Shazamers' Blog

Next month sees the release of the debut album from Julian Plenti on Matador Records. If you’re thinking the above face is familiar, you’d be correct – Julian Plenti is in fact the side project of Interpol’s Paul Banks. It seems the New York resident is keen not to mention his day job in the press for Julian Plenti, but a quick listen to ‘Fun That We Have’ and Banks’ distinctive vocal clearly shines through.

If however you’re thinking Julian Plenti is simply an outlet to demo new Interpol songs, you’d be sorely mistaken. In fact Banks has been working under this guise before Interpol even existed. Obviously with the success of said band over the past few years, Banks has had little time to devote to this project. Now – during a break between Interpol albums – we get to hear the songs that have been slowly coming together. Taking in a far wider range of influences than Interpol’s dark post punk ‘Julian Plenti Is…Skyscraper’ may just turn out to be one of the surprise stand out albums of the Summer.

The album is released through Matador on August 3rd, if that’s too long to wait then head over to his Myspace for a preview of some of the tracks.

Jon Davies New Music, News Interpol, Julian Plenti

After dominating the Billboard top 100 for twelve weeks with ‘Boom Boom Pow’, Black Eyed Peas make it a third week at the top of the US Shazam Tag Chart with their latest genre bending hit, ‘I Gotta Feeling’.

Check out the full chart here

Stephen Titmus Uncategorized The Black Eyed Peas

Duck Sauce – aNYway (Fool’s Gold)

It’s been almost 15 years since acts like Daft Punk, Cassius and Alan Braxe came along with the French touch sound, instantly reinvigorating house music with a disco influenced nous. Now, with everyone from Tiesto to Black Eyed Peas using almost identical electro influenced sounds, it would seem dance music could do with another kick up the backside. Thankfully Duck Sauce, AKA Armand Van Helden and A-Trak, provide just such a blow by revisiting the glory days of 90’s filtered house.

As a dance music pairing you would be hard pressed to find a duo with such esteemed credentials as A-Trak and AVH. Van Helden has been behind some of the most important developments in dance music; responsible for defining Speed Garage, early Tribal House, chart topping Disco House and most recently club shattering Electro with Dizzee Rascal’s ‘Bonkers’. Armand Van Helden has been there, done it and bought a whole box of T-shirts. Meanwhile, A-Trak made his name as a 15 year old turntable prodigy; winning every scratch mixing trophy on Earth before he could shave. He went on to become KanYe West’s tour DJ and introduced the rapper to the sounds of Daft Punk – inadvertently spawning the hit ‘Stronger’ and the current electro-rap explosion.

‘aNYway’ has all the hallmarks of Stardust’s ‘Music Sounds Better’. Filtered disco strings, wobbly funk flecked bassline and a chorus that sounds like it’s been ripped direct from a long lost Ashford & Simpson classic (it’s actually sampled from a Final Edition track, but let’s not split hairs). The vocals feel instantly recognisable yet new and the constant groove is nothing short of joyous. In a nutshell it’s completely at odds with minimal/ electro sounds that tend to sound great in clubs but are unlikely to produce memorable cross over hits. If Duck Sauce starts a new vocal house revolution chart music in general could be all the better for it.

Here’s Duck Sauce talking about the inspiration for the record:

Stephen Titmus Tag Of The Day A-Trak, Armand Van Helden, Daft Punk, Duck Sauce

Back in the spotlight after the reissue of their landmark debut ‘Ten’, Eddie Vedder and co. get everything ready for the release of their ninth studio album, ‘Backpacker’. Its first single, ‘The Fixer’, has just hit radio stations across the globe. A Surprisingly radio-friendly tune with power pop riffs that get the grunge masters close to Foo Fighters territory.

However, the track was not the first unveiled from Pearl Jam’s latest opus. A few weeks ago, as part of US TV host Conan O’Brien’s new “Tonight Show”, the veteran five-piece switched on the promotional machine with a live rendition of “Got Some”, a harder number much more in tune with their original sound.

Roberto Gonzalez New Music backpacker, got some, pearl jam, the fixer

As always around this time of the year, talk turns to who will be the likeliest contender for the 2009 Mercury Music Prize. After Elbow’s win last year capped off an amazing rise in the bands profile, talk of the fabled “Mercury Curse” has somewhat died down – Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand have all continued to release rapturously received albums after winning the prize in recent years.

This year sees the inclusion of several female artists who have all been subject to varying levels of hype in the past twelve months, from NME darlings La Roux and Florence and the Machine to blogosphere favourite Bat For Lashes. The list also sees the, somewhat surprising, inclusion of popular acts such as Glasvegas and Kasabian. The award is often criticised for ignoring populist tastes; a critique that simply cannot be aimed at this years shortlist.

As always there are cases for each candidate. Friendly Fires have shaken free their early Nu-Rave copyists tag and released a great collection of songs. The Horrors have made one of the most surprising albums of the year; surely the Shoegaze revival sounds of ‘Primary Colours’ deserves the accolade? Then again, the outsider can sometimes steal it. Will Sweet Billy Pilgrim surprise us all? The list is already causing debate around the Shazam music team. Who is your money on?

Bat For Lashes – ‘Two Suns’
Florence And The Machine – ‘Lungs’
Friendly Fires – ‘Friendly Fires’
Glasvegas – ‘Glasvegas’
The Horrors – ‘Primary Colours’
La Roux – ‘La Roux’
Led Bib – ‘Sensible Shoes’
The Invisible – ‘The Invisible’
Lisa Hannigan – ‘Sea Sew’
Kasabian – ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’
Speech Debelle – ‘Speech Therapy’
Sweet Billy Pilgrim – ‘Twice Born Men’

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Jon Davies News Bat For Lashes, Florence And The Machine, Friendly Fires, Glasvegas, Kasabian, La Roux, Led Bib, Lisa Hannigan, Mercury Music Prize, Speech Debelle, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, The Horrors, The Invisible

Since Vampire Weekend and other NY hipsters began digging out Afrobeat treasures and using their findings as a musical reference in their records, the interest for African music has experienced a significant boost, affecting not only classics but also helping current artists to leave the World music circuits they are normally confined to and reach wider audiences. Recent examples are aplenty. The following are some of the most relevant:

To begin with, The Very Best, a duo formed in London by Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit. Last year, their presentation mixtape earned rave reviews and set sky-high expectations for their forthcoming debut “Warm Heart Of Africa”. The title track doesn’t disappoint. It benefits from a helping hand courtesy of Vampire Weekend’s own Ezra Koening and can be streamed at the band’s My space page. Read more…

Roberto Gonzalez Around the world amadou and mariam, baaba maal, brazilian girls, ezra koenig, friendship, oumou sangare, seya, the graveyard shift, the very best

This week US House maestro Ian Carey storms to the top of the UK Shazam Pre-release Tag Chart with his undeniable summer dance smash, ‘Get Shakey’. Meanwhile, new releases come from Kristinia DeBarge, Simian Mobile Disco and lanky production wizard, Calvin Harris.

See the full chart here

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart UK Calvin Harris, Ian Carey, Kristinia DeBarge, Simian Mobile Disco

Start with an ethereal performer dressed in a cape with hairy sleeves and peacock style make-up; add a beautiful setting outdoors in Central London on a summers’ evening. What could go wrong?

The weather, that’s what. England in the summertime is a fragile place. Rain never seems far away and it certainly visited Somerset House last Thursday. In huge quantities!

However, this didn’t fully distract from a great performance by Natasha Khan, the leader and voice of Bat For Lashes. All her well known tracks from ‘Fur and Gold’ were played: ‘Horse and I’; ‘Trophy’; ‘What’s a Girl To Do?’; ‘Sad Eyes’ and ‘The Wizard’. Newer ones, ‘Daniel’ and ‘Pearl’s Dream’, highlights from her second album, joined them. An acoustic ‘Prescilla’ formed part of the encore, rendered on something like a zither and squeezebox (the hairy arms didn’t get in the way!) and, despite the rain, the sound was good and the audience very happy.

Her latest album is called ‘Two Suns’; just 50% of that title would have made the evening perfect!

Richard Earney Gigs/ Events Bat For Lashes, Rain, Somerset House, Summer

It was only a matter of time until these two heroes of the blogosphere would join forces. And this is it, Deerhunter’s lead singer Bradford Cox and Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear, the most renowned member of Animal Collective, have teamed up to create one of the best songs we have heard this year.

“Walkabout” is the first taster of Cox’s second album under his Atlas Sound moniker, Logos, to be released next October. It was created while the two musicians’ respective bands were touring Europe together and came across the track “What I Am Going To Do” by cult sixties Santa Barbara garage/folk-rock band, The Dovers. They decided to sample it, and upon that they have built up this joyful tune; much in the sunny, psychedelic manner of Panda Bear’s acclaimed solo album, “Person’s Pitch”.

Roberto Gonzalez New Music atlas sound, bradford cox, deerhunter, logos, noah lennox, panda bear, person's pitch, the dovers, walkabout

A lot of CD’s come through our office so sometimes albums do pass by unnoticed. However when Icelandic songstress Björk’s new Voltaic’s box set landed on our desks, it turned a lot of heads. The release of the compilation documents Björk’s recent Volta tour, which saw the singer take her elaborate stage show around the world. The beautifully designed package contains 2 CD’s and LP’s which include a recording of her live performance at Olympic Studios, remixes from the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Sinden and Modeselektor. Also included are two DVD’s documenting footage of the Volta tour and the albums music videos.

While much has been said about downloads killing off music in a physical format, collections like this prove there is still a need to release music as a product. While mp3′s do have their attractions, they’ll never be able to present music in this way.

Jon Davies News Björk, Modeselektor, Simian Mobile Disc, Simian Mobile Disco, Sinden