Is seems that the re-release of “Young Folks” from last years Writers Block has done Peter Bjorn and John the world of good success wise. Heck, it may even make the top 10 if number of plays on Radio 1 are anything to go by. Friday night saw them cement that success by appearing on the BBC’s only decent TV show (discounting Heroes) Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. They were joined on the show by The Gossip’s Beth Ditto and two of the biggest twats in showbiz Michael Ball and Jamie Foxx.

It was really nice to see Victoria Bergsman turn up to perform with PB&J. It’s not everyday you get to see the cream of the Swedish music scene turn up on primetime UK TV, so pats on the back all round for the music producers on the JR show.

Remixing a song can be a polarizing endeavor, with naysayers (I’ve counted myself among the torch waving hordes) snapping at the heels of any DJ or producer who creates the latest vapid reworking. That quandary is exacerbated, to the umpteenth degree, when it happens to be a popular song. With popularity comes repetition and with that comes deep impressions about yourself (philosophy folks call it ‘abstraction’). 

Every nascent change on the almighty iTunes play count bloats the listener’s sense of entitlement towards that song. The song morphs into feelings and then outright experience (counterfeited but somehow authentic). So when you hear that underwhelming remix of your favorite Postal Service tune, it has the same effect as ripping out your sinew, bones and heart and serving it to you in an altogether disorienting manner. Talk about cognitive dissonance.    

Ewan Pearson seems to realize this fact and has acted in accordance throughout his career. The English-born, Berlin-residing producer and DJ’s music aims to put the dance back into popular music. 

His remixes have appeared on at least 58 diverse releases by a wildly sundry group of artists - including Fields, The Chemical Brothers Feat. The Flaming Lips, Playgroup, Freeform Five, Franz Ferdinand, The Rapture, Pet Shop Boys, Goldfrapp and Depeche Mode, all of whom turn up on Piece Work. The two-disc compilation is in equal parts a microscope on Pearson’s teasing of individual songs as well as a telescope augmenting his range as a remixer.

The remixes on Piece Work don’t serve merely as ancillary facsimiles of the originals. For instance, the reworking of The Chemical Brothers featuring The Flaming Lips’ “The Golden Path” shines a light on Pearson’s immaculate production. The dub-rave explosion starts unassumingly with whip cracking drum effects and ringing bells. The road to the electronic choral uprising is paved with bleeps and skittering percussion as well. It jettisons the original motorik folk song into space without taking out the essential points where the lyrics and music converge. For example, the filtered vocals and tolling bell at the mention of a spectre pointing to a graveyard are all still intact.

There’s something organic about Pearson’s approach to his boardwork. If you sort through all the electronic magic you hear some of the same elements found on the source material the music wizard waves his wand over. The “organic sounds” still remain. The slicing knives on the remix of Mocky’s “Catch A Moment In Time” ratchet up the drama. On The Rapture’s “I Need Your Love” the squelchy bass line plops down as if the eponymous monster from The Blob stepped out onto the dance floor.   

Even the most popular songs, like Franz Ferdinand’s “Outsiders,” Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence,” and Royskopp’s “Ride A White Horse” and “Train” retain the spirit of the originals, without sounding like needless carbon copy endeavors.

These danceable remixes are welcome. Look around any concert hall, particularly any indie show, and you probably see it. Piece Work is a dizzying roadmap of a cartographer of sub-zero electronic sound-capes. 

They’re icy in that his sleek presentations of other artists work within the original intent. Pearson strikes the balance between not imposing his electro-house departures onto the original work and creating his own voice. As a result, Piece Work’s remixes are both embryonic and fully evolved. I guess remixes aren’t as bad as I thought they were.
80%

Links
Ewan Pearson [official site] [myspace]

Holy Fuck is an “improvisational electronica” band from Toronto, Canada, (thank you Wikipedia) and this is their second album after their 2005 eponymous debut.

Listening to and, indeed, reviewing, a solely instrumental album can sometimes be a bit more of a challenge without the insight into a band’s themes and attitudes usually afforded by the words they choose. This doesn’t prove to be the case here, however, since the listener is pretty much caught up straight from the off in the wonderful sense of aural exhilaration that pretty much every track elicits.

From opener, “Super Inuit” – complete with tribal drums, and “whoop’s” - it’s a fast, frenetic and upbeat ride, pitched somewhere between an old-style rave and some sort of avant guard improvisation and experimentation. The closest that they get to any kind of singing are in the reasonably frequent use of what can best be described as vocal sounds (but not actual words), which figure on many tracks, including “The Pulse”, “Echo Sam”, and “Choppers”. This is often paired with deep, low, bassy synthesised sounds, as on “Royal Gregory” and the brilliant, rhythmic “Milkshake”.

The way, I think, that they succeed in sustaining such interest (and even excitement) throughout, is by the way that they will start with a solid rhythm and perhaps a single hook, then proceed to build layers of different sounds and melodies on top. A track will develop and intensify as it goes along. This is perhaps best illustrated on the stand-out track, the wonderful “Lovely Allen”. The ‘basic’ melody it starts with is a winner, and by the end of the track I would pretty much guarantee that most listeners would be beaming from ear to ear. Superb and euphoric stuff.

At some points the band do walk quite close to the edge of “novelty”. Most closely on “Safari” with it’s comedy out-of-tune bugle fanfare and sampling of the tune from an old computer game (I’m thinking Nintendo and something Mario Bros, but I could be wrong…). They do just about stay on the right side to divert and amuse rather than irritate.

All in all, it’s been a long time since I’ve listened to anything this upbeat, fun and just plain happy. A great album to dance to, work out to or just sit tapping your feet and grinning along with.
90%

Links
Holy Fuck [official site] [myspace]

Fionn Regan

To say that October is going to be a good month for live shows is a slight understatement. A whole host of TLOBF favourites are turning up in the capital city for your entertainment needs. Some choice picks are The Decemberists at the Royal Festival Hall, which could quite possibly be their biggest London show to date, capacity wise.

Canadian supergroup The New Pornographers will be turning up at Koko on the 4th, whether Neko Case will be joining them or not is debatable, but still worth a punt. Speaking of Canadian supergroups, Broken Social Scene return to these shores for a full tour after their mind blowing sell out at Scala earlier in September. They’ll be roaring through tracks from main man Kevin Drew’s current solo(ish) album “Spirit If..”.

Both Editors and Maximo Park take up residencies at Brixton Academy whilst Mercury Music Prize nominees Bat For Lashes and Fionn Regan play at Koko and Kings College respectively. We’ll see you down the front for Battles on the 11th.

OCTOBER
2 The Decemberists @ Royal Festival Hall
2 Foals @ Scala
3 iLiKETRAiNS @ Scala
4 Colin Hay @ Dingwalls
4 The New Pornographers @ Koko
5 Manu Chao @ Brixton Academy
6 The Happy Mondays @ Brixton Academy
6 Damien Rice @ Wembley Arena
7 Kate Nash @ Bloomsbury Ballroom
8-10 Editors @ Brixton Academy
9 The Go! Team @ Astoria
9 The Thrills @ Koko
10-11 Hadouken! @ Astoria
11 Battles @ Koko
11 The Coral and The Metros @ Roundhouse
11 Turin Brakes @ Forum
11-12 Athlete @ Shepherds Bush Empire
11-12 Maximo Park @ Brixton Academy
13 The Mooney Suzuki @ Islington Academy
16 The Happy Mondays @ Brixton Academy
16 The Maccabees @ Roundhouse
16 Just Jack @ Shepherd’s Bush Empire
17 The Cribs @ Forum
17 The Enemy @ Brixton Academy
17 The Rumble Strips @ Scala
17 The Hoosiers @ King’s College
19 Broken Social Scene @ Koko
21 Ani DiFranco @ Shepherds Bush Empire
22 Les Savy Fav @ Scala
23 LCD Soundsystem @ Brixton Academy
23 Los Campesinos! @ ULU
25-26 Mark Ronson @ Shepherds Bush Empire
26 The Twang @ Brixton Academy
26 Ghosts @ Koko
29 Bat For Lashes @ Koko
30 Idlewild @ Koko
30-31 Rufus Wainwright @ Hammersmith Apollo
30-31 KT Tunstall @ Roundhouse
31 Iron and Wine @ Shepherds Bush Empire
31 Fionn Regan @ King’s College

Buy tickets to any of these shows here.

Places is the debut album from boy/girl combo Georgie James. The band is the brain child of John Davis and Laura Burhenn, both of whom already having extensive musical experience. The latter has released four solo albums on hew own label Laboratory Records and Davis was the drummer with now defunct Washington DC outfit Q And Not U. Their friendship was forged through a mutual love of poppy 60s classics and the pair have been writing together for the last couple of years, Davis concentrating on guitars and drums whilst Burhenn picks out beautiful melodies on the piano. The indie world has been eagerly anticipating their first offering. Has it been worth the wait? Let’s find out…

The album comprises a good solid backbone of US alt-rock which is then fleshed out with lighter Beatlesque harmonies and 60s melody. This might seem an uneasy juxtaposition but it really is a winning combination. A perfect illustration of this being the anti-war “Cake Parade” where Burhenn sings scathing lyrics over a lovely poppy sounding piano – “The sun has gone looks like a perfect day / To put our soldiers in an early grave”. This really sums up the whole album, excellent song writing often featuring socio/political comment, wound up in perfect pop. This is a difficult skill to master but the duo appear to do it effortlessly.

Really, there are too many highlights on this album to run through them all, but there are a few standouts. The aforementioned “Cake Parade” being one. The others being “Long Week” (a great piano led rocker), the hazy “Hard Feelings” (Davis doing a passable impression of Arthur Lee being backed by The Byrds) and the superb “Cheap Champagne” – “They sell us pretty pills to take the pain away / They let us wash it down with cheap champagne” sings Burhenn, just like Blondie circa Parallel Lines. Brilliant!

If there’s one criticism of the album it’s that maybe it’s a track or two too long. Perhaps this feeling would be eased had Burhenn taken more of the lead vocals. Certainly Davis is more than competent in this department but it is Burhenn’s wonderfully dulcet tones that really bring the songs to life. But really that’s nit picking as for the most part this is a damn good record. And for all you indie snobs out there, it’s on Saddle Creek. What more do you want?
85%

Links
Georgie James [official site] [myspace]

Well, it’s Friday morning (hooray!) and I’ve opened my email to a whole host of news from Secretly Canadian… so, as I’m feeling a little more alive after two cups of tea, here’s the skinny…

Pride is the third album by alt-folk original Phosphorescent (aka Matthew Houck) and will be released on October 22 by Dead Oceans, the new Austin, TX-based label which is also home to Bishop Allen, Citay, Dirty Projectors, Evangelicals, The Explorers Club and Iran. There’ll be a UK tour in late November and early December as main support to TLOBF faves Akron/Family. UK dates as follows…

November
24   Brighton, The Pressure Point
25   Bristol, The Croft
27   Aberdeen, The Lemon Tree
28   Glasgow, The Beat Club
29   Newcastle, The Other Rooms
30   Manchester, Phoenix

December
1   Leeds, The Faversham
2   London, Cargo
4   Nottingham, The Social
5   Coventry, Taylor John’s House

Sunset Rubdown release their third album, Random Spirit Lover, in the UK on 8th October 2007. It was recorded earlier this year at the Breakglass Studios in Montreal with Jace Lasek (of The Besnard Lakes).

The band was originally the solo bedroom recordings of Spencer Krug, but has since evolved into a full-fledged band, involving the contributions of fellow Montreal residents Jordan Robson Cramer, Michael Doerksen, and Camilla Wynne Ingr.

A prolific and talented musician, Krug is also a member of Frog Eyes and Wolf Parade, and, in the fall of 2006, he collaborated with Dan Bejar of Destroyer and Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes to form Swan Lake, recording their first album for Jagjaguwar called Beast Moans. Jordan Robson-Cramer is currently the brain behind Magic Weapon as well as a member of Miracle Fortress, and Michael Doerksen produces his own solo work under the name of Deep Sleepover.

Wow… now that’s an impressive line-up…

Last, but certainly not least, we’ve got a bit of an update on Jens Lekman, a firm TLOBF favourite. Jens’ new album Night Falls Over Kortedala (read our review here), which has already topped the charts in his native Sweden, is released on October 8 in the UK on Secretly Canadian. Read all about it in today’s Guardian and our interview with him here.

November
27 Manchester, Sacred Trinity Church
28 Leeds, Holy Trinity Church
29 Sheffield, The Plug w/Josh Rouse
30 Manchester, Academy 2 w/Josh Rouse

December
1 Glasgow, QMU w/Josh Rouse
3 Gateshead, The Sage 2 w/Josh Rouse
4 Nottingham, Rescue Rooms w/Josh Rouse
5 Bristol, Academy w/Josh Rouse
7 Oxford, Academy w/Josh Rouse
8 Brighton, Concorde 2 w/Josh Rouse
9 London, Shepherds Bush Empire w/Josh Rouse
11 London, The Luminaire **SOLD OUT**
12 Dublin, Whelans

Links
Phosphorescent [myspace]
Sunset Rubdown [official site]
Jens Lekman [official site]

In a rare Denver appearance (I’d heard this was only their second time playing here, the last instance being two years ago), The National gig at the Ogden Theater capped off a long weekend of absolutely terrific live music in my hometown. Between Okkervil River, Monolith Festival, and the Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem spectacle, however, they did have some hard acts to follow.

Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent) opened the show - I’d had conflicting feelings about how I would receive her; though I’d only given it a couple of listens, I hadn’t warmed to her critically acclaimed solo debut Marry Me. She played her set in near darkness, continuously shifting between guitar, synthesizers and drums. For such a tiny wisp of a woman, Annie certainly has a commanding, and at times angelic, voice. I enjoyed her set quite a bit, and even gained a new appreciation for her album.

The National took the stage with little fanfare; it soon became obvious that this band is all about the music and not so much about appearances. They blazed through their set, covering most of the material from Boxer along with plenty of older favorites. Altered arrangements on certain songs made for some interesting twists – the most notable being a more up-tempo “Racing Like A Pro”, a rocked out “Squalor Victoria”, and a maniacal, lose all abandon, rendition of “Mr. November” to end the show.

The performance was much more energetic (I’d even go so far as to say explosive) than I would have expected from listening to their albums. Though seemingly a bit nervous and out of place between songs, Matt Berninger is a captivating front man. I found it difficult to tear my attention away from his arm-flailing, mike-stand strangling antics enough to give the rest of the band notice. What I did take in is how professional and talented this band is. The brothers Dessner, along with Scott Devendorf, seemed to go about their business quietly, providing the perfect backdrop for Berninger’s gorgeous lyrics. Bryan Devendorf is just about as good of a drummer as you’re likely to find anywhere. Despite the above average performances of all involved, though, the real highlight was the instrument-hopping, part-time-National Padma Newsome. In addition to his keyboard work, the man is a complete fiend on the violin.

The National proved themselves more than worthy to cap off what had to have been the best five days of indie rock this state has ever seen. Moreover, they succeeded in entrenching Boxer ever deeper as my choice of album of the year. Let’s just hope they don’t wait another two years to come back through town.

Links
The National [boxer album review] [interview]

Oceansize have gone about their business quietly, building themselves a hard earned reputation for creating songs of grandiose. Each of their previous two albums have been filled with ambition and technically brilliant time changes. At their best Oceansize are peerless in their majesty.

Whilst Frames easily surpasses anything you are likely to hear this side of the Led Zeppelin reformation, there is the nagging feeling that, yes, this is Oceansize, but it could be Oceansize at any point in the last five years. Frames has all the finesse and delicacy expectant of them but it never shifts up a gear to match some of the intensity that was found on Music for Nurses or either of their previous long players. You would expect “Trail of Fire” to be pretty incendiary. It takes five minutes for a 90 second crescendo to be built but as the song dissipates at the eight minute mark I was still waiting for the speakers to implode as they have so often proved an adeptness for.

Savant shimmers and echoes with memories of long forgotten ghosts and is augmented with a string accompaniment that serenely fuses with the bands unmistakeable sound. An evil music box is evoked at the opening of “Only Twin” where (Mike Vennart) literally spits the lyrics “I just wish I could have left you there sitting in your own shit / see cos I’ve come through all this before, I’ve bought that skinny tee, with a big black gaping hole where my heart used to be, which says baby I renounce thee.” The strings are in evidence once again but they are pushed further back into the mix as “Only Twin” loudens and reaffirms why Oceansize are still so far ahead of their contemporaries.

Like a shrill babies cry in the dead of night, they have the capability to ignite even the most slumbersome drone (if you don’t take my word for it, the transition from funeral death march, to wall of sound rock in the ten minute “An Old Friend of the Christies” should leave you in little doubt). “Sleeping Dogs and Dead lions” dispenses with etiquette and assaults the senses from the off, it is one of the shorter tracks on Frames and shows that they still have the vigour to mix with their cunning.

Make no mistake, this is a great record, but having set the bar at such a height it was always going to be difficult for Oceansize to maintain their exacting standards. However, many bands will only dream of producing eight tracks and sixty minutes of music as good as this in their careers, these guys have been doing it for years. Where they go from here is anyones guess but they are unlikely to start churning out three minute top ten singles any time soon.
70%

Links
Oceansize [official site] [myspace] [tour dates & video] [buy it]

The Autumn has finally arrived. It’s cold, it’s wet and I’ve had to dig my scarf out from the bottom of the wardrobe before I leave the house. So, it’s with no little difficulty that I drag myself out of my warm and dry house across town to the Portland Arms. I get wet as I trudge through the puddles to the surprisingly welcoming pub.

As I have a beer, which isn’t very nice unfortunately, and wait for the evening to unfurl I’m suddenly wondering if Pete and the Pirates will actually dress up. I’ve failed to do my research sufficiently and I’ve not Googled them to see if there’s any photographic evidence of some sort of costume-fuelled live show. All I have to go on is Everett True’s glowing live review in this months Plan B, comparing them to all the greatest live shows he’s ever seen, and I bet he’s seen some impressive shows.

Things don’t start too well. The drummer for the support act The Umbrella Assassins has left his cymbals at home. Which, even I know, are pretty useful. So, after an hour wait, they weren’t worth it. A mish-mash of garage rock pretensions with classic rock riffs and a bassist who wants to be just like Flea. Oh dear. Well, at least it was all over pretty soon.

Thankfully we weren’t kept waiting for Pete and the Pirates. Five guys shuffle on stage and look the least likely band members in the entire world. The front stage duo of vocalist Tommy Sanders and guitars / backing vocalist Peter Hefferan are tiny, delicate individuals who look like a gust of wind might blow them over. However, as Sanders bellows into the microphone for the opening song, he becomes twice the size.

His vocal yelps and accentuated drawl sound open and honest; you instantly warm and trust this man. The two, and occassionally three, vocal harmonies are tight and uplifting whilst the hand claps, tambourine and “la la la’s” make it feel as though you’re at a party. The band sound tight, their Myspace gig list looks like a road map of the UK, they don’t seem to be having a break between now and Christmas. Their entire 10 song set is jovial and upbeat. In places it might not come across as an entirely fresh take on the whole post-punk scene, but their glittering riffs and crashing drums take unexpected turns. Just when you think you know where a song is going, it shifts and explores a different path. Their repertoire of riffs and jangling guitars impressive, the drummer beating the living daylights out of his kit throughout the set.

The songs themes are all that young men sing and dream about; girls, drinking, girls, sex, girls, love, girls, food and girls. Their lyrics are instantly memorable, full of hooks and smile-inducing couplets: “Hey girl what are you doing in his bed!” and “I got up in such a hurry / I’m still stuck in side my dream!” to name but two. Latest single “Knot” should be huge. Its crashing riffs, three part vocal harmonies and a mid-section that Franz Ferdinand would be proud of, I’m surprised it’s not featured more prominently.

As I left the venue, the rain had stopped and even the wind had died a little. I strolled over to my car with a smile on my face and a thought that I think I’ve found my new favourite band.

Photos courtesy of Phil Day

I’m still not totally won over by Robyn. No doubt she ticks all the right boxes, i.e she’s Swedish and anyone that knows me can vouch I have a slight fondness for anything of the Scandanavian variety. There is just something about her album that doesn’t quite do it for me. It’s all a bit too polished, and at times contrived to win me over fully. Though, I will admit that recent number 1 single “Every Heartbeart” is a cracking pop song with a neat video to boot.

Hot on the heels of that said success her label are putting out new single “Handle Me” on October 22nd. A bolshy, hip hop flavoured song that although is an obvious choice for a single doesn’t quite hit the heights of “Every Heartbeat”. What is rather interesting about the new single is the choice of remixers involved. Not only have The Soulsavers had a crack at it (you must hear their album, it’s a corker) but fellow swede Björn Yttling from current media darlings Peter, Bjorn and John has also stamped his trademark production technique all over it. Meaning he’s basically added a shit load of analogue effects and fuzz to the mix. Great stuff. There is an mp3 of the track below for your listening pleasure. Robyn will be touring this land over the next couple of weeks, check her myspace for details.

mp3:> Robyn: Handle Me (Björn Yttling remix)

Links
Robyn [official site] [myspace]

Photograph by Dani

Swedish songstress extroadinaire Sarah Assbring recently took time out from recording her brand new album (tentatively titled From The Valley To The Stars) to answer our 20 Questions. The usual quick fire responses these interviews normally generate were replaced with perhaps the most incisive answers to date. Ladies and gentlemen we invite you to step inside the mind of El Perro Del Mar… Continue Reading

Of Montreal have announced a few releases to keep us fans happy in the short term; a live, acoustic EP and a reissue of a rarities collection.

The live EP is part of the Sony Connect Set, four unplugged tracks recorded in Los Angeles back in January by Barnes and bandmate Bryan “The Late B.P. Helium” Poole. In addition to a pair of Hissing cuts, the digital-only set includes a Neil Young (which I have to hear) and Love Is All covers. That’ll be available for download on 2nd Oct.

We’ve also got the impressively titled If He Is Protecting Our Nation Then Who Will Protect Big Oil??? Previously released in 2003 on Track & Field outside America, it gathers 13 choice cuts from the Of Montreal back-catalogue. Polyvinyl reissues it 23rd October.

Sony Connect Set:

1 Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover)
2 Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
3 Make Out, Fall Out, Make Up (Love Is All cover)
4 We Were Born the Mutants Again With Leafling

If He Is Protecting Our Nation Then Who Will Protext Big Oil???:

1 My, What a Strange Day With a Swede
2 An Ill-Treated Hiccup’s View of the World
3 Cast in the Haze (Been There Four Days)
4 Mimi Merlot Beatnik Version
5 Girl From NYC (Named Julia)
6 Inside a Room Full of Treasures….
7 Charlie & Freddy
8 There Is Nothing Wrong….
9 Maple Licorice
10 Barely Asian at the Beefcake Horizon
11 Spooky Spider Chandelier
12 Friends of Mine
13 Christmas Isn’t Safe for Animals

Woo hoo! Christmas is but a stone-throws away and, knowing my parents, they’ve probably already done their Christmas shopping. However, something they wouldn’t have been able to get yet is this new compilation of classic Christmas songs, plus some covers by a whole host of new(ish) bands!

The disc is out now on Baby Rock Records and is snappily called Lullabye Renditions of Christmas Rock Classics CD:

1 Sufjan Stevens: “Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time”
2 The Pretenders: “2000 Miles
3 Death Cab for Cutie: “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
4 The Ramones: “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)”
5 Band Aid: “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
6 John Lennon: “Happy Xmas (The War is Over)”
7 Smashing Pumpkins: “Christmastime”
8 No Doubt: “Oi to the World”
9 The Waitresses: “Christmas Wrapping”
10 The Killers: “Great Big Sled”
11 The Kinks: “Father Christmas”
12 blink-182: “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas”
13 Pearl Jam: “Some Day at Christmas”

Links
Rockabye Baby [official site]

Next week, hopefully, sees our week long celebration of the Wichita record label. They’ve been around for 7 years and are celebrating their birthday with the release of label compilation There’s Only One “T” In Wichita, which features exclusive tracks from Peter Bjorn and John, Les Savy Fav and Simian Mobile Disco among others. We’ll be bringing you exclusive interviews with some of the acts on the CD; Los Campesinos!, The Cribs, Bloc Party and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Plus we get inside the mind of label boss Mark Bowen.

To help us mark this occassion, the lovely people at Wichita have given us a stack of goodies for one lucky reader. We don’t actually know what’s in the package, but it apparently includes badges, albums, t-shirts and golf tees (“There’s Only One T In Wichita”, get it?).

So to win this load of stuff, all you have to do is answer this simple question:

Which label was co-founder Mark Bowen involved with before starting Wichita?

This competition is now closed.

You can’t keep anything off the internet these days. It seems as though a “trailer” for the Sigur Ros DVD has found it’s way onto YouTube. See it below…

From the blurb: 

Heima-which translates as both “At Home” and “Homeland”– chronicles a series of free concerts Sigur Rós played in their native Iceland over the course of summer 2006. Combining both the biggest and smallest shows of their career, the entire tour was filmed, and now provides a unique insight into one of the world’s most fascinating and inscrutable bands captured live while exploring their natural habitat like never before. The film is currently being edited by Nick Fenton with direction from the Oscar-nominated Dean DeBlois.

This is in addition to the new double album titled Hvarf / Heim which will be release on the same day, November 6th.

Ten years. Has it really been ten years? The memories come flooding back. My tiny room at halls at Cardiff University, a walkman permanently welded in my pocket as I walk to and from lectures. A friend lends me an album. “It’s by a Scottish band called Idlewild”, he says. I pop into my walkman. Ok. This is good… Very good. Punk rock guitars, literary reflections and tunes to boot. Idlewild, where have you been all my life?

And so it begins, my infatuation with one of Scotland’s greatest exports that, looking back, failed to capitalise on their success. The release of this “Best Of” collection surmising the first 10 years of the band is handsomely titled “Scottish Fiction” and maybe, in the end, that was their problem. They were perhaps always a little too clever for the mainstream. They had all the tunes, as this 17 track selection shows, but they had artistic pretensions. And the mainstream has never liked that. Has there ever been a pop song with the opening line of: “It’s a better way to feel / Don’t be real, be post-modern” (”Roseability”). You can’t really imagine someone singing that on Top of the Pops now, can you?

Some Idlewild fans will argue that this doesn’t reflect their band that well. It’s a bit top heavy - most of the songs here are from the more REM-friendly section of their back catalogue with only two songs from their classy debut, Hope Is Important. However, I still believe that they’ve not released a bad album. Sure, they never truely hit the punk highlights of their debut. But, everyone grows older and mellows and it feels as though I’ve grown up with Idlewild and mellowed as well.

I still find myself moved by the tracks “Love Steals Us From Loneliness”, “Let Me Sleep (Next To The Mirror)”, “American English”, “Roseability” and “In Remote Part / Scottish Fiction”. Perhaps I’m just an emotional person, but these tracks have always found themselves on mix tapes during relationships as I try to impress girls with my deep and (obviously) hidden poetic heart. But such is life. 100 Broken Windows is still one of my all-time favourite albums and will probably stand as Idlewild’s defining moment. This was the time when they got the mix perfect between their REM-influenced literary rock and their punk past. This is reflected on this “Best Of”as tracks from this album dominate the selection.

Of course, it’s still a “Best Of” album and I could easily swap out tracks like “El Capitan” and “No Emotion” for other gems missed off like “Actually It’s Darkness” and “You’ve Lost Your Way”. But then, that’s always the argument with these things. However, as a place to start for someone new to the band then it’s a perfect introduction. In fact, if you’ve not heard Idlewild before then I’d advise you strongly to pick this up. Before long you’ll find yourself lost and overcome by the brilliance of this oft-overlooked band.
80%

Links
Idlewild [official site] [myspace] [buy it]

Tokyo Police Club release a small, but perfectly formed, EP on Paper Bag Records on 23rd Oct in Canada and 6th November in the US. No info on a UK release though…

A follow-up to last years excellent A Lesson In Crime, it’s entitled Smith as is a collection of b-sides and rarities. ”Box” and “Cut Cut Paste” will be available on CD for the first time whilst “A Lesson in Crime” is taken from a Japanese bonus track. Also included are an exclusive RAC remix of “Be Good” and videos for three tracks.

Tracklisting:
1 Box
2 Cut Cut Paste
3 A Lesson in Crime
4 Be Good (RAC Remix)
5 Nature of the Experiment (video) [directed by George Vale]
6 Cheer It On (video) [directed by Sean Wainsteim]
7 Citizens of Tomorrow (video) [directed by Kyle Davison]

Ray Davies returns with a new solo LP Working Mans Café on October 22nd.

Eighteen months after releasing his first ever solo album, Other People’s Lives, which was a lifetime in the making, this new album has happened relatively quickly.

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and mixed in North London at Konk earlier this year, Working Mans Café features 12 songs written by Ray Davies and co-produced with Ray Kennedy.

Ray plays Camden’s Roundhouse on Sunday October 28th as part of the BBC’s ‘Electric Proms’ season.

Our hardy photographer, Valerio Berdini, braved the mosh pit for the recent Gallows gig in Cambridge.

All he could do afterwards was quote Jethro Tull: “Too old for hardcore, too young to die“.

Links
Photos [valerio berdini]

What is it about Icelandic bands? Their music is so expansive, so lush, so lovely. I’ve never been to Iceland, but I expect the landscape would match the compositions from the country’s best known artists. Yet even so, I’ve never really been able to get into the whole Icelandic music scene, at least as far as casual listening goes. I use Sigur Rós to cure insomnia, and I’ve never found myself all that interested in Björk. What Múm have going for them, however, is that they are an experimental/electronica band who don’t sound overly experimental or electronica. They create luxurious music that doesn’t make me want to lie down for a nap.

With the 2006 departure of Kristín Vlatýsdóttir, Múm is down to its final two founding members - Gunnar Örn Tynes and Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason. Although officially now a duo, Múm recruited a whole host of musicians to assist them on their latest release, Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy. GGSTPI is like a soundtrack to the seasons; I find myself relishing the music now as summer turns to autumn, yet I feel that I will find just as much to appreciate from the album when autumn fades into winter in a month or so (hey, it’s Colorado - spring and autumn are practically non-existent here). What I love most about Múm’s new album is that they employ an “everything but the kitchen sink” philosophy when it comes to the sheer number of instruments and gadgets and vocals that they use. In theory, utilizing every kind of instrument under the sun - not to mention the blips, bleeps and fuzz that are ever-present in the “electronica” genre - could add up to an aural cluster-fuck, but Múm manages to score and orchestrate their songs for perfect auditory satisfaction.

“Blessed Brambles” opens the album in a rather sparse fashion, with the staggered addition of drums, horns, and strings culminating in a toe-tapping corker of a track. Other album highlights include the one-two punch of “Moon Pulls” (a gorgeous piano piece) and “Marmalade Fires” (melodic and heavy on strings and horns), possibly the two most dazzling tracks placed smack dab in the middle of the album. And finally, the last track, “Winter (What We Never Were After All)”, is all kinds of beautiful, with its lumbering (in a good way) music and haunting vocals. To convert someone who’s admittedly not a huge fan of Icelandic music is an impressive feat indeed, a feat masterfully executed by Múm with Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy.
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Links
Múm [official site] [myspace] [buy it]