Day 31: Duologue

I'm convinced that 2011 was just the warm up act and 2012 will be the year when the male power vocal finally gets heard in all its might.

Here's Duologue, Happy New Year.

Day 30: The Haxan Cloak

There is no doubt some blog about the nordic/bavarian/barbarian significance of the name and the music. This is not that blog.

Here's The Haxan Cloak. Enjoy.

Day 29: Jonquil

New album out in the spring. Should be good.

Here's their cover of Magdalen Bridge by Youthmovies.

 Jonquil - Magdalen Bridge by Blessing Force

Day 28: Hurray for the Riff Raff

Well I fucking love this album (self-titled). Not alot more I want to say on the matter.

Though they did gig at SXSW earlier this year and had guest appearance on Treme. So they are clearly gaining traction.

 Hurray for the Riff Raff - Too Much of a Good Thing

Day 27: Fourcolor

This song, Skating Azure, is a nice approximation of the album (As Pleat).

Very modern sounding and well worth a listen. Enjoy.

Day 26: Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat

Taking from the album Everything is Getting Older, songs called Cages, and the video that accompanies it is great. It also brings on paternal urges but that is another story.

Day 25: Delta/Alaska

They have been supporting some pretty big bands this year.

And will be soon be a band with support acts of their own.

The circle of life.

Delta/Alaska - All Our Friends by the Sea

Advent day 24: Grouper

A song which features some fantastic beckoning vocals, taken off a great album (AA:Alien Observer) by a great ambient artiste.

Portland, OR, does it again 

Grouper - Alien Observer

Advent day 23: Barn Owl

Shadowlands from Barn Owl was one of my favourite EP's of the year.

Decided to post something from their equally good album, Lost in the Glare. Enjoy.

Barn Owl - Pale Star

Advent day 22: Get People

A band whose growth in popularity is exponential.

Listen to the synths, then copy and paste on to your social network of choice, with the caption "ones to watch". Enjoy.

Get People - Rain Tears

Advent day 21: Pet Moon

If this is not progress I don't what is. Lovely tune, and only a demo.

Pet Moon - Ganger (demo)
 Ganger (demo) by pet moon

Advent day 20: Ghostpoet

If you can abide the advert and the professional production qualities then have a look at this slightly different take on a Ghostpoet classic. If you have't seen it already that is.

Ghostpoet ft Kano - Cash and Carry Me Home (remix)

Advent day 19: Hard Mix

Repetitive? Nope, absolutely not.

That said the repetitive nature of the beat makes this, of all of Hard Mix's tracks, the one best suited for the morning commute/Enjoy/

Hard Mix- All Again

Advent day 18: Golden Ages

Time for a bit of vocal distortion. So much distortion in fact that you might not be able to tell what this is a cover of for about 30 seconds.

Incidentally, this is one of my favourite album covers of the year. Beautifully simple. Enjoy.

Golden Ages - Africa

Advent day 17: Sepalcure

Taken from Sepalcure's eponymous album this one is an 11th hour mover and shaker on to the calendar, but nonetheless worthy.

Sepalcure - See Me Feel Me
 see me feel me // sepalcure by sexmusic

Advent day 16: To All My Dear Friends

Their sophomore album, Trasparent Voyages, doesn't get the credit it deserves. It's an odd, off-beat effort and well worth a listen.

Here's Japan to Kenya & Back. Enjoy.

Advent Day 15: BvDub

One of my favourite albums of the year might not have been at all. One Last Look at the Sea was made 3 years ago but couldn't find a label. Mr Dub decided to release it for free in the end. Good on him.

I've put a song off his most recent album on here. Enjoy.

BvDub - Gone Tomorrow 

Advent day 14: Waking Aida

I've spent the year urging people to watch Synecdoche, New  York invariably to no avail.

This excellent use of a sample from the film is the next best thing. Enjoy.

Waking Aida - 7.45

Advent Day 13: Good Weather for an Airstrike

Tom Honey making music firstly for himself, the way it used to be.

Good Weather for an Airstrike is a project that has given fans many textured sounds to listen and sleep to over the past year.

Here's one from the Jigsaws EP. Enjoy.

Advent Day 12: Novisad

Out of tragedy can come beauty and inspiration. Radium  is a great example of this.

Made by Novisad it went on a album which raised money for victims of the tsunami. It's a great track on an album full of great songs.

Novisad - Radium

Advent Day 11: Psychologist

Every single bit of output from Psychologist - down to the last quivering note -  has been sublime, and Come in Waves is one of the best songs of the last 12 months.

He doesn't let you down on the video front either.

Psychologist - Come In Waves

Advent Day 10: Goldmund

History and ambient folk. Two of my favourite things in the world.

Anyone looking for a revisionist take on American history should check out the album, All Will Prosper.

Goldmund - The Death of General Wolfe
 Goldmund-The Death of General Wolfe by Keith Kenniff - Helios

Advent day 9: Tangled Hair

I have eulogised before about, Colour, half of whose members have made it in to Tangled Hair.

Their Apples EP came out a while ago and has great tunes and some intriguing lyrics:

'Sing Midas, sing, shout your golden notes cause not a single sound is worthless.'

Tangled Hair - Daylight #2

Advent day 8: Three Trapped Tigers

Three Trapped Tigers made one of my favourite albums of the year and one of my favourite videos as well. Enjoy.

Three Trapped Tigers - Reset

Advent day 7: Mark McGuire

Brought out a double album and a cracking EP (Get Lost) which featured the awesome lyrics : "It must resolve, we try and evolve."

Wonder what 2012 will bring...

Mark McGuire - Another Dead End
 Mark McGuire - Another Dead End by Chico Dub

Advent Day 6: Phanes

Lucky Woman has proved to be a bit of a hit for Phanes.

A quick listen, followed by a click of the repeat button, tells you why.

A vid that analogue hipsters will love as well.

Phanes - Lucky Woman

Advent day 5: Loscil

Carrying on from the Endless Falls album, Loscil continued to push ambient boundaries this year with the Coast/Range/Arc EP.

it's a sparse and haunting offering. Enjoy.

Loscil - Neve
 Loscil - Névé by MoLLy

Advent day 4: Explosions in the Sky

Highlight of the year = seeing this band live.

Amongst the hour and a half set, which bled from one track to the next, was this song.

For me it's the best one off the album.

Explosions in the Sky - Let Me Back In

Advent day 3: Halls and Sun Glitters

Halls, whose EP's make up some of the best music I have heard this year, and Sun Glitters, whose album Everything Could Be Fine is another classic, released a split EP. Bliss.

Here's a Sun Glitter's Remix of a Halls track.

Halls - Chakra Drums (Sun Glitters Remix)

Advent Day 2: Dakota Suite

This song is proof that you can make great music with very little.

It's the first track from the 2011, jazz infused, Hearts of Empty album.

The song, the whole album, is a treat, enjoy.

Dakota Suite - Easy Steps

 Dakota Suite - Easy Steps by Fluid Radio 

Advent day 1: Codes in the Clouds

To start with then a band who produced a solid album this year (As the Spirit Wanes), which has one exceptional track.

For lovers of surf-rock. Enjoy.

Codes in the Clouds - Look Back, Look Up
 Codes In The Clouds – Look Back, Look Up by erasedtapes

LP's of the year/advent

In any old order here are my favourite, full length, LP’s from 2011:

Balam Acab - WANDER/WONDER

Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Brontide – Sans Souci

BvDub – One Last Look at the Sea

Explosions in the Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX – We’re New Here

Ghostpoet – Peanut Butter and Melancholy Jam

Hurray for the Riff Raff – Hurray for the Riff Raff

Iceage - New Brigade

Jamie Woon  - Mirrorwriting

Jeniferever – Silesia

Kanye West and Jay Z – Watch the Throne

Sun Glitters – Everything Could Be Fine

SBTRKT – SBTRKT

Three Trapped Tigers – Route One or Die

Tubelord – Romance

Wild Beasts – Smother

Forgotten a big one no doubt.

Every day in December I’ll be posting a song from the last year that I have loved and appreciated. Not surprisingly many will derive from this list – but a lot has come from EP’s and what not.

It will be a mish mash of different stuff, much of which has been on the blog before, much of which you may have heard somewhere else.

Hopefully the music and the rationale will resonate.

BUFFALO TIDE

Buffalo Tide (aka Chris Oliver) is a producer and musician who straddles two continents, having a base in North America (Vancouver) and Europe (Brighton).

As well as the Buffalo Tide project Oliver is also the co-founder of the music collective BLBX.

His latest EP, Arabia, is out now. So how to describe the latest work:

'Arabia' was intended as night music, it was written at night, and for the most part, to be listened to at night. On this record I also sampled my voice a lot to add the human element of sleeplessness. I like a lot of space in my music to allow it to breathe better. Not loads of clutter. It's electronic music at the core.

Such a nice, dance and electronic vibe here: the lead track, Divine Tide, for example, starts off with a fairly standard beat before injecting an eccentric 80’s synth style overtone from a minute and a half onwards. Great stuff.

Fans should check out Geneva another of his tracks which is on Soundcloud.

Arabia, Geneva, bit of a geography theme developing here, so Buffalo Tide – man of two worlds – are you city or country?

Hard one, I love the country side at home where I grew up, and I especially love the countryside a lot in Asia where I've spent time travelling, I'm definitely a wildlife man at heart. But, I live in Vancouver, and there's certainly something that's quite evocative and understated about walking through an empty city at night/early morning. The lights here are ridiculously beautiful.

I’ve never been to Vancouver, but it’s on my list, and the chance to walk empty streets like something out of28 Days Later is an added plus.

Here’s more on BLBX. Enjoy.

 Divine Lions by BUFFALO TIDE 

more ARTHUR

Here is the latest track from Arthur, it's called Finally though I don't think the wait has been that long.

The future for this Swedish artist, whose music is wider and more broader than any label is big, so big thanks to him for letting me expose him. 

  Arthur - Finally by Arthurr

ARTHUR

After a brief hiatus this blog is back with a bang.

Arthur (Linus Johnsson) is a Swedish post-dubstep artist, who hates all the post-dubstep labels. Primarily because he doesn't fit in to any of them.

His music is right up this alley though. Danceable, but with an element of stoicism and coolness about it. He might not have a label but does he have a place in the Stockholm scene?

Not sure where I'd fit into the scene here, we have quite a few underground dubstep clubs here that are going more into experimental sounds so I guess there!

Anyone with an ear for this kind of music, after having listened to Arthur, won’t need this question answering. But I asked it anyway. Arthur, who from the UK are big influences on your music?

Burial, obviously. He's been a HUGE inspiration on my music. Jamie XX is also one of the biggest influences.

Good lad. With influences like that it would be hard to go wrong. Wonder if he has other, wider influences and interest. Arthur, what was the last book you read?

That would be The Talisman by Stephen King. 

Arthur has a fair few songs on Soundcloud. I’ve put You on here. It battles with Sea for being my favourite tune. Enjoy.  

 Arthur - You by Arthurr 

ZAMBRI

Zambri have featured on this blog before. But because their music is worthy enough and Jessica, who makes up one half of the band, lent some meat to the bones this time round it makes sense to give them another shout out.

We lifted sounds from our daily lives/routines, so it makes the music somewhat nostalgic and familiar even though it’s drastically new. 

It certainly has a drastically new feel, like something from the not too distant future.

The heavy distortion adds to that dystopian feel and in general it feels like there is a whole lot of experimentation going on.

So what were the influences?

The music on Glossolalia is wild and maybe even a little animalistic. We stuck close to what we know best musically, and that is our voices, so you'll hear lots of sounds that originated from there and grew to places we never knew it could. 

You can listen to some of their stuff on Facebook. But for now here is one of their tracks, On Call.

Enjoy.

 Zambri OnCall by kaninerecords 

BORDEAUXXX

                                                                                                                     

If you’re ever in need of cheering up, perhaps you’ve got withdrawal symptoms from the baking summer (autumn?) that we had, then throw on a bit of Bordeauxxx. These guys and girl are a exuberant little four – piece from round the way.

You’ll love their fresh indie style, and vocal quirks.

You’ll also love their taste in music. I asked them what the last albums they purchased were:

Nat (guitar): Jonny Kearney &Lucy Farrell after I saw them, and I let them know in no uncertain terms how much I didn't mind spending my £6 on it.


Martin(lead vocals and keyboard): The new Girls record on the day it came out and Stagecoach We Got Tazers. 


Charlie(guitar): Janelle Monae and the new Girls album.


Amy(bass): Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony and Peter and the Wolf.


Jon(drums): Laura Marling's new album, but it was for my dad's birthday ‘cause I'm generous like that. 

No idea why they are called Bordeauxxx, but, thankfully, when asked about their favourite wines they had plenty to say for themselves.

Nat: My favourite wine has the heady aroma of being given to me for free at some public event that underestimates my shamelessness in repeatedly going back for more


Martin: Free event wine is both the best and worst kind of wine. If people are giving out wine it probably means they're more important than you so you should probably show some self control so as not to make a fool of yourself. But, it's free. Catch 22 or what? I like red wine most, then rosé, then white. I'm not particularly fussy as long as it's cheap, though I once had a brilliant rosé. I can't remember what it was so I've never had it again.


Amy: My favourite wine is the “brilliant” rose that Martin mentioned and I was lucky enough to have it on more than on occasion.


Charlie: I'm not really that much of a wine drinker. Rose is the most pussy one right? I think I like that the most.


Brace yourself...


Jon : Given the choice, I'd go for a sharp red with sophisticated berry accents, filtered for 2 weeks through Claudia Schiffer's cleavage into a bottle made of the frozen tears of joy of all of my adoring fans. #rockstardreams

Bordeauxxx are currently touring – If they keep the booze in check they could be ones to watch.

Here are some of their songs. Enjoy.

 Mother's Ruin by bordeauxxx 

BNRY

Bass driven. Slightly melodic. Repeated vocal chops.

This is how BNRY describes his music. Succinct I think you’ll agree. And certainly not something I’d disagree with.

What we have here is some very intelligent dance music, progressive even, but more on that later.

I got to asking what BNRY’s favourite nightclub was and it turns out to be Plastic People, and why?

It’s Dark.

Fair enough, and succinct again. BNRY is playing Binnacle, a festival featuring progressive (that word again) musicians. It starts on 15 October and is at the Old Blue Last, Shoreditch.

Here are a couple of my favourite tracks from BNRY.

 Crayola by BNRY 

 Gold Leaf by BNRY 

zambri

If all this economic doom and gloom is starting to get you down then why not try listening to Zambri. Zambri are a New York based group whose style is similar to contemporaries such as Creep, but perhaps, with a slightly more eccentric nature to keep you guessing.

They’re signed to Kanine Records and should have a quite a healthy output of new material in the near future; so if the your nations growth figures have just been downgraded by the IMF this could be just the tonic you need. 

 Tonight We Fly by Zambri 

VINDUR BOK

Vindur Bok, roughly translated to mean ‘wind book’, is a Lithuanian artist mixing familiar folk melodies to a darker backdrop. Atmospheric and soothing as well, the music has the effect of putting one at ease. Here’s what he had to say on the matter:

It’s indie folk or dark ambient mostly influenced by Lithuanian nature and visual art. Musical influences could be William Basinski, Panda Bear, Cocteau Twins, Sigur Ros, Balam Acab, Fennesz, Grizzly Bear, Alina Orlova. 

I’ll be sure to check some of those names out as they are new to me (Sigur?). There’s new material in the pipeline which will have post rock and chillwave elements, so look out for that.

Here’s Tyliai Rauda Girios. Enjoy.

 Tyliai Rauda Girios by Vindur bok 

back

Quick message to the fan, I have my laptop back. Don’t worry though I won’t bore you with the grisly details.  But I will bore you with a flurry of content. Podcast soon, some more of those featurettes are in the pipeline as well. Sorry.

I will leave you with another new track and again it comes from an Oxford  band I have written about ceaselessly. Here's Trophy Wife, those great purveyors of “ambitionless commuter music", with the lead single of their new EP, Bruxism. The has been been produced by a whole host of people including Yannis from Foals.

Should be a good ‘un. Here’s Canopy Shade

 Trophy Wife - Canopy Shade (Produced by Plaid and Trophy Wife) by trophywifeband 

Until I get back from End of the Road,

Toby

x

message to fan

My computer has gone and messed itself up good and proper, so no podcast, no blogpost, none of that for the foreseeable future (a week or two).

This is a shame but despite technologies conspiracies against me and the rather more hectic lifestyle I lead these days I endeavour to write and put up podcasts showing new music as much as possible .

I leave you with a case and point of what I just said, a couple of  new tracks from some bands I can’t stop raving about, Jonquil and Solid Gold Dragons. Both tracks are stellar, and make me feel the happiest that music has made me feel in years.





Until soon.
Toby

Jonquil @ Hoxton Square

Walk the streets shouting “I’m easy come, I’m easy come I’m easy go” and people are likely to give you a bit of a wide berth and probably not believe you but this is the effect that Jonquil can have on you as I’ve found out. I’ve already written about how great some of their music is so neither of us will be surprised when I say that it was a really great gig; how great? Really, very.

The vocals have always been good and I’ve always known that but seeing them live really brought home how just how strong and powerful Hugo Manuel’s voice are, to the extent that they sound reinvented live. The new stuff they showcased off their soon to be released LP seemed to show off his voice a little bit more so the new stuff promises to have me singing in the aisles. Can't wait.

Support came from Get People, a band I’d never before but, with their heavily distorted afrobeat sound they made for another pleasing surprise so they are definitely worth checking out.

JONQUIL /// GET UP from B A N K S on Vimeo.

pet project

After fronting the post rock outfit Youthmovies for the best part of a decade Andrew Mears is on to pastures new with his new project, Pet Moon. The music is a little less post rock this time round and a bit more prog rock. It’s different, more dancy for one thing, but he still an artist worth listening to.

Here is some of his new demo stuff. Enjoy. 

 THE FLOOR (demo) by pet moon 

 HOLD THE DIVIDE (demo) by pet moon 

NEVEREST SONGS

Margate is a seaside town on the south coast of Britain. It’s beautiful in its own way, but a site of faded glory. Does that kind of backdrop provide any inspiration for Luke Twyman, known as Neverest Songs, who is from Margate?

Sort of ... it feels a little cut off here and it's difficult not to want to incorporate that feeling into whatever I'm doing, but I can't say I've felt the need to specifically write about the town yet.

Even when the town produces great artist like Neverest Songs it somehow never gets the credit. The inevitable follow up to this is, of course, what do you write about? Luckily I asked this.

I tend to jump between high fantasy and real life. Some songs are introspective, perhaps recounting my own experiences, while others are start-to-finish imagination. But I'd say there are a good number now which sit somewhere in-between, they might start with a memory or a story that I've read about, and then I adapt or expand on it.

It’s a good job we now know because one of the most striking things about Neverest Songs is the storytelling element that you find in all his songs as well as the strong musical composition and vocals.

Luke is playing a precious few dates this year such as Green Man Festival and a support gig for William Tyler in October. Below is Paper Trumpets, his latest release.

 Paper Trumpets by Neverest Songs 

NB Luke did a really awesome photo interview for A Negative Narrative which you can see here 

(more) SIMA

The artwork from the Texture EP is very eyecatching, so much so that I thought I'd share some more of it as well photos which give a bit of insight into the creative process.

 Artwork and photos are courtesy Sima and Matt Millar. Enjoy.

SIMA

Sima’s music can best be described as old world meets new. Old world, that comes in the shape of the classical composers who are clear influence. We’re talking, Part, Prokoviev, Bach. Stockhausen.

And the new comes in the form of the modern production techniques that are layered over the top of the piano foundations. And the end result is something which has the best of both; something which is a little haunting, a little catchy, but ultimately has been put together quite nicely.

The latest EP is called Texture, you  can listen to it below and purchase it from Bandcamp. Why Texture?

Well it’s a private study or experiment about texture in the musical context, and each track has a number of textures. 

THOMAS COLLINS

                                                    A Tom Collins


"Thomas Collins sat down to dip his feet in the pool. His namesake cocktail in one hand and his aviator glasses in another. The sky was too grey to justify actually wearing the glasses. The disappointing weather that the Big Apple had to offer meant he switched off a little. Losing himself in the shallow azure his thoughts turned to Miami – the city that never disappointed. 

Melodic and echoey music swirled around in his head as his internal synth machine starting whirring.  It would be forty five minutes before he would look up from the pool and gaze out at the metropolitan skyline. He was now running very late. Perhaps, he thought to himself, his friends were right and he was a little too relaxed about life.”

Now unfortunately Thomas Collins isn’t a real person: but the music, thankfully, is real and it comes courtesy of Andrew Nichols on vocals and Abe Quezada on production. The debut EP came out last month - and you can listen to it below – it’s slow pop music which has a metropolitan, US of A feel to it that is distinctive to these European ears; the cover of Miami is well worth listening to. 


Thomas Collins will be coming out with more new material in the near future, perhaps at the tail end of an Indian summer, which would be ideal really.

100 days of (gloomy) Summer

If, like me, you agree that the summer so far has been a bit disappointing then this is for you; a little rabble of tracks ideal for when the trip to beach or the grassy knoll has been cancelled.

I’m off to buy a suitably thick jumper. Enjoy.

 100 days of (gloomy) Summer by TobyBakare 

tracklisting

Umber – Tommorow We’ll Throw Out Some Old Shoes

Psychologist – Come In Waves

Simiah - Everlast

Jeniferever – Silesia

Waking Aida - Sundances 


Factual error alert. The Psychologist EP is called Waves of OK, not Comes in Waves. My bad. Sorry.

oscar buzz

Here's the video for the single Propeller, from the aptly named Psychologist. Fantastic performance from the guy and, understandably, it's generating a lot of Oscar buzz.



Propeller EP is out on 15 August on Moshi Moshi.

HALLS

Halls is South Londoner Sam Howard and his music is a bit of treat; I’ve put his self titled EP on here for all to enjoy and got to asking him how he would describe his music. Here is what he said:


I guess I'd describe my sound as atmospheric and moody. The songs from the first two EPs were written as it was becoming winter, so I guess they reflect the sombre feelings people experience as it gets colder and darker. The new music I've been working on has a broader range of influences, such as choral and classical music, as well as different forms of electronic music.

There has to be a certain irony then that his music can produce such a warm feeling of contentment.  

Solace is the other EP from Halls and both of them are available from Bandcamp. In terms of what’s next from Halls, there is new material in the offing which promises to be “ very open and sad”.  I hope I bear up listening to it. 

UMBER

Umber’s music is a coalescence of so much of the music that I love, folk and drone and ambient beat making. The Morning Pass EP is well crafted, with not too much of one or the other.

So, I had to ask, how does one bring it all together?

Morning's Pass EP uses a lot of instruments. Most songs are based around a drone or a loop and then I begin to add other instruments such as a guitar then a banjo or a harmonium. I'll probably then layer up some more drones, add some effects into the mix and then I’ll have a song! Repeat this six times and I’ve got an EP!

And a very good EP at that. It’s available from his Bandcamp for internet prices.I was in the mood to ask questions, so I followed up with this one: do you make any other music?

I have this project where I record a song a week and it's more of a folk outlet for me. I'm using only acoustic instruments and sometimes a field recording of the birds outside my bedroom window. It's a lot of fun doing that because I limit myself to 3-4 hours on a Sunday to write and record a song.

You can follow Alex Steward's journey on his tumblr page.