There was a time, not so long ago when Keyboard Choir were considered to be Oxford’s answer to a festival hangover. Early morning slots at Truck Festival featuring poorly made but ultimately endearing robots ensured that Keyboard Choir became a memorable act for many people. The carefully crafted electro coupled with the kitsch resonated with those who remembered the likes of Doctor Who and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and basically any one in need of some soothing comedown solace.

Their debut album Mizen Head To Gascanane Sound has found itself warmly received by just about anyone who’s heard it - and rightly so. Devoid of theatrics and tin foil encrusted dancers, it proves Keyboad Choir are more than just a sweet novelty act, and a serious proposition in modern electronic composition. Continue Reading

It’s been a pretty big year for Keyboard Choir. What with them playing Brian Eno’s 60th birthday party, storming White Heat and Club Motherfucker, Uncut hailing their album as “timeless electro”, and the Independent handing them a glowing 4/5 live review. Oh - and not to mention their appearence in TLOBF’s 50 best albums of the year. To finish the year in style - the boys have put together a free track for you lucky peeps; ‘Deathwank In Toytown’. (song-title of the year, anyone?)

They say - “we came over all Chrismassy and put together this special ode to an accident that happened in the elf’s happy little town. It’s called Deathwank in Toytown.”

mp3:> Keyboard Choir: ‘Deathwank In Toytown’

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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There’s nothing more likely to warm the cockles on a cold afternoon than the prospect of winning stuff… well, ok, jumpers, vests and scarves and probably better, but you know what I mean…

We’ve been given a pair of tickets to give away to this year’s Gigbeth festival which occurs between 6th and 8th November in Birmingham. Being one of these new urban festivals, it’ll feature music at the Adam and Eve Pub, Barfly, Bullring, Custard Factory, South Birmingham College, The Rainbow and The Institute venues across the city.

This year the festival features headline sets from luminaries such as Guillemots, Young Knives, Sugarhill Gang and Stanton Warriors.

One the 4Talent stage you can catch TLOBF favourites Keyboard Choir as well as up and coming talents like Richard Batsford (contemporary pianist virtuoso), Iain Woods & The Psychologist (panic attack-plagued genius dubstep meets classical) and The Icarus (trippy electro hip hop). Lovely.

So, for a chance to win a pair of tickets to this festival, drop us a line at competition@thelineofbestfit.com with a subject title of “Get us into Birmingham quick time” and we’ll pick a winner, randomly, at the end of next week.

For more info on the festival hit www.gigbeth.com.

If we’re to quote The Cranberries (and why shouldn’t you?), “Everybody else is doing it, so why can’t we?”. As we’ve past the halfway point in this year of 2008, it seemed like a good time to look back. What have been the musical higlights of the year so far? We’ve had some absolutely corking albums released, from Fleet Foxes genre defying debut, to Elbow’s continued cultured and heartwarming release. It might surprise some of our readers what’s ended up on this list but one thing this exercise has made us realise, is that come the end of the year, there’s going to be a big pile of albums under the ‘Excellent’ heading…

So how did we decide on the final 10 albums? We asked all of our writers to email in their favourite 5 releases of the year thus far. Each album voted for was then given a point and entered into a highly technical spreadsheet - which left us with the following records… Continue Reading