Tokyo Police Club recorded a session for iTunes a month ago and it is available now if you get down there. There are six songs including a previously unreleased version of New New Song.
Mirror! Mirror! have a free download for one week only over at Puregroove.co.uk/downloadChart.aspx. There are actually 100 songs freely downloadable from there, so you might have to have a hunt around.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Bands With Videos
There's a short video interview with Foals' lead singer, Yannis, backstage at Reading Festival at http://streamos.warnermusic.com/qtime/wmiuk/foals/yannisoavideo_hi.mov. He talks about the making of the new video for Olympic Airways. There's going to be a little series of these, so there's more to come.
Hadouken! ran a competition a while ago to get fans' questions answered by the band. You can watch the result here: http://links.mkt1397.com/ctt?kn=8&m=179130&r=NzI1MDkzNjE3S0&b=0&j=NjM2Nzc3MAS2&mt=1&rt=0. (Opens in Windows Media Player.)
The Teenagers' dancing fans video for Feeling Better is finally here. It does what it says on the tin really.
Hadouken! ran a competition a while ago to get fans' questions answered by the band. You can watch the result here: http://links.mkt1397.com/ctt?kn=8&m=179130&r=NzI1MDkzNjE3S0&b=0&j=NjM2Nzc3MAS2&mt=1&rt=0. (Opens in Windows Media Player.)
The Teenagers' dancing fans video for Feeling Better is finally here. It does what it says on the tin really.
Latest Gigs
Some of these might be a bit old, but still.
Mirror! Mirror! - Thursday 18th September - Roadhouse
Daggers (with The Answering Machine, The Ruling Class and Special Guests) - Thursday 9th October - Academy 3
The Paddingtons - Wednesday 15th October - Roadhouse
The Charlatans - Friday 17th October - Preston 53 Degrees
The Whip - Friday 21st November - Academy 2
The View - Thursday 23rd October - Moho Live & Night & Day (on sale
Friday 5th September)
The Holloways - Monday 27th October - Club Academy
Mirror! Mirror! - Thursday 18th September - Roadhouse
Daggers (with The Answering Machine, The Ruling Class and Special Guests) - Thursday 9th October - Academy 3
The Paddingtons - Wednesday 15th October - Roadhouse
The Charlatans - Friday 17th October - Preston 53 Degrees
The Whip - Friday 21st November - Academy 2
The View - Thursday 23rd October - Moho Live & Night & Day (on sale
Friday 5th September)
The Holloways - Monday 27th October - Club Academy
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - SUNDAY
It's Sunday morning at the Main Stage, and the sound is back. The Automatic play a set of mediocre new material, but actually prove surprisingly popular. And of course as soon as Monster kicks in, a tide of people rush forward to sing along with the song that reached football chant status back in 2006. The singles are ever popular, but the performance is definitely missing something without Alex Pennie's yelping, stage climbing antics.
It's easy to see that pulling their album has made Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong somewhat uneasy about showing their faces in public again. Joe apologises and thanks the audience for turning up repeatedly, trying to get them to come and talk to them afterwards. The real problem with postponing an album is that no one actually knows your stuff, so there were a lot of blank faces, with a bit of dancing to Lucio Starts Fires. But this band do small venue performances - and it doesn't quite fill a festival.
Editors know what they're doing with a festival performance. The entire set, but one song, is comprised of singles. It's difficult to be an active crowd when it comes to seeing someone like Editors in the middle of the day, but it definitely went down well.
Even the bouncers enjoyed Editors:
Los Campesinos! appear to have discretely hit the big time. They got a bigger reaction than pretty much anyone else playing so early on such a small stage. Their enthusiasm is clearly contagious, sparking of a fair bit of madness down the front.
We Are Scientist are always crowd pleasers. Alright songs and a sense of humour pull in a massive crowd (right). But we left half way through for...
Foals were an interesting one. For a start there was a giant, I mean really giant, beach ball covered in mud being thrown around and hitting unsuspecting victims in the face to make-up devastating effect. The performance itself is all right - it kicks off for Cassius and stuff. But it's the end that's weird. Yannis starts wandering about down the front in amongst the crowd. He gets back onstage and fiddles with something, and all of a sudden jumps up and attempts to knock an amp over before trashing the rest of the gear. The video at BBC.co.uk/readingandleeds/2008/artists/foals/ was up on the Leeds Festival site last week, but has since been taken down from there. It's unclear which site this is from to be honest.
Pits at Bloc Party. This is new. A little group of blue people down the front decided to kick things off, leaving pretty much everyone else looking confused. Aside from the flag-holders, who were having their own wars - trying to knock the flags, or clothes, or litter, off eachother's poles. The controversial Mercury is actually a lot better live, but it's not quite Banquet. Kele announces that the band want to headline next year, and claims to be defying the man in his ear by staying on stage. Bloc Party said "We just got back from playing Reading and Leeds Festivals this weekend. Both were amazing, so thank you to everyone who came to see us."
Casual fans don't like unfamiliar songs. Something lost on The Killers, who are relentless in their second album promotion, to the annoyance of thousands of people who obviously haven't bothered with it. Everyone loves these singles - they are huge - but Brandon Flowers' announcement of 'We're going to play a new song now' is greeted with 'Boo! I got soul, but I'm not a soldier...' They walk off stage at 10.30, with no All These Things I've Done, to even more confusion and annoyance. But eventually, they return to do a couple of the best known songs of the decade, and end with an explosion of confetti and the song we've been after. And by the sound of things, that's enough to be forgiven.
It's easy to see that pulling their album has made Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong somewhat uneasy about showing their faces in public again. Joe apologises and thanks the audience for turning up repeatedly, trying to get them to come and talk to them afterwards. The real problem with postponing an album is that no one actually knows your stuff, so there were a lot of blank faces, with a bit of dancing to Lucio Starts Fires. But this band do small venue performances - and it doesn't quite fill a festival.
Editors know what they're doing with a festival performance. The entire set, but one song, is comprised of singles. It's difficult to be an active crowd when it comes to seeing someone like Editors in the middle of the day, but it definitely went down well.
Even the bouncers enjoyed Editors:
Los Campesinos! appear to have discretely hit the big time. They got a bigger reaction than pretty much anyone else playing so early on such a small stage. Their enthusiasm is clearly contagious, sparking of a fair bit of madness down the front.
We Are Scientist are always crowd pleasers. Alright songs and a sense of humour pull in a massive crowd (right). But we left half way through for...Foals were an interesting one. For a start there was a giant, I mean really giant, beach ball covered in mud being thrown around and hitting unsuspecting victims in the face to make-up devastating effect. The performance itself is all right - it kicks off for Cassius and stuff. But it's the end that's weird. Yannis starts wandering about down the front in amongst the crowd. He gets back onstage and fiddles with something, and all of a sudden jumps up and attempts to knock an amp over before trashing the rest of the gear. The video at BBC.co.uk/readingandleeds/2008/artists/foals/ was up on the Leeds Festival site last week, but has since been taken down from there. It's unclear which site this is from to be honest.
Pits at Bloc Party. This is new. A little group of blue people down the front decided to kick things off, leaving pretty much everyone else looking confused. Aside from the flag-holders, who were having their own wars - trying to knock the flags, or clothes, or litter, off eachother's poles. The controversial Mercury is actually a lot better live, but it's not quite Banquet. Kele announces that the band want to headline next year, and claims to be defying the man in his ear by staying on stage. Bloc Party said "We just got back from playing Reading and Leeds Festivals this weekend. Both were amazing, so thank you to everyone who came to see us."Casual fans don't like unfamiliar songs. Something lost on The Killers, who are relentless in their second album promotion, to the annoyance of thousands of people who obviously haven't bothered with it. Everyone loves these singles - they are huge - but Brandon Flowers' announcement of 'We're going to play a new song now' is greeted with 'Boo! I got soul, but I'm not a soldier...' They walk off stage at 10.30, with no All These Things I've Done, to even more confusion and annoyance. But eventually, they return to do a couple of the best known songs of the decade, and end with an explosion of confetti and the song we've been after. And by the sound of things, that's enough to be forgiven.
Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - SATURDAY
Saturday was a late start after a long night, so it kicked off for us with Taking Back Sunday. And it wasn't the best of starts. The sound at the main stage all day was a mess - all bass and no vocals. Accompany that with a subdued crowd [apart from these three - right], and you may as well have stayed in bed. "The sound really ruined it," said one girl.Next, out comes Dizzee Rascal. Hat to the side, Man City on the screen and trousers a little bit too low, his knack for holding everyone's attention comes out. This time the bass is actually deafening, right to the back, but it's easy to keep spirits high when you're being entertained by thousands of Yorkshire kids trying to put on a south-east London accent. Dance Wiv Me's status as number 1 for four weeks becomes an excellent thing as everyone gets going for this last one.
Talking to NME, and the walk on:
Later, despite his pretty uneventful 2008, Jack Penate goes down a storm. Second, Minute, Hour and Torn On The Platform see the vast majority of drunks attempting to do that dance, and inject a heavy dose of happiness into the air. He says "Reading & Leeds were wonderful and I feel sad that they will be the last last shows until I finish my new album. Thank you for everyone who came and watched. It was rediculously fun, and whoever gave my gold chain to the security who then gave it back to me, thank you thank you thank you!"
MGMT were perhaps even more popular than the latter, and it's clear to see that Time To Pretend has become something of an anthem for this summer.
Here it is:
Leeds is apparently unable to resist a man in shorts. The tent is crammed, and every song is surprisingly well known. All of the singles are everyone's favourite songs, but nothing compares to APunk, which provokes the loudest chanting of 'Hey, hey, hey' you could ever hope to hear. It's easy to see that this country is already very much in love with Vampire Weekend.
Footage of One:
Late Of The Pier are one of those bands with a very loyal following. And I think it's safe to say that they were all in the middle of the Festival Republic tent, scrambling forward to get a glimpse of strange clothes and mad dancing. However erratic and unpredictable these songs might be, they're a lot of fun to dance to. They said "Thankyou thankyou thankyou to everyone who was there. You fucked off QOTSA to make them some of the best shows we've had the pleasure of playing."
The past few months have had a lot of the long-time followers of Does It Offend You, Yeah? asking themselves what the hell has happened. A line of dreary, riff-less singles has seen them gain quite a different audience, in the form of the daytime radio 1 listener. So this was a bit of a test, to see if they'd forget all that for the live performances and give us stuff to dance to. It's half and half, but the lulls in the action that are Dawn Of The Dead and Epic Last Song turn out to be real downers.
What A Waster. Peter Doherty is fucked out of his mind. You might expect this to make for a disappointing shambles of a performance, but actually it's as if Babyshambles are on top form. They play all the best songs and actually give a tight performance, in between Pete's wandering down to the crowd and towering countless hats on top of his head, of course [and apparently a Tshirt - right]. They genuinely seem to be enjoying themselves, and if they can keep this standard up, their performances might start selling out like they used to.
Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - FRIDAY
There's nothing like finding your feet unbelievably stuck in mud, falling over and getting two handfuls of mud, before sliding up a very dodgy hill to get you in the mood for Friday's line up.
Slipknot cancelled, of course, so there was a late start down at the Main Stage, forcing thousands of people too lazy to give up their sort-of-green patch of grass to sit through the disturbingly serious and insulting Mindless Self Indulgence (right).
But, eventually, Alexisonfire take to the stage to put all their energy into a performance that the crowd can't quite be bothered with yet.
Cajun Dance Party proved surprisingly popular, with even the kids in the back knowing the words. They just say "Thanks to everyone who came and watched Cajun at Reading and Leeds."
Johnny Foreigner got themselves a right little audience at the Festival Republic Stage. They were a bit poor at first, breaking guitars and messing up. But as soon as Eyes Wide Terrified kicked in, they had the place by the scruff of the neck, and managed to hold it together till the end of the set.
Hadouken!'s set was dominated by new material - which proved to be real crowd pleasers among these fluro-painted, foam 'H!' wearing kids (right). Lead singer, James, appeared to be in a showing off kind of mood, and ended up doing headstands before launching into The Prodigy's Breathe, to the delight of the older drunks at the back. Bassist, Christopher, said: "I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to see us at Leeds and Reading festivals. Both shows meant the world to us. To have anybody turn up to our shows is an honour. To fill the tent at both sites is beyond words."
Here's footage of Crank It Up, from behind a cameraman:
Pendulum turned out to be one of the best bands of the weekend. A beyond packed-out tent crammed with everyone from wasted teenage girls, to half naked, body painted men with poles with skulls on (right), tribal dancing under the influence of, I'm sure, a cocktail of drugs, all singing to tracks without lyrics, made for one of the best atmospheres of the festival.
It was a bit like this:
And sort of like this:
Unfortunately, pretty much everyone left the NME/Radio 1 stage before Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band arrived onstage, in exchange for Jack Black & A Man In A Devil Costume [ie. Tenacious D]. The music was lovely, the performance was tight, but the crowd, apart from one guy caught on camera down the front, drew blank faces. The problem with sticking this band so far up the bill is that no one actually knows anything beyond Bright Eyes.
Naturally, everyone returned in time for The Last Shadow Puppets. And, as per usual with things related to Alex Turner, the hype is surprisingly accurate. The stage presence of the full orchestra has the whole place captivated. Everyone already knows every word to the singles, and when the crowd sing lines of Standing Next To Me back at him, Alex Turner's face is priceless. This being "Only our third gig", he appears quite overwhelmed. Here's Calm Like You:
Headliners, unless you're into Metallica, come in the shape of The Cribs. Now this band know how to do a festival. They play everything you could ask for - every single, all the best album tracks, and that Smiths cover. On top of that is the whole crowd interaction thing that's become expected of a Cribs performance. But by ender, I'm A Realist, things start to get a bit carried away. Ryan crowdsurfs and ends up completely lost in the crowd. So his guitar cuts out, leaving an empty bass line and drums, and vocals that can't be heard past the mics. The crowd fills in, but lyrics get muddled - not exactly the ending this set deserved.
Women's Needs:
Moving Pictures:
Slipknot cancelled, of course, so there was a late start down at the Main Stage, forcing thousands of people too lazy to give up their sort-of-green patch of grass to sit through the disturbingly serious and insulting Mindless Self Indulgence (right).But, eventually, Alexisonfire take to the stage to put all their energy into a performance that the crowd can't quite be bothered with yet.
Cajun Dance Party proved surprisingly popular, with even the kids in the back knowing the words. They just say "Thanks to everyone who came and watched Cajun at Reading and Leeds."
Johnny Foreigner got themselves a right little audience at the Festival Republic Stage. They were a bit poor at first, breaking guitars and messing up. But as soon as Eyes Wide Terrified kicked in, they had the place by the scruff of the neck, and managed to hold it together till the end of the set.
Hadouken!'s set was dominated by new material - which proved to be real crowd pleasers among these fluro-painted, foam 'H!' wearing kids (right). Lead singer, James, appeared to be in a showing off kind of mood, and ended up doing headstands before launching into The Prodigy's Breathe, to the delight of the older drunks at the back. Bassist, Christopher, said: "I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who came to see us at Leeds and Reading festivals. Both shows meant the world to us. To have anybody turn up to our shows is an honour. To fill the tent at both sites is beyond words."Here's footage of Crank It Up, from behind a cameraman:
Pendulum turned out to be one of the best bands of the weekend. A beyond packed-out tent crammed with everyone from wasted teenage girls, to half naked, body painted men with poles with skulls on (right), tribal dancing under the influence of, I'm sure, a cocktail of drugs, all singing to tracks without lyrics, made for one of the best atmospheres of the festival.It was a bit like this:
And sort of like this:
Unfortunately, pretty much everyone left the NME/Radio 1 stage before Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band arrived onstage, in exchange for Jack Black & A Man In A Devil Costume [ie. Tenacious D]. The music was lovely, the performance was tight, but the crowd, apart from one guy caught on camera down the front, drew blank faces. The problem with sticking this band so far up the bill is that no one actually knows anything beyond Bright Eyes.
Naturally, everyone returned in time for The Last Shadow Puppets. And, as per usual with things related to Alex Turner, the hype is surprisingly accurate. The stage presence of the full orchestra has the whole place captivated. Everyone already knows every word to the singles, and when the crowd sing lines of Standing Next To Me back at him, Alex Turner's face is priceless. This being "Only our third gig", he appears quite overwhelmed. Here's Calm Like You:
Headliners, unless you're into Metallica, come in the shape of The Cribs. Now this band know how to do a festival. They play everything you could ask for - every single, all the best album tracks, and that Smiths cover. On top of that is the whole crowd interaction thing that's become expected of a Cribs performance. But by ender, I'm A Realist, things start to get a bit carried away. Ryan crowdsurfs and ends up completely lost in the crowd. So his guitar cuts out, leaving an empty bass line and drums, and vocals that can't be heard past the mics. The crowd fills in, but lyrics get muddled - not exactly the ending this set deserved.
Women's Needs:
Moving Pictures:
Notes From LEEDS FESTIVAL 2008 - THURSDAY
Arrival at Leeds. Two Red Bull cars turn up - minis, with giant cans of Red Bull Cola on the back of them, fully stocked with girls giving out endless cans of free Red Bull, to the utter delight of the punters.
There’s a shocking amount of mud about. Not good for people who are unfortunate enough to fall over with the weight of their luggage in the queue, or are wearing new shoes, but simply cause for more drunken antics for the rest of us. Particularly for one half naked festival goer, who proceeds to slide down a steep hill in Blue Campsite on a dinghy.
It was a bit like this:
but better.
Everyone was talking about how The Pigeon Detectives were going to ‘do a Kaiser Chiefs’ and play a surprise set on Thursday night at 9 o’clock. It’s half past nine. A good couple of hundred people have turned out to the NME/Radio 1 tent only to cheer and ‘boo!’ at the roadies as they test the lights for tomorrow’s line up. They’re not playing.
Hot Club de Paris, who did play on Thursday, said: “Those who did, thanks for watching. We had a blast.”
There’s a shocking amount of mud about. Not good for people who are unfortunate enough to fall over with the weight of their luggage in the queue, or are wearing new shoes, but simply cause for more drunken antics for the rest of us. Particularly for one half naked festival goer, who proceeds to slide down a steep hill in Blue Campsite on a dinghy.
It was a bit like this:
but better.
Everyone was talking about how The Pigeon Detectives were going to ‘do a Kaiser Chiefs’ and play a surprise set on Thursday night at 9 o’clock. It’s half past nine. A good couple of hundred people have turned out to the NME/Radio 1 tent only to cheer and ‘boo!’ at the roadies as they test the lights for tomorrow’s line up. They’re not playing.
Hot Club de Paris, who did play on Thursday, said: “Those who did, thanks for watching. We had a blast.”
Monday, 1 September 2008
Widgets And Videos
Frost, of The Automatic has uploaded this 'webisode', featuring footage of the band recording 'Steve McQueen' in LA earlier this year and Frank Turner and Chris T-T, who star as guest vocalists on the track.
This is Bloc Party's new widget. You can watch videos and stuff.
This is Bloc Party's new widget. You can watch videos and stuff.
New Releases
Singles
Dirty Pretty Things – Plastic Hearts
Johnny Flynn – Brown Trout Blues
Ladytron - Runaway
Portishead – We Carry On
Weezer – Troublemaker
Albums
The Chemical Brothers – Brotherhood
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Fujiya & Miyagi – Lightbulbs
Holy Ghost Revival - Twilight Exit
Motorhead – Motorizer
Nouvelle Vague – NV3
Queen + Paul Rodgers – The Cosmos Rocks
Dirty Pretty Things – Plastic Hearts
Johnny Flynn – Brown Trout Blues
Ladytron - Runaway
Portishead – We Carry On
Weezer – Troublemaker
Albums
The Chemical Brothers – Brotherhood
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Fujiya & Miyagi – Lightbulbs
Holy Ghost Revival - Twilight Exit
Motorhead – Motorizer
Nouvelle Vague – NV3
Queen + Paul Rodgers – The Cosmos Rocks
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