It’s that time of year again… We’re making our list and checking it twice, trying to find out who’s been naughty or nice. Yes, it’s our Album of the Year! More coveted than a shiny penny, more famous than the winner of last year’s X-Factor and guaranteed to start debate!

This year, to shuffle blame away from TLOBF HQ, we’re getting YOU, yes, YOU the reader, to vote for the albums YOU think are the best 2008 had to offer. We’ve whittled down a mammoth list of prospective albums to a mere 50. It’s tough work, but someone had to do it.

So, mouse button at the ready - get clicking! You can pick as many albums as you like, there are no limits. If you feel it’s worthy of “Album of the Year” status, then do the right thing and cast your vote.

If you need some help making that all-important decision, you can read our take on the albums listed in our 2008 archive here.

The poll will close on Friday December 12th.

There is a prize up for grabs for one lucky reader. Some very kind record companies behind the following 50 records have offered up a selection of prizes including: ultra-rare vinyl, posters, t-shirts and CDs by some of the nominees, plus a pair of tickets to see the sold-out Fleet Foxes show at London Roundhouse in February 2009. To be in with a chance of winning this mammoth and hugely exciting prize, enter your details at the bottom of this page. The lucky winner will be notified via email. Competition closes on Friday 12th December.

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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

Long-time darlings of New York’s ultra-hip, art-conscious underground music scene, Gang Gang Dance look braced to make a wider breakthrough with their new album Saint Dymphna, released in the UK on Warp. Like their contemporaries Out Hud, Gang Gang Dance makes a hybrid of post-rock and electro, punk and dance. But while Out Hud and particularly their sister act !!! (chk chk chk) often veer towards house and disco, Saint Dymphna is mostly scary, volatile stuff. While there are certainly parallels with LCD Soundsystem, GGD’s take on dance-punk has less cross-over appeal and more in common with the darker acts on the DFA roster such as Black Dice and The Juan McLean. Despite the gorgeous Kate Bush-remixed-on-a ZX-Spectrum (if I may) of ‘House Jam’, Saint Dymphna is surprisingly un-dancefloor-friendly - sonically wild and sometimes abrasive. It combines some of the oblique electro sequencing of (fittingly) early Warp acts like Black Dog with a live-sounding spontaneity and ritualistic insistence on rhythm that recalls the Boredoms and ooioo. Continue Reading

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Gang Gang Dance have moved their one off UK show, on the 11th of October from London venue ULU, to the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen.

Note! The show will kick off at the earlier time of 7pm - 10pm.

Gang Gang Dance are pleased to announce support from Charles Hayward, founder member of experimental rock group This Heat

The show celebrates the release of their highly anticipated new album St. Dymphna (which has been going down well here at TLOBF Towers) on Warp on the 20th of October.

Warp Records will also be giving out 12 track Warp sampler CDs at the show.

As a taster of what to expect, have a look at the band performing ‘House Jam’ in Japan:

To celebrate the release of their highly anticipated new album St. Dymphna, Gang Gang Dance will be doing a one off UK show, at ULU, London on the 11th of October. It’ll go on till 2am with a number of hot DJs and acts to be announced…

Named after the patron saint of outsiders, taboo subject matter and general disorder, Gang Gang Dance will release Saint Dymphna on Warp on the 20th of October.

If you don’t know much about them, you soon will. Their reputation is to be the next be thing to come out of New York, spawning from the same creative pool that has bought the world Animal Collective and Battles.

Look out for a review of the album shortly on TLOBF…

In the meantime, have a listen to two tracks from the new album:
‘Princes’ ft Tinchy Stryder here and ‘House Jame’ here.

Gang Gang Dance on Myspace