A Brief Update (BLURBLURBLURBLURBLURBLUR)

Oh dear I still haven't properly got this up and running yet, oh well.

Anyway, coming soon there should be by top albums of 2008, and when I have a chance, perhaps a look at some upcoming artists/etc.

Firstly, however, you may have noticed BLUR are back. Which is awesome on so many levels, and comes just months after Damon pretty much said it wasn't going to happen. An act I like to call doing an Oasis. This is because many of the things that Oasis have done (release a greatest hits, work on new material before 2010, play America again) happened just after they said that they would never do that. Oh well.

Incidentally, this seems to have also led to The Smiths and The Stone Roses to confirm/deny/drum up support for a reunion next year also.

So of course, I already have tickets and I can't fucking wait.

And for buying tickets I was given a promotional code for Damon's colloboration with old Gorillaz partner Jamie Hewlett and legendary chinese director Chen Shi-zheng, Monkey: Journey To The West and London's white elephant shaped dome, The o2 Arena.

It was pretty cool, to be honest, although if I had paid full price I would have been a bit peaved, to say the least. For the price we paid, however, it was a brilliant piece of thatre/opera/acrobatics that I would gladly watch again. Plus I'm 99% set on buying the Albarn-written soundtrack, and I would recommend that anyone who can afford the £60 price (or find a similar offer to mine) should go.

Plus it also reignited my suspicions to visit Kong Studios, which despite lack of recent Gorillaz activity, remains the single greatest band website ever.

I'm also pleased to announced that Arcade Eden have been snapped up by a label and will soon be releasing some of their tracks, but more of that later.

Finally, I have massive newfound respect for Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.

See you soon.

ALBUM: Deerhunter - Microcastle

Okay, so this reviews a little late, but I'm a little late onto this one. I recently (i.e. a couple of months back) listen to Cryptograms and was stunned. It was brilliant.

Then, yesterday I read a review in my student paper about their latest effort Microcastle, clearly written by a new fan of theirs, literally gushing so much with praise it seemed hard to believe that the pages weren't sticking together.

So I decided to listen to the album myself and give it a quick review. So here it is.

Microcastle both starts where Cryptograms left off and completely destroying any memory of it. The opening duo "Cover Me (Slowly)" and "Agoraphobia" help kick start and set the scene of the album in the way every opening track should - by yanking the listener by the scruff of the neck and saying "this fucking album starts right here, listen to all of it right now or piss off".

"Little Kids" insteads takes the old lo-fi touches, with hint of Pavement and Guided By Voices, and constantly builds texture and layer before wandering off into nowhere, possibly never to be seen again. However everything here seems at once so monstrously delicate and intentional that it would take a lesser person to attribute any of this to laziness.

I can't help but be reminded of having to pore over poetry at school and focus on how the "poet's cunning use of a repeated vowel sound to convey their emotions" when it was clearly just dumb luck on their part. However, with this album I can start to see the point. Using somewhat cheesy guitar lines and effects on tracks like "Microcastle" juxtaposed with Bradford Cox's gentle and unconventional vocals is nothing short of genius.

If anything, the one genre which shines through here is clearly shoegaze. Microcastle is basically Loveless with the guitars turned down a bit. Cox's voice is an instrument itself, becoming part of the background and drawing you even further in.

In the words of the review I read, it really is an album to turn up loud an enshroud yourself in.

8.5/10

Microcastles is out now on 4AD records in the UK.

School Of Seven Bells

Ex-Secret Machine Benjamin Curtis' new band, on the face of it, couldn't appear any more different. His previous band's material garned "prog" labels and an obvious classic-rock influence. All the people in said band were also male.

That's about where the differences end, as his latest group, School Of Seven Bells, match the tight dynamic and skill, as well as the droning, driving percussion, and feature the twin talents (yes, twins) of Alejandra and Claudia Deheza of On!Air!Library.

Together, the Brooklyn trio have created a sound somewhere between Frou Frou's stuttering and filtered techno with CSS without all their annoying retro throwbacks and obsessions with alcohol. Sort of.

Currently touring the US with M83, go to their Myspace and check out "Half Asleep".

And then buy their album, Alpinism. Or maybe wait until I've reviewed it, first.

http://www.myspace.com/schoolofsevenbells

Air Castles

No, they're not to be confused with those pesky Canadians who, with one of the duo topping the cool list, will be unironically dropped like a stone by those who cared about them in the first place, but is the solo work of a certain Max Mansson of Londoners Burn Down Rome.

His debut EP "Night & Day" is about to drop on the 24th in the UK before being unleashed onto the rest of the world soon after, and if its as good as what is given as an appetiser on his MySpace, he takes the softer and more epic part of the indie-rock spectrum, and is easily likened to such luminaries as Death Cab For Cutie and Band Of Horses, among others.

Definitely one to watch.

http://www.myspace.com/aircastlesmusic

Does It Offend You, Yeah? + South Central @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth, 21/10/08

Some lazy journalists would refer to the current musical climate, at least in terms of British Indie-dance crossover groups, as “post-new-rave”. Ridiculous as this sounds, it is almost true to say that gone are the day-glo colours, garish sirens and hideous large-print shirts. Gone is the faux retro noise barely hiding the post-modern Franz-Ferdinand art-rock beneath, and gone too, thankfully, are the kids reminiscing about a decade they viewed from the glint in their fathers’ eyes.

Instead what is left are bands like South Central, pure tunesmiths who manage the dance-rock balancing act to a fault by being a duo by day in the studio and a band at night on stage. This distinction gives them the edge in terms of a live show over such artists as Simian Mobile Disco or even Justice, both of whom South Central almost match musically, but with much more energy than watching two guys push play on their drum machines. Instead they bring an infectious energy that quickly spreads throughout the crowd, especially during their extended cover of slightly more recent rave classic, Josh Wink’s “HHHhHigher State Of Consciousness”, which caps an impressive, if unfamiliar, set to a close.

Does It Offend You, Yeah?, the band literally named after David Brentism, hit the stage soon after, and long before the crowd has a chance to recover from South Central, and begin a short set based largely from their eponymous debut. Even with a set featuring singles “Let’s Make Out” and “We Are Rockstars”, it’s soon clear that the band, shrouded in smoke and with lead singer James sitting near the back with a crocked leg, aren’t as energetic as they would usually be, and seem somewhat jaded with touring and promotion already. The crowd is yet to sense this, however, and are vociferous as ever in their request for their favourite band to play their favourite song, screaming as one for “Epic Last Song” as a suitable, if not necessarily apt, encore. After a hurried apology about “not doing that one live”, they instead treat the crowd to a slightly drowsy version of Devo’s classic “Whip It”. While the irony isn’t lost on some of the crowd, its still good enough to bring the night to a close.

South Central are touring throughout the UK and Europe and release the Owl Of Minerva EP on November 3rd. DIOYY?'s tour continues until the 30th in Leeds and is their last tour before working on their second album

Late Night Crap: Bands that I want to see live

Okay, this is a fairly generic list, but I have some rules, because without rules, people would be beating each other up and defecating everywhere. Maybe.

Rule #1: Band must still be active (i.e. alive and still with their "classic line-up", unless stated)
Rule #2: The assumption is that they will be at theiw own gig, playing their "hits".

List:
Minus The Bear
Seem like they would be a laugh, and have been heavily recommended as a great live band.

Sonic Youth
My friend saw them play Daydream Nation in its entirety. Arsehole.

Animal Collective
Said friend also saw these guys. Twice.

Beck

Daft Punk
I saw Muse at Wembley on the last date that Daft Punk played England. After listening to Alive 2007, I soon realised that this was big mistake.

Sigur Ros
Especially at an outdoor gig in the middle of nowhere, with the band playing on a homemade stage during Iceland's neverending summer just like on that documentary of theirs.


Wow, I need to listen to some more music.

Goodnight.

Glorious Return -ish?

Okay, okay.

Basically I've had a bit of an unforeseen blogging hiatus over the summer due to real life getting in the way. Some things had to get put on the backburner and this blog ended up being one of them. To those of you who are still here (apparently) thankyou for your patience, normal service will be resumed shortly.

I've bought a few albums over the summer, although not as many as I would like (again - real life issues - this time crippling student poverty) and you may see some retrospective reviews. During the summer I also went to the Reading Festival and I all I can really remember is Rage Against the Machine and, for some reason XX Teens. Not because the rest was bad or that I was wasted, but just that my memory really is that shit.

Plus I went from loving Kings Of Leon to hating them during my job which forced me to constantly listen to Radio 1 "Daytime" (AKA hey, we haven't played that song in the last quarter of an hour, let's play it again until our listeners want to burn their ears off with matches) to that tripe they call a "comeback single". Never went away etc. etc. My (i.e. someone elses) opinion on their album (which I haven't even listened to.... very lazy) is summed up by a fantastic review on the music website that appears to hate music, Pitchfork.

Enjoy, until I have a chance to catch up properly myself.

Radiohead @ Victoria Park, Hackney, 24/06/2008

I've had the undoubtable pleasure of seeing Radiohead once before, on my 18th Birthday two years ago at the Hammersmith Apollo, where, amongst classic tracks, they squeezed in more than half-dozen unreleased "new" tracks that would eventually form the bulk of their next album In Rainbows, over a year later. I was very eager to repeat what was possibly the best gig of my life.

With doors opening at four, and DJs keeping the crowd somewhat entertained (assuming that all of the rumoured 30,000 members of the crowd were familiar with and big fans of minimal beats and filter noise), Bat For Lashes took to the stage in the only scheduled support slot relatively late on. They, AKA Natasha Khan and her backing band, proceeded through a 45 minute set of Bjork-ish music that was far more impressive compared to my aborted attempt to see them at last year's Connect Festival in Scotland. I think my exact words then were "Sod this, this is boring."

After some technical difficulties and a brief acoustic set, the band were able to finish, with almost everything plugged back in properly, with a rousing version of "What's A Girl To Do?", which fitted comfortably alongside some very strong new material for a new album rumoured to be out before the end of the year.

During the brief intermission between acts we discussed the gigs apparent green credentials. The t-shirts, although still extortionately priced at £20, were each made from recycled plastic bottles that had been saved from landfill sites. The stage lights were energy efficient, meaning that they gave off less heat and therefore used less energy. The band themselves were re-using recycled water carriers for their onstage drinks and had elected to take with them "only" twelve guitars and two laptops for the whole tour, and use alternative forms of transport to airplanes whereever possible. All very respectable, but still did not explain why this gig cost £40 a head.

However, as soon as Thom, Jonny, Ed, Colin and Phil walk out on stage, all thoughts on environment and cost are forgotten as they begin with In Rainbows' opener "15 Step", which is just as good, if not better, than when I heard it two years previously. It sets par for the course in which every track, bar "House Of Cards", from In Rainbows is given an airing. It is for songs in before a pre-Rainbows track is played, in the form of the still-amazing "National Anthem", and over an hour into their set before anything pre-Kid A, with "Just" possibly being the most well-received song of the night, although hopefully not just because of Mark Ronson's brassed-up bastardisation, which is followed by the first of three OK Computer tracks; "Climbing Up The Walls".

In the meantime, relatively obscure album tracks in the form of fan-favourite "The Gloaming" from Hail To The Thief and "Dollars & Cents" from Amnesiac. Alongside these is are the fantastic "Pyramid Song" and the blistering former single "There There". Of all the latest tracks, the clear fan-choice is "Reckoner", whereas my personal choice was the awe-inspiring "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi". Even "Faust Arp", featuring just Thom and Jonny, is impressive.

Before "Everything In Its Right Place", a slightly chattier Thom begins a chant of "Free Tibet" with the Tibetan flag draped over the piano and a couple of amps. The main set ends with "How To Dissapear Completely" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place", a suitable summing up of the night so far.

In the interim, there is the talk of what they will play for their (possibly) multiple encores, with some naively hoping they will give a certain "Creep" an airing. With Thom returning with a piano anticipation heightens and there is talk of perhaps "Karma Police" or "Sail To The Moon". Instead, there is an audible moan from sections of the crowd as he begins to play one of my favourite In Rainbows tracks, "Videotape".

The rest of the encore is curiously hit-free, almost in defiance to Parlophone's decision to issue a greatest hits record without their permission since their departure from the label. Instead, the brilliant "Airbag", complete with jingle bells, is played, with The Bends' opener "Planet Telex" also being played alongside the curiously chosen "Bangers n' Mash" - a song which only features upon the second In Rainbows disc availiable in the limited edition discbox last December (which incidentally is currently selling on ebay for almost double the £40 original price). The first encore ends with an unfortunately lacklustre version of "The Tourist" from OK Computer.

The second encore again begins with Thom behind a piano, this time alone and playing a barely recognisable version of "Cymbal Rush" from his solo album The Eraser. This was followed by Thom and Jonny performing "You And Whose Army?" with a camera putting Thom's face on the big screen (pictured) as he played piano. Finally, they ended on the classic Kid A track "Idioteque", with the whole band onstage.

Overall, the gig went on to show that Radiohead can pretty much play any song, from any album, and still put on a great gig, showing how consistent they have been ever since 1995's The Bends right through to last year's In Rainbows. Some reviews will criticise the lack of "hits", but if anything, this shows how the band don't feel the need to rest on the laurels and rely on songs like "No Surprises", "Karma Police" and "Street Spirit" to make a show absolutely brilliant.

While it may not be considered a classic gig in terms of their legendary Glastonbury appearances in 1997 and 2003, it just goes to show how great a band they still are and how relevant they remain.

Radiohead continue their world tour through Europe and North America this July and August.

ALBUM: Feeder - Silent Cry

Let's be honest here, ever since their landmark album Echo Park, Feeder have become more and more of a guilty pleasure. It's not that they are particularly bad - not at all - their brand of post-grunge anthemic arena-pop-rock remains as infectious as ever, it just that they have never really broken a huge amount of new ground in front of their competitors, but then again, no one ever asked them too.

If nothing else, this album demonstrates how Feeder are the strawberry jam of the British music world. It can pretty much be put on anything within reason, be it on toast, porridge or the line-up of Download Festival. Some may prefer blueberry jam or marmite, but no one can really say they don't like strawberry jam. Strawberry Jam is also simple, sweet and one third japanese.

But before I over-stretch an already straining metaphor, Feeder's latest album, and their first full album of new material since their Singles album and re-issued B-Sides compilation Picture Of Perfect Youth, has all the hallmarks of what has come before. The anthemic lyrics, the less-than-subtle loud-chorus, quiet-verse formula that they have used in almost every song, and the general feeling that these tracks were made to be blasted out into an arena-sized auditorium full of teenagers.

Opening track "We Are People" starts out like Weezer before Nichols and a frankly epically-proportioned drumbeat drive the track on. "Itsumo" follows a similar formula, but with an intro more in tune to Coldplay's "Fix You". "Fires" is unashamed pop with its ballady yet driving intro and verse, countered with the somewhat inevitable guitar crescendoes for the chorus. "Heads Held High" is an acoustic number that would not have been out of place on Pushing The Senses.

For a while in the development of this album, there was rumoured to be a return to the old Feeder sound that many fans had been asking for, and this is present in a couple of cases, but the tongue-in-cheek joviality of Feeder's early albums Swim and Polythene is gone in favour of the "emotionally availiable" sound of their most recent albums. At the time of their last album, the band were roundly criticised for apparently being influenced by both the fashionable misery-mongers of early 00s bands such as Coldplay and Travis, as well as trying to satisfy the softer end of the emo-market.

However, throughout Silent Cry, it is difficult not to notice how much of a mark that the somewhat softer Pushing The Senses has made, and while it's unlikely for Feeder to be placed in the same sentence as pop-emoers 30 Seconds to Mars, it would not be a massive leap of imagination to link the two, insulting as that is to Feeder.

Rather ironically, even though the album resembles the poppier edge of their countrymen Lostprophets, it contains fewer hooks than any of their previous singles, despite what greatest hits single "Lost & Found" appeared to be alluding to, instead favouring power over precision, blasting every song to within the very inch of their lives. Basically - it all sounds a bit samey, but still good enough to put on your toast.

6/10

Silent Cry is out now in the UK on Echo records.

New Sigur Ros Album!

I know its old news now, but Sigur Ros have announced details of their new album out on June 23rd. It is going to be called Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, which roughly translates as "With A Buzzing In Our Ears We Play Endlessly". It also features at least one track in English ("All Alright") and is a bit of a change in direction for the band - who have said they were greatly influenced by their acoustic shows in Iceland that were featured in their documentary Heima.

Track Listing:

1. "Gobbledigook" – 3:05
2. "Inní mér syngur vitleysingur" (Within me a lunatic sings) – 4:05
3. "Góðan daginn" (Good day) – 5:15
4. "Við spilum endalaust" (We play endlessly) – 3:33
5. "Festival" – 9:24
6. "Suð í eyrum" (Buzz in ears) – 4:56
7. "Ára bátur" (Row boat) – 8:57
8. "Illgresi" (Weeds) – 4:13
9. "Fljótavík" [A place in Iceland] – 3:49
10. "Straumnes" [A mountain near Fljótavík] – 2:01
11. "All alright" – 6:21

Gobbledigook was made free from sigurros.com, where the whole album is currently streaming, as well as Last.fm, where the album is free to listen to ahead of its release.

It is also availiable as a deluxe "Discbox" for $120 (£60) similar to Radiohead's self-released double-vinyl, double-cd gift set for last year's alum In Rainbows.

Sigur Ros Homepage

Video HIT

Mystery Jets - Two Doors Down


This is the new single from the Mystery Jets, from their latest album, Twenty One. Not to be confused with that band, Three Doors Down, or that decade, the 80s.

PS: I'll write some more crap soon.

ALBUM: Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue

These genetically-generated scamps seem to have made themselves known to me through adverts, tv appearances and blog hype. Like any other band really. These guys, in particular featured in the american episode of Skins (the one where Cassie goes mental and fucks off to New York) and a mobile phone provider advert. Actually, there's nothing stopping me saying who it is, its Orange, and despite them not being my provider, the person who decides the soundtrack to the adverts has an awesome taste in music.

But I digress.

Having heard only "Hummingbird" and their take on Grizzly Bear's "Knife", my hopes were very high. I was expecting something that was both unashamedly poppy and energetic, yet with enough ragged fuzzy bass and strained guitar that I wouldn't feel too guilty about it.

I wasn't really expecting this.

Opener and title track "Red, Yellow and Blue" has the same afrobeat air of Vampire Weekend, yet lacking its pretension and soul-sucking precision. Lalonde's voice reminiscent of Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Josh Grier of Tapes n' Tapes, and eventually so does the rest of the band. Struggling for an original sound, only "Hummingbird" immediately stands out and is clearly and somewhat predictable the best track of the album.

The mood is often lethargic despite the upbeat tone and tempo, and the band all too often descend into Jack Penate style guitar wankery that takes away so much from the often delicate chaos of the subtle guitar and bass interplay.

What does happen when the band slow down for the second act, is that their somewhat timeless influence does shine through, showing a pleasant mix of the contemporary and the classic.

But, to be honest, its just all a bit samey. The same tricks are pulled out of the bag in every song and the singer's voice soon becomes wearing (again bearing similarity to Alec Ounsworth) on an album that is not nearly as fun as "Hummingbird" suggested. It's not a horrible listen, and is a bit of a grower, really, except that that's not what I wanted. Its horribly reminiscent of being told I'd have to clean my plate of horrible vegetables before getting any chocolate ice cream - and then finding that these disgusting carrots have filled me up already.

I'm pretty these guys weren't Canadian I would have hated it even more.

6/10

Red, Yellow & Blue is out now in the UK on Warp Records

ALBUM: The Futureheads - This Is Not The World

I've been a fan of The Futureheads since a friend lent me a copy of their debut album shortly before that Kate Bush cover sent them towards stardom and became their biggest hit, and somewhat ironically, their most well known song. Since then, success has been few and far between, culminating in their removal from 679 recordings (now "re-branded" as the hypercool "sixsevennine"), but I'm almost pleased. Don't get me wrong, I like them, a lot. But I would hate any Johnny Kooks-lover to pick up a copy of News & Tributes and play it at their local NME-sponsored indie-disco. But, of course, they never would.

Apart from the aforementioned Hounds Of Love, The Futureheads eponymous debut was full of immediate, punky songs that wore their hearts on their sleeves while still being humourous and engaging. About what We Are Scientists are try (and fail) to accomplish in their songs (although WAS win the prize for the funniest mailouts and videos for a bantamweight Indie band). News & Tributes was, the more mature and gentle second album, featured some songs that followed the pop-punk family tree from Fugazi to Fall Out Boy, and unfortunately fewer of the close harmonised post-punk that made their debut so comfortable.

Clearly unable to repeat their original plan, and surely not wanting to repeat their sophmore mediocrity, the Sunderland four-piece went back to their own studio, and promptly plotted their revenge on 679. This Is Not The World is the result.

Opener "The Beginning Of The Twist" shows that through their label drop they haven't skipped a beat - a Futureheads classic in the making, and straight back to what they are good at - Anthemic songs with choruses that make you want to scream along. "Walking Backwards" seems to start as a bastardised version of "A to B" but quickly rises to a chorus all of its own.

By track three, the Jam-esque "Think Tonight", it seems as if they've realised their perfect formula. Take a few parts of their revivalist debut, throw in a few more classic post-punk leanings and then simmer all the parts together for over three minutes. But that's the problem - it seems that they now feel the need to make tracks that you actually start to get bored of. Past the three minute mark and each song starts to wear a bit thin. This is a new problem, as on The Futureheads, none of the songs lasted three minutes, and on News & Tributes not many of the songs were that interesting to begin with.

Take for example, the single "Radio Heart". The title phrase is sung exactly 17 times in the 3 minute course of the song, and the word "Radio" is used a further 6 times. And this is pretty much what every song is like - as if - dare we say it - they've run out of ideas.

However, latest single "This Is Not The World" and "Broke Up The Time" are two songs where the formula almost works to perfection, reminding the humble listener that The Futureheads always sounded a little bit like The Jam, really, and they always repeated their lyrics a lot. Still I can't help but think that a lot of these songs could benefit from being trimmed back by a solid minute.

Ultimately however, the tracks are all of a similar standard, and there isn't a lot to pick out of the crowd, but the result is a solid album that builds on, if only slightly, their previous body of work.

My favourite tracks: "Broke Up The Time", "Sale Of The Century" and "The Beginning Of The Twist"

7/10

This Is Not The World is out now on nul records.

You might also like this live review.

MySpace Mystery Tour, Again

This time, we kick off with a local band who I stumbled across via Facebook, strangely. They are from Dartford in Kent, where I went to School, and despite this, they don't suck.

Okay, so Post-Rock bands are getting a little more commonplace, but CODES IN THE CLOUDS do one of the better Explosions In The Sky impressions I've ever seen. Their debut single "Distant Street Lights" could be on any of EITS's albums and I would never have noticed the difference. Some would say this is insulting, and it is to a point, but they do seem jolly good for a band that are still (essentially) on the toilet circuit. The guys are signed to British indie label Erased Tapes.

www.myspace.com/codesintheclouds

One of their top friends, THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, even have a song named "Cracks in the Clouds". This Newcastle based group have a slightly less derivative sound, but I fear that may only be because I don't know enough about post-rock. Related more closely to Múm than their countrymates Sigur Ros, their stuttered electronica also reminds me of Four Tet's less awkward moments and Low's subtle and dark stylings. However, none of this hides what is essentially some fantastically poppy arrangements that have me torn between declaring these guys a collective genius or just being a bit too try-hard and pretentious.

http://www.myspace.com/thebritishexpeditionaryforce

From here, we come across Danish indie-pop in the form of EFTERKLANG. Like Architecture In Helsinki but without all that really annoying stuff that happens when they actually play a song, you know, the music bit. "Caravan" is about at atmospheric and orchestral as this sort of stuff gets, but its a wonder why no one has ever done before. My guess is they tryed and ended up sounding too much like The Arcade Fire for anyone to notice. In fact they've released two albums and the name does seem a bit familiar; one of these bands that something like the London Lite interviews because they are vaguely on the cusp of being massive but are also a bit leftfield - only not quite enough to offend their readers.

They are currently touring North America and have an absolute shitload of UK festival appearances lined up over the summer. Probably worth a go.

http://www.myspace.com/efterklang

I clicked on a link called RUMRAKET, which sounded as if it was going to be a boy-girl duo who combine hard house samples with live percussion based around smashing their heads against dustbins and possible each other. Luckily, however, it appears to be a burgeoning (although with a large roster and many releases to their credit) Scandinavian record label - in the same way that Ed Banger are to French House, Rumraket is to Northern European Indietronica. They've even got Amiina, the string quartet who play with Sigur Ros and US Hype band Grizzly Bear signed up, and are actually formed by the previous group, Efterklang.


Now I'm off to see if they've got a label sampler for sale...

http://www.myspace.com/rumraket

Crystal Castles rip off?

Crystal Castles have been accused by a number of high profile Chip-tune artists (yeah I had no idea either) of ripping them off.

More specifically, remixing their songs without crediting them and for commercial gain.

From wikipedia:

"In mid-2008, Crystal Castles became focal in several plagiarism disputes. Pitchfork Media and The Torontoist published stories about Crystal Castles' use of Trevor Brown's artwork without permission. The image, depicting a black-eyed Madonna,^[23][7] was used by the band on merchandise, after being found on an "old flyer, without credit", with the hope "that the artist might reveal themselves and make contact".^[7] The band were also alleged to have plagiarised several songs from the chiptune community, including "Insecticon", which shares similarity with a song by Lo-bat called, "My Little Droid Needs a Hand", and were accused of "stealing the beat" from Covox's "Sunday", in the song "Love and Caring"."

Weird.

Anyway more posts soon, I swear, its all gone a bit quietly recently as I procastinate for exams and revision, etc.