Music to drink tea by
Archive for March, 2010
Maple Leaves – Kirsty
11 year ago
in MP3s
Hey kids, it’s another Scottish indie pop band! I could tell you that I’m trying to mix things up by finding brand new things, but I’m not. I’m evidently listening to a lot of Scottish indie pop at the moment, so that is what ends up here. Maple Leaves are from Glasgow, just like the majority of the good stuff, and without descending too far into stereotypes, vocalist Anna features on Stuart Murdoch’s God Help the Girl project. Maple Leaves make nice little pop songs that add to the growing trend of folk influence into indie pop. Boy-girl harmonies and a wonderfully breezy sound. Myspace.
Kid Canaveral – Good Morning
01 year ago
in MP3s
The Scottish invasion continues with Kid Canaveral, a band I found purely by luck while wandering around the brilliant Bandcamp. Excellent site that’s a million times better than Myspace for both bands and consumers. I predict pretty much every indie band in the world will be using it within a year. Anyways, Good Morning is taken from Kid Canaveral’s debut album that is due out around now I think. Good, upbeat power-pop that by rights should be regarded as the next big thing to come out of Scotland. Myspace.
Live: The School & Allo Darlin’ // Bush Hall, London
01 year ago
in Live Reports
Bush Hall seems to be something of an oddity in terms of London gig venues. That’s even after one takes aside the fact it’s a fairly large ballroom (with chandeliers!) that dates back over 100 years. It’s location was what took me most by surprise. Nearly every venue I’ve been to in London tended to be in the northeast of the city. Shoreditch and Highbury tend to be where it’s at on the north of the river, Brixton on the south. Bush Hall sits a fair way out to the west, across raised roads and ridiculously large shopping centres. I’m sure to the Londoner’s this is all very normal, but it took me rather by surprise just how separated it was.
This also meant arriving at the place rather early, before the doors had even opened. Thankfully a few minutes later we were let in from the cold. There’s something quite nice about being one of the first into a venue. Particularly when the venue offers tables and chairs around the outside. I parked myself at the table nearest to the merch table that held the Allo Darlin’ album that I desperately wanted but alas no one was there to sell to me. Still, within half hour I was holding a shining new copy in my hand, alongside The School album and a couple of badges too. All bands should be required to supply badges at their gigs, if only because it makes my bag look rather less boring.
Pagan Wanderer Lu was the first act on. I’ve been aware of him for a while and if I’m honest, what he does isn’t really my cup of tea. He’s very talented and all, it just doesn’t do much for me. Which is fine. Alas that meant that the most interesting part of his set to me was the fact he was wearing a Space Invaders t-shirt that I also own.
While waiting for Allo Darlin’ to setup, it was time for a drink in the bar in the lobby, which led to an impromptu game of London Indiepop EyeSpy. This was my first attempt at the game but I think my final score of 27 29 was fairly respectable. Was anybody else there playing? It’s stalkertastic. I even spotted MJ Hibbett tweeting about the very gig we were both watching both on Twitter and in person at the same time. Crazy!
After that excitement it was finally time for Allo Darlin’ who were absolutely superb. Seriously, I can’t think of a single band that I enjoy more at the moment. They went with a bold gambit of starting and closing the set with gentle, solo songs that seemed a bit risky at the start, but by the time they’d jumped into The Polaroid Song, the whole place was bouncing along. Each time I see them I’m sure the El Scorcho sample in Kiss Your Lips gets louder from the crowd, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. The only slight disappointment was the omission of Henry Rollins Don’t Dance from the set, but it’s not on the album, so it’s understandable. Speaking of the album though, it’s already slotted itself in as my favourite of the year so far, which in a year in which Romance is Boring was released is no mean feat.
Last on, and to a slightly smaller audience were The School, who were treating the gig as their album launch party. Seems a bit odd given the album isn’t out properly here until June, but who cares? I’ve said before that I like The School but with some reservations, and it’s about the same here. I like their songs and enjoy them live, but there’s something that holds me back from regarding them as a favourite band. Which is fine really. Maybe the album will be the thing that finally tips me over the top. Their set was good fun though and the finale with Allo Darlin’ and “anyone else” on stage singing brought the night to a lovely conclusion.
An excellent night out in a unique venue overall. Find a selection of my photos from the gig below. Behold, my first attempts at gig photography with manual settings!
The ABC Club – Get Set Go
01 year ago
in MP3s
There must be something in the water up in Leeds as the city seems to keep churning out excellent band after excellent band. The ABC Club are the latest of these bands, and there is something special here. Riding on a kind of nostalgia for the early part of the last decade, we have a sound that is closer to The Strokes than anything, and that’s just fine. There’s nothing groundbreakingly new, but that will probably do them well. This is the kind of thing I can certainly see being “the next big thing” assuming everything goes right for them. Myspace.
New videos from Allo Darlin’ and The School
01 year ago
in Videos
It seems fitting that new videos from both Allo Darlin’ and The School should appear on the same day. Both have been indiepop darlings of the recent past, both have new albums coming out around the same time, and both bands have been touring around the UK together. Their final dates together are in the next few days, including a special Bush Hall show this Saturday that I’m looking forward to immensely.
First up is the video for Allo Darlin’s single Dreaming, which will be out on Monday. The song features the guest vocals of Monster Bobby that gives this a rather Heavenly-ish vibe, which is no bad thing. The video was shot during London Popfest last month and is just lovely. Wandering around London late at night has never looked so enjoyable. Myspace.
The School’s video is rather more produced, but no less good. The whole thing has a very 60s feel to it, but that’s always been the appeal of The School in the first place. The band’s debut album Loveless Unbeliever will be released on May 31, but they will be selling copies at any shows between now and then. Super. Myspace.
A B & the Sea – Yellow Haired Girl
01 year ago
in MP3s
The story behind A B & the Sea is almost a bit too much. Friends jumping in a van and moving from small-town Wisconsin and heading out to California to “make it”. Blah blah blah. I’d probably find it all rather silly if I didn’t rather like the songs that came out of it. California has obviously had an effect on the band given their music comes across as something akin to The Beach Boys crossed with Fountains of Wayne. Yes, I know the latter are actually from New York, but they always seemed to have that sunny west coast sound to them. Still, this is all quite enjoyable. It’s not going to become anyone’s new favourite record, but as cheerful pop music goes, you could do much worse than this. Myspace.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart to headline Indietracks!
01 year ago
in Indietracks, MP3s
Well it was never going to be anyone else, was it? If you’ve been following any of the vigorous debate over on Anorak about possible headliners and exactly what makes an “Indietracks band”, one name kept coming up again and again: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
Since the release of their first full-length album on a year ago the band have been absolutely everywhere. Critical acclaim has poured in from just about every music publication in the world. Even Pitchfork felt it appropriate to award it a “Best New Music” badge, which was the only time they did so in 2009 for a record that wasn’t turgid nonsense. The band have gone on to play sell-out gigs all over the place, including a bunch of festivals, but I believe this will be their first headlining of one.
It’s the perfect place though. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart manage to successfully bridge the gap between the C86 generation of indiepop and the bands of the present. This is jangly, starry pop that’s going to sound lovely on a summer’s night surrounded by steam trains.
MP3 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Higher Than The Stars
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About Indietracks 2010
Indietracks takes place between 23-25 July at the Midland Railway Centre in Derbyshire. The site is a working steam railway with festival attendees allowed on as many train rides as they can handle. Some performances are even held in carriages. Tickets cost £55 for the weekend until May 7 (£60 after that) and can be purchased here. Previously announced bands include Ballboy, Shrag, Allo Darlin’, Standard Fare and White Town.
Spaghetti Anywhere – Girlfriends with Boyfriends
01 year ago
in MP3s
Well this is just lovely. What is it about a gentle Scottish voice having the ability to make any song instantly better? Only recently I realised that a disproportionate amount of my favourite bands tend to have Scottish vocalists. Could be coincidence I suppose, but there’s something reassuring about a Scottish voice even when the words are utterly depressing. Spaghetti Anywhere aren’t really that bleak. Sure, there’s negativity, but it’s done in such a wry way (“Why do I always go for girls with boyfriends? / Why can’t I just try and sleep with her friend?”) that it ends up bringing a smile to the face regardless. Myspace.
Decadence in Berlin – Man-Moth
31 year ago
in MP3s
Holy shit. This is either irritating as hell or absolutely brilliant. It’s loud, aggressive and incredibly shouty. The repeated cries of “man-moth” (god knows) is pushing it a bit, but there’s something in the majority of it that recalls something along the lines of The Young Knives before they went all dull. Whether or not that’s a good thing is obviously down to your own taste, but as someone who enjoyed that bands early stuff quite a bit, this is a nice little throwback. Far from perfect, but there’s certainly enough here that I’d be curious to hear some more. Myspace.
New Light Footwork album – National Historic Landmarks
01 year ago
in MP3s
It’s no secret that The Light Footwork were one of the bands that caused me to start this blog in the first place. I discovered them back in 2005 when their debut One State Two State came out, and spent a lot of time bemoaning why bands like them weren’t more recognised. There was a list of about ten or so bands at the time that I wanted to push onto people. I’ve largely forgotten about or drifted away from most of them at this point, but I’ve continued to enjoy One State Two State in the time since it came out.
I was actually starting to give up hope of ever hearing any new material from the band. Everything seemed to be quiet, and short of a split EP with Tereu Tereu back in 2007, no new songs appeared at all. You can imagine my surprise when I received an email a few weeks ago telling me a new album was about to be released. One quick order later and the album was with me, and it turned out to be exactly what I had hoped.
The original album drew on the sound of the 90s US indie scene, and while this one retains that, it sounds a little more contemporary. The album is littered with little flourishes like sudden time changes and a sparseness that would feel at home on most of Pitchfork’s loved albums of the year. The melodies and clever lyrics that made the first album so enjoyable are all still here, but it’s all rather more diverse. As an album, it’s not quite as immediate as it’s predecessor, but the depth inside more than makes up for that.
MP3 The Light Footwork – Carlsbad Irrigation Project
National Historic Landmarks is out now and can be purchased directly from the band.
