Atlanta’s Bradford Cox has become something of an underground celebrity of late. From his loping gait and distinctive emaciated frame to his out-and-proud gay virgin sexuality to his much discussed accidental leaking of new material on the internet (and the subsequent ongoing message board meleé) Cox courts controversy at every turn. Whether this is intentionally or (as I believe) inadvertently, it has certainly intensified the interest on his various music projects. 

Nothing if not prolific, Bradford works constantly under a variety of monickers, the main two being solo ambientXcore project Atlas Sound and his four piece “ambient-punk” band Deerhunter. Continue Reading

Day 6
And so I get home and all is calming. And clammy. There is no band to see across town at 1pm. Or 1am. There are no more Yellow Cabs and sleek black Car Service glides from Brooklyn into the pit of Manhattan, no more subway rides overground in the glistening morning sun. No more beards (I shaved off mine own on arrival at home) and probably less beer, weed and pizza than has been the norm this last week. Certainly not for breakfast anyway.

So, was it all hard work? Well, yes. And no. Don’t get me wrong: 15 hour days of bands and beer are great. I have to admit is a little daunting when you stack 5 of them back to back. Especially rolling straight on from two days on the road with new Swedes, Air France. But I have skills and methods and coping strategies. Continue Reading

Ace Bushy Striptease are this generation’s Beatles.

I started saying that for LOLs on a music forum I post on but now I sincerely believe it and will maintain it to my dying day. Ace Bushy Striptease are four student type lads from Birmingham and one seemingly constantly rotating female singer who construct numerous ramshackle, somehow stylistically diverse guitar pop songs with wonderful titles like ‘Panda Love Unit’ (pre-Johnny Foreigner Alexei reference) and ‘Arrogance Is My Middle Name, Said Will Davis Arrogantly’. And ‘For A Star You Don’t Have Much Sparkle’. And ‘We Care For Each Other A Bit Still’. I’m not sure quite what it is that makes them this generation’s Beatles just yet, but its probably not entirely the songs. Its also the fanzines that they hand out at shows. And the fact, on a personal level, we clearly share the same musical ideology (their ‘cuddlecore’ is basically the Birmingham equivalent of my semi-imagined Manchester ‘tweexcore’). I put them on in a church in Salford and half expected them to tear up the place by accident, but actually they were surprisingly unflailing. This could be partly due to the fact their drummer is currently in India, though. But they’re still gigging, just with tapes and a drum machine or something, I don’t know. 

In short, Ace Bushy Striptease are the latest in a recently very consistent line of fantastic Birmingham-based guitar pop bands, flagshipped by Johnny Foreigner and Dystoph (and also with the likes of Sunset Cinema Club and Calories somewhere near behind). There’s something distinctly ‘un-proper’ about them as a band… the type of band that is just a bunch of mates who never practise and aren’t even quite sure what instrument they all play, but that’s just part of their magic. Part of me suspects that behind all the fanzines and cuddlecore, bassist Simon has the cold head for image of a veteran spin doctor or advertising executive. Although actually not. 

Realistically, I know in my heart of hearts that Ace Bushy Striptease aren’t *actually* this generation’s Beatles (that ‘dying day’ comment was, in hindsight, probably a bit hasty). But they might just be this generation’s Mekons. Give yrself up to their ramshackle magic. 

Ace Bushy Striptease on MySpace

Fred Nicolaus, with Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen, is one half of the beautiful collaboration that is Department of Eagles. Following the recent release of second album In Ear Park, we had the opportunity to pitch some questions to him, telling us about the band’s inspirations, how the two members work together, and the artistic concept behind their name. If you’ve not already done so, read our review of the album here. Continue Reading

El Guincho had the official release of his album, Alegranza, the other week on XL. An album of infused sounds, taking in everything from folk, pop and latin rhythms. We caught up with the man himself to find out a bit more about him…

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should…
It’s pop music, people loves pop music. It’s dance music, people loves to dance. And at the same time it is no pop and no dance music at all. It’s a different way of achieving those vibes with sounds you wouldnt expect to be there, so it makes it a new exciting thing. Continue Reading

In the lobby of our hotel in New Haven (note Sarah Palin on the cover of Newsweek!)

TLOBF favourites Fanfarlo are currently in a Connecticut studio recording their first album, and we can’t wait to hear it. Whilst we dream of their sunny, multilayered melodies from a grey Britain, the band are keeping us up to date with exclusive weekly dispatches from the studio.

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For a country that’s five times smaller than Blighty, Sweden’s recent output of pretty-pink pop pickers is remarkable. Escaping the mainstream banality of - the hyperbolically bloated - ABBA, gorgeous tunesmiths like Jens Lekman, The Concretes and  Peter, Bjorn & John have filtered into the hearts of both snot-nosed musos and tune-hugging mainstreamites with their clutterless, pursed lip  melodics.

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They make a noise and our own Catriona Boyle wasn’t all that sure what to make of LP3, Ratatat’s latest album, and yet she loved it. So, let’s see what goes on inside their minds… if we dare. We caught up with one half of the of duo, Evan Mast, to get him to answer our fiendishly fiesty 20 Questions… Just don’t tell him your hungover.

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Imagine the scene: By the bar, half-full glasses of cloudy, imported beer clink buoyantly while a rabble of private-school tailored voices pay no heed to the sweet rhythmic simplicity that flickers on stage. From the crowd, an angrily bellowed “shush” forces its way back but so immersed in idle-chatter are the antagonists that these protestations are barely acknowledged. And there he is - a stool sitting Peter Broderick - with only a few fey melodies and a set of hopeful vignettes to conquer those there not only to be seen but also to be heard. Continue Reading

As we publish this interview, news reaches TLOBF that Dear John, the long-awaited new album from Swedish singer-songwriter Loney, Dear (Emil Svanängen, as he’s known to his nearest and dearest) is complete. The long, hard slog of home recording is over; countless versions of songs discarded in search of the perfect take. Emil is a self-confessed perfectionist. When we chatted back in July, he talked about the intense pressure he puts himself under when recording music. Svanängen takes the recording process extremely seriously, spending lonely hours crafting perfectly formed pop songs like a patchwork blanket, with little or no help from outsiders. Layers are added, tweaked and removed until the perfect version reveals itself.

In this exclusive interview, Emil chats for the first time about his new record, the recording process and the pressures of releasing an album for the first time under the scrutiny of a much greater critical eye. (His last release, Loney, Noir, was his major label debut but had been self-released the previous year.) Svanängen also hints, in his usual cryptic manner, at what the future has in store for Loney, Dear.

For those of you who are eager to see Loney, Dear return to the live circuit, we are thrilled to announce that Emil will be flying over to play a solo show at our ILL FIT club night at the Old Blue Last in London on December 8. What’s more, entry is totally free. Keep your eyes peeled on the site for more details. Continue Reading

In a year that’s brought us a whole host of great experimental noisey buggers, Crystal Antlers still shine out. The Californian band have started to be whored around the internet, their infectious grooves and whig-outs and garage based fun allowing this writer to proclaim them his “New Favourite Band”. I caught up with bassist and vocalist Jonny Bell to find out more…
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This album is a hard one to review. Oh yes. Not because it’s bad, its brilliant, and I’m so impressed by That’s The Spirit (Ottawan native Ben Wilson, with some help from a few good friends) that to put into words how much i like this album would take up 3 pages and probably only consist of the word ‘incredible’. And that wouldn’t make a good review. When I do try, whenever I get a good point in my head, I automatically forget it because im too lost in the music. This album feels like an album. It isn’t a collection of songs loosely bundled together. It’s a positive cloud of music, something almost tangible. When Staying Places is playing, an atmosphere is created that is ethereal, almost dream-like and at the same time, a focused concentration of well placed instruments and vocal lines. In fact, if I wasn’t woken up slightly by the vintage piano introduction of ‘It’s Curtains For You’ (a track that drifts across your mental horizon halfway through this release, and then leaves after less than two minutes), Staying Places would have me in a trance from start to finish. Continue Reading

FatCat records’ signing of Meredith Godreau was actually a happy accident. Whilst on business in NYC enjoying a few sociable drinks, Meredith appeared on stage with her band and captivated them in seconds. Although she’d been going under the moniker of Gregory and The Hawk since 2003 and achieving cult success on the blogosphere she had in fact no record deal and no manager. That soon changed after the performance, FatCat had her in a recording studio a month later which resulted in the staggeringly beautiful album Moenie & Kitchie. If you’ve not discovered the kooky charm of Meredith, wander over to her MySpace page for a listen - the songs will have you in their grasp in seconds, and whilst you’re listening you can get to know Meredith a little better below. She doesn’t give too much away mind you. But when trying to explain her own sound she couldn’t have said it any simpler or truer… Continue Reading

Frightened Rabbit

Thanks to the enterprising souls behind London’s newest and most evocatively named inner-city festival, Concrete & Glass, a drizzly Thursday night spent bar-hopping in Shoreditch suddenly looked less like a punishment for a past life’s misdeeds and more like a chance to hear some genuinely exciting live music. TLOBF staked out a prime spot at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, cameras and pencils in hand. Continue Reading

Photos by Valerio Berdini

Majestic. Triumphant. Brilliant. Words that are repeatedly misused by the Broadsheets when describing mediocre acts on a good night. When these words are then needed to describe music that is so wonderful, so entertaining and sometimes moving, their effect is diluted, dimmed by their overuse. Elbow deserve all these accolades and more. Here is a band riding the crest of a wave. Fresh from winning, a much deserved, Mercury Music Prize, the first night of their full UK tour is a resounding success. Guy Garvey could possibly be one of the best front men in modern music - a humble man with an understated voice and the skill to write some of the best one-liners around.
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Ok, so this is a bit of self-publicity I guess. We’ve got our very first TLOBF Gig evening TOMORROW and none other than Vessels are headlining. We loved their debut album so much, we HAD to get them to play live for us. Anyways, as a little taster before the main event, we got Martin from the band to answer our 20 Questions, just to get to know them a bit better…

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Delay, Distortion, Reverb

2. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?
I can’t exactly remember, but glancing through my tape collection it was probably a Nirvana bootleg, probably from Streetwise Music in Cambridge.

3. What’s the best cure for a hangover?
A massive greasy mofo of a fry up, followed by a pint.

4. What’s on your rider?
Beer and dinner. We can’t get away with asking for any more than that.

5. How do you get ready for a live show?
Stretch our arms and wrists to avoid early-onset-arthritis / repetitive-strain-injury / carpel-tunnel-syndrome.

6. What’s your favourite song to play live?
Right now its ‘Wave Those Arms, Airmen’, simply because we’ve only managed it three times, so it’s kinda exciting to see what will go wrong with the equipment each time.

7. What’s your guilty pleasure?
I’m partial to the occasional bit of A-Ha - Take On Me

8. Who would win in a fight, a stoat or a goat and why?
A stoat, clearly. Predator vs herbivore=no contest.

9. Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
The Pattern Theory. 3 graduates from Leeds College of Music. About to migrate to Germany. The most rewarding live band I’ve seen in yonks. Ridiculously tasteful.
http://www.myspace.com/thepatterntheory

10. Who would play you in a film based upon your life?
I’d like to think it would be Burt Reynolds, but it would probably be Tom Selleck. As long as they’re sporting a ‘tash, I don’t mind.

11. Dead or alive, what 5 acts would you have play with you at a festival?
I’m gonna go for the dead ones, as there’s still an opportunity to see the living ones, yeah?
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Otis Redding
3. The Beach Boys
4. Nirvana
5. Miles Davis

12. If push comes to shove, what is your all-time favourite album?
Portishead Live in NYC……………… or Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream

13. What’s your most memorable on the road story?
Probably the time when we left a guitar, not even in it’s case, on the floor of a car park in Doncaster and drove off. Managed to get it back the next day, though. Score.

14. If your life flashed before your eyes, what would be the highlights?
I crashed my car on the A1 a few years ago, and all I saw flashing in front of my eyes was the A1. So I guess that’s my answer - the A1.

15. What’s the best piece of advice someone has ever given you and did you take notice?
The best bit of advice was probably - “Don’t listen to anyone’s advice”.

16. If you had to leave a body part to science, what would it be?
My knees. Man, I’ve got some great knees.

17. What’s the best book you’ve read and film you’ve seen in the last 6 months?
Book - ‘Musicophilia’ by Oliver Sacks, a Neurologist’s account of the psychology of music. Fascinating stuff.
Film - ‘Heima’ Sigur Ros. Sweet.

18. What three things could you not live without?
1 - A mouth
2 - An arse
3 - The bit between the mouth and the arse

19. Tell us a fact about yourself we probably don’t already know.
I’m short sighted, both in my eyes and my actions.

20. And finally, we’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five tracks with a theme of your choice.
Theme = Songs containing references to Horses
1. PJ Harvey - Horses in My Dreams
2. Tori Amos - Horses
3. Belle and Sebastien - Judy and the Dream of Horses
4. Portishead - The Rip
5. The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses

Vessels on Myspace

Left: James Graham - The Twilight Sad
Right: Scott Hutchinson - Frightened Rabbit

In this, the second part of our Twilight Sad/Frightened Rabbit feature, TLOBF moves on from the ‘C’ word filled spewings of Part 1 to chew the fat with Scott Hutchison and James Graham on why both bands were overlooked at T In the Park, where they think their standing is in the current Scottish Music scene and what the pair have planned for the future.

I noticed that at T In The Park you were both in small tents. What did you make of that?
James Graham: Yip, we were in the Unsigned Bands tent. I was quite happy to play it but I saw it as a kick in the nuts because we’re not unsigned and there were bands on that bill who weren’t where we are and hadn’t put in as much work as we have.
Scott Hutchison: You feel like you’ve produced good enough music that you could be treated as a real band and not be lumbered into one of those tents. There’s a lot of promoter politics to get a good slot at T In The Park.
JG: It worked out well but at the time it felt like ‘for fucks sake’. Continue Reading

“The music industry is dead, what’s the point of going into a dying industry?” This was the sentence I received in response to a question I answered regarding my career choice. Inspired isn’t it. However the utterance of this acid tongued individual did cause me to resurrect concerns that I had once struggled with before as to the security and validity of embarking upon a career in journalism, specifically music. Continue Reading

Arthur Russell on the cover of Calling Out of Context (Audika, 2004). The label on his hat, Master Mix, is a brand of livestock feed in Iowa

There is a hole at the heart of Matt Wolf’s gentle, affectionate, exhaustively researched biography of Arthur Russell, and that is its subject. It is a collection of extraordinary stories - of unconditional familial devotion; of love at first sight that outlasted death; of the 1970s and 1980s New York underground, where disco, pop and the avant-garde collided with explosive force. Yet at the end of the film, which lasts only an hour, it is impossible not to feel that Arthur Russell, the shy, obscure sun around which all of these worlds once aligned, remains as mysterious and unknowable as ever. Continue Reading

We caught up with Raphael and JB from London based trio Underground Railroad whose new album Sticks and Stones was released this week via One Little Indian. What did we discover? Well, they have a thirst for Guiness (good boys), think Bullseye is one of the greatest TV shows ever (amen to that) and they enjoy the odd game of Scrabble (who doesnt?). Continue Reading