1234 festival.

sooo on Sunday i went to 1234 Festival in Shoreditch Park. in short, it wasn't that amazing. it pissed it down for most of the day (obviously that wasn't the organisers' fault), the staff (bar staff excluded) were ridiculously grumpy/mean and the bands weren't on when they were supposed to be on. therefore i'm not entirely who was who, and am reserving full judgement.

however, i do know that Lion Club were good (for the 4 songs I saw). Hatcham Social were wearing silly clothes (denim jacket with shoulder pads????). Patrick Wolf, Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man and Polly Scattergood were all terrible/self indulgent/unbearable to watch. and The Rakes are always great.

The Rakes - The Light From Your Mac

onwards and upwards eh! it's Field Day this Saturday (and my birthday tomorrow) so fingers crossed for sunshine/less schizo weather, and smaller toilet queues than last year.

sleepyhead.

it seems like i'm one of the few people who hasn't posted about Ellie Goulding (or Starsmith for that matter) thus far. so i'm here to amend that.

Ellie, just recently signed to Polydor, is a young singer/songwriter with an enviable set of pipes on her. a unique tone and slightly more mature collection of demos has so far distanced her from being compared to her counterparts (though there have been a few Diana Vickers comments - not surprising then that the two have been working together). i'm excited to see what direction she takes, and, like everyone else, is intrigued to see what a live performance is going to be like. if you haven't checked her out by now then do it now!

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Starsmith Remix feat. Ellie Goulding) [alt. link]

shoot em up.

filling the gap between new bands like Blakfish and Dinosaur Pile Up are Gun Crime, a duo formed in late 2008. making raw, rapidly paced tracks that carefully dance between angular and hardcore 'lite', Gun Crime have hit on a brilliant formula. it isn't pretty and it isn't neat, but it sounds totally amazing. if you're missing Elle Milano, Blood Red Shoes, VEGC, and/or Plastic Passion then look no further, these boys will give you all that and much more. listen and prepare to immerse yourself into their frantic yet danceable world.

Gun Crime - She Wants It [alt. link]

ta to Illegal Tender for the recommendation.

and don't forget it's 1234 Festival on Sunday! only £15 for a ticket, stellar line up. pray for sunshine. follow me on Twitter where i'll be updating live.

rawr.

you know that moment when you hear something for the first time and you instantly think "holy crap this is REALLY GOOD"? and isn't it great when you return to it 24 hours later and it sounds just as good, or in this case, even better?

Lion Club's press release says they're "uber-talented", and managed by a dude "of S.C.U.M fame" which makes me cringe more than when my mum adds my friends on facebook. but despite this poor introduction Lion Club have won me over in a big big way.
comprised of Lewis, Matt, Alex and Thomas, the band are producing a massive sound worthy of a band twice their age and experience. this is ultimate doom pop. Lewis' vocals are intense and heartwrenching on top of thundering drums and crashing cymbals. new new wave, romantic wave or whatever you want to call it, these boys are undoubtedly making brilliant music. there's a single in the works that is due for release in September, make sure you watch out for that.

Lion Club - A Cashmere Thing (Demo)

they're playing 1234 Festival next Sunday (i'll be doing a preview of that next week), and Underage for you youngbluds.

ready for the weekend.

if you haven't got it already, check out the Fake Blood remix of Calvin Harris' next single 'Ready For The Weekend' (out August 10th). it's a bit brilliant.

Calvin Harris - Ready For The Weekend (Fake Blood Remix)

havoc arise!

making slightly cheesy, dance pop tracks, TV Glory boast members from all over Europe. they take clear influence from a whole range of artists like Daft Punk, Bowie and The Human League and combine elements from all to create a sort of Pavement meets LCD Soundsystem vibe.

TV Glory - Havoc Arise (Lowclub Remix)

silviaaaaa

soz for the lack of posting.

this past week-ish i've seen Apples, Fanfarlo, Passion Pit, Youves, Codex, Wolf Gang and Miike Snow. as the queen of vague, i'd just like to say that they were all really great, though Miike Snow could have done without so much of the self indulgence/making every song fifty years long.

proper posts coming this weekend. but before that, make sure you get down to the 50 Bones Party at Queen Of Hoxton tonight.

oh yeah i've started doing some bits up at the new Phantasy Sound blog so make sure you bookmark that!

hurricane drunk.

beware, the following post contains gushing, fan-girling and lots of adoration.

on Monday Florence & The Machine's debut album, 'Lungs' was released. it surpassed my expectations completely, and has now replaced 'Bitte Orca' as my favourite album of the year so far. the album sold over twenty six thousand copies on Monday, which, considering no one buys shit anymore, is a huge deal. she's currently number 1 in the mid-weeks and hopefully will knock it out of the park by Sunday.
'Lungs' is filled with harps, ukuleles, 90s baleric piano riffs ('nu' trend?), handclaps and thundering drum beats topped off with plenty of heartwrenching lyrics from a love stricken siren. it's definitely the most exciting debut i've heard this year (soz La Roux), and i really hope the brilliance of this album isn't just a flash in the pan. what else.. oh. BUY IT yeahh.

Florence & The Machine - Halo (Beyoncé cover, Radio 1 Live Lounge) [alt. link]

conclusion: florence and her machine > pretty much everyone at the moment.
buy the album here.

five easy pieces.

last night i went and (finally) checked out O.Children and New Look at Cargo.

slick and sexy electro duo New Look managed to impress with effortless cool. beautiful vocals from Sarah Ruba held the spotlight and everybody's attention throughout. an incredibly soulful and immaculate performance. absolute proof that 'model turned singer' doesn't always equal humongous disaster.


New Look - Make It Over [alt. link]

O.Children have been around for ages and ages, in several different forms, but they've finally cracked onto a winning recipe in their music. Tobias O'Kandi's voice is unbelievably creepy, and when paired with his towering physique and the gloomy musical backdrop provided by the rest of the band, O.Children are entirely captivating to watch and listen to. it would be very cheap to just label them in with other east London doom-post-punk-pop bands as there is certainly a layer of timelessness about their haunting presence that has not yet had a chance to break free.

ones to watch.

next week sees the return of Levi's Ones To Watch to London. now in its fifth year, LOTW showcases brand new awesome talent and has already had the likes of Friendly Fires, Foals and White Lies play before exploding into indiestardom. it is absolutely worth keeping your eyes on every single act playing at these nights, they're all on for a reason.

Tuesday 7th is Dananananaykroyd with The Late Greats and Romance.
Wednesday 8th is Passion Pit with Fanfarlo and Apples.
Thursday 9th is Hockey with Chew Lips and Trouble Andrew.
Friday 10th is Everything Everything with Post War Years and Wolf Gang.
plus there's a special 5th night scheduled featuring Friendly Fires in a secret location.

if you can make it to even one of these nights you should go along. as they're all stellar line-ups you're rather spoilt for choice! full details are all available here at the official site. i'm going to be heading to the Passion Pit show so say hi if you're about too. muchly looking forward to finally catching Apples!

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Miike Snow Remix) [ALTERNATIVE DOWNLOAD LINK]