Monday, April 30, 2007

Robotville


I think i may have found one - well two really - of my tracks of the summer. Robotville is essentially Hari Ashurst, songwriter, guitarist and general ringleader of collective of musicians who create pop styled indie thats both cute and cool simultaneously, a feat not managed by many. I Am Hiding An Elephant (Parts 1&2) is an mini epic, seemlessly spilt into two sections, about moving to Paris and becoming a romantic. Its floaty and summery but with charisma and charm enough to grab hold of you for the whole 5 minutes of breezy goodness. It reminds me a bit of how i felt about Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn And John when it came out last summer.
Things are looking good for the band, having received airplay on college radio in the States and a UK and US tour planned for the summer. Their ep is out now, which contains a track featuring acclaimed Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon. It doesn't sound like a match made in heaven but surprisingly it works...really darn well. So go and investigate them for yourself before the summer's gone and its too late

Robotville - I Am Hiding An Elephant (Part 1)
Robotville - I Am Hiding An Elephant (Part 2)

Monday, April 23, 2007

Let Us Be Free!


Thanks to Wes from Guilty As Pleasure, i've finally managed to get my hands on a track i've been after for a very long time. Tilly And The Wall are releasing The Freest Man at the end of the month, a track that has slowly grown to be probably my favourite off their album, and as a b-side, those odd fellas that are Hot Chip have remixed Sing Songs Along!!! Its androidic and quite basic but still smacks a smile so wide on my face that it hurts. Man i love both these bands so hard.
I'm only putting this up for a few days, coz you should really buy it, so you'd better get in there quickly and thanks again to Wes (go check out his blog!)

Tilly And The Wall - Sing Songs Along (Hot Chip Remix)

Saturday, April 21, 2007

The Strange Death Of Liberal England


I always seem to find awesome new bands when i go to gigs with my brothers. Last time, when i went with Sam, i saw Situationists and this time - well this was a month or so back - i caught The Strange Death Of Liberal England with my bro Joss at a DrownedInSound night. They pretty much blew the 3 support acts off the stage with their intense, creative and passionate performance. Never once chatting to the crowd between songs, they held up signs, adorned with phrases such as their name and "We Are Bandini", while simultaneously switching instruments.
I suppose if i was lazy, comparisons to Arcade Fire's intense stage presence, fiery, epic climaxes and instrument swapping could be written but TSDOLE have an angrier edge than Montreal's finest, a cutting-ness(?) and an imagination that highlights them as something special. Probably better comparisons could be made with some of their British peers such as Cats And Cats And Cats and Yndi Halda, but again TSDOLE beat these for passion and flair. I mean they pierced the skin of a snare drum from intense beating during their finale, if thats not the sign of an intense, great performance i don't know what is.
They've just released their debut single, A Day Another Day, on Fantastic Plastic Records. Its definately worth checking out. In the meantime, here are a couple of tracks i found:

The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Mozart On 33
The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Motor On The Sky, Oil On The City

Friday, April 13, 2007

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder


Apologises for my absence of late. I've been back down in London for easter and had so much work, revision and socialising to do, that i haven't really had any time to sit and post anything. Also my parent's ultra cool Apple Mac doesn't seem to get along with blogger very well, meaning its a goddamn effort to write anything up. Anyway there's been alot of good music thats come out in the last few weeks, so to make up for my lack of blogging here's whats caught my ear while i've been away.

Bright Eyes - If The Brakeman Turns My Way
Probably the best track off Cassadaga
Hot Chip - My Piano
Awesome new tune from the Hot Chip boys off their DJ Kicks compilation
Amerie - Gotta Work
Sounds a bit like 1 Thing and Crazy In Love but its still sounds amazing
Jetplane Landing - Why Do They Never Play Les Savy Fav On the Radio?
More catchy riffs and strange lyrics from Jetplane's forthcoming album, Backlash Cop. Loving the handclaps
Timbaland feat. MIA - Come Around
I'm a bit obsessed with MIA at the moment and this is her on Timbaland latest offering. I love it