Those Australians have done it again, just as April properly
rears its beautiful head into sunshine, this time with a wonderful solo artist
in the form of Asta.
Back in 2009 I became addicted to co country dwellers Empire
Of The Sun and their first album ‘Walking On A Dream’, tracks such as ‘We Are
The People’ and ‘Half Mast’ were constantly propping themselves up on my iPod
shuffle and practically sound tracked my summer. Hailing from Hobart,
Australia, she could quite well become my Empire Of The Sun for 2013.
Asta is Karen O meets Empire Of The Sun, hypnotizing vocals encapsulate
themselves around a soft kick, hi hat and acoustic guitar. Radar track ‘I Need
Answers’ is a tiny bit early Daft Punk
meets Ellie Goulding with a bit of Gabrielle Aplin, a nice gentle tune you’d
have on in the background on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
I lost touch once again and my email inbox overflowed with
music, a top of the pile was some electronic goodness in the form of Hot
Natured, a 4 piece that have been bubbling the musical surface for a while now.
New release ‘Reverse Skydiving’ features Anabel Englund and
is to be released through Pete Tong's label FFRR label. This version however is
the Shadow Child remix, which boasts tech/house beat and dub breakdown, a dance
floor mover and beater.
Hot Natured are set to appear in a headline slot at this year’s
Glastonbury festival, in the giant sonic super tent on the Friday night. They
are also set to appear at Parklife, Sonar, T in the park and Bestival as well
as released an album later this year.
I guessed it was about time I should touchdown on home soil musically,
as lately I've been travelling (not literally) the world on a wave of indie-pop
from Australia, America, Norway and Sweden.
Into the big smoke of our capital city reigns Radar act
Fryars (real name Ben Garratt, 22 years young) a natural poetic genius of the
21st century gathering speed through an off the cuff bet by the NME
and Zane Lowe causing mass hysteria though his next hype.
If anybody remembers Dave Grohl and his keynote speech at
this year’s SXSW you’ll remember him grabbing his guitar along with 2 tape
decks and recording himself, Fryars is the true example of this. Self recorded
and self released, gaining attention far and wide.
Take a metaphorical stirring pot and add the ingredients of the
fingers of Gold Panda, the vocals James Blake, the more emotional Jack Penate
and the musical dust that Dépêche Mode leave in their absence. You should be
left with something that creates Radar track ‘On Your Own’, a plethora of emotion,
a brick wall of lust, like that punch to the stomach when you see the person
you can’t gather the guts to speak to, yes, that feeling.
You can see Fryars at London’s St Pancreas Old Church on 2nd
of May or Leeds Holy Trinity on 7th May.
‘On Your Own’ is set for single release on 13th
of May 2013.
Remember when I said the southern hemisphere was creating
some great music over the last year, well, I’m not going to say it’s the
weather, or possibly something in the water but there are some wonderful sounds
coming from down under.
Radar 3 piece Atlas Genius hail from Adelaide, they grew up
among a very musical family and were heavily influenced by The Beatles, but
fame wasn't to come first hand in their native country.
A track recorded in their very own self built recording
studio by the name of ‘Trojans’ was scooped up by US blog Neon Gold which
catapulted them into the spotlight. Since then they have charted in the US
Billboard chart and gone top 10 in the US Digital charts, as well as appearing on numerous American chat shows and becoming Zane Lowe’s next hype on Radio 1.
Radar track ‘Symptoms’ is Bastille, with a twang of Empire Of The Sun and just enough Foster The People to get by. It’s an acoustic
guitar layered with a persistent drum beat nicely partnered with some dulcet
tones. A melodic lo-fi pop hit that’s going to surf its way into the UK charts
within the year. And I ought to mention, they've just finished a tour with previous Radar band Imagine Dragons.
I remember my introduction to the song ‘Bam Bam’ quite well,
when I heard it I did a little chuckle, the same kind of chuckle I did when I first
heard Mumford & Sons, retorting “that will never catch on”. People that
know me will tell you that I have the attitude of always being right, but on
both these occasions, I was completely wrong and 2 and a bit years later I
found myself in a very cold room dancing to the said song while King Charles
played to a packed out Wedgewood Rooms.
A year or so before this, King Charles had visited The
Wedgewood Rooms (at this point, I was fully converted) to play ClubNME, a gig
that is way up there with some of my favorites His onstage braggadocio is laboriously
backed up, showmanship only you would imagine seeing among established artists;
he held the room in the palm of his hand, with ease. In his presence once more,
the story unfolds
.
A whole hour before doors, outside of The Wedgewood Rooms a
queue formed of a middle aged man, a huddle of teenage girls and the teenage
boy looking awkwardly on, it was ever growing. Inside the venue, final sound
checks were being finalized and merchandise was being frustratingly counted,
while out of nowhere like a sudden smoke King Charles appears, excited and
animated 11 days into his 30 day tour of the UK, props to him for the amount of
energy nearly 2 weeks into the jaunt with another 2 on the horizon.
As the room gently filled itself with the broadest aged
crowd I had seen since Gabrielle Aplin (3 weeks previously) first act Giovanna,
who if I am not mistaken is a close relative of the man himself, took to the stage
to play a 4 track set that aligned itself somewhere between Ellie Goulding and
Florence Welch, nicely seconded by Alt J. A commanding voice that is slightly
left short by stage persona, but it’s nothing a few lessons with KC wouldn't fix, a definitive future.
Next up were Story Books, influences formed out of the
embers of the late noughties indie, think Bombay Bicycle Club, The XX and a
vocal that sounds like Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend. Enticing tracks, steeped
with emotion with added in between song banter, we all like a band that can
joke in between songs, or while tuning their guitars (you can’t get the staff
these days). Well worth your time; check out the track ‘Glory & Growth’.
Now for the headline fight, the lights dimmed down and the
introductions followed, a pitch black Wedgewood Rooms staged was filled with
King Charles’ foot soldiers, with them in toe he followed. Like a true king
leading his men into war he took no prisoners from the first chord, the battle
was already won it seemed. Instantly charming the crowd into ‘Love blood’ then competently hypnotizing every female in the radius of the room with ‘Mississippi Isabel’
with added crowd sing-a-long.
What’s most clear a year on is how tight King Charles a band
have become, expanding slightly but without a need to know, no bum notes or
eerie silences, the back-line was taut and without fault. If you translate the
music King Charles play to the sold out audience who were watching you’d be mistaken to think it was just sweaty
teenagers, as either side of me through the majority of the gig were pockets of
middle aged women gushing at KC’s every move, and with reason.
A quick guitar change led King Charles slaying into ballad ‘Polar
Bear’, enticing the crowd once more, the sheer power of the track threw the
audience into a quite uncontrollable frenzy which was then soaked up by the
band and prolonged into a cataclysm of break downs and a stage dive.
As the lights dimmed
once more, and King Charles fixed his hair (that’s a lot of hair) his dulcet
tones introduced everybody to Mumford duet ‘The Brightest Lights’ at one point
managing to silence himself and leave The Wedgewood Rooms crowd to sing the
chorus for themselves. A diamond in the ever glistening King Charles crown ‘Bam
Bam’ followed alongside ‘Beating Hearts’ ‘Coco Chitty’ and the lyrically
brilliant ‘Ivory Road’, things then began to wind itself up, in the same sense
as jack in the box.
When you talk about encores you imagine them to be short and
sweet, uneventful, enough to send the crowd home smiling, but not tonight, King
Charles had different ideas. He returned to the stage a solo artist, playing
alone to a crowd that looked on deflated, momentarily deflated, He then
introduced his foot soldiers back to the stage and we were all treated to the
brilliant KC rendition of Billy Joel classic ‘We Didn't Start The Fire’ but the
story doesn't stop there. The first verse whipped the crowd into a what can
only be explained as unequivocal hysteria which led to an extended bridge as
this caused 2 teenage girls to faint (something I’m told isn't a regular occurrence
at King Charles shows) that aside, the song is adapted lyrically, to which a
credit to King Charles himself who in 3 words said his bit for Thatcher,
in jest, maybe, who knows.
And just as we were all ready for all out war the lights
went up, the dust was settling, the empty cups were being picked up, and the
girls who had fainted returned for a hug. In short, The Wedgewood Rooms had
once again had the roof blown from it and it was gently resting itself back,
all thanks to a brilliant performance by King Charles.
Do you remember that
feeling when you were 15 and you left a venue covered in sweat and thinking ‘what
just happened and why’...Well, that’s the feeling I have about Kings Charles at
The Wedgewood Rooms, April 11th 2013. March on, squire.
First there were Iceland’s Of Monsters And Men, then came
Sweden’s MO and following just behind are Pixie Carnation, there is just
something about northern European pop, electro, rock or folk that really gets
me.
On the cusp of releasing their debut album 5 piece Pixie
Carnation are to play London’s XOYO, hailing from Malmo (that’s in Sweden) they
play the middle ground between ‘Because Of The Times’ Kings Of Leon and ‘Sigh
No More’ Mumford & Sons, a great combination, faultless even. The last 3
years has been a culmination of hard graft, touring, band members coming and
going and a re-recording of soon to be released album ‘The New World Record’.
For anybody that has ever seen The Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’
you won’t forgive me in saying the opening seconds to ‘The New World Record’ is
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band just before the Meanies decide to mute, a
wonderful matrimony of sounds flows into opener ‘When Did The Lights Go Out’
which gently pushes you into the journey beyond, the indie/rock influences
begin to bubble on the surface. A southern American guitar twang chimes ‘We Can
Lie’ into the mix, the vocals of Ola (Lead Singer, Guitar) pierce the versatile
composed musical ensemble that contrasts to early Mumford crossed with Band Of
Skulls, A slow building indie/rock hit.
Three tracks in and the strong Kings Of Leon/Mumford
similarities begin to inch its way into the Pixie Carnation sound, ‘Speed Up
Your Heart’ is ‘On Call’ meets ‘Winter Winds’ though the burden of the sound
surrounds the band, the influence of either bands could well be vacant and be a
complete act of innocent genius. ‘Keep It Coming’ takes Arcade Fire to the next
level, a journey within a 5 and a half minute track, a weaving ride through
long country roads on a mid-Sunday afternoon.
The ebbing flow from track to track in a prominent feature
within ‘The New World Record’ as well as the never ending ability to pin down
the exact sound of the band, from one track to another different sounds and
influences arise but not one exact pigeon hole is available. ‘From The View Of
A Gun’ puts us in the middle of the album, looking backwards at a now darker
light and forwards to the next single ‘Young And Free’ the definitive Pixie
Carnation sound at its strongest, the track to make you stamp your feet and
sing at the top of your voice, a sure fire crowd pleaser a la ‘Little Lion Man’.
A celebration of life and everything it includes ‘Dreaming
Still’ flows from ‘Young And Free’ with a positive resonance, Pixie Carnation
take the traditional ensemble of musical creation, every track included within ‘The
New World Record’ begs no less a duration of 4 minutes, inviting you in to feel
every lyric and chord, something of which some artists and bands lack, throwing
tracks out thick and fast than throwing their arms around them to create the
spectacular music that can be appreciated.
Into the last quarter of the album ‘Little Sister’ throws a
much later radio friendly type spanner into the works, the long dulcet tones of
Ola collaborates pleasantly beside the bass of Lars and drums of Kristoffer,
the collective as a 5 piece come together throughout to create brilliance. ‘Smile’
is the penultimate build-up to the drop and all out ballad that closes ‘The New
World Record’ that is ‘Easy Love’.
There is a musical niche that surrounds Pixie Carnation,
lots of ‘not quite...’ but ‘really likes...’ if you are a fan of certain bands
and a certain genre then this is the band for you, there is also a certain
success that will surround the sound that they own and will see them through to
chart around the world.
‘The New World Record’ slips itself into one of the best
albums I have heard in 2013, alongside Justin Timberlake’s ‘20/20 experience’
Biffy Clyro with 'Opposites’ and Bastille ‘Bad Blood’. A possible outside
runner for Novembers Mercury Music Prize, young and free Pixie Carnation keep
it coming.
Pixie Carnation play London's XOYO on April 22nd, Tickets are still available. Single 'Young And Free' is set for release on May 6th with the album 'The New World Record' being released on the same date.
I didn't get the hype, I could not understand how this 3
girl pop group had got themselves to the top of the BBC shortlist of ‘ones to
watch’ in 2013, and it has taken me until now to perk my ears up and take
notice, but not by the way of original outing.
HAIM are a 3 piece who do what Niki & The Dove were
doing early 2012 but with added dance moves (you tell me, I don’t understand)
add to that everybody’s favorite remix artist and soon to be number 1 in the UK charts Duke Dumont and you've got
something quite special.
On the remix is HAIM track ‘Falling’ an infectious pop (it’s
not indie) hit that’s been reworked to feel summer.
It snowed today, in April. I don’t have any real solution to
the weather or anything currently going on in world relations, I just keep my
ear to the ground for new music and it just so happens that I’ve stumbled
across the German equivalent, they are called BOY.
BOY were formed in 2007, a two piece partly from Hamburg,
Germany and Zurich, Switzerland. The pop-folk paired alongside catchy lyrics
were enough to get them signed back in 2011 and debut album ‘Mutual Friends’
reaching top 20 in the German album charts. This then led them onto movie soundtracks
and multiple uses on German television adverts and TV shows (we’ve heard this
story before).
Radar track ‘Little Numbers’ is a catchy pop gem with a clap
and piano ensemble, vocals slightly contrast Lykke Li with a touch of Zooey a la She & Him.
