2009 August Archive - The Recommender

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 49

You swan in here without even a remote glance at our yearning eyes, taking our word for it and pinching our mp3s, without so much as a ‘by your leave’. Well we won’t stand for it anymore. What’s that you say? Oh OK, go on then. We’re such push overs. Love you really…

THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND

They may have themselves a large band, with up to eight members involved. They may well use plenty of tidy handclaps alongside their addictive beats. But are they phenomenal? A confident declaration indeed, no doubt with all eight tongues firmly in all eight cheeks, but it’s undoubtedly a signal of their brimming confidence at the very least. What we do know is that we are slowly getting pulled into their shoreline. They have received a fair bit of love from the blogs of recent, but what we have also read is that they firmly hook you with their live shows. They enjoyed a very positive SXSW experience and all New York affiliations state they are “ones to watch”. We have them touring the UK in September and The Recommender for one is going to try and lure them down to Brighton for a night. The band was started by a pair of DJ’s, but although there’s plenty to dance to, with their 70s disco beats and 80s New York rap basslines, there’s the occasional and wonderful foggy, dreamy, 60s vocal provided over the top. In fact there’s something from almost every decade wrapped up in them somewhere – perhaps inevitable with this many members involved! Their musical tardis makes sure it brings nothing but all the best bits home though. (MB)

Find them here: Myspace

Hear them here: THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND – YOU’LL DISAPPEAR (ysi)
Hear them here: THE PHENOMENAL HANDCLAP BAND – 15 TO 20 (David E Sugar remix) (ysi)

DELPHIC

They’ve been bubbling away for some time in the blog circles, with releases coming out of the trendy French record and fashion label Kitsune. They release their second single, This Momentary, at the end of August. We attach it below with the wonderful video directed by Dave Ma. It seems to have been beautifully shot, like a series of William Eggleston photos, in a derelict, Chernobyl-like Russian town. The tune builds and builds like a Crystal Fighters construction, were they fronted by the vocal members of We Have Band and backed by the drummer out of Friendly Fires. It’s strong, addictive and is perfect to get lost in, like those summer clubbing experiences when your dancing with your eyes closed in the throng. The Manchester three piece throw out sounds that hark back to a time when Manchester blended rock sensibilities with dance music and filled warehouses, clubs and venues alike. In this sense they seem a distant child of New Order, yet are fantastically contemporary, like the half-brothers of Bloc Party. It’s music made for popping pills, but in a good, hazy way that’s not been seen since that period when Manchester ruled our modern culture. (MB)

Find them here: Myspace

Hear them here: DELPHIC – THIS MOMENTARY (ysi)
Hear them here: DELPHIC – COUNTERPOINT (ysi)

DESIRE

Johnny Jewel has been rather busy of recent. He is the man behind the recent big electro disco push, producing bands such as Chromatics and Glasss Candy, but it’s with this new incarnation, (a project that finds him pairing up with Montreal resident Megan Louise), that we find ourselves finally seduced. There’s something beautifully minimal about them, with the simplest of beats and tiny, delicate, soft keys. The vocals often drift around and are full or echo, repeating sounds and mantras, but they are never pointlessly supplied. There’s also an enchanting draw with Megan’s sexy female voice, “Lets go out tonight…”, as their songs of love and lust slowly lure you in. It’s the same Italo disco you get from the equally attractive Fan Death, who The Recommender’s been in love with for a while now. If you can find the more enjoyable, upbeat, cleaner tracks, away from their slower and slightly more self-indulgent ones, then you will reveal them at their best. Releases are coming from the Italians Do It Better record label and a tour that encompasses parts of Europe before hitting a few spots around the UK during November. (MB)

Find them here: Myspace

Hear them here: DESIRE – DON’T CALL (ysi)

Spring and Autumn are notoriously busy periods for any town’s live music scenes, as the students flood back to venues and spend their parent’s hard earned money. Brighton is no different, so we are looking forward to seeing lots of juicy live acts in the coming weeks. Any outstanding finds will obviously be reported back here immediately.

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Published: August 31st, 2009
Author: The Recommender
Category: The Recommender
Tags: 15 to 20, 49, Counterpoint, Delphic, Desire, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, This Momentary, Under Your Spell, You'll Disappear

THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 48

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Music often seems to have reflections of previous generations and influences from past decades woven into them. Usually no bad thing, but sadly on occasion this plundering seems to lack any required modern twists. You will hear this a little with the below selections today, but thankfully all three bands do their thing so well that all is quickly forgiven.

FRENCH HORN REBELLION

Here we have a pair of brothers, now based in New York, that have graduated from the MGMT school of indie disco pop with flying colours. Being involved in the backroom for MGMT’s giant hit EP, Time To Pretend, you can see all subsequent paths were indeed taken from this point. DJ’ing at one of New York’s many hipster nights, Brass Magic, allows them a legitimate qualification of their own making. Their pumped, kitsch, sickly-sweet beats and bleeps form part of the soundscape you often find in 80′s movies, similar to the mixes Futurecop provide. There’s also the kind of styled indie love, that Australia’s Modular Records often sign up, when you think of the Midnight Juggernauts, The Presets and Cut Copy ‘Aussie sound’ that eventually evolved into Empire Of The Sun. However, there’s even more disco packed in here, with it’s obsession with all things camp. Basslines are unashamedly bouncy and the synths are so simple it’s like their written for toddlers. The high-pitched vocals give it more sincerity, thank god, because anymore bubblegum would have had us choking. Have a listen to one original track and a bonus Twelves remix to see if you can swallow it. (MB)

Find them here: Myspace

Hear them here: FRENCH HORN REBELLION – UP ALL NIGHT (ysi)
Hear them here: BEACHES AND FRIENDS (The Twelves vs Database vs French Horn Rebellion) (ysi)

THE HEROES

We think it’s fair to say that The Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines were generation-defining artists, who packed both style and swagger into a musical basket rammed full of tunes. After such cultural events you can guarantee a long line of followers pretending to take their crowns, yet the vast majority over the last few years did indeed fall way short, often missing the point of these band’s existence. Well, at first glance we were ready to rubbish The Heroes as just some such pretenders, particularly on their track Little Suzie. They also had the tight, spikey guitar riffs to suit their tight trousers and Mod haircuts, yet you have to say there’s a little more substance found here than amongst all the other contenders. Sadly we think that it’s come a little too late. This band are indeed a little bit too ’2005′. Neither are we suggesting they’ll achieve the impact of The Arctics or Libertines, as they lack the creative invention or solid punch, but we suspect there’s plenty of space still available to bands that provide us with a genuinely energetic, talented show. If the Leicester four piece’s high octane, packed out gigs are anything to go by then their power-indie strutting and Teen adoration may yet prove to be something that has the required lasting power. (MB)

Find them here: Myspace

Hear them here: THE HEROES – BLUE RAVE (ysi)

STAINED GLASS HEROES

Stained Glass Heroes look like they’ve just emerged from the last ever meeting at the Cabaret Voltairein 1916’s Zurich. This multi-faceted Krautrock-loving four piece revel in spinning their own myths and shroud themselves in mystery, which is no bad thing as it’s allowed them freedom to deliver some pretty catchy, esoteric tunes such as the sublime Insects(see below). Robert Fripps industrial guitar work channels Talking Heads and Brian Eno (circa, Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy), whilst managing to borrow some of Bowie’s ‘Scary Monsters’. This gives us a thickly-layered belter of a tune. The vocals hark at some disturbing science fiction prophecy that conjures up The Quatermass Experiment; you can even hear the unsavoury scraping sounds in the background of the track. The new single, Circumstance, is slightly less menacing but maintains their clever indie pop twists. It’s due out soon, whilst the album, Big Guns At Dawn, will be out in October. (DV)

Find them here: Myspace

Here them here: STAINED GLASS HEROES – INSECTS (ysi)

There’s a couple of bands on here that we aren’t 100% about, which is very unlike us, with our usual tight quality controls. However, some bands simply need more time for us to fall under their spell, and sometimes we need to offer our readers the chance to judge for themselves bands that have recently crossed our paths. Comment any thoughts you have…

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