THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 39

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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…

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THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 38

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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.

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