07
Jul
09

Q & A – MIRRORS

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Q & A – MIRRORS


We are delighted to be able to bring you an exclusive Q&A with one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Brighton in years. This continues in our growing line of interviewees, from Little Boots, to Marina & The Diamonds, bringing you cutting edge musicians in the early stages of their promising careers.

On this ocassion James and Ally from Mirrors took time out for us, as they prepare for their upcoming Loop Festival performance in their home town of Brighton. Put simply, we couldn’t be more excited if you attached a pair of electrodes to our bollocks. The promise and hype that surrounds this magical band are suggesting big things. The available music that we’ve heard and the live performances to date have only built on the growing reputation.

1.) OK, so you are new to most of us, yet you already have Brighton and the wider music community wetting their pants out there, so lets start at the beginning…We want to know how you all met? We heard you were members of the band Mum-Ra, so is this true and how did you come to form?

I suppose we just gravitated towards one another. James and Tate had just left Mumm-ra and moved to Brighton to start something new. The four of us just clicked. We all had this vision to create a band where the ideas and aesthetic were as considered as the music.

2.) Let’s introduce the band members individually – can we have each of your names and what each of you do in the band?

We are:
James – synthesizer & vocals
 Ally – synthesizer & vocals
 Tate – synthesizer
 Joe – electronic drums

3.) Where do you each come from? Is it fair to introduce you as a ‘Brighton band’?

We think so. Brighton is our spiritual home. Our lives have become so much richer for moving here. It is a very vibrant city. We are all very proud to be a part of it.

4.) Was it true that your first gig was at the New Hero club in town? The Recommender was there and we were surprised at how you came to provide such a tight, well organised set. How many gigs have you played to date? What’s been your favourite?

That was our first show. we’ve only played a handful of shows so far. I think people are surprised how refined the performance is for such a new band. We didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Its all about the details.
Certainly the New Hero show holds a special place in our hearts, as it was the first show in our home city. Our plan is to set up a residency there where we can expand on our ideas – think painted silver dancers handing out trays of frozen flowers, koyaanisqatsi projected on the walls whilst DJ’s throw in some electronic madness. having our own night will give us a chance to create a full on 3D experience.

5.) What’s with the excellent matching ties and suits? Is this perhaps a nod to Kraftwerk or something new you’ve dreamed up?

Kraftwho? The suits compliment our music. A neat, classic image. We’ve seen a lot of scruffy looking fellows in recent times and the suits are just another little thing that separates Mirrors and it’s aesthetic from the other bands around us.

6.) For those readers totally new to you, how would you describe your sound? We heard you mention the fantastic description, ‘Pop Noir’, so can you elaborate?

It’s a phrase we coined ourselves. We wanted to stress the fact that we write “Pop” music as it can sometimes be overlooked when we start talking about our world. We think it’s an accurate reflection of the music we make. It’s memorable.

7.) We have heard reviews that tout OMD, Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk and Blancmange as comparisons, so can you confirm where and whom your music influences and inspirations are garnered from?

Well, yes, they are obvious reference points. But I think our sound is much denser than these bands and what we do also sounds very contemporary. We are living in the 21st century, the world around us will inevitably influence our music.

8.) We see you’re playing at Brighton’s Loop festival, which has our tails up, but are you planning to play any other festivals this summer?

We’re playing latitude, and maybe a couple of smaller shows around Brighton. However, we’re not the sort of band to play every show available to us. There’s no point. our shows will be select, special.

9.) There’s seems to only be a few demo’s floating around the blogs and online, so do you have many other songs recorded to date? Is there an albums worth written yet?

We have written many songs, but a lot of them still need work. Our writing process is very slow and methodical, but yes, the record is starting to take shape.

10.) Do you have any plans for a single, an EP and/or possibly an album launch yet?

We’ve got a single coming out this month on the Pure Groove label. Then there are plans in place for the rest of the year but nothing confirmed in terms of an album.

11.) We also heard a rumour about a haggle between labels for your signatures, in which it’s been suggested, rather over-excitedly, that a giant contract could be be offered. Although we presume this isn’t quite the case, can you please clarify the situation? Has anything been agreed with anyone yet? Who would be your ideal label?

We’ll work with the label that we feel best understands the band and it’s ambitions.

12.) Apart from the Loop Festival, what’s immediately next for Mirrors?

We want to make our live show something special. That’s very important to us. Writing and recording will continue and we’ll be ready to release a fantastic record next year.

13.) Lastly, we always ask at the end of each Q&A for the interviewees to become honorary ‘Recommenders’ by asking them to suggest any new bands/acts/DJ’s that have caught your eye in recent times that you would like to share with us?

We’re enjoying listening to Amadou & Mariam at the moment. It’s just a great pop record.

MIRRORS – HIDE & SEEK (ysi)

OK, so that’s another great exclusive interview completed. Search our archives for more from Mirrors, as well as the other interviews we’ve done in the past. The Recommender will be at Loop Festival, so if you plan on joining us this coming weekend, pop here to grab a ticket. See you at the front…
Mike

04
Jul
09

THE GIG LIST – NUMBER 29

By Mike 2 Comments
Categories: music
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THE LOOP FESTIVAL – 2009



As the UK festival season gets into full swing and the likes of  the giant events, (Glastonbury, V Festival, Bestival, Reading/Leeds and T In The Park etc), take all the limelight and national coverage, we are pleased as punch to be sneaking some of the better and quite frankly cooler and smaller festivals into our plucky town of Brighton.

With the Loop Festival now in it’s 3rd year, what it may lack in size, it more than makes up for in quality and fresh originality. The line up gets stronger every year and we are pleased to associate The Recommender blog ever closer, as we know the organisers personally and we see first hand how they make such a massive effort.

The least we can do is list below our selected highlights from the long list of amazing acts that are on show. A handful of tickets, at a variety of rates to suit your budget, are still available here.


FEVER RAY - Triangle Walks (ysi)
ESSER – Work It Out (The Shoes Remix)       (ysi)
DATAROCK – I Used To Dance With My Daddy (ysi)
WE HAVE BAND – Time After Time (ysi)
FANFARLO – I’m A Pilot (ysi)
THE INVISIBLE – London Girl (ysi)
THE XX – Crystalised (ysi)
CASIOKIDS – Fot I Hose (ysi)
MIRRORS – Look At Me (ysi)

As a side note, the band Mirrors have agreed in principal to do an interview with us in the run up to their show at Loop, so as a returned thanks we perhaps should suggest that you see them at the festival above all else. They’re an amazing spectacle, so you won’t be disappointed. See you there. Have an awesome time.
Mike

25
Jun
09

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 39

By Mike Leave a Comment
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Here we are with another lip-smacking fumble of new artists for you to indulge yourselves in. They range from brand-spanking new, to a rare treat from a more established fellow. All are worth a turn of your head…

WOLF GANG

And so yet another somewhat outstanding act plonks out the other end of the amazing Neon Gold record label machine. How they achieve it is beyond us, but suffice to say, keeping up with the number of awesome Indie bands they spit out is almost a full time job in itself. We first found Wolf Gang playing at an after party held by said record label during the recent Great Escape festival. They play delightful, sweeping soundscapes, with epic Pop proportions. The similarity of the voice of the main music maker, Max McElligott, is so close to David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) that he will be sick of the comparison before long. It’s no bad thing however, as just like David Byrne they are equal parts creative and charming. Their first track, ‘Pieces Of You‘ is available from here. It’s perhaps their strongest track to date, but we attach below the song that initially hooked us, ‘Night Flying‘, in it’s demo form prior to any production. Here’s hoping it hooks you too.   (MB)

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:       WOLF GANG – NIGHT FLYING (ysi)

GHOST CAT

We would be doing you a disservice to compare this lot to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and in particular Karen O’s frontwomanship, exactly as a queue of critics have taken to doing in regards to this London 4-piece. OK, so they are fronted by a pretty and stylish female singer, who packs in the attitude and goes by the name Ali Cat, but the Indie-Pop music is a far less slick and lacks the same emotional depth. We would suggest they’re more of a Ting Tings for 2009, with their Pop hooks, simple chords and clap-your-hands-pace. Sadly, as enticing and fun as their creations are, they lack the true connecting punch that they clearly long for, with horrific lyrics, “everybody on the dancefloor“, and pointless swearing “put your mother fucking hands up“. It’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs for thirteen year olds. All this aside, they fizz with energy and Ali’s pulse is definitely plugged into her teen punk band roots. Her killer looks, (she used to model for Glamour and Elle shoots), will get them noticed, but only time will tell if it’s a more a case of style over substance.  (MB)

Find them here:        Myspace

Here them here:       GHOST CAT – THIS IS A BUST (ysi)

TIGA

Here on The Recommender we rarely write about acts that are well beyond their debut material, except for those that we either shamefully missed first time around, or that are now producing music on a level that’s impossible to ignore with their second outing. Well Tiga has become the latter with his album, ‘Ciao!’. Whilst always being someone we were well aware of, we often found the Montreal DJ/Producer to blow hot and cold. With a circle of friends that include the likes of Soulwax and James Murphy it would be foolish to dismiss him entirely. He’s a busy guy, managing to produce many remixes for a wide variety of people from Scissor Sisters to LCD Soundsystem, whilst also owning the Turbo Recordings label. Although his latest album continues his hit/miss inconsistency, at it’s best his trademark minimilist Electroclash sound moves your feet with far more vocals and groove than we ever heard on his first album, ‘Sexor‘. It’s far better for it and lifts the tracks from the often repetitive nature of his older work. We list below a shining example in the funked-up track, ‘Shoes‘.    (MB)

Find him here:        Myspace

Hear him here:        TIGA – SHOES (ysi)

So that’s it for another bout of punchy rounds. Hope you enjoyed the knockout tracks just as we did. See you back here soon for more right hooks in the near future…

21
Jun
09

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 38

By Mike Leave a Comment
Categories: music
Tags: , , , , ,

If you correctly come to this blog for fresh new music, then you’re gonna love this post. Indeed it’s so good it may well be precisely why we evolved ears. Enjoy using them on our bahalf…

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS

Have we just heard the future coming? Blogs have gone all flushed and it’s time to take note. Drawing our breath off the trickle of musical bubbles as they float past us, this London 5-piece came by as a rapid blast of oxygen to the brain. That’s not to say you will fall in love immediately. They will split you like a tidal wave of Marmite. It took us a while, but we realise that our growing fondness has now turned into a full on love affair, like all good, lasting  relationships do. It’s without doubt a tough pigeon hole, but perhaps they remind us of the time we first found Klaxons, with which Crystal Fighters share a mixed up blend of influences. Yes there’s a selection of Rave chords and punchy House rhythms, but you will also hear strange accented vocals and tribal sounds straight out of frontwoman Laure’s native Basque region. It’s fresh and different, but just as importantly it hooks you – like a giant fleet of Japanese whalers!!! You will find the below track picked up on the recent Kitsune Maison 7 compilation. As if that isn’t a stamp of cool enough, you can check them out below for yourselves. And breathe…  (MB)

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:        CRYSTAL FIGHTERS – XTATIC TRUTH (ysi)

NEW NUMBERS

Consistent with Brooklyn’s tradition of pumping out bands, here’s another promising one for you. New Numbers are composed of members from 3 other bands joining together to make something altogether new. At least that’s their self-professed mantra. The result is some occasionally swirling, often straining guitars, catchy lyrics and a melodious rock organ that moans away in the background. Their songs are a touch psychedelic, with a healthy amount of tambourine and maraca shaking added in for good measure. Having listened to their original bands (Jealous Girlfriends, The Comas and Sam Champion), it’s pretty clear which bits and pieces have been lovingly dragged over to this new Indie-Rock concoction. Luckily it works! There are some real gems on their new self-released EP, Islands, which they’ve made available for free download on their website. Still unsigned, they’re due to head back into the studio to work on a full length album after completing their current North American tour. So, if you like what you hear, you’ll have to keep an eye out for more in the near future.   (OG)

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:        NEW NUMBERS – ISLANDS (ysi)

MY TOYS LIKE ME

Here’s a band creating something that operates on a very different planet to the one your sitting on right now. In the race for originality, lots of bands provide fresh and creative directions all their own, but most end up churning out music that has you on the very next rocket back to planet Earth. We are pleased that isn’t the case here. This London 2-piece, which has evolved into a 4-piece more recently, whisk you away on a dreamscape of drifting melodies and delicate samples. Francis Noon sings over Lazlo’s elegant mixture of beats, breaks and Jazzed grooves, with a voice that sounds like it started out life as a small child, but has subsequently been tipped into a giant Japanese cute-machine and come out the other end covered in pink candy. We think we’ve spotted a mood on here that’s reminiscent of early Tricky, which is definitely no bad thing. They released their debut album, Where We Are back in May this year. You can catch them playing live if you’re off to Glastonbury Festival this summer. We couldn’t imagine a more perfectly playful surrounding in which to enjoy them.  (MB)

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:        MY TOYS LIKE ME – SUPERPOWERS (ysi)

Hope you’ve enjoyed the meandering ramble into this post. It seems that it’s indirectly themed all about new adventures and fresh invention and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer group of people in which to ramble with than our lovely Recommender readers.

17
Jun
09

HOW GOOD IS THIS!!!??? – NUMBER 30

By Mike Leave a Comment
Categories: music
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Another video-based post here. We were sent the debut album, THESE FOUR WALLS, by the Recommender-flavoured tasty treats that are WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS. (I know we keep saying it, but that is quite simply the best name for a band for fucking ages!!!)

Why do we love them so much? Well, because it’s been so long since we’ve had a band that have allowed the music to do ALL the talking. This is a fact that remains utterly refreshing in a world where the shiny, faux-80’s glitz of La Roux, with her funny hairdo and all her neon, and Little Boots with her TV advertising campaigns and polished videos.

It’s not that we have anything against Little Boots or La Roux, as previous posts will testify, but there’s something that’s so charming about a (very young) gang of four from Scotland that don’t have the looks, nor the attitude, almost shy and inhibited on stage (the bassist neither looked up or moved from the same single spot all gig at The Great Escape Festival), yet when you click play on the stereo, you get a burst of energetic guitaring not seen since the Big Bang that was Nirvana, and that’s saying something!

Having released their album this week, it arrived in The Recommender inbox to much excitement and childish clapping. It’s the total sandblast that we had hoped for. Some songs build slowly to the point where they boil over and others start energetically to end on a sweet sentiment. Throughout the show the burn of  frontman Adam Thompson’s vocals tower to brilliant effect.

Pair it all up with a set of powerful drums and a hook-heavy bass, that’s rolled together in a twisted set of songs that have a bold, romantic narrative. It will have your emotions shaking around so much it makes your head spin. In fact, be warned, you may have to use your hands to hold it on your shoulders…

Here’s the video for the first single, Quiet Little Voices, with the second single, Roll Up Your Sleeves, also listed below it, (released officially on June 29th on Fat Cat Records). Before you ask, yes the filming has been edited to look this way…

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS – ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES (ysi)

Finally, if you want more information on them we first did a full Recommender post about them here, including an mp3 taken from their live set at SXSW. Plus we reviewed them at The Great Escape here. Enjoy.
Mike

14
Jun
09

HOW GOOD IS THIS!!!??? – NUMBER 29

By Mike 1 Comment
Categories: music
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Time to highlight a touch of magical creativity for you here. Recommender favourites, We Have Band, have made a rather remarkable video for new single, ‘You Came Out’, due for release tomorrow, (15th June).

In the exact same manner as their music, they’re fast becoming a band associated with originally constructed and well crafted videos. This follows the excellent, Tom Ellis directed, effort with their first video for the tune, ‘Oh!‘.

As the trio had to lay still during this new shoot for two entire days we are assuming they appreciated the rest from their rigorous touring. Apparently Tom even managed to fall asleep three times during the filming, as they clicked through the 4,816 separate stills that it took to make it. The style reminds us of the Peter Gabriel effort in the seminal 1986 hit, Sledgehammer.

Additionally, it has been noted that this is not their finest tune to date and we are not sure why they took to releasing it. Seeing as it sits amongst so many other great tunes that they’ve penned we’ll forgive it, but at least the video is a truly astonishing piece of work and well worth pointing you towards.

Because we are so very lovely and generous we also include the making of the video too, plus their, (slightly better), tune, Time After Time. Enjoy.

WE HAVE BAND – TIME AFTER TIME (ysi)

Lastly, just in case you missed it, we’ve posted plenty about We Have Band prior to this on The Recommender. We first recommended them here, did a ‘Gig List‘ about them here, reviewed the time we met them at The Great Escape Festival here and finally here’s the Q&A they did for us…
Mike

09
Jun
09

THE GIG LIST – NUMBER 28

By Mike 3 Comments
Categories: music
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Welcome back to The Recommender. Here’s another quick Gig List for those looking to fill a couple of summer nights in the next few weeks. We predict that both nights out will be sure-fire hits. We wouldn’t recommend anything else now would we?!

TOMMY SPARKS

What a summer Tommy is about to embark on! Doing a DJ set in sunny Brighton, prior to hitting both (even sunnier) Ibiza and then (not so sunny at all) Glastonbury! It doesn’t get more hedonistic than that now does it! Having first caught our eye in a remix by Yuksek of his tune, I’m A Rope, we were pleased to have been pointed towards this Swedish, Electro-Pop maestro. Like his namesake, his music is often enjoyed in short bursts, burning brightly before a sense of discomfort blows out his tunes. However, away from his tendency towards monotony, you will find his pumping blasts of fuzzy riffs pulling you onto the dancefloor. Surely due for a popular 2009 on the back of this genre’s current high-riding wave, he plays at our appropriately named Micro nightclub on the Brighton seafront. It’s only a DJ set, as opposed to his full stage performance, but it’s his first ever so it’s bound to be a grand effort. It’s part of the first night brought to us by Brighton’s newest promotions team, Battery Powered, so amongst all these debuts you should find plenty of sparks with bright futures.

ACT:                      TOMMY SPARKS
VENUE:                  This Rhythm @ Micro, Brighton Seafront
COST:                    £5 / £3 (with concessions – see website)
DATE:                    Saturday 20th June 2009
WEBSITE:             Tommy Sparks Myspace / Battery Powered Myspace
TRACK:                  SHE’S GOT ME DANCING – TOMMY SPARKS (ysi)

KITSUNE MAISON

This Parisian record label, fashion house and connoisseurs of all things new and goddamn fucking cool are returning to our shores following last years brilliant show. Well it’s more of a touring party in all honesty, with plenty of the scenester crowd in tow. For those who aren’t yet aware, they produce a compilation album each year of taste-making recommendations, now on number seven which they released earlier this month, followed by a tour of showcasing said bands. This years roundabout produced some of The Recommender’s current favourites, including We Have Band, Chew Lips and Autokratz, amongst others. Two of these will hit our Audio club alongside Beni and Crystal Fighters, (who are also due their own Recommender posting soon), so head  to the legendary Brighton night spot for a lesson in modern tastes. We will attach below a couple of selected tracks from the artists performing.

ACT:                       KITSUNE MAISON presents AUTOKRATZ, CHEW LIPS, BENI, CRYSTAL FIGHTERS
VENUE:                   Audio, Marine Parade, Brighton
COST:                     £7 (advance)
DATE:                     Friday 19th June 2009
WEBSITE:              Kitsune Myspace / Autokratz / Chew Lips / Beni / Crystal Fighters
TRACKS:                 ALWAYS MORE – AUTOKRATZ (ysi) / SOLO – CHEW LIPS (ysi) / FRINGE ELEMENT – BENI (ysi) / XTATIC TRUTH – Xtra Loud Mix  – CRYSTAL FIGHTERS (ysi)

Please return to comment on this post if you are a) heading to either of these hedonistic evenings, or b) have been to them and witnessed their magic. It would be great to hear any thoughts as always…

04
Jun
09

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 37

By Mike 6 Comments
Categories: music
Tags: , , , , ,

Does anyone actually read these rambling entrances to each Recommender post?!? We use them as a way to talk more generally and occasionally directly to the audience. Still it’s often pointless, but then that’s perhaps our little way of allowing all roads to lead to the important stuff, the music. So here it is – dive in.

YES GIANTESS

We met up with this Boston collection a few weeks back at The Great Escape and had the chance to back slap them after we’d seen what was a wonderful live performance. At first I woke the next day thinking that perhaps it was my booze-induced haze that made me love them so much, but in the cold light of day I returned to them to find that my drunken instincts are all in working order. Nice. Getting releases on the Neon Gold label, whom we love so very much, as well as the below song getting onto the ‘Sisters’ compilation from white hot French label, Sister Phunk, they are clearly getting the uber-cool backing in numbers. You will likely think of Passion Pit upon first listen, but there’s some great fried keyboards and a stomping, yet lo-fi thump beat in there which is as fresh as the sea breeze. It’s happy, it’s sophomore, it has themes about girls from geeky guys, but all in all it’s totally endearing. Somebody fucking sign them!!

IMG_3333.jpg Yes Giantess picture by odelaybradford

Find them here:      Myspace

Hear them here:      YES GIANTESS – TUFF N’ STUFF (ysi)

FILTHY DUKES

The inbox of any blogger’s email account is both a blessing and a bastard. It’s irritatingly overflowing with crap recommendations from a hundred useless promo companies and equally it’s a fantastic resource for discovering new bands that you would have otherwise missed. Well, Filthy Dukes, have suffered from our inbox fatigue. They’ve floated in and out of it for months and although we try to listen to each and every track we’re sent, except for those from repeat offenders, it sometimes means it can take a while to get around to all of them. We knew these guys from their famous Kill Em All nights at Fabric, as well as many hot spots around London, with their awesome, pounding Electro-Rock. It’s with the track we attach below that the energy was found to finally take them out of the inbox and onto The Recommender. They released their album, Nonsence In The Dark, back in March on the Polydor label. Try it out, or feel your way through the many remixes they’ve produced, from Late Of The Pier, to White ies, To Bloc Party, as well as the band listed below, Hockey. Now that’s the smoothest link we’ve ever done. We should be radio DJ’s!!!

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:        FILTHY DUKES – NONSENSE IN THE DARK (ysi)

HOCKEY

Pop-Rock that follows the bassline as it’s leader is what you get with this Portland gang. With all their funk and clap-along beats we really should love them here at The Recommender, but when we caught their live set recently, supporting Friendly Fires, with whom they share a box of tricks, we found them coming up a little short. Although they have the samples and the hooks and influences from LCD Soundsystem, to The Strokes, to the aforementioned Friendly Fires, their parts sadly don’t quite make up the whole. Their tunes are boring and lack a pair of bollocks. It’s fancy dress Pop-Rock that lets you down in the same disappointing way The Killers manage to. It’s trying too hard, right down to the trendy haircuts and sweatbands. We are perhaps being a little harsh here, as lots of blogs love them and we must admit that they sound better on our stereo than they do live, as the basslines stand up stronger. Perhaps that’s just our stereo though. They seem to be pulling their showboat around almost every major festival in the UK this summer, followed by a UK-wide tour through September, so you are bound to get a chance to judge them for yourselves some time in the near future. Of course, you should let us know your thoughts as always…

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:       HOCKEY – TOO FAKE (ysi)

We would love to end on a more profound note than we started, but we ain’t sure if you read this bit either, so balls to it. Until the next one folks…
Mike

 

30
May
09

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 36

By Mike 2 Comments
Categories: music
Tags: , , , , ,

Decisions have been made here at The Recommender. We now have our American writer on board, located in Austin, Texas, she should prove to be well placed at the heart of one of the best US cities for new music. We welcome Olivia with open arms as The Recommender’s reach continues to spread around the world.

FLASHGUNS

Brighton surprises keep peeling out of the woodwork, with the likes of Mirrors blowing us away at the recent Great Escape Festival, and yet here we are with another. Well we say Brighton, but half the band are from London. However, the edges have always been blurred between the two cities over the decades, despite the actual geographical distance. This band do not have many sounds in common with Mirrors mind, so we’re not looking at a new scene or anything. Brighton has always been good for new music, but it’s the high quality of the recent acts that seems to be the finest factor. These guys unashamedly jump from the pages of The Smiths songbook, with their jangly, flicking guitar riffs and coo-ing vocals. It’s all backed by some sweet, chiming sounds and a rattling beat that fires rapid shots over the bow. They’re getting releases through the Blue Flower and Pure Groove labels, including the ‘Matching Parts/Similar Hearts’ EP which is due for release in mid-July. Around that time you can see them live at The Underage Festival, which seems befitting seeing that these guys aren’t even in their twenties yet. Should you plan to see any of their gigs we’d suggest taking along a bunch of daffodils accordingly.

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:        FLASHGUNS – LOCARNO       (ysi)

NEW VILLAGER

This two-piece come from both coasts of the States and it shows. You get the sunny layered West Coast vocals paired with the more edgy, styled East Coast magic. With beats that sound like they’re being played on broken drums and delicate synths alongside warped singing that wafts back and forth, it’s alluring stuff. Mantra’s sung over and over are instantly catchable and beautifully constructed. It’s got a tight production, but sits just the right side of self-indulgent. Who knows how they will repeat this sort of sound when playing live, as we read they didn’t do so well at SXSW, but we always reserve judgements on live performaces until we see them for ourselves quite frankly. Singles are getting released through the Mood Gadget and Two Syllables labels. We list our favourite tune of theirs to date below. We suggest grabbing a cold one, heading out into the garden and kicking back as we think that you’ll enjoy this at your most lazy.

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:        NEW VILLAGER – RICH DOORS       (ysi)

GOLDHAWKS

There’s been plenty of pretenders to Arcade Fire’s throne since the massive success of our favourite Canadian kings. As with any commercially successful bands, there’s bound to be a stream of followers as A&R men get busy chasing down the future dollar-making-machines, but in most cases these bands are, well, just pretending. And as you get to the point where you wanted to write off any more carbon copies, in step Goldhawks with their Springsteen-inspired sounds and Arcade Fire size. If anything it’s too similar, but they’ve certainly captured a lot of the magic. The rattling pace, the loose jamming, the echoing, layered vocals, all sounding like it’s been recorded in a derelict church. It’s all there. Accomplishing such a huge sound is no mean feat, so we take our hats off and recommend them to you today. It may lack the religious experience that comes with Arcade Fire, but it’s early days and this cult has plenty of time to trap you.

01670008_reduced.jpg image by iBoyrobot

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:        GOLDHAWKS – WHERE IN THE WORLD        (ysi)

We are edging ever closer towards our 100th post and should get to it at some point in June, so to celebrate this landmark we may include a nice little surprise for all the loyal Recommender fans. You make this blog worthwhile, so thanks as always.
Mike

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26
May
09

THE GIG LIST – NUMBER 27

By Mike 1 Comment
Categories: music
Tags: , , ,

We have a couple of strong, female leads arriving on our pebbled shoreline for you today. Both are guaranteed to shine, bringing with them their gorgeous packets of star quality. Proper frontwomen that garner all the attention on stage, with bright futures ahead of them. Grab the tickets on Ebay or elsewhere if either gigs are sell outs, as it will be worth it.

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

Ms Welch and her music making machine will be in full tilt on the below date at the Concorde 2 venue. She’s a true master of the student population up and down the country, as she pens catchy, hook-laden Indie-Pop tunes. You will find there is a touch of Regina Spektor in her sound and there’s been a million female soloists appearing in 2009, with front-runners such as Little Boots, V V Brown and La Roux all doing well, but Florence still packs in a unique fashion and music style all her own. Songs with excellent wordplay, sung with her personality packed in the vocals, play over the beat-rattle. Away from her many fine slower ballads you can expect choppy guitars and dutiful singalongs to her singles, as they bounce along to their build-to-a-crash climax.

ARTIST:                     FLORENCE & THE MACHINE
VENUE:                      CONCORDE 2, Marine Parade, Brighton Seafront
COST:                        £10.00
DATE:                         Tuesday 2nd June 2009
WEBSITE:                  Myspace
TRACK:                       KISS WITH A FIST (ysi)

THE JOY FORMIDABLE

Got any cobwebs? Consider the pixie-like frontwoman, Ritzy, to pack a power-punch that’s the perfect cobweb remover, as she blows not only the cobwebs, but they entire crowd away. Just like their songs she’s jammed with explosive energy, often throwing the guitar at the amps as the gig closes. The real star of the show, she has a great voice and plays a mean lead guitar as she’s doing it. Their power-indie, (or are they the first steps to a grunge revival?), comes at you like a tumbling tower block. It’s mesmerising to see live and you won’t be disappointed. Underneath all their buzzing voltage you will find a box full of outstanding, addictively-memorable songs, with strong chorus’ and prize-winning riffs. One of the best finds of 2009.

ARTIST:                    THE JOY FORMIDABLE
VENUE:                     AUDIO, Brighton
COST:                       £ 6.50
DATE:                       Thursday 11th June 2009
WEBSITE:                 Myspace
TRACK:                     WHIRRING (ysi)

The two gigs above show that there is life in Brighton after the mammoth Great Escape Festival, as we continue to see wonderful showcases of the UK’s talents. Talking of festivals, you can see the Glastonbury line up in full here.
Mike

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