Frightened Rabbit have recorded a new song entitled ‘Last Tango in Brooklyn’ for Australian zine The Lifted Brow. Here is Pitchfork’s take: “It’s a view looking back after a relationship has ended, and what once seemed bright and lovely has now turned cold and lonely. Starting with an acoustic guitar and building to a sad hymnal, fleshed out with chanting and tambourine, ‘Last Tango in Brooklyn’ shows a quieter, less anthemic side of Frightened Rabbit. It’s a desolate ode to something gone, that feeling not so much that the world is over but that things used to be a little more fun.”

Grab the song here!

mp3:> Frightened Rabbit: ‘Last Tango In Brooklyn’

Toronto’s Ten Kens are about to embark on their inaugural UK tour, and to celebrate they have created a brand new animated video for ‘Spanish Fly’, one of the standout tracks on their eponymous debut. Instead of releasing a single, the band is giving away a free download of the song that inspired the video. The video was developed and created independently by close friends of the band, The Blackbelt Kids. It was directed by fellow Toronto native Kareem Thompson and animated by Peter Auld and Louis Norris.

You can download an mp3 version of ‘Spanish Fly’ by clicking here. All they ask is that you sign up to their mailing list.. Not too much to ask, is it now??

We caught up with the guys a few weeks ago. If you happened to miss the interview, you can check it out here.

November
28 - London, The Lexington
29 - Birmingham, Barfly*
30 - Glasgow, Nice N’Sleazys*

December
1 - Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire
2 - York, The Duchess
4 - Manchester, The Roadhouse*
5 - Leeds, The Cockpit*
6 - Cardiff , Clwb Ifor Beach*
8 - London, ICA*
9 - London, Blow Up Metro
10 - London, 229**

* supporting A Place To Bury Strangers
**with Stricken City

A young American trio with the scope of Sigur Ros and the peculiar, organic ethereality of Efterklang, with a touch of Animal Collective and Boards of Canada for good measure, Our Brother The Native are a very exciting proposition. Their last full-length “Make Amends, For We Are Merely Vessels” was a promising slab of post-rock, if a little too in thrall to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and other purveyors of ten-minute slow-burn epics but this 5-track EP is a far more succinct, subtle and to my mind beguiling effort. Continue Reading

The single ‘It’s Christmas So We’ll Stop’ was released for Christmas last year, but it is to be re-worked and re-released, labelmate David Karsten Daniels will be adding a full choir, strings, piano and much more to the typically downbeat yet euphoric song. Needless to say this could be something quite special. The single will be released on 15th December.

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

We expect a lot from music, at times. Songs can lift moods, express sympathies, or calm fiery tempers. One my first listen to Gregory and the Hawk, I’d just come home from work and was in a foul mood. (I work with children, enough said really.) The aim was to distract myself rather than get rid of my current agitated mental state. However, I’m please to report that Gregory and the Hawk did exactly that. Despite my complete unfamiliarity with it, Moenie and Kitchi managed to turn my frown right upside down, courtesy of haunting vocals, humble but powerful melodies, and exuding the general feeling you get when you let out a big sigh. Aaaaahhh… Continue Reading

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

Scott Hutchinson and James Graham share the stage

If you haven’t noticed, the Scottish music scene’s thriving. There’s a new sense of worth emanating from the nation’s sweat soaked venues and acts like We Were Promised Jetpacks, Broken Records and El Padre are creating sounds with the potential to shoot beyond the country’s towering trajectory and out over the Atlantic. And the reason for this tartan-clad revival? Well, there’re two: Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad.

Over the past twelve months the uniquely home-grown sonics of the ‘Twilight’s magnificent Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters and Frightened Rabbit’s equally elegiac The Midnight Organ Fight have pulled relentlessly on the UK public’s heartstrings. Forget the grating art school chic of Franz Ferdinand, these acts truly encapsulate the sound of modern Scotland: vehemently sarcastic, bitterly morose and absolutely, unflappably honest.

So in the first of a two part interview, The Line of Best Fit caught up with Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison and The Twilight Sad’s James Graham before a gig in Edinburgh during the Fringe to discuss their morbid disposition, the increased popularity of the Scottish brogue and, of course, Gwen Stefani… Continue Reading

We recently hooked up with Ten Kens - Toronto, Canada’s latest exports. They signed to Fat Cat earlier in the year and have just released their self-titled debut..to a mixed reaction it has to be said - including a lukewarm response by TLOBF. Here, we find out a little more about the band, what makes them tick and how they’ve reacted to the mixed responses to the album.. Continue Reading

Recently, Canada, after years of Alanis Morisette, Bryan Adams and Shania Twain, has suddenly become the ultimate go to place for good music. They’ve got The Acorn, Broken Social Scene/Feist, The New Pornographers… And Ten Kens. So no pressure then, when it comes to their debut album, determining whether it’ll achieve the dizzyingly high standards set by their incredibly talented contemporaries, or the embarrassing skid mark made by the more dubious end of Canada’s musical spectrum. Continue Reading

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The absolutely brilliant Frightened Rabbit are to release an album of mostly acoustic live versions of (some) songs from their astounding album The Midnight Organ Fight from earlier this year, set for release on October the 21st in the States and sometime in April for the UK. The recordings come from a gig at Captain’s Rest, Glasgow on July 30th this year, with a guest appearance from FatCat label mates The Twilight Sad’s James Graham on ‘Keep Yourself Warm’.

If the Pure Groove in-store they played on Moday is anything to go by, just… oh my god, oh my god.

Tracklisting for Liver! Lung! FR!:
1) The Modern Leper
2) I Feel Better
3) Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
4) Fast Blood
5) Old Old Fashioned
6) The Twist
7) Head Rolls Off
8) My Backwards Walk
9) Keep Yourself Warm
10) Poke
11) Floating in the Forth
12) Who’d You Kill Now?

Photographs by Ama Chana

Well, they really pulled out the stops at the Roundhouse. For their “Colour Your Summer” season, the impressively modern, if slightly sterile Chalk Farm venue has been transformed into something more akin to a high-class Parisien jazz club- thick red curtains draped around an enclosed, intimate circle of candlelit tables, disco balls reflecting the light of a velvet black backdrop sparkling with pure white light, table service on hand all night to refresh your drinks. It’s a shame, then, that the music couldn’t quite live up to the opulence of the venue. New York “gothic-bluegrass” five-piece O’ Death were an enjoyable entrée but the Roundhouse certainly wasn’t the venue to bring the most out of their rowdy, marvelously sinister Appalachian folk. Sprinkling some new tracks in amongst old favourites like ‘Adelita’ and ‘Only Daughter’, it’s always a pleasure to see a band who put so much fierce energy into their performances but in truth it wasn’t a patch on their sublime Luminaire set last year. Continue Reading

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

They’re one of our new favourite bands. They’re the missing link between Idlewild and The Wedding Present. They’re going to be huge. They’re Frightened Rabbit. That’s all you need to know… apart from the answers to our recently revamped 20 Questions… Continue Reading

When our friends over at Fat Cat records started talking about frightened rabbits I was a bit concerned. Perhaps their water had become contaminated with LSD or they’d been watching some random remake of Watership Down. However, it was cleared up when a CD popped through my letter box and it became apparent that Frightened Rabbit was, in fact, a band who were releasing their debut single “Be Less Rude”.

It was clear from the first time I played it that I was falling in love. The lyrics delivered in a winning Scottish lilt, friends of the Twilight Sad and a love for all things indie rock, it was a perfect combination. “Be Less Rude” has all the hallmarks of a great indie-pop record. The opening riff should have Johnny Marr on the phone asking if he can have this signature guitar tune back. The vocals pained at the realisation that you’ve now fallen in love with a girl who’s frightfully rude, and who you might also have offended in previous meetings. There’s also a touch of The Wedding Present to it’s crashing guitars that mount up as the song progresses, the resignation in the vocals strikingly similar to David Gedge.

Flip side “The Greys” proves they’re no one trick pony either. It’s a futher charge of electric guitars that rush out of your speakers, coming on like Idlewild at their earliest, aggressive selves. The song lamenting those days when you just can’t get from underneath a dark cloud that’s following you around.

Do yourself a favour, hunt these guys down. Don’t wait though; the wave of support is growing. Listening to 6Music the other night and Mark Riley is already on about booking them for his show. If he has his way, they’d never leave, so make sure you catch them before they get locked in his cupboard.

mp3:> Frightened Rabbit: “Music Now”
[From Sing The Greys; 19th Nov 2007 Fat Cat]