From Sweden With Love #3 - The Bridal Shop

After their superb singles and their mini LP "From Seas", the lush Swedish band The Bridal Shop continue their voyage through sound between classic indiepop jangle and the dance electronic pop of New Order and The Embassy with "In Fragments". Pre-recorded drum beats and delicate male/female vocals - dreamy, beautiful and airy. For fans of: New Order, Field Mice, The Radio Dept., Blueboy, etc.

Fused and Telepomusik

Fused are Swedish while Telepopmusik are French. The former released an infectious single in 2001 called Saving Mary while the latter released Breathe in 2002. Here are the music videos.

The Heart Strings "Try Fly Blue Sky" Album Review

By Jenni Cole

The world could do far worse than have more music by The Heart Strings in it. Co-produced by Julian Simmonds, who you'll know from his work with Guillemots and Midlake, Try Fly Blue Sky is the same kind of summery, happy, gentle pop that might have escaped from a Bella Union sampler when no-one was looking. With a lyrical quirkiness that sits somewhere between Jim Noir and The Decemberists, filled with melodies driven more by piano than guitar, The Heart Strings are feelgood music for days when you're too busy smiling to worry about being cool. Recalling great purveyors of unashamedly shiny pop from Guillemots to Captain to The Feeling, Try Fly Blue Sky could be Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band without the drugs. In a good way, you understand. The lovely Pedal, for instance, sidles along with the type of rythmns you might employ on a pedalo headed to the centre of a clear blue lake. Brothers Todd (vocals, guitar, keyboards, co-producing) and Max (drums, piano) Roache do look like stationery salesmen, but that's a minor gripe when they serenade you so beautifully. While most of TFBY isn't overtly intended to be full of love songs, the gentleness and tenderness of the tunes ends up fulfilling that function admirably. Titles such as Nina And Her Very Long Hair, He Wanted To Fly And He Flew, or Cannonball Stan carry their sweetness on their sleeve, twinkling in from a land of pop fairytales even when they are presented by men in sta-press slacks. There's a simplicity to the music that belies the complexity of the brothers' honey-drenched piano chords and classical arrangements, a little cheekiness that suggests they know more than you think they do; that they're not quite as innocent as they're letting on. Caught between bigger boys of rock, you could let them slip by if sun-drenched moments such as the sublime The New Golden Days didn't hook you and reel you in so completely. There's a nu-gaze haze over their Supertramp foundations that can't be ignored. The only downside is that the summer might not be as good as you need it to be to get the most out of this album. Lazy, hazy summer afternoons on the sunlounger, with a pitcher of homemade lemonade and ice-cubes would be the perfect accompaniment to Try Fly Blue Sky. Until the right weather arrives, close your eyes and imagine, instead.

Source : http://www.musicomh.com/albums/heart-strings_0608.htm

The School To Release Debut Album In February

An adorable band that combines a charming indie pop spirit with the production tricks they learned after compulsive listens to the records by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, fronted by Liz from The Loves. After only four gigs they have already signed to Spanish indie label Elefant and in September 2007 they recorded their first single, All I Wanna Do, produced by Ian Catt (Saint Etienne, Trembling Blue Stars). Debut single All I Wanna Do/Valentine was released on the 14th April 2008 on Elefant Records. The Let It Slip EP was released on the 16th July 2008 by the same label. And Suddenly (Left Banke cover) appeared as a split single with George Washington Brown as a special one-off release on Slumberland Records as part of their Searching for the Now series.

Debut album Loveless Unbeliever will be released on 15th February 2010 (Elefant Records), produced by Ian Catt of Saint Etienne.

Here are two music videos of their previous singles - All I Wanna Do and Let It Slip.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart "Higher Than The Stars EP" Review

By Jamie Harper

Apart from having a brilliant band name, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are quickly becoming one of the most talked about new bands of 2009. The ethereal and saccharine-thick indie-pop of their self-titled debut album back in February of this year met with a wall of widespread critical acclaim that was echoed and amplified by a rapidly expanding fanbase. This short EP is an affirmation of their talents, and unveils a band in a vein of fruitful form. It begins with the title track as celestial synths race along a hypnotic rhythm section. The dreamy, effortless vocal from Kip Berman only adds to the sensation that, for all the world, this band sound like they should be from Scandinavia rather than Brooklyn. 103 is packed heavy with walls of lo-fi The Jesus And Mary Chain guitar noise, but is underpinned by an ever-present sense of melody and engaging pop nous. Falling Over, meanwhile, is as '80s as a backcombed leopard-print mullet with a Rubix cube nestled in it, and would throw Black Kids into a I'm-waggling-my-hips-but-I'm-actually-quite-jealous kind of a dance move. Such charming musical backdrops mask the seedy lyrics of Kip Berman who seems to have an unquenchable urge to spill vitriol on sex and relationships. The Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank remix of the title-track, meanwhile, does little to stoke superlatives and coaxes castigation for its title alone. But while the title-track is an undeniable master-piece, the rest just sounds a bit tired. The Pains are unquestionably good at what they do. It's just that the dreamy Scandopop thing is rife, and this band don't really bring anything new to the table. Which probably comes from Ikea.

http://www.musicomh.com/albums/pains-of-being-pure-at-heart-2_1009.htm

Charlotte Hatherley "New Worlds" Album Review

By Mike Diver

A breezy, uplifting listen from start to finish, New Worlds is Charlotte Hatherley’s most accomplished album yet, a record that should see her step out as a solo artist like never before. Her third collection – and second since parting company with Irish pop-rockers Ash – is bursting with brisling new-wave bluster, powerful sing-along friendly choruses and an apparently effortless conjuring of prickly electricity. Each song surges and swells, with many strong contenders for standalone single release. The record’s lead track, White, is a fine first choice though – it sets a neat tone for what follows, Hatherley’s confident vocals sparring with a chunky bassline for attention supremacy. Straight Lines’ chiming guitar is an echo of Dischord catalogue acts like Bluetip and Faraquet, though Hatherley’s accessible lyricism keeps proceedings comparatively lightweight. Indeed, there are several moments when she seems to pay homage to underground inspirations, rather than solely pursue a pop-savvy direction. Full Circle is a dizzying delight of staccato vocals and oddball keyboard motifs, and Firebird is a completely unexpected diversion into peculiar big top atmospherics supporting a hushed proclamation that a relationship will stand up tall to any trials or tribulations. If New Worlds has a flaw, it’s that – for all of its temporarily engaging invention – it doesn’t linger too long in the memory. A handful of numbers aside, including White and the Foo Fighters-like charmer Colours, with its quirky vocal tics, the songs slide from thoughts soon after they’ve been silenced. This is perhaps down to the album’s twitchy skittering from one approach to the next – while the tone is always upbeat, the execution varies considerably – and it may have been improved by an alternative sequencing. That said, be they on CD or downloaded, the listener can choose their own ordering of these tracks if they wish – there seems to be no narrative driving the piece as a whole, so shuffle to your heart’s delight. And it’s sure to be impressed, however briefly, as while its effects last New Worlds is a quaint, quietly enchanting listen.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/zpm5

Gus Gus "24/7 " Album Review

By Ben Hogwood

Gus Gus have had more record labels than most people have had hot dinners, but throughout they've proved their worth with music of vitality and originality. The move to Kompakt coincides with another change in approach. Initially the tracklisting looks sparse, with only six new compositions, but each is a substantial piece of work that somehow fits in with the Kompakt approach. Lean, mean and keen - those are the soundbites fans can take away with them. There is more techno at the root of the band's sound on this occasion, but the soul still remains. The opening track splits neatly into two parts, an atmospheric opener that proclaims "I feel like dancing", before picking up the beat as if to order, its sleek production prowling forward like a black panther. There are reminders of the fine album from DJ Hell in the darkly turning Hateful, where the barbed lyrics and minimally voiced beats give a stark, night time city picture. There are more comforting, space age beats that work really well in the loping On The Job, an effective track stretched out to the limits of its capability. As in the other five, the band take their time to really set the mood, the beats and pads carefully voiced and co-ordinated. Meanwhile Jimi Tenor goes for some Bowie-on-a-hangover vocals on Take Me Baby, with the striking lyrics that sum up the album, "love me on the way to the dark side". This develops into the strange buzzing of Bremen Cowboy, which doesn't quite pale into insignificance but doesn't have as much substance. In dance music few can sustain interest over the best part of 10 minutes, but Gus Gus pull that trick out of the hat every time with some really epic productions. In 24/7 they've just made one of their best albums of an increasingly impressive and formidable career.

Source : http://www.musicomh.com/albums/gus-gus-3_1109.htm

Here's the music video of the first single from the 24/7 album - "Add This Song". Also enjoy the music video of "Polyesterday" taken from their 4AD album "Polydistortion".

Guilty Pleasures!

South Korea is currently the breeding ground of Idol groups, which are one of their biggest exports since Kimchi and Kia. Every month, South Korean record labels launch the newest pop idol groups that's already crowding their own music market, but their Asian neighbors like Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, China and Japan can't seem to get enough. Here are four K-Pop girl groups and their singles, which I have to admit, are quite infectious and bouncy. They're not exactly Lady Gaga or Saint Etienne, but who cares, right? Enjoy!

Discovery "LP" Album Review

By Lou Thomas

On LP ( a great name for an album) Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles have teamed up to produce a predictably urbane but unexpectedly electro record. It may not be the most anticipated album of the year, but this New York state indie collaboration is surely the coolest. Too often side projects wilt pitifully under the glare of fan pressure but this project has a head start on two prescient counts. Most poignantly, there is a fantastic cover of The Jackson 5's I Want You Back, recorded way before their most famous member died. This version has an industrial electro throb reminiscent of Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak album and featherlight synth flourishes to accompany Miles' take on the familiar vocal. Use of Auto-Tune is also a hot topic and one that Discovery tackle head-on across the album. Jay-Z may have removed all trace of the audio processor from his forthcoming The Blueprint 3 and recorded a track entitled DOA (Death Of Auto-Tune) but these fellow NYC residents certainly haven't. Can You Discover? a slowed-down reversion of Ra Ra Riots Can You Tell?, combines the familiar vocal effect with a minimal beat with jaunty, pulsing synths. It's the soundtrack to Akon and Lil Wayne pretending to be pirates at the yacht club. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend is even odder. Dirty Projectors' singer Angel Deradoorian and Miles croon like Nelly Furtado and a simpering lovelorn fool over Timbaland beats and Aphex Twin avant P-funk noise. Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig turns up for his own bout of Auto-Tune and distressed drum machine fun on Carby, a track which best sums up the album. It's fun, odd, full of great melodies, slightly euphoric, brilliantly, if strangely, produced and as pleasingly different as Steve Mason of The Beta Band's Black Affair project from 2008. Both albums were the work of talented men keen to show they could unleash engaging electro on their fans, but where Mason made a eerie stomp into the dark, Discover delight with iridescent summer cheer.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wrvr

Past Gems : Fragile State "The Facts And The Dreams"

Fragile State are Neil Cowley (Zero 7) and Ben Mynott (Blues and Soul). 2002 sees the highly-anticipated release of The Facts And The Dreams, a wonderful fusion of downtempo grooves, sweeping orchestral bliss, deep soul and jazz. The result is a totally unique sounding album that will appeal to everyone. 'Modern day John Barry with subtle touches of soul and jazz' best describes the Fragile State listening experience - one that is already causing major stirs in the industry.

Hatcham Social "You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil" Album Review

By Sid Smith

The London-based band have been around for a couple of years building up the buzz via a strong gig-ethic and intermittent single releases. Hyper-energetic throughout, Hatcham Social have that life-and-death passion of a life lived in three minutes flat. All the agonies, ecstasies, heartbreaks and come-ons fly by as quick as you like, rolling and tumbling like there's no tomorrow. Their wittily titled debut album is produced by Tim Burgess of The Charlatans and as you'd expect, it shares something of their bullish swagger. A dash of Orange Juice adds to the 80s flavour and there's also something of the early punching-above-their-weight U2 haunting the grooves here and there. The careering chords of Murder In The Dark and Hypnotise Terrible Eyes collide into each other with a scratchy urgency. Taken together, they provide a powerfully dense centrepiece that shows off Toby Kidd's jangling rattle-bag of guitar and brother Finn's thumping the tubs with an almost malevolent force. Whilst this kind of straight-forward thump might lack a degree of musical subtlety, such worries disappear in the face of a self-explanatory, rollercoaster-track like I Cannot Cure My Pure Evil. Truly 2 minutes and 52 seconds of indie-pop magic with all its glorious shortcomings. In fact the only time things go awry throughout the entire album is on a lumbering rummage that co-opts Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky as its spoken-word lyric against an otherwise simmering backing track, suggesting that even the young 'uns occasionally run out of steam.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/q6bd

Sky Larkin "The Golden Spike" Album Review

By Sophie Bruce

Leeds has a chequered musical history – for every Kaiser Chiefs and Corinne Bailey Rae there are hundreds of frustrated failures. The Golden Spike may sound more like a Phillip Pullman novel than a hit album, but something just feels right about Leeds band Sky Larkin's debut from start to finish. There’s a familiar, comforting vibe to their music right from the word go on album opener Fossil, I. The exact magic's difficult to pinpoint – maybe it's the perfect mix of indie-pop, or lead singer Katie Harkin's vocal style? She is a mish-mash of The Ting Tings' Katie, Republica's Saffron, Kay from Letters To Cleo, Evanescence's Amy, Paramore’s Hayley – in a nutshell, some of the leading female vocalists from the last ten years of the genre. And that's without the strong hints of Bjork. There's no slouching from the two males in this trio though – with varied and vibrant backing that's drum heavy on some tracks, and bursting with guitar riffs on others. And Sky Larkin appreciate the value of leaving us wanting more – Fossil, I clocks in at a gnat's sneeze over 2 minutes. Pica's catchy lyrics (''I'm eating all his coal because I'm trying to make a diamond'') will have you humming along even if they’re too fast for you to match. One Of Two is just a great song, plain and simple. Who knows what inspired Matador's bizarre words, but the awesome melody means you don't need to care. The band are certainly kicking off this year as they mean to go on – unleashing a brilliant debut produced by the man who steered Death Cab For Cutie to success and bagging a headline slot on Radio 1 star Huw Stephens' Introducing tour. Looks like 2009's gonna be golden for Sky Larkin.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/b2xm

Who on earth are this mysterious electro duo Monarchy?

One of the biggest mysteries of the moment – apart, of course, from why New Band of the Day only got runner-up last night at the Record of the Day awards – is: who are Monarchy? They're a duo from London whose two songs thus far (Gold in the Fire and Black, the Colour of My Heart) are a little bit synth-pop, a little bit electro-funk, a little bit French disco, and a little bit Yacht Rock – some wag has suggested they'd sound great at a club played inbetween Daft Punk and Scissor Sisters, and that's not a bad call. There have been a few of these wannabe slick, sleek 80s-fetishising types of late, creating soundtracks for imaginary remakes of Miami Vice, and Monarchy already deserve to take their place alongside the best of them – Tigercity, Private et al.

But the question remains: who are Monarchy?! They will apparently be formally announcing themselves to the world in January 2010 but until then they have chosen to remain anonymous and keep their identities a closely guarded secret, which has caused some speculation among bloggers who have suggested it might be Starsmith or Paul Epworth or a couple of members of Hot Chip under a pseudonym. But Starsmith is already busy producing Ellie Goulding, Epworth's got his own album to do, and Hot Chip will have their fourth album, One Life Stand, to promote in February. Meanwhile, the pair are giving nothing away: their MySpace contains precious little in the way of information, and their only interview to date comprised a series of pithy epigrams such as "We swim with currents and stand like rocks". Cheers for that. In fact, all we really know about them is that they will be releasing their debut single on Neon Gold, one-time home of Passion Pit and Ellie Goulding, and that they have done remixes for Penguin Prison and Fyfe Dangerfield, the founder member of the Guillemots.

Their own tracks are fine: Gold in the Fire starts out like a typical electro jam with spacey synth bloops and starry twinkles and some lovely 10cc-circa-I'm Not in Love aahs before the singing starts, low at first but rising to a falsetto as the music builds to a cosmic disco peak. We can't decide whether the lyrics - "crimson drops upon the ground" and "while the angels gently weep", to cite two purple examples – are poetic marvels or plain terrible, but at least they're trying. Black, the Colour of My Heart is slower and reminds us of recent moody NBOTD alumni – and 2010 hopefuls – Hurts. If anything, their remixes are even better. We have no idea what the original version of Dangerfield's Need the Money was like, but Monarchy have turned it into a near-classic of the retro-80s genus, all swelling strings and a euphoric chorus worthy of ELO or David Essex. If they can harness some of that cheesy energy and apply it to their own music, with overloaded tunes and OTT productions, they could indeed do a Scissor Sisters. Fred Falke and Stuart Price, is that you?

Source : The Guardian

Annie "Don't Stop" Album Review

By Ian Wade

Once upon a time, around the start of this century, there was a young Norwegian lady named Annie who came to a few people’s attention when she released the Madonna-sampling single The Greatest Hit. It was deemed slightly genius and Annie was duly crowned as one of the stars of what was eventually-named-as the ‘noughties’. Then things went a bit quiet – until 2005, that is, when her first album proper Anniemal was released, bugled by the extremely magnificent lead-off single Chewing Gum. After bothering the lower reaches of the charts, Annie then signed up with Island to become an actual proper pop star. But alas this was not to be, due to the label dropping her before she released her second album in October 2008. Finally, that album emerges, with a few changes in the tracklisting. During the interim, however, women playing keyboards and being a bit pop have spread across the charts, and now Annie is in the unfortunate position of being regarded as an afterthought, rather than a righteous torch bearer. Standout track My Love Is Better is a Xenomania belter, with guest guitar action from Alex Kapranos. An earlier version featured Girls Aloud on backing vocals, but was halted by the band’s management, possibly in fear of it eclipsing their own abilities. Songs Remind Me of You is another monster, a blinding snort-up of amyl disco strobe-fest proportions, which throws in a bit of Mel & Kim just in case it wasn’t quite rapturous enough. The dramatic Saint Etienne-ness of Marie Cherie allows for breath to be caught up with; I Don’t Like Your Band is a honest summation for anyone in love with a musician; and The Breakfast Song is just plain bonkers. With assorted production credits for Paul Epworth, Richard X and Xenomania, a more ‘of its time’ record would be hard to find, but no matter: Don’t Stop is 12 slices of sublime pop genius, and one ranks right up there with the best contemporary female pop. Here’s hoping more than a dozen people buy the thing.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/p84z

Hot Chip's Joe Goddard "Harvest Festival" Album Review

By Chris Power Hot Chip’s resident spectacular spectacle-wearer Alexis Taylor was the first band-member to break cover with a solo album, his charmingly ramshackle Rubbed Out appearing on the obscure Treader label in late-2008. As befits impressions of Joe Goddard as the band’s beat scientist to Taylor’s lyricist and crafter of songs, his own solo debut is a collection of tracks less fussed about cohering with one another than they are keen to keep feet moving and good times flowing. It’s ironic, then, that Harvest Festival only takes flight when it quits the dancefloor to have a cry in the toilets. Harvest Festival is the first album release by Greco-Roman, the label that’s grown out of Goddard’s raucous warehouse parties of the same name. But while it’s possible to imagine some of these tracks satisfying when fleetingly woven into a DJ set, they largely fail to match utility with depth. While the engorged basslines of Tinned Apricot and Strawberry Jam or the fidgety, Detroit-influenced shuffle of Pear Shaped (all the track titles are fruit-flavoured) will pick you up and shake you if you’re within 20 feet of a bass-bin, they’re simplistic electrohouse constructions that don’t go far on their own merits. At times, such as during the breakdown towards the end of Strawberry Jam, melodic reminders of Hot Chip can be discerned in their midst, but the comparisons never slant in Harvest Festival’s favour. The album picks up when it turns down more idiosyncratic pathways. Half Time Oranges is a moving synth miniature, while Tropical Punch frames stuttering clave-like tones and a hazily distorted bassline with a gentle, wiry breakbeat. These forays away from the decks, touching on the work of Warp alumni from Aphex Twin to Clark, are only bettered by the shimmering power ballad Lemon and Lime (Home Time). Streaks of wispy synth pads hang weightless above a warm bass core that cushions Goddard’s soft, vulnerable delivery. The lyric is soaked in the same maudlin nostalgia that informs Hot Chip’s I Was a Boy From School. These deviations from the dance don’t quite make Harvest Festival the success it might have been, but they salvage it from inconsequentiality. It’s interesting to consider, especially with a new Hot Chip album on the way in February 2010, that in the case of Goddard, Taylor and the rest of the band, melancholy appears to be their most effective mode.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/wfwx

Lightning Seeds "Four Winds" Album Review

By Michael Hann

The return of the Lightning Seeds makes one realise how much Ian Broudie's incredible sense of melody has been missed. This time, though, he's moved away from the big pop songs that characterised his 90s output: there is no equivalent here of The Life of Riley. Four Winds is a subdued, melancholy record, reflecting on mortality and ageing (Broudie's brother killed himself three years ago, and the singer is now past 50), with Broudie's meditations set to lilting, gentle psychedelic pop. Even when the guitars are turned up, and the drums start stomping, the mood remains downbeat - the single Ghosts opens: "In this room/ There's no pictures on my wall/ The music plays/ I can't hear it anymore," nodding to Broudie's past as producer of Echo and the Bunnymen, but hardly the kind of elated sentiment calculated to inspire singalongs. This is gorgeous stuff though, straddling the divide between sombre and beautiful with an easy grace.

Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/may/15/lightning-seeds-four-winds

A Place to Bury Strangers "Exploding Head" Album Review

By Ian Wade

A Place to Bury Strangers are a New York-based three-piece who slayed areas of the blogosphere with their eponymous 2007 debut. Apparently named the city’s loudest band, it’s hard to conjure up anyone who even comes close. The noise conjured up by Oliver Ackermann, Jonathan ‘Jono MOFO’ Smith and Jay Space has seen them tour with likeminded types such as Nine Inch Nails, MGMT, Holy Fuck, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and key influence, The Jesus & Mary Chain. Exploding Head is one hell of a ride, carved from the finest aspects of shoegazing, psychedelia and noise. It was recorded at the band’s own Death By Audio space; Ackermann also has a sideline in customising guitar pedals by the same name, with the likes of TV on the Radio, U2 and My Bloody Valentine as customers. But APTBS have clearly kept the most effective pedals for themselves, creating all kinds of merry hell. Whereas the first album had the casual observer pin the band down as a hybrid of Joy Division, Mary Chain and Sisters of Mercy, Exploding Head takes that blueprint and shoots its knee caps off. Throwing in Big Black, Dinosaur Jr and The Valentines to expand their palette, the inter-dimensional feedback of tracks such as Lost Feeling and single In Your Heart force you to keep your own head from being clean ripped off, while the shredding and vertiginous Ego Death makes you think other guitarists just aren’t bothered to find the sounds that APTBS simply toss out. Take, for example, the pure cluster bomb of glass shards that is Everything Always Goes Wrong, wherein melody is submerged sufficiently to spot a touch of pop. By the time you reach the final track, I Lived My Life to Stand in the Shadow of Your Heart, the pure carnage may just have burned you out. Exploding Head is a rabid wolf of an album, one to make you stock up on the drugs, slip into your leathers and ride off into a pulsing, screeing, strobe-lit Armageddon, and puts APTBS up there with the likes of F*** Buttons as purveyors of truly beautiful noise. It will, literally, blow your mind.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/zrhj

Julian Casablancas "Phrazes For The Young" Album Review

By Dan Cairns

Of all the aspects of the Strokes that the brilliance of their 2001 debut, Is This It, allowed us to overlook, two in particular would come back to bite the New Yorkers and cause retrospective cringing on the part of their fans. The band’s highlighting of just how blurred the line between a cool leather jacket and a sharply drawn song always was exercised all but their most slavish and fashion-vacuous disciples. And, in Julian Casablancas, they possessed a front man who seemed determined to conform to every stereotype about bratty children of privilege. The more the band’s later work sank into rehash and self-parody, the ruder and more contemptuous their main man’s interviews became. As this lovely album reminds you, the Strokes were only ever as good as (and bearable because of) the songs. Phrazes finds a newly sober and apparently chastened Casablancas fizzing with the things, chucking out a succession of insouciant gems as if his muse had never been away. With his wonderfully lugubrious vocals and delicious, born-tunesmith melodies to the fore, songs such as Out of the Blue and 11th Dimension teem with analogue/electro sunlight and shade, while Ludlow Street laments a lost New York with a stuttering country waltz. As an advert for further Strokes albums, Phrazes is scarcely enticing; as a showcase for their singer’s innate, almost casual gift for pop songwriting, this album is a stunner. More, please.

Source : http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article6893686.ece

The Clash, New Order, David Bowie and Blur Get the Royal Stamp Treatment

Ever wish you could get postage stamps of your favourite album covers? Well, if said album covers include the Clash's London Calling, New Order's Power, Corruption & Lies, Blur's Parklife, or even Led Zeppelin's IV — oh, and you live in the UK — you will be in luck next year. As of January 7, a new series of classic UK album cover postage stamps will be issued by UK Royal Mail, according to stamp collector site Norvic Philatelics [via NME]. According to the stamp site, the postal company had help from UK music magazine editors, writers and graphic designers to narrow the choices down to a shortlist of candidates. Then the expert team selected the ten UK album covers to make into stamps. Besides the aforementioned albums, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head, the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, Primal Scream's Screamadelica, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells will also get the royal stamp treatment. Is it just us, or is there something inherently cool about licking a Pink Floyd or Zeppelin stamp and sticking it on a letter to your grandma? Now, if we could only convince U.S. Post to issue a New York noise rock or Bay Area thrash metal stamp series. Or how about Canada Post doing Nova Scotia garage rock series? Or a series of stamps devoted entirely to Nomeansno? Man, the options are endless…

Source : http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=137&csid2=844&fid1=41909

Yello release their new album “Touch Yello”

Don`t tell me when you think of Switzerland only cheese, chocolate and mountains come to your mind. There are also great musicians coming from this country. One example is the band Yello alias Dieter Meier (lyrics, vocals) and Boris Blank (composer). For 30 years they release great electronic music and so is the new album “Touch Yello”, which comes out on October, 2nd. On the new album you'll find 14 great tracks, still Yello like but also very relaxing stuff. Swiss singer Heidi Happy did some great vocals and trumpet player Till Brönner also did a great job on the album. Yello and their guest stars will be in Berlin on October 1st for a special visual presentation of the new album at the Electronic Beats Classics. Check the great trailer for it here and video of their 1983 hit "I Love You".

Touch Yello Track list :

1. The Expert
2. You Better Hide
3. Out of Dawn
4. Bostich (Reflected)
5. Till Tomorrow
6. Tangier Blue
7. Part Love
8. Friday Smile
9. Kiss in Blue
10. Vertical Vision
11. Trackless Deep
12. Stay
13. Electric Frame
14. Takla Makan

http://pressepeter.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/yello-release-their-new-album-touch-yello-this-week

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Release New Album "The History Of Modern" in 2010

In late December, 2005, OMD's official website announced a 2006 reformation, for both live performances and a new album, with rehearsals beginning in summer, 2006. The tour began in 2007, featuring the classic line up of McCluskey, Humphreys, Holmes and Cooper. Spring, 2008 saw a further tour announced for October of that year. OMD recently announced a new studio album called The History of Modern, which will be released some time in 2010.

Here's an audio clip of of a demo track "Sister Marie Says". The song has a classic OMD sound and shows the hooks and choral samples that have established the band as one of the UK's premier acts. Also enjoy the music video some of their past hits

Armoured Bear "Honeycomb Moons" Album Review

By Lauren Murphy

With his debut single Imagination, Cork's Armoured Bear paved the way for greatness earlier this year. A handful of sweet, beautifully composed indie-pop songs, it was undoubtedly thoroughly impressive - but perhaps lacked the killer punch that would have elevated it to 'breathtaking' level. Not so for Honeycomb Moons; young songwriter Anthony Noonan (who operates under the Armoured Bear moniker) has created a soothing, good-natured and irresistibly charming debut album. The most likeable thing about Honeycomb Moons is that it's immediately absorbing; from the opening track Fall - a balmy acoustic number that positively glows with warmth - right through the cheery, easygoing pop of Imagination and the Gomez-like scuffle of the brilliant Devil & Me, this is a record that wraps you up in cotton wool from the get-go, and refuses to unravel under the last swoonsome note is cast. As a songwriter, Noonan has it all: he can combine sombre, reflective tracks with lilting, lighthearted fare (like the elements of reggae on 9 Lives Or Tomorrow) and even takes a brave stab at a spoken word overture (the lyrically astute and powerful Boy) with ease and subtlety. The outstanding production helps, too; a consistent vibrance coats Honeycomb Moons, yet it doesn't limit Noonan's range in the slightest. Simply put, a gorgeous little album.

Source : http://entertainment.ie/album-review/album/5962.htm

Felix Da Housecat "He Was King" Album Review

By Alex Henderson

Felix da Housecat has made no secret of his admiration for Prince, and one thing Felix has in common with his idol is a chameleonic spirit. Felix, like Prince, has not been afraid to try different things on different albums; he started out with house music but went on to embrace everything from electroclash to techno. And He Was King, it turns out, is largely a Euro-dance album. Felix recorded this 2009 release in Antwerp, Belgium, which is a good place to record if you are going for a very European sound -- and that European influence is impossible to miss on infectious synth pop grooves like "Spank U Very Much," "Plastik Fantastik," "Do We Move Your World," and "Turn Me on a Summer Smile" (all of which Felix produced or co-produced). Felix has been quoted as saying that he wanted He Was King to be a "fun" album; the abovementioned songs do, in fact, have a strong sense of fun, as does the humorous opener "We All Wanna Be Prince" (which combines an obvious Prince influence with Euro-pop elements). Occasionally, He Was King detours into hardcore rave territory. "L.A. Ravers" and "Elvi$" are pure techno, and neither of them go out of their way to appeal to those who aren't seasoned fans of rave music. But the rave-friendly parts of He Was King are not typical of this 46-minute CD on the whole. For the most part, He Was King emphasizes pop accessibility -- and it often does so with catchy, likable results.

Source : http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9foxzqald0e

Gossip "Music For Men" Album Review

By Lou Thomas

Gossip's latest album is set to reinforce the band's reputation as a fierce rock 'n' roll trio and improve Beth Ditto’s already respected standing as a killer frontwoman. More importantly for the band, Music For Men will finally persuade critics that they're capable of more than one terrific single. Brilliant gay rights anthem Standing In The Way Of Control has left a long shadow, but with legendarily reductive producer Rick Rubin at the helm the killer tunes occur far more frequently on this fourth album than they have before. After a killer mood-setting start with Dimestore Diamond's sleazy bass wobble and Beth's petulantly seductive croon, this record is a defiant, solidly entertaining work. Ditto is a proud, smartly mischievous personality and in a fair world these songs, which seem a clear extension of her character, would make Gossip far more feted. Particular stand-outs on MFM include moments such as when a sharp, staccato Queens Of The Stone Age sharp, staccato riff is channelled effectively by guitarist Bruce Paine for the scathing 8th Wonder and the incongruous Love Long Distance. The latter tempers St Etienne/Pet Shop Boys piano riffage with a disco beat and synths, while Ditto has never sounded cooler than when she semi-quotes Marvin Gaye with the knowing line, ''I heard it through the bassline that much longer would you be my baby''. On this evidence Gossip could easily make an album of old-skool house anthems. Men In Love is another hit-in-waiting built more for the dancefloor than the moshpit which shows the band's glitterball tendencies are sincere. Hannah Billie supplies a terrific beat while Paine's riffs comprise a few simple notes. It's not complex but the supple groove is massively satisfying. In lesser production hands Music For Men could have left the band sounding like New Young Pony Club copyists. But Rubin has helped guide Ditto and Co to territory where the dance elements of the album never sound shoehorned in, while retaining their punk bite.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/dc8c

Simian Mobile Disco "Temporary Pleasure" Album Review

By Ian Wade Simian

Mobile Disco is the work of two men: Jas Shaw James Ford. In 2005 they jettisoned away from the wreckage of the vastly underrated electro-pop four-piece Simian to become rave-up merchants of no little acclaim, and two years later released debut album Attack Decay Sustain Release. The pair are among the most in-demand producers, DJs and remixers operating in the UK today. So it’s no real surprise that this album is large, a towering monolith of wonky disco-textured dimensions and pure unadulterated indulgence, spitting out chunks of acidic boogie like diamond mirrorball shards. Unlike its predecessor, though, Temporary Pleasure features an array of high-profile guest vocalists, each adding a new dimension to the duo’s sound. Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys appears on luscious opener Cream Dream; Gossip's Beth Ditto bursts a lung or two on Cruel Intentions; Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor lends his talents to the condensed carnival of Bad Blood; and Chris Keating from prog-rock oddballs Yeasayer provides vocals on baffling recent single Audacity of Huge. Also along for the ride are Telepathe, Jamie Lidell and Young Fathers, and each plays a part in the house party album of the season. Because Temporary Pleasure is that, and more besides: an intense blast of shape-throwing marvellousness that rivals The Chemical Brothers at their superstar peak. You probably wouldn't want to hear it on repeat for 24 hours or anything, but for its 40-minute run time, SMD hog your attention in ways you'll find almost indecent (but in a good way, naturally). Experienced in the correct context, this is really quite stunning.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/8554

The XX "XX" Album Review

By Thom Gibbs

Striving for mood is futile. If your intentions are in any way transparent, you’re going to fail. Contrive downbeat miserablism in your music and it’ll come off as studied, inauthentic, indulgent. Aim for the stars with the word ‘epic’ in the back of your mind and you’ve made the last Maccabees album. Lots of artists that shoot for ‘atmospheric’ end up with overwrought pretension, style over substance. What The XX have feels chanced upon, and precious. There’s a singular bleakness to their debut album, which sounds like it’s been made by moonlight by a grim team of introverts, half-drunk and lonely. Listening to it with the level of attention it demands gives you a sickly jealous feeling at the intimacy, like reading other people’s love letters. It’s a waste of time looking for big hooks or moments of release, but absorbed properly this becomes quietly transcendent. Somehow, its songs are welcoming despite their insularity. There are four people in the band but this is a couple’s album. The twin vocals of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim trade understated rich vowels, their dialogue the rope that binds 11 malnourished songs together. Romy carries all the drama with her tiny tics and unavoidably Great Voice. Oliver’s gentle croon is dangerously close to the vegan sex therapist vibe of Fujiya & Miyagi, but mostly agreeable. They are insanely well-matched, complementing and answering one another as they saunter around the bare minimum backing of their band. The obvious reference point for this quiet, understated style is Young Marble Giants, but The XX have a couple of other tricks up their sleeve. The ace is the dreamy, ultra-reverbed guitars of Romy and Baria Quershi, nailed for perfect pathos every time we hear them. Jamie Smith’s sampler and drum work adds tiny lines of detail and makes tantalising occasional use of arse-tickling sub-bass rumbles. Every instrument is played with a glorious unselfishness, an element of healthy disinterest. Misleadingly bold instrumental opener 'Intro' introduces The XX’s somnabulant groove with an ominous, Knife-like organ thrum and cloudsurfing guitars. There are background hints of broken electric squall on ‘Night Time’ where suddenly fluent guitars probe an ascending staircase of notes. These guitars are universally lovely, with riffs and licks just thoughtful enough to show the beautiful tone isn't being milked or overly relied upon. The much touted R&B influence only really materialises on ‘Basic Space’’s busy drum programming. Instead, The XX sound closer to (dirty word alert) trip hop, especially on the elegiacally tasteful of ‘Shelter’. This album will be soundtracking a lot of bad, earnest sex. ‘Infinity’ feels like a reprise of places we've already seen, but the crystalline cracks marking time are a typically inspired addition. The yearning guitars finally reach long-threatened Chris Isaak ‘Wicked Game’ territory before a thrilling build to a level of loudness unmatched elsewhere on the album. ‘Shelter’ is a centrepiece of sorts, with Romy’s voice more exposed than at any other point. “Maybe I had said something that was wrong / can I make it better with the lights turned off?” she sighs, like a wounded goth. The music isn’t matched by equally adept lyrics. The frank first words on the album come on ‘VCR’: "You used to have all the answers" which is immediately undermined by the emotional dead-end of the following line: "and you, you still have them too". There’s a similarly uninspired summer / winter pairing later in the song, but the occasional clumsiness with words is countered by the utterly beguiling mix of voices over their skeletal backing. Mostly, it's tremendously touching. Songs are relentlessly second person with everything addressed to an unknowable 'you'. There’s a sense of overwhelming infatuation during ‘Basic Space’: "I think I'm losing where you end and I begin" confesses Romy before unfurling a suffocating manifesto of "setting us in stone / piece by piece before I'm alone / airtight before we break / keep it in, keep us safe." All too predictably, my best listen of XX to date came last week at midnight on a dark Devon road, with only the occasional twin glare of white in the other lane punctuating a journey into nothingness. I was immersed and quiet, and that’s when this collection of miniature songs excels. They’re not magnificently written, with unspeakably beautiful melodies, and virtuoso instrumental performances, but they have an intangible spook. The XX know when to tense, when to relax. It’s instinctive. It could be because they’ve known each other for years, it could be luck that this combination of four people is somehow tuned to one another and can create something so clear, so fluent. It’s pointless speculating about it. It’s here and it’s almost perfect.

Source : http://drownedinsound.com/releases/14584/reviews/4137613

Taken By Trees "East Of Eden" Album Review

By Charles Ubaghs

Even if you don’t recognise her name, it’s likely you’re familiar with Victoria Bergsman’s voice. The one-time lead singer of Swedish indie pop act The Concretes, Bergman’s vocal chords will be forever lodged in the public consciousness since her appearance on Peter, Bjorn and John’s 2007 smash, Young Folks. Bergsman could have capitalised on the enormous success of that song, but she’s instead pursued a quieter route under her Taken by Trees moniker. Open Season, her 2007 debut, was a shimmering collection of dreamy, folk-inflected pop songs that stuck close to the terrain she explored in her previous band. While lacking in daring composing, she more than made up for it with her subdued yet spellbinding delivery. The record was an artistic, if not entirely commercial, success, but perhaps sensing it was time to boldly leap into the unknown, Bergsman’s changed tack with its follow-up, East of Eden. Taking a page from The Beatles, Sting and every other pop musician who’s searched for fresh inspiration while standing at a career crossroad, Bergsman headed east – or, more specifically, to Pakistan, to record her new album. It’s a brave move for someone associated with the normally risk-averse world of indie-pop. But even with the bulk of the album’s support coming from local Pakistani musicians, there’s a prevailing wistfulness here that’ll be familiar to fans of Bergsman’s previous work. Yet while To Lose Someone and Greyest Love of All again find the Swedish chanteuse offering humble reflections on love and friendship, Bergsman’s words and vocals weave their way into the sounds of her Lahore-based backing band in a beguiling manner that only unfolds with repeat listens. Elsewhere, she covers Animal Collective’s My Girls and rechristens it My Boys (AC’s Noah Lennox also contributes backing vocals to Anna), before closing with a musical reading of Hermann Hesse’s Bekännelse. The shock of the new may be absent from Bergsman’s musical globetrotting, but East of Eden captivates by revealing its author to be an explorer who’s not afraid to blaze her own gentle trail. Best to file this one under adventurous with a small ‘a’.

Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/c6xm