Prior to this evening I’d never heard of Wolf Alice at all,
after a quick Soundcloud browse I stumbled upon this track. A kind of new
grunge sound combined with angst ridden lyrics and sophisticated instrumentals
make something quite unique.
I mentioned them before when reviewing Waxahatchee’s track ‘Coast
to Coast’ but again there’s a Japanese Voyeurs sound here, I'm glad to see the
style is continuing even since their split. Grunge may have had its day in the nineties
this is following in its footsteps and ensuring a new form will be breaking
through over the next couple of years, if the quality stays on par with this
and some of the other stuff I've heard it’s definitely a good thing.
Before I begin the review I'd like to take you on the journey of how I discovered Bipolar Sunshine and like most of my stories it begins with me scrolling through the 14,000+ tracks on my iPod looking for something to listen to until finally reaching a track I hadn't heard in a while, the track I stumbled upon this time happened to be Kid British with "Our House is Dadless". Back in 2010 this track was on a constant loop for me and featuring in almost every playlist I created, I'd recently discovered The King Blues and my ska punk hunger was forcing me to devour anything with fast lyrics and catchy instrumentals. After listening to "Our House Is Dadless" again I wondered what had happened with the band, I'd heard they'd broke up in late 2012 but nothing else, giving lead singer Adio Marchants's name a Google lead me to his new project, Bipolar Sunshine and their debut EP Aesthetics.
Now you know the origins of me finding this track I'm going to move on to airing my views of it as best I can.
The good news is that it's absolutely fantastic, the bad news is as of yet you've got minimal material to listen to as Bipolar Sunshine have barely been going any time at all. The song has a quality to it that makes it seem like a classic even if you've never listened to it before, I'm not saying in it's sheer quality and it is brilliant, it's more in the sound and tone making it sound far more mature.
The brilliance of the track in my opinion is down to how much different it is to the previous material released by Marchant, to change your sound so drastically and still produce something of such worth is a difficult feat for most artists, even established musicians can find it a struggle but this seems somehow natural, it just works fantastically.
There's just something so charming and interesting about this new project that I'm just too excited for future releases, Marchant has struck gold with this project, he's proving that he can be upbeat and poppy with Kid British while making something experimental but still accessible.
Next up tonight I've got a band you will probably have never heard of, Glass Giants with their debut track Runaway featuring Danni Lafrombe of Peasant's King who also co wrote the track with the band.
The Welsh five piece are out to entertain, this track makes that abundantly clear, with lingering vocals and an all out punky sound the group are going to find fans easily within the pop punk/alternative rock world. The whole thing works very well, with an attractive and extremely well shot video they're already leaps and bounds ahead of any competition around their level, throw in some well played instrumental pieces and a nice breakdown with an inspirational set of vocals you've got something a lot of the kids will be loving.
Okay, so to begin with I want to apologise for being a little quiet on the old blogging front in the last couple of days. While I try to update daily as it's the only way a tiny blog like this can gain a readership, the problem has been I've not really had anything to write about. Anyway today I've hit the internet hard to find a couple of tracks to write about to make up for the days missed, A$AP Ferg with Shabba being my first of today.
I've missed the whole A$AP Mob thing a little, my attention to the hip hop world is restricted to Odd Future and less known spoken word artists. The guns, bitches and bling just seems to be a little hollow and empty to me, sure it's polished and sparkly on the outside but do they really have a message in what they're singing? Do they inspire me to see the world differently? The simple answer to this is no, it's something that's always gone way over my head and I've never really given it a second thought.
Back to the actual track in question, A$AP Ferg is the latest member of Harlem hip hop collective A$AP Mob to be given his chance to have the spotlight, following in A$AP Rocky's footsteps was never going to be an easy task with his billboard 100 topping album Long. Live. A$AP realeased January this year.
Shabba is catchy, the hook is superb and I expect a crowd pleaser at gigs. Unfortunately that's one of the only plus points of this track I can see, the rest is merely Ferg stating how ninety per cent of the American female population would like to perform oral sex on him and the size of his penis, although these are themes expected in most US hip hop tracks I think I was expecting something more. Ferg has drafted in Rocky as a feature on this track and to say it's underwhelming would be an understatement. Remember when Big Sean had Kendrick Lamar as a feature on "Control"? Imagine the opposite of that. When Big Sean and Kendrick dropped that track the world turned and looked, he'd totally upstaged the main artist on the track and propelled himself even further forward with his career, Rocky doesn't do that here, it's forgettable and disposable to the track.
While it's not terrible it's not brilliant, it'd be ideal for a party or as part of a playlist but as a standalone it's flimsy and poorly constructed, the hook's good, there's just not a lot else.
Let's begin this little review with me stating that I have no idea who this band is, I saw they were playing the Lock Up stage at Reading and Leeds and thought I'd give them a listen, while they wouldn't normally be my thing I did enjoy this track and you can see they're really working at what they're doing with a passion. With a sound a lot like A Day To Remember you can see that there's an audience ready for them, with a new album currently being recorded, Reading and Leeds festivals at the weekend and a support slot on Tonight Alive coming up in October you'll be seeing a lot more of them.
After missing out on the initial hype surrounding Palma Violets I recently gave their debut album '180' and was impressed by what I heard. Up until this point I hadn't heard anything from them, no singles, no nothing. While listening to the album one track stood out to me, this one which I have now discovered to be their debut single. Heavy guitars, passionate vocals and great overall sound have cemented them as one of the UK's favourite up and coming rock n roll bands. Fantastic track from a band I'll be listening to a lot more of.
Carl Barat is one of those artists who can do no wrong in my opinion, I loved The Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things and his solo material, I'm always fairly upset when it seems a bit quiet on the releases front with him. You may have noticed this is the second track I've done tonight with a Soundcloud link, I will now admit that I've only just learnt to integrate it into my blog, I've had Soundcloud stuff I've wanted to do in the past but been completely baffled as to how I put it on here, anyway I've now figured it out so I'll quiet down on the progress of my competence with a computer.
Anyway I've gone off topic and I'm here to talk about something in particular, Victory Gin, Barat's new demo and it's exactly what you'd expect; poetic lyricism, lingering guitar work and a minimalist sound working perfectly with the vocals. It's less Libertines and more Dirty Pretty Things with a clear heavy influence from his solo material, this for me being a brilliant direction as I loved his solo album and have listened to at least one track from it a week since it's release. Brilliant track hopefully to see light on a new album sometime soon.
If you've read this blog before you'll already be aware of my borderline obsession with Strange Famous Records, you may have also read my review of Buddy Peace and Prolyphic's track Creative Differences, my excitement of such a brilliant track from two artists I'd never really heard anything past them being SFR alumni. Tonight while browsing Facebook I saw Sage Francis share a link to the new Buddy Peace remix, I was intrigued and jumped straight on, oh how I am glad I did. Not only does this track contain the brilliance of both B. Dolan and Sage Francis with a remix by Buddy Peace there's something else, Breaking Bad audio snippets. It's just an amazing piece of work that I can't really describe, it works in such a strange and creative way I was left open mouthed.
V V Brown is one of those singers you can mention to someone
and have nothing in response but a blank stare and further questioning about whom
you’re talking about, however name her debut track 'Crying Blood' and you’ll have a reaction of
how they love that song. This to me is a shame, she’s a fantastic talent and
one the UK should be extremely proud of, while she’s got her fan base it
baffles me why it’s not considerably larger. Her new single and music video was
released August 14th with very little publicity, and it shows
exactly why I feel she should be huge because the track is a fantastic piece of
work. Taken from the new album 'Samson and Delilah' we've got something that sounds genuinely beautiful, the beat and music works in to a perfect combination, Brown's voice displays both grace and power while almost blending into the music. Another fantastic track from a singer who I believe really
deserves more recognition.
Back in 2011 I attended my first Slam Dunk festival at Hatfield, Hertfordshire University. The main reasons I went were Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake and The King Blues, so after buying my ticket I decided to give the line up a once through and see if there were any other artists I'd be interested in seeing, one of them happened to be a heavy metal rapper by the name of Hyro Da Hero, after listening to some of his stuff I was very impressed and made sure I saw him there. The day was a drunken blur but I'd remember what fun Hyro's set had been, later that year/early 2012 I saw him again at Borderline in London. The reason I'm mentioning this is because the new video for 'Beam Me Up Scotty' has just recently been released, it's created using footage from Hyro's live show's and shows the infectious energy and sheer ferocity of one of his gigs. This guy does not stay still when on stage, as this video shows. The track itself is great, it tells the story of an alien landing on earth and describing what they see, and they're not impressed with how people are, it works as a social commentary of people's behaviour. Wonderfully energetic video footage, great writing and from an artist who's very dedicated to what they're doing and clearly having fun while doing it.
The UK has an exciting music scene at the moment, there's alternative rock, blues rock, hip hop, rap and punk amongst others, there's a lot of good stuff coming out. Pop punk/pop rock band Leopards are by far one of the best of this recent influx of bands, with a very Paramore sound they will easily discover a fan base, as well as their attractive lead singer Jenna Clare not hurting their chances.
The track I'm reviewing here, 'Have a Heart' is a perfect example of what's to come from this band, great vocals working perfectly with brilliant musicality, the tracks main message is to have a heart and work at things you want. The vocals are powerful and strong, the music is tight and it works together perfectly. This is a great start to what should be a long and successful career, keep it up.
Panic at the Disco were always one of those bands I thought of as mine, when I was a lot younger I saw how everyone was getting into Fall Out Boy and decided the mainstream option was too boring so found what seemed like Fall Out Boys younger brother band then immediately hated everyone who liked them too because I thought it would make me less different. Yes, I was a weird kid as you can get a gist of with that last statement but Panic were always a great band, catchy hooks, good vocals and imaginative videos, their new track 'This is gospel', taken from the upcoming album 'Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die' is no different. The video opens with Brendon Urie on a hospital bed, he then fights with some doctors, then gets buried, then swims out and breaks through some walls then ends up dying on a hospital table, there's some rope fighting along the way too. It's got a lot going on through it's three minute run. They've not lost any of their charm with age, it's still catchy and it's a sure fire hit in the right circles.
I recently reviewed the new Babyshambles track 'Nothing Comes To Nothing' with just an audio video, and very impressed was an understatement. We've now got a video *waits for applause to die down*, it's added something more to the track, improved it and showed that Babyshambles are back and better than ever. The video is pretty down to earth affair, no storyline gimmicks or dramatic acting scenes just the band fucking around and performing, we've got footage of Pete fighting basically everyone, including a fellow band member and a mannequin. Another addition which I find particularly welcome is the inclusion of audio from the video over the top of the music, there's gig goers declaring their love of a live show and the band having a laugh. It shows the band are getting along and everyone is happy which, even if not completely true is nice to see. Great track and a fantastic video thrown in, welcome back Babyshambles.
Unique vocals, fantastic instrumentals and copious amounts of creativity, Max Raptor are making a mark on the British punk scene and from this video you can see why. The video is filmed in black and white and breaking into colour throughout the video's run time, it features clip after clip of politicians and political journalists from BBC, Sky and other news sites as well as footage of Wil Ray and the rest of the band performing. Fantastic track from one of my favourite bands around at the moment.
Natives are one of those bands I've heard of but never really listened to, my girlfriend has mentioned them a few times but I've never really gave them a chance. The New Hampshire four piece alternative rock and pop group's new track Stand for Something, taken from the new EP of the same is not quite what I was expecting. It's an upbeat and rather inspiring piece of music, it's message is to find something in your life that is worth living for and working towards it to give yourself focus, and it's a great basis. The video follows the songs message, it features people holding cards with signs on about what they're reason is, it's very similar to All American Rejects video for Dirty Little Secret, I imagine this is was a big influence on them when making the video. Great track from a band with a great future ahead of them.
Until hearing this track I'd never hear of A Grave With No Name, after listening to this track I'm now totally on board and have a great interest in obsessing over everything they've done for a while. Taken from their album 'Whirlpool', Aurora is one of the most gorgeous sounding tracks I've heard all year, the vocals are soft and delicate, working beautifully with the music to create an exquisite sounding piece of music. To be honest it's been a long time since I've really fell in love with an artists work like this, you can draw comparisons to other artists such as Trailer Trash Tracys but it wouldn't be fair because what has been created here is extremely different.
Lightning Dust are one of those bands I always feel are
unfairly overlooked in the UK, while I'm sure they have their fair share of
fans here I don’t really know anyone who knows them which is a real shame.
Loaded Gun is their new track taken from their new album, Fantasy, the first new release in four years
and as usual it’s a beautiful. Amber Webber’s voice is spot on; she delivers
such delicate vocals which gives the song a distinctive mark while working in
perfect harmony with the music. The band have taken a slightly different
direction with their new material, it’s slightly more spacey, not to the
extreme Tom DeLonge went to after putting Blink 182 on hiatus but a definite
sound has been created. Overall I like the change of direction, I consider this
band to be one of the only bands out there making something a lot different, it’s
indie at its finest.
Remember when Razorlight were massive, everywhere you went you'd hear 'America' or 'In The Morning'? What happened is the real question. Slipway Fires was released in 2008, that's madness. Borrell returns but he's lost the band, he's going it alone, he's toned down the arrogance and dealt with his god complex to a point and is back making music, and it's a lot different. I'm not entirely sure what happened during his 5 years off but he seems to have been on an adventure, he's a changed man and has a changed sound. The video, involving Borrell and a group of others pushing a piano through the streets while one of the group plays as they walk, it's a small production and works great with this new incarnation. Regardless of sales of his debut album I'm glad he's back, Razorlight had a massive effect on my music taste while growing up and it's good to seem someone I've got so much love for giving it another go.
New Zealand born alternative indie singer and producer Willy Moon, real name William George Sinclair releases the video to Get Up (What You Need) and for an artist I have very little knowledge of I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this track. Moon's career took off somewhat with his track 'Yeah Yeah' when it featured on Apples 2012 advertising campaign for it's newest incarnation of their iPod, and it's no surprise, Moon's sound is very radio and TV friendly which will be of huge benefit when gaining new fans. The song, Get Up (What You Need) is the next single to be taken from Moon's debut album 'Here's Willy Moon' and it's very catchy, the hook "you got to get up on your feet to get what you need" show's what the song is all about, it's about life, it's about doing everything you can to get what you want and to where you want to be, the beat and music work in perfect harmony with the gravelly vocals. Overall this is just the next step on the road to great success for Moon, it show's he's got great music writing abilities as well as the charm to gain a big following.
Oh Tinie, if only you'd stopped after Earthquake, if only you'd had a better back story, if only you didn't go for mass appeal but went for musical integrity instead, unfortunately Tinie did none of these things, he instead released this track. With repetitive words such as 'jump, jump, jump trampoline' and naming random capital cities, he has no innovation, he has not vision all he seems to do is bend over and wait for Radio One to fuck him, it's a shame because there's been flashes of brilliance in previous songs. 2 Chainz also features on this little ditty, I have no idea who he is, he has a way better flow than ol' Tinie but it doesn't save a very weak track and a particular low point in a persons career.
Rat Attack seem to have come from nowhere fairly fast, their debut EP 'Rat Attack' received a lot of extremely positive reviews from various music magazines including a four K rating from Kerrang! And by listening to this track you can see why. The band show a lot of passion for the music they're polaying, there's powerful vocals, a lot of energy and stage presence and heavy guitars and drums. With a sound a lot like older Kids In Glass Houses material the band will find a fan base extremely easily, and it's well deserved. If they keep churning out tracks like this they've got a very bright future ahead of them add that with appearances in festivals such as Reading and Leeds and Y Not they're on to a winner.
London based rock/metal/rap/grime collision Hacktivist are just constantly giving, if you look at their touring schedule for the next couple of months you'll see they don't plan on stopping. Throughout their relatively short career their cover of Jay Z and Kanye's 'Niggas in Paris' has become a firm fan favourite so the band have decided to record it , throw together a video promo with a lot of live footage and give it away as a free download to their fans. Honestly this is a master stroke, throughout the song they've thrown in little jokes and altered lyrics, my personal favourite being the change of fish fillet to six inch Subway. Great track which has definitely piqued my interest in the band.
South London’s self-confessed warped pop artist Sarah
Williams White has barley stopped working in the last year, she’s released
music herself, she’s featured on Dan Le Sac’s album ‘Space Between The Words’
on the track Play Along as well as touring extensively. It was through her work with Dan Le Sac that I
first started listening and have enjoyed everything so far. Close to the
Equator is her most recent video released and it’s fantastic. The songs beat
comes courtesy of drummer and producer Timmy Rickford and works perfectly with
White’s voice, the hook almost blends into the music. Offered as a free
download on White’s website it’s well worth a look.
Master of the theatrical stage show and all round nice guy B. Dolan was very vocal in the case of the African American transgender fashion student CeCe McDonald, I missed this track on it's initial release and I'm not entirely sure how as Strange Famous Records are a particular love of mine. I don't know much of the case but this song really shows Dolan's passion for the case, and to be honest without even knowing about the case you'll side with Dolan due to the lyrical content. B. Dolan always shows massive amounts of passion for what he's doing and this song is no exception, the flow he has is smooth, the song sounds absolutely fantastic and the overall message is so important that the song should never be ignored.
I feel as if I've missed out on the Action Bronson hype so
far, I gave him a listen a couple of months ago and didn't really get it, I
think my main problem was I was expecting something similar to Sage Francis but
what I got was something a lot different. Recently I've seen this track,
Strictly for my Jeeps doing the rounds on my Twitter and Facebook feeds and
decided to give it a listen, and I'm a lot more on board now, I’m slowly
starting to get it more. The track, taken from the EP ‘Saaab Stories’ has a great
flow, the hook is catchy and Bronson shows he’s actually worth the hype
surrounding him. Now on to the video, there’s a lot of large woman footage,
most memorably is a very large woman in a bikini dancing while Bronson jiggles
her arse, it’s memorable for all the wrong reasons. The video has links to
Bronson’s past as a chef, there’s a nice cooking scene which looks like
something from Masterchef followed by a sit down meal with friends and a cake
of his face, and it’s a lovely scene. Overall I think this track shows a very
unique rapper, he’s not conventional by any stretch of the imagination but he’s
got something about him that’s highly appealing and I think that’s going to
help his career considerably.
Everyone’s favourite New York rock n roll duo MGMT return
from their 3 year gap with Your Life is a Lie, and they’re still catchy as
hell. The kicks in after a brief drum solo and a pot being hit by a hippie
looking kind of guy, from there the video gets more and more strange. Henry Winkler
shows up talking to a girl on a bed, there’s an old man eating a banana in time
with the music, a baby with a balloon in space and other nightmarish scenes
making a unique promo video for the track. It’s a strangely catchy and unusual
song from a band famed for their strange and catchy songs and videos, a welcome
return to them, they've been missed.
If you've read my blog in the past you'll know about my love and borderline obsession with both The King Blues and Itch as a solo artist, it's taken a while for me to write about this track and I honestly have no idea why because it's great. The song is about being knocked down in anything in life and just getting back up and saying go for it, give me your best shot, something you can see Itch has had a lot of in his life. He raps with passion, the lyrics are tight and he goes hard through the whole track. The video features Itch wandering through an American suburban neighbourhood and encountering people along the way, a highlight for me is the shirt being worn here, how he finds clothing covered in hot dogs is beyond me, it also makes my clothing feel ridiculously bland in comparison. Great track in what's already shaping up to be a fantastic solo career.
Paul Mullen must be the busiest person in the music industry, he's currently a member of The Automatic, Bleach Blood and Young Legonaire among others, and now he's taken on another project, Losers. Taking pledges towards their debut album the band have already played Proud Camden to rave reviews, this little promo shows there's a brand new and unique sound to this band, and it sounds fantastic. This four and a half minute promo shows a bits and pieces from what we can expect from the album, it's heavy, it's aggressive in places, it's electric and it could prove highly successful. This has piqued my interest and I can't wait to hear more.
Strange famous are one of those labels that in my opinion can do no wrong, Sage Francis is one of my favourite human beings in the history of the world, his Vine videos are hilarious, his music is thought provoking and beautiful, B. Dolan is one of the most innovative performers I've ever seen, his Church of Love and Ruin is one of the most amazing spectacles you could ever hope to see. Now on to Buddy Peace, he’s been on the Strange Famous rooster for quite a while yet I've never really listened to anything he’s done, that’s all about to change since listening to this track. Featuring London beat man Buddy Peace this track is quite something, it tackles the commercialisation and consumerism now attached to music, Prolyphic has a great flow and Buddy Peace’s beats perfectly complements him. The most unique thing I've found about this track however is the way that the two artists are hundreds of miles apart, Buddy Peace is in London, England while Prolyphic is in Providence. The video features a delightful old man wandering along behind Prolyphic, there’s also a cameo from Sage Francis towelling off Prolyphic after an incident with a cup of water. From what I can tell these two are the perfect combination, they remind me of a sort of transatlantic Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip. All in all this is another fantastic track from one of the best small labels around at the moment and has really enticed me into buying the album.
Since the release of Magna Carta Holy Grail Jay Z has been very in demand, the media circus is never calm around him and his family and he seems to thrive from this attention. In this performance piece for album track Picasso Baby he's taken control of The New York Pace Gallery and performed for six straight hours, he's made himself the exhibition which in itself is a good idea, however he's not finished there, the crowd are brought in on the act taking it from a good idea into something brilliant. Ever the forward thinker this is just the next step in a long line of art based ideas coming from Shawn Carter of recent times, the entirety of Magna Carta played out like a piece of art to me, some of it hit and other bits missed but overall the album is something of a concept and one which has seemingly paid off better than anyone could have ever expected.
The View were one of those bands whose debut album was played repeatedly on my iPod when it was first released, I then kinda missed their second album and didn't even know they'd done a third or fourth until today. I was on Facebook earlier when someone uploaded 'Same Jeans' which compelled me to see what they were doing now. What I found was this track, Standard. It's got the same catchy lyrics and upbeat melody of the old material yet now I'm older I can see the darker themes of the music, this track in particular seems to be about an abused mother who isn't allowed to see her children. The video isn't much brighter either, we see the protagonist of the story steal a packet of stickers from a shop, refused to see her child, get beaten by her husband/boyfriend and just seem to have a massively miserable life. The video ends with the mother stabbing her partner in the chest while he's asleep and leaving his body while she goes to the pub, where she is ultimately arrested in front of the daughter she'd just reconciled with. The track itself is a well executed poppy, punky and overall upbeat sounding piece of music, unfortunately this band will be relegated to only ever being known for Same Jeans which really is a shame as there is always has been more to them than just that one track. This was taken from their new compilation album Seven Year Setlist.
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip are back and they've got harder beats, angrier lyrics and a far more confrontational delivery than that of any other album by the pair. The track follows the fallout of a broken relationship and the depression and inspiration that follows. With a video featuring people and themes of almost every Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip video to date you get the feeling that you're taking a journey through the tunnels of Pips mind, incidentally the video is filmed throughout the Camden Roundhouse which itself is quite tunnelly. There's reused lyrics, Scroobius Pip merch, Pip's lookalike Ricki Hall and numerous things to spot throughout the video. Great new track from two of the UK's most innovative and versatile performers.
I'm not one to go out and buy a physical release of an
album, I hate shopping, I hate shop keepers and I hate having to carry
anything. Petty reasons I know but I just don’t have the patience to do it,
this being said there will occasionally an album will come along that piques my
interest, in these very rare cases I’ll make a point of going out to get a CD,
it adds something to the experience when you’ve actually got something you can
hold. Dan Le Sac’s album Space Between the Words was one of these albums, so I
set out to find a copy, a decision I now see was a challenge as it took me
three days to find one in central London, however when I found one I can safely
say I was not disappointed in the slightest. From this album I've been
introduced to several new artists, in particular Josh Idehen and his current
project Benin City, and Sarah Williams White, both of which have now had heavy
rotation on my iPod. Ahead of the release of the new Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius
Pip album I've spent a lot of time revisiting previous albums from them both,
this album particularly stood out.
The albums opening track, Long Night of Life was a perfect beginning
to the album, the gentle clapping to start with leads into a beautiful vocal
piece from folk artist Merz, who features again on Zephyr later on in the
album. The track leads into one of four particularly high points of a brilliant
album, Play Along. Featuring South London R&B artist Sarah Williams White
the track has fantastic vocals from a real up and coming talent working perfectly
with the beats and the electronic additions, perfectly displaying both the
talent of the vocalist and the producer.
Memorials featuring anti-folk artist Emmy the
Great follows, since listening to this album I've gained a great interest in her as a
solo artist, the song has a haunting quality to it, and her lingering voice
gives the track atmosphere while working perfectly alongside Dan Le Sac’s
production.
The album now enters into a Le Sac solo piece, more
aggressive than anything heard until this point it perfectly breaks the theme
the album has gained so far and leads perfectly into Tuning, the best track on
the album in my opinion. Featuring Benin City rapper and spoken word artist Josh Idehen
the track is essentially Idehen talking about everything and absolutely nothing
over the beat. Since listening to this track I've spent endless hours listening
to spoken pieces by Idehen on YouTube and buying ‘Fires in the Park’ by Benin
City.
The next track is the first of two featuring Strange Famous
rapper and activist B. Dolan, Good Time Gang War, another of the four tracks I was
particularly impressed with. This is followed by the second solo piece by Le
Sac, Hold Yourself Lightly.
This album shows an impressive assembly of indie artists
with amazing talent over its 50 minute run time, Le Sac even gets to sing himself
on the albums cover of Rhythm on the Loose’s
1992 house track Break of Dawn, which features HowAboutBeth, which is
another highlight of the album. The instrumental solo pieces from Le Sac
throughout the album work perfectly to break up tracks and change the tone of
the album which is constantly shifting in style, from hip hop and rap to
alternative folk. The albums final track is a cover of Arab Strap's Cherubs featuring Pete Hefferan of Pete and the Pirates, it's a slow and refectory sounding song which perfectly brings the album to a close.
Overall the album is a massive achievement; it’s perfectly
produced and performed by a group of people who show extraordinary amounts of
passion throughout every track on the album. The whole album has more ideas
flying around then the entire top 40 of last year yet never received the credit
it should have. Le Sac’s charm shines through on every track, something a lot
of producers lose when trying new ideas; it shows his growth as a producer and gives
a huge amount of promise to the new Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip album.
With their first new material since 2010’s Barbara, We are
Scientists are back with Something About You, a retro feeling rock track very
much in the spirit of their previous material. It’s got a real nostalgic feel
about it; I particularly liked the opening drumming. Overall it’s great to have
the band back, I've loved them for years and if their new material lives up to
this track we've got a fantastic album to look forward to.
With a name like Dingus Khan and a song called Knifey Spoony they had my interest,with an opening line 'you nearly killed a lady at the zebra crossing' they got my attention, by the end of the song I was now looking at upcoming tour dates. The video is very DIY-esque which I also liked, what they look like surprised me too, the first couple of times I listened to the track I didn't really watch the video so didn't really know what the band looked like, I was surprised to say the least when seeing them yet their look just further added to their charm. A fantastic fun track from a band I can see myself falling into a deep obsession with them, I'm just now gutted I didn't get Y Not tickets.
Ahead of their Y Not Festival appearance headlining the Allotment stage on Friday I've given The Struts’ track I just Know a little listen. The song kicks in with an instrumental intro followed by the lead singer Luke Struts piercing vocals, there’s classic rock n roll repetitive beats and vocals proving extremely catchy all the way. The video, directed by Rhys Frampton shows the band performing in a single coloured room which changes throughout the video. The band has a kind of Primal Scream vibe which I really liked, with their headline slot at the weekend it looks like this band is on the up.
