We spend a minute with Race To Your Face ahead of their gig supporting Laura on the 10th of June (get tickets here).
Describe your music in five words or less.
Coy or a cute fear!
What are the worst and best gigs you’ve ever played and why?
For me the best gig was our first gig. We hadn’t played live for a long time. Towards the end of Hoopers Store it was almost automatic. But then after a couple of years, we had to start again. We didn’t even know if anyone would even like what we were playing. We were really nervous and a bit scared, but as we were playing the first part I started feeling it all again and thought ”fuck yeah, we’re doing this!’ It probably wasn’t our best gig, but it was a great feeling to be playing live again. Continue reading →
The Tallest Man on Earth
There’s No Leaving Now
Dead Oceans
True to style, The Tallest Man On Earth’s third LP There’s No Leaving Now, is largely just Kristian Matsson’s ragged to crooning vocal range and intricate finger-picked guitar melodies. Perhaps the most noticeable difference between this and previous albums is the “cleanliness” of Leaving’s production. It feels as though Matsson’s work, although still captivating, has become less honest since the raw nakedness of his debut Shallow Grave – a characteristic that some will appreciate and others will hate. Continue reading →
Death Grips have a new clip out, and it’s every bit as intense as the band itself.
The Sacramento three-piece have been busy, recently released their record The Money Store and somewhat strangely signing to Epic.
Check out the clip to “Hustle Bones”, below. Continue reading →
I talked about Dave Nelson and his tromboner-inducing music last year.
Now, he’s put out a new record of 10 first-take tracks featuring a trombone and a loop pedal. It’s the sort of thing that sounds like it could either be brilliant or awful. Thankfully, this is definitely in the former category.
Stream the record below, or purchase from Nelson’s Bandcamp. Continue reading →
These are some excellent, upbeat, happy beatsy tunes to start your working week.
Mpala Garoo’s Ou Du Monde record is not just smile-inducing, it’s also wonderfully textured and painstakingly put together. It’s a record that would be equally at home at a summer barbeque or on a long cross-country road trip. You’d never know it came out of Moscow.
Steam the record below. Continue reading →
After editing this website for a couple of years, I can pretty confidently predict whether music I get sent from artists I don’t know is going to be good. General rule of thumb: the more the press release wanks on about how great an artist is, the worse they’ll be.
Case in point: the email I got sent from these guys just said “Wanted to get some music to you” and included a link to their Soundcloud.
Check out Future Dollars, below. Continue reading →
New stuff from Oneohtrix Point Never is more than enough to make our weekend great. The dude came in at number six on our top records of 2011, so you can understand why we’re excited by this.
Here, the Brooklyn experimentalist chops the shit out of The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You” — stretching and splicing the vocals and giving it a synthy backing that’s ominous and atmospheric.
Take a listen to the track below. Continue reading →
Daniel Rossen
Silent Hour/Golden Mile
Warp
Johnny Greenwood announced them one of his favorite bands. As for myself? Well I’m one of the huge fans that regretfully never made the effort to drive down south to attend their set at Southbound a few years ago. For a number of years now Grizzly Bear have constantly summoned quality albums and material. Each member of the Brooklyn foursome have been known to collaborate with other artists and release solo material resulting in some fine music that generally has to be found rather than popping up on repeat on your local commercial radio stations. Continue reading →
File this one under “not new but still awesome”.
In the lead-up to the amazing All Tomorrow’s Parties lineup that is I’ll Be Your Mirror, ATP have uploaded “selected highlights” from Mogwai’s set from the first ever festival, all the way back in 2000.
Not really the same as being there, but well worthy of sitting back and turning up your stereo to an ungodly volume.
Stream away, below. Continue reading →
If you listen closely, you can probably hear the screams of delight coming from the Pitchfork offices. That’s right, two new Animal Collective tracks have hit the internet.
Hipster-baiting aside though, the new tracks are damn good and see us very much looking forward to the forthcoming record.
Take a listen to “Honeycomb” and “Gotham”, below, where you can also buy the digital single or pre-order the 7″. Continue reading →
Christopher Dexter Greenspan, the man behind San Francisco project oOoOO, has made his name in honing dark and witched-out rhythms. While his memorable 2010 self-titled EP surpassed the realms of goth-pop, drone dub and ghost rave – his latest offering solidifies his place as one of the pioneers of the ‘drag’ sound. Ahead of his show supporting Lapalux at the Bakery on Saturday, May 19, Jessica Willoughby finds out more about the Our Love Is Hurting Us EP…
So how are you occupying your time before the Australian tour this month?
CDG: I’m just working on a bunch of songs at the moment that have been just sitting around, so finishing them up. Also, a few new ones. Hoping to have an LP out by the end of the year. I have a couple of shows in the U.S before I come out to Australia. The schedule is pretty busy for the trip. I’ll be there for, I don’t know, 10 days… I think. Australia is the next big thing on the horizon and I’m looking forward to it. Continue reading →
Starting the week off with new Future of the Left is always a good thing!
The demo for “I Am The Least of Your Problems” dropped ages ago, but it’s nice to finally hear it in its finished form. It’s loud, aggressive, catchy as hell — basically everything a good Future of the Left song should be.
The new record, The Plot Against Common Sense, is out on May 28 and follows on from the band’s 2011 release, Polymers are Forever. It’s probably worth pointing out that the band have already locked in the “Best Song Title of the Year” award with track nine of this record: “Robocop 4 — Fuck Off Robocop”.
Listen to “I Am The Least of Your Problems”, below.
Lower Dens new record, Nootropics, is threatening to be one of the finest indie records put out this year.
Straight outta Baltimore, the band aren’t exactly breaking new ground, but they do what they do very well. There’s a wonderful sense of carelessness in their music, that great feeling that the songs haven’t been overthought.
“Tea Lights” is a favourite of mine — the track swirls around and builds beautifully.
Take a listen to “Tea Lights”, as well as three other tracks, below (particularly “Brains”, in all its slightly kraut-influenced splendour). Continue reading →
Shebazz Palaces have given the remix treatment to Philadelphia’s Lushlife, messing up ““Hale-Bopp was the Bedouins” from his record Plateau Vision.
Heavy on the reverb and washed out in the best possible way, the track has been transformed into a gloriously paranoid, tripped-out track that pushes all the right buttons.
Check out “Hale-Bopp was the Bedouins (Shabazz Palaces remix feat the palaceer, fly guy Dai and Thadillac. mixed by Blood in palaGlow)”, below. Continue reading →
Snowman might be gone, but that doesn’t mean we’re not still getting quality material from former members. While Andy Citawarman has gone weird (musically speaking), Joe McKee drops his debut solo LP on May 25.
The first single from Burning Boy is “Darling Hills” and while it’s largely stripped back, it manages to avoid that “singer goes solo, chills out and gets all introspective, sensitive and sappy” vibe, largely due to its understated arrangement.
Watch the clip to “Darling Hills” below. Continue reading →
Ever wanted to casually flick through John Peel’s record collection? Now, thanks to the miracle of teh interwebs, you can take a gander at 100 records from each letter of the alphabet in the famous BBC broadcaster’s shelf space, starting this week with the “A’s”
It’s a great idea (and the chosen interface is brilliant, too) that we’d love to see extended to other famous music tastemakers.
Check out the collection here.
Between May 26 and June 2, the WAMi Festival will take over Perth’s bars, clubs and streets.
The usual highlights of the festival are back, including the Saturday Spectacular on June 2 featuring 56 bands across eight stages in Northbridge. There’s also the WAMi Awards Night later that evening at The Bakery (check out the nominees here, including lifeisnoise.com getting a nomination for Most Popular Music Website — you can vote here).
One of our personal highlights would have to be Foodchain’s Crustacean Cup, featuring local musicians battling it out in a round-robin four-a-side soccer tournament, with musical performances on the hour from Astral Travel, smRts, The Shakeys, Ermine Coat and Craig McElhinney. There’s also the sure-to-be-amazing Experimental WAMi Festival Showcase on Tuesday 29 May at The Bakery, curated by RTRFM Music Director Adam Trainer. Industry events include panels, workshops and information sessions on everything from setting up an independent record label, online marketing, licensing, touring and more.
Your best bet would be to take a look at the rather huge program over at the WAM website and see what floats your boat.
New Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Yeah, we’re excited too.
Mark June 5 in your diaries as the date Americana sees the light of day. The first Neil Young release with Crazy Horse in almost a decade, the record is a recording of American folk classics, with the tracklisting consisting of:
Oh Susannah
Clementine
Tom Dooley
Gallows Pole
Get A Job
Travel On
High Flyin’ Bird
She’ll Be Comin ’Round The Mountain
This Land Is Your Land
Wayfarin’ Stranger
God Save The Queen
Stream the clip to the opening track below, and pre-order the record in all its 180 gram, 2LP glory over here. Continue reading →
Actress, aka Darren Cunningham, has just released his third album, R.I.P.
The London-based producer has created a work that is delicate and intricate, while certainly holding an underlying darker influence. According to Cunningham, the record “is a sonic dissection or attempt to grasp ‘death, faith and the unknown’”.
Check out the album sampler below. Continue reading →
