Last weekend saw the launch party for the latest installment in the, increasingly fantastic, Future Disco series. The event boasted a stellar line up, featuring live sets from Faze Action and Crazy P plus DJ sets from Horse Meat Disco lynchpin Severino and Future Disco’s own Sean Brosnan. While disco for some may have previously only been associated with flares, bad dance routines and Disco Stu – the Simpsons character stuck in a perennial time warp – it has now become the toast of Hoxton’s nightlife.
The party proved a fitting introduction to the album, with Crazy P receiving a particularly rapturous response from the eager crowd, crammed into the sweaty Shoreditch basement. Since Faze Action provide the opening two tracks of the compilation (their edit of Tele Music’s ‘Disco Free’ and original track ‘I Wanna Dancer’) it seemed only right that they should make tonight their own, treating the crowd to a lively energetic set.
More information on forthcoming events and compilations can be found on the Future Disco site.
This week Jason DeRulo pulls off the unprecedented achievement of topping both the UK Shazam Pre-release Tag Chart and the Shazam USA Chart at the same time with ‘Whatcha Say’ – a track that’s looking like it’s going to be one of the most tagged of 2009. New releases come from Leona Lewis, 50 Cent and N-Dubz; who look to follow up their recent success at the MOBO’s with their new single, ‘I Need You’.
Having Sweden as main hub, Scandinavia is becoming a new Mecca for popular music. Be it leftfield indie, Chamber pop, Balearic Beats or 80’s retro infused electrodance; there’s not a single week passing without a new artist or DJ being discovered and joining a growing list of critical favourites such as Lindstrøm, Tough Alliance, jj, Air France, Studio or Annie. Here’s a look at a few recent releases coming from Swedish shores.
The most popular of them is Victoria Bergsman’s latest project Taken By Trees. The former singer of The Concretes – also the female voice in Peter, Bjorn & John’s whistling great ‘Young Folks’- released ‘East Of Eden’, the second album under her new moniker, to widespread acclaim. In one of the record’s highlights, she even dares to cover what’s probably 2009′s most iconic song, Animal Collective’s ‘My Girls’, changing its genre to ‘My Boys’ and turning it into a tropical feast. Read more…
2009 has been a bit of a tipping point for disco. Hipper than hip bands like Friendly Fires and The Virgins have produced critically acclaimed albums that reference the once maligned genre while acts like LCD Soundystem, Aeroplane and Lindstrøm have continued to keep disco sounds on the radar’s of those in the know - and that’s without even talking about the omnipresent sound of Quincy Jones produced Michael Jackson numbers that have pepper the latter half of the year!
Continuing the trend for disco that does it for the kids not for the kitsch, Italian producers Crimea X are giving away a free track here on the Shazam Blog. Taken from their new EP ‘Chorne More’ available on Hell Yeah records, track ‘Liubov’ is sure to appeal to those who like the more discerning discofied sounds.
Last night Wakefield’s finest export, The Cribs, finished off their current UK tour to a feverishly packed London crowd. If anyone has ever accused London crowds of being stagnant and po faced, then they’ve clearly never been to a Cribs gig. The band was greeted with an emphatic welcome and tore through a set that contained tracks from recent album ‘Ignore the Ignorant’ as well as a healthy selection of tracks from their back catalogue.
While much has been written about the bands recent line up addition, Johnny Marr now seems like he’s always been part of the furniture. The unassuming former Smiths guitarist seems more than happy to be part of the band, rather than searching for the limelight – and most importantly never once seeming likely to break into a rendition of ‘This Charming Man’.
As always with this band, tonight’s gig was a fine example of how a raucous rock show should be conducted; with minimal gaps between songs the band treated the Kentish Town crowd to a frenzied performance. The Cribs have previously been described as Britain’s biggest cult band and from the reaction they get tonight it’s a fair title. Each track is bellowed back at the band from the eager followers. While other acts like Kings Of Leon may suffer from “fans” lack of back catalogue knowledge, The Cribs suffer no such problem from tonight’s audience. Songs like ‘Another Number’, taken from their eponymous debut, were greeted with as much enthusiasm as recent single ‘We Were Aborted’.
After wrapping up this tour the band now head out for dates in Japan, USA and Europe before heading back to the UK in December. For information on the dates go to their MySpace.
Soft Toy Emergency have been bubbling under our radar for a while. We first caught their frantic blend of pop, electro and indie at last year’s inaugural In The City festival in Manchester. Since then they’ve been relentlessly touring with the likes of Friendly Fires and Little Boots , as well as winning plaudits from tastemakers such as Steve Lamacq, Huw Stephens and the NME – who included their debut single ‘I Know U Want It’ as a Track of the Week .
The band have now signed to dance imprint All Around The World, home to the likes of N-Dubz & Cascada. The label has previously shown a successful knack of un-earthing mainstream talent, the platinum selling N-Dubz being a prime example. Released on November 16th ‘Critical’ is a storming, infectious floor filler that will instantly speak to pop fans, whilst simultaneously retaining enough edge to appeal to the indie crowd.
The band are currently on a headline tour up and down the UK before supporting fellow synth rock purveyors Hadouken! For more information head to their MySpace.
Ibiza’s closing parties are dates which are revered in the dance music scene as some of the wildest and most musically spectacular of the year. Attracting some of the most hedonistic crowds, not to mention the most action packed DJ line ups, Ibiza’s closing parties offer one final burst of Balearic excess before The White Isle returns to its more sedate way of life during the winter months.
Our in house dance fanatic, Stephen Titmus, was there for the final parties at Cocoon and Monza which featured performances from electronic music legends such as Sven Väth, Ricardo Villalobos and Luciano. As you can see from the shot above, which was taken at 11:30am at the Cocoon party, this year’s events were just as special as ever.
You can check out Steve’s run down from both parties he put together for dance music bible Resident Advisor, click the following links to see what went on at Monza and the hectic Ten Year Anniversary at Cocoon.
Is there anything Levi Roots can’t achieve? With books, TV shows and public speaking the man who shot to fame with Dragons Den success ‘Reggae Reggae Sauce’ is now back and this time its musical. Roots’ Den success was in part down to the Reggae song that formed the large part of his investment pitch and now he is back with a full album titled ‘Red Hot’. Set for release this October Levi has garnered mass appeal with his easy-lilting Reggae songs and friendly demeanour. Levi Roots is now a super brand; I wonder what Peter Jones thinks of the album…
Last week it was announced the reunited godfathers of college rock, Pavement, would be curating All Tomorrows Parties next May. As if that wasn’t enough for the discerning festival goer, this week the bods behind ATP have also stated that the line up for their second festival, also held in May, will be put together by the creator of The Simpsons and Futurama; Matt Groening.
Those who may doubt the organisational prowess of Groening need only look at the last event he was put in charge of. In 2003 he curated ATP in the US, which saw performances from the likes of Iggy & the Stooges, Sonic Youth, The Mars Volta and Modest Mouse. Considering the endless cameos of bands in both the Simpsons and Futurama, it’s safe to assume Groening will have no problem attracting a wealth of bands.
As yet, no acts have been confirmed for the Minhead festival which takes place on 7th-9th May next year. However, looking back at the bands Groening has previously worked with gives some mouth watering prospects. Considering ATP’s recent love of all things nostalgic, we may just see some surprising reformations. A dream line up would include Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, Metallica and Cyprus Hill – however hearing Sonic Youth perform The Simpsons Theme would be worth the ticket price alone. For more info head to the ATP website.
To celebrate the releases of their latest album, ‘Embryonic’, gnarly psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips are planning a special one off gig in Hollywood’s Ricardo Mountalban Theatre. The intimate venue, which only holds 1200, is more used to showcasing sedate plays but for Thursday’s show will feature Flaming Lip’s multi layered and mind bending space-rock – something that is likely to give the Theatre’s usual clientele quite a surprise. With industrial amounts of confetti, giant papier-mâché hands and ‘crowd zorbing’ from lead singer Wayne Coyne often featuring in The Flaming Lip’s show, let’s hope the proprietors of the venue know what they’ve let themselves in for. Tickets for the gig will be available from the venue. For those wishing to see the band in the UK, Flaming Lips have also announced the following dates.
London Troxy (November 10) London Troxy (11) Portsmouth Guildhall (13) Glasgow O2 Academy (15) Manchester Academy (16) Birmingham O2 Academy (17)
