Cymbals - Summer Escaping (video)

Is it just me or are music videos a bit of a dying trend? An already dead trend? Not having a tv doesn't really affect the fact that I very VERY rarely see any music videos, because it's not as if MTV shows music videos any more.
I think it's more to do with the fact that my internet connection won't, due to speed disagreements, load a 3 minute video in less than 3 hours. (Yes, 3 hours is too much).
So usually when I want to check out a new video, I'll come somewhere where the connection's slightly more reasonable. Like university.
There's just one slight problem with the computers at uni. They've got no sound/audio compatability at all. Not even for headphones.

(Hell, maybe they even do, but I'm just useless at all this modern stuff, like summoning sound from motherboards.)

So I'll sit there ready to watch the video, and play the song off my mp3 player, trying and hoping to press both play buttons at the same time. Synchronisation is the key. A key that sometimes doesn't actually have to fit.

Right, now that I've got that off my chest, I can get on to Cymbals' new video for their song Summer Escaping, off their soon-to-be-released album Unlearn. It's directed by Ollie Evans who's worked with Klaxons and Late of the Pier, so we're in good company now.
I'm not sure if I "get" the video. But you can always give it a go.



I'm not sure if I "got" the partner video for it either. It's for Teeth's See Spaces. And there's kind of a similar theme going on.

Metronomy

Do you lot still remember Metronomy?

Someone once described them to me as the biggest load of wank they've ever heard. Fair enough they are a bit of a hit-and-miss band. Their 2008 album Nights Out was an extremely unbalanced set of pure electro-pop wonder and odd experimentalism. The album before that (Pip Paine) even more so. But Nights Out did have some brilliant tracks on it.
Before I went back to it the other day, I'd totally forgotten just how great Radio Ladio is.



Metronomy have got their third album called The English Riviera coming out and they seemed to have turned a new more mellow leaf. The songs I've heard off it sound more like Hot Chip's slower stuff than what I'd expected.


The first single She Wants (mp3) has got a video out. It hasn't got the most original idea, but it's a fun one nonetheless.



Second single The Look's video is new, relevant and worth a watch (depending on how you feel about seagulls and people playing musical intruments)



The Bay sounds more like the familiar Metronomy.

Metronomy - The Bay

New Burial - Street Halo

Holy moly! How many of us are there who have been just waiting for Dubstep's premier Burial to give us more tunes to feast on? Loads I reckon. And here we are. His new single Street Halo is out on Monday via Hyperdub.

Burial - Street Halo

I wasn't running the risk of this running out of stock so I went all in. Last money on the 12". I won't eat, I won't drink, but I got the tunes baby. I got the tunes.

This of course before I'd even heard Street Halo but it's not as if Burial would just drop a heap of shit on us. And he didn't. Oh no. This is what I've been missing. These tracks right here are the sounds of an empty space in my soul being filled with a huge dollop of awesomeness.

This is Stolen Dog, one of the 2 B-side tracks.

Burial - Stolen Dog

Hot sounds for hot people like you. Yes I mean you, baby!

So hey there.

I rarely do multiple artist posts, but I should because they're a great way to get blog hits, and thus become super popular. And if you're not popular and don't go out with the school quarterback, then what have you got? I mean, really, in life. What have you got?

Well I've got the new Cults track You Know What I Mean and no, before you ask, it's not an Oasis cover.

(After writing this I've realised that Oasis song's called D'you Know What I Mean? and this makes Cults seem pretty sure that I know what they mean. I mean, do I? I'm not sure I do. Neither is Noel. What does it all mean? Does this mean anything? Do I even know what I'm writing anymore?)

You Know What I Mean reminds me of a slowed down Sugar Pie Honey Bunch and is just as good as you'd imagine that to be and it goes to show that Go Outside wasn't just a one-off.

Cults - You Know What I Mean by cultscultscults



Finland's very own hype band Big Wave Riders are getting just that. Hype. And quite a fair bit of it. Not to say it's not deserved though as their new(est) song Skate or Die proves.
All reverb and melodic shoutbacks, it's pretty much impossible to imagine them getting any inspiration from this.

Big Wave Riders - Skate Or Die by Big Wave Riders


Arkist was a complete stranger a while back. He still is. I've not met him. Probably never will.
But there's something pleasingly familiar but also wicked fresh about his tunes.
The tunes I've had the pleasure of hearing range from slick breaks to some pretty aggressive, muscular arpeggiator action. Whatever way Arkist wants to do his music, I'm listening.

You should probably check out his other stuff, but I'm going link Biography, just because it made me laugh.

Biography by Arkist

John Praw

It's not often that I feel I need a change or a break from Brian Eno's ambient soundscapes. Especially not to change them for different ambient soundscapes.

Generally the way to go is from easy, ambient "music for airports" to slightly more intense "cut-off-your-ears-and-feed-the-bloody-mess-to-yourself"-thrashtechnopunkjazzwave by some "awesome" new band called Rock, Paper, Fucking Scissor Blisters. (Bagsies on that name btw.)

Now's not the case however. I got sent this incredible album by John Praw and I'm kind of sat here in a warm, cosy trance induced by his lingering sonic presence.

(cover looks like it could be by RPFSB, obviously with different spelling)


You could stream his album via Bandcamp, or you could buy it via bandcamp or you could download this nice little taster track Bomullspinnar and as they say "peace the 'f' out"

John Praw - Bomullspinnar by AndygoesdowntoChinatown

Cymbals

Tough Love Records are about to outdo themselves yet again. The London based record company are constantly releasing amazing records from amazing bands and their blog's always packed with some of the best tunes you'll find.

Surely though Cymbals' debut album Unlearn takes the biscuit. Their EP from last year was just pure quirky art-pop at its best and I see no reason why Unlearn should be any different. Especially not after hearing Single Printed Name.
Download it here (mp3) or below.

Single Printed Name by CYMBALS

Unlearn's out in May and you'll get a unique hand screen-printed sleeve by Sinead Evans with the LP when you buy it. I already have.

Psychologist - Waves of Ok

A while ago I wrote about this amazing track Comes In Waves, by someone who goes by the moniker Psychologist, that was circulating the internet. Comes in Waves has pretty rapidly become my favourite song of the year and it was getting a bit annoying just always popping over to vimeo or youtube or whatever to listen to it, for the simple reason that it just wasn't anywhere else on the web.

Comes in Waves by psychologistmusic

Now, ahead of its physical release, the whole Waves of Ok EP is available on itunes or if you're skint and just want to hear what the hell it is I'm so worked up about then Psychologist's got the whole thing uploaded on his soundcloud page.

Waves of OK EP by psychologistmusic

Seriously this IS (one of) the most amazing thing(s) you'll hear all year

Four Tet + Burial + Thom Yorke

GET ON THIS.

These guys getting together to make a 12" is basically like no collaboration before. Ever.

Forget Them Crooked Vultures, Broken Bells, Cream or any of those so called "supergroups".

Four Tet getting together with Burial already gave us the amazing Moth, but now the pair have roped in Thom Yorke to give a hand with two new songs. Ok so the 12" already sold out within 3 hours of pre-order availability, at least someone was nice enough to radio rip them.

Check 'em out.

'

Colours - Bildungsroman

Colours are the archetypical cool lo-fi band to name themselves Colours and then make everyone else have a hard time finding them or their music. Luckily that's what I'm here for. To find out what that ace song you heard was. If you, like me, live in Finland then odds are that the ace song you heard wasn't Colours, but some long-forgotten (to most people) Eurovision "gem" BUT if it was Colours then it may well have been off their up 'n' coming EP Bildungsroman out 14th of April on Marhall Teller Records

BILDUNGSROMAN by Marshall Teller Records

Again I've got to do it. Google stuff I'm completely oblivious to.

"The Bildungsroman is a genre of the novel which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood"

See you learn something every day on here.

Nightbox

These guys have have just released their eponymous debut EP. Hailing from Toronto, Nightbox have embraced the dance-indie scene and released a rather quite entertaining 4-track EP which nods to contemporaries such as Two Door Cinema Club and Foals.

It feels kind of pointless and name-dropping to add that the EP was produced by Sebastien Grainger (Death From Above 1979) and AL-P (MSTRKRFT), but their handwork isn't too overpowering and leaves room for the band themselves to excel.

The first 'single' Pyramid is a free download here but the whole EP is on soundcloud so go for it.

Bears by nightbox

Pyramid by nightbox

I was also curious as to what a "nightbox" actually is, so I googled it and came up with this.
Apparently it's "for sassy ladies only" so I'm not sure if, ging by this, I'm even allowed to listen to the band anymore.

Explosions in the Sky + Three Trapped Tigers

So new tracks from both of the above bands. Both Explosions in the Sky and Three Trapped Tigers have got albums coming out soon and both are giving away a free download of a new track off their albums.

Three Trapped Tigers are famous for their intrumental post-rock freakouts that go by extremely distinctive names. Their most notable tracks being 1,2,3,4,5,6, 7,8,9,10,11,12 and 13. Those are off their EPs called EP 1, EP 2 and EP3. So with a new album coming out I was hoping to see how long the number-theme would keep going. Would they start doing a "¡Forward, Russia!" and call tracks something like fifteen pt. II? Would the album be called LP 1?

No.

The album's called Route One or Die and it's out in May.
The First single's called Cramm and you can download it here:
http://threetrappedtigers.heroku.com/

Cramm by Three Trapped Tigers

I can't think of any way to bridge these two bands together other than that I love 'em both. That should suffice.

Explosions in the Sky have been quiet for a good few years now, but they're announcing their return with their 5th album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care. Highlights are sure to be the pop-up buildings made from the album sleeves and well, um, this: It's the new song Trembling Hands and it's ace! Get it here:
http://www.explosionsinthesky.com/

Trembling Hands by Explosions in the Sky

Foxes in Fiction + Top 5 Fictional Foxes

I wrote about Foxes in Fiction last year, but because I've been listening to his new(ish) EP Alberto I thought I'd welcome him back to the blog and also make a list of other brilliant fictional foxes.

Here we go, I know its a bit early in the year for top-whatever lists. So either I'm 3 months too late or I should have saved my top-5 celebrity foxes list until the end of the year.

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox (released a top movie and made, at least, me laugh. Top fox.)

2. Tails (been a bit quiet on the rolling and spinning front recently. All his recent adventures have flown under the radar on account of them being a bit shit. Still the best flying fox around though.)

3. Robin Hood (going through some torrential times recently. Went from this jovial rascal to this, whatever you want to call, this.

4. Vulpix (aww, isn't it cute? If you're the type of person to call manga drawings of an animal that "has a flame inside its body that never goes out" cute, then Vulpix is probably your ideal pet. Keep good care of it though and watch out, because when it evolves it'll turn into a fire-shooting stuck up bitch. Bit like all kids then.)

5. Basil Brush (it's got to be hard spending your entire life with someone's hand up your arse, but Basil does it brilliantly. Congrats Bas.)

a big shout out goes to the fox from Farthing Wood, but seeing as his name's just plainly Fox he's hardly glamorous enough to make the cut. Work on your self-marketing Fox and you might be in with a shout next year.




So on to Foxes in Fiction then eh?

You can grab the Alberto EP and a load of other free downloads from his blog and there's no doubt whether you should. I for one think OCAD Flu's breath-boxing alone is worth the downloading time.






Alberto's a really relaxed listen. It won't raise your pulse to heart attack levels, which is sometimes a real plus side to music. It won't (kind of depends on your listening preferences really) obliterate your eardrums, but what it will do is just leave you calm and smiling. Like it should do.

Blacksmif

It's a bit odd how some people can go unsigned in a time where it seems any old bastards with a synth/sampler are getting signed to record labels left, right and centre.

London producer Blacksmif or Yemi Olagbaiye amazes me in that he's still unsigned, because the beats he creates are absolutely brilliant. There are obvious Flying Lotus comparisons to be made here with his kind of jazz-step, but then again there is a enormous lack of these kind of quality tunes in my little life so some more are definitely not going to hurt.

Listen to ...And The Sun Rose and its intense but laid-back sample-working (Andreya Triana). Oh yes!



Listen to more tracks:
http://soundcloud.com/blacksmif/
http://blacksmif.bandcamp.com/

I'm off to get myself a synth AND a sampler now. Laterz

Wild Beasts

So hey whoah. Wild Beasts have announced their timely return with their 3rd album Smother set for release in May.

Albatross was the first song off the album, played on Radio 1 recently and it's more good old friendly Wild Beasts. I've got a great story about queing up for hours and then not getting in to see Wild Beasts last year.

Anyway, that was it, the story.

Wild Beasts - Albatross

Psychologist - Comes in Waves

I just heard this song today and all I can say is "Wow!"

Nobody seems to know anything about who's behind the name Psychologist, and all you get on the website is, well, not a lot. But let the first song off the Waves of Ok EP Comes in Waves quite literally stun you for its 5-and-a-half minutes duration and then leave you that way for, I don't know, easily maybe another 5-and-a-half-minutes. That's what this song is: Stunning. Songwriting at it's most beautiful, moving, haunting.

Comes In Waves from psychologist on Vimeo.

Waves of Ok is out on Moshi Moshi/Not Even Records on the 28th of May.

Atlantic At Pacific + New Four Tet

Sometimes you feel like you've come to the end of a once fruitful relationship. One that used to flourish due to everything being new fandangled and just plain sexy. You start looking at different things for excitement, but all of a sudden your slowly diminishing partner takes you out to the big belgian chocolate shop of love, and buys you a huge, fuck-off box of Guylians.

You know, Metaphorically speaking.



Atlantic At Pacific did this to me for chillwave. Me and chillwave have come a long way, you know. Well probably just as long a way as you have with it anyway. But it's kind of reaching the point where I don't want to hear laid-back beats and synths anymore. Tiresome and faux-summery is what they are. Something I can't deal with in -20°C.

What I want is glockenspiels damn it!

And glockenspiel I have. Courtesy of Atlantic At Pacific aka. Austin Wood and his track My Fault off of his new free EP Seasons.

My fault by Atlantic At Pacific

There's a lot of familiar elements to his tunes, but they're all put together to make one fine 11 minutes worth of music.

http://atlanticatpacific.bandcamp.com/

OOH! Other news.

Four Tet uploaded his new track to soundcloud. It's called pinnacles and it's mighty groovy. Half of a split vinyl, with the other half occupied by Daphni's (Daniel Snaith from Caribou) Ye Ye.
These will probably run out quite quickly (if Four Tet & Burial's collab is anything to go by) so keep your eyes and purses open.

Pinnacles by Four Tet

Daphni - Ye Ye by Caribouband