:55 : The Beach Boys - I Get Around

00:56 : The Beatles - Hard Days Night

00:59 : Miles Kane - Inhaler

01:02 : The Clash - I Fought the Law

01:04 : Kings Of Leon - Four Kicks

01:06 : Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor

01:09 : Feeder - Just A Day                 

01:10 : Foo Fighters - All My Life

01:17 : Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows

01:19 : White Stripes - 7 Nation Army

01:24 : Pulp - Disco 2000

01:29 : Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Goin' Down

01:33 : Panic At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies

01:36 :  Papa roach - last resort

01:39 : R.kelly - Bump N Grind

01:41 : Red Hot Chili Peppers - SUcky My Kiss

01:44 : Aerosmith - Going Down & Love In An Elevator

01:48 : Led Zeppelin - Immigrant song

01:49 : The Mighty Boosh - Tundra

01:50 : Two Door Cinema Club - Undercover Martyn

01:53 : Darwin Deez - Radar Detector

01:56 : The Jam - Going Underground

01:59 : The Strokes - Last Nite

02:02 : Kings of Leon - The Bucket

02:05 : Mark Ronson Feat Amy Winehouse - Valerie

02:09 : The Coral - Dreaming Of You

02:11 : Jamie T - If You Got The Money

02:15 : Madness - Baggy Trousers

02:15 : Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right

02:19 : Jay-Z And Linkin Park - Numb/Encore                   

02:22 : Commodores - Three Times A Lady

02:23 : Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At

Live Review : NME Radar Tour at The Wedgewood Rooms

Once again The NME Radar Tour landed in Portsmouth, With an offering of the unknown or known to the just over 100 in attendance. In previous years we have been lucky to see a plethora of talent through The Wedgewood Rooms doors which includes Anna Calvi, Hurts, Darwin Deez, Everything Everything, Friendly Fires, Maximo Park, White Lies, The Cribs and many more. This tour brings us a vast musical collection of bands in the form of Niki & The Dove, S.C.U.M and Wolf Gang.

Niki & The Dove

A cataclasm of noise began the first set of the evening, Niki & The Dove play Passion Pitt meets Ellie Goulding. It’s theoretically a girl and 2 guys with a lot of knobs that make a massive sound, every track that was played made Niki ever more endearing along with the thought that there could be so much more to come from the band themselves.

Stand out track ‘Drum’ was a fresh take with a catchy repetitive vocal lovingly partnered with the innovative dance moves of Niki herself. Personally I would have placed the band further up the line up but it was clear the band themselves were enjoying just purely performing to anybody who would listen.

S.C.U.M

Without introduction S.C.U.M began there set under lights but without hesitation after the first song lead singer Tom Cohen insisted on the view of the band be cut, the constants of the strobe be our only vision of them in shadows. Absent vocals and pretential (I made that word up, like pretentious and potential together) was the downfall of S.C.U.M, the gangly figure of Cohen was like watching a young Geldof pre-’I don’t like Mondays’ a swagger which didn’t score him high with the crowd.

The potential of the band is there, they are outspoken and completely out of the current musical scene. Where would you put them? What and where would they like to go from here? The questions are endless, But it does get very monotonous very quickly. A memorable performance but only for the white outlines that were left in my retina.

Wolf Gang

Anything to follow from the previous performance was a breath of fresh air, the ever humble front man of Wolf Gang Max took to the stage with his band for what seemed like the only performance the crowd were waiting to see. A band made of bands already passed included guitarist Gavin (formerly of Ghosts) and drummer Lasse (formerly of The Rakes) gave the edge on the performance.

I can’t help but wonder if Wolf Gang may have possibly missed the band boat with all the catchy riffs and bouncy pop…It’s all a bit Iglu & Hartley meets The Feeling. ‘Lions In Cages’ has a certain ‘Use Somebody’ vocal but ‘The King and all his men’ has been constantly whirring around my brain since seeing it performed. Shine a light over here, They deserve it.

An enjoyable evening with music very different in scales, I hope for good things of Niki & The Dove over the next year, S.C.U.M will continue below the radar until they feel ready to join us in the real world and Wolf Gang await the spotlight. The only downside of the evening was the lack of audience who I can only say missed out, As they always do.

Album Review : The Kooks - Junk Of The Heart

I’m going to openly begin by saying this album is probably the most disappointing album I have heard in 2011. The Kooks first album ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ was a tide changer among the indie scene paving the way for more then a handful of now successful bands adding to that going 4x Platinum. Second album ‘Konk’ left the stables and finished the race with sing-a-long choruses and enough melody to make you sway at a sunshine drenched festival, Then ‘Junk Of The Heart’.

Those fans of The Kooks will know ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ and ‘Konk’ both open slow and gentle, an ease into the another 40 plus minutes is respectable though title track ‘Junk Of The Heart (Happy)’ opens brash and bizarre. Pritchard’s lyrics ‘I wanna make you happy’ are careless and continuous until verse and repeated over until fade. Open piano chords to second track ‘How’d You Like That’ could be mistaken for The Feelings ‘Fill My Little World’ and I would much rather be listening to that.

‘Rosie’ is moody and cites likens to second album Kooks and once again disappoints into chorus, it disheartens me that a talented lyricist can aimlessly reiterate words without effort and hope for it to be accepted. Album teaser ‘Saboteur’ is a distant confident memory that the band had moved forward not so far from the finish line. ‘Taking Pictures Of You’ is ‘Junk Of The Hearts’ ‘Ooh La’ but only if you imagined it as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley having a Dorian Gray type painting in her loft showing her looking like Judy Finnigan.

Next track ‘Fuck The World Off’ certainly hit’s the nail square on the head followed by toilet written ‘Time Above The Earth’, some might say music’s greatest moments come from the most unusual places but an obviously disillusioned Luke Prichard has stolen the background  music from The Beatles ’Pepperland’ and fingered his own faeces over it, Who knows what else he did in there. ‘Runaway’ once again hit’s the proverbial multiple nails on the head with what sounds like a tin can being rattled in the background.

Single release ‘Is It Me’ could be the only glimmer of hope from such a dire showing of musical ability as we move closer to the end of the album, Guitars replica those of hit ‘Always Where I Need To Be’ but with stronger vocal presence but still lyrically weak. ‘Killing Me’ sounds like parts have been stolen from Toto’s hit ‘Africa’ and screams album filler from start to finish. ‘Petulia’ is stripped down to the bare essentials and could be the only positive to take away, Pritchard’s vocals are now more clearer, with less mumble and more man than boy. My favourite track from the album (Yes, I have one) ‘Eskimo Kiss’ shows if anything the only promise to something that there is still hope, Closing track ‘Mr Nice Guy’ ends abruptly and offends the ears.

I can only hope that after this abysmal release there record label may give them a saving grace to release a 4th, it begs the question once again ‘If it isn’t broke, Why try and break it’. Take your own advice Luke ‘Time awaits for no man, But you’.

Album Review : Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind Of Fix

It’s been a whirlwind journey for Bombay Bicycle Club since the release of ‘I had the blues but I shook them off’ in 2009,followed by a then effortless movement leading them on to the release of critically acclaimed acoustic album ‘Flaws’ shortly after. Winners of the best new band 2010 at the NME awards and multiple festival appearances to boot, They return in the August of 2011 with the long awaited album ‘A different kind of fix’.

Album opener ‘How can you swallow so much sleep’ speaks volumes on the Bombay movement, launched in by haunting vocals of ‘Can I wake you up’ sweetly accompanied by the obvious acoustic guitar and the snare drum beat to match. ‘Bad timing’ swallows the shoe gaze sound that is all so imminent within current indie chart albums most notably The Horrors recent release ’Skying’ then back above the water with added cowbell ’Your Eyes’ plays nice to the ears and gasconaded bass line to make you’re chest tight.

Sunday afternoons are what ‘A different kind of fix’ are made of, Imagine a turbulent Saturday night plagued by unwanted text messages, unwanted attention and too much G and T then pop on some headphones within seconds all of that seems to disappear into ’Lights out, Words gone’.  A New Order meets Stone Roses type song follows in ‘Take the right one’ with an early 90s kick and synth combo. Zane Lowes record of the week and most recent release ‘Shuffle’ is an invigorating  3 minutes and 54 seconds with a build up sure to build dance floors across the nation and world.

Bombay Bicycle Club's obvious strong point is there folk roots, ‘Beggars’ feels like it a countryside car ride with the window wide open and wind blowing in you’re face, catch you’re breath and listen in closely to magnificent vocal harmonies and hypnotising guitar riffs. The echo vocals become too much 8 tracks in though but then next track ‘Leave it’ brings more to the table with a rockier side to the band quite possibly being the ‘Evening/Morning’ of the album. From here the rest of the album seamlessly fades from track to track without effort until ‘Still’ which is the end to the start, a bare track with piano and vocals leaving the hairs on the back of your neck on end.

Bombay Bicycle Club fans will be happy with the release, a confident one at that with a shoe gaze twist that you could sit and play in the conservatory whilst it rains or on a summers day by the seaside.  The positives we take are that this won’t be the last release from the successful folk band though the negatives will be that there are still improvements to be made.

Released : August 29th 2011

Album Review : Hard Fi - Killer Sounds

After a lengthy absence Hard Fi return with new album ‘Killer Sounds’. 

The inevitable success of the Staines based band left a melting pot for many bands, first album ‘Stars Of CCTV’ had everything from Friday night battles to teenage pregnancies and everything in between which left us all scratching our noggins on a hopeful second album. ‘Once upon a time in the west’ hit number 1 but lacked impact on home soil though smashed charts around the world, a disappearance from the music scene followed.

‘Killer Sounds’ starts with a recognisable hip-hop beat accompanied by the usual Hard Fi twang of guitar, Richard Archer then leads us lyrically into a beat down of chanting ‘Good For Nothing’ and a catchy chorus.  Next single ‘Fire In The House’ boasts early 80s electro influence with Eurhythmics like break downs, first album returns with ‘Give it up’ whilst the movement of attempt in genre change is still very much on the surface of the music. 

From here it seems like everything joins together like a perfect puzzle piece by puzzle piece, Obvious influence being cited as 80s electro and quite possibly every boy band you’ve ever heard of. ‘Bring it on’ could be mistaken for an album track stolen from Take That's Mark Owen while ‘Feels So Good’ could once again be thrown beside his hit ‘Four Minute Warning’ with added bhangra. Album filler follows ‘Stop’ in a no-more-nails type way then with little or no effort ‘Stay alive’ makes no impact.

‘Excitement’ lacks just that and ‘Love Song’ seems a heavily influenced by 90s dance act Stardust with a lo-fi beat and botched vocals. Dub-step infused  ‘Sweat’ partners Hard Fi alongside Pitbull which could cause minor damage to the top 10 if released, Title track ‘Killer Sounds’ once again sounds like a member of Take That. If anybody can re-call the Robbie Williams album track ‘Me And My Monkey’ I need not explain further…failing that you tube is available.

A lengthy absence seems to have taken the Hard Fi boys on a journey through there parents CD collections, A positive beginning only ends in terrible disappointment. It’s not a HMV £2 Christmas gift, But they’d gave it a good go for nothing.

On The Sonar : Army Navy

Army Navy are a 4 piece prog-indie pop band from Los Angeles, Boasting early melodic brit-pop with Beach Boys-esq vocals to boot.  The surf sound gathers frequent on the blog but is ever more moving forward gaining different angles at every corner.

Sonar track ‘Last Legs’ plays to early brit-pop with a Vampire Weekend twist, recent album release ‘The Last Place’ is the second from the band and includes sing-along ‘Ode to Janice melt’ and ‘The Long Goodbye’ describing the pulling apart, piece by emotional piece of a relationship.

The potential shines through and the market is well open for this sound to spread, championed not only stateside but nationwide. Army Navy continue the sharing of the torch with a personal twist.

The Last Place by Army Navy

http://www.myspace.com/armynavy

Credit to Todd Zimmer for Photography

News Shot : Bebe Black signs to Columbia Records.

Today the news broke that solo artist Bebe Black has signed to Columbia records.

Back in late 2010 the track ’I'll wait’ was passed along to DIY on ExpressFM by our very good friend Joel, From first listen the haunting truth lyrically and the strength in structure showed extreme promise.

From gripping and very intimate performances up in the big smoke adjoined by endless hard work the future now shows bright for the young artist.

We await confirmation of release for future material but here we can bring you the very track we played, ‘I’ll wait’ is a self confirming adorning composition of lust and losing love pieced together beautifully by piano and thundering drum beats.

Bebe Black - I'll Wait by DIYonExpressFM

ClubNME Portsmouth

Saturday night (16th  July) saw the launch of the world famous ClubNME at Portsmouth’s world famous Wedgewood Rooms. Previous artists to grace the ClubNME Portsmouth stage include indie-upstarts Doll & The Kicks and Indie-Electro Italian Death In Plains among a favourable handful of the cities very own up and coming.  

A firm cemented night around the UK and abroad ClubNME boasts all the best in new music from London’s world famous Koko to Milan’s Tunnel club. Since it’s launch in 2004 the club night has seen the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, The Gossip, Glasvegas, Foals, Klaxons and many more, throw in the best local DJ’s and guests playing the biggest and best music around it sure keeps your feet moving until the early hours.

With a slow building Wedgewood Rooms crowd first band CURXES took to the stage, from the remnants of  the equally great HoldFast the spectrum certainly had swung.  Macaulay still held his daunting swagger and Roberta her ever haunting voice but there was something more, This sound that they had created was entwined, polished but still not settled leaving every song ever more endearing.  

CURXES tick over with a collision of sounds that sway around the ballad-like Last Shadow Puppets met intently by The Joy Formidable, adjoin electronic beats near completion they bring the CURXES twist. Unquestionably the future is bright for the band and I hope ClubNME can bring them back in a headline slot within the year.

Without introduction FriendsElectric began their set, Within the year they had Toured with Blondie, The previous night played London’s ClubNME at KOKO and were mid-journey to Latitude…And this shun though from start to finish. Captivating the audience with Delphic-esq electro hooks and a Friendly Fires energy it was hard not to tap a foot, move a leg or have your whole body educed by the wonderful noise that was being made.

A high sense of excitement surrounds the band with gigs lined up at this years V Festivals, A handful of European dates ending on home soil in Shrewsbury. Unsigned and clearly on fire it wont be long until we see official releases through record labels and more endless tours, One to watch.

DJ’s The Quick And The Dead and Lemon took the ClubNME reigns from 12pm playing a wide rage of songs including Calvin Harris, Herve, Gorillaz, Miles Kane, Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs, Lady Gaga and many many more…With the dance floor still packed doors were extended into the early hours.

The next ClubNME is at Southsea Fest, rumors are whirring already with acts to be confirmed in the very near future. Firmly cementing themselves on the Portsmouth club night scene the only way is upwards from here.

Jaws by CURXES

More CURXES here : http://soundcloud.com/curxes

OPPOSITES ATTRACT by Friendselectric

More FriendsElectric here : http://soundcloud.com/friendselectricmusic

On The Sonar : The Salvadors

The Salvadors, a 5 piece from Adelaide, Austraila. A clear fusion of modern music, a chant for a chorus and a sing-a-long verse.  They are lyrically spot on and could quite easily soundtrack a summer’s evening.

Carrying the tropical-pop flame Sonar track ‘Eliza Jane’ gathers all you’re feelings together and then throws them towards the wall, what sticks is only a sweet musical taste that you can liken to The Beach Boys. Other tracks include clear future indie disco favourite ‘Atacama Disco’ the gentle ‘Wilson’  and beach ballad ‘Westfield’.

I hold hope that between Paralowie and Mclaren Vale there is a band basking in sunshine with guitars in hands and drums within reach. Safe to say Australian exports come few and far between but they are clearly in line behind The Vines, Jet and Wolfmother.

For more go to : http://www.myspace.com/thesalvadors

The Salvadors - Eliza Jane by homeandhosed

On The Sonar : Bear Cavalry

Bear Cavalry are a tropical-disco-progpop 4 piece from Gosport and are by far the towns best export since Roger Black.

Unequivocally trying to keep them in one position is nigh on impossible, energetic stage shows ensue a plenty most recently resulting in the band winning the Portsmouth heats of ‘The Road To Blissfields’. All reports from the festival point to positives leading the band onwards and upwards.

The coiled musings can only be described beside likeliness to Vampire Weekend with compositions placed beside the ever successful Friendly Fires with added trumpet, annotation aside they cannot be boxed in one genre jumping between many in a matter of seconds.

Recent EP release ‘Maple Trails’ is available on band camp and features Sonar track ‘Custom Hands’.

Custom Hands by Bear Cavalry

For more info go here : www.myspace.com/bearcavalrymusic

News Shot : Collaboration of the year!?

This week saw Seasick Steve play his night at London's Roundhouse as part of Itunes Festival 2011.

Over the festival season Steve has popped up with John Paul Jones in the most unusual places most recently being Milton Keynes Bowl to play alongside Dave Grohl on a sold out Sunday evening. After meeting at this years Isle Of Wight Festival Steve and Dave both had conveyed about his very first Nirvana gig and instantly hit common ground leading to the collaboration.

At The Roundhouse he took it one step further, as the video shows and quite possibly proves this could currently be the collaboration of 2011. Whilst on stage he invited Jack White and Alison Mosshart to join him for a song written and recorded in Nashville on a drunken night...'Write me a few of your lines'.

With the festival season edging closer to close collaborations and few and far between...Can this be topped?

News Shot : The Strokes post new video for next single 'Taken For A Fool'

The Strokes today released a teaser for their next single 'Taken For A Fool' from album 'Angles'.

Despite recent rumours of the band parting it has once again been scuppered and squashed by lead singer Julian Casablancas and bassist Nikolai Fraiture saying they would like to record a follow up "as soon as possible"

'Taken For A Fool' is a dimensional,futuristic and could easily make you dizzy if watched on repeat.

Single release date : TBC

On The Sonar : The Travelling Band

The Travelling Band are a 5-piece folk-crunk band hailing from Manchester, England. Third album ‘Screaming for something’ was released in late May this year under record label Sideways Saloon.

It’s unfortunate when trying to gather palatable influences when currently the wheel of fortune that is folk music lands on either the musings of Laura Marling or Mumford & Sons but don’t dismiss The Travelling Band firmly on that synopsis, They flow nicely along with soothing vocals that harmonise gently and are partnered by various other instruments. Championed by Sir Paul McCartney they Sight likeliness from Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros and Of monster and men with an individual take on the genre it is something to behold.

Sonar track ‘Sundial’ is taken from there most recent release which is available via Itunes and you can also find them at Eastleigh Festival this coming weekend (9th July).

For more information visit www.myspace.com/thetravellingband

Sundial by The Travelling Band

News Shot : Arctic Monkeys release video for next single 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala

Arctic Monkeys have confirmed that the next single from number 1 selling album 'Suck It And See' will be 'The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala'.

Judging from the video they have taken the same approach as first teaser release 'Brick By Brick' and self recorded the video in the USA.

At parts they are overlaid by palm trees, notably followed by a 'Hellcat' and there's even a cameo from long time friend and soundman Big Nige building a cup pyramid.

Single Release Date - Monday August 15th 2011

On The Sonar : Arctic Death

An offering from across the pond that crosses the loving yet hysterical vocals of Matthew Shultz (of Cage The Elephant fame) with tempo thrashing guitar riffs and proceeding drums that we still clutch onto from The White Stripes.

Free Download ‘The Art’ screams of lust falling into disrepair and that feeling of a vacant Friday night, The first track I heard was ‘Basement Stars’ which got me instantly hooked and are both available online.

Arctic Death are a band I will be championing onto big things within the next year or so whilst eagerly anticipating a jump over the pond  for a show on our very own shores.

The Art by ARCTIC DEATH

News Shot : Noel Gallagher announces full solo album details.

Noel Gallagher today released details of his second solo release.


Set for release on October 17th under his own record label 'Sour Mash Recordings' it is aptly named 'Noel Gallagher's high flying birds' and will be followed by a second LP in 2012 with Amorphous Androgynous.


Gallagher is also due to tour in the autumn but no dates are yet confirmed.


Full tracklisting is as follows :


'Everybody's On The Run'
'Dream On'
'If I Had A Gun'
'The Death Of You And Me'
'(I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine'
'AKA...What A Life!'
'Soldier Boys And Jesus Freaks'
'AKA....Broken Arrow'
'(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach'
'Stop The Clocks'


Rumours currently are saying that 'The Death Of You And Me' will be the first single release but this is yet to also be confirmed.


Images : Dean Chalkey/NME

On The Sonar : BRAIDS

Late night radio sessions implore my life on occasions and in a sleepy nonchalant daze you can stumble across some of the most beautiful sounds BRAIDS being one of those.


The recent rise of shoe gaze art rock bands over the last 2-3 years has been extravagant and only few survive or we await second comings. The likes of Passion Pit and Dirty Projectors are the ones that shine and a clear product of their success lies within the sounds BRAIDS make.


Haunting voices partner a cavalcade of sensual sounds that could throw thousands of colours across rooms with a certain sense of excitement that follows.


BRAIDS - "Lemonade" by BRAIDS

The Subways,Wedgewood Rooms June 15th

Willy Wonka took us all on wonderful adventures when we were younger and as those who have grown up around The Subways will know its been quite a journey for them also.
Still smouldering in the ashes from the success of ‘Young for eternity’ and ‘All or nothing’ another indie-rock phoenix is about to rise with new album ‘Money & Celebrity’ an offering from the band alongside pledge music set for release in 
September.


A sold out show at the end of a near enough sold out jaunt around the country, they start there set with crowd pleaser ‘Oh Yeah’ and onto title track from the first album ‘Young for eternity’. The crowd scream back every word as they rock back and forth into a sweaty non-existent oblivion leaving just enough time between next track ‘obsession’ to catch a breath.


After a brief introduction and thank you they thrash into ‘Alright’ followed by ‘Mary’ which Billy notably dedicated to his mum. We were then given our first offering of new material from the band with ‘We don’t need money to have a good time’ a track explained to be written after a failure during a night on the tiles with friends lightly doused with a sing-a-long chorus.


Mixing up the albums once more they move triumphantly into ‘Shake Shake’ followed swiftly by dual vocal ‘I want to hear what you’ve got to say’ ending in single release and all round anthem ‘Rock and Roll queen’. The crowd throughout the gig have been bated and gagging for more when they are treated to another offering from the new album ‘Celebrity’ encompasses everything that both albums prior boasted and is well received.


Single release ‘Girls & Boys’ sees The Wedgewood Rooms transformed into a substantial circle pit of sweat and angst willfully incited by Billy before setting into tracks ‘Turnaround’ and ending on sing-a-long ‘With You’. Before a brief interval and chorus of ‘Subways’ from the crowd they return with first single ‘At 1am’ and it is clear to see the band themselves appreciate there clear cult following. Raucous ‘I won’t let you down’ slowly bleeds the last bit of juice from the crowd leaving them whirring for just one more song, Next single ‘it’s a party’ ensues and confirms the welcome return after lengthy absence of The Subways always rowdy, boisterous but never reluctant of a show.

Images : Tom Langford