The Iron Wagon

James Blake in Leeds Friday 3rd December

2010-11-24T05:11:00.000-08:00

It is very likely that 2011 will belong solely to James Blake. James has so far released two EPs on R&S, each comprising of intelligent remixes and beautiful compositions. It genre defying music which can only be described as, well simply great music. He's remixed for Untold, Mount Kimbie and most recently covered Feist on the gorgeous 'Limit to your love', I dare you to listen to this track without feeling some sort of emotion. The video is also outstanding and has recently been featured on Pitchfork TV.

This show is not a Live show but won't be the standard DJ affair you have come to expect of late, it'll be interesting, bouncy and fresh, and no doubt awesome.

Tickets are absolutely flying out. They're £7.00 advance from Jumbo, Crash and Seetickets.com but you can pap on the door for £9.00. Strictly over 18s only though.

Buy tickets from HERE

James Blake - Limit To Your Love from James Blake on Vimeo.

Wanna support Phoenix in Berlin?

2010-09-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

This is an opportunity of a life time for any up and coming band in Europe, in fact I'm thinking about starting a band myself just to get involved. The competition is simple apply with your band to the Beck's Music Experience site and the winner gets to play alongside Phoenix in Berlin on Saturday 6th November. Just provide a link to your best song, convince the jury and get your friends to vote for you. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

Read more: HERE

Visit the site here.

Wolf People (Jagjaguwar) added to Black Mountain show

2010-08-31T05:06:00.000-07:00

I saw these guys supporting Avi Buffalo at the weekend, truly an amazing band, totally tubular! So I'm stoked to announce that they will be playing with Black Mountain at TJ's in Leeds on September 12th along with Lone Wolf. As you may have guessed, Wolf People have been added because Ladyhawk unfortunately can't play anymore. I'm sad because Ladyhawk are my favourite band, no bullshit I love those guys, I'll shed a tear for you brothers!

Download free Wolf People single here

Watch the video for 'Tiny Circle' HERE

Annie and the Beekeepers to support The Low Anthem at Wagon Week

2010-07-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

The previously confirmed Caitlin Rose will now be playing with Deer Tick at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds on Wednesday 29th September. Replacing Caitlin will be Brooklyn based three piece Annie and the Beekeepers, a good swap I'm sure you'll agree. Check out the video below. Smoke Fairies will now be opening this show.

Annie & The Beekeepers Music Video from christopher walsh on Vimeo.

Mountain Man live at Nation of Shopkeepers. Mon 28th June

2010-06-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited for this gig and with the album being released this Monday on Bella Union, it should provide the boost to get these three girls as noticed as they deserve to be. Mountain Man are a three piece currently based in Vermont and sing (as they don't play a lot of instruments live) a mixture of weird Americana Folk and semi traditional songs with odd lyrics about dogs and what not. Its all pretty new to me and I like it a lot, the perfect blend of soft vocals and some good tongue in cheek stories, inspiring.

The gig takes place on Monday 28th June at 8pm at NNation of Shopkeepers in Leeds. Tickets are a mere £3.00 in advance from Jumbo, Crash and Seetickets or you can pay on the door which is £5.00. Its a semi seated gig so there's only 75 tickets available for this so its nice a peaceful like.

Mountain Man "Babylon" [part 3 of 3] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW, DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE, SMOKE FAIRFIES and LONE WOLF added to Wagon Weeks already ace line up

2010-06-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

We are over the moon to finally announce that the seldom seen in the UK act OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW will be playing Wagon Week in our very own Leeds. Joining Old Crow Medicine Show on some or most of their UK shows will be DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE.

(Above Old Crow Medicine Show)

Old Crow Medicine Show have been going for almost 12 years now and play and great mix of old time traditional Bluegrass and great authentic Americana. I couldn't really imagine Wagon Week without these guys, and for confirmation check out their track 'Wagon Wheel' which is a live favourite HERE

Tickets are now available for all four days of Wagon Week. Below is the line up so far. Please note that there is still another 3 or 4 acts to be confirmed.

Thursday 9th September
THE LOW ANTHEM
plus ANNIE AND THE BEEKEEPERS & SMOKE FAIRIES
Venue: TJ's Woodhouse Club, Leeds
Buy tickets below from:
JUMBO RECORDS
SEETICKETS
CRASH RECORDS

Saturday 11th September
THE FELICE BROTHERS
plus Serious Sam Barrett and special guests
Venue: TJ's Woodhouse Club, Leeds
Buy Tickets below from:
JUMBO RECORDS
SEETICKETS
CRASH RECORDS

Sunday 12th September
BLACK MOUNTAIN
plus guests LADYHAWK & LONE WOLF
Venue: TJ's Woodhouse Club, Leeds
Buy Tickets below from:
JUMBO RECORDS
SEETICKETS
CRASH RECORDS

Tuesday 14th September
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW
plus very special guests DAVE RAWLINGS MACHINE
Venue: Leeds Irish Centre, York Road, Leeds
Buy Tickets below from:
JUMBO RECORDS
SEETICKETS
CRASH RECORDS

Wagon Week: Now with The Low Anthem, The Felice Brothers, Black Mountain and Ladhawk.

2010-05-26T10:12:00.000-07:00

The four day Americana event has now added some more exciting headliners. The first day on Thursday 9th September will be topped by Rhode Island four piece The Low Anthem. After releasing their third album 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' on Bella Union in 2008 the band have found fans in the shape of David Letterman, Jools Holland and Michael Eavis. This will be their first time in Leeds and a much anticipated one at that.

The Saturday headliner has been confirmed today as the ever popular barn storming group from upstate New York, The Felice Brothers. Having sold out Brudenell Social Club in a blink of an eye last October, this Saturday show will be a hot ticket.

More supports and headliners to be announced each week! However....

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!!!!

Thursday 9th September
THE LOW ANTHEM
Click here to buy from Jumbo Records
Click here to buy from Crash Records
Click here to buy from Seetickets

Saturday 11th September
THE FELICE BROTHERS
Click here to buy from Jumbo Records
Click here to buy from Crash Records
Click here to buy from Seetickets

Sunday 12th September
BLACK MOUNTAIN + LADYHAWK
Click here to buy from Jumbo Records
Click here to buy from Crash Records
Click here to buy from Seetickets

Who the hell is GAYNGS? and can I join?

2010-05-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

When I first read about Gayngs and saw the symbol in various magazines, blogs etc I thought it was going to be some try hard experimental abstract, strange for strange sake concept album, but on the very first listen I gathered something uniquely amazing was happening here. The brains behind the project is Ryan Olson who has the enviable/unenviable task of collaborating the talents of Bon Iver, Megafaun, The Rosebuds, Solid Gold, Leisure Birds and more to make a prog jazz excursion influenced apparently by 10ccs 'I'm not in Love', talk about having the work cut out for you. Songs like 'Last Prom on Earth' sound like Barry White or Isaac Hayes meets Weather Report and Bones, Thugs n Harmoney or early Outkast, its fucking ace and the result is pure summer magnificence. I hope the next part of the project 'making it live' comes together with the same degree of precision and sweetness. The album is out now on Jagjaguwar.

Download 'The Gaudy Side of Town' by Gayngs via the Jagjaguwar websiteHERE

Download 'Faded High' by Gayngs via the Jagjaguwar websiteHERE

Wagon Week: 9th Sept - 12th Sept / First announcement: BLACK MOUNTAIN

2010-05-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Iron Wagon's first week of shows starts in September on Thursday 9th with a very special headline act that we'll announce next week. Each night will be made up of 3 to 4 Americana, Folk, Alt Country or American/Canadian Rock acts and be priced individually for each night. The last night of the event is the first to be announced strangely, it just happened that way. Black Mountain are a 5 piece rock act hailing from British Columbia, Canada. Fronted by bearded songwriter Stephen McBean they've released two full length albums on Jagjaguwar and are set to release their 3rd in Summer of this year.

Ladyhawk - You Ran from Joey Angerone on Vimeo.

The guest support on the night will be fellow Canadians Ladyhawk (not to be mistaken with flash in the pan Australian pop thing Ladyhawke). Ladyhawk are a huge favourite here at The Iron Wagon and we've been lucky enough to do a show for them a year or so ago at the Brudenell in Leeds, so this will be a huge treat to see both acts together on one bill. Tickets are limited to 500 for this event so get them while you can as we won't be holding any back for the day.

Right click HERE to download 'Tyrants' by Black Mountain from the Jagjaguwar website

Right click HERE to download 'The Dugout' by Ladyhawk from the Jagjaguwar website

All ticket links below

Seetickets

Jumbo Records

Crash Records

Tickets also available over the phone:

Jumbo - 0113 2455570
Crash - 0113 2436743

Beast Coast at Nation of Shopkeepers next week

2010-05-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Still no album or label deal in sight yet for Visit the site BEST COAST, but I imagine they'll be playing most of whats gonna be on it in their forthcoming very small run of UK shows. I managed to catch them at their Fader fort show in March, even though the sprawling size of the Levi's tent wasn't the perfect surrounding for their sound I thought it was a great show, and she's cool as a cucumber stood om stage with her RayBans on and singing the perfect songs for a hot Texas afternoon. Can't wait to see them next week. The Visit the site NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS show is free entry but if you can't make it my boy Wesley from Visit the site NOW WAVE is putting them on on the 7th May at Visit the site DEAF INSTITUTE in Manchester. Cheers to Dan McEvoy for hooking this gig up.

Best Coast - When I'm With You from Pete Ohs on Vimeo.

Stag & Dagger: 21st - 22nd May

2010-04-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

No Stag & Dagger in Leeds this year, but that doesn't mean The Iron Wagon aren't getting involved and helping out. Stag and Dagger last year was great, in Leeds we had Cursive, White Denim, Girls, Telepathe, Vivian Girls, Male Bonding, Abe Vigode and shit loads more, an awesome night. This year in London there's Active Child, Bok Bok, Brackles, Bug MCs (Flowdan and Daddy Freddy), Clock Opera, Comanechi, Cooly G, Dam Mantle, Deadboy DJ, Deadly Rhythm Soundsystem, DELS, Django Django, FACT DJs, Filthy Dukes, Frankie & the Heartstrings, Hyponik DJ Squad, Is Tropical, Mount Kimbie, North Atlantic Oscillation, Oneman, Peggy Sue, People Under the Stairs, Robin and Partridge: The Story Club, Reecha, Sian Alice Group, Sky Larkin, Stopmakingme, Team Ghost, Teenagers in Tokyo, The Bug, The Radio Dept, Yeti Lane.

Visit the site HERE

Get the Stag & Dagger Mixcloud Mix HERE

Record Store Day: Sat April 17th 2010

2010-03-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

Record Store Day is the yearly event that brings together all Independent Record Shops around the world and for a day only sells exclusive and very very limited records, dvds, cds and tapes. Last year was a huge awesome beast of a success and this year the record labels have stepped up their game big time with the following items for sale (this is only a small small list, there is lots more too!) Check out the comprehensive list HERE

Thermals/Cribs – Split 7 inch single (Kill Rock Stars)

Beach House – Zebra – 12’ Coloured Vinyl (Bella Union 700 only)

Fucked Up – “Daytrotter Session” – MATADOR 7 inch single 500 only

Arthur Russell – ‘Calling Out Of Context” – ROUGH TRADE US IMPORT 500 ONLY.

Of Montreal – Back To School 7 inch single (Forte Distribution 100 only)

Dum Dum Girls / Male Bonding -‘Pay For Me / Before It’s Gone’ . Split 7’ inch single (Sub Pop)

Wooden Shjips – 7 Inch single. What it is / Buddy (300 only Forte music)

Happy Birthday – ‘Shampoo’ 7” inch single (Sup Pop)

+ lots and lots more!!

In addition to record stores selling amazing stuff, the people at The Iron Wagon and Nation of Shopkeepers have got together with Jumbo and Crash Records in Leeds to do a party to celebrate Record Store Day with special live guests Chapel Club, The Rent Boys and Minnaars, should be tasty.

Join the Facebook event for the Leeds day HERE!

Introducing: Zola Jesus

2010-03-06T03:57:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across Zola Jesus a couple of weeks ago, completely by accident as usual, now I'm pretty obsessed, not actually obsessed but I've listened to Zola Jesus a lot this week compared to say Double Daggers who I love but they've gone on the back burner for now. She'll will be playing a good few shows in Texas next week so I'm going to try and catch one or two. Her new EP 'Stridulum' is out March 9th and can be bought from her website next week Buy from here.

Forthcoming Iron Wagon shows in Leeds

2010-02-25T04:29:00.000-08:00

As usual January was pretty quiet, but we had some nice gigs in February such as Egyptian Hip Hop, Yuck, Is Tropical, Real Estate, Fair Ohs, Spectrals, David Bazan, Postdata (Wintersleep), She Keeps Bees, Band of Skulls, Chew Lips, Gyratory System and more. So onto the Spring bookings and its looking pretty sweet already. Below are all the minute details you'll need.

01/03 - Invasion / Bo Ningen @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
04/03 - Phenomenal Handclap Band @ Nation of Shopkeepers
06/03 - The Crookes / Race Horses* @ Nation of Shopkeepers
12/03 - Four Tet @ TJ’s (Sold Out)
01/04 - Kong / Chickenhawk / Blacklisters @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
02/04 - Islands / Tigers That Talked @ Nation of Shopkeepers
05/04 - Silent Front*** @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
13/04 - The Bomb / Mob Rules** @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
15/04 - The Strange Boys @ Brudenell Social Club
17/04 - Chapel Club* @ Nation of Shopkeepers
23/04 - Hudson Mohawke (Warp) @ Nation of Shopkeepers
07/05 - Band of Skulls @ The Cockpit
08/05 - Cold Cave* @ Nation of Shopkeepers
10/05 - Best Coast / French Kissing @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
13/05 - Double Dagger / Friendship @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
23/05 - Goldhearts Assembly @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
24/05 - White Hinterland @ Nation of Shopkeepers (FREE GIG)
25/05 - Sian Alice Group @ Nation of Shopkeepers
28/05 - The Nextmen @ Nation of Shopkeepers
22/06 - Hot Water Music** @ Irish Centre

* as part of No Bones / ** with WYSAS / *** with British Wildlife

All tickets can be purchased from Jumbo, Crash and Seetickets.com

Buy from JUMBO

Buy from CRASH

Buy from SEETICKETS

Best Coast - When I'm With You by The Iron Wagon

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & the Cairo Gang

2010-02-24T02:00:00.000-08:00

Hands u if you don't love Will Oldham, mmmm no one put their hand up, there's a surprise. Well I'm sure you'll all be pumped to know that Drag City have uploaded a new Bonnie Prince Billy song in celebration of his new album/collaboration with the Cairo Gang 'The Wonder Show of the World' due out in March. The track isn't on the album so its probably a taster of the material or whatever.

Click here to go to the site and hear the new track.

MillionYoung arrive to satisfy the Washed Out in you

2010-02-20T04:26:00.000-08:00

(above - Toro Y Moi, not MillionYoung)

Since Panda Bear's album Person Pitch became the huge underground hit it deserved to be, there's been a steady wash of young electronic producers coming out in the states and mesmerizing the internet generation with secret releases, impossible to get hold out 12"s and inspirational sounds that you've never heard before. The list is slowly building day by day with the likes of Toro Y Moi, Neon Indian, Small Black, Active Child, Washed Out, Memory Tapes etc having releases out last year and early this year. The more aware people out there will see an obvious link with the likes of electronic acts that were popular in the mid 90's such as Nightmares on Wax (and their 2nd album Smokers Delight), Boards of Canada, Four Tet, Plaid and even earlier artists like The Orb, The Future Sound of London and even Brian Eno. Easy connection to make if you're over 25 but bear in mind these new producers were all of 8 or 9 years old when labels like Skam started up in 1996 in the wake of the post house/back to basics explosion. So when you hear the new oft referred to style of chillwave (horrible) these youngs guys are being purely experimental and may not now about The Future Sound of London etc, therefore making this new sound even more exciting.

(Above - MillionYoung)

Posted below is a link to the debut EP by MillionYoung, the latest of acts ready to trip you out and make you feel like summer has already arrived. You can see them at SXSW next month with the likes of Best Coast, Eternal Summers and tons of other ace new acts, if the suns shining it'll be the best backdrop ever.

Download the MillionYoung EP 'Sunndreamm' here

MillionYoung - Youthless by The Iron Wagon

The Strange Boys April UK tour

2010-02-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

The Strange Boys second album 'Be Brave' is released on Rough Trade on Monday 22nd February, I've heard it and its a little gem, more polished than the first, but much better songs and hooks, in my poinion, obviously everyone is different so I would suggest checking out the forthcoming single, also entitled 'Be Brave' and making your own minds up.

THE STRANGE BOYS, "Be Brave" from EJ on Vimeo.

They will be playing at Nation of Shopkeepers in Leeds on Thursday 15th April, there will be a limited amount of tickets available (150 to be exact) so get one now as I think after the UK reviews of the new album come out it'll get pretty big.

Tickets are on sale this week from normal outlets.

WILD YAKS.....the sound of maculinity!

2010-02-10T03:22:00.000-08:00

I've had four Wild Yaks tracks on constant rotation now for about six weeks, they have a sound which reminds me of a countrified Clutch or a semi graceful Scissorfight, add that to a guy with a saxophone and some male chorus group and you have WILD YAKS. They look a bit dirty but have an air of intelligence and aloofness. Thanks to a kind Iron Wagon reader I have now been told that Wild Yaks do have a release and you can buy it HERE!!!. I love them so much it does my head in, I doubt they'll ever come to England and I missed them at SXSW last year, fucksake, so the world turns....

Here is a link to three Free MP3s which arrive courtesy of my third favourite magazine The Fader.

Kids! Learn more about Wild Yaks by watching this amusing and entertaining short film, its about 5 minutes long and features an ex-girlfriend. Watch it HERE

Wild Yaks Myspace

Wild Yaks: "River May Come" from cutandpaste on Vimeo.

HUDSON MOHAWKE unviels live shows

2010-02-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

Scottish Hip Hop producer/DJ Ross Birchard aka Hudson Mohawke released his first full length LP 'Butter' last October on Warp much to the appreciation of music lovers and critics everywhere. After Hudson returns from his stint at SXSW in March, he will embark on a short run of live shows in the UK. As yet these dates haven't been announced but he will be playing Leeds in April and more news on that will be announced in the forthcoming week. Until then you should familiarize yourself with his soulful techno Hip Hop and check him out live.

Hudson Mohawke Myspace

Hudson Mohawke - "FUSE" from Kase on Vimeo.

Yeasayer - 'ONE' (Free Download)

2010-02-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

In order to spice up more unnecessary interest for the forthcoming 'Best Album Of The Year' nomination, Yeasayer are giving away their latest track free from various sources. The latest comes courtesy of
Rcrdlbl.com, you need to register with an email address but its a legal port to get the track from, so use that instead of some dodgy site.

Yeasayer 'ONE' via RCRDLBL.COM

Pre order 'ODD BLOOD' via their website

Click here to watch the wonderful 'Ambling Alp' video

Freelance Whales

2010-01-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

Freelance Whales are a five piece folk pop act from Queens, NYC, they sound very similar to Iron and Wine circa 2003 before Iron and Wine started to sound like Yeasayer, not in a bad way just an accidental way. If you get a chance and are lucky enough to be at SXSW this March they have at least 5 shows over there, no venues or times have been announced yet but keep checking their myspace. Their debut album WEATHERVANES is out on 16th March (in time to buy it at one of their SXSW gigs. Or you can order it from HERE.

Freelance Whales on Hype Machine

Freelance Whales on Last.fm

Omar Souleyman vs. Leeds

2010-01-27T03:58:00.000-08:00

Omar Souleyman (live)
Thusrday 13th May 2010
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Omar Souleyman is a folk artists born in Syria and has been making moving and busting out real live shows for the non believers since 1994 and his only just bringing is super rhythmic phase shifting Arabic meets Turkish brand of pop rap of to the UK now! Its down to Pavement and ATP that this genius his coming to our shores and I imagine it must have taken quite a while to arrange so I'd get tickets now as this is a hot ticket, you better believe dat!

Tickets available now from:

Jumbo Records, Leeds

Crash Records, Leeds

Seetickets

For more info about Souleyman No 1 check out the below links

Omar Souleyman Myspace

Subliem Frequencies Website

NYE: Pulled Apart By Horses / Sky Larkin / Spectrals / Wonderswan photoblog

2010-01-05T07:25:00.001-08:00

Another great new year party put on by The Iron Wagon, this year with the help of Sailor Jerry Rum and Shut Magazine.

FOUR TET new album and tour

2009-11-05T03:03:00.000-08:00

The new FOUR TET album 'There Is Love In You' will be released on Domino Records in January 2010 and to mark the occasion Kieran Hebden will be performing a very limited number of live performances around the country in March 2010, starting at the London dome with super hyped up Joy Orbison and finishing up in Bristol.

Each live show will be a unique performance which will include Keiran playing within a wall of p.a. stacks facing each other for full surround sound.

The second track on the new album is Love Cry which is now available on 12" which includes Joy Orbison and Roska remixes.

Listen Here

There will be special live guests at each of the gigs so keep your eyes and ears peeled for announcements later in 2009.

Artist - Fourtet

Label - Domino

Watch all of Four Tet's videos here

Friday 12th February: London – Dome (with Joy Orbison as support)

Thursday 11th March: Manchester - Club Academy

Friday 12th March: Leeds - TJs Woodhouse Club

Saturday 13th March: Edinburgh - Bongo Club

Thursday 17th March: Brighton - Concorde 2

Friday 19th March: Birmingham - Custard Factory

Saturday 20th March: Bristol Fiddlers

Phenomenal Handclap Band hit Leeds this weekend!!

2009-09-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Phenomenal Handclap Band are an 8 piece from Brooklyn, New York. If you've never heard them before its quite a treat the first time you hear them, sot of like when you first heard ESG and you thought, 'Wow, everything I love about Hip Hop and breaks and with some attitude and soul too' or maybe like when you first found yourself half way through Talking Heads 'Fear of Music' and you say to your friend 'This is ace, is it the new LCD Soundsystem or Rapture' and they turn round and tell you to shut the fuck up and stop embarrassing them and grow up.

Watch their homemade video Here

Read their Blog Here

The gig is at Nation of Shopkeepers on Saturday 19th September at 8pm. Entry is £2.00

MONOTONIX pictures from Fridays gig

2009-08-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came to Iron Wagon's Monotonix gig at Nation of Shopkeepers, I imagine their shows may not be that great when nobody attends. Below are some pictures kindly taken by Brendan Docherty. It was chaotic to say the least.

DELICIOUS DESIGN LEAGUE

2009-08-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

I discovered Delicious Design League at Flatstock at SXSW earlier this year. They blew me away with the amount of work they've created of the past couple of years and the standard of print and design they produce is of a very high standard. I recommend buying at least one piece of theirs via their website as it'll brighten up any house. I sound like an advert, shit what a moron. But I'm being totally sincere I honestly live their work. Bring me sunshine!!

Here's some more of their work...

They also have a Blog.

Bad For Lazarus @ Nation of Shopkeepers, Leeds

2009-08-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

The last time I viewed/reviewed Bad For Lazarus, the jigsaw was fucked. Visually, the pieces were there, even if some of the bits kept sticking, like they were being forced into the wrong neighbour. Sonically, it was as though some pikey little so-and-so had got the jigsaw first and nicked all the edge bits that are supposed to frame the jigsaw.
Extended analogies aside: they looked impressive. They sounded weak.

No such nonsense this evening. For a start, they were buoyed up by two cortex-blistering bands. Just when you think you have seen Pifco play more times than you’ve actually seen your own hands, they come up trumps. Now with added Moz on keys, Pifco sound meatier than ever. Or Quorn-ier, whatever floats your boat. Oh, and Mary’s simultaneous drum ‘n’ keys playing gets cooler by the week, enticing jealous eyes from under all the boys’ fringes.

Add to that, a burst of murder from Blacklisters and Bad For Lazarus would have had to have pulled something seriously stinking out of the hat to bring down the mood of these Monday night free-gig shenanigans. Blacklisters, for the record, seem to be growing more and more monstrous by the gig. Only catching them every few months is kind of like realising your little baby nephew grew horns and developed three times your IQ score since the last time you saw him.

Bad For Lazarus seemed notably shifty when they took the stage – possibly unnerved by the preceding performers, almost definitely shaken by the fairly minor technical difficulties that they encountered (presumably more minor for a member of the audience, as we don’t have to prattle about trying to fix whatever’s fucked up). Looking like a rag-bag of post-punk subcultures and – this time – sounding suitably similar and suitably voluminous, Bad For Lazarus thrashed about en masse, somehow perfecting the pose : play ratio. The gunked up trash that had previously oozed wantonly from their amplifiers had crystallised into a different breed of trash: this time worthy of comparison to The Cramps or The Scientists. All we have to do now is pretend we didn’t witness the mildly cringe-inducing kit-trashing session at the end of the set [one of the band attempted to kick a drum over, missed the drum in question by a decent country mile, fell on his arse… Spinal Tap outtake, anyone?]…

Singer Rich Fownes’ previous band, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster have wandered from the cradle and pretty much fallen off of my radar. I may as well start honing in on these guys.

Hayley Avron

DANANANANAYKROYD re-release 'Some Dresses'

2009-07-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago a small Leeds label called Jealous released a 7" by a little known Glaswegian band who were once called 'Multiplies', Vice, NME and Drowned in Sound loved it, the rest is history. So the label they're currently on, 'Best Before' have decided to unearth this prehistoric fight pop gem and release it onto the world on 24th August 2009. I for one, am fully backing that decision and wish them all the luck in the world.

Below is a picture of the back of the Jealous 7"

The release coincides with Dananananaykroyds forthcoming tour. They also have a new video for the song too. You can watch it HERE.

21 Oct - Cluny, Newcastle
22 Oct - Bodega Social, Nottingham
23 Oct - Arts Centre, Norwich
24 Oct - Swn Festival, Cardiff
25 Oct - Academy 2, Oxford
27 Oct - Scala, London
28 Oct - Audio, Brighton
29 Oct - Academy 3, Manchester, Northwest
30 Oct - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
01 Nov - Oran Mor, Glasgow,

Tickets for the Leeds show can be bought HERE

Its the shrooms maaaann......introducing ASTRA

2009-07-22T09:08:00.001-07:00

San Diego 5 piece Astra (who I'm pretty sure aren't named after the car) make splendid droney trippy psyche tunes that nod back to the days of Gong, Pink Floyd and most recently Dungen and Earth. Their album 'The Weirding' is released on flared stoner label Rise Above who also release Leeds bearded degenerates Gentlemen's Pistols and one of my favourites Withcraft. The album is out now, so go zone out man!

Their video for 'The Rising of the Black Sun' is an animated short directed by an obsessive fan features Eagles, masked winged men on horseback, mountains being struck by lightning, psychedelic 1920's fighter jets bombing demons and also, how could I forget....the four horsemen of the apocolypse. ESSENTIAL VIEWING!!

MONOTONIX First full length album and free Leeds show!

2009-07-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

It seems weird because it feels like they've been around ages, I mean Levi the singer obviously has been around physically for ages, although he cuts a mean figure and doesn't have an ounce of fat on him. MONOTONIX first full length is due out this September on Drag City. I'll be interested to see who rates it and who hates it. I myself really love the band but I've seen them live a number of times and I'm basing my affection on the strength of their mental performances. When it comes to their recordings, I feel they lack something, maybe if their records came with a stench of sweat and fire it may conjure up a live feeling, perhaps.

They hit Europe very soon and here are the dates. The Iron Wagon is promoting the Leeds show at A Nation of Shopkeepers on Friday 21st August which is also a free gig, splendid.

22 Jul - Parklife Festival, Milan
23 Jul - The Menagerie, Belfast
24 Jul - Crawdaddy, Dublin
25 Jul - Supersonic Festival, Birmingham
07 Aug - Off Festival, Myslowice
09 Aug - Festival Les Nuits, Aulnoye Aymeries
12 Aug - Oya Festival, Oslo
14 Aug - Way Out West Festival, Goteborg
16 Aug - Summer Sundae Festival, Leicester
17 Aug - The Marquee, Norwich
19 Aug - Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
20 Aug - Stereo, Glasgow
21 Aug - A Nation of Shopkeepers, Leeds (FREE SHOW!)
22 Aug - Start the Bus, Bristol
23 Aug - The Engine Room, Brighton
24 Aug - The Garage, London

Listen to Monotonix on Last.fm

Great concept for new DEERHOOF video

2009-07-14T03:21:00.000-07:00

The new Deerhoof video for 'My Purple Past' is directed by Asha Schechter and is not your average band in a room miming bollocks. As you'd expect from Deerhoof they trade in the obvious routine video making for artistic and conceptual ideas, which come across as new and up to date without being contrived. Plus as its Deerhoof there's an underlying sense of mischief and fun to be had. I love them!

Watch the video for 'My Purple Past' HERE

WILD BEASTS new single out monday!

2009-07-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since their last single Devils Crayon but Wild Beasts haven't been lounging in Trinidad drinking Malibua out a bottle, they're been making what some are saying, one of the best albums of 2009, I for one am not one to disagree with these people. The first single to be lifted off the album is Hooting and Howling, which is out Monday 20th July and the album, Two Dancers, is due for release on Domino in the UK on Monday 3rd August. It's a step in the right direction for them and will definitely see them converting the philistines who couldn't 'get' their last album. But don't get confused, this isn't about making an album which will sell better or trying harder to get their songs heard on the Radio, this album is way darker and much more thought provoking that Limbo, Panto, it's on a different level all together. I'm not saying its better or worse, I'm just saying its completely different. The drums for example are like something from an early 80's New York post punk band, all tight with bongo's and wood blocks, some stuff is even crying out to be sampled by Hip Hop producers. Fab 5 Freddy would be guesting all over this if it came out 25 years ago. Then there's the production, which comes courtesy of Richard Formby and also the band. The production is super tight but not over produced and Richard lends a really warm cozy feal to it, kind of like a nice drug that smothers you and holds you right till the last notes finish. Wooah, I'm getting a bit carried away, sorry about that.

Quick recap.

Single 'Hooting and Howling' out Monday 20th August. Available on 10" and Digital Download

Album Two Dancers out Monday 3rd August. Available on LP, CD and Digital Download

Key Dates:

12 Jul 2009 - Oxegen Festival (Pet Sounds Arena), Dublin
18 Jul 2009 - Trees Festival, Nr Cheltenham
19 Jul 2009 - Latitude (Main Stage), Suffolk
25 Jul 2009 - Truck Festival, Steventon
26 Jul 2009 - Camp Bestival, Dorset
31 Jul 2009 - Stockton Riverside Festival
01 Aug 2009 - Field Day, Victoria Park, London
06 Aug 2009 - Hoxton Hall,London SOLD OUT
08 Aug 2009 - Moor Festival, Ilkley
30 Sep 2009 - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
01 Oct 2009 - Cockpit, Leeds
02 Oct 2009 - Bodega, Nottingham
03 Oct 2009 - Thekla, Bristol
04 Oct 2009 - Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
05 Oct 2009 - Hanbury Ballroom, Brighton
07 Oct 2009 - Academy 2, Oxford
08 Oct 2009 - Garage, London
09 Oct 2009 - Academy 3, Manchester

The new DIRTY PROJECTORS video is sweet

2009-07-08T02:53:00.000-07:00

It's taken me quite some time to get into the new Dirty Projectors album 'Bitte Orca' but whilst I was emptying the rubbish in the kitchen and unblocking the sink, the album finally hit me. The song that did it was 'Stillness is the move', it sort of reminded me of Waterfalls by TLC or an R Kelly track. I think it was a combination the sunshine and opening a small cupboard (which immediately made me think of R Kelly) that got me excited for this album. Anyway, here's the new video which was directed by Matthew Lessner who also made the indie flick Darling Darling starring Michael Cera from Arrested Development and Juno.

Click here to watch the video in HD.

In case you're interested here's an interview with 'chatty' director Matthew Lessner which may or may not make you warm to him. Click here

THE FELICE BROTHERS: European Tour

2009-07-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

"I saw a man hit my mom one time, really, I hurt him so damn bad I had to hide in Jersey"

It's been well over a year since The Felice Brothers were in the UK, they played a handful of modest 200 capacty shows and packed up their van and went back to the states. Then,
Yonder is the Clock arrived, their latest opus and unlike most modern bands they upped released it quietly and let word of mouth work its magic. It's a breath of fresh air to see a band work hard without massive financial support from labels and still sell out shows. This next tour is almost sold out, the capacities range from 280 to 1000 so there's some real variety. Get a ticket now and see one of these shows as you won't be disappointed.

12 Oct - Lido,Berlin, Germany
13 Oct - Ubel und Gefahrlich, Hamburg, Germany
14 Oct - Kulturkirche, Cologne, Germany
15 Oct - Atomic, Munich, Germany
17 Oct - Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, England
18 Oct - Whelans, Dublin, Ireland
19 Oct - The Glee Club, Birmingham, England
20 Oct - Academy 3, Manchester, England
22 Oct - Shepherds Bush Empire, London, England
24 Oct - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
26 Oct - Tivoli, Utrecht, Netherlands
27 Oct - Batschkapp, Frankfurt, Germany

Listen at Last.fm

MUDHONEY announce European Tour!!

2009-06-17T03:57:00.001-07:00

Mudhoney were Sub Pop's first real successful band, so you can personally thank them for Soundgarden, Tad and Screeming Trees. Still making loud aggressive music after 20 odd years, Mudhoney are a band who have never conformed in order to sell records, they simply love rocking out and it shows. The original line up will be playing only 3 UK shows and only 2 of them in England, one being London obviously and the other we are proud to announce will be in Leeds, oh and its yours truly putting the show on so I'll probably have some great photos to post after the gig.

The always fantastic Drew Millward will be producing a limited run of screen prints for the show too, so get their early and grab one.

Fri Oct 9 Edinburgh, UK at Studio 25
Sat Oct 10 Leeds, UK at TJ Woodhouse-
Sun Oct 11 London at Koko Theater-
Mon Oct 12 Paris, France at Trebendo
Tue Oct 13 Gent, Belgium at Minnemeers
Wed Oct 14 Amsterda, Germany at Festsaal Kreuzberg
Fri Oct 16 Warsaw, Poland at Proxima
Sat Oct 17 Praha, Czech Republik at Akropolis
Sun Oct 18 Vienna, Austria at Arena
Mon Oct 19 Ljublana, Slovenia at Kino Siska
Tue Oct 20 Zagreb, Croatia at Pauk
Wed Oct 21 Treviso, Italy at New Age Club
Thu Oct 22 Roma Italy at Alpheus Club
Fri Oct 23 Bologna Italy at Estrogen
Sat Oct 24 Winterhur (Zurich), CH at Gaswerk

For Leeds tickets click HERE!

Mika Miko

2009-06-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I slung my rollerskates over my shoulder (this is a lie, they’re fucking heavy. I just carried them in my hands, like a dork) and hitched a ride to Sheffield (also a lie, my lift was carefully planned, as was the return ride home, sensible dork that I am) to see Mika Miko in Sheffield, with a bunch of others bands (notably Manhattan Love Suicides, the only other band on the bill I can remember) playing in a roller rink. Yes. A roller rink. Now, dancing to Mika Miko on skates is not any easy proposition but we braved it in the name of rock and ROLL.

Rollerpalooza was awesome, great crowd, good natured and on average, surprisingly adept at skating…

We left sweaty and drunk, eager to see Mika Miko again in Leeds (where I would be interviewing them), drawing up mental petitions to make skating compulsory at gigs. Mika Miko would be my new best friends. We would skate everywhere together, we would hang out and drink wine and at some point they’d probably ask me to join their band…

Of course, the reality is that when I actually met Mika Miko, we just chatted, somewhat awkwardly, whilst they chowed down on a post-soundcheck junk food feast, occasionally looking up at me as if I was speaking Greek (I could well have been) and then ending in a disarmingly impassioned interview crescendo when I asked them what they’re scared of. Note to self: Use the ‘what scares you’ question as an icebreaker next time. Dork.

Their set was, unsurprisingly, kick-ass. Unlike the crowd, who clearly needed to be herded into a roller rink. Or a hipster abbatoir. One of the two.

So, here’s the interview, or at least here are the bits that I could actually transcribe, given that my dictaphone favoured the rustling of takeaway wrappings over the sound of people talking.

Disclaimer: there’s a very strong chance that some of these quotes are attributed to the wrong member of Mika Miko, which is something they – quite rightly – told me they hate. I’ll await the weight of their wrath…

So, aside from two of you being sisters, what was it that attracted you all to each other and made you want to be in a band together?
Jenna: “Me and Jennifer met at high school together because we had the same birthday… we became really good friends and started playing music together. And Michelle we also met in high school, just from being the punk people at the high school I guess.”
M: “I met Seth in a parking lot of a show. He was skateboarding and I was trying to skateboard. About a year later, we started playing music together. We were playing music with other people for, what, like a month or something? And later on, we decided that Seth would be a great addition to our band. I think with Seth, it was the only time that it was, like, because of the music and not just from being friends.”

What is it about the friendships that makes the band work?
M: “I think that we’ve learned how to live with each other on tour. Like, everyone has their own little thing. You just have to learn to communicate and voice your opinion.”

I’m not gonna hang the interview on the whole boy/girl thing... but… I have a theory that men & women have a different innate sense of rhythm – having had boy and girl drummers, do you reckon there’s anything in that theory?

At this point, they all look at me like maybe their wondering if this is the first time I’ve ever left the house …

Jennifer: “When Seth drums, he doesn’t sound at all like when Kate drums.”

Some non-committal muttering ensues…

Do the drums lead the rhythm of the songs when you write them, or do the drums get added in when the song’s complete?

Seth: “I think with some of the older songs, that were already written, I guess the drums came in later. But the songs that we all wrote, that we all wrote together, all the instruments kinda go together, it’s not like one thing drives it…”
M: “Also, on our records, we have all the instruments at the same volume level, like showing the importance of it, or something. People say to us ‘oh, it’s weird that all your instruments are at the same level’ but we’re like ‘well, why would you turn someone down’?”

The Rollerpalooza gig the other day was pretty special – do you enjoy playing gigs that are a bit different?
Jenna : “I mean, I wouldn’t wanna play a roller skate rink every night, but … yeah, we’ve played a bowling alley. When we played at The Smell, we used to play in the middle of the room.”

Everyone chipping in: “We played in a ditch at The Smell, when they were building a back room (?). We like to play in a weird place, even if it’s a regular venue, if they’ll let us. We haven’t played that many weird places. We played a Masonic Centre, we played at a church, we played at a high school, we played at a homecoming party, or was it graduation? We played on a boat. I’m trying to think… there’s more… like, playing in a squat that’s getting torn down afterwards – hat’s kinda weird. Like directly afterwards – everybody ripped shit off the walls ‘cos everyone was getting kicked out.

At this point, I enthusiastically mention the Burn To ShineDVD series. My enthusiasm is rewarded with deathly silence. Possibly because they were disinterested. Possibly because I mentioned a band that isn’t actually on the DVD… Unlike me, Mika Miko are eating. They have a purpose. I move on...
Has the atmosphere at The Smell changed since it started getting a load of media attention?

M: “Totally, completely, 100% per cent.”
S: “We were just talking about that.”
Jenna: “I think The Smell changes depending on who’s doing stuff at it and who’s going there. I know it was different before we started going there and it was different with our levels of participation. When different people go, the tone changes with what they’re bringing to it. That’s what’s cool about it.”

You guys all volunteer there as well?
Jenna: “We don’t really get to as much any more because we’re always at work, or on tour… I think it’s taken a little more seriously, actually, as a venue. Maybe there isn’t much weird stuff going on because, I mean town has changed a lot. There’s some really nice lofts around, it’s changing the tone of the area, too. I don’t know how long that’s going to last.

What kind of bands from LA do you feel an affinity with?
M: “From LA?”

Um. Yeah. Or anywhere else, I guess…
Conspiratorially, they all look up from their fodder at each other like I asked them something REAL BAD.

M: “I don’t wanna say in case I miss anyone out.”
Jennifer: “Probably any band that we played any more than three shows with.”

Somewhat generously, I leave a few moments silence, in case any of the other band members wish to contribute to this particular bottom-of-the-journo-barrel question…

OK! I’ll move on, for fear of offending a bunch of bands….

I shan’t transcribe the next part, where I ramble blindly about the sense of ‘inclusiveness’ that they ‘give off’ (they have probably left the interview thinking that ‘inclusiveness’=’bad stench’) when they play. I’m trying to pay them a compliment without sounding like a fangirl. It’s a victory for continuity if nothing else, because I just wind up sounding like a dork.

Jenna: “I think that probably whatever we give off is not on purpose, but it’s appreciated, for sure.”
Jennifer; “I know that feeling that you’re talking about and I didn’t know people felt that about us, but that makes sense. We feel that about other bands so that’s really cool.”
M: “But we don’t deliberately try to do that because we just do our own thing, you know.”

Do you try to connect with the audience, or do you just see it as getting on stage and doing your own thing?
Jennifer: “We definitely try to connect with the audience.”
Jenna: “Like, if I can’t see them, which happens a lot, you have to play differently, you have to look at each other and be more with each other. I mean, I like to know that everyone likes it.”

Do you speak to your fans after shows?
M: “I love to talk to people that live in places like Leeds and ask them what their city’s all about because I’m curious. You know it’s different here – totally different to LA and I’m fascinated by what people do in their lives every day.”

We have a brief discussion about Leeds and its universities… the effects of studentification on the local gig scene, etc etc. I floor them with my insight and charm, naturally.

So do you guys all have jobs back home?
Jess: “We all have weird jobs so we can do this.”

What do you all do?
Jennifer: “I sell on EBay.”
M: “I’m a barista at a coffee shop.”
Jess: “I work at a record store.”

These aren’t weird jobs… I used to work in a fucking butcher’s shop. That was weird.
Jenna: “I work in a movie theatre.”

That’s not weird. What kinda stuff do you sell on Ebay?
Jennifer: “I sell stuff that I get for free, and stuff from thrift stores.”

To Seth: And what do you do?
S: “I don’t have a job. I sorta sell stuff I get for free.”

Is the band a form of escapism for you?
Jenna: “I did the band when I didn’t have jobs so I think more of the band as, like, my bigger job. It’s getting money to do the band.”
M: “It’s like the child we’re all supporting. You get a job to support the child.”

There is mass agreement that this is a very good analogy and all members of the band agree not to drop the baby.
“we’re all raising the baby!”

How do you feel about the way that you’re represented in the press?
M: “I’m ok with it, except when we’re called ‘all-girl band’ or like, they make little mistakes about our band that should be known. Like saying that we’re teenagers, but we formed in 2003, like yeah, we were soooo young. Or when they say that someone said something that wasn’t said, or say the wrong person said it.”

Gulp…

“As long as the kids that come to our shows are, like, genuinely interested.”

Are the kids that come to your shows here different to in LA?
M: “Hmmmm, I dunno, it’s almost like their little alter egos.”

What else inspires you, other than music?
M: “Definitely our pets. I have a kitten that I got just before we left and I have another cat that’s not really my cat but it’s a house cat.
Jenna: “I have one dog but then I have two dogs that I … that I visit.”

The band indulge in mutual pet appreciation at this point. To summarise: they all like each others’ pets.

M: “I like to read but I can’t read when we’re driving so I try to read in between soundchecks. Other people inspire me as well, I think, like my friends.”
Jennifer: “I like watching weird videos on YouTube.”

This is also met with mass approval.

I need to ask what’s special about turkey sandwiches.
Jenna: “There’s nothing special about it, it’s just a name.”
M “It’s the standard sandwich, you know?’
S: “It’s always pretty good.”
Jennifer: “We were gonna have a turkey sandwich contest for a video we’re gonna do. Everyone has to make their own turkey sandwich. It can be vegan, or vegetarian, or not.

A vegetarian turkey sandwich?
I am briefly reminded of the time, when I worked in a soul-extraction factory, disguised as a catering outlet, an affluent student looked at me with her big, expensive eyes and asked me if the ‘honey-soy chicken’ was vegetarian… but that’s another story…

M: “We have this shit called ‘Tofurkey’.”

(I checked. It exists. My life as a vegetarian has been somewhat sheltered, clearly)…

Ok, so the last question I need to ask is – What scares you and why?
M: “Sharks scare me. A lot.”
Jess: “Spiders. Their legs, you know?”
M: “Was it the movie Arachnophobia?”
Jess: “No, it was at work, I opened up a CD case and all these insects came out of them and then even more came out and they were all over the table…”
Jennifer: “I get scared when I’m sleeping at night and there’s like, a mirror and a window and it’s creating a reflection that makes a porthole for ghosts to travel through.”
Jenna: “She’s afraid of ghosts or, like strangers being at her house when she’s away. And you come back and you check…”
Jennifer: “Under my bed and in my closet. But then, sometimes I’m afraid of ghosts and sometimes I’m not. Sometimes they seem really cool, like OK, if I see a ghost, I will speak to it and stuff.”

Have you ever seen a ghost then?

Jennifer: “No, but I’ve heard people’s ghost stories.”

I’ve seen a ghost.
Jennifer: “Cool, you can tell me about it later.”

It wasn’t scary, I didn’t really realise it was a ghost until I remembered that none of my step family (whose house I was in) wore big bad-ass black Victorian dresses and shit.

In unison: “Cooool!”
M: “Did you talk to it?”

No, I thought it was one of my step-family and I generally tried not to talk to them.
Jenna: “Well, I’m afraid of getting yelled at, or being in trouble with someone. Especially someone I do not know. I’m messed up to the point that I always read the rules…”

So, you’re, like, the obedient one?
Jenna: “I don’t have a problem with doing anything wrong, I just don’t wanna get yelled at by anyone with a uniform on.”
Jennifer: “But, like, last night, you were the troublemaker!”
Jenna: “When I spit on that guy? Well, I was like, what does he have over me? He doesn’t have anything.”

Why did you spit on him?
Jenna: “Because he opened up a bottle and it went all over Jessie and she was like ‘ohhh’ and I was like, ‘don’t worry about it’ and I got him back.”
M: “And then he was going to fight her.”
Jenna: “Yeah but people pulled him back and I had to turn away like I didn’t see it. But with that guy, no one was watching, if there’d been, like a cop, or the owner or manager of the place…”

What about you Seth?
S: “Um, I’m scared of snakes.”

Do you get a lot of snakes in LA?
S: “There’s a lot of rattlesnakes.”
M: “Sharks have dead eyes. They’re dead inside.”
S: “Sharks are pretty scary too.”
M: “They’re totally, like, into our fucking climate. Warm water. There’s thing called a shark tunnel and you go down and there’s water and sharks. All round you. And I’m scared there’s going to be a little crack in the glass and al of a sudden all this water’s going to flow in and like, all these sharks are going to eat me. It’s okay, guys, it’s an irrational fear. I know this.”

I impart my little theory that if you can’t see your feet in the water, you don’t go in, thus limiting the potential for being attacked by an unseen shark. It’s hardly rocket science but it seems to reassure them.

Jess: “I just recently started developing a fear of heights.”

Fear of heights isn’t really a fear of heights, it’s a fear of throwing yourself off, to see what it feels like. Boy, I’m full of insights tonight…
Jennifer: “I’m scared of someone robbing my house…”
Jenna: “They don’t normally wanna kill anybody but maybe now! Once I parked my car downtown and they broke into it. I had so much crap in my car, the only thing I had was a coat, like, a Planet of the Apes coat. I always looked out for someone wearing that jacket but I never saw it.

So you don’t have any scary crazy stalker fans then?
M: “I was stalked by this guy in high school. He was like a Mexican gardener. He showed up to a party – do you guys remember that? He’d try to meet me from school. Everyone would come round my house and laugh out my window.”
Jenna: “Jennifer had a guy go round her house when we were away and slept in her bed.”
M: “ Seth had a stalker girl, that stalked him on MySpace and came to our shows, right?”
S: “Yeah, she wasn’t a serious stalker.”
M: “ Mild stalking.”

Not wanting to upgrade my own status to ‘mild stalker’, I thanked the band at this point, bade them farewell and headed outside to see if I can find my decent interview questions at the bottom of a pint of warm beer, limply promising to tell Jennifer some more ghost stories one day.

Hayley Avron

A NATION OF SHOPKEEPERS - Huge photo blog

2009-05-27T07:04:00.000-07:00

"I'm still writing rhymes, but besides that I'm chilling" - Nas

A new venue opened last Saturday in Leeds called A Nation of Shopkeepersit's fantastic, it's a welcome, warm and undeniably friendly venue. Below are some photo's by James Mitchell from the opening night, who drunk what and who was there. Deep breath.

Special thanks to: Lovefoxxx, Dan, Crispin, Alex & Shane, Bruce, Sam and all the staff, Yasmin, Lewis, Broady, Lee, Paul Robinson, Calum, Sally, Tom Woodhead, Conner, Old Romantics, Sketches, Dinosaur Pile Up, Casper and Ben, Dan McEvoy, Fezz, Mark, Blacklodge, James and Paul C, Marcus and everyone who helped make it happen. Not forgetting the beautiful Anna of course, great bunting skills. x

Join the Facebook Group HERE

Cissy

2009-05-16T05:39:00.001-07:00

I have tried, in the past, to express my love for Cissy. I fear that I have failed. I have waved my symbolic arms in the metaphorical air and claimed similarities to Goblin. Goblin aficionados have shouted me down. I have proclaimed them the most danceable band on our island. But seriously? Try dancing to Cissy. Just try. You need built-in jazz feet with propellor plug-ins.

So, I can’t describe, but I can factualise (it is a verb, I swear): Cissy is a band from Leeds with some fantastic pedigree. One of the city’s finest drummers, Matt Woodward, has played with the US band Origami, as well as The Dragon Rapide. Their super-guitarist Dicko is something of a local band whore (it’s a compliment, I swear) and is clearly harbouring the key to the 32 hour day, playing in the similarly-supreme Beards, Tigers!and formerly Eiger. Katie (synths) and Gavin (bass)’s history eludes me but frankly, the music walks the walk. Biographies are rendered useless once Cissy hit the boards.

There’s a slew of bands out there that can fly the ‘Proficiency’ flag but are BORING, with a capital ZZZZZZZZZZ. Cissy, on the other hand, have the flag in one hand and a party popper in the other. They are fun as fuck. Funky as fuck. They are tropical, adventurous and spiky. And you know what, if you lock into the bass drum, you can kinda dance. At the very least, you can get some serious head-nodding in.

Later this year, they’re releasing a split LP with Das Boton featuring Billy Dolan (ex of Sub Pop bands Heroic Doses. and Five Style.). The album’s coming out on Six Gun Lover and having heard the Cissy half of it, I’m getting a little impatient for a slab of vinyl.

Hayley Avron

Riding The Low

2009-05-06T18:50:00.001-07:00

Hot news for all you stalkers; as luck would have it, 'film star' and top revenge-crazy nutjob Paddy Considine has a band, Riding The Low, and they are playing The Cockpit here in sunny Leeds on 30 May. Ain't that a kick in the head?

Why not come down and gawp at a famous actor strutting his rock'n'roll stuff in front of you... or, alternatively - if you can't be arsed - maybe you could stay in and watch Paddy in these awesome britflick videos for Arctic Monkeys and Moloko:

Onwards and Upwards

2009-04-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Here's an awesome little movie from the minds of genius illustrator James Jarvis and Shynola head Richard "Kenny" Kenworthy... 'Onwards.'

Onwards from AKQA on Vimeo.

We've mentioned Shynola's fine work in these pages before, but I am a huge fan of James Jarvis' work, particularly his ads for Slam, the whole toy thing and, of course, 'Vortigern's Machine'.

He's been down with Nike for a little while - visitors to the capital may have seen his Niketown display last year, and his bio says that he's well into running, so that explains the film's sponsorship, so why isn't the dude in it wearing trainers?

The Coathangers

2009-04-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Coathangers album, Scramble was released this month on Suicide Squeeze Records

The band are a glorious mess of Noughties Riot Grrrl, (think Mika Miko but think harder), the Ramones and Revenge Of The Nerds

And here’s an exclusive interview:

HA: What attracted you all to each other? Please note: this is not youraverage 'how did you meet' question that every journalist will fire at you. You can tell me how you met, if you like, but what I really want to know is what made the sparks fly? What is it that you like about being in a band together?

TC: “We were first attracted to each other by our magnetic personalities and then the power of our bangs kept us together...We love everything about being in a band together, duh!!!”

HA: When I listen to 'Scramble', it makes me want a favourite Coathanger, in the same way that everybody has a favourite Ramone. However, I don't know enough about any of you to make such an important judgement just yet. Please could you tell me a little about your individual skills and personality traits so that I, and others like me, can become qualified to make this important decision?

TC: “We prefer to keep our private lives as private as possible (just like Brangelina) and if u like one Coathanger you love us all! Seriously, it would take light years to become qualified to make such a decision...”

HA: Did the Coathangers form out of a scene of musicians / artists? Or are you lone sailors.?

TC: “We are lone sailors! None of us have ever been or will ever be in any other band besides The Coathangers... It's a lifestyle if u will...”

HA: Are there any other bands that you feel an affinity with? Anyone that inspires you, either musically, or just to get up out of bed in the morning?

TC: “Music in general gets us outta our beds! Everything from Gang of Four to Britney Spears from Nina Simone to Lady Gaga, from The Doors to These Arms are Snakes....”

HA: Describe your live gigs to me - what kind of people come to your gigs? What's the atmosphere like? What do you want people to take from your gigs?

TC: “Our live gigs are like a unicorn jumping out of a cupcake filled with magic and maggots drinking beer...”

HA: What does it mean to you to be signed to Suicide Squeeze - were there any other offers on the table? Did they find you or did you find them? Or neither? What has changed since you recorded / released the album?

TC: “It means the world to us to be signed to SS Records, they are and always have been our soul mates, they have facilitated our dreams!! Nothing and everything have changed since the release!”

HA: What are your plans for the future. Any plans for a UK tour?

TC: “Our plans are to tour, tour, play local shows, tour, and rock ur face off... And yes the Coathangers invasion of the UK is imminent...”

HA: Final question: What scares you? And, of course, why?

TC: “What scares us? Hmmmm... YOU!

Thank you! The Coathangers love you....”

You hear that? They LOVE me. Holy shit.

Hayley Avron

Stag and Dagger - Full Leeds Line UP!

2009-04-22T01:46:00.000-07:00

The newly created STAG & DAGGER one day festival was formed last year with the help of London promoter Adventures in the Beetroot Field and hipster publication Vice. This year the have branched out of the capital to include dates in Glasgow (23rd May) and Leeds (22nd May) with the help of us, THE IRON WAGON!! Yeah we were honoured and obviously took the task up with gusto. Its proving to be time consuming in times of organistation, but with bands such as Wavves, Cursive and The Mae Shi playing in little ass venues its gonna be worth it, this rarely happens in Leeds with this level of bands so its pretty great.

Without further hesitation here is the full line up in alphabetical order:

ABE VIGODA
CASIOKIDS
CASPER C (DJ)
COLD WAR KIDS
CRYSTAL ANTLERS
CURSIVE
DANANANANAYKROYD
GIRLS (San Francisco)
HEADS UP (DJ)
KING CREOSOTE
MALE BONDING
THE MANHATTAN LOVE SUICIDES
MICACHU & THE SHAPES
MILES BENJAMIN ANTHONY ROBINSON
MUMDANCE
PICTISH TRAIL
PLAYER PIANO
RAISED BY WOLVES (DJ)
TELEPATHE
THE MAE SHI
THE TWILIGHT SAD
TUBELORD
VIVIAN GIRLS
WAVVES
WHITE DENIM
WINTERSLEEP
YOUTH ATTACK (DJ)

Tickets for Leeds are £15 and this gets you into all the gigs between 6pm and 1am and then also for the afterparty at The Faversham till 4am. Keep your wristband too as a new venue is opening in Leeds on Saturday 23rd May and this wristband will get you access to the launch party too!!

Purchase your ticket from here

Eye Candy

2009-04-21T15:36:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have already seen this, but filmmaking wunderkind and long-haired weirdo Chris Cunningham has taken the corporate dollar (well, these are hard times) and made an ad for the new Gucci perfume, 'Flora', and it's kind of awesome.

Featuring Vanessa Paradis lookalike and utter jailbait Abbey Lee Kershaw, it demonstrates CC's trademark visual flair with a kind of blissed-out summery vibe and is a whole lot more palatable than the last thing of his I saw, the video for The Horrors' "Sheena Is A Parasite". If you don't believe me, see for yourself:

True connoisseurs will be more than happy to click here and watch the vid on Gucci's special 'Flora' page, but then again I have managed to find a couple of Vanessa Paradis vids, so why not stay here and put your feet up?

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

2009-04-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

There are no wasted words here. No throwaway lines, no chord change for chord change’s sake. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson’s eponymous debut album is out on Transgressive Records on 18th May 2009. The New York resident counts Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio and Christopher Bear of Grizzly Bear among his emotional investors. But those are just facts. Or speculation, maybe. No, they’re facts. I just read them on printed paper.

The bits worth talking about, though, are in the music. MBAR is part ramshackle drunken confessional and part soulful hymnal. It’s some serious 3am, propping up the bar fodder. Lyrically, he’s wry, witty and acute, spitting self-deprecation over raucous guitars. The production’s about as clean as his lifestyle – you get every mistimed brush of the sleeve on the guitar, a bunch of birdsong in the background and the shuffle of feet. The result is an album that sounds like it was recorded in about two hours, with the meter running outside. There’s a palpable sense of urgency, abandon, and, clearly forgetting that it shouldn’t really go with urgency and abandon… humour.

For a knock-kneed and haunting video of the opening track ‘Buriedfed’, go Here

And you can download the track Here

Hayley Avron

Alela Diane "White As Diamonds"

2009-04-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Since I accidentally heard the haunting song 'White as Diamonds' whilst surfing the internet last night, I can't stop thinking about here. Mainly thinking why the hell haven't I heard her before and also more stupidly, why did I turn her show down that I got offered a few months ago, what a fucking idiot!! Anyway these things happen for a reason and I'm happy I've now uncovered this diamond, although by her myspace it looks like nineteen thousand people have already discovered her. Her music is perfect for sitting outside on a spring day, much like today, drinking coffee and appreciating life, oops I just made myself sick, sorry.

Watch the great little video for 'White as Diamonds' here

The Thermals UK/European Tour 2009

2009-04-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

"...but I still have faith, if I ever had faith" - Returning to the Fold - The Thermals

Portland three piece The Thermals have just released there 4th and possibly best album so far 'Now We Can See' om Kill Rock Stars and no longer Sub Pop. They have a new drummer in tow after Lorin Coleman left the band last year to join 'Andy Combs & the Moth'. After a crazy successful trip to SXSW this year and great reviews for the new album I reckon this tour will be their busiest so far, I'm so excited, roll on June!!

Visit The Thermals official site here

Read the Pitchfork review of Now We Can See

Follow The Thermals onTwitter

Watch the Video for 'Now We Can See'here

Watch the video for 'Pillar of Salt' here

14 Bristol (UK), Thekla
15 Leeds (UK), Brudenell Social Club
16 Edinburgh (UK), Sneaky Petes
17 Glasgow (UK), Stereo
18 Belfast (UK), Auntie Annies
19 Dublin (IE), Academy 2
21 Manchester (UK), Ruby Lounge
22 Birmingham (UK), Academy 3
23 London (UK), Cargo
24 Brighton (UK), Freebutt
26 Evreux (France), Le Rock Dans Tous Ses Etats Festival

SXSW 2009 - Sunburn, Lone Star, dead pigs...

2009-04-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

"If you wanna get it big time, go ahead and get it, get it big time!" - Yeasayer

No matter how many times you go to SXSW there's no good way of preparing for the millions of cool people and millions of idiots you will meet every second that you're awake. For a start I watched Kid Cudi with 4,000 drunk frat boys dancing like Flavor Flav after a really dodgy pill, it was surreal and not what I remembered from previous years, although it was a Red Bull party so what did I expect?

This years left turn was going out there with Domino act Wild Beasts (above) who I co-manage. I discovered a new behind the scenes Austin which was good and bad, hanging out with the Daytrotter guys, the Domino staff, as many free Lone Stars as you can drink, being treated like a second class citizen by pretty much every person who is trying to get you on and off stage within a 40 minute slot, no sound checks, no where to store gear and the worst traffic imaginable. All that a side we played some blinding shows and sold all of our merchandise which was sweet. The highlights were playing shows with Sky Larkin, Dirty Projectors, Chief, We Have Band and Paul Marshall.

We still had time to make new friends and see some sweet new bands like Local Natives (above), Young Widows (below), Wavves, Casiokids, The Soft Pack, Gringo Star, Blank Dogs, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Woods. I challenge anyone to go out there and not be overwhelmed, even after going three times its just too much to comprehend and take in. Its exhausting and makes you ill, but on the last day you still can't bring yourself to check out of the hotel.

Back In The New York Groove

2009-04-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

Hot new videos for ya...

First up is the bluesy sound of the impressively-haired C Gibbs with Brooklyn folkies Lucinda Black Bear and the single 'Medicine Bag':

It would appear that the American music press have been fawning over this dude a bit, so let's keep an eye out for him, shall we?

To contrast, let's have a look at the video for 'In New York, Everything Is Tropical' by former Whig and touring member of chart faves MGMT, the interestingly-named Kuroma:

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.

Scraping The Barrel

2009-04-01T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here's something to occupy you while we await Ash's promised epic post about SXSW; The new Kasabian video. Sweet freaking Jesus.

Now, I normally regard Kasabian as retards, but their videos have impressed me a couple of times; I think the promo for 'Shoot The Runner' is ace (blame YouTube and PRS for the lack of video) and the new one for their freshly released download 'Vlad the Impaler' is pretty cool too.

It's got a kind of 60s Hammer thing going on and features Vince Noir hamming it up with a massive stake:

Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler from Kasabian on Vimeo.

Thank fuck they're not in it.

Something For The Weekend

2009-03-27T10:35:00.001-07:00

Well, it's finally here; that's right folks, we have a date for the release of Spike Jonze's long-awaited adaptation of Maurice Sendak's much-loved children's book 'Where The Wild Things Are', and it's October the 16th. Dude!

I could go on about how the project has taken so long to surface due to objections from the original backers about Spike's 'dark' take on the story and the like, but here's what you need to know: it's got a screenplay by Dave Eggers, a soundtrack by Karen O and Girl have done some awesome looking decks (sooooooooo much better than the Lakai shoes that were out last year) which can be seen in the latest Wallride catalogue, if you are at all interested...

Here's the trailer:

but we do recommend that you view the high-def version on the Apple trailers site.

Sweet.

Unknown Pleasures

2009-03-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Design supremo Peter Saville gave a Q&A recently as part of the D&AD President's Lectures, opining on a variety of matters, including the North/South divide, his own career and the hugely over-hyped Banksy:

Peter Saville Q&A: What do you think of Banksy? from D&AD on Vimeo.

Watch the rest of the videos from Mr Saville's chat over on D&AD's Vimeo.

They're pretty interesting.

Lost in Austin

2009-03-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well, SXSW kicked off this week, so we swiftly despatched Ash out there armed with various digital imaging and recording devices in the vain hope that he may be able to gather some bits and bobs to show you good people.

However, it's all gone quiet on the Twitter front, so we can only assume that all the usual schmoozing and debauchery is taking up most of his time...

"The piano is a monster that screams when you touch its teeth."*

2009-03-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

After the recent day-glo videos we have posted, here is something a little different; Jeff Desom's beautiful and a-little-bit-weird short for Fat Cat artist Hauschka's latest release, "Morgenrot":

Hauschka - Morgenrot from Jeff Desom on Vimeo.

This is not the first time these two guys have collaborated together; Hauschka - also known as Volker Bertelmann - starred in and scored Desom's acclaimed graduation film Bloksky, and the look of the film is a development of his short film The Plot Spoiler which won best short at the Luxembourg Film Awards in 2007... which may seem random, but Jeff Desom is from Luxembourg, so I bet he was stoked.

*That's a quote from Andres Segovia, by the way.

"Dante is a scrubber..."

2009-03-12T03:56:00.000-07:00

To continue with the hip-hop theme once again, check out Reda's visit to uber-producer Dante Ross' apartment on this weeks instalments of 'Wednesdays With Reda' over at The Berrics... Dante got mad anecdotes, yo...

While you're there, you should scroll down a bit and watch Reda's visit to the set of My Name Is Earl. It's pretty entertaining - but then again, Giovanni Reda and his Brooklyn-Italian-American schtick is generally.

Enjoy.

Awesome Video Update

2009-03-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Uber-hipster SoMe, head honcho of Ed Banger Records and super-cool graphic designer, has added another string to his bow; he now seems to be doing a fairly decent job of directing music videos.

First up is the new video for "Day'N'Night" by Kanye's mate Kid Cudi and it's pretty freaking sweet. Here's a screen grab from it:

The reason for the pic is that I can't seem to get the embeddable player to work, so if you want to watch this vid (and I recommend that you do) I suggest you click this link to watch it over at DailyMotion. You can also check up on SoMe and his antics by checking his blog. All the cool cats have one these days, dontcha know?

So Hot Right Now

2009-03-09T13:49:00.001-07:00

Regular visitors to our humble little blog may have noticed a new addition on the right hand side...

Yup, that's right. We have set up one of those so-hot-right-now Twitter feeds with regular links to some cool shit... yeah?

Follow us here.

As if there weren't enough distractions already.

"Don't Call It A Comeback... I've Been Here For Years"

2009-03-04T04:15:00.000-08:00

That's right people... surf/skate/streetwear legend and possessor of the coolest signature ever, Mr Shawn Stussy appears to be coming out of self-enforced retirement, which I for one take as damn good news.

Since selling the brand that bears his surname about ten years ago, Shawn has been living the good life in Hawaii and messing about with various design-y things but is now ready to get back in the game with his new venture S-Double. He's also got a brand new blog to tell us about S-Double and to demonstrate his impeccable taste...

Introducing: GRINGO STAR

2009-03-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

Hailing from Atlanta, Gringo Star are traveling the path recently paved by fellow city dwellers Black Lips, this is cool because they have just announced a bunch of dates with Black Lips in the UK later this year, more news on that this Friday. With other bands such as The Soft Pack (aka The Muslims) starting to get a bit of buzz over here its only a matter of time before Gringo Star get some encouraging press. They deserve it, their songs are great fun, they have some great piano on their sixties inspired tracks and have more hooks than The Brian Jonestown Massacre when they were good. Pitchfork gave a great little review to their last single 'All Y'all' which features The Kinks style melodies and some of The Young Rascals style hand claps, role on 1966!!

Download the single 'All Y'all' Courtesy of Pitchfork right HERE

Gringo Star "All Y'all" from analogmonkey.tv on Vimeo.

Datamoshing

2009-03-03T03:36:00.001-08:00

You know when you have shitty reception on your Freeview and it gets all digital and fucked up? Well, if you use this technique in video editing, it has now got the name "datamoshing".

To illustrate, here is the video for Chairlift's "Evident Utensil" by Ray Tintori:

Never to be outdone, pro bandwagon-hopper Kanye West has got in on the act with his new vid for "Welcome to Heartbreak", directed by Nabil Elderkin:

The Green Hornet Rides Again

2009-02-27T07:34:00.001-08:00

Hot news from Hollywood: 'The Green Hornet', the radio/film serial and 60s TV show that introduced the world to the kick-ass moves of Bruce Lee is set for a big-budget remake starring none other than rising slacker Seth Rogen.

Normally, this sort of announcement wouldn't bother me, despite my love of real-deal comic books; however, this is notable because - according to this story from MTV - the director is going to be none other than French mentalist and visual genius Michel Gondry. That means it's going to be fucking awesome.

This confidence may seem ill-advised, given Hollywood's ability to completely fuck up decent source material ('Constantine' being just one example, and every appendage is crossed in the hope that 'Watchmen' delivers this weekend), but Monsieur Gondry has demonstrated his ability and flair in both the short and feature format so I reckon it's in pretty good hands.

To prove his breadth, let's have a look at this little short, commissioned for the reopening of the Forum des Images in Paris:

Attention Deficit

2009-02-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

Right. Pay Attention.

Difficult, isn't it?

Well, if you (like my good compadre Ash) find it hard to concentrate for any length of time, don't worry; you are not alone. In fact, this article on The Wired blog infers that contemporary technological lifestyles are seriously fucking us - and future generations - up.

The fact that we can be reached wherever and whenever we are by people attempting to communicate with us causes interruption, stress and distraction, and it is our attention and capacity for creative thought that suffers as a result. I could continue, but then there would be little point in bringing the article to your notice in the first place...

On the flipside, technology provides us with tools to share knowledge in ways that simply were not possible before... check ZeFrank's take on information compression from his stint doing 'The Show' a few years ago by clicking here.

Don't worry; the video is only a couple of minutes long, so it shouldn't keep you for too long...

BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY, Man on the Wire

2009-02-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

It was only a few months ago that Will Oldham released his last full length album Lie Down in the Light, but already it seems that there is more interest and dare I say hype for his forthcoming release Beware. He's doing press even, which is fairly unusual for such a private chap, but I'm not complaining, infact I'm positively giddy with excitement over new photo's and the chance to see this legend play in a couple of months. The album beware is released as usual on Domino and will be available on Monday 16th March and is already receiving high praise from the like of The Guardian and Independent. You can pre-order it now through Domino Mart.

If you like the above and below photos you can see more of them in the new issue of The Wire magazine or by clicking here. The photo's were taken by Eva Vermandel, you some of you may know from being involved in the Sigur Ros documentary last year. She also produced the book that accompanied Sigur Ros' last album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.

Here are the dates you can catch Will Oldham at in the next few months. The London date has sold out but he's worth traveling for.

20/04 - Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
22/04 - AB Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium
23/04 - Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
24/04 - Cigale, Paris, France
25/04 - Printemps de Bourges Festival, Bourges, France
28/04 - Espace, Torino, Italy
29/04 - Estragon, Bologna, Italy
30/04 - Auditorium San Domenico, Foligno (Perugia), Italy

"HDTV Is Worth Every Cent"

2009-02-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

It would appear that The Simpsons has had a shiny new hi-def makeover recently, updating the much-loved titles with even more sight gags:

Quicktime version here.

If you really want to nerd out over the changes, check out the detailed listing over at SimpsonsCrazy.

Personally, I can't believe they got rid of Otto. Or Flanders, for that matter.

The Dude Abides

2009-02-16T04:09:00.001-08:00

Good friend of mine and all-round local hero Warren "The Dude" Anderton took his guns out yesterday and won the Fixed Gear Leeds Valentine's Alleycat race, despite a heavy showing of some serious lycra-clad cycle dudes.

This may be of little interest to some of you, but Warren deserves major props at the very least for being an absolute gent and particularly for his tireless efforts postering around town for years, so you good people can know about all the fine gigs happening in this fair city. However, it's mostly an excuse to post this sick portrait of him by his occasional flatmate Dan Medhurst.

If you see Warren out and about, at least shake his hand. Or even buy him a drink. If you think about it, you kind of owe him.

Awesome Video Update

2009-02-11T04:10:00.000-08:00

Awesome video for Red Fang's new single "Prehistoric Dog" by Rob "Whitey" McConnaughy.

Quicktime here.

If you have seen this movie, the subject matter will seem reasonably familiar.

The Soft Pack debut single out today

2009-02-09T05:59:00.000-08:00

"Well I've got news for you" - The Muslims, 2007

The San Diego four piece 'The Soft Pack' formally know as The Muslims (Myspace deleted so don't bother searching) are releasing their much anticipated debut single today entitled 'Nightlife'. The label releasing it is Kemado who are responsible for launching the careers of Dungen, O'Death, The Sword and the awesome and heavily bearded stoner band Vietnam. If you haven't heard The Soft Pack, its okay don't worry they're still relatively new, your safe now. They kind of sound a little like The Strokes first album, mixed with the more commercial stuff from Black Lips and a dash of 13th Floor Elevators. Their tracks are instantaneously catchy and have great melodies, thus I believe they will be pretty massive this year.

Check their video for Extinction, recorded whilst they were known as 'The Muslims'. Press HERE for visual and aural stimulation.

Lux Interior 1946 - 2009

2009-02-05T03:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we failed to comment on the sad passing of John Martyn last week, but there was enough people bigging him up, so we thought we could let it slide.

However, today's news that The Cramps' Lux Interior, aka Erick Lee Purkhiser, passed away yesterday from a pre-existing heart condition is worth noting.

As a tribute, here's some footage from their legendary 1978 gig at Napa State Hospital. Mentals ahoy!

New ABE VIGODA EP out next week!

2009-02-05T03:16:00.000-08:00

"We run through the dead city"

New shit already? Sweet! LA based four piece Abe Vigoda are releasing a new EP on Post Present Medium on 17th February 2009. The EP features 5 brand new tracks and although its not a billion light years ahead of Skeleton it does establish them firmly as a force of nonsense and shoegazing to be reckoned with. XLR8R online magazine is hosting a free download on the track DON'T LIE which is the lead track from the new release (see below).

Pre order the EP from HERE.

Abe Vigoda - Don't Lie (MP3)

If you still can't get enough of the boys check out their blogspot and while you're at it pop in and say hi to The Mae Shi too as they started their new blog in December. Rock'n'Rolla!

Skart Attack

2009-02-05T02:38:00.000-08:00

Following on from our last post, all you culture vultures out there should cruise over to BoingBoing and check out the new four part series of videos focussing on Shepard Fairey and photographic genius Glen E. Friedman, based on conversations held around Friedman's exhibition at Shep's Subliminal Projects space.

There's another discussion of Shep's Obama portrait (and you can watch Shep get grilled by legendary interviewer Charlie Rose about his poster, and the rest of his work HERE), and Friedman discusses how he got into photography through skateboarding and punk rock and his work for practically every seminal hip-hop artist/act, including repeated shots of the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, Run DMC and just about everybody else on Def Jam when it started.

Check Friedman's work out here and peep the video on skate and punk rock photography below:

The other videos are on BoingBoing, or on their YouTube channel, and you can even subscribe to their daily podcast .

Watch and learn.

"For The Best In Men's Clothing..."

2009-02-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

It would appear that the Beastie Boys have had the genius idea to re-issue their seminal 1989 album 'Paul's Boutique' in a 20th Anniversary edition which you should all go out and buy, even if you already own it.

Described as "the first and most probably only hip hop record ever to be likened to Abbey Road, Dark Side Of The Moon and Pet Sounds" over at The Berrics, this is STILL the best Beasties album for its incredible use of samples alone (check the nerd-list of them all here), years before DJ Shadow got everybody hot under the collar about crate-digging, and receiving cult status as a result. For major B-Boy nerds, you can download an audio commentary off their website and you can listen to them rambling inanely about recording the album and living in LA in the late eighties.

To celebrate this, let's have a look at the video for 'Shadrach', probably (well, at least in my opinion) one of the best videos ever expressing the chaos of the live music experience...

Why do PETER, BJORN & JOHN always have the sweetest artwork?

2009-02-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

"From that day on, till I hit the bed, Amsterdam was stuck in my head" - Amsterdam by Peter, Bjorn & John

The answer to the proposed question is obviously, because they have good taste and are on a record label which allows them fairly loose creative control. There's nothing worse than looking forward to an album for months and then being completely let down because the artwork is shit. That may seem shallow but all my favourite records have something interesting about the front covers, its all part of how them become your favourite albums isn't it? Like when you see it in the shop window or desperately searching at a record fair, you become elated when you see that cover. I'm not sure who designed the new artwork for Peter, Bjorn And John's latest album, I've searched but to no avail. However I do know that a guy called Graham Samuels from Sweden designed the sleeves for their last album 'Writers Block' and also the singles released off it.

He also does adverts for what look like 70's laptops, although I think its more likely to be the Canadian media site Dose.ca.

Graham Samuels was also commissioned last year to produce a mini promo for Hewlet Packard called Serena' Sugar Fly' Williams KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, whose a 70's Blaxplotation character that enjoys forcing children to read using her special powers of threatening behavior, sign language and cliched ghetto terminology.

Peter, Bjorn And John's new album 'Living Thing' will be released on Monday 30th March 2009 and can be pre-ordered from HERE.

Radioclit / Esau Mwamwaya FREE album download...

2009-01-31T07:20:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know this is oldish news but some people haven't taken advantage of this yet!!

After chatting my ass off on Saturday night at Bad Sneakers I realised a whole load of people haven't (a) heard off the mix (b) didn't know it was free or (c) didn't know who I was and therefore ignored me and looked at me strangely. The album is a mix album by Radioclit Myspace and Esau Mwamwaya aka The Very Best

Download the album safely and for free from Here

It Was Forty Years Ago Today...

2009-01-30T06:35:00.000-08:00

"I'd like to say 'thank you' on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!"

The idea of a GERMS movie makes me feel numb...

2009-01-24T05:52:00.000-08:00

"I want toy tin soldiers that can Push and shove, I want gunboy rovers that'll wreck this club" Lexicon Devil, 1978

The idea of this films makes me think the myth and legend of Darby Crash (originally born Paul Beahm Sept 26th 1958 - Dec 7th 1980) may now be tainted the way Hollywood likes to do things. I'm all for biopics and sometimes stories are important and need to be told to a mass audience that can learn something from peoples lives and how they affected the future. However, a film dedicated to a band who were around less than 3 years and whose audiences were made up of a small collective of people who regularly traveled from club to club and city to city in search escapism and something to live for cannot be do justice to the person they think they are doing justice to. Its true that without The Germs there would be no Nirvana, Melvins, Meat Puppets, Circle Jerks, Gorilla Biscuits and to some extent 70% of what was known through the 80's as Hardcore, but this cannot be grasped without being there at the time. The irony being that the film is called What We Do Is Secret, well not for much longer mate!

Below: The real Darby Crash (Lorna Doom in the background)

Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to form there own opinion, but this is mine and its difficult to accept that this film could be of use except for maybe rekindling the fame that Pat Smear and Lorna Doom once enjoyed whilst playing with The Germs and then later Nirvana and other bands. My advice is to listen to MIA by The Germs and then read Lexicon Devil: The fast times and short life of Darby Crash and The Germs. Buy their music not their image.

For further interest watch The Decline of Western Civilization, a documentary made in 1981 tracing the origins and lives of the kids involved LA punk scene.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE video "My Girls"

2009-01-22T14:12:00.000-08:00

"Material things.... like a social status"

Officially the lead track from their new album Merriweather Post Pavilion, the song is My Girls which was the first leaked track off the album. It was pretty obvious this was the lead track, but the more I listen to the album the more I hear subtle things which make other songs more exciting. For instance 'Summertime clothes' with its glam-rock beat and story telling lyrics in almost impossible to listen too without wanting to grab your skateboard and cruise around in the sunshine, if only it wasn't raining....

Here's the link to the video, this is the Hi Bandwidth version on Pitchfork which is great quality CLICK ME!!

BLK JKS sign to Secretly Canadian (free MP3)

2009-01-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

According to The Guardian they sound like an African TV on the Radio...

They look like TV on the Radio's cousins from the sticks but Johannesburg's BLK JKS actually sound light years ahead with their bushwacker bass and calls to the wild. Having already featured in all the right magazines, from Blender to The Fader, now the middle class white dudes at The Guardian are even shedding their cord blazers and wearing wooden beads, whilst proposing they've been hip to Africa since Paul Simon's bizarre but somehow popular 1990 classic Rhythm of the Saints.

Rather than selling their soul to a major that would no doubt terrorize the very beds they sleep in for the rest of their natural lives, BLK JKS have stumbled nicely in the laps of Secretly Canadian. One of my favourite labels for the past 3 years, BLK JKS could do a lot worse than share their label umbrella with the likes of Anthony & the Johnsons and Jens Lekman.

Check out their rarely updated Blog

Free Download courtesy of Secretly Canadian BLK JKS - Lakeside (MP3)

BLK JKS Myspace

Secretly Canadian

The Audacity Of Hope

2009-01-19T09:12:00.001-08:00

Seeing as Obama is about to be inaugurated, and that the above image can be given a little credit for making that happen, let's have a look at our man Shepard Fairey talking about it on The Colbert Report the other night:

Tony Hart 1925 - 2009

2009-01-18T06:56:00.000-08:00

Another legend of children's telly, Tony Hart, has sadly passed away.

'Take Hart' was pretty much my favourite TV programme when I was a youngster... after 'Battle of the Planets', anyway.

Let's not forget that it is dear, dear Tony that also brought the genius of Morph to our attention.

Any misty-eyed sentimentalists out there longing to have their very own Morph, pine no longer; you can get a Morph modelling kit made from - what else? - Plasticine, the very smell of childhood.

Literary Pretensions

2009-01-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

Woah! Ash appears to have been on something of a blog frenzy during my apathy...

So, to business. The balding bloke pictured above is none other than writer David Peace, and if you are paying attention, you will be hearing a lot about him over the course of this year. There are several reasons for this, of which more later; firstly, a little background info...

Mr Peace hails from Ossett, near Wakefield and is therefore well acquainted with the West Riding of Yorkshire, and this is reflected in his work. Having left England and headed east to teach, he ended up in Tokyo and found himself writing about Leeds and the era that he grew up in.

For those of you that have not read any of his stuff, it generally features a combination of real events given a fictional sheen - if only to protect the innocent - and not-so-innocent.

One of his most famous books, 'The Damned United', a dramatised account of Brian Clough's well documented 44 days in charge of Leeds has been adapted into a movie starring top werewolf and Tony Blair/Kenneth Williams impersonator Michael Sheen (soon to be seen adding Sir David Frost to his schtick in Richie Cunningham's adaptation of West End/Broadway smash 'Frost/Nixon'), who appears to be going for some sort of hardest-working-man-in-Hollywood award, if not an Oscar. Anyway, I digress slightly.

'The Damned United' kept it real and spent the summer filming up here in good old Leeds, giving a bunch of locals some dodgy seventies hairdos to stand in as LUFC's famously vicious "Dirty Leeds" squad of 1974 and is set for release in cinemas on March 27; however, it is not really my reason for mentioning Mr Peace in the first place.

Another of Mr Peace's projects, 'The Red Riding Quartet', has been adapted into a trilogy for Channel 4 (to be broadcast sometime around Easter), with a screenplay by 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' (the movie, I hasten to add) writer Tony Grisoni and directed by James Marsh, Julian Jarrold and Anand Tucker, which was also made up here in Leeds in the late summer last year.

An altogether gnarlier prospect than 'The Damned United', 'Red Riding' weaves together a bunch of real-life events from the region's recent history including the hunt for The Yorkshire Ripper, the fitting up and unjust imprisonment of Stefan Kiszko and the high levels of corruption of the high-ranking Police officers leading the hunt for the Ripper, as well as the scandal of Leeds Internaional Pool architect John Poulson and some brutal Se7en-style killings.

The Guardian seems to be backing 'The Red Riding Trilogy' as a new benchmark in crime drama, featuring as it does practically all the professional northerners working in the acting business in the UK today, including fake Doctor Who David Morrissey, ageing droog Warren Clarke, seen-been Sean Bean, Paddy Considine, Mark Addy and Peter Mullan, as well as rising stars Andrew Garfield and Gerard Kearns.

It should all make for some fine viewing, as the books are highly praised for their grit and intelligent, punchy style and it looks like these films will be the same. But here's the real point of all this; eagle-eyed viewers may get to see one of our favourite venues, the legendary Brudenell Social Club in a cameo in the '1983' film as a rather seedy journalist drinking den.

Cool, huh?

PULLED APART BY HORSES video for 'Meat Balloon' + new single update

2009-01-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

"We are so macho, we are so so so!"

In typical Pulled Apart By Horses fashion, their debut single released almost two months ago has now got a video to go with it, which in terms of what videos are used for these days, its pretty pointless. However, its a fun video and anything to keep them in the limelight is good I guess. In further news their second release 'I punched a Lion in the throat' is being released a week on Monday on the 26th January by Too Pure Singles Club who are also releasing the first proper Bear Hands single too.

Pre order the single from here

Pulled Apart By Horses - Meat Balloon from Donut Shop on Vimeo.

Listen to the new ANDREW BIRD album in full.

2009-01-13T02:51:00.000-08:00

"How ‘bout some credit now where credit is due"

It's been almost two years now since the last Andrew Bird album and almost the same amount of time since he came to England to play live. Don't start getting a semi on though, his agent says he has no plans to come to the UK till late Summer. However, drop your pants this instant as his album is due out on Monday 2nd February through Bella Union in the UK. It comes as a 2CD Deluxe album or bog standard 1CD for normal everyday civilians who turn there nose up at paying an extra £4.00 for a cardboard slip case and some live tracks (oops!!).

The artwork is by a company called The Tiny Aviary, who are illustrators for the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History. Isn't that nice?

For those who suffer from must have or know-it-all syndrome you can listen to the album in its entirety care of NPR who are some sort of interweb geeks.

Click here to listen in full.

Fingers crossed we won't be hearing Andrew Bird on any forthcoming Michael Palin BBC adverts this year. Here's a reminder of the song that they didn't ruin by playing 18,000 times a day before and after Eastenders.

New Grizzly Bear album......imminent.

2009-01-12T01:57:00.000-08:00

"In the wind, in the yoke"

Okay, so that's not the earth shatteringly hot gossip you were wanting to read on a wet Monday morning whilst the wind outside is shaking squirrels out of the tress. However, its been a while since there was a full length Grizzly Bear album out there and I know their back catalogue off by heart now, so this is exciting news to a die hard fan.

Turns out that Nico Muhly will be on production duty for this, he's worked previously with Bjork and Bonnie 'Prince Billy so this should be pretty interesting. He's also composed arrangements for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, who it turns out will also be working on the album, oh the excitement!!

Below is the fantastic video for 'Knife' taken from their last full length album 'Yellow House'.

Ron Asheton 1948 - 2009

2009-01-11T17:27:00.001-08:00

Bogus. Ron's gone and Iggy is advertising insurance. What the fuck is the world coming to?

First hot album of the year: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

"A Peacebone got found in the dinosaur wing"

I've been a curious follower of Animal Collective for some years now. I've promoted two of their shows and due to Avey Tare (aka Davey Porter) being ill at the first Panda Bear ended up doing most of his solo stuff instead and I was floored completely. Since then I've immersed myself in their music, yet nothing seems to capture that experience of seeing them and Panda Bear live, it was that breathtaking. However, this is the album a lot of people have been waiting for, although 80% of die hard fans will suggest that they are releasing material that is far too safe in comparison to say their live album Hollindagain or perhaps Here Comes the Indian. But I thoroughly enjoyed this and think it will find them new fans in places they wish they never had, does that make sense?

Pre order the CD now from Domino, the LP was released yesterday.

New Black Lips track - FREE

2009-01-04T04:12:00.001-08:00

"You saw a highway down in New Orleans"

The kind people at Vice, Sandbag and the guys in Black Lips are giving their first track from their forthcoming album away completely free. The album is called 200 Million Thousand and is due out late February on Vice.

The release coincides with, as usual, a brain damagingly huge tour of the US and some key UK dates too. Don't worry if your city isn't below, they are heading back for a full UK tour in April and May.

15 Feb - London
16 Feb - Bristol
17 Feb - Glasgow
18 Feb - Manchester
19 Feb - Brighton

Now download the song!!

Black Lips - Starting Over MP3

New Years Eve at Bad Sneakers ten times the fun!!

2009-01-03T05:06:00.000-08:00

"Super Hang On" - Pulled Apart By Horses, 2008

If you managed to get in to New Years Balls at The Faversham on Wednesday then I don't need to describe the carnage and mayhem that was dished out in huge quantities. Special thanks to Wintermute, Dinosaur Pile Up, These Monsters, Pulled Apart By Horses, Jonny Strangeways, Youth Attack, Bearded Slave and everyone who chipped in to help the radness.

Below, These Monsters taking you down to Chinatown

"Thow ya gunz in the air" the Faversham crowd enjoying a silent euphoric moment.

The new answer to Star Wars, Dinosaur Pile Up...

For more NYE Bad Sneakers pics check out nice guy Bart Pettman's Flickr page. Bart also photographed Son of Nasty Fest in November 2008.

Finally if you enjoy wearing plaid flannel shirts, having no laces in your DM's and occasionally rocking some eyeliner here's Sonic Youth covering Nirvana for your download consumption.

Sonic Youth - Moist Vagina (Nirvana Cover) MP3

Jesse LeDoux aka the guy who did the Shins album artwork

2008-12-28T06:06:00.000-08:00

"A Warm light on a winters day"

Jesse LeDoux will be familiar to most people through his work on The Shins second album 'Chutes Too Narrow' although Jesse has also worked with Elliott Smith, Iron & Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, Pedro the Lion and The Little Ones to name a few. He's a regular designer for Suicide Squeeze (see below).

More recently and in keeping with the pre credit crunch tradition of wasting money on useless objects, Jesse created a lovely looking range of designer toys out that are available through Kidrobot.

Jesse's work can currently be seen up close as part of the 'creature Comforts' exhibition in Tokyo's super hip Sunshine Studio.

Below is the winter warmer 'Pink Bullets' by The Shins. The director was Adam Bizanski who also directed promo's for Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire.

IT'S CHRIIIIIIIIIISTMAAAAAAAAAS!

2008-12-24T01:25:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Criminally overlooked bands of 2008

2008-12-22T04:02:00.000-08:00

The Donkeys

The only reason I heard about these good ol' boys was when Dead Oceans sent out their new album list and this was on it, I'm not sure when they don't get much press but this is a simple and unpretentious band who make Wilco look like X Factor contestants.

The Donkeys Myspace

The Avett Brothers

Its actually a national embarrassment that here in the United Kingdom, the unfortunate Kings of Leon are sighted as wholesome farm boys turned good, in some hideous Gone with the Wind oh aren't Americans who vote Republican and chew straw cute kind of way. When in actual fact they are shallow mirror loving sex pests who can't write more than one tune per album. There's a million great bands out there if you fancy a bit of banjo played by some buff beard boy who strangled his father for striking his mother for scolding him with coffee, like these lads.

The Avett Brothers Myspace

The Great White Jenkins

The most original country jazz soul tinged Americana which is yet to be realized by any record label and is thus one of the major tragedies of 2008 alongside the market collapse of November and subsequent economic recession. If you can handle an hour or two of Akron/Family or Megafaun then this is so up your street its your neighbour, so check it out and buy their album for $10 from their Myspace.

The Great White Jenkins Myspace

Wildbirds & Peacedrums

Some of you may have been fortunate enough to see new Leaf signing Wildbirds & Peacedrums with Caribou earlier this year, others may be looking forward to see them support the highly overrated and somewhat annoying Lykke Li on her forthcoming tour. Either way I imagine and will bet my Christmas dinner than these guys are playing some serious festivals this year. By serious festivals I don't mean a lot of festivals I actually mean those festivals that are all serious n shit like Greenman, ATP etc.....arf.

Wildbirds & Peacedrums Myspace

The Avett Brothers - Murder in the City

Best of Daytrotter 2008: Fleet Foxes, AA Bondy, Blitzen Trapper, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

2008-12-18T00:08:00.000-08:00

As if completely forgetting about the last post we did, here's the first of our best of's (sorry)....

One of my favourite discoveries of 2008 was Some Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, I honestly thought they would be one of the big breakthrough acts on the indie scene this year but unfortunately people would rather buy a record by the Ting Tings, what the fuck is that about? Anyway SSLYBY are superb and their live stuff is totally on point, check out their Daytrotter Session from March this year the week after they played SXSW, splendid.

Some Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Daytrotter Session

It would be hard to not mention Fleet Foxes in a best of 2008, so rather than go on about their album, which in my opinion isn't half as good as hearing them live, I'd post this some what overlooked live session recorded in April before they blew up. They player slower than they do on record when they play live and I prefer it like that.

Fleet Foxes - Daytrotter Session

Another brilliant find from SXSW 2008, me and my friend Harry met him and his girlfriend on the first night and went to see The Felice Brothers, then checked AA out at the Brooklyn Vegan showcase with Deer Tick (who looks like Matthew McConaughey). Anyway this is beautiful country songwriting and deserves a few listens.

AA Bondy - Daytrotter Session

Much written about but seldom seen Blitzen Trapper have a slightly unassuming aura about them, I expected them to be all loud and aggressive in session for some reason but its super restrained and sounds like they've been doing their mountain music for decade's, a great great band.

Blitzen Trapper - Daytrotter Session

It's The End Of The World As We Know It...

2008-12-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

These are truly dark times; make no mistake about it.

Check out this incredibly topical new video from worldwide hipsters N*E*R*D:

Now, I'm not really down with Pharrell and his whole pop-culture-polymath image; after all, it is widely rumoured that 'Skateboard P' can't actually skate...

However, I am definitely down for the Malloys, the chaps that directed the vid as they have churned out a bunch of good work, including some seriously good surf movies and one of my favourite videos from this year, Goldfrapp's 'Caravan Girl':

Hmmm. Maybe we should get on the bandwagon and do one of those end-of-year 'best of' lists...

A new beginning for Music?

2008-12-11T03:17:00.000-08:00

Below (Your parents will recognise this, its called a Record Player)

Last week one of the biggest music distributors in Europe closed, Pinnacle, this is probably the worst news any record label or shop could hear. It means that all the labels that Pinnacle distribute, now have no way of getting their stock into record shops before Christmas. In basically could mean the end of some labels, I'm not exaggerating. A few weeks ago Woolworths announced it was to close after 120 years of trading. Not only had Woolworths become one of the longest running family owned retailers but they also have a huge distribution company which goes by the name of EUK. EUK distribute to the second largest UK high street retailer, Zavvi. Zavvi now have announced that in the near future the only high street music retailer could be HMV, DOH!!

On the bright side, if you love music and aren't too nostalgic about where you buy it from or what format it comes in, you probably are in the best position at the moment to expand your music collection. This year Nokia announced their latest project, 'Comes With Music'; a strong contender as an iTunes competitor and run by a company who definitely knows hows to tap in to the music-loving public's sense of loyalty... ...free music! Correct, free music. The new Nokia music store and software allows the customer to download up to 3,000.000 songs (Three Million, you read correctly) and keep them on your new Nokia phone. The thing is, the phones are no bigger - in fact they probably smaller than an iPod. Carphone Warehouse, 3 and Nokia are current retailers for the phones, but the music you download online from the shop. The software is just as easy to download as iTunes and takes up very little space on your computer.

The Iron Wagon have got their hands on one of these awesome handsets, along with a card which allows you to download as many MP3s as you possibly can. To get your winter mitts on one answer this question and email the answer and your daytime address to ash@theironwagon.co.uk

Q: What is the industry standard bit rate setting for MP3 or MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3?

The winner will be notified this Friday 12th December and receive their phone on Tuesday morning next week.

Some Telephone, MP3 related MP3s

Chairlift - Bruises (iPod song) Courtesy of Above the Fold

The Nerves - Hanging On The Telephone

Tom Waits - Telephone Call From Istanbul

Oliver Postgate 1925 - 2008

2008-12-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

Storyteller, peace activist, historian... this great man will be sadly missed.

This Is Your God

2008-12-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

As we have mentioned before, it would seem that Shephard Fairey's star is firmly in ascendance; everyone appears to be getting in on his shit.

For example, have a look at this video for a tune called "Money" by NASA (aka Squeak E Clean and DJ Zegon) featuring a whole host of groovy guests including David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge and Z-Trip, and a whole bunch of animated versions of Shep's artwork:

Cool, huh?

It's Not Easy Being Green...

2008-12-05T02:25:00.000-08:00

We're sure that all you super-cool streetwear enthusiasts were aware that the legend that is Kermit The Frog was the star of Supreme's Spring/Summer 2008 campaign, shot by none other than unbelievably-hot-right-now and US President Elect-approved photographer Terry Richardson.

Here's a little video of the shoot:

Anyway, the point being that we all know that Kermit is cool; further proof can be found in this video for LCD Soundsystem's epic 'New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down' by director Simon Owens. Absolute genius.

**BOGUS LEGAL SHIT ALERT**

It would appear that the suits in the EMI legal department have had some sort of paddy and demanded that the videos have been removed from YouTube & Mr Owens' site since we originally posted this... Wankers. But hey! we found it again for you all to enjoy.

You could also checkout Sad Kermit and witness Kermit expressing his angst in a series of covers of "some of the most depressing songs of the 21st century".

However, it really doesn't get much better than this:

New SKY LARKIN video 'Beeline'

2008-12-04T05:32:00.000-08:00

They're young, they write supreme pop songs, they're signed to Wichita, they're on tour with Stereolab, jealous yet? Its Sky Larkin.

Here's their latest video for their next singe Beeline, directed by Josh Horowitz (no relation Adam Horowitz from the Beastie Boys).

Sky Larkin - Beeline from Sky Larkin on Vimeo.

Plus here's a little Christmas message from the trio....

Sky Larkin - We Three Kings from Sky Larkin on Vimeo.

FLYING LOTUS - BBC Essential Mix, Download Now!!

2008-12-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

The amazing production skills of Flying Lotus aka Steven Ellison also extends to superb song choice too. The great nephew of Jazz legend Alice Coltrane recently hit up the boring, always play it safe, post John Peel slobs at the BBC Radio One studios to bless them with the ill shit, believe! This guy is from the future.....

XLR8R TV feature on Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus Myspace

Download Here...

Megaupload Link

Flying Lotus / Essential Mix Tracklisting

Alice Coltrane ‘Galaxy In Turiya’
Charlie Hayden+ Egberto Gisomonti / Gonjasufi ‘Testament’
Flying Lotus ‘Massage Situation (Stripped)’
Dimlite ‘Sun Sized Twinkles’
Flying Lotus ‘Robertaflack Ft. Dolly’
Flying Lotus ‘Robertaflack (Mike Slott Reflunk)’
Ahu ‘I Know All The Bitches (Bullion Remix)’
Heralds Of Change ‘Amuse’
Carlos Y Gaby ‘Happy Summer Solstice’
Pudge ‘Yung Infamous’
Dorothy Ashby ‘Myself When Young’
Nosaj Thing ‘Bach’
LL ‘Turf Day’
Flying Lotus ‘Infinitum (Dimlite Remix)’
Clark ‘Springtime Epigram’
Burial ‘Shutta’
Blank Blue ‘Blank Blue (Flying Lotus Remix)’
Daedelus ‘I’m String Struck’
MHE ‘Untitled’
Daedelus / Madvillain ‘Experience/Accordion (Flying Lotus Live
Remix)’
Hudson Mohawke ‘Zoo0000oom’
Rustie ‘Black Block Remix’
Teebs+Jackhigh ‘Idea 1 (Clutch)’
Matthewdavid ‘Tallahassee Tapes’
Martyn / Flying Lotus ‘Vancouver+Pet Monster Shotglass’
Fulgeance ‘Chico (Dorian Concept Remix)’
Joker ‘Solid State’
Rusko ‘Moanerz’
Daddy Kev ‘Invite8’
Ras G ‘Star Messenger’
Madlib ‘Unreleased Gem’
SAMIYAM ‘Cheesecake Backslap’
Knowledge ‘Dawn’
Flyamsam ‘Princess Toadstool’
Sa-Ra ‘Hollywood’
Muhsinah / Flying Lotus ‘With Me/ Melt’
Flying Lotus ‘Dissecto’
Flying Lotus ‘Breathe’
Mike Slott ‘Home’
Flying Lotus ‘Sangria Spin Cycles (Ambient Mix)’
Danny Breaks ‘Cosmic Dust’
Flying Lotus ‘Beginners Falafel (Free The Robots Remix)’
SAMIYAM ‘Falafel Cannon’
Flying Lotus ‘Beginners Falafel’
Slum Village ‘Players (Instrumental)’
Flying Lotus ‘Cackle’
Flying Lotus ‘Raise It Up’
Osborne ‘Definition Of A Breakdown’
Baron Zen ‘Burn Rubber (Dam-Funk Remix)’
Mono/Poly ‘Needsdeodorantbitch’
Chocolate Star / Nelly Furtado ‘Stay With Me/Promiscuous’
Gonjasufi ‘Suzie Q’
Kiing Midas ‘Lost (Flying Lotus Live Remix)’
Rusko / Flying Lotus ‘Terminal3’ / ‘Tea Leaf (Dancers Live Remix)’
Daedelus ‘Hours Minutes Seconds (Beat Invitational Version)’
Kode9+Flying Lotus ‘Kryon’
Zomby ‘Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)’
Busta Rhymes ‘What Up’
SAMIYAM ‘Crystal Lake’
Weather Report ‘River People’
SAMIYAM ‘Flintstone Car’
Flying Lotus ‘Backpack Caviar’
Radiohead ‘Reckoner (Flying Lotus Remix)’
Bjork ‘All Is Full Of Love’
Broadcast ‘Winter Now’
Portishead ‘Elysium’
Linda Perhacks ‘Hey Now Who Really Cares’
Flying Lotus ‘Infinitum (Exile Remix)’
Flying Lotus ‘Live Set Practice Run’

BBC Essential Page

Happy 73rd WOODY ALLEN!

2008-12-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

"Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon" - Woody Allen

Woody Allen, possibly one of the best comedy writers and directors around is 73 today, 1st December. There's not a lot to say about this man which he or someone else hasn't said before and better. So here's a personnal birthday message for him from Henry Rollins, also some songs which are inspired by Woody Allen.

A great scene from 'Play it again, Sam'

Ella Fitzgerald - Manhattan - MP3 (courtesy of Achtungbaby)

Leonard Cohen - First We Take Manhattan - MP3 (courtesy of Boxstr)

Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue - MP3(courtesy of Aural States)

Sammy Bananas - All the girls - MP3 (courtesy of Discodust)

Silver Jews - Tennessee MP3

Festive Fifty

2008-11-27T06:22:00.001-08:00

Those of us that mourned the passing of John Peel have also been missing out on Peel's annual roundup of excellence, the Festive 50... but have no fear, dear reader, for it is back back back.

Those excellent folk at Dandelion Radio, the online radio station dedicated to keeping the spirit of St. Peel alive, are compiling a list for this year, to be broadcast for a month from Christmas Day. The reason for telling you this is that you too can have your say: vote for your top three tunes of 2008 here and peruse Dandelion-generated Festive 50s from the last few years.

The reason for the urgency is that polling closes on 30 November, so that gives you over the weekend to mull these choices over...

Get clicking.