MUSIC FAN'S MIC -

mpfree: Summer Twins - The Good Things

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0100

words: Jamie Milton
photo: Marcio Rivera

There’s some beautiful guitar work circuiting ‘The Good Things’, taken from an album of the same title. There’s this versatile movement; Summer Twins go from deft and harmonic to hard-hitting and triumphant, over and over again. And to think they’re just a tiny duo from California - the sound is so brash and grand.

AUDIOVISUALS: Deerhunter - HelicopterBradford Cox stares into...

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:42:17 +0100

AUDIOVISUALS: Deerhunter - Helicopter

Bradford Cox stares into the camera from every angle. He shares his very deepest thoughts; “Nobody cares for me, I keep no company”…
He is, undoubtedly, one of the finest songwriters of our time and ‘Helicopter’, of which you can view above, may well me his greatest achievement to date. It’s atmospheric, progressive but quite crucially, it’s immediate. And it stays with you. This could be one of the songs people forever associate with Deerhunter.

Words With: Insect Guide

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:50:00 +0100

Interviewer: Gareth O’Malley
Interviewee: Su Sutton

Ahead of the release of their long-awaited second album, MFM fired a few questions over to Leodensian trio Insect Guide about such things as recording sessions, the name of the band, 2010 in music and of course, ‘Dark Days and Nights’ itself. Frontwoman Su Sutton was on the other end, and here’s what came of it.

—

Music Fan’s Mic: Describe your sound in one sentence.

Su Sutton: This is Dark Pop.

—

MFM: What’s your favourite song off ‘Dark Days And Nights’?

SS: That’s like asking me to choose my favourite pet! I can’t do that! I have a soft spot for ‘Wasted’ because it’s got such good memories of gigging when we were promoting the first album around New York and then deciding to use ‘Wasted’ as [a] single from the second album because of that. I’m going to stop answering this question now though because I’ll just end up listing them all and telling you the memories to go with them!!

—

MFM: How was the recording process for the album?

SS: Recording ‘Dark Days and Nights’ was a real experience. We were in lots of different studios recording different parts and of course having a drummer for this album made it more exciting in that process. We were definitely locked in dark rehearsal spaces for longer than is healthy, I’m a lot paler than I was before.

—

MFM: How did it differ to the sessions for ‘6ft in Love’?

SS: I suppose what differed most with ‘Dark Days and Nights’ was the introduction of Chris Cooper on drums. I love doing my drum parts and it’s so much more interesting to get to drum with someone else especially live now that the album is recorded. Another big difference with this album is the visual side of things. With ‘6ft in Love’, we recorded a music video for every track to go with the album and to keep that dark audio visual [sic] side to what we do, we decided this time to let my best friend (and brief band member) Phil Saville record the short documentary that he’s been talking about for a while to go with it. We, of course, couldn’t resist doing some music videos aswell [sic] to be part of it, we had fun killing me a lot for the video to ‘Down From Here’ our last [most recent] single from the album! The documentary will be released with the album so I suppose what was different for me with the sessions for this album, both in the studio and in city centre clubs, was having a camera documenting it all.

—

MFM: Why ‘Insect Guide’? Was there any reason you picked that particular name?

SS: Strangely, like most band names, it’s not that deep, I used to work in a library and one day a man asked for ‘The Insect Guide’ and it struck me as odd so that’s what we went with. I’m sure that man probably thought he was getting the most enthusiastic library service in the world I got so excited about it at the time.

—

MFM: What are your favourite song and album of 2010 thus far?

SS: That’s a difficult question! I really like Sisterworld by the Liars [sic], but I love that band with every album they release. Soundpool also have a great album out this year called ‘Mirrors In Your Eyes’ as do Laboratory Noise, ‘When Sound Generates Light’.

—

MFM: And finally, do you see the band heading in any particular direction for album number three, or have you even thought about that yet?

SS: We’re already writing the 3rd album now, we never stop! I wouldn’t like to tell you what it is yet, I’m sure it’ll all suddenly become clear a few drinks further down the line. You’ll be fighting me off telling you as soon as I work it out myself.

—

‘Dark Days and Nights’ sees the light of day on the 4th of October, and the video for the title track (the lead single, released way back in March) can be seen below:

INCOMING: The Phantom Band - The Wants—-“It’s...

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:22:00 +0100

INCOMING: The Phantom Band - The Wants

—-
“It’s Checkmate Savage…on ice”

1. A Glamour
2. O
3. Everybody Knows It’s True
4. The None Of One
5. Mr Natural
6. Come Away In The Dark
7. Walls
8. Into the Corn
9. Goodnight Arrow

Kanye West – Devil In A New Dress by Hypetrak

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:32:36 +0100

Kanye West – Devil In A New Dress by Hypetrak

AUDIOVISUALS: Candy Claws - Silent Time Of EarthSugar-sweet...

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:02:00 +0100

AUDIOVISUALS: Candy Claws - Silent Time Of Earth

Sugar-sweet electronics come face to face with a miserable looking cartoon bear. Our Gareth might know where this footage is from, even through the extreme yellow tint. (update: of course he does!)

’Hidden Lakes’ is out now

HURTS - Happiness

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:14:17 +0100

words: Ben Ross

Hurts, are for the uninformed a Mancunian duo and much hyped 2010 revelation
in both the press and blogosphere. MFM first covered them back in October 2009 and two official single releases (Wonderful Life, Better Than Love), massive radio one coverage and airplay in America later, the band release ‘Happiness’.

Happiness is an album that makes no effort to shy away from its influences; rather it embraces and celebrates them. This is very much the love child of bands such as Ultravox, Tears for Fears, OMD, & New Order. What sets it apart from the by-gone era of synth pop bands of the 80’s is quite frankly the outstanding production throughout the record which helps in crafting a dynamic, invigorating and above all fresh modern pop sound.

Happiness is by no stretch of the word revolutionary, with zero boundaries being crossed. It is however a consistent and enjoyable synth pop affair. Stand out track ‘Evelyn’, with the cutting lyrics; “so stay with me Evelyn, don’t leave me with the medicine” delivered in such a provocative manner by Theo Hutchcraft, with the accompanying building synths and electronic drums of Adam Anderson create a taught and emotive track that stands out head and shoulders above all the other non-single album tracks.

It’s not all positive though, whilst the collaboration with Kylie, Devotion, just about works, although overall it’s an unoriginal and less than engaging effort that fails to reach the heights her inclusion promises to. It’s by no means a bad track, it’s just nowhere as infectious or evocative as it should be on paper, passing off as easily forgettable

The album’s shamefully weak point comes in the form of track three; Blood, Tears & Gold; a frightfully pop-by numbers “effort” that can’t fail but conjure visions of being an X-Factor winner’s triumph song - you know, the second-rate piece songwriters dump on winners because it’s a sure-fire number 1 anyway. It’s embarrassingly poor in lyrics, mood, delivery and execution. Not so much ‘love goes cold’, as you’ll go ‘cold’ listening to this decidedly substandard track.

On the other hand; Sunday has single written all over it; with a soaring chorus; lyrics “Until you come back it’s just another lonely Sunday” poured over a simple but memorable synth riff. As well as being easy on the ears, it demonstrates the band perfectly as a ‘pop’ group above anything else.

Despite lauding Hurts as a pop band, the album isn’t pop perfection by any means - it doesn’t feel cutting edge enough to set the band apart from the ever-present predecessors the duo will forever be associated with. It unfortunately falls short of being anything particularly memorable. It’s hard to picture Hurts making a lasting impression on the musical landscape of British pop music. Does it altogether feel a bit like a guilty pleasure? Just about. Is it all 25 years too late? Most definitely.

5.5 Commentary - yvynyl: How Would I Improve Ping?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:50:10 +0100

Commentary - yvynyl: How Would I Improve Ping?:

Wouldn’t be hard. Apple sure did launch a half-baked idea. Here’s what I wish Ping was:

Curated channels/stores that people could subscribe to (ie: itunes.com/yvynyl) that also give us a percentage of the revenue for hustling your wares.

Custom playlists and mixtapes, goddamnit. How hard is…

MFM: The “follow” choices seem ridiculously limited, so far. Katy Perry, Linkin Park and Mark Ronson aren’t going to float everybody’s boat and it’s going to take a lengthy effort to get those currently enjoying the services of twitter to flock elsewhere, especially when the program being used requires so much computer power that it can take an eternity to load.

AUDIOVISUALS: Villagers - That DayMercury nominated Villagers...

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:49:19 +0100

AUDIOVISUALS: Villagers - That Day

Mercury nominated Villagers deliver their rousing ‘That Day’ to what suspiciously looks like a fairly high-budget video. From low-key singer-songwriter to Irish chart-topper and high-def screen blesser. We call that progression, people.

Directed by Marco Sandeman

Arcade Fire-related post #2

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:21:00 +0100

Words: Gareth O’Malley

No, that is not The Arcade Fire, obviously. That up there is The Drums, who did a BCC3 Live Lounge session for Huw Stephens last week in the midst of their Reading and Leeds appearances.

As is customary with live Lounge appearances, the Brooklynites covered a certain track, which just so happened to be the Canadian septet’s recent single ‘We Used To Wait’. A credit to them, it’s rather different to the original, stripped of its grandiosity and transformed into an upbeat pop song.

The tempo’s been doubled, the key’s been changed, and it comes across as an interesting mix of the surf-pop that the quartet have become known for, and something The Cure might have written back in the day - thanks mainly to frontman Jonathan Pierce’s vocal theatrics, which are strongly reminiscent of Robert Smith.

We think it’s quite a good cover, though obviously nothing on the original. Judge it for yourself:

The Drums - We Used to Wait (Arcade Fire Cover) by Music Fan’s Mic

Arcade Fire-related post #1

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:01:00 +0100

Feature: Ben Ross

Arcade Fire have outdone themselves once again. Chris Milk’s interactive digital video for the track ‘We Used to Wait’, is like nothing ever done before. The website invites you to enter your postcode (presumably anywhere in the world), and watch these various windows of graphics and videos; a boy running through his neighbourhood, black birds flying and flitting between open windows and imersing themselves in preconceived environments as well as your own neighbourhood (or whatever postcode you choose to enter).

Not only does the video invite you to remember where you grew up, it also asks you to write a letter to your younger self, and we urge you to do so just to see the subsequent beautiful special effects created when typing and drawing.

This is truly something special, the seamlessness between the pre-created visuals and your own neighbourhood is something to be applauded, and genuinely conveys the power of HTML 5, Google Maps & Streetview and Chrome.

This a powerful, visceral experience that you need to take time out to engage in, and whilst the focus isn’t entirely on your actual road (even if you put in your whole postcode), this is incredible nonetheless. Is this the future of online ‘music videos’? Who knows, but one can only hope.

[Note: This is made specifically for Chrome and thus will require it to work sufficiently; we tried Firefox and it wasn’t anywhere near as good. You have been warned.]

teamABC: Water

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:57:07 +0100

Words: Gareth O’Malley

Stef Purenins gets by with a little help with his friends. That’s the way it’s been for the last two years he’s been working under the guise of teamABC, writing all the songs himself and then roping in contributors to help flesh them out. It’s worked very well thus far.

His greatest strength lies in the quality control that he had perfected by the time last year’s debut album ‘Yesses, Noes and Volcanoes’. Since then, he’s released not one sub-par song, and this trend isn’t going to be bucked any time soon if his latest EP, ‘Water’ is anything to go by.

It’s been described as ‘[Purenins]’ most complete release so far’, and that’s a point we’re finding difficult to dispute. The soundscapes remain as packed as ever; we have guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, xylophones… the works. The reference points may be obvious (Johnny Foreigner and Los Campesinos! (the latter’s pre-‘Romance Is Boring’ material in particular), but the delightful sound that he’s created is entirely his own.

Songs like the multi-part mini-epic ‘Casually Keeping Control’ and the glorious rush of ‘Another Fight, Another Defeat’ crackle with the energy and enthusiasm he’s become known for; and the low-budget production, far from detracting from the EP’s charms, instead adds to them. Purenins’ has got scrappy indie-pop down to a fine art, and the idea of new material sooner rather than later is quite exciting.

8.0

mp3s: Service Station Feeling Of Doom! // Tangled (Your Bones)

mpfree: War On Drugs - Comin' Through

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:20:29 +0100

Debut ‘Wagonwheel Blues’ was a difficult album to get into, War On Drugs giving the impression of a band fully focused on invention, not accessibility. But new single ‘Comin’ Through’, first taster of forthcoming follow-up ‘Future Weather’, comes across like a signature Cut Copy track; immediate and packed-to-the-brim with melody. A great indication of things to come. (mp3 link)

Love Amongst Ruin: So Sad (Fade)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:01:00 +0100

Words: Gareth O’Malley

Branching out is hard to do. Just ask Steve Hewitt. The former Placebo drummer left back in November of 2007 due to ‘personal and musical differences’. Musical differences? Perhaps he didn’t like the direction they were going in with ‘Battle for the Sun’.

We can’t blame him all that much if that was indeed the case. The angst-rockers have been on a steady decline since 2003’s ‘Sleeping With Ghosts’, and ‘Battle for the Sun’ is by far their worst record to date, a pastiche of everything they once did so well.

He’s spent the better part of three years working on new material, though, and in an unlikely transformation has swapped the drum stool for the mic stand, becoming the frontman of Love Amongst Ruin, a sextet that also consists of Donald Ross Skinner (co producer / guitarist), Steve Hove (lead guitar), Laurie Ross (cello, keys and percussion), Teresa Morini (bass) and Keith York (drums).

Their debut album is ready to go in a few weeks (September 13th) and ‘So Sad (Fade)’ is the first single to be lifted from it. The cynics could say ‘oh, this sounds exactly the same as his old band’. We’re not hearing it at all. For starters, Hewitt’s vocals are much more bearable than Brian Molko’s nasal whine. LAR bring a heaver and less polished sound to the table, too, the song being anchored around a huge, grungy riff.

When combined with a stadium-sized chorus, ‘So Sad (Fade)’ takes on a freshness that Molko and company sorely lack. This isn’t a reinvention of the old by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s certainly a rejuvenation, and the best Placebo-related track since ‘Follow The Cops Back Home’. That’s high praise.

UK Music Releases: September 2010

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:31:00 +0100

September 6th

Hurts - Happiness
Annuals – Count The Rings
Brandon Flowers – Flamingo
Brian Wilson - Reimagines Gershwin
CEO - White Magic
The Like – Release Me
The Pipettes - Earth vs The Pipettes
Pull In Emergency - Pull In Emergency
Ray LaMontagne & Pariah Dogs - God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise
Roots Manuva vs Wrongtom - Duppy Writer

September 13th

The Strange Death Of Liberal England - Drown Your Heart Again (9.6/10 album review)
1973 - Bye Bye Cellphone
Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart (album details)
Blonde Redhead – Penny Sparkle (mpfree: Not Getting There)
The Brute Chorus – How The Caged Bird Sings
Crystal Fighters - Star Of Love
Get Cape Wear Cape Fly – Get Cape Wear Cape Fly
Grinderman - Grinderman 2
Interpol – Interpol
Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin (album details)
Of Montreal - False Priest (Audiovisuals: Coquet Croquette)
Robert Plant - Band Of Joy
Robyn - Body Talk Pt 2
Royksopp – Senior
The Script - Science & Faith
Underworld - Barking
Weezer – Hurley

September 20th

Abe Vigoda - Crush (mpfree: Throwing Shade)
Chromeo – Business Casual
Drums Of Death - Generation Hexed
Emilíana Torrini - Rarities
Manic Street Preachers – Postcards From A Young Man (mpfree: It’s Not War… // initial thoughts review)
Maroon 5 – Hands All Over
Ne-Yo – Libra Scale
Taio Cruz - The Rokstarr Collection

September 27th

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (album details)
Aeroplane – We Can’t Fly
DD/MM/YYYY - Black Square
Estelle – All Of Me
Fenech-Soler - Fenech-Soler
KT Tunstall – Tiger Suit
Mark Ronson & The Business Intl – Record Collection
Mice Parade - What It Means To Be Left-Handed
No Age – Everything In Between
Sore Eros - Know Touching

Tubelord: Tezcatlipoca EP

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:53:00 +0100

Words: Gareth O’Malley

Bloody hell. We were expecting something good from Tubelord after their sensational debut ‘Our First American Friends’ impressed us last year, but not anything this good.

The band have clearly progressed from their debut album, even while remaining every bit as unpredictable as they’ve been known to be in the past. These three songs ensure that their second album, (tentatively) titled ‘Over In Brooklyn’ and due out next year, will be a mouthwatering prospect.

‘Arbor’ is sure to appeal to those who liked ‘Cows To The East, Cities To The West’, showcasing the band’s gentler side whilst simultaneously displaying their more expansive sound, which has come about as a result of James Field on keys.

Speaking of which, his sterling work on the synth-driven single ‘Ratchet’ lifts the song to new heights. Its unusual time signature of 6/4 and interesting rhythm work give it an odd feel, but one that works extremely well in song context. There are meter changes later in the song, and the entry of a saxophone (!) adds an entirely new dimension to the track. All in less than three minutes. Can you say prog-pop?

Closer ‘Bazel’ is probably the heaviest thing they’ve written so far, exploding mid-way through with a riff that’s as arresting as it is impressive, the quartet turning things up to 11 in style. Add in a typically unpredictable song structure and some three-part vocal sections (!!), and you get something as baffling as it is brilliant.

Tubelord are very much becoming their own band, as these three songs (totalling a little over nine minutes) show. They’re refusing to keep still, gleefuly flipping the bird to those who thought they had the band pegged as too ADHD-riddled to write direct songs. They have responded with perhaps their three most immediate tracks yet. ‘Over In Brooklyn’, then. Bring it on.

9.2

Tubelord ‘Ratchet’ by Hassle Records

Music Fan's Mic Mix: August 2010

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:08:00 +0100

Seems an odd time to begin a project, halfway through the year. But it’s been an idea roaming around the ol’ head for some time, and with August being our biggest, most productive month yet, it seemed a good time to introduce to you our monthly, tounge-twistingly titled, Music Fan’s Mic “mix” of August-related treats. Be it from the finest releases over the four weeks, or merely in relation to a news story, the tracks have at least some minor relevance to August and ourselves.
Sorry U.S users, you’ll need Spotify for this, enjoy the links to our articles to discover the music we’ve included…

MUSIC FAN’S MIC MIX - AUGUST 2010
LISTEN

Tracklist:
1. Everything Everything - Schoolin’ —- album of the month —-
2. Menomena - TAOS —- Review of Mines —-
3. Matthew Dear - I Can’t Feel —- Soundclouded —-
4. Pagan Wanderer Lu - A Girl Named Aeroplane —-Great new Brainlove release—-
5. Battles - Leyendecker —- Tyondai Braxton quits —-
6. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - In Pairs —- Review of ‘Let It Sway’ —-
7. Eels - I’m A Hummingbird —- Review of ‘Tomorrow Morning’ —-
8. Philip Selway - By Some Miracle —- Review of ‘Familial’ —-
9. Janelle Monae (pictured) - Cold War —- AUDIOVISUALS —-
10. Still Corners - Endless Summer —- ‘Wish’ AUDIOVISUALS —-
11. Holy Ghost! - Static On The Wire —- Album review —-
12. Big Troubles - Former Selves —- “Emerging artist” feature —-
13. Everything Everything - Leave The Engine Room
14. Zola Jesus (pictured) - Sea Talk —- Stridulum II review —-

Quick Fix: Savoir Adore - In The Wooded Forest

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:21:00 +0100

[Released on Cantora]

Words: Gareth O’Malley

There’s one thing about this album that’s still puzzling us. It was released in the U.S. almost a year ago, and it saw the light of day here last week. How the hell did it not get picked up for U.K. distribution earlier? We ask this because - and there are no two ways about it - what we have here is one of the best pop records of the year.

Yep, we said it. It’s the kind of album that could explode given the right exposure, and it has the potential to become another of 2010’s great sleeper hits. Unsurprisingly, the duo hail from Brooklyn, which has become something of a hotbed for great bands in recent years.

Their brand of intricately-crafted pop caught us by surprise a few months ago when we heard ‘Bodies’, whose rollicking percussion and insanely catchy chorus marked the pair out as ones to watch, and it’s no surprise to see that the album’s fulfilled the promise that that track shows.

From the sugar-rush of the title track, to the brilliantly-monikered, slow-burning epic ‘Transylvanian Candy Patrol’, and through such gems as ‘Honestly’ and the ace in the pack that is ‘Farewell My Love’, this is an album that scoffs at the idea of genre, taking influence from such styles as post-rock, dream-pop, shoegaze and simple yet stunningly effective indie rock. It’s easy to get lost ‘In The Wooded Forest’; accessible as anything and strangely addictive, this album has it all. We adore it.

8.1

[Grab three album tracks here]

Quick Fix: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Let It Sway

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:01:44 +0100

[Released on Polyvinyl]

Words: Gareth O’Malley

We can’t help but wonder if Boris Yeltsin was ever aware of this band’s existence. If he had been, would he have approved of the name? It’s one of those questions that will never be answered - thanks to the ex-Russian President’s death in 2007.

We like it though. It seems to be a little like Marmite. We can certainly see why. However, you can’t argue with that artwork, and most would struggle to find fault with the Missouri quartet’s brand of sprightly indie-pop.

There is nothing complex about what these guys do, but then again there doesn’t need to be, as they have a wonderful ear for melody and a great way with a tune, as songs like the album highlight ‘My Terrible Personality’ show to great effect.

There are more subdued moments here, of course, like ‘Stuart Gets Lost Dans Le Metro’, a great song that relies only on piano and acoustic guitar, but for the most part this is an uptempo, upbeat, uplifting listen. This is most certainly a return to form after the uneven sophomore record ‘Pershing’. ‘Back In The Saddle’? You’re telling me.

7.2

mpfree: Sink/Let It Sway

AUDIOVISUALS: The Drums - Down By The Water ——Live...

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:00:44 +0100

AUDIOVISUALS: The Drums - Down By The Water

——
Live gig swan-song and best bud of ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Down By The Water’ is the arguable stand-out track on The Drums’ self-titled debut. Immerse yourself in its goodbyes.

MUSIC FAN'S MIC -

mpfree: Summer Twins - The Good Things

AUDIOVISUALS: Deerhunter - HelicopterBradford Cox stares into...

Words With: Insect Guide

INCOMING: The Phantom Band - The Wants—-“It’s...

Kanye West – Devil In A New Dress by Hypetrak

AUDIOVISUALS: Candy Claws - Silent Time Of EarthSugar-sweet...

HURTS - Happiness

5.5

Commentary - yvynyl: How Would I Improve Ping?

AUDIOVISUALS: Villagers - That DayMercury nominated Villagers...

Arcade Fire-related post #2

Arcade Fire-related post #1

teamABC: Water

8.0

mpfree: War On Drugs - Comin' Through

Love Amongst Ruin: So Sad (Fade)

UK Music Releases: September 2010

Tubelord: Tezcatlipoca EP

9.2

Music Fan's Mic Mix: August 2010

MUSIC FAN’S MIC MIX - AUGUST 2010LISTEN

Quick Fix: Savoir Adore - In The Wooded Forest

8.1

Quick Fix: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Let It Sway

7.2

AUDIOVISUALS: The Drums - Down By The Water ——Live...

MUSIC FAN’S MIC MIX - AUGUST 2010
LISTEN