Robots Made Me Do It

Wanna Dance?Annie Mac [Radio One] In Austin@ Barcelona Sept 26th

2009-09-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Bring your dancing shoes boys and girls!

The legendary Radio One DJ Annie Mac (Annie Mac's Mash Up/Switch) is rolling into town as part of her 6-date North American tour. Set to play Barcelona on 6th in downtown Austin you have a chance to see her playing a pretty intimate venue for a DJ of her caliber who has played big stages at major dance festivals and has a massive following not only on British national radio but also across the globe via the streaming of her shows on the net.

If you love dance music, dancing or having an amazing time this is a no-brainer. RSVP via rsvp@learningsecretsmusic.com

If you're still not convinced then check out the lass herself in action here...

KOKO 09
by anniemacpresents

www.anniemacpresents.com
www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/anniemac

Lee, x.

Move Over Mercury! Neptune Prize Goes To Late Of The Pier

2009-09-09T18:26:00.000-07:00

Drowned In Sound ran their own 'Neptune Music Prize' for exceptionally brilliant British albums released in the past year that weren't short-listed by the more well known Mercury Music Prize.

Late Of The Pier won with their debut album 'Fantasy Black Channel' which is a preposterously glorious (or gloriously preposterous) mixture of prog, dance and punk. The two runners up were Rolo Tomassi and Grammatics who also make very good music you should check out.

If there was an American version who would win? Black Eyed Peas? Wavves?

www.myspace.com/lateofthepier
http://www.lateofthepier.com/

Lee, x.

Fun Fun Fun Fest - Lineup & Schedule

2009-09-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yes, I admit I've been super lazy on my lack of FFFfest updates but I did buy my tickets the instant they went on sale last week (PIP, since you asked! Might as well see what the mystery event is...).

The lineup looks AMAZING to say the least, with bands I'm looking forward to watching including Ratatat, Crystal Castles, Of Montreal, Fuck Buttons and Destroyer.

The schedule is now available on the festival's official website.
Tickets on sale now.

Lee, x.

I Heart Austin Art w/ Public School

2009-08-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday there were a number of art things going on in and around downtown Austin, all pretty cool, but one in particular that I was looking forward to. Public School, a collective of Austin based graphic artists and photographers, had a show of their work with some of the prints for sale at Thuderbird Coffee (which is a very nice coffee place for the record). In their own words: "PUBLIC SCHOOL is a group of creative folk working on the east side of Austin together, yet not together. The same studio, different professions. Similar tastes, varying favorite Bob Dylan song. Consistently unified love for the Mexican food on the east side of town."

I particularly like the work of Will Bryant who makes awesome graphic prints like this:

Also Justin Cox has some snazzy poster designs I want to decorate my future apartment's walls with:

I talked to a few of the guys and they were all super nice (cheers guys!) and told me that they have an open door policy over at their space and have parties every now and again for all you art lovers out there.

Also that night there was a display of digital art over at Club DeVille put on by Amoda, that featured a live set from Cadenece Weapon (his first show since becoming a poet laureate) and Florene, plus DJ sets from Mexicans With Guns and Space Jockey. I got some serious dance on during Cadence Weapon (who y'all should check out) so if you were there you might have seen a guy in a blue t-shirt and converse making frenzied shapes. Some of the art animations were very impressive too and I reccomend going along to future Amoda events.

Check out all that and more via these links:
gotopublicschool.com
http://www.amoda.org/
www.myspace.com/cadenceweaponmusic

Lee, x.

Fun Times In Austin

2009-07-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

I am super busy getting prepared for my wedding this Sunday in Austin! If you'd like to see what I get up to then check out my other blog over at http://myfirstyearinaustin.blogspot.com.

Lee, x.

Upcoming In Austin: - Events I'm Looking Forward To

2009-06-30T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hi!

The last week or so has been hectic due to a fun-filled, yet exhausting, round the UK tour (the picture above is me in Edinburgh). There is now much boxing up and packing away to be done as we move all my stuff to my parents house for a while. I also have my bachelor party this Saturday and we leave for Austin on the 16th, yay!

Things I Am Currently Looking Forward To In Austin

Fun Fun Fun Fest!
November 7 + 8, 2009

This looks amazing especially on the back of one Final Fantasy performance at the festival a while back that Holly showed me, which features a cover a Destroyer song called 'An Actor's Revenge' which is pretty brilliant.

Most of the line-up is yet to be announced but I think they already have me at Atlas Sound and Jesus Lizard.

http://funfunfunfest.com/

Fantastic Fest
September 24-October 1, 2009

Last year's Fantastic Fest had Paul Rudd introduce a special screening of Role Models, and Bill Murray made an appearance at the first audience screening of The City Of Ember. The festival is is billed as "an eight day festival of the best new Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy and genre films, as well as choice classic and obscure cult titles from all over the world". It hosts writers, directors and actors, both well established and unknown. There are also some special screenings presented by Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles. Enough to make all my film buff friends at home supremely jealous, so well deserving of the title 'fantastic' then!

www.fantasticfest.com

Lee, x.

PS
As a farewell to the small music festivals of the UK I have enjoyed so much I am going to have people write festival diaries for the blog. If you are interested in doing this then let me know.

Sleep Whale - Little Brite

2009-06-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

Sleep Whale hail from Denton TX and consist of guitarist/cellist Joel North and violinist/sequence programmer Bruce Blay. Together they blend the traditional and electronic in a way that is seamless and stirringly beautiful. They have a new EP called 'Little Brite' out now via Western Vinyl and it's very, very good.

The only music I can think of that I've heard even close to this is that of Lullatone but instead of a cutesy shtick and toy instruments they have a knack of having rich and varied instrumentation subtly coincide to make very dynamic soundscapes. From what I hear there aren't many public transport buses or much rain in Texas (and thus the chances of the two coinciding are slim), so I wonder if they will ever know that their music is the perfect accompaniment to such occasions.

If you like we have a free download their song 'Josh Likes Me' here.
If you like it you can buy the whole EP here.

For those of you in Denton or Austin you can check them out live this week and next.

Jun 27 Denton, TX @ Hailey's w/ Power Animal
Jul 2 Ausitn, TX @ Mohawk w/ Power Animal

www.myspace.com/qewmusic

Lee, x.

Pagan Wanderer Lu -Fight My Battles For Me

2009-06-17T03:13:00.000-07:00

This week Pagan Wanderer Lu released a new album 'Fight My Battles For Me' via Brainlove Records. I can vouch for the album being a particularly tasty slice of DIY/folktronica/funtime, but you don't have to take my word for it (though it is pretty good). Instead you can hear all about the album from the man himself via an online journal running all this week in which he discusses his music track by track.

http://paganwanderer.livejournal.com/

Here's a video for 'The Gentleman's Game' which features various awesome musicians.

He also made a video for each track on the album! You can see them all here.

You can purchase the album in these places:
iTunes / eMusic / 7digital / Amazon

www.myspace.com/paganwandererlu

Lee, x.

Joseph Scott - You Keep Me Hidden EP[Free Download]

2009-06-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

Joseph Scott makes richly textured and euphoric electronica for dreamers. Maybe the fact that he is a bedroom musician explains why I feel like his music is perfect bedroom listening. Like the kind where you lie in bed with big headphones and closed eyes. Hot waterbottle optional.

'You Keep Me Hidden' is his fantastic new EP and we are exclusively giving you two of the songs to download for free.

Joseph Scott - You Keep Me Hidden

Joseph Scott - In Youth

To say that Joseph is a relative unknown and yet he has home-produced such a well crafted collection here shows a lot of promise. The vocals are often lost in a warm haze of harmony which leaves the listener to interpret their own meanings, or even visualise floating on peaceful waves and fireworks brightly exploding in frantic pulses of emotion.

The opening song 'You Keep Me Hidden' fills the senses with ethral beauty in each lingering note. The glitchy tempo breathes life into 'What We Do Right Is Wrong' and it turns into a seriously lush shoegaze daydream. 'Celeste' immerses you as it goes from quiet to loud to quiet again, providing some shape-making beats along the way. Closer 'In Youth' certainly takes you to a Summer afternoon, in a park somewhere feeling the Sun's heat on your skin, then it finishes all too soon whilst still echoing in your ears.

The whole EP can be listened to on his myspace page here...
www.myspace.com/blossomandsurrender

Lee, x.

I <3 Here We Go Magic

2009-06-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

This year has been good so far for indie bands with a certain dreamy sound and blissed out harmonies that stick in your head for days. If you can't get enough of Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear (and I wouldn't blame you) and you need pointing in the right direction of even more warm fuzzy sounds, look no further than to Here We Go Magic.

You might recognise frontman Luke Temple for his previous solo work, though he has made some serious progression with his latest project. Here We Go Magic, features pretty much everything that has made music great for me for the last few years. Dense layers, harmonies, lush electronica, interesting rythms, kraut influences, the works. Futhermore, Sufjan Stevens described Luke's voice as "one of the most beautiful… in pop music.", so winner basically.

Although compared to their contempories they have a more hazy and somewhat lo-fi ambient sound, this is in no way a bad thing. Throughout their self-titled debut they proved time and again that they are just as capable of capturing those perfect moments of strange beauty in their music. With so many rich layers to get lost in, it might well impress most people that the whole album was recorded solo with just a four-track cassette recorder. In fact I'll go on record as saying "I'm very impressed!".

With more members recruited for the live band, Here We Go Magic are on tour for the next couple of months both in the US and Europe. Most US shows will be in support of fellow Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear so I highly recommend seeing the both of them this time around if you can. Fellow Austinites will be lucky enough to see them both not only this month but also at ACL festival (now if only I could find a way to get tickets for that...) which gives you zero excuse for not seeing them.

06/11 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle*
06/12 Atlanta, GA The Earl
06/13 Birmingham, AL The Bottletree
06/15 Dallas, TX Granada Theater*
06/16 Austin, TX The Parish*
06/18 Tuscon, AZ The Rialto
06/19 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern*
06/21 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
06/22 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore*
06/24 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
06/25 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
06/28 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
06/30 Indianapolis, IN Radio Radio
07/01 Pittsburgh, PA Brillobox
07/03 New York, NY South Street Seaport
07/05 London, UK Wireless Festival - Bella Union Stage
07/06 London, UK ICA - Bella Union Stage
07/07 London, UK Madame JoJo's 'White Heat'
07/08 Sheffield, UK Drowned In Sound Night
07/09 Glasgow, UK Captain's Rest
07/10 Liverpool, UK Korova 'Evol'
07/11 Leeds, UK The Faversham 'Bad Sneakers'
07/13 Paris, FR Maroquinerie
10/03 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Festival
10/04 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Festival
* w/ Grizzly Bear

The self-titled album will be released 29th June on Western Vinyl.

http://www.herewegomagic.com/
www.myspace.com/herewegomagic

Lee, x.

Keyboard Choir - Free EP Download

2009-06-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this last week but fell asleep and dreamt that I posted it. True story. That's not to say I fell asleep becuase of Keyboard Choir, a band who weave a lush electronic tune or two. I was all blogged out after spending way too much time on my laptop.

I first saw this band at Truck 9 in 2006 and they were dressed up as robots in a very DIY fashion. I thought to myself, I like robots so I'll check this out. It was pretty frantic and fun from what I remember of the occasion. I was, to be fair, on my 32nd hour of being awake and my 5th can of cider so the facts are vague.

So then last week I heard via their awesome record label, Brainlove Records, that they were featuring in the Independent online and giving away their latest EP ' Electrical Unity' for free via Last FM. I thought to myself "I'll have some of that then".

The band themselves go into detail about each track on their livejournal here and you can download it all for free here: www.last.fm/music/Keyboard+Choir/Electrical+Unity+EP.

Their full debut album 'Mizen Head To Gascanane Sound' is out now.

www.myspace.com/thekeyboardchoir

Lee, x.

It All Comes From The Hips

2009-06-08T13:09:00.000-07:00

I think my love of Cursive has been somewhat revitalised since hearing 'From The Hips'. Tim Casher sounds as intense and vital as he did on the fantastic 'The Ugly Organ'. Thus overtaking a certain genius turned hippie (sans Mogis), also from Omaha, in my most played when I want to just get it all out.

Cursive's new album 'Mama, I'm Swollen' is out today via Saddle Creek and I recommend you give it a listen.

www.myspace.com/cursive
http://www.cursivearmy.com/

Lee, x.

Oh Minnows - Super Awesome Competition!

2009-06-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

You might remember that we recently blogged about Oh Minnows, the new musical project from Semifinalists' Chris Steele-Nicholson. Well their first ever release, the rather lovely 'Might' EP, is being released on Monday June 29th as a limited edition 7" vinyl by Young And Lost Club.

A quick update for you all...

"‘The acutely intimate ’Might’ was finally compiled, mixed and mastered in seclusion upon his return to his home town of Chicago Illinois. With the preparation and production of the songs on Oh Minnows debut release being so deeply personal, the US singer decided to play every instrument on the single, to guarantee the final product turned out the way he intended.

Chris grew up very near the Great Lakes, where being in and around the water was a regular ritual for the residents of the area. On the naming of his new incarnation "The first form of aquatic life that greets you in this tenuous situation are these schools of Minnows" he reminisces. "I‘ve always admired them for their handsome appearance and strong sense of community"."

I am very happy indeed then that we have a copy of this fantastic EP to give away to one lucky person. There might also be some extra goodies thrown in for good measure courtesy of the awesome and generous folks at Young And Lost.

If you would like to win then just post a comment below and your email address or email me at kyumirecords@gmail.com with Oh Minnows as the subject. The competition is open to any and everyone until 12 noon Monday 15th June and the winner will then be chosen at random.

Check out the EP tracks here...
www.myspace.com/ohminnows

Want to make sure you defo get a copy?
Pre-order link.

Lee, x.

------------------------------------------------

P.S. This just in! London show dates!

9 Jul 2009
20:00 Ginglick, London

11 Jul 2009
20:00 The Macbeth, London
14 Jul 2009
20:00 White Heat @ Madam JoJo's, London

16 Jul 2009
20:00 Old Blue Last, London
24 Jul 2009
20:00 Old Blue Last, London

Americans! Los Campesinos! Dancing!

2009-06-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

Los Campesinos! are probably on their like 3rd or 4th US tour at this point so you don't really need me to tell you you should really go see this band.

However, I will tell you nontheless.
Go. See. This. Band.

They are amazing.

---------------------------------------------
Los Camesinos! US Tour: August 2009

04 New York, NY Webster Hall
05 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
06 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
07 Indianapolis, IN Spin Nightclub
08 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
11 St. Louis, MO Firebird
12 Kansas City, MO Record Bar
14 Austin, TX Emos Outside
15 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre
16 Houston, TX Warehouse (Studio)
19 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
20 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
21 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre
22 Pomona, CA Glass House
23 Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar
25 Las Vegas, Nevada Beauty Bar
28 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands Festival
29 San Diego, CA Street Scene
---------------------------------------------

P.S.

Gareth Campesinos! was on his holidays in Devon recently and for fun sent out postcards to people who requested them. In return the reciver of the postcard had to post a picture of themselves with said postcard.

Result:

www.loscampesinos.com
www.myspace.com/loscampesinos

Lee, x.

Internet Is Awesome - PARTYNICE Magazine

2009-06-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

In their own words "PARTYNICE is a new online art and culture magazine, named after a suburb of the Polish city of Wroclaw, and run by an internationally-based collective of creative people".

It is also a pretty darn good read, especially if like me you are looking to find something truly interesting when trawling the internet in boredom. From real-life stories of police shootings in Poland to shared blind date experiences, photography of an earthquake aftermath to band interviews.

The contributors choose anything they like for their subject matter but somehow the results are always compelling.

http://partynicemag.blogspot.com/

Fancy writing yourself?

PARTYNICEMAG @ GMAIL.COM

Lee, x.

Mystery Jets Last Night In Bangor

2009-05-31T01:53:00.000-07:00

My move to Austin is now only a month and a half away and last night represented the end of an era for me. It was Bangor Universitiy's Summer Ball and although I'm no longer a student lots of people I know were there who shared a collective last hurrah. Many people I know here are now finishing their degrees and although they won't be travelling as far as me they will also soon part ways with places and friends.

The night turned out to be perfectly soundtracked too with the help of headliners Mystery Jets, who are one of the best bands ever in my personal opinion. I managed to shoot some footage of them playing 'Flakes', which is a fantastic song from their second album 'Twenty One'.

*Hearts*

Lee, x.

I <3 Misha

2009-05-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yet another band that I really enjoy that have still managed to stay pretty under the radar despite being brilliant, I present to you Misha.

They originally formed in NY but really are from a whole bunch of different places and continue to be spread out a whole bunch. That didn't stop them though from releasing 'Teardrop Sweetheart' on Tomlab (a record label that everyone needs to pay attention to) in 2007.

Their charming, sugary-sweet melodies will make you fall in love them. This is pop music with soul as well as style, providing beats that even floor-gazers can dance to.

With any luck we'll see more of Misha in the near future but until then you can satisfy the void in your heart you didn't know you had til now with some samples...

www.myspace.com/Mishatheband

Lee, x.

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks [Video]

2009-05-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

I think that maybe blogging ablout the new Grizzly Bear album is a little self serving but this video, directed by the ever amazing Patrick Daughters, is pretty great.

Over on DrownedinSound right now it's Grizzly Bear week with loads of features with the band including highlights like their cooking tips and them interviewing Phoenix (who also have a pretty good album out next week).

The album, 'Veckatimest' is out tomorrow, May 25th.

www.myspace.com/grizzlybear

Lee, x.

Robots Mixtape May 09

2009-05-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a theme for these playlists other then having at least one or two more recent releases and a smooth flow from track to track. Hope you enjoy this month's edition!

Tracklisting...

1) Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
2) The Shins - Sleeping Lessons
3) Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes
4) Dntel - Roll On
5) Lightspeed Champion - Tell Me What It's Worth
6) Bright Eyes - Train Under Water
7) Interpol - Obsticle 1
8) The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
9) Okkervil River - For Real
10) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Hysteric
11) The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea

Here's the spotify link.

Lee, x.

(Note: I've found out that some of you are having trouble with the links to load the playlist. Apparently Spotify is aware that there is a problem with playlist links right now and will hopefully fix them soon. In the meantime you could always make the playlist yourselves from the list above.)

I <3 Greenbelt Collective

2009-05-21T06:49:00.000-07:00

I think it's kind of a shame more people don't know anything about this band or at least it seems that way as I've never seen them mentioned on even the indiest of music websites I frequent. Let me intoduce you then to a band I'm sure some of you will enjoy quite a lot.

Greenbelt Collective are kind of like Los Campesinos! (and not just becuase there are lots of band members) in that they are practically the definition of fun and they have a very DIY aesthetic. They do however have have less guitar than LC! but many more toy instruments.

The song in the video is called 'This Hill Used To Be A Valley' and is my favourite song of theirs. You can find it on their first full lenghth album which came out Spring 2007 called 'Our Homes'.

Greenbelt Collective will be touring their home turf of Canada throughout June and July as well as putting out a new EP 'Community Affair' sometime soon.

http://www.thegreenbeltcollective.com/
www.myspace.com/greenbeltcollective

Lee, x.

Casiokids Tour

2009-05-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Casiokids Finn Bikkjen [Live] from Karen Piper on Vimeo.

I've blogged about Casiokids before after seeing them supporting Of Montreal a few months back. They are pretty much one of the best new bands I've heard in quite some time and despite not being able to understand what they are singing make me want to happy dance a lot. I can't wait for a proper album to arrive from them, hopeully in the not too distant future. Until then the excellent single 'Fot i Hose' and a few songs before their signing to Moshi Moshi are available now via the net.

The song in the video above is called 'Finn Bikkjen' and it was perfomed at Po Na Na festival. They will be touring the UK quite a this month after playing the Great Escape all this weekend so I highly recommend checking them out if you can.

17 May 2009 @ 20:00
Oakford social club Reading

18 May 2009 @ 20:00
Liars club Nottingham

19 May 2009 @ 20:00
The end Newcastle

20 May 2009 @ 20:00
Magnet Liverpool

21 May 2009 @ 20:00
Stag and dagger festival London

22 May 2009 @ 20:00
Stag and dagger festival Leeds

24 May 2009 @ 20:00
Sixty million postcard Bornemouth

25 May 2009@ 20:00
Island bar Birmingham

After these dates they will be touring other parts of Europe and the US so check out thie myspace for more info.

www.myspace.com/casiokids

Lee, x.

Introducing... Hair Traffic Control

2009-05-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

I finally started receiving more music in my soundcloud dropbox (that widget on the right there) and one of the tracks that stood out lately was 'The Hobo Gauntlet' by Hair Traffic Control. An unwieldy name prehaps, but we might let them get away with it for being pretty good at what they do. Hair Traffic Control are Daniel Harvey (guitars\keys\singing), Christopher Neil (bass\singing) and Edward Wells (drums\singing).

This track is one of four songs from their third EP 'Let's Do Lunch', which is out now DIY style from their website. Somewhat postrock in their sound, don't let the possibility of some complex guitar arrangements put you off. Behind walls of intertwining sounds is buckets of energy and charm such as that found in the beat box intro to 'Boots and Cats' and the melodic shifts such as the lovely couple of minutues towards the end of 'These Are The Dogs In My Life Part 2'. Even at their most loud and frantic during 'Last Man In Irkutsk' it never sounds anything less than euphonious.

www.myspace.com/hairtrafficcontrol
Buy The EP Here

Plus!

Futhermore, they are playing support for a pretty awesome lineup of bands in Norwich next Monday so if that's you're neck of the woods I'd recommend checking it out.

Facebook event here.

Cats in Paris www.myspace.com/catsinparis
Manchester-based amazingness on first full UK tour. If you saw them at their previous Norwich performances, you'll know these guys are nothing short of amazing.

Brontide www.myspace.com/brontidetheband
Awesome techy instrumental 3 piece, ex-members of I Was A Cub Scout. For fans of Battles and Russian Circles.

Theo www.myspace.com/theo1000
One man, one guitar, one loop pedal and one drum kit, Theo is basically one talented bastard, check out the live videos on his myspace for proof.

May 18th, 8pm
£4 - badges available from Playhouse Bar or on the door at The Marquee.

Lee, x.

JoFo - Feels Like Summer

2009-05-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

The best band to come from Birmingham in recent memory, Johnny Foreigner are already teasing us with cuts from their upcoming second album even whilst they are on tour.'Feels Like Summer' is pretty much what we've already come to expect from the band, no massive progression but a heck of a lot of energy and fun. With the season in question just about beginning it seems very appropriate too.

Listen here

'Feels Like Summer', as well as a new version of 'Camp Kelly Calm' and a new track entitled 'Wow, Just Wow' will be available as free downloads from their website on June 22.

You still have a chance to see them live this month at the following dates/places:

15 May 2009 in Leicester at Sumo
16 May 2009 in Brighton at Great Escape
16 May 2009 in Brighton at Great Escape
17 May 2009 in Manchester at Deaf Institute
18 May 2009 in London at Flowerpot, Camden
20 May 2009 in Liverpool at Sound City
21 May 2009 in York at Fibbers
22 May 2009 in Wakefield at Escobar
23 May 2009 in Newport at Meze Lounge

http://johnnyforeignerband.com/

Lee, x.

Upcoming In Austin - Loxsly Release Party w/Corto Maltese, Oh No! Oh My! & More

2009-05-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

As the Constellation's Arms Uncurled from Loxsly on Vimeo.

I have no idea how I'd never heard of Loxly before now seeing as upon listening to their music it seems like exactly the sort of thing I'd listen to on a regular basis. Sometimes dreamy and other times poppy, sometimes full of loud guitars, sometimes electronic and always lovely listening.

They will be having a release party show for their new album 'Tomorrow's Fossils' in Austin on May 15th with enough amazing bands to make it a mini music fetival in it's own right. It has to be a special band that can command a lineup of support acts that include fellow Austinites Oh No! Oh My! and (previously blogged about) Corto Maltese. These are two of my favourite bands not just from Austin but out of everything ever, which makes me more than a little jealous of the residents of my future home city.

Mohawk
Friday 15th May

Loxly
Oh No! Oh My!
Corto Maltese
TV Torso
Booher & The Turkeys

Whether you can make it or not you should check Loxly out as well as all the other bands listed here. You won't regret it.

'Tomorrow's Fossils' is out on May 26th via Little Mafia.

www.myspace.com/loxsly

Lee, x.

Radio On The TV - A Good Week For Appearances

2009-05-14T03:10:00.000-07:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves

colbertnation.com

There were some great performances by both The Decemberists and Animal Collective this week.

The Decemberists appeared on The Colbert Report (yay) playing a shortened version of 'The Wanting Comes In Waves' which further cemented my feelings that 'Hazards Of Love' is pretty brilliant despite the backlash. Seriously, how many bands can make a record that sounds half early White Stripes, half Arcade Fire and make a concept album that works out of it? Rather than being the ingulgent mess that these things can become, it is an album in the truest sense that you can listen to it from start to finish and feel immersed in it.

Elsewhere, on The Late Show With David Letterman, Animal Collective performed their latest single 'Summertime Clothes' from 'Merriweather Post Pavillion'. Honestly, I'm still stuck listening to 'My Girls' on repeat pretty much constantly but 'Summertime Clothes' is pretty ace, especially when I'm DJing the early hours. Is Letterman always such a cock though?

Lee, x.

Andrew Bird - Fitz And The Dizzy Spells

2009-05-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Now I know that by all probability that by now I really should have sat down and listened to a full Andrew Bird record. After all his latest full length release 'Noble Beast' had fantastic reviews, plus he played on the recent Final Fantasy EP 'Plays To Please', one of my favourite records of the last year.

OK, so I'm still short of listening to a full proper album yet as Fitz And The Dizzy Spells is actually an EP with the title track and the rest being reworkings of songs previously on the tracklisting for 'Noble Beast'. However, I am now totally all about the Bird (I wonder if anyone calls him that?). Undoubtedly a brilliant composer, he also proves to be quite the songwriter in this, frankly, lovely collection of songs.

Now, I'm not going to compare these songs to their original counterparts because, well that would take much more time. Also, I'd quite like to get to listen to the proper album in my own time to fully enjoy it.

Andrew Bird - Fitz And The Dizzy Spells
by Cooperative-Music

The title track is a jaunty number with plenty going on in the background for you to appreciate with some decent headphones (preferably on a train or in bed) which transports you to some colourful happy place full of life.

'Section 8 City' begins like the saddest song in the world full of somber violin notes, then brought alive with stabs of guitar and the steady drum beat, although the 7+ minutes might take it out of some of the less patient listeners.

More sparse with it's solo guitar accompaniment is 'Ten-You-Us' and the result is a very intimate and despite the possible Damien Rice comparisons that would normally put me off it never becomes anything like elevator music.

'See The Enemy' is probably my favourite song on offer, giving a glimpse at the broad range Andrew Bird is capable of. The pizzicato plucking along with uplifting and grand strides tumbling into crashing guitar chords and more swooping violin.

Lastly 'The Nightshade Gets In' is a mostly instrumental outro of sorts, pairing guitar harmonics with the finger plucking of the violin to create an unusual and ethereal swansongs.

Due to the nature of the recording being reinterpretations as such a better starting place for new listeners might be elsewhere in the Andrew Bird catalogue. However, as a relative newcomer I found it to be pretty enjoyable nonetheless. Those who are fans already will surely find something new and reaffirming with this release.

www.andrewbird.net
www.myspace.com/andrewbird

Lee, x.

Cats In Paris Tour (Awesome-centric)

2009-05-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

Cats In Paris, the band who brought you the kaleidoscope of brilliance that is 'Courtcase 2000', will be touring the UK this May (read: everyone who likes fun and music needs to go see them).

Yay!

Dates as follows:

May 12: Winchester - School Of Art
May 13: Cardiff - Buffalo Bar (w/The Mae Shi and Abe Vigoda)
May 14: Bristol - Start The Bus
May 15: Coventry - Inspire
May 16: Worcester - Firefly
May 17: Birmingham - The Sunflower Lounge
May 18: Norwich - Unit 5 (w/ Brontide, Theo and **Hair Traffic Control)
May 19: London - White Heat @ Madame JoJo's (w/Girls)
May 20: Sunderland - Independent (w/ Indoor Fireworks and Frankie And The Heartstrings)May 21: Glasgow - Bar Bloc
May 22: Aberdeen - Tunnels
May 23: Edinburgh - Cabaret Voltaire

If the immenent possibility of a good time isn't enough for you then the band are also releasing a tour-only 7" with the songs 'The One' and 'Vampire Song'.

www.myspace.com/catsinparis
www.catsinparis.org

Lee, x.

The Gossip - Heavy Cross [Video]

2009-05-08T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm having a slow week music-wise so send in your suggestions if you have them to kyumirecords@gmail.com. Hopefully a few music features I have tried to sort out will come along shortly.

Untill then though check out the new video for The Gossip's new single Heavy Cross because it's pretty decent by my reckoning. Good things to follow?

http://thegossipmusic.com/

Lee, x.

Mysterious Sounds w/ Tanimura Midnight

2009-05-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

The re-launch of Muxtape as a website that bands can have their music heard on the net (minus the unsavoury commercialism of myspace) is exciting news in it's own right, but the reason I mention it is because it's led me to hear some lovely music by more obscure and unsigned artists. I thought then that I could run this new feature every so often whenever I found worthwhile niche music to write about.

This brings us to Tanimura Midnight, the electronic project of Nick Anderson, formidable Washington DC sound-engineer of The Tape Room/Silver Sonya studios, and Shelby Cinca from the bands Frodus, Triobelisk, and The Cassettes.

The songs Lovers and Tây Ninh have been on repeat in my headphones most of this evening providing me with much imagination stimulating relaxation. Neon pulses of electronica are complimented by traditional oriental instrumentation that could easily soundtrack a movie set amongst the fluorescent signs and skyscrapers of Tokyo. With a list of influences that make up the who's who of cult thriller/action movies I think they certainly have the right ideas.

http://tanimuramidnight.muxtape.com

www.myspace.com/tanimuramidnight

Lee, x.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-04-29T00:16:00.000-07:00

Holy cow, I'm 23 today!

I'll be DJing at academi tonight (9pm-2am) for those of you around Bangor if you want to join in the fun times.

Here is a Spotify playlist I have made to mark the occasion.

http://open.spotify.com/user/futurekyoto/playlist/6UNhrGYAYnoFTqNuaY0POh
Lee, x.

Juan Maclean - The Future Will Come

2009-04-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

I daydream a lot of the time about what the future will be like. Whether it will be full of all kinds of robots, flying cars, jet packs, virtual reality, or lots and lots of electro pop. This record led me to believe that at least the latter will certainly be true of times to come.

I often use record lables as a mark of quality especially if that record label happens to be headed by James Murphey, the man behind LCD Soundsystem and massively enthusiastic music lover. So, in hopes of disovering another The Rapture or YACHT I gave Juan Maclean's 'The Future Will Come' a spin to see if it could get me dancing.

It almost feels a little 80s in parts, especially some of the synth sounds and the boy/girl vocal dynamic, which makes it a decidedly good thing. A little studio polish that suggests mainstream dancefloor aspirations whilst never staying in pop mode long enough to become boring.

It might not be for everyone but if like me you enjoy leftfield dance, 80s pop, and any/all of the DFA roster then you should check this out.

www.myspace.com/thejuanmaclean
http://www.thejuanmaclean.com/

Lee, x.

Amazing Scenes Indeed - Brainlove Festival Announced

2009-04-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

With the exception of perhaps Truck and SXSW the festival I'd most like to go to this year would undoubtedly be Brainlove Festival. Let Mr John Brainlove himself explain more about what there is to be excited about...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello all...

BRNLVFSTVL is back for 2009!

Having failed to learn the lesson of squeezing on 10 bands last year, we've a lineup so far clocking up performances by 18 amazing artists. From boy-girl casio-pop to 8-bit computer metal to tweecore folk to a 14-part all-girl choir: BRNLV FSTVL is, as always, a day not to be missed by fans of underground music and experimental pop. BRNLVFSTVL will this year have outdoor performances in the garden area, and a Pindrop stage with special guests and acoustic sets throughout the day.

The 2009 BRNLV compilation FEAR OF A WACK PLANET will also be on sale for the first time, featuring songs by many of the bands on the bill. Lineup (alphabetical)

A Scholar & A Physician
Ace Bushy Striptease
Braindead Improv
Christopher Alcxxck
The Duloks
Gaggle
gwEm
Internet Forever
Jam On Bread
Keyboard Choir
Kid Carpet
Mat Riviere
Napoleon IIIrd
Pagan Wanderer Lu
Stairs To Korea
The Middle Ones
Thee Oracle
We Aeronauts

Tickets are priced at £8 in advance and £10 on the day, and a link to buy will be available soon. Last year's event reached the venue capacity, although there were a few tickets available on the door in the afternoon.

DETAILS: 30/05/09 Brixton Windmill, Blenheim Gardens, London, SW2 5BZ
Tel: 020 7926 21292pm-midnight
£8 adv/£10 door
Free barbecue
Guest DJs all day (TBA).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite a few of these I've written about here recently so it looks more than a little bit brilliant.

*Hearts*

www.myspace.com/brainloverecords
Facebook Event Page

Lee, x.

Robots Mixtape April 09

2009-04-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I've decided to make spotify playlist each month (at least till I move to the US since it's not available there) for your listening pleasure and perhaps to help musical discovery. They will feature some very recent music as well as some older music and both well known and obscure songs/artists.

I try to make my playlists like I would with cassette mixtapes as a teenager, by making sure each song flows smothly from one to the next to make it easier to lisen to in the intended order all the way through.

Sorry for all the people who live in countries without spotify right now but if you check hypemachine (or buy the records of course) I'm sure you'd manage to fill in any gaps there might be in your collection.

Tracklisting...

1) Ratatat - Mirando
2) Friendly Fires - Strobe
3) Sebastian Tellier/Mr Oizo/SebastiAn - Itea
4) Animal Collective - My Girls
5) School Of Seven Bells - Connjur
6) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Skeletons (Acoustic)
7) Metronomy - On Dancefloors
8) Hot Chip - And I Was A Boy From School
9) Ratatat - Mirando (Animal Collective Remix)
10) Lullatone - Wake Up Wake Up
11) TV On The Radio - Love Dog
12) Ratatat - Montanita

Here's the spotify link.

Lee, x.

Lost Robots In New York

2009-04-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but I for one would certainly be inclined to stop and help out this friendly but very lost robot find it's way.

For her thesis Kacie Kinzer designed these 'tweenbots' as human-dependant robots that rely on human intervention to get to their end destination. With only a simple forward travelling motor, friendly expression and a flag or sign with their intended goal, these robots are being let loose and their long trek documented for insight into the complex human connections that come out of it.

Even for humans New York could be pretty daunting, so it was with some surprise that the first trail runs resluted in great numbers of people all helping these robots out, all of which remained intact and even reached their intended goals.

"The journey the Tweenbots take each time they are released in the city becomes a story of people's willingness to engage with a creature that mirrors human characteristics of vulnerability, of being lost, and of having intention without the means of achieving its goal alone. As each encounter with a helpful pedestrian takes the robot one step closer to attaining its destination, the significance of our random discoveries and individual actions accumulates into a story about a vast space made small by an even smaller robot."

If you happen to live in NY and see one of these little guys then please lend a hand!

www.tweenbots.com

Lee, x.

P.S. Robots are awesome.

Introducing... Oh Minnows

2009-04-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

Having listened to the first Semifinalists album non-stop for the first month I owned it (my favourite album for some time), I was intriguied to learn that band member Chris Steele-Nicholson started a new band earlier this year called 'Oh Minnows'.

Comparisons will no doubt be drawn with countless shoegaze bands but the lovely melodies and certain spine-tingling moments on offer will seperate it far from the crowd. Definitely worth checking out if you already enjoy Semifinalists as this feels like a natural extension of the band but of course with Chris' abundant talents firmly on show.

Check out the songs on offer so far via myspace...

www.myspace.com/ohminnows

Lee, x.

New Lightspeed Champion AlbumsLess Than Lightyears Apart?

2009-04-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's been a while since Falling Off The Lavender Bridge was released although in reality it was just slightly over a year ago. This might be because the news that ex-Test Icicles member Dev Hynes was collaberating with Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes filled me with considerable excitement about 8 months earlier.

News just in then via Dev's blog that soon we could have not one but possibly two new album's to look forward to soonish...

"Guess I finished recording the new album, kind of.. it's in the mixing stages now, and just finishing off the three songs I collaborating on with a musical idol of mine! I can't wait for people to hear it !

Also, I should inform everyone, that I've just started on ANOTHER album to hopefully be released not too long after this next Lightspeed record."

Dev claims to write songs near constantly so it wouldn't be too hard to imagine that this could happen unless Domino hold it back like the first record.

www.lightspeedchampion.com

www.myspace.com/lightspeedchampion

Lee, x.

I <3 Corto Maltese

2009-04-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

It's still a mystery as to how Corto Maltese have managed to stay clear of any 'next-big-thing' buzz that the music press rains down upon practically any band that have at least one catchy song.

Based in Austin TX, the band are still unsigned with one self released EP just released and a full length release expected later in the year. They certainly have the blessing of still having all the time they need without any pressure or backlash potential to ruin them before they've even really begun.

It's still early days but favourable comparisons to the Arcade Fire, mostly thanks to the outright brilliant track 'Providence', might just yet make indiedom spontainiously combust.

Since I'm moving to Austin this July it's going to be of particular interest/excitement for me to watch their progress and I'll definately report back as more developments happen.

www.myspace.com/thecortomaltese

Lee, x.

Overqualified by Joey Comeau

2009-04-10T16:57:00.000-07:00

You may or may not be familiar with a thoughtful and dark humoured three-panel webcomic by the name of a softer world (if not, why not?). Furthermore then you might have discovered the multitude of writings by one half of the duo behind it all, Joey Comeau.

Joey wrote 'Lockpick Pornography', one of my favourite books in recent times, a short novel which is blows apart social norms and despite (or maybe because of) the extremes the characters go to you find yourself gleefully wanting in on the ride. It totally made breaking into schools and leaving pro gay pamphlets sound like it might be a fun thing to do. The unafraid, uncensored, always honest and sometimes tender way Comeau writes can't help but stir you into some emotional or thoughtful response. It serves to both provoke and endear but certainly never resulting in indifference.

This month he released a new book tiled 'Overqualified' which is made up of cover letters for job applications that Joey had originally posted online. Most of the letters were all actually sent to the companies they are addressed to in the spirit of the inspiration of the project...

"Cover letters are all the same. They're useless. You write the same lies over and over again, listing the store-bought parts of yourself that you respect the least. God knows how they tell anyone apart, but this is how it's done.

And then one day a car comes out of nowhere, and suddenly everything changes and you don't know if he'll ever wake up. You get out of bed in the morning, and when you sit down to write another paint-by-numbers cover letter, something entirely different comes out.

You start threatening instead of begging. You tell impolite jokes. You talk about your childhood and your sexual fantasies. You sign your real name and you put yourself honestly into letter after letter and there is no way you are ever going to get this job. Not with a letter like this.

And you send it anyway."

I can vouch for it being completely fantastic and if you still don't believe me check out some examples here or check out my personal favourite letter addressed to Nintendo.

Buy the book here.
http://www.asofterworld.com/

Lee, x.

I Like Where I Live - Coordinates EP

2009-04-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

I posted about I Like Where I Live in February after listening to some demos that were pretty promising.

The only just finished first ever EP 'Coordinates' has been released over the net for free (though paypal donations are encouraged as its worth it) which you can find here.

It's brilliantly sweet sounding electronic bliss and I'll be taking the time to review it properly soonish (after a long weekend holiday away in Kent).

<3

http://www.slowreceiver.co.uk/
www.myspace.com/ilikewhereilive

Lee, x.

Where The Wild Things Are

2009-03-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

This looks so good I just had to post it.

Lee, x.

A Scholar And A Physician - She's A Witch

2009-03-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

This is ace and you should probably listen to it.

Out on April 20th on the awesomely DIY Brainlove Records, you can get it on emusic, itunes or the Brainlove website.

http://www.brainloverecords.com/

http://www.ascholarandaphysician.com/

Lee, x.

I'm Totes Moving To America!

2009-03-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Personal update and stuff, keeping it real for the readers so they can totally relate.

Not heard too much new music that I've thought was worth blogging and I have quality control issues so there have been less posts lately. (Yeah Yeah Yeahs is out online though! Also Peter, Bjorn and John's new record and even Royksopp this week is pretty decent)

I went down to London, had drinks... in a bar made completely of ICE! Even the glasses for the drinks! Also, oh yeah... got my freaking US visa!!! This means I am for sure moving to live in Austin in July. If anyone living in Austin wants to be my new friend then offers are appreciated as I will know very few people and likely be lonely.

The DrownedinSound party was okay but not much of an actual party. I got to meet and talk to Sean the founder/editor of DiS and Mike Diver who is probably one of the best music writers today. Also had lovely chats with Tom, who made the new DiS website, and Cat who does awesome craft things over at http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/.

I also got a PSP and Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core which is taking up a lot of my time because it's pretty fantastic.

Love y'all!
Lee, x.

New Patrick Wolf Video - Vulture

2009-03-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Patrick Wolf - Vulture

Anything new from the ultra talented and delightfully eccentric Mr Wolf was always going to be good news, but now we have some new and (overtly?) sexy tunes to prove it.

The video is possibly NSFW but it's pretty harmless really unless you feel unusual watching a young beanstalk of a man writhe around in a leather harness? That's Patrick alright.

With his stage personna becoming bolder, Patrick's music seems more intense this time around. Look forward to more from the first of two new albums which make up what will eventually form (the originally intended as a double cd) 'Battle'. The first album will be called 'The Batchelor' and is due out in June.

Awesome scenes.

Lee, x.

Getting My SXSW Fix Via DiS @ Texan Embassy

2009-03-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

(BTW, it's in London, which is south by my standards but not so much west.)

So, I've had zero to post about as there's not really been much new music entering my ears the last week or so. I've also begun to have SXSW envy issues even though I know that every year onwards I'll be there after I totally move out there in the Summer.

Good news came my way today then that on the very day that I'm having my Visa interview in London for moving to the US, DrowenedinSound are hosting a party at the Texan Embassy (it's a restaurant/bar now) which is awesome.

----------------------------------------------------

A party for those off us NOT off to Austin this year.

Hosted by DrownedinSound.com

Date: Tues 17th March 2009
Time: 18:00 - 21:00
Location: Upstairs @ The Texas Embassy - Bar & Cantina
Street: 1 Cockspur Street, SW1Y 5DL
Town/City: London, United Kingdom (gmap)

Description
This is a special party, hosted by DrownedinSound.com, upstairs at The Texas Embassy in Trafalgar Square, London, SW1. [We're currently looking for a sponsor for the bar]

Q: Why would you wanna fly several thousands of miles, cross various time zones and then queue like cattle just to drink a pint of Lone Star and hang out with people from the music business?

A: This year you don't have to.We're not going to Texas this year, so DiS is throwing a party especially for those of us suffering from SXSW burnout or much more likely, the wrath of the bleeding hands of the recession, and therefore not making the annual pilgrimage to the self-proclaimed live capital of the world!Whilst our duteous peers board planes, let's have a gathering of the great and the good who've been left behind. Drink Mojitos, Margaritas and far too many Lone Star's. They also have quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, ribs, steaks, various sizzling platters......

We'll finish by 9 so you can run off and catch 6 gigs before sleeping in your own bed... or hell, book a hotel six miles outta town and throw up in the sink at 4am after turning up at 3 parties just as the bars closed, if you wanna get the 'authentic SXSW experience'.More details to follow. RSVP (as a comment below or on facebook here) so I can get an idea of numbers. It holds a few 100 people so should be fine for everyone to get in without the need for guestlists and all that toss.

Please note: We're considering having some over-hyped blog-buzz bands play a 40minute soundcheck followed by a 10 minute set on a dodgy p.a. but we'll probably go see Pulled Apart by Horses at White Heat instead.

http://www.texasembassy.com/

----------------------------------------------------

See you there?

Lee, x.

Truck 2009 Tickets On Sale This Thursday!

2009-03-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

If you live in the UK and discovering muscial wonders in the Summery countryside of Oxford sounds like a blissful time then Truck is the festival you need to be at.

I myself have been to 3 proper Truck festivals and 1 other Truck event. I can tell you with all my heart that they were completely amazing each time and I discovered loads of amazing music and had shitloads of fun. Sometimes I even found the random distractions like the bicicyle powered disco (trufax!), bamboo crafts and even sneaking backsatge with friends to be just as much fun as the music itself.

Tickets go onsale this Thursday as I found in this email from the Truck camp...

------------------------------------------------

Dear Truckers,

Just a quick note to let you know about tickets for TRUCK TWELVE, which will take place on July 25 & 26th 2009 at Hill Farm, Steventon. As you're on this mailing list you'll receive a priority notification of the link to our online ticket shop, or you can head in person to one of the shops below.Tickets will go on sale at 12:12pm on Thursday, March 12th 2009, priced £70.

OXFORD ScribblerVideosyncratic (Cowley Rd & Summertown)
Music Box
ABINGDON Mostly BooksLocal Roots
WITNEY Rapture
DIDCOT Baby John's Guitar World
WALLINGFORD Toby English Books
READING Guitar works
HIGH WYCOMBE Counter Culture
LONDON Rough Trade East

Parking will be charged at £7 in advance (or £10 on the gate), for which you'll receive a TRUCK monster ticket for your car windscreen!

If you purchase your tickets online you can also pre-order your festival merchandise.

If you're also going to be attending WOOD festival at Braziers Park on May 15th-17th (and we'd really recommend that you do), a limited number of Supertrucker tickets are still available, giving you access to both festivals and saving £15. Artists confirmed for WOOD include Spiers & Boden, Jim Moray, Po' Girl, Danny the Champ, Stornoway, Jonquil and KTB, with many more to be announced, as well as the usual array of talks, workshops and activities, plus a new children's tent.

Love, Dusty x

------------------------------------------------

http://www.thisistruck.com/

Lee, x.

Show Me How You Re-Work It

2009-03-07T16:59:00.000-08:00

There's nothing too exciting going on now so I thought I'd give you something you might like to listen to in the form of this MEGAmix (added emphasis on the mega).

Basically, I made whole bunch of megamixes (under my DJing moniker of DJ Kyoto) last year in an effort to a) improve my music production skills and b)have a continuous mix of the best house party music ever.

This was the second one I ever made and probably my favourite so far. It features lots of electro sexiness from the likes of Justice, Simian Mobile Disco and Death From Above 1979.

It's also very obnoxious so forgive me but for house parties that's kind of the point.

DJ Kyoto Megamix Vol. 2 by FutureKyoto

Tracklist-

Justice - Genesis (Intro)
Klaxons - Golden Skans To Interzone (So Me Remix/DJ Kyoto Edit)
Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Rockstars
Crystal Castles - Courtship Dating
Sébastien Tellier - Sexual Sportswear (SebastiAn Remix)
Hot Chip - Shake A Fist
Digitalism - ZDRLT (Rewind)
Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler/Justice -Phantom II/Daft Punk - Robot Rock/DFA 1979 - Sexy Results [MSTRKRFT Edition](DJ Kyoto Show Me How You Work It Mash-Up)
Bloc Party - Flux (JFK Remix)

BTW, I rccmnd getting all these records individually by purchasing them to support the artists.
Anyone wanting me to take this down contact kyumirecords@gmail.com pls and I'll do so immediately.

Lee, x.

Robots Well And Truly Rock - Daft Punk To Score Tron Sequel!

2009-03-05T15:17:00.000-08:00

If I had to narrow down the most awesome things I can think of to just a few then you could probably bet that robots (no kidding, ay?), futuristic things, French dance music and the movie Tron would all be there somewhere.

So I was understandably quite over-excited when I heard the news that Daft Punk, the godfathers of innovative dance music themselves, had agreed to score the new sequel to Tron!

Maybe this will help you to get a better idea of how I feel...

Yes, quite.

The movie will be titled 'TR2N' (which I will just be calling Tron 2 because actually saying what it spells sounds silly) and is expected in cinemas about 2011.

Lee, x.

Loney Dear - Dear John

2009-03-05T06:57:00.000-08:00

After spending the last two days with a horrendous cold and not having much luck discovering nice music to share with all the lovely people who read this blog, finally I chanced across news that the new Loney Dear record titled 'Dear John' is out in the UK next Monday (9th March).

The song 'Airport Surroundings' in the video above is from this latest offering and it's pretty fantastic stuff. It's a bit more electronic sounding than previous tracks I've heard but it seems he can do pretty much whatever he wants and make it very good indeed.

"'Dear John' is the fifth studio album from Swedish singer-songwriter Emil Svanangen aka Loney Dear. Self recorded and produced at his apartment studio and his parents' house..."

If you enjoy Swedish lovelieness then consider this a essential record to hold you over at last till the new Peter, Bjorn & John album arrives.

Check out some more Loney Dear and see what has us excited...

http://www.loneydear.com/

www.myspace.com/loneydear

Lee, x.

Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve - Re-Animations Vol. 1

2009-03-01T16:17:00.000-08:00

Beyond The Wizard's Sleeve are DJing duo Erol Alkan (a big name in both indie and dance music and now producer for a lot of very excellent albums) and Richard Norris.

Whilst the results might not always be dancefloor bangers they can certainly make some very interesting versions of popular indie songs. The remixes of Goldfrapp's 'Happiness'and Midlake's 'Roscoe' are probably my favourites for their particularly dreamy sound which you could as easily relax in bed listening to as you could dancing at the indie discotheque.

They've supplied many of my favoutite B-sides to great singles of late so I recommened you check out the first of what will hopefully be many volumes of reanimations.

'Re-Animations Vol. 1' is out on Monday.

www.myspace.com/beyondthewizardssleeve

Lee, x.

Cursive For A Dollar!

2009-03-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

I was a big fan of Cursive's 'The Ugly Organ' although not so much 'Happy Hollow'. From what I've heard so far the new album 'Mama, I'm Swollen' sounds pretty darn good and since it's out digitally now for just one American dollar (trufax!) you can't go wrong really.

This news just reached us via Saddle Creek's newsletter email and you can check it out here:

http://www.saddle-creek.com/

You can also buy the physical album Monday morning onwards with some extra nice packaging with handwritten lyrics and poster. Spoilt much?

www.cursivearmy.com

www.myspace.com/cursive

Lee, x.

Adam Gnade - Island's Islands

2009-02-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

I only just found out the exciting news of a new release from my favourite musician/poet Adam Gnade that came out this Monday.

His website has this to say:
"Island's Islands came about after talking to a friend of mine who's made a pretty good life for himself as a painter. No matter how well the guy does he refuses to mass-produce prints of his work. Everything he sells is an original; it's something he's made with his hands and it's something that, in all probability, he'll never see again once it sells--which I thought was kind of brave. Island's Island is a cassette release, limited to 100 copies. Each version will be recorded directly into my analog recorder onto that particular tape itself and each will feature different songs... new ones, covers, noise collages, revamps on old ones, whatever feels right at the time. Each tape will be its own original piece of music for whomever orders it. I've already recorded a couple of them and it feels pretty damn good." --Adam Gnade, 2/22/09

Although it's very limited in number and you'll only receive the songs you get (and on cassette too, but I love them still so I don't mind) it's still a pretty nice thing to do. Each individual cassette is completely unique and special, which is something that can't often be said of anything music-wise these days.

Adam collaborated with Oxford natives Youthmovies (another fantastic band to check out) on an album called 'Honey Slides' a while back which is a fantastic album I wholly recommend checking out (this ones on CD if you're not so enthusiastic about retro audio formats).

My friend Drew recently caught up with the man himself for a chat which you can read here.

http://www.adamgnade.com/

www.myspace.com/gnade

Lee, x.

frYars - Visitors

2009-02-27T15:06:00.000-08:00

Despite the cheesy 80s-revivalist music video for the single 'Visitors', frYars is pretty darn talented it seems. So much so that a rather impressed Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode decided to guest on this particular track.

I loved the song 'The Ides' from the E.P. of the same name he released a while back and urge you to check out his music. The Single is taken from a forthcoming (funded by fan 'investments' via bandstocks) full-length debut album titled 'Dark Young Hearts' due for release in March.

You can download this track for free via the bandstocks website here: www.bandstocks.com/visitors

www.myspace.com/fryars

Lee, x.

School Of Seven Bells - Alpinisms

2009-02-26T01:55:00.000-08:00

The first time this was released it slipped under my radar, but having had it's re-release just this week I heard it being played in-store and it's pretty fantastic.

The band consists of Benjamin Curtis (formerly of Secret Machines), together with identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (formerly of On! Air! Library!). Fact fans might like to know that the band is named after the School of the Seven Bells, a mythical South American pickpocket training academy.

There isn't a single genre you could pin them down to at all, their music sounds as though it takes influence from world music, electronica and spacey prog all at once. The best I can come up with is 'beautifuldreamsplosionxcore'.

Take a listen to their track 'Half Asleep'...

www.myspace.com/schoolofsevenbells

http://www.schollofsevenbells.com/

Lee, x.

I <3 Sky Larkin

2009-02-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

I've neglected to mention that Sky Larkin's debut album 'The Golden Spike' came out the other week, which frankly is unacceptable and I apologise to the music loving masses.

This video is 'Fossil, I' which appears on the record and it sounds miles better than all the demos I've been listening to up till it's release, and I thought those demos were awesome.

I'm really terrible at summing up bands in a way I'm happy with so guitar + girl + fun = Sky Larkin will have to suffice. Give them a listen and you won't be sorry.

www.myspace.com/skylarkinskylarkin

Lee, x.

Sunny Day Sets Fire - Wilderness

2009-02-23T16:24:00.000-08:00

I saw this band's debut album come into the store I work in today and thought, "Hey, that's an interesting band name. I'll totally check that out later."

It always makes me happy when that particular logic actually works.

According to press releases they chose the name Sunny Day Sets Fire after it came up in a random name generator (my attempts at such things always came up sounding like a comedy band). They are a 5-piece that formed in London though they have come together from such far reaching locations such as Hong Kong, Italy, Sardinia and Canada.

The album was released this Monday and it is titled 'Summer Palace'. This video is the track 'Wilderness' which features on the album and is a very good place to start.

www.myspace.com/officialsunnydaysetsfire

www.sunnydaysetsfire.com/

Lee, x.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll

2009-02-22T15:40:00.000-08:00

So it seems that another Yeah Yeah Yeahs song has been let loose upon the interwebs. Famous blogger and one man hype frenzy, Kanye West, leaked the newest track to be heard from the forthcoming album 'It's Blitz!' by posting it up on his blog as a free download.

The track is called 'Heads Will Roll' and as can be expected it's another brilliant slice of electronic goodness following hot on the footsteps of the first single 'Zero'.

Good news for the indie discos of the world it seems.

Lee, x.

Hello!

2009-02-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

Nice to meet you! We are now officially friends in the time it took you to read this since it most likey seems you are into some pretty neat stuff!

Well Done!

My name is Lee and I'm the guy who will be posting most frequently on this site though we do have contributors from time to time.

Now the blog is getting more hits and I'm beginning to post a lot more frequently I thought I'd take this opportunity to say a few things about what this blog is all about.

Robots Made Me Do It started life late 2007 as a handmade zine about music/art/stories and just generally awesome things but with the focus mainly on the music. I illustrated everything by hand using thick sharpies giving it a unique style.

Eventually though this became pretty expensive and seeing as I ws living in a pretty small and isolated location in North Wales it became to much work for so little pay-off to continue in this way. Not wanting to walk away completely but faced by the realities of my situation and surroundings I began the blog that is here now and continued writing in much the same way as before. I also got asked to write for the student paper and chose my favourite writings from the blog to be printed so that maybe at least someone would find it interesting.

We re-launched 'RobotsMMDI' with the first gig we had ever put on with one of our favourite artists, Jeremy Warmsley. The night was great despite a relatively low turnout and so began our forays into live music and events.

This will always be a music blog above all else but I also post about things I find pretty interesting or sometimes features that are non-music related from bands. Although I don't focus on one specific scene there will be lots of UK bands and events featured since I'm from England originally. Also, when I move out to Austin, TX there will probably be more Austin-centric stuff for me to check out and post about.

If you are in a band or if you are writer and would like to contribute/send tracks/perform/let me know about just about anything then send an email to kyumirecords@gmail.com.

Lee, x.

Johnny Foreigner Giveaway New Songs!

2009-02-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

Johnny Foreigner have announced via their blog that they have a surplus of new material for their new album so they are giving away 2 of the songs that won't appear on their upcoming new album. This download is only available from this link for the next two weeks.

"Inside is 2 brand new songs and 2 complimentary supercool desktopwallpaper lyric collage drawing things. We did all this stuff with some good friends and its pretty much super, exclusive, and totally free: these songs wont be on any official releases".

The super-productive Birmingham-based band, who released their frankly terrific debut album 'Waited Up Til It Was Light' just a year ago, will soon be entering the studio again for the follow-up. This time they will be recording in Brooklyn with Alex Newport who has produced the likes of At The Drive-In and Death Cab For Cutie amongst others. From how much I enjoyed the two tracks that didn't even make the cut I'm pretty excited as to what the proper new album will be like.

www.myspace.com/johnnyforeigner

Lee, x.

<3 Manchester Music

2009-02-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

Over at the incresingly wonderful music site The Line Of Best Fit, Tom Whyman (aka melesmeles who did an amazing interview with Los Campesionos! for us ages ago) talks about the state of music in Manchester and has interviewed some of his adopted-home city's brightest lesser-known talents for a special feature.

RobotsMMDI favoutites such as Cats In Paris and Jam On Bread feature alongside a number of very worthy bands you might want to check out for yourselves.

Read it here!

Lee, x.

Errors - Pump

2009-02-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

I badly needed a reason to post again about Errors, a Scottish band who make amazing electronic music. So now this absolutely superb video for thier track 'Pump' has been nominated for a Scottish BAFTA and so I thought I'd share it with you all. Enjoy!

Lee, x.

Filthy Dukes - This Rhythm

2009-02-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

I got this in the post a week or so ago and although it was kind of a slow burner for me at first it's now become an essential when I'm out DJing. This single is out on the 9th of March with a full album due March 16th.

The vocals are supplied by none other than Sam Eastgate of the band Late Of The Pier who are one of the best new bands about in the UK right now.

http://www.filthydukes.com/

www.myspace.com/filthydukes

Lee, x.

I <3 Dog Day

2009-02-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

About a year and a half ago I recieved a promo from Tomlab (one of my all-time favourite record labels) which was a song from a Canadian indie band called Dog Day with their song 'Oh Dead Life'. I eagerly listened to said single in hopes it would be undoubtedly amazing and safe to say I wasn't dissapointed in the least.

I thought since I still think it's an amazing song that deserves more attention than I think it's probably had then why not post about it?

www.myspace.com/dogdaytheband

Lee, x.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

2009-02-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

So, you might have heard that Yeah Yeah Yeahs have announced the release of their third full length album 'It's Blitz!', scheduled in for a April 13th release in the UK (14th for America).

Exciting times!

I won't deny that I'm a huge fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and I'm pretty much going to cover everything they do (pretty much the point of this blog is to talk about stuff I think is ace). However, the first single (out on April 6th) called 'Zero' is pretty awesome whatever you predisposition on New York's finest muscial trio.

It seems every band on the planet have had the same thought all at once in making synthesizors the only instrument that matters this year, but if you can pull it off as well as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs seem to do, why not?

'Zero' isn't Yeah Yeah Yeahs like you know them, instead it's them powered by giant neon lightning bolts whilst out dancing at an all night S&M club "so get your, get your, get your leather on".

Awesome.

www.myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs

Lee, x.

Happy President's Day!

2009-02-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

George Washington was one pretty awesome guy but maybe you didn't know just how awesome? Well no need for history books with their so-called 'facts' when you have this action-packed video tell you what's what.

Lee, x.

P.S. In related news it is now only 5 months till I move to America!

Casiokids - Fot i Hose

2009-02-12T15:37:00.000-08:00

This is Casiokids at their most flat-out danceable and it's as fun as diving into a mountain of sugar and puppies (at a rave?). Okay, so maybe I'm just seeing how to spice up my similies but it's still brilliant.

Chances are that this will be all over the blogosphere anyway but despite the bad taste that usually comes with the mandatory hype explosion (*cough* NME *cough*) you should give Norways best new export a chance first.

I watched them live only a short while ago supporting Of Montreal in Manchester and I can say I was genuinely taken aback by how much it made me want to move my feet with it's charming mixture of indie shoegaze that somehow melded well into electro bangers. What I'm basically saying is that they sound like the ultra-fun version of Sigor Ros. Hype enough?

www.myspace.com/casiokids

http://www.casiokids.com/

Lee, x.

Reasons Cats In Paris Are Awesome

2009-02-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

Just because really!

Lee, x.

I <3 Lomography

2009-02-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

Lee John Howson

I recieved an amazing lomography camera with a fisheye lens from my lovely fiancee for xmas and finally got around to using it in London this past weekend.

After much experimenting (mostly in the underground) I've found that some of the photos turned out pretty great so I'm going to be posting my photography worth viewing on another blog called 'This Could Be Beautiful'.

Hope you enjoy it...

http://thiscouldbebeautiful.blogspot.com/

Lee, x.

I <3 I Like Where I Live

2009-02-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

Today I came across something I really enjoyed. It was full of beeps and bloops, whirls and echoes. It was called I Like Where I Live.

Self described as a bit like The Postal Service and Stars, and I'm sure you'll agree that's not too far from the mark. It's spacey and ethral but uplifting nontheless.

Instead of me gushing over it like I tend to do when I'm just a wee bit excited I'll let you decide with the two songs (demos, but not that you'd guess) on offer on his myspace page...

www.myspace.com/ilikewhereilive

Lee, x.

I <3 Trouble Books

2009-01-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write about Trouble Books ever since I was first captivated by their brilliantly warm and dreamlike music. Each song sounds to me like a stream of emotions and conjures imagery of pine forests and scattered sunbeams projected into to the back of my mind.

The lo-fi recording alongside the string and wind instruments give them a particularly organic feel. It's the kind of music I love to have in my head phones as I lie in bed falling asleep, with each instrument slowly whispering into my ear and filling me with silent wonder.

Trouble Books are from Akron, Ohio and have an album out called The United Colors Of Trouble Books which you can get from Bark & Hiss in the US and MIE in the UK.

Listen to Trouble Books: www.myspace.com/barkandhiss

Buy the record here:

http://www.barkandhiss.com/

And here:

miemusic.co.uk

Lee, x.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

2009-01-18T10:48:00.000-08:00

I have been reluctant to post anything about the newest Animal Collective record because there are already hundreds of reviews and blogs about it by now. Instead of telling you how much I like it (a lot) and why, I'll let you make up your own mind if you remain undecided still whether this record deserves the heaps of praise it's currently recieving.

These live versions of two of the songs from the record might not entirely capsulate what the whole finished record is like (I'm sure hypemachine will help you out there) it's powerful stuff nontheless...

My Girls

Summertime Clothes

www.myanimalhome.net

Lee, x.

Emmy The Great - First Love

2009-01-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

Looking back at 2008 and there was a lot of indie folk making waves in the charts and in music publications with bands such as Noah & The Whale, Lightspeed Champion, Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn. After having somewhat of an underground following before any of the other acts began to make names for themselves, the only name that for some was obviously missing from this list was Emmy The Great.

Well yes, she did do the backing vocals on Lightspeed Champion's album (and it's fair to say that she has collabarated with every one of the artists mentioned) but there was a definate lack of anything on the album front with singles and EPs few and far between in the last 2 years.

This might have been for the best as time seems to have provided the chance to fine tune ideas and properly grow into a fuller sound as heard on the samples of new songs featured on the album. I was almost worried after seeing full band shows that the charm of a solo Emma Lee Moss with just guitar and foot stomps would be swamped by the full arrangements. While it might be difficult to imagine what songs that were perfect in how thay were carried by just one guitar and voice might be affected by the full band treatment, so far what I've heard is promising. It seems on the title track (and second single) from First Love there is a definate growth in confidence and the production sounds fantastic.

Despite the majority electronic-tinged music now fast becoming the focus of many whats hot in 2009 lists I believe Emmy will get the attention she deseves will after a long time of being an indie darling just for those in the know.

First Love is released on 9th Feb.

www.myspace.com/emmythegreat

Lee, x.

P.S. I'm very much looking forward to the album now <3

I <3 Internet Forever

2009-01-13T13:42:00.000-08:00

INTERNET FOREVER - Break Bones from heartbeeps on Vimeo.

Internet Forever are a London-based project made up of Christopher Alcxxk (Junkplanet, Plurals and like 50+ more), Laura Wolf (Sad Shields, Plurals and more) and Heartbeeps who together have produced some rather lovely sounding lo-fi indie pop.

They are kind of band that you secretly wish never get well-known and you can put on mix tapes so when people in your car ask "who is this?" you can be the smuggest indie kid ever. Which is definately a good thing.

www.myspace.com/internetforever

Lee, x.

Xmas Presents? Yeah Yeah Yeah!

2008-12-18T16:41:00.001-08:00

New York's coolest musical trio are finally back with a festive present to tide you over till their new album is released sometime next year. It's a free download of 'All I Want For Christmas' which you can add to your festive indie compilation cds alongside Sufjan Stevens (Songs For Christmas) and Noah & The Whale (Cyril At Crunkmas).

http://www.u-download.co.uk/yyychristmasdownload

Lee, x.

Metronomy - A Thing For Me

2008-12-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

I don't talk nearly enough about Metronomy on here which is silly becuase they are pretty awesome. They just released a video for another track on the new album 'Nights Out' called A Thing For Me.

Even though I'm biased because I love this band I think this video is one of the best I've seen in a while.

Lee, x.

Peter, Bjorn & John - Bad Language, Sweet Tunes

2008-12-13T15:05:00.000-08:00

Remember that song a while back that just wouldn't get out of your head? You know, the whistling? Boy/girl vocals? The sweet and tender yet highly danceable Swedish pop gem that everybody couldn't get enough of? Well, the question is how do you top that? Where do you go from those dizzy heights?

Well they had an album that wasn't really on the radar after that, which is fair enough as no-one was expecting another Young Folks right away. However this time around P,B & J find themselves at the top only to lose the girl, become bitter, head out to the dancefloor make more awesome music whilst getting jealous and angry. Very angry. And swear lots.

This is totally forgivable though because when you listen to the song you find it's impossible to be even slightly offended by the way they sing "Hey shut the fuck up boy, you are starting to piss me off. Take your hands off that girl, you've already had enough". Blimey.

Come January though you'll hear rooms full of people sing right along with this. Its massively infectious and more danceable than Young Folks ever was.

I'm not sure of the title yet but I think it'll be called something like 'Hey (Shut The Fuck Up Boy)' and here's the video...

http://www.peterbjornandjohn.com/

Lee, x.

Merry Indie Xmas w/ Maps

2008-12-11T15:03:00.000-08:00

The ever delightful online music magazine Maps has once again set up and advent calender leading up till Christmas Day on their website homepage. Every single day from the 1st till the 25th you can listen and download (legally!) free tracks from an assortment of bands, which is pretty nifty really.

Almost as good as the chocolate ones?

http://www.mapsmagazine.co.uk/

Dancing Like Snowflakes

2008-12-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

It snowed for about a whole minute here today which means Winter is truly here!

The best way to stay warm in such harsh climates is to dance to some sexy new electro be it in the home by the fire or in a club next to a hot body (gasp!).

Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses Remix - http://hypem.com/track/692966/Franz+Ferdinand-Ulysses+%28IMISSMYJUNO+remix%29

MGMT - Of Moons, Birds... Remix - http://hypem.com/track/687767/MGMT-Of+Moons+Birds+and+Monsters+(Holy+Ghost!+Remix)

Here's to staying warm!

Lee, x.

Okkervil River - The Stand Ins

2008-12-01T13:55:00.000-08:00

I remember a lazy Summer afternoon not yet a year past that I saw a band called Okkervil River play in a field on a farm in Oxford. I was maybe impatient for my new favourite bands at the time to play or maybe I felt slightly hungry, but whatever the reason I listened a while before wandering off sleepily. I kind of wish I'd payed closer attention now I guess.

You have to forgive me and my flimsy reasoning for allowing this album to sit on my dresser for the last couple of weeks before I got around to really listening to it. I am kicking myself because after maybe 2 listens I knew for sure this was my favourite indie-rock record of the year. I mean, I just knew.

This is what I've been craving since Bright Eyes' 'I'm Wide Awake It's Morning' and Arcade Fire's 'Funeral'. It's not quite perfect but that's not the point. Anything I could say about this record wouldn't even begin to give you an idea of how upifting and poetic it truly is.

Instead I will just give you a taste of what you might be missing.

Video: Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines

Lee, x.

Justice - A Cross The Universe

2008-11-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

Right now Justice seems to be doing to dance music what the punk movement did to guitar music, except a whole bunch more stylish (though both feature leather jackets).

The live CD half of this CD and DVD package is well worth it if you are a fan of french electro have enjoyed the similar live mixing heard on daft punk's Alive 2007. It does as much justice (pun slightly intended) to the atmosphere of a real Justice show as an audio recording can possibly achieve. Their frantic overdriven DJing style makes things exciting and big tunes like 'We Are Your Friends' and 'D.A.N.C.E.' bring the fun into their mashed-up set.

The DVD is not actually a video version of the concert but a documentary of their 3 week tour in America earlier this year. Heavy drinking, sex, mansions, fights, guns, police, and even Las Vegas weddings all feature, so if you thought it was just rock bands that got up to all the crazy antics then Justice prove that DJs can do it even better. It's interesting, cool, a little dark, confusing, excessive, and you won't be able to take you eyes off it.

Words: Lee John Howson

Kitsune Maison - Compilation 6

2008-11-23T16:58:00.000-08:00

When you've exhausted every mp3 blog on your favourites list but still can't stop trying to find amazing music that no-one has heard of yet (someone is counting the indie points, right?) then trust Kitsune to sort you out with a truckload of it with every new compilation they make.

Last time around you may have been lucky enough to have heard Foals and Crystal Castles months before they hit the front pages of the NME so rest assured some of the talent here is destined for recognition soon. Personal highlights include young Ladyhawke-in-waiting La Roux, the ever amazing Digitalism, a very danceable song from We Have Band (my bet on whats going to be everywhere in the near future) and the post-Alice Glass pixelated candy sweetness of HEARTSREVOLUTION.

Words: Lee John Howson

TVOTR - Manchester Academy 17/11/08

2008-11-18T13:55:00.000-08:00

Last night I saw TV On The Radio play a 'Dear Science' heavy set featuring beefed up versions of songs like Golden Age, Red Dress and Love Dog. Watching from the front row I couldn't help but think how much of a soulful and just plain impressive live presence they had that not many bands possess.

Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe swaggered around the stage to every single beat with beads of sweat running down him and made it look as cool as fuck. Guitarist, producer/mega-genius David Sitek nestled in his corner of the stage filled with foot pedals and seemingly went into overdrive mode as he shredded his fretboard frantically for most of the show. Guitarist/vocalist Kyp Malone was situated right in front of yours truly and the man oozed blues cool so much I could barely look him in the eye for fear of bursting into flames if he were to return my gaze.

The new album 'Dear Science' is one of my favourite records this year despite not really knowing anything about this band before hearing it. After seeing them live I feel confirmed in my conversion to loving this band. Buy this album, see them live. Seriously.

www.tvontheradio.com

www.myspace.com/tvotr

Words & Photography: Lee John Howson

Final Fantasy EPs - Part Two

2008-11-09T02:01:00.000-08:00

Spectrum 14th Century

'Spectrum...' is, if I'm totally honest, the better of the two Final Fantasy EPs released last month. Whilst 'Plays To Please' was a demonstration of how Owen Pallett can make anything he touches sound totally amazing (all the song were originally by Alex Lukashevsky and Deep Dark United), then actual new Final Fantasy material on this second EP serves to show that we should all be very excited about next year's full length 'Heartland'.

The first thing I should mention about this record is that it's kind of a 'concept record'. Now I know that phrase usually conjures up thoughts of musical wankery on dirge-esque levels but when you are in the world of Final Fantasy then things always a little bit more spectacular. The idea is that the music all takes place in the Kingdom of Spectrum where Pallett is a Deity to the people. Some of the music is from the perspective of him as a God looking over the land whilst others from that of various people in the Kingdom.

Also, you should know that several members of Beirut (Pallett played and sang on Beirut's last record The Flying Club Cup) play on this record which is to say that whatever it sounds like it ought to have musicianship practically pouring out of your eyeballs as you listen.

Oh Spectrum starts with supposed field recordings that are from the forests of Spectrum before the music stirs up and whilst its not as immediate as you might think an album opener might be it serves well in setting the scene from outside the city walls and does well to conjures up all the hustle and bustle.

Now the listener is safely transported into this fantastical realm Blue Imelda, which is a truly beautiful piece of music by any standards, takes us deeper into its heart. The deceptively lovely vocals as is mostly the case with all his songs are darker when you pay attention to what is actually being sung "For I am just a farmer, and the body of a farmer has one eye on the pussy and the other on the plough".

The Butcher is possibly the the most standout track here, sure to become a firm fan favourite. More dark humour and even using memes as lyrics will put a smile on your face " say all your bases belong to us".

Cockatrice is another slow burning lushly arranged song and follows an unwilling prophet that has been chosen by Owen.

It finishes with the unsettling The Ballad of No-Face, whose character seemingly finds evil in everyone and everything, before we are left alone again in the midst of the noises of Spectrum.

It's hard to say anything bad about anything here just because it all sounds so so good. There are lulls and slower points but really this is a lovely record that deserves all the attention it can get.

Bring on 'Heartland'...

www.finalfantasyeternal.com/
www.blocksblocksblocks.com/

Words: Lee John Howson

Emmy The Great + Fatboy Slim = ?

2008-11-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's a question I'd have never thought I'd ask but it has an answer I'm pretty pleased with.

Just how this collaboration came about I'm not sure but Norman Cook's new project 'Brighton Port Authority' features a whole host of special guests including DiS Recordings' Martha Wainwright and David Byrne. Pretty exciting, ay?

If you know me then you will probably heard me saying at some point or other that Emmy The Great is one of my favourite people in music, like ever. There is just something about her simple blend of melancholy anti-folk mixed with splashes of humour that I think is awesome. After doing the backing vocals for some of my favourite London-based musicians (Lightspeed Champion, Jeremy Warmsley) and seeing her own backing band find chart success (Noah & The Whale) before she'd even released anything other than vinyl singles and EPs she is finally starting to come to the attention of the wider world. Her debut album is now finished and will be released early next year (finally!) for those who are interested.

Talking about the actual song though, it's a fairly simple and sweet electronic-tinged melodic affair. A song you might play in the car and let breeze between your ears, humming along and then it's over just as quickly. I think it's growing on me...

www.myspace.com/thebpa
www.myspace.com/emmythegreat

Lee, x.

Final Fantasy EPs - Part One

2008-10-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

I received a very nice surprise in the post the other day in the form of the two new EPs from Final Fantasy, aka Owen Pallett. If you don't already know he is an extraordinarily talented violinist and the composer behind the arrangements of fellow Canadians Arcade Fire and Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys frontman) side-project Last Of The Shadow Puppets.

The EPs 'Plays To Please' and 'Spectrum 14th Century' precede his 3rd full-length album as Final Fantasy 'Heartland' which is out later this year.

Plays To Please

This is a actually collection of songs by Alex Lukashevsky and Deep Dark United which Pallett has arranged the music for and somewhat notably performed alongside fellow violinist Andrew Bird.

From the opener Horsetail Feathers the listener might be forgiven for thinking they had accidentally begun listening to a somewhat snazzy Broadway musical rather than an indie record, which if anything is a credit to the sheer range of ability on display here.

On comes the foreboding tones of Ultimatum and even more musicianship than you can shake your dusty guitar at. This time it's backed up with lyrical delights such as describing some very naughty acts, " You'll want them till I tap your tits, he's gonna caution your clits...". With Owen's almost polite vocal delivery you might even be able to play this without incident with your grandparents in the same room.

Moodring Band lulls and croons softly at the heart of the tracklist before I Saved A Junky Once suddenly tears us away to a much different place with its harsh stabbing piano notes. It's another return to a scene in a musical but now set in a much darker story it would seem.

Dark humour is applied thickly within Nun Or A Bawd, jauntily proclaiming "Gonna get me a girlfriend, gonna do whatever she says". It's the subtle lyrical turns here again amongst the musicianship that make this a highlight.

Crush - Love - Crush is the troubled monologue of someone fighting with their feelings of self doubt, uncertain of feeling anything with any conviction anymore. Everything comes into full force with lush composition that should have you hanging onto every note, finally breaking apart with Pallett repeating "Crush, Love, Crush" until his voice is barely audible. It does ultimately steal the show before the final curtain.

'Plays To Please' has a very limited release on Blocks Recording Club and I highly recommend you buy it before it runs out.

I'll be reviewing the second Final Fantasy EP 'Spectrum 14th Century' later this week so look out for that.

www.finalfantasyeternal.com/
www.blocksblocksblocks.com/

Words: Lee John Howson

Summer Fades

2008-09-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

There have been a handful of stand-out albums in the recent months so what else is a boy to do than write a round-up in hopes that it gets you all to check them out for yourselves (though some are pretty obvious to those who read any kind of music publication, but I think deserve a few more words so balls to it).

Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up Til It Was Light

One of my records of the year so far, this three-piece from Birmingham already have a steady following thanks to their energetic music (and even more energetic live shows). If you are a fan of bands like Los Campesinos! and You Say Party! We Say Die! but prefer your guitars louder and spikier then this is the band for you.

Bloc Party - Intimacy

This album came as a surprise release via the net last month (cd release in October) and saw a promising return to form by Bloc Party after the critical lack of enthusiasm for their second full-length effort last year. It's an album that is playful and serious in equal measure, pushing some boundaries as well as showing that they still have the guitar band dynamic that they are revered for. A grower perhaps but ultimately a strong return to form.

Late Of The Pier - Fantasy Black Channel

The Illegitimate children of Queen and Klaxons some might say, and some might be correct. Their debut album is quick to charm the ears with its abundant hooks and spacey overblown sounds. It's a refreshing listen in a time when the musical climate can feel a bit stagnant sometimes. Well at least it will hold you over till the return of Mr Jamie Reynolds and co.

Noah & The Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down

No matter how saccharine sweet you might find self-proclaimed "song of the summer" 2 Years Time, it will leave you whistling along long after the initial sugar rush dissipates. This album also has deeper and darker themes than the sunny exterior of the lush folk arrangements suggests. Uplifting and fragile in equal parts, it is a thoroughly worthwhile listen.

Also, I highly recommend you check out the following:

Cats In Paris - Courtcase 2000

www.myspace.com/catsinparis

Errors - It's Not Something But It's Like Whatever

www.myspace.com/weareerrors

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Vinyl "7)

www.myspace.com/passionpitjams

Lee, x.

home is where the heART is: The Black Apple

2008-07-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

One bite of the black apple will transport you to a world of wonderment with a touch of melancholy. Being a student is no excuse to have bare walls because for only $18 (£9) plus shipping, you can decorate your room with darling prints from The Black Apple available for purchase at http://theblackapple.etsy.com/

Black Apple is Emily Martin, of Athens, Georgia, whose art shows an affinity for hedgehogs, bunnies, 19th century clothing, berets, and fairy tales. Her wide-eyed characters search wistfully for simpler times of tea parties and gramophones. A series of her prints feature indie-looking girls accompanied by lyrics from bands such as Interpol, Belle and Sebastian, Bjork, Magnetic Fields, and Neko Case. Often your print arrives with a small surprise gift like an adorable postcard.It is easy to see that thought and love has been put into every aspect of her business, which encourages repeat customers. I, myself, have had to restrain myself from buying one of every print I can (so far I have 8!).

Apart from art prints, you can buy reasonably priced postcards, stationary, bookplates, and pins. If you have a bit more money (and a lot more luck!), you may be fortunate enough to score one of her original paintings or handmade dolls, but they go quickly! Shop updates are announced on her blog http://theblackapple.typepad.com/ which also gives you an inside look into projects she is working on and recommendations for other indie shops.

Emily Martin is a completely inspirational woman who cooks, sews, and knits, yet also runs one of the most successful online etsy shops in its 3 year history.

Words: Holly Prendergast

Our Gig Last Night

2008-05-21T16:07:00.000-07:00

I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who turned up last night (and of course the bands and close friends who without their help this would have been impossible)and supported not only myself but the music scene in Bangor as well. It was one of the most emotional things I think I will ever go though and although there was the downside of blowing a whole heap of money I belive I pulled off something I can be very proud of.

Looking to the future I very much want to try another night like this again one day but it will be a while before I can raise the money because gigs are expensive, yo.

Here's a very lovely acticle about the night from a friend of mine from her blog 'Words Won't Save Your Life' over at http://lilhanwrites.blogspot.com and you should totally check it out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jeremy Warmsley is a singer-songwriter from London. His brand of indie-folk-electronica is adventurous and exciting in places. His debut album, 'The Art Of Fiction', is an album full of a young writer finding his sound but has flashes of shear excellence. Live his songs really shine with a full band and a voice that leaves the hairs on the back of the neck standing on end. His songs also leave people smiling uncontrollably as they dance the night away it seems...

This event was organised by Bangor resident, Lee Howson. His hard work and money made it possible. His passion for the bands that were playing showed. This meant a lot to him, the money did not. It was a pleasure to see a music fan fulfill a dream of having one of his favourite artists play his University city. This whole event was in aid of Lee's fanzine, 'Robots Made Me Do It', which features interviews with indie bands and articles on that thing we love most, music. This was the re-launch of the project and it was somewhat of a success.

Jeremy Warmsley took to the stage later than planned at around 11pm. His set was full of old and new (his new album being due out on Trangressive records later this year) and showed his showmanship and talent off to the crowd of around 30. Songs like 'I Knew That Her Face Was A Lie' shone in the intimate setting of the Bangor Student Union building. The crowd clearly enjoyed themselves. Upbeat songs were welcomed by all with dancing, clapping and participation singing. Warmsley singing note-for-note and playing with a smile on his face. He was clearly enjoying himself too.

This enjoyment showed in the music. The indie was upped and the folk toned down, this was a show to dance about to. The guitars and the percussion creating a thumping beat that left the feet tapping and the slower songs using Warmsley's talent on the piano. A key moment of the night being Warmsley and his touring pianist playing together in a breakdown, the whole band jamming to their heart's conent. Brilliant to watch.

This night may not have been a triumph in terms of cash but in terms of music getting heard in North Wales, it was fantastic. Organised well with decent DJs and enough people to get a rage going during the show, this was one of the smallest but happiest gigs I have ever been to. Everyone had a ball and rightly so. Jeremy Warmsley rocked the place and we all danced along. Great show. Good music. Fun times.

Check out Jeremy Warmsley's Myspace page for samples of his music: www.myspace.com/jeremywarmsley here you will find details of live shows and where to get your hands on the debut album, 'The Art Of Fiction'.

Words: Hannah Smart

Robots Made Me Do It Relaunch Party!

2008-05-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Warmsley
Chris McMath
Foxes
+indie djs till late!

@ Academi, Deiniol Road, Bangor Uni S.U.
Tues, 20th May, 2008
£6/£4.50 in robot costume
Tickets on the door.

---Jeremy Warmsley---

A songwriter since the age of seventeen, Jeremy Warmsley’s music encompasses a curious mixture of the new and the old, the traditional and the atypical, all things archaic or experimental. He self-produces all his songs, playing many instruments himself and working with an eclectic range of musicians and collaborators. He is signed to Transgressive Records. His debut album “The Art Of Fiction” was released on 9th October 2006. Musicians who appeared on his album include Emmy the Great, Will Rees (Mystery Jets), Liz Neumayr (Ladyfuzz), Tom Rogerson (Three Trapped Tigers) and Johnny Flynn.

---Chris McMath---

Chis McMath is a singer-songwriter signed to Truck Records and has played live at several of the annual Truck Festivals in Steventon, Oxford. Some reviews have described him as “pop”, “prog” and “delightful”. Chris has previously self recorded and produced an E.P. under the guise of ‘As In An Octopus’ and distributed it by hand at Truck 9. A few official compilations have featured his songs between 2004 and 2006. He has recently finished recording his debut album to be called ‘The Deceased Un-Dead Backlog’ and plans to release it on Truck in 2008.

---Foxes---

Andrew Valentine creates soundscapes with loops and hums under the guise of Foxes. Calming and expansive, and introverted and melodic, and rhythmic and not, while being uneven and sometimes made with toy instruments, sometimes not. Late nights, early mornings, programming tiny filters...

♥ fanboy ♥ ~ los campesinos! interview

2008-02-29T14:23:00.000-08:00

Robots Made Me Do It recently sent one intrepid reporter, armed only with a mobile phone to record on, to interview Los Campesinos! in Manchester on their current UK tour in support of ther debut album 'Hold On Now, Youngster...'.

Me (MelesMeles): First question, what sort of process informs your songwriting, ie: who does what and in what order and how do you come up with your ideas?

Neil (guitar): Pretty much Tom will write a song idea, and then Gareth will write lyrics to that, so they sort of get an idea, and then we'll sort of fashion it and develop it and the song will sort of take a structure that way.

Me: When you first formed, did you meet through a shared interest in the same sort of music or was it more a case of recruiting members specifically to fill out particular places in the band, or what?

Neil: We pretty much just formed to, make a racket really. Us- me, Ellen and Ollie were the original three.

Ellen (bass): Core members!Neil: Yep, core members. And we had no goal apart from, making noise but…

Ollie (drums): As it progressed, we started adding people because we thought they could do something. Like violin, but it wasn't as if we put adverts up or anything like that.

Me: Your album is, without wanting to sound needlessly hyperbolic or sycophantic in any way, the most perfect pop document of the modern indie-type music geek experience that I've ever heard. Was this a conscious decision? Or do you even actively disagree with it as a statement?

Ellen: I like that statement! I especially like the word 'sycophantic'. Someone asked us once what our favourite words was, and that was my favourite word. Um… I dunno.Ollie: It sounds like an essay question.

Neil: Is that you?

Me: Yeah, that's my description of the album yeah.

Neil: Oh, sorry, I wasn't sure if that was you saying that or if it was a quote from somewhere. Um… yeah, yeah probably. I'd agree with that.

Ellen: Um… I don't think it was a conscious decision, like. The way the album evolved, it just sort of felt like a progression from where we were to where we are now, like if you look at the songs on it, the first songs we wrote we've been playing for two years, and then suddenly we have the more recent ones and they're where we can go, like how we've evolved and stuff.

Me: Which one was written most recently?

Neil: Probably, 'My Year In Lists,' 'This Is How You Spell: Hahahaha'…

Ellen: Yeah, they're the newest ones.

Me: Oh, that's really interesting, because if you look at them they're sort of the most complex.

Ellen: Definitely, yeah.

Ollie: If you put our songs in chronological order then you could see how much they've developed.

Ellen: Yeah, there's all sorts of arrangements, and time signatures…

Neil: What, 4/4 and 6/8?

Ellen: Yeah, well we wrote a few and we were like: "guys, they're all in 4/4! We've got to do something else!"

Neil: There are a few songs that we've sort of recorded and demoed for the album that actually show that progression even more so. Like, we were having a conversation on the bus about it on the way here kind of like about the excitement of having band pushes, just trying to push ourselves and trying to challenge the idea of how you make a pop song, in a way. So yeah.

Me: Was there any particular reason for leaving out 'You Throw Parties, We Throw Knives' and 'International Tweexcore Underground?'

Ellen: 'International Tweexcore' it just kind of, didn't work on the album, it was just such a stand-alone pop epic song in a way, it just stuck out like a sore thumb wherever you put it in the tracklisting.

Neil: It was also a concept single, with the B-sides, we thought it would just be nice to leave it how it was. And yeah it was recorded and mixed at a completely different place.

Ellen: And 'We Throw Parties' was such an old favourite, we just thought it would be nice, to shift attention onto songs like 'Maths' in a way, and you know its still there, you can still download it, you can still get it for free on our website actually so its not like its gone away.

Me: You first came to attention via websites like DrownedInSound. Do you think that this gives you a different perspective on/approach to the industry in general than other bands who've come up through maybe more 'insider'-y routes? And is the relative normalcy of your origins making your lives seem very surreal at the moment?

Neil: Yeah. I think…well I've always read DrownedInSound, and that and myspace, like, we put songs on myspace and then we put our 'JAG' on DiS. Do you… post on DiS?

Me: Yeah I post on it all the time.

Neil: What's your…

Me: MelesMeles.

Neil: Right, yeah, you did the article for our fanzine!

Me: Oh, yeah I did yeah. Oh wow cool I'm really glad that's actually on it. So yeah. Are you on it?

Neil: I used to post on it but…

Me: Yeah, I mean Gareth like left in a big diva-ish fit recently as well.

Ellen: The drama of the internet is amazing, I love it. Like, I love internet sites sometimes people when people will put up a really good point and it just gets shouted down in relation to grammar. Like, that word is spelt wrong so obviously your whole argument is irrelevant.Neil: Like, the music forum on DiS. Like, I started posting on it when I first started reading it, well not really posting on it but reading it but it just ended up getting really irritating.

Me: Yeah, if anything its just gotten more irritating recently.

Ollie: There's too much politics involved in it.

Ellen: I think its just like scary, like you'll saying something and then people will be like: "NO! You absolute knob, how can you possibly think that?"

Neil: And then every week on DiS its like there's another 'Should I listen to 'The Aeroplane Over The Sea'' thread.

Me: And 'where should I start with Pavement' too.

Neil: But I mean like, there's nothing bad with that, put people should just should the search function surely? But yeah… it did I think starting that way definitely made it more surreal because it all happened so fast. I think DiS…

Ollie: DiS helped us a lot.

Neil: I think not necessarily the whole process but it just made it so much quicker.

Ellen: I think because we weren't like prepared for it, like we were never like: "OK, this is what we're going to do with our lives, come on we've really got to get serious here," it was more just like: "this is amazing!" Just that naïve excitement, like, that we have about everything that's happened. So we appreciate it so much more, like because it came completely out of the blue and we weren't prepared for it so we feel so very lucky just to able to do what we're actually doing.

Me: How is the current tour going at the moment?

Ollie: Really well.

Ellen: Yeah, we're really enjoying it. There was a brief incident in Newcastle where they started fighting during 'You Me Dancing'.

Neil: That was amazing.Me: Why did they start fighting?Neil: Someone did a bad thing to someone and then somebody else, something like that. And then Gareth had to pause the set and tell them to stop fighting.

Ellen: "Stop fighting! Stop now!"

Neil: And then they got kicked out and the drama, its just amazing. Last time we were in Newcastle we had a stage invasion as well. The north-east is such a warzone I reckon.

Ellen: It was actually quite funny how we were able to start playing again right from the second verse, like: "guys, this is amazing! We can actually play this song!"

Neil: This proves we are not just performing in front of some backing track.

Ellen: I think Dublin has been the highlight for me, like being the first gig we did, and Birmingham as well, that was amazing.

Neil: Just a constant string of crowd-surfing.

Ellen: And also there was this ten year-old just crushed in at the front, singing along to every word, and it was just like: "this is so cute!"

Ollie: I don't know how it got in though.

Ellen: Well I suppose he could have just been a really small 14 year-old but he looked so young and he was obviously just really pushed but he was really just like, all the way there, he was just like: "I'm going to stay here," and he really really enjoyed it, and that just made my evening.

Me: Are you and Johnny Foreigner having some sort of competition to see who can have the best song titles?

Ellen: Yes.

Neil: I think they've probably already won though.

Me: But I mean like, what about 'This Is How Spell, Hahaha…'

Ellen: Yeah well they have more interesting song titles, we just have the one.

Ollie: I think both Gareth and Alexei both share the idea of having more interesting titles rather than just one-word titles.

Ellen: But they've been amazing just to play with and tour with, they've been brilliant every night, and they're so talented and… really really nice people as well, like we all get on really well.

Me: Um… you've made a tour fanzine to introduce music you like to your fans. Do you therefore view yourselves as a musical gateway drug of sorts?

Ollie: Gateway drug?

Me: Like, in terms of introducing indie-pop fans to maybe more experimental stuff.

Neil: I hope so, in a way. Like the fanzine was initially Gareth's idea, but I think its… really awesome. Like, there's so many people who like our band, or our genre, but who don't know that much about music and still like a lot of… shit, still, like I think that's fair, so hopefully this is a very small attempt, at trying just to…Ollie: Just interest them in exciting music.

Ellen: And not just music as well, like the fanzine, its not just about music.

Me: Oh wow cool.

Ellen: Like its just nice to be telling people about things you're interested in, that they might not know about, like film and stuff, like I've written about the Oscars in there, kind of my opinions about films, just to interest people… and I think its really nice to have a fanzine, like I'd love to go to a gig and just see the band I really like who had this thing, that…

Neil: Its quite a personal thing as well, like… I don't know why, but just because people see you're in a band they think that you're… separate. But that's not true. And I mean like I've written about Football Manager in the fanzine, so its nice now that if someone reads that, then if they see me then they know that we can have a conversation about Football Manager, which is obviously the best thing.

Neil: But I think in terms of the music that, there's kind of like this bar from the mainstream, and this fanzine, is just our way of trying to make our own little… mark, in a way.

Me: How did the recording for your album go and did David Newfeld influence your sound in any particular way?

Ellen: Yeah, like he brought so many ideas in throughout the whole process. I mean, it was a bit of a surreal experience, recording in this studio which was just in the middle of nowhere, um… in this quite… creepy house, and there were a lot of like really nice old guitars and basses there, and we could play them and they just made it sound so good.

Neil: Like 1950s…

Me: What sort of plans for the future of the band do you have, particularly in the area of musical direction if you at all know what that might be at this point in time?

Neil: Just… for the time being more touring, the single's out this week, the album's out next, so… then in the summer more touring.

Ellen: Festivals.

Neil: We're really excited, like if we can just carry on doing the same thing.

Neil: Yeah, we're really excited about that.

Ellen: Hopefully playing Glastonbury again, Reading, Leeds... yeah.

Neil: I think in terms of musical direction we just sort of want to push ourselves again, um…

Me: Yeah, because I sort of like felt that the album sounds like one of those albums, like a debut album which is just such a really good document of a band, and I dunno, its like, with the Art Brut album for example, their first album was really good in that same sort of way but then their second album didn't really go anywhere further than that, so I think it'll be really interesting to see where you guys go from here.

Ellen: Yeah, I mean you sort of have to do something different for your second album, because otherwise its just, you know you haven't progressed, you haven't learnt anything, so you have to push yourself in a different direction, kind of do something… different that just builds on what you've learnt during the first one.

Neil: I kind of have no idea of what that might be at this point in time though, how we'd do it.

Ellen: Maybe a gong.

Me: Yeah, like a gamelan.

Ollie: I have a feeling it might go a bit darker.

Neil: Yeah, like still poppy but more like edgier, and I mean… I don't know, it might be a hip-hop album.

Ellen: Yeah, metal-funk-hip-hop-jazz-fusion.

Neil: Yeah, I don't know.

Me: Oh, OK then. Well, thankyou very much.

At this point I stop the dictaphone, as my questions are all done, but I might as well have kept it running to be honest, because we end up talking for a good another five minutes or so about the point of university degrees when your outside interests are so much more interesting and potentially rewarding, the sheer amount of irritating people with flyers to clubnights outside the Student Union in Manchester, student elections, and other such non-music-related topics which would have made interesting, but non-essential interview material. All in all, three genuinely nice people who just sort of happen to be in a fantastic band, I guess. And they give great interview too. Wonderful.

Interviewed by MelesMeles (aka Tom Whyman)