After Hours is back after a short vacation. We’ve been in touch with tons of your favourite artists as well as some of our new favourite acts to find out what they’ve been listening/reading/watching etc. Kicking things off this week is David Cronenberg’s Wife’s lead singer Tom Mayne. We were rather taken with their debut album Bluebeards Room and thought we’d get inside his head a little bit more.. Turns out he’s a bit of an agraphobe in his spare time - perhaps that explains some of the paranoia strewn lyrics that run throughout the album.. Continue Reading

The War On Drugs. Photograph by Travis Newman

The War on Drugs‘ debut LP Wagonwheel Blues was released last month to quiet acclaim. This website called it an “incredible debut…accomplished, mature, understated”. Pitchfork rhapsodised about its “enormous first impression…they craft a big sound for their big ideas, so that Wagonwheel Blues fills the space between horizons”. From its woozily euphoric opening bars, the record carves out a path that links Springsteen’s bittersweet narratives to Eno’s textural noodling. Main man Adam Granduciel’s voice has been compared, not sacrilegiously, to Dylan; he also carries the lion’s share of musical composition and execution, with support from Philadelphia man of mystery Kurt Vile (shimmering 12-string guitar as well as the usual six-string), Dave Hartley (bass), Kyle Lloyd and Charlie Hall (both drums). On the eve of their first European tour, TLOBF caught up with Granduciel, who’s sweetly boffiny, scarily focused and as puppyishly excited about the tour as we are. Continue Reading

Photograph by Paul Wilcock

Jude Clarke has a long, fairly analytical phone conversation with folky-electronica wizz kid and all round nice chap Jeremy Warmsley, covering the new album, the benefits of a Cambridge education and whether it’s better making music for yourself or your audience.

Hello Jeremy I’ve just got a few questions to ask you, so thank you for giving us the time for the interview.
Of course.

How did your Transgressive tour go? That’s just finished now, has it?
Yeah, oh - it was brilliant, it was so much fun. All the bands on the tour were just super-talented and really nice and it was great to make some new friends and play a bunch of shows. Things couldn’t have gone better, really. Continue Reading

In what turned out to be the most entertaining 20 Questions we’ve done in a while, NYC punk outfit Stalkers took some time out of promoting their Ramones-esque single ‘In Your Street Today’ which was released via One Little Indian last week. We caught up with Raze Regal (guitar), Andy Animal (vocals), Danny Gold (bass), Lefty Flowers (guitar) and Josh Styles (drums) to see what they made of our infamous questions. As you’d expect, the answers read like a ‘How to be a Rock n Roll band 101′: Fucking, amyl nitrate, whiskey, beating eachother up, riding motorcycles into swimming pools and the most important one of all - using human tears as a lubricant during masturbation….
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The follow-up to Edinburgh-based pianist/composer Max Richter’s last album comes the release of the gorgeous, intriguingly framed 24 Postcards In Full Colour (out in the UK, Europe, and the rest of the world on 25 August - US and Canada get it on 23 September). Richter’s music has always seemed transient - like a dream wafting through the room - but his new collection adds another layer to the oeuvre he’s been building for himself since his time with Piano Circus in the 1990s. This time he tackles the oft-vilified musical realm of ringtones. The German-born composer/producer explains his M.O. well: “Thinking about how we listen to music today, I wondered why it is that ringtones have so far been treated as unfit for creative music… Who says ringtones have to be bad? It’s like saying LPs or CDs are bad – its just a medium.” Continue Reading

Momento is starting to build up nicely for The Voluntary Butler Scheme, or Rob Jones as he’s known to his mum. Gaining positive support from 6Music and Radio 2 from the likes of Marc Riley, John Kennedy, Rob Da Bank, Jon Hillcock, Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens. No suprise either. This guy is real good, if pigeonholing is your thing you can stick him amongst the likes of Noah & The Whale, Laura Marling, Emmy The Great and Johnny Flynn. Quirky sun-kissed folk. We likey. Quite a lot in fact.

Currently promoting the new and really rather good EP Trading Things In, we caught up with Rob to pitch our ever popular quick fire conundrums… Continue Reading

Michah P Hinson’s latest album, Micah P Hinson and The Red Orchestra came out on the 14th July through Full Time Hobby. It’s amazing. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve heard a collection of songs that have hit me square in the heart and the head at the same time. Each song is drenched in emotional termoil, stifled in a sparse musical environment… Perhaps Andrew can describe it better when he reviews the album soon… Anyway, we caught up with the great man himself to get him to answer our 20 Questions.

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
I’ll give you two…. violent country. Continue Reading

I’m yet to work out if it’s a good thing that star fucker extroadinare David Gest has recorded a ‘monologue’ over the instrumental break for the new Attic Lights single ‘Bring You Down’. The story behind it is far more entertaining than the actual output. It involved a chance meeting with the spoon faced wonder, a 3am phone call from an excitable record producer and a drunken telephone conversation with Big Star legend Alex Chilton - who is apparently David Gest’s best pal. Who isn’t his best pal? Seriously.

Anyhoo, before we end up sounding like the Daily Star we shall move swiftly on. The original and Gest free version of ‘Bring You Down’ is out now - and if Celtic power-pop with a healthy smattering of Phil Spector-isms is your cup of tea then head on over to the bands myspaz page now to hear it - or even better buy it. Not before you’ve read the 20 Questions though. That would just be plain rude. Continue Reading

Shearwater’s main man Jonathan Meiburg is officially the nicest man in indie… at the moment. His answers to our 20 Questions came back faster than anyone previously, even The Thermals! Anyway, after hearing the wonderous music that is their sophomore effort, Rook, we had to get someone from the band to do these… It’s just a shame he missed one!

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The Mae Shi are one of the best live acts around. Their collosal angular thrash of noise amazed me during their recent tour of these fair shores. So, I thought, why not get them to answer our 20 Questions? We caught up with Brad Breeck, who gave us one of the most considered answers for our “Stoat or Goat” question yet…

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Colors, angles, parties. Continue Reading

A brand new act on the thriving UK folk scene are female duo Smoke Fairies. Their music stripped back and haunting, wraps itself around you like a thick blanket of smoke whilst their two part harmonies rattle around your head hours after listening. We recently caught up with Katherine and Jessica to find out a little more about their history and musical influences. Turns out, unsuprisingly, they have excellent taste - not only musically but in their choice of beverage. Ladies and gentlemen - say hello to Smoke Fairies.

Hello girls - It’s our round. What are you having?
Katherine - The most expensive single malt whisky at the bar on ice please.
Jessica - That or a Banana Daiquiri

Right, now we’ve got that out of the way…A little about the band. For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should…
1. Because hopefully, there is nothing else quite like it.
2. Because it will let you escape to some place in your mind that you have never visited before.
3. Because it will leave you feeling something, not sure what exactly - it makes me feel restless. Continue Reading

By the magical powers of the internet, Jude Clarke recently caught up with Strokes guitarist and one-time junior rollerskating champion (seriously) Albert Hammond Jr, to quiz him on his second solo album ¿Como Te Llama?, the pros and cons of solo work, and his future plans.

To someone who hasn’t listened to it, how would you describe your new album? Would you say it has any specific “themes”?
I would say it’s a different side to me than my first. It’s still a melodic record but I tried to branch out from what I have done. I feel like I have accomplished that and am still accomplishing it working on new material. I think it’s a great record that you can really listen to over and over again and find new things about it. I go through phases where my favourite songs change just from having listened to it. Continue Reading

White Denim’s debut album Workout Holiday (out this week) is a bright, brash and, can I say it, sexy take on angular guitar rock. We caught up with Steve Terebecki (bass) to find out whether they could handle our recently refreshed 20 Questions.

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Geeky, clumsy, flourishes.

2. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?
The first record I ever bought was Volcano Suns Farced at Wax n Facts in Atlanta, Georgia. Continue Reading

Mothlite release their mesmerising debut album The Flax Of Reverie next week via Southern Records. It’s hard to pin a category on these guys - their music is simply epic. A whirring carousel of sound that occasionally feels like your listening to the end of the world happening before your very ears. Listen to some songs here or even better, buy the album here.

Find out what the London based duo have been watching/reading/listening to lately…

Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
New bands of interest are few and far between. Fovea Hex has been working for me lately. That’s Clodagh Simonds’ ambient project with favourable collaborators… including Eno, Carter Burwell, Andrew Mckenzie, etc. Continue Reading

This week sees the release of What You Don’t Know Is Frontier - the new album by California’s finest purveryors of what I like to call Sludgecore (I like inventing genres - sue me). We decided it was time to catch up with Asva for some serious 20 Questions action. Their responses were, as you would imagine - short and to the point with a fair amount of blue language. Look away now kids.

Ooh and don’t forget! Our Southern Records sampler is still available to download which features an exclusive track from the new Asva album. Get it here y’all.

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Glass. Ocean. Tranquility. Continue Reading

Momentum is gathering. Our 20 Questions are once again the talk of the land. This week we got the cheaky XX Teens to answer those questions, frontmen Richard Cash and Anthony Silvester giving us the most insightful answer to our Stoat / Goat question yet…

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Richard: Modern
Anthony: Pop
Richard: Music Continue Reading

It’s that After Hours time of the week again..This week, it’s the turn of The Owl Service. An intriguing four piece who create a truly strange and beautiful sound, as if beamed in from another era. A track from their forthcoming album A Garland Of Song (release June 13th via Southern) can be downloaded for free from our rather awesome Southern Records Sampler. Grab the whole thing here folks. We caught up with founder of the band, Steve Collins to find out what he’s been reading/watching/listening to lately….

It’s our round, what are you having?
A pint of Adnams Broadside please, with a Jack Daniels chaser.

Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
One of my favourite new bands is Rubus - a 3 piece centred around singer Emily Portman (who also plays in The Devil’s Interval with another fine singer named Jim Causley). Basically, they’re dedicated to playing traditional British folk music with great arrangements, all topped off with Portman’s stunning vocals. - What’s been the best album you’ve heard in the last 12 months?My favourite new album from the last 12 months is probably Wolves in the Throne Room’s “Two Hunters”. My favourite old-but-new-to-me album is Sandy Bull “Fantasias For Guitar and Banjo”. It’s the blueprint for the current freak-folk sound - you’d think it was Six Organs of Admittance, but it was recorded in 1964. Just amazing, timeless music. Continue Reading

Dirty electro indie-pop. Where would we be without it? Well, we wouldn’t have The Chap that’s for sure! Their debut album is due out shortly, so what better time to get the band to answer our equally sordid 20 Questions. You’d never guess they were fans of ELO, but then that’s why we’re here!

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Fun and Interesting. Phew, easiest one first! Continue Reading

Not only is he the newest member of the magnificent Fleet Foxes, Josh Tillman is also a highly respected solo artist in his own right. Having released three albums over the same number of years, Tillman has just finished his fourth Vacilando Territory Blues which is set for release at some point this year. We caught up with Josh a few days ago to find out what he’s been listening/reading/watching over the past few months.

To find out more about Tillman’s work, check out our TLOBF Loves piece on him from a couple of days ago.

Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
An instrumental group from Texas called Balmorhea. It’s pretty classically informed and a great sucker-punch for the Western ear. “River Arms” has been great company on bike rides, etc.

What’s been the best album you’ve heard in the last 12 months?
The Daktaris “Soul Explosion”

What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
I just finished “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins. Carrying that book around is something of a confrontation sandwich board and I’ve had to diffuse quite a few “witnessing” attempts on airplanes, gettng coffee, etc. I’d recommend it for private enjoyment, or to invest in a Bible book cover. Continue Reading

Bon Iver. Photograph by Sarah Cass.

The reputation of Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver, precedes him like a particularly florid trumpet fanfare. Never mind the insular indie music press - if you’ve opened a Sunday supplement or flipped past Jools Holland recently, you’ll have seen his emotionally wrenching debut For Emma, Forever Ago hyped almost beyond the limits of logic or sanity. The tale of For Emma’s creation entered modern mythology pretty much immediately: Vernon had spent years chasing success with a number of bands, most lately Wisconsin four-piece DeYarmond Edison (true), endured a difficult breakup (true) and a nervous breakdown (untrue), retreated to a remote log cabin (true) and spent three icy months in total isolation, his only sustenance a few bits of melted snow and a deer he killed with his bare hands (almost true).

It hardly matters now what actually happened and what’s just wild exaggeration. Without even planning to record an album, Vernon emerged into the spring of 2007 with nine tracks of atmospheric, minimal acoustic guitar and octave-spanning vocals, layered into an intensely personal, primal sonic epiphany. (He’s said, beautifully and a little spookily, “I recognise that the record is enigmatic and special in a strange way. I can’t take full credit for it, and I was the only one there.”) He self-released For Emma to instant Pitchfork acclaim, was picked up by Jagjaguar in the US and 4AD in the UK and took this year’s SXSW by storm. Still, he’s a thoughtful, funny, humble soul who is more interested in international politics and music with a conscience. Continue Reading