Band of Horses have been good enough to release their new LP for all of us to stream and on the first couple of listens I would say that they have taken a new turn within their new music.
Having Glyn Johns produce their new record intially illustrated an intended switch in production and it does show on the new LP. Although Ben Bridwell does stick to the old winning formula of old country songs with beautiful harmonies, they take more of an traditional country and acoustic approach. The production throughout this record is far more chilled out than their previous effort, Infinite Arms, which personally lets it down for me.
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When Donald Glover announced he would be putting on a one-off show at London’s infamous XOYO, the hip hop world got very excited. Tickets for the event were like gold-dust, and sold out in three minutes. We were lucky enough to get our hands on some. July 4th, the same day that Gambino was due to drop his new Mixtape, Royalty, was sure to be one amazing 24 hours. An unassuming day in England, but of course Independence day in America, the stage was set for Gambino to put on the best gig of his career so far, and he did.
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Roses Recap: The Stone Roses at Heaton Park
The resurrection had begun its process long before Mani had even begun to play the symbolic opening bass line of ‘I Wanna Be Adored’. With three dates at Heaton Park selling out faster than you could say ‘bucket hat’, it’d be fair to say the anticipation surrounding the Roses’ return was massive.
They’d played a select few European dates (which sparked ‘cuntgate’) and a last minute homecoming gig in Warrington, (to which fans were allowed free entry with a piece of Roses memorabilia, which was a nice touch); but this would be their real test, playing to over 225,000 fans in the space of three days. And they didn’t disappoint.
Although rain was predicted it didn’t really show up and with support across the weekend came from a varied bunch including The Wailers, Plan B, The Vaccines Beady Eye and Professor Green to name a few, everything was in place for the atmosphere to be a spectacular one.
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Friday night at Lovebox 2012 was brought to a close rather spectacularly by the synth-pop gods, Hot Chip. Their first Headline slot, which in our opinion is about time, had everything you could want in a bill-topper, yes, lasers. Bringing their form of dance-punk to the East London festival, you could see the band were having the time of their lives up there. The crowd were so up for it, having been warmed up by the amazing Madeon and the simply bullish-but-brilliant Crystal Castles everyone was in the mood to get a little bit mental and just dance the night away.
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Lovebox, a festival created by the musical legends that are Groove Armada, and one which has reached a level of social acclaim that many festivals can merely dream of achieving. It has gained a reputation as being both a heavy dance music festival but also one which isn’t scared of showing grime artists or other genres. This selection of musicians which the likes of V festival (a music festival for people who don’t like music) would simply pass over is what sets it apart. But, less about the context of Lovebox and more about Crystal Castles, because clearly that is what you are here to read about.
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It’s rare you come across an album that moves you to such an extent that you find your first conscious action in the morning to be playing it, but that’s precisely what Alt-J have done with their debut album An Awesome Wave. As haunting as it is serene, An Awesome Wave navigates its way through a plethora of musical weaponry, with a capella vocals and intense bass lines, amidst the slightly more unconventional Bhangra flair lended to the album’s conclusion ‘Taro’, all contributing to a debut which will make the world of music sit up and take notice.
Known first as Daljit Dhaliwal then soon after as Films, it seems Alt-J have finally hit their stride, and considering how impressed we are with the album, which you can stream in full at the bottom of the page, we’ve taken to giving our track-by-track take on An Awesome Wave.
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In a welcome return, Best Coast’s second release The Only Place is a beautiful reminder that female musicians don’t have to settle for making hideous pop songs but can instead make pretty fucking rad guitar based beach pop instead. With a sentiment which is completely opposite to Death Cab For Cutie’s ‘Why You’d Want To Live Here’ the album opens with an ode to California in the form of the album’s title track ‘The Only Place’. Home to beaches, babes and waves (or wavves), once again the Cali influence is clear on this Best Coast release formed of songs about troubled love and Morrissey worthy romance.
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Although Oberhofer may be new to most in the UK, he has been getting serious hype and buzz from all of us in the treehouse ever since he dropped his first Ep and Single in Spring 2010. With much of his music relying upon catchy hooks and enticing harmonies, Brad Oberhofer, the founder and songwriter within this 4 piece group introduced songs such as Away Frm U and Mahwun, illustrating complete innocence within his early recording. Obviously keen to develop their sound, Oberhofer have recently toured extensively throughout the UK and the US. With further releases such as Gotta Go and I Could Go, Oberhofer seemed to find their sound, producing a punchy record, with resonance lying within manic performers such as Clues, however, still capturing the childish innocence which seems to exuberate off anything Brad Oberhofer touches.
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Beach House have certainly gained a vast amount on media attention for this release, following the critical appraisal of their 2010 LP, ‘Teen Dream’. With ‘Teen Dream’ being their best record to date, and a personal highlight of mine in 2010, this has led to a further investment into their song craft, a seamless ability on which they have built upon from their previous records and presented great strides within this specific field. Although ‘Teen Dream’ did possess the ability to take a listener to their own little world, or dream if you like for the 40 minutes if the record. It’s ability to seamlessly move from track to track was second to none, for me personally finding it difficult to select standout tracks from it. However, I believe ‘Bloom’ illustrates a different motive altogether.
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