Those of us who were blown away by the Brooklyn trio's last album will be overjoyed to know that Constant Future continues along the more experimental path they battered their way down on 2008's Receivers.
Thundering drums reverberate over the entire record, warped electrical squelches and glitches are used liberally throughout, and vocals bellow with the passion and belief that Paul Banks would like to think he has. This is an album of incredible power. And while it's all very well being innovative and generating an avalanche of sound tumbling out of the speakers, if you don't have the tunes to go with it then things can feel a little cold.
Parts & Labor compliment this kind of inventive approach with a great pop sensibility - tunes are something they have in abundance. Just check quaking behemoths like 'Rest', 'Pure Annihilation', 'Fake Names' or the title track for proof. It's the anthemic 'A Thousand Roads' which provides the high point though, with a chorus big enough to put most other bands' efforts to shame. Left-field, original, heartfelt, a mixture of analogue and digital – but with actual songs?
I hope you're taking notes, Radiohead.
Has anyone else noticed an increase in the number of 2 or 3 piece bands in the last few years? Whether this is down to falling record sales, the recession in general or just plain coincidence I have no idea. But why add extra fat to a band when you can make tunes this good as you are? English trio The Van Doos have just put out this excellent guitar-pop track as their second free download, ahead of a planned EP release in the summer.
This London duo comprising of sisters Hannah and Colette Thurlow create menacing, early 90s influenced, ice-cool indie rock. It's no wonder the UK press have been getting themselves a little over excited by them, and with a European tour planned for May (part of which is supporting Wild Beasts) the fever looks set to spread. Grab a free download of single 'Cold Front', and then head to their myspace page to hear more tunes or pick up the 7"s.
After months of speculation The Music finally confirmed they would be splitting after a few farewell gigs in the summer. As a parting gesture they've given us this track from the abandoned 4th album sessions as a free website download. Whether more unreleased tracks will surface remains to be seen, but if the anthemic 'Ghost Hands' is an indication of the sounds they were coming up with, it's a huge shame that they're calling it a day. My personal guess it that we may not have seen the last of them just yet...
Maybe the economy's doing a bit better in Norway. Originally a one man project, Oslo's Team Me have swollen to seven members. Fresh from some dates supporting British Sea Power they released their official debut EP in the UK, with an album to follow later in the year. 'Dear Sister' is the kind of well crafted, beautifully arranged indie that they do so well in that part of the world - with added harmonies. Hit the download arrow to save it, or the play button to stream it below.
Another happy couple in music - Wooden Shjips' Ripley Johnson has teamed up with his other half Sanae Yamada to release an album of psychedelic drone rock, similar to his other band but with a slightly poppier edge. The muddy vocals and insistent beats are all there, but here they've been given more melody and light. Their (very acclaimed) album was out last week, for a free sample stream or download the title track.
5 of the best new releases, including 2 of this year's 'Found Of Confusion' stars.
The Tamborines - Black & Blue
This new single from London shoegazers The Tamborines shows a slightly lighter, poppier side to the band than much of last year's debut album, but contains enough grit to make it another worthwhile purchase. You may have to wait a few more days for the vinyl due to a delay with the pressing though. The download is available now.
As mentioned in February's 'Found Of Confusion' - Jukebox Collective release the finished studio version of 'Lost And Found' this week. Difficult to categorize, the track mixes standard British indie-guitar music with electronic bleeps, glitches and synth lines resulting in rich and warm base for vocalist Kev's Scroobius Pip meets Jamie T half sung/half rapped delivery. Really quite good.
The first ever 'Founders' are their releasing their new single this week. Kitsune Records rarely put a foot wrong, and it looks like they've struck gold again in the shape of Polarsets. If you've ever wondered what would happen if Friendly Fires remixed The Postal Service, check out the link below and you should have some kind of idea.
I can't tell you how to pronounce Unouomedude but I can tell you they're from Florida and that new single 'Frequency' could have been given a bit more studio shine and probably be on the playlists of alternative radio stations across the country by now. Thankfully they've left it's rugged charm intact and the warm summery fuzz makes it all the more enjoyable.
It's pretty much a certainty that PJ Harvey's latest album Let England Shake will feature highly in end of year lists and probably get a Mercury nomination. There's good reason for that though. With things looking increasingly buggered for the UK, the closest the music world seems to be able to come to a protest is a few clueless bands who want to stick it to 'The Man'. Oh come on. We can surely do better than ill imformed diatribes about how politicians are bad, or whatever half baked ideas The Enemy muster up for their next record. Thank God for PJ Harvey. A different type of protest song (and a million miles away from any Billy Bragg/Frank Turner bard-like busking) with feeling, emotion and ideas, that deals with the war in Afghanistan. The Regimental March by the Irish Guards backs a Stereolab-esq shoegaze drone. "What is the glorious fruit of our land? / the fruit is deformed children / what is the glorious fruit of our land / the fruit is orphaned children."
With so many bands currently using the twisted-girl-group-covered-in-layers-of-lo-fi-fuzz template, the timing is perfect for The Raveonettes to return with a stone cold classic and show the newbies how it's done, cementing their status as king and queen of the scene.
Raven In The Grave gets off to a flyer with current single 'Recharge & Revolt' - The Raveonettes by numbers it may be, but it shows why people still care a decade later when so many others have fallen by the wayside. The next track sees the Danes threatening a 'War In Heaven' - “I hate it when they forget to let people in...”
A slight departure from their usual territory comes in the shape of the supreme 'Forget That You're Young'. More downbeat than usual, it could be the best song here.
The mid-section of the album is similarly low-key but represents a dip in tempo rather than quality. Casual fans expecting the rush of previous albums may be left reaching for the skip button. More fool them for missing out on the beautiful-yet-dark 'Let Me On Out'. Things burst into life once more with the aptly titled 'Ignite' (surely a future single) and 'Evil Seeds', before the apocalyptic lullaby 'My Time's Up' wraps things up in a suitably haunting manner.
Not quite the career defining moment that could have sealed their status as legends of the scene, but another superb realization of what so many others are trying to do, and proof that they're still the masters of this field.
There are signs that Dayve Hawk (aka Memory Tapes) is moving away from the Chillwave sound that made up parts of his debut album, with the term "psychedelic girl group music" being used by the man himself. The album is due out in the summer and this new track appears on a Something In Construction compilation, or you can grab it free below. It's up there with the best he's made.
2) Graham Coxon, Paloma Faith & Bill Ryder-Jones - Desire
Yes that really is the Blur man and the former Coral guitarist teaming up with, uh, Paloma Faith. The trio have got together for this free download as a promotion for indie footwear stalwarts Converse (I'm guessing they didn't pay for the shoes in the picture). Coxon told NME "It’s like kinda tripped out voodoo sort of London town thing." Not sure I'd agree - it's more like Juicebox by The Strokes with a little more production, duetting with The Kills. It shouldn't work, but it does.
'White Sun' is taken from Chicago duo Dawn Golden & Rosy Cross' 'Blow EP'. The laid back piano and beats hide the sad tale at the heart of the song, and it manages to sound both conventional and experimental at the same time. Weird. It also should be noted that it makes the repeated cries of "yay!" soundlike they're being bellowed by apirate. Like I said... weird - and wonderful.
These Californians do Big British Guitar Music better than most current Brits themselves. They're heading over this summer for a few gigs and festivals and could end up being a better alternative than the hit and miss Morning Parade who are creating a similar noise. Once again it's a fine line - a hint of success and they could begin to style themselves as a U2/Kings Of Leon type stadium rock band, but for the time being they're just fine as they are.
This is the second track from the new album to be given to us for free by the kind people of Low. Their ninth EP has been the most successful to date chart-wise (it broke the UK top 50 last week!) and also recieved the customary wall to wall great reviews that accompany each of their releases. A twinkling, throbbing, haunting songwriting masterclass as always.
Glaswegians St Deluxe have already received plaudits from such luminaries as Mogwai, Teenage Fanclub, Sonic Boom and Alan Mcgee, and fingerprints of these indie deities can be found all over this new 10” only release for Record Store Day.
Opener 'After The Fire' is produced by Mogwai's Stuart Braithwaite and mines a similar vein to the recent Yuck LP. There's Mary Chain fuzz, Sonic Youth lo-fi and My Bloody Valentine guitars.
'I Know How You Feel' slowly builds the distortion to create a quite beautiful broken-hearted epic, akin to other alternative 90s titans such as Deus and Sebadoh. 'Please Be Gentle' takes early Teenage Fanclub and gives them a grunge makeover.
Nothing here is clean, layers of dirty guitar envelop the whole EP, adding extra depth and passion rather than making the record sound sludgy. Scottish bands have always done US alt. rock better than the rest of the UK. What would you rather listen to – the debut album by The Delgados or the debut album by Bush? It's a no-brainer. St Deluxe are the heirs to Glasgow's scuzz-rock throne, and long may they reign.
I heard about this recent summery, indie-pop single from Cleveland's Afternoon Naps from the guys at indie-mp3 - have a look at their site for a full review.
(DUM!....DUM DUM DUM!....DUM DUM DUM!....DUM DUM DUM!!!)
Hold on, let me just turn down ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ and then we can talk properly
(dum!....dum dum dum!....dum dum dum!....dum dum dum!! Do..do do do do do...dodo do do do...)
That’s better. As you can probably tell there’s excitement in the air here at Confusion HQ today; Kev has spent the whole morning sprinting up and down the stairs, bouncing like a kangaroo at the top and yelling ‘Adriaaaaaaan’, while I decided to try my hand at a bit of shadow boxing - but when I saw how big the ex-Gladiator actually is I ran away and hid under my desk crying.
What’s brought on our sudden pugilist infatuation? News has reached us via a tweet that the gloves are being laced up and 2011’s head to head ‘Chart Off’ competitors are only a matter of weeks away from stepping out of the gym and into the ring! Very exciting!
'Chart what??' I hear you cry. Well those of you who were familiar with The Sound Of Confusion in its previous incarnations, will be aware that for the preceding two calendar years Kev and I have engaged in a music themed bet. No money has changed hands, (we're both too tight) it's merely been about bragging rights...and oh how I've bragged. This time round we've opted to go for a full on assault at the hit parade and picked one female songstress each who we believe is destined for daytime radio playlists. Come the end of the year the artist with the most uk chart success will be declared the winner - simple as that. So who exactly is limbering up for the ring walk?
In the red corner representing Kev and The Sound Of Confusion we have Alex ‘Anthems’ Winston, while fighting out of the blue corner, on behalf of me and The Found Of Confusion, we have Hannah ‘Hitmaker’ Yadi. I think it goes without saying that we are both supremely confident that our artist will be the one standing proud and holding the championship belt come the end of December, but to help you neutrals make up your minds let's become a little more familiar with the girls in question:
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TALE OF THE TAPE
AGE
We're far to polite to ask exactly but rest assured both ladies fit perfectly in the 'potential pop star' age backet
WEIGHT
Do you think we're mad!! If we didn't ask the last question we're certainly not asking this one!!! Let's get to specifics.
HANNAH YADI
LOCATION: London town and the green pastures of southern England
LABEL: Warner Brothers
STYLE: Booming beats add considerable power to her electrifying combinations. A student of the art, her vocals display excellent technique and finesse, while her sharp lyricism will pick apart even a textbook defence.
LOCATION: Detroit 'Motor City', Michigan, U S of A.
LABEL: Island Records
STYLE: Great variety in her approach makes her an unpredictable opponent, especially when coupled with her unorthodox vocal stance. Will also pack significant strength into her drum loops but disguises it well with her quick light footwork around melody. RECORD:Choice Notes; Sister Wife; Medicine; Locomotive, Sweet James
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Naturally with a contest this close everybody want to know what sort of mindset the competitors are approaching the event with. Earlier in the year Yadi was kind enough to take some time out from her intensive training camp and offered us this comment with regard to the fight of the year .
'I will do my absolute best, for myself and the rest of the world, but mainly for your bet. I understand how important these things are and I don't want to let you down!......COME ON LETS DO IT!'
That's champions talk! At this time Miss Winston has not made any comment....or Kev is playing his cards very close to his chest and keeping me out the loop.
So there we have it ladies and gents, the contenders in all their glory. We're anticipating singles from both over the coming months so it's time to place your bets and pick your sides, will you be a 'Winston Warrior' or are you part of 'Team Yadi', let us know.
The battle starts here!
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For more info on Alex Winston see the links provided here
Further info on YADi will be provided on the 'Found Of Confusion' blog page in the near future.
