Hailing from LA, The Funeral Party are a far more joyful prospect than their doom laden moniker may suggest. The band’s mix of distorted power chords, cowbells and screeching vocals creates a glorious racket that should see them mentioned on many tastemaker’s lips. On the appropriately titled ‘NYC Moves To The Sound Of LA’, the quartet display a fiery knack for a killer hook while lead singer Chad Elliott’s screams are the perfect accompaniment to the frantic backing. Although The Funeral Party take their name from one of the more sombre moments of The Cure’s 1981 album ‘Faith’, The Funeral Party site a wide range of influences on their MySpace from Brian Eno, Aphex Twin and Yazoo (or ‘Yaz’ as they’re known in The States).
Penning a song about New York has clearly worked out for Funeral Party, as they’ve attracted the attention of one of the city’s most prominent tastemakers. The band will be supporting Julian Casablancas on the singer’s upcoming US tour in April. While no releases are lined up yet, we recommend keeping an eye on their MySpace for forthcoming releases.
Neon Indian’s new single , ‘Sleep Paralysist’, is the latest offering on the Green Label Sound’ series of exclusive free downloads from some of the most creative names of the moment – joining the likes of Chromeo, Solid Gold and Amazing Baby.
The project, created in Austin, Texas by 21 year-old wonder kid Juan Palomo – formerly known as VEGA – earned raved reviews last year with debut album ‘Psychic Chasms’. Neon Indian’s blend of lo-fi analog recordings; synth riffs and psychedelic vibes has been a key player on shaping the new ‘Glo-fi’ style, one of the most promising trends in today’s indie music.
‘Sleep Paralysist’ was recorded in collaboration with Chirs Taylor of Grizzly Bear and can be downloaded here.
Big name collaborations in the world of hip-hop can often be a huge anti-climax. Just take Jay-Z and R. Kelly’s 2004 joint album ‘Unfinished Business’ as an example: two of the most prominent artists of their time coming together to produce a commercial and critical flop. However, if early indications are anything to go by it would seem that the new album from Nas and Damian Marley, ‘Distant Cousins’, has none of these problems.
Nas remains one of the most highly rated rappers of his generation while Damian Marley’s mix of ragga, hip hop and more traditional reggae forms saw him pick up three Grammys and a gold disc for his last album, ‘Welcome To Jamrock’. The first cut from the album, ‘As We Enter’, sees the New York and Kingston pair trade flows over a rolling old-school break. Lines such as “I’ve got The Guns” (from Nas) and “I’ve got the Ganja” (from Marley) show the pair aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel on this track – but when it sounds as urgent and as joyously retro as this there is no need to.
‘Distant Relatives’ is due for release on May 25th and also features collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Snoop Dogg, K’naan, Stephen Marley and – oddly enough – Joss Stone.
Fresh from winning the Best Male category at this year’s NME Awards, Jamie T is set to release the latest single from his second album ‘Kings & Queens’. ‘Emily’s Heart’ is one of the album’s more solemn moments, with the singer reflecting on a love gone wrong. The accompanying video is sure to win over many fans. It follows a young man’s fruitless attempt in trying to get the affections of a girl, one that unfortunately seems slightly out of his league.
The full single is released on March 15th through Virgin and is currently available to download through iTunes.
Exciting up and coming rockers The Smoking Hearts release their debut album ‘Pride Of Nowhere’ on Monday 8th March, the album launch will take place at London’s South Of The Border on Old Street. We caught up with lead singer Lethal to chat a bit about the band, the live show and life in general.
So where are you guys from originally?
Bedfordshire, it’s that place that smells of city and looks like country. About an inch North of London on a map.
How long have you guys been together?
As a band, The Smoking Hearts haven’t existed for very long at all, only 2 or 3 years, but the members of the band have known each other for years – Nobba and Calvin go back years.
What inspired you to start a band?
Doing what we wanted, and choosing to do something other than be stuck in another nowhere place, doing nothing of any significance. The band actually came about in a kind of mish-mash way; we’d all been in bands before all of which were sort of being put on hiatus. Born from the ashes if you like, like a phoenix. I do happen to know however that Barker learnt to play guitar to stop the Devil making work for his idle hands. That boy has Lucifer in his fingers. Read more…
Tim Simenon AKA Bomb The Bass was among the most innovative mavericks of the UK’s early dance scene. Back in 1988, his sample based music blended hip-hop and electronics to create a sound that became almost inescapable at the time. Along with acts like M/A/A/R/S and S’Express, Bomb The Bass took the hip-hop aesthetic of sampling to the mainstream and helped revolutionise the way people thought about using other artists’ records. They were also notably the first ever act to create a record for a computer game scoring the music for the 1989 Amiga title, ‘Xenon 2 Megablast’.
After a ten year hiatus Bomb The Bass returned in 2008 with the album ‘Future Chaos’. Now, hardly a year later, Tim Simenon is back with another long player entitled ‘Back To Light’.
Produced by the Brazilian epic-house star Gui Borrato, ‘Back To Light’ is a far cry from his early work, favouring a melodic techno and pop influenced lilt over the visceral hip hop sounds of their first album. With vocal performances from avant-garde disco maven Kelly Polar and a keyboard session from none other than Depeche Mode’s Martin L. Gore, Bomb The Bass’ new album features some noteworthy guests.
Those interested in checking out the album should head here to download ‘Burn Less Brighter’ – a swirling, psychedelic electro pop track that features the vocals of long time collaborator, Paul Conboy.
‘Back To The Light’ is released 1st March on !K7 records
Tracklisting:
01. Boy Girl featuring Paul Conboy
02. X Rays Eyes featuring Kelley Polar
03. The Infinites featuring Paul Conboy
04. Price On Your Head featuring Richard Davis
05. Blindspot featuring Paul Conboy
06. Start featuring Kelley Polar
07. Burn Less Brighter featuring Paul Conboy
08. Happy To Be Cold featuring Richard Davis
09. Up the Mountain featuring The Battle Of Land And Sea
10. Milakia featuring Martin Gore
LA punk-funk purveyors Jump Jump Dance Dance are clearly a on a mission to make people take their name litterally. Their latest single ‘Show Me The Night’ recalls The Clash at their funkiest, with a chorus that morphs into hands in the air territory. Hailing from LA, the duo of Chris Carter and Simon Lewicki have already lent their remixing skills to the likes of La Roux, MSTRKRFT and Datarock but are now striking out on their own. ‘ShowMe The Night’ is released digitally through etc.etc. on 26th February with the band about to embark on an Australian tour later this month. For more info and tracks head to their MySpace.
Every year The Brit Awards line up to honour the biggest names in music. The event was hosted by comedian Peter Kay and featured performances from the likes of JLS; Lily Allen; Cheryl Cole and Lady Gaga. The latter having the most fruitful evening, picking up awards for International Female Solo Artist; International Album and International Breakthrough Act. It’s yet another chapter in the singer’s successful rise to fame, however she did face some criticism by neglecting to perform any of her hits; choosing instead to sing new single ‘Telephone’.
A major talking point of the evening was Cheryl Cole’s emotionally charged performance of ‘Fight For This Love’. After recent press accusations regarding husband Ashley Cole alleged infidelities there were rumours of the singer cancelling. Liam Gallagher proved he’s not intending to grow old gracefully. On accepting the award for British Album of 30 Years for ‘What’s The Story Morning Glory’ the Oasis singer refused to acknowledge Noel Gallagher in his acceptance speech, before throwing his microphone and the award into the crowd.
In a move that has stirred conversation within Shazam HQ, the Outstanding Contribution To Music award went to Robbie Williams. There’s no doubt of the singer’s success over the past decade, but whether his work will go on to influence future generations is something that’s certainly up for debate. While Williams treated the crowd to a medley of his hits, arguably the performance of the evening came from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys with a storming rendition of ‘Empire State Of Mind’, read on to watch the performance and for the full list of award winners.
UNKLE will return this year with their fourth album ‘Where Did The Night Fall’ – released through Surrender All on May 10th. It again sees the band joined by a variety of guest vocalists including former Screaming Trees frontman and Queens Of The Stone Age collaborator Mark Lanegan, The Black Angels, Sleepy Sun & Katrina Ford of Celebration.
The band are giving away a new track from the album as a download on their website. ‘Natural Selection’ is a storming slice of melodic kraut-rock that proves a promising taster for the new album - for a preview click on the stream link below. The full tracklist for the album is:
1. Nowhere
2. Follow Me Down (Feat. Sleepy Sun)
3. Natural Selection (Feat. The Black Angels)
4. Joy Factory (Feat.Autolux)
5. The Answer (Feat. Big In Japan (Baltimore))
6. On A Wire (Feat. ELLE J)
7. Falling Stars (Feat. Gavin Clark)
8. Heavy Drug
9. Caged Bird (Feat. Katrina Ford)
10. Ablivion
11. The Runaway (Feat. ELLE J)
12. Ever Rest (Feat. Joel Cadbury)
13. The Healing (Feat. Gavin Clark)
14. Another Night Out (Feat. Mark Lanegan)
Last week we checked out hotly tipped newcomers Chapel Club at their NME Shockwaves Award Show in Dalston, London. The quintet are starting to create quite the buzz and their intense live performance certainly backed up any hype. Lead singer Lewis Bowman fills the role of enigmatic lead singer, rarely moving throughout the bands performance – while the rest of the band creat a cacophony of noise that gives nods to Morrisey, Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine. Recent single ‘O Maybe I’ – released through East City Records – proves a strong introduction to their sound but doesn’t quite prepare the listener for their live show. The band have recently completed a short tour around the UK and will undoubtedly be ones to keep your eye on throughout 2010.
