First, Starsailor cover Sugababes' Push The Button (it's at the bottom)
Then Arctic Monkeys cover Girls Aloud's Love Machine.
Next Sugababes will release a cover of Arctic Monkeys' I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor.
With any luck we will see the Girls Aloud cover of Four To The Floor within months!*
*note: this won't actually happen.
31.1.06
29.1.06
Four Day Hombre at Islington Bar Academy (26/01/06)
It's been a long road for Four Day Hombre - not just in the sense that this is the end of their tour (and they seem visibly relieved) but also that it has been five years since they released their first EP. A month before their debut album release in the tiny, packed, Bar Academy, playing upstairs from Taking Back Sunday, it's fairly obvious why everything might finally right for them now.
Rather than suffering from being worn out, they seem relaxed and confident and are gently witty between songs in front of a very appreciative, if none too animated, crowd. And what songs they are - it's easy at first to make obvious comparisons with Radiohead, Elbow (in the excellent rolling trip-hop-like beats especially) and even Coldplay (Simon Wainwright's sparingly employed falsetto) but they are expansive beyond any of them, with almost all songs seeming to take on a life of their own, flowing gracefully and inventively to places unrecognisable from where they begin and never quite allowing you to get a firm grasp on them.
Extremely fine singles The First Word Is The Hardest (here ended via a mutation into a very pretty cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill) and 1000 Bulbs don't even stand out as highlights and while throughout one fault is a lack of anything instantly memorable, in the encore they even prove to have a more immediate side which will be more likely to win over new fans too.
28.1.06
Now It's Off
January always seems to be a big month for bands losing members or splitting, and now sadly joining others including Ash, British Sea Power, Minuteman and the 22-20s are Grandaddy.
After a number of very small scale releases like 'Complex Party Come Along Theories' which barely made it out of their home in (can't-believe-it's-a-real-town-name) Modesto, California, they released fitfully brilliant full-scale debut album 'Under The Western Freeway' in 1997. It featured the mix of bloopy keyboards, beautifully fragile songs and obsessions with isolation, technology and its decay (see lost spaceman narrative Everything Beautiful Is Far Away) which were later to come together perfectly for 2000's widely adored 'The Sophtware Slump', beginning and closing with defining moments He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot and So You'll Aim Towards The Sky. It was a very hard album to live up to, and 2003's 'Sumday' recieved a mixed reaction, having some fine moments but losing a lot of the depth and individuality of the past. They will release a final album, 'The Return Of The Fambly Cat' in May, but will not tour again.
For those yet to listen, Tote's Umbrellas have a few songs to download although it's biased a little towards the newer stuff.
After a number of very small scale releases like 'Complex Party Come Along Theories' which barely made it out of their home in (can't-believe-it's-a-real-town-name) Modesto, California, they released fitfully brilliant full-scale debut album 'Under The Western Freeway' in 1997. It featured the mix of bloopy keyboards, beautifully fragile songs and obsessions with isolation, technology and its decay (see lost spaceman narrative Everything Beautiful Is Far Away) which were later to come together perfectly for 2000's widely adored 'The Sophtware Slump', beginning and closing with defining moments He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot and So You'll Aim Towards The Sky. It was a very hard album to live up to, and 2003's 'Sumday' recieved a mixed reaction, having some fine moments but losing a lot of the depth and individuality of the past. They will release a final album, 'The Return Of The Fambly Cat' in May, but will not tour again.
For those yet to listen, Tote's Umbrellas have a few songs to download although it's biased a little towards the newer stuff.
26.1.06
And twice in a couple of weeks seemed funny
Pete Doherty arrested for second time today
We're off to see Four Day Hombre now, review to come in next couple of days, maybe even with photos.
We're off to see Four Day Hombre now, review to come in next couple of days, maybe even with photos.
24.1.06
The Feeling at Metro (23/01/06)
'Our manager told us to make sure we say that you can text to get a live download of this song sent to you!'
The Feeling's lack of any pretence that it isn't a business that they're involved in could at a stretch be seen as refreshing. Coupled with a polite and likable but resolutely uncharismatic presence though, it means that any magic here has to come completely from their songs.
Luckily for them debut single Fill My Little World (introduced with a reassurance that it will be rereleased some time) is exactly the kind of joyous blast of a song that would forgive far worse, and already sounds like it can barely be contained in the tiny cramped Metro. They even have two or three more songs (I Love It When You Call Me and Join With Us for instance) which are practically its match, packed with enough brilliant hooks and harmonies to make you forget not only any notions of cool but also lingering thoughts that they sound a bit like The Darkness with the metal taken out.
When they slow things down though, as on next single Sewn, these begin to take hold and while never unpleasant, it's unremarkable stuff, and clearly not making much of an impression - when they leave there isn't even enough noise to inspire an encore, and while this might in part be down to people being busy pointing out to their friends that Sophie Ellis-Bextor is in the front of the crowd or singer Dan Gillespie's complaints of illness, it does suggest a band who aren't quite yet the complete article being pushed forwards regardless.
The Feeling's lack of any pretence that it isn't a business that they're involved in could at a stretch be seen as refreshing. Coupled with a polite and likable but resolutely uncharismatic presence though, it means that any magic here has to come completely from their songs.
Luckily for them debut single Fill My Little World (introduced with a reassurance that it will be rereleased some time) is exactly the kind of joyous blast of a song that would forgive far worse, and already sounds like it can barely be contained in the tiny cramped Metro. They even have two or three more songs (I Love It When You Call Me and Join With Us for instance) which are practically its match, packed with enough brilliant hooks and harmonies to make you forget not only any notions of cool but also lingering thoughts that they sound a bit like The Darkness with the metal taken out.
When they slow things down though, as on next single Sewn, these begin to take hold and while never unpleasant, it's unremarkable stuff, and clearly not making much of an impression - when they leave there isn't even enough noise to inspire an encore, and while this might in part be down to people being busy pointing out to their friends that Sophie Ellis-Bextor is in the front of the crowd or singer Dan Gillespie's complaints of illness, it does suggest a band who aren't quite yet the complete article being pushed forwards regardless.
Pop stars
Every time that you think it's not going to get any more extreme, it does. Yesterday alone: 118,501 Arctic Monkeys albums sold.
Interestingly this also brings to light the current holder of the record for biggest first week sales of a debut album (over 300,000). It's this one:
Interestingly this also brings to light the current holder of the record for biggest first week sales of a debut album (over 300,000). It's this one:
21.1.06
The Picture Show (21/01)
Especially as our digital TV offers a service for watching videos on demand and is impressively often and thoroughly updated, I find myself getting my first impressions of a lot of new songs complete with their videos. This feature will highlight a few of them each week.
(Apologies for any format problems with the online versions)
Delays - Valentine
First up is Delays, with the first single from new album 'You See Colours'. It follows on well from the hypnotic electro-pop-rock of stopgap release Lost In A Melody, but the video is quite something else. Stunningly hideous may be the best way to describe it, but it has to be seen to be believed.
The Research - Lonely Hearts Still Beat The Same
Rather cuter all round is this Catchphrase-featuring video, for the fourth single from forthcoming debut 'Breaking Up'. Awww.
Four Day Hombre - The First Word Is The Hardest
Finally, a video which is one of the most peculiarly powerful I've seen for ages - it doesn't make much sense, is a little pretentious and spends too long showing the singer, yet it somehow still leaves me dumbstruck and adds a lot to the (already impressive) song too.
(Apologies for any format problems with the online versions)
Delays - Valentine
First up is Delays, with the first single from new album 'You See Colours'. It follows on well from the hypnotic electro-pop-rock of stopgap release Lost In A Melody, but the video is quite something else. Stunningly hideous may be the best way to describe it, but it has to be seen to be believed.
The Research - Lonely Hearts Still Beat The Same
Rather cuter all round is this Catchphrase-featuring video, for the fourth single from forthcoming debut 'Breaking Up'. Awww.
Four Day Hombre - The First Word Is The Hardest
Finally, a video which is one of the most peculiarly powerful I've seen for ages - it doesn't make much sense, is a little pretentious and spends too long showing the singer, yet it somehow still leaves me dumbstruck and adds a lot to the (already impressive) song too.
19.1.06
A bit of an advert
Next Monday, moved a week from its original planned date, Domino will release an album by a band who just six months ago were almost completely unknown to the general public and are now getting ridiculous levels of attention. The band in question take any number of common British guitar band clichés and influences and somehow manage to revitalise them all into something special, completely new and of their own, aided by a lyricist who effortlessly turns the mundanities of everyday life into witty and thrilling songs.
You may already have seen adverts for the album, but it looks like this.
Whilst we're on Domino, another band of theirs have just done a Girls Aloud cover which works quite well, at least until they start laughing:
Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine
For a load more radio session goodies try AltShiftMusic's recent post.
You may already have seen adverts for the album, but it looks like this.
Whilst we're on Domino, another band of theirs have just done a Girls Aloud cover which works quite well, at least until they start laughing:
Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine
For a load more radio session goodies try AltShiftMusic's recent post.
17.1.06
And the midweek answer is...
Probably. Arctic Monkeys are not far ahead of Notorious BIG at number one and while it should be likely for them to be overtaken, that's what everyone said last time.
Meanwhile Belle & Sebastian might just get their biggest yet with Funny Little Frog, and in the album charts Hard-Fi are just beating Editors to number one with their similarly 6-month old (and heavily reduced in many places) album.
This leaves them with a little bit of a dilemna, having already reached the desperately re-releasing old singles stage of their album campaign before finally being widely noticed - do they fail to take any more advantage of an upsurge in interest or carry on releasing yet more singles, putting off a second album even further and risking alienating longer-term fans?
Better Do Better it is.
Meanwhile Belle & Sebastian might just get their biggest yet with Funny Little Frog, and in the album charts Hard-Fi are just beating Editors to number one with their similarly 6-month old (and heavily reduced in many places) album.
This leaves them with a little bit of a dilemna, having already reached the desperately re-releasing old singles stage of their album campaign before finally being widely noticed - do they fail to take any more advantage of an upsurge in interest or carry on releasing yet more singles, putting off a second album even further and risking alienating longer-term fans?
Better Do Better it is.
Something to watch
16.1.06
Heard about your band brake-up
Yes, Eamon has left British Sea Power.
Meanwhile having discovered that Beyonce's new single is actually a decent pop song and not another awful ballad, and with Shane Wayrd still going strong we eagerly await tomorrow's midweeks to see if Arctic Monkeys can can trigger another round of articles about getting to number one by the power of the interweb alone.
Meanwhile having discovered that Beyonce's new single is actually a decent pop song and not another awful ballad, and with Shane Wayrd still going strong we eagerly await tomorrow's midweeks to see if Arctic Monkeys can can trigger another round of articles about getting to number one by the power of the interweb alone.
15.1.06
New year, new bands #1
Guillemots
Who?: Anglo-Scots-Brazilian-Canadian quartet with, apparently, names like Aristazabal Hawkes and Fyfe Dangerfield (respectively adorable bassist and even more adorable singer). They play music which makes jazz-pop actually sound like a great idea, with parping saxophones and busy experimentalism kept in balance by glorious swooning choruses and everything shot through with a sense of innocently magical wonder which just doesn't come around very often.
Progress so far: Their debut EP on Fantastic Plastic (former home of Buffseeds and Ikara Colt), I Saw Such Things In My Sleep, sold out far too quickly for my liking and fetches around 40 quid on ebay these days. Helped by supports for Rufus Wainwright and a mention on The Culture Show, the follow-up Trains to Brazil might well have made the top 40 if it wasn't ineligible due to a sticker included in the single. An album is currently being worked on and the only note of caution personally is that the last new band I was this excited about was Hope Of The States, and things didn't go too well at that stage there...
Website: http://www.guillemots.com
Listen to (click to download):
Who?: Anglo-Scots-Brazilian-Canadian quartet with, apparently, names like Aristazabal Hawkes and Fyfe Dangerfield (respectively adorable bassist and even more adorable singer). They play music which makes jazz-pop actually sound like a great idea, with parping saxophones and busy experimentalism kept in balance by glorious swooning choruses and everything shot through with a sense of innocently magical wonder which just doesn't come around very often.
Progress so far: Their debut EP on Fantastic Plastic (former home of Buffseeds and Ikara Colt), I Saw Such Things In My Sleep, sold out far too quickly for my liking and fetches around 40 quid on ebay these days. Helped by supports for Rufus Wainwright and a mention on The Culture Show, the follow-up Trains to Brazil might well have made the top 40 if it wasn't ineligible due to a sticker included in the single. An album is currently being worked on and the only note of caution personally is that the last new band I was this excited about was Hope Of The States, and things didn't go too well at that stage there...
Website: http://www.guillemots.com
Listen to (click to download):
14.1.06
New year, new bands #2
Lisa Brown
Who?: Misleadingly named Manchester band, first heard in mid-2004 playing delicate, dreamily uplifting songs which still had a certain urgency and immediacy to them. Apparently favourites of Elbow's Guy Garvey, although for once I only found that out afterwards...
Progress so far: Things have gone slightly slowly for them since, but they have expanded their range to include incredibly cute synth-disco and finally released a single, What's That Sound, showing off that side of the band in December 2005.
Website: http://www.lisabrown.net/
Listen to:
Hey I Really Love You
Who?: Misleadingly named Manchester band, first heard in mid-2004 playing delicate, dreamily uplifting songs which still had a certain urgency and immediacy to them. Apparently favourites of Elbow's Guy Garvey, although for once I only found that out afterwards...
Progress so far: Things have gone slightly slowly for them since, but they have expanded their range to include incredibly cute synth-disco and finally released a single, What's That Sound, showing off that side of the band in December 2005.
Website: http://www.lisabrown.net/
Listen to:
Hey I Really Love You
Resigned from life
Slightly inevitable news reaches us that Minuteman have split. Led by Matt Jones, former keyboard player for Ultrasound, they released one album of glam-prog-pop in 2002, which included singles 5000 Minutes Of Pain and Big Boy, memorably rereleased because ITV started regularly using about five seconds of it on The Premiership. They had played gigs intermittently since but a second album was looking increasingly unlikely.
13.1.06
New year, new bands #3
My Latest Novel
Who?: Scottish five piece playing ambitious, sweet and unsurprisingly literate indie, incorporating poetry and sweeping drama with occasional nods to The Delgados and yes, ok, Belle And Sebastian.
Progress so far: They've supported Stars and released one single on Bella Union, with an even stronger one The Reputation Of Ross Francis to follow next month and an album, 'Wolves', to be released on March 6.
Website: http://www.mylatestnovel.com
Listen to: (click to download)
Who?: Scottish five piece playing ambitious, sweet and unsurprisingly literate indie, incorporating poetry and sweeping drama with occasional nods to The Delgados and yes, ok, Belle And Sebastian.
Progress so far: They've supported Stars and released one single on Bella Union, with an even stronger one The Reputation Of Ross Francis to follow next month and an album, 'Wolves', to be released on March 6.
Website: http://www.mylatestnovel.com
Listen to: (click to download)
12.1.06
New year, new bands #4
Jeniferever
Who? Swedish four-piece who make very long songs of rather stunning brittle beauty and have a marginally better grasp of the English language for songwriting than Mew.
Progress so far? Several tours including a couple of the UK (including a date at Margate last year!) and a couple of (very long, naturally) EPs. They have now been signed to DrownedInSound recordings, of Martha Wainwright and, briefly, Kaiser Chiefs fame, and release their debut album 'Choose A Bright Morning' in March. Can't wait.
Website: http://www.jeniferever.com/
Listen (click to download):
Who? Swedish four-piece who make very long songs of rather stunning brittle beauty and have a marginally better grasp of the English language for songwriting than Mew.
Progress so far? Several tours including a couple of the UK (including a date at Margate last year!) and a couple of (very long, naturally) EPs. They have now been signed to DrownedInSound recordings, of Martha Wainwright and, briefly, Kaiser Chiefs fame, and release their debut album 'Choose A Bright Morning' in March. Can't wait.
Website: http://www.jeniferever.com/
Listen (click to download):
11.1.06
New year, new bands #5
Battle
Who? Four-piece post-punkers who formed at university in Canterbury (hurrah!) and previously got some minor attention under other names, mainly Killing Moon. Bloc Party are the most obvious recent reference point, but there is a certain raw desperation and hunger in the music and lyrics which is something else completely. Very good live, too.
Progress so far: A couple of singles have been released: Isabelle/Stay The Same on Fierce Panda and the rather brilliant Demons on Transgressive, with another, Tendency, to come in March and an album currently being recorded.
Website: http://www.thisisbattle.com/
Listen (click for download):
Who? Four-piece post-punkers who formed at university in Canterbury (hurrah!) and previously got some minor attention under other names, mainly Killing Moon. Bloc Party are the most obvious recent reference point, but there is a certain raw desperation and hunger in the music and lyrics which is something else completely. Very good live, too.
Progress so far: A couple of singles have been released: Isabelle/Stay The Same on Fierce Panda and the rather brilliant Demons on Transgressive, with another, Tendency, to come in March and an album currently being recorded.
Website: http://www.thisisbattle.com/
Listen (click for download):
10.1.06
New year, new bands #6
iLiKETRAiNS
Who? Leeds post-rock quintet who are infinitely better than their name. Post-rock not in the sense of ten-minute instrumentals and no real songs though, but that of a slightly unconventonal take on things (somehow writing movingly about Bobby Fischer and historical railway politics) and skyscraping guitars, strings and epicness all round, not completely unlike a less try-hard Hope Of The States.
Progress so far: A couple of limited edition vinyl singles, Before The Curtains Close and A Rook House For Bobby, have sold out very fast indeed, and new material is being worked on at the moment.
Website: http://www.iliketrains.co.uk/
Listen: (click for download)
Who? Leeds post-rock quintet who are infinitely better than their name. Post-rock not in the sense of ten-minute instrumentals and no real songs though, but that of a slightly unconventonal take on things (somehow writing movingly about Bobby Fischer and historical railway politics) and skyscraping guitars, strings and epicness all round, not completely unlike a less try-hard Hope Of The States.
Progress so far: A couple of limited edition vinyl singles, Before The Curtains Close and A Rook House For Bobby, have sold out very fast indeed, and new material is being worked on at the moment.
Website: http://www.iliketrains.co.uk/
Listen: (click for download)
A belated link
...to the results of Sweeping The Nation's poll of UK bloggers for their favourite albums released in the UK in 2005. The winner is not especially surprising (and quite deserving, methinks) but some of the others are pretty interesting.
Click here
Click here
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