Today is the first official day of summer and what more fitting a way to mark the occasion than Foster The People’s first single Pumped Up Kicks.

Foster The People

The Californian trio have constructed a song with more hooks than the hooky side of velcro (crap metaphor). The mega phone vocals and foot tapping rhythm and will have you humming the tune after just one listen – and if you aren’t humming, the whistled melody will be repeated by all those who can. The electric bass line plods through the song with another catchy ostinato that will undoubtedly induce a series of ‘doo doo doos’ and ‘dum de dums’ from most. Did I mention it was catchy?

It is perhaps not to everyone’s taste but it’s a grower. The song’s simplicity has an innate ability to pierce through the walls of disregard and get stuck in your head whether you want it to or not. For the fans, you can catch them at this years Glastonbury.

Ben Leftwich

The track echoes an essence of Bon Iver’s brilliance with its twee melodies of finger picked guitar and melancholy strings, making it an ideal soundtrack to any pensive mood. Although a track built around simplicity, Leftwich’s palatable chord choice is nicely tainted with the slightest twinge of a blues note in his vocal line.

The lilting vocals of sighed lyrics and ethereal female harmonies give the track a soft warmth that creates a sense of calm and slight melancholy. It’s a track you could fully
immerse yourself in by just listening to the medley of pleasant sounds it produces – although it’s a shame when it ends perhaps a little too abruptly at two and a half minutes. (LISTEN/WATCH BELOW)

The singer/songwriter from York is set to grace stages at this year’s Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and The Secret Garden Party. The debut album Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm is due for release on 4th July and today he has just announced a 24 date tour for this autumn:

Dates are as follows:

Stockton Georgian Theatre (September 30)
Sheffield Leadmill (October 1)
Lincoln Tokyo (2)
Norwich Arts Centre (3)
Nottingham Glee Club (4)
Newcastle Riverside (7)
Aberdeen The Tunnels (8)
Glasgow Oran Mor (9)
Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire (10)
Leeds Brudenell Social Club (14)
Manchester Ruby Lounge (15)
Leicester Musician (16)
Cambridge University (17)
Oxford O2 Academy (18)
Bristol Fleece (20)
Exeter The Cavern (21)
Cardiff Chapter Arts Centre (22)
Southampton Talking Heads (23)
Brighton Komedia (24)
London Union Chapel (26)
Birmingham HMV Library (27)
York National Centre For Early Music (29)
Morecambe Library (30)

]]> http://adrianburgess89.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/benjamin-francis-leftwich-box-of-stones-review/feed/ 0 adrianburgess89 benleftwich_field_100319_Pip_6834[1] http://adrianburgess89.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/box-codax-i-wont-come-home-review/ http://adrianburgess89.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/box-codax-i-wont-come-home-review/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:05:19 +0000 adrianburgess89 http://adrianburgess89.wordpress.com/?p=347 Continue reading →]]>

There can be a stigma attached to the side-projects of well-known bands: they are often just cheap reincarnations of the main bands sound. This, however, is not something you can say of Box Codax.

More famously known for his role as guitarist in alternative Scot-rockers Franz Ferdinand, Nick McCarthy re-kindled his collaboration with his wife Manuela Gernedel and close pal Alexander Ragnew after five years to return this year with new album Hellabuster and single I Won’t Come Back.

This track is an upbeat number that does have airs of the Franz with anthemic repetitive lyrics. It retains its own original electronic quirks with keyboard wobbles and guitar with a psychedelic fuzzy grit.

To describe the sound in a nutshell would be most easily expressed as ‘odd’ but that description may be tainted slightly by the tracks video (also odd). Minus the visual distraction though, this disco-prog oddity does have an appeal that has propelled the Glaswegian trio into the mainstream.

Washington DC-based duo Vandaveer have returned with their third LP, Dig Down Deep. The new album announces a more gutsy approach to the group’s amalgam of country and folk and acknowledges front man Mark Charles Heidinger’s Kentucky roots – ever apparent in the album’s title track Dig Down Deep.

Heidinger opens the song with airs of optimism when he sings “Dig down deep, don’t fold/For the faintest wind might blow,” setting the records tone accompanied just by his acoustic guitar.

The pitch perfect wails of Heidingers are a welcome contrast to his previously more reserved approach. These new bellowing vocals are softened by the graceful presence of the band’s secondary vocalist Rose Guerin’s complementary harmonious tones.

The track then thickens in texture to reveal the unmistakable orchestral make up of traditional folk and country music. Warm piano and handclaps unite with a gentle acoustic to create a joyous march that surrounds the songs lyrical subtext of hope.

Vandaveer have taken the country genre from its side street status and brought it into the palatable mainstream for the masses to enjoy.

Dig Down Deep will officially be released on 4th July, 2011 in the UK and greater Europe.

The Musgraves

If there were ever a soundtrack for walking through a park on summer’s day, So Sofia by The Musgraves would surely be a strong contender.

Taken from their upcoming debut EP Lost in Familiarity, So Sofia breathes a new precedent of integrity into the roots-pop genre.

So Sofia is a charming little folk-pop tune sprung loaded with hand claps, backing shouts and a cheery melody that can’t help but provoke a good mood vibe.

The song gleans influence from the 50’s and 60’s pop scene with claim to the likes of The Crystals, The Ronettes and The Beach Boys. This roots-pop chirpiness is then given its folk twist stemming from inspirations of English and American folk blues with the use of banjos, mandolins and fiddles.

Recently signed to Imagem Music, the world’s largest independent music publisher and home to such talent as Temper Trap, Vampire Weekend and Phil Collins, this charming quartet are set for a busy 2011.

These Furrows - Duke

This three piece of progressive post-rockers have been producing their angular, genre eluding music since before 2009. Having already received acclaim from Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and 6Music’s Huey Morgan, These Furrows are set to continue grabbing the attention of the media this year – especially with new single Duke.

Introduced by snare driven syncopation and stabs of distorted guitar, Duke instantly establishes the inspired songwriting ability of this Leicester based trio. A heavy post-punk guitar riff then dwarfs the syncopation revealing the true malice of the song.

The song is fortified with singer and guitarist Darryl Reid blaring his anthemic vocal lines into the microphone, accommodating for the various transitions of instrumental texture within the song.

Having recorded their upcoming debut album with Tony Platt (AC/DC, Bob Marley) and having it mixed by Chris Sheldon (Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters) These Furrows have produced a record as diverse as the list of artists the afore mentioned master-mixers have worked with.

Listen to the track here:

http://soundcloud.com/underdogsmusic/sets/these-furrows-duke-clarity

Another mine of talent has been unearthed. This time revealing 25-year old North Londoner Alex Clare to our ear drums.

Treading Water, the first single from upcoming debut album The Lateness Of The Hour,  begins simply with wistful chimes and Clare’s smooth vocals.  An underlying crescendo of rhythm that couldn’t sound more out-of-place in the first thirty seconds, strikes a ‘what the eff’ chord in your brain until the song drops into a full throttle d’n'b masterpiece.

His vocals, reminiscent of a mixture of Jamiroquai and Maroon 5′s Adam Levine, remain clean and seemingly untouched sitting perfectly in the mix – a refreshing renewal from the nasal auto-tuned cries of other d’n'b vocalists.

Clare is far from a one trick pony too. The upcoming album houses an eclectic mix of tracks that present grinding dubstep to celtic charms. A recommendation would have to be his blinding cover of Prince’s iconic When Doves Cry.

The bearded brilliance of this new Glasto star follows the likes of James Blake, taking a genre and back-handing it into a new dimension with expert precision and poise. This is one exciting new venture to watch for in 2011.

Admiral Fallow

Formerly known as Brother Louis Collective until 2007, Scottish sextet
have built a substantial reputation in their four year life span. They have already graced the stages of T In The Park and Rockness and played alongside Paulo Nutini, The Futureheads and The Felice Brothers. Having finished their first headline tour, they are quickly moving up Scotland‘s most hotly tipped list.

Squealing Pigs, from their debut album Boots Met My Face – released in March this year – delivers instantly palatable acoustic fingerpicking that crescendos into an upbeat indie-folk number. The marching choruses and well-placed clarinet solo are a nice twist within the uniquely orchestral-tinged sound. The song is then polished with the band’s four part harmonies, lead by the warming, northern tones of front man Louis Abbott and the band’s second vocalist Sarah Hayes. It all blends together to make Squealing Pigs a jolly wee tune indeed!

Watch/Listen here!

Gloss Drop

Having secured places at this years Glastonbury, Wireless Festival and a slot supporting The Chemical Brothers at Hyde Park, these avant-garde rockers from the New York City have a lot to look forward to. The three-piece have also this week released their second album Gloss Drop and with it comes their single Futura.

Futura stretches its claims to any specific genre and tests your ears with atonal notes, offbeat breaks and cavernous reverb. It finds an initial groove that could easily have been penned by Muse’s Matt Bellamy, but then takes an almost sinister turn when guitarist Ian Williams releases the eerie Adams-family-esque organ sounds from his guitar. The similarities to other bands then stop there too.

As an instrumental track you may find yourself willing it to have vocals – You’ll have to listen to the rest of the album to hear vocals from front man Dave Konopka.

Futura will suffer the Marmite dilemma, but if you can hang on throughout the seven and a half minutes to persuade your musical taste buds then the song will definitely instill curiosity about the rest of the album – which holds a lot of promise.

Watch the LIVE music video here:

Formed in mid 2008, the band have just released their debut album ‘Coloured Clutter’ which has granted indie lovers a new indulgence in the form of their debut single ‘The Magic Eye.’

A relatively long track at 5 and a half minutes, the song oozes a mellow, crowd-sway inducing energy that keeps your ears intrigued for the first instrumental 90 seconds, until the curiously diverse vocal range of front man Cole Salewicz kick in. With genius originality in places and twinges of eclectic influences in others, these South London teens are defining experimental. You could start at least three sentences with ‘this sounds a bit like…’ after just one listen, and it’s unlikely you’ll just listen once.

A warning of strobe lighting would perhaps be slightly misleading to the musical content of the video – which also contains what looks like a life-size Vauxhall Corsa ‘C’mon!’ doll and a clearly troubled computer.

The Savage Nomads are named after one of the most notorious street gangs ever to come out of the Bronx area of NYC – They are also one of the most glorious bands to come out of the South London area this year.

Watch/Listen here :