calling all vampires.

i stumbled across Free Blood yesterday (not literally.. that's just the name of the band). i figured they had a cool name and my thirst for stuff i haven't heard before is beyond believable. so i checked them out and i have to say it was a very wise decision! they've been going for quite a while but i can't recall anyone mentioning them to me before.

they're a two piece from New York and they make this scratchy kind of funky electro. think Chromeo funky and Friendly Fires scratchy. there's the clapping and strong basslines and that bit of catchiness that's crucial to good tuuuunes. it's brilliant.

Free Blood - Quick And Painful [right click and save]

what. the.

whilst Perez is busy comparing The Maccabees to Keane (what the fuck is that about???) i have been listening to copious amounts of brand new brilliant musics!

Flashguns are from Brighton via London and they are going to be big. with a few pushes in the right directions and the right people, Flashguns should take 2008 claim it as their own and put a little flag on it (metaphorically speaking). they're heavily influenced by bands such as The Smiths, Bloc Party, The Maccabees and Bombay Bicycle Club. and you can tell.

Flashguns have taken elements and so much more from all these bands and twisted it into their own fast-paced brand of melodic guitar indie pop. it twinkles and it shines and it sparkles and it's delightful.

they don't just make pop music, they make it wonderfully.

the song below is my song of the week (i need opinions - song of the week to be a regular thing. yay or nay?) as the moment i heard it, i loved it.

Flashguns - Good Witch/Bad Witch [right click and save as! my bandwidth does not reset for another 27 days and it's half gone...] only available for a short timeeee.

there's another track up for grabs at their myspace page so i highly recommend that you go directly there and pick it up asap.

ps. i am now officially HYPED!

newwww

new Bolt Action Five!

Bolt Action Five - Landmark/Landfill [right click save as]

get the rest from their blog here. they're sounding aaaaaaaaace.

new Presets!

The Presets - My People [right click save as]

comes out on December 18th. pre order it here at the myspace. quality and no less from the Aussies as usual.

car crash.

whatever your opinion of this woman you cannot deny the brilliantness of these two tracks.

Britney Spears - Outrageous (Felix Cartal Remix) [right click and save!]

Britney Spears - Radar [right click and save!]

when i get five minutes away from essays and my laptop returns to normal service (i spilt vodka on it and now several keys do not work/come up as something else) i'll update properly!

wow

M. Ward - Let's Dance (zshare)

i think i've found a new favourite song (for the time being anyhow!)

photo credit: krisan

aois

tune of the week!

All Out In Stripes - I'm So Arrogant

i love it when you listen to a song once and it immediately grabs you. then you stick it on repeat for half an hour and wonder why you hadn't heard it before.
All Out In Stripes are three boys making synth-tastic music. the lyrics are clever. the beats are heavy. it's sort of brilliant.

download more from the band's myspace page! they also do remixes and mixes which are worth checking out.

we can travel through the air.

a while ago Tim from funfunfun posted about Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele (here) and i left a comment saying "all these tracks sound s0s0000ooo0o0os0sos00000ooooo good!!11" or something to that effect. what Tim said about Dent May.. sounding like "a 1960s pop band influenced by 80s electropop and soul" is completely spot on.

on 'A Brush With Velvet', the free EP (click here to download), Dent May does not disappoint. there's finger clicking, 'ooh la la la's, lots of ukulele-ing (.. that should be a word), clapping, tambourines and plenty of feel good vibes. oh, and a cover of Prince.

close your eyes whilst listening and you could almost be in a sepia tinted polaroid of people sitting in a field with daisies in their hair on a summer's day. it's retro but bang up-to-date simultaneously.
and i think i love it. i almost certainly will be asking for a ukulele this christmas.

Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele's Myspace

yes yes yes yes

i've written about Operator Please in this blog a few times before and my tune has never changed. they are one of the best bands around at the moment.

not only do they make fantastic pop music, they make it with style and charisma oozing from every single pore in all of their bodies.
their album 'Yes Yes Vindictive' is a collection of finely tuned guitar stomping, violin wheeling, shouty tunes.
Amandah Wilkinson's voice is almost hypnotic as she belts out lyrics with a touch of 'i know i fucking rock'. newer songs such as 'Cringe' and 'Yes Yes' take the classic components of catchy to the next level with clap claps and echoed shouts ('don't! don't! make me!' 'who! are! you!').
there are softer songs on the album, 'Other Song' and 'Pantomime', and they are dominated by the violin but not in an overbearing "wtf where's the guitar gone" type of way.

my favourite track is 'Ghost' (it MUST be the next single after 'Leave It Alone'). it's just seven shades of wonderful. fast drumming, the haunting bleat of the keyboard, speedy vocals.. everything is ace.

Operator Please have taken a soulful voice, surf rock (think 70s theme tunes and Bermuda shorts), a violin, the sunshine, a couple of genius kids and put them through some kind of magic processor.

'Yes Yes Vindictive' is a brilliant debut and i cannot wait to see this band live again.

Operator Please - Ghost
Operator Please - Cringe

it's not out in the UK yet but you can buy the album here! and 'Leave It Alone' is out on the 19th November!

mayhem.

in case anyone wanted to know, i reached my target of 52 gigs for this year. and i'm still counting. i won't do a rundown of the best ones yet as i suspect Patrick Wolf will have to take up a slot with his finale on the 20th December.

on thursday i saw Foals at Camden barfly as part of the Levi's Ones To Watch events. they were on such better form than they were at leeds fest, rattling out the tunes, a few new songs thrown in for fun.
the end of their set was "cut short" due to a stage invasion that prompted Yannis to throw his guitar down and storm offstage. as the person who started that stage invasion i'd just like to say 'wtf?'. i'm a bit sick of bands getting annoyed at people being enthusiastic. fair enough if everyone wanted to steal their equipment/beat the crap out of them/insert other bad things. but they didn't. i, for one, was happy enough dancing. i think more people should be grateful that they actually inspire people to dance. things could be worse; you could always be in a band that sounds like Embrace. not hatin' though! Foals are a fantastic band and Yannis is a lovely bloke. i guess everyone gets dramatic from time to time.

Foals - Hollaback Girl (Gwen Stefani cover, xfm session)

saturday was YACHT and The Whip at Push. both of whom were fantastic.
YACHT jumped around the crowd like a madman and the crowd jumped too. i cannot even begin to explain YACHT.

YACHT - The Magic Beat
(do what you love, love what you do - the best life philosophy ever)

The Whip make music that really doesn't sound like it comes from Levenshulme. electro beats with crushing guitars and intros that can work even grunge lovers into dancing frenzies. their single 'Sister Siam' is out today! buy it here.

The Whip - Divebomb

look at what we found.

they're back. and they mean business. and it sounds fucking great.

The Futureheads - Broke Up The Time (zshare)

the lyrics are witty, the guitars are fierce, the drums are heavy. it's catchy, it's poppy, it's fantastic.

i am such a geek i'm going to their King's College gig (29/11) AND one of the Sunderland Independent dates (7/12). the excitement is unbearable.