#67 – Holiday Music

Hello all. I’ve been on holiday this week, so apologies about the lack of action of the website. This is just a quick one as I’m off again tomorrow for another week. It’s a tough life, this… Anyway, here are some songs I’ve been listening to over the last seven days or so. There’s a mix of brand new stuff – TVOTR and Flying Lotus – and old stuff that’s been around for a hell of a lot longer than I have. Anyway, enjoy the songs and things will all be back to normal in a week or so.

TV On The Radio – Will Do [Buy]

Flying Lotus – …And The World Laughs With You [Buy]

Fol Chen – Cable TV [Buy]

#66 – WIN WIN // Thunder Power

Podcast The Third

"You haven't listened to the podcast yet... What are you, retarded??"

This is podcast number three (as the title says!). It’s got two songs that were emailed to us in it and a bit more ‘Gaylectro’, following on from this post here. Listen, share, download, comment, do whatever it is you want to do with it. And click on the ‘read more’ link to see the tracklisting.

Safety, Fun & Learning Podcast #3

Review: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Fruit

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour were on TV today. It turns out their song ‘Golden Age’ is on the new Heineken advert. It made me look up because, as good as this song is (and as advert-friendly as it is), I’ve never heard it on the telly before. It’s not just that song that’s good though. Their debut album Fruit that came out in September 2009 is something of a favourite.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – The Golden Age [Buy]

#65 – Bo Ningen

These guys are something else. I had the chance to go and see them last week and I was gutted I couldn’t go. They played in Sheffield (probably about a year ago now. Damn!) and the surprised in so many ways. Largely because I didn’t have a clue what to expect. Four tall, super-skinny Japanese guys with the some of the longest black hair I’ve ever seen on either sex could really only go one of two ways. Either they would be awesome and blow everyone out of the water. Or they’d get bottled off stage. Fortunately for them and everyone near the front, they were awesome. And there’s still one of their broken guitars behind the decks at the venue too. How’s that for a bit of Rock and Roll memorabilia?? Hard Rock Cafe my lefticle.

I wish I could remember what they’d played at the time but I don’t think this blog even existed back then. I do remember singer Taigen’s immediately recognisable vocals and the heavy / punky / urgent / psychedelic sound very clearly. They were turned up very loud and they put on one of the more memorable shows I’ve ever seen. With one of the most unique sounds that I have ever had the chance to listen to (how about “krautcore like a 1960s ad man’s nightmare vision of what a 21st-century rock band would be like”), I can’t recommend them enough. And if you ever get tickets dangled in front of you, grab the damn things.

#64 – I Can’t Think Of A Good Title

I think there’s going to be a very vague theme to this post, but I can’t be sure. I’m not going to worry too much about it though!

The first thing I want to talk about is a band called The Bishops, who I went and saw live last week at 93 East on Brick Lane. They were very good. Lead singer and lead guitarist Mike Bishop worked the crowd well and sang incredibly well considering how much he was bouncing around for the 45 or so minutes they were playing. The band apparently recently played their 500th gig and you can tell that they tour. They’re tight, the drumming is good and they clearly enjoy being on stage together. Their sound is a little Kaiser Chiefs (due to Mike’s vocals, not due to them being largely shit), a little folky at times, and surprisingly New Wave. It’s also very bass-driven, which is pretty much always guaranteed to endear a band to me. Their stand-out track is ‘Nowhere To Run’, off their EP Sojourn, which came out a couple of weeks ago. It is a great single and it’s got a damn good video to boot. You can watch that here, and listen to it just below. You can also buy the EP from their website.

Next up is a singer I found courtesy of Mayor McCa. He’s a tall Canadian with a big beard and a cracking taste in music. And he’s also a pretty damn good musician in his own right. This was on his Facebook wall and it’s outstanding.