Flashback Friday.. Phoenix - '1901'

And here was me thinking that this stellar performance had fallen into the BBC abyss of space and time!

I have recently developed an intangible love for Phoenix! However, I am rather loathe and ashamed to admit that prior to seeing them live at Reading as they headlined the NME/Radio1 stage on a Sunday night, that I had not really listened to a lot of their music. I had given their fourth album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix a casual listen when it first came out in 2009, but hadn't delved any deeper in the time since then.

But that all changed with seeing them live at Reading! They were absolutely fantastic, the band were totally on point, the light show was impressive, and singer Thomas Mars had absolutely no fear in regards to diving into the crowd!

The song I've chosen - '1901' - is one of their most well known singles and was an absolute riot live, even this TV performance on Jools Holland was good, and you're guaranteed to be humming it for the rest of the day after. Recently, I've really enjoyed listening to their recent fifth album, Bankrupt!, which is far more electronic than anything they've done previously. If you ever get the chance to see Phoenix live, take the opportunity! The band are currently touring the US before heading over to Mexico, Europe and Australia, with Haim (also spectacular live!) joining them over in Europe.

http://wearephoenix.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wearephoenix
https://twitter.com/wearephoenix

Flashback Friday.. The Horrors - 'Who Can Say'

The eternal question folks: what have I been listening to this week?

Or should I say month, with that summer holiday/laptop malfunction/ridiculous shifts/no sleep debacle. I can sure get away with a lot atm, hehe.

This past week, I've been getting into some of The Horrors, a band that - I admit - I had readily dismissed as all style and no substance a good few years back. They looked far too art-school and/or pompous for me to take them seriously, after all, who really needs a mushroom hair cut with a fringe down to their nose (ever practical, me!), however falling in love with 'Still Life' a year or so ago and taking my fine time to get my grubby mitts on their albums, I can declare myself more than pleasantly surprised!

'Who Can Say' is probably one of their best known songs. Taken from their second album, Primary Colours, it is what can only be described as a tuneful cacophony of noise, laced with slightly eerie synths, and with singer, Faris Badwan's sombre recounts of 'And when I told her I didn't love her anymore, she cried' (actually a lyrical lift from Jay And The Americans' 'She Cried'), this is almost an experimental, indie interpretation of a modern day sonnet.

Higher, the deluxe edition of The Horror's third album Skying, featuring reworkings and rarities is out now.

http://thehorrors.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/horrorsofficial
https://twitter.com/horrorsofficial

Flashback Friday.. Spinnerette - 'Ghetto Love'

I have a bit of a girl crush on Brody Dalle. It's been around for a while, in a manner similar to Allison Mosshart, Kathleen Hanna, Gwen Stefani, Marina Diamandis, Lights, I can't help but admire these women and the persona that surrounds them, their music and their message.

If you've heard of Brody Dalle, then you know that she was formerly of a band called The Distillers, a punk band who had three albums - their self-titled 2000 debut, Sing Sing Death House (2002) and Coral Fang (2003) - and are probably best known for their song 'Drain The Blood'. The band split in 2006, leaving Dalle and co-Distiller Tony Bevilacqua to work on a new project that would later become Spinnerette. Their self-titled debut - and as of yet, only - album, is certainly a departure from the days of The Distillers, however whilst the album as a whole certainly begins to lag in urgency, there are some good songs dotted about.

Perhaps my favourite song on the album is the short and snappy 'All Babes Are Wolves', however it feels more fitting to showcase how much Dalle has departed from the sound of the band that made her famous. So here is 'Ghetto Love', the debut song from Spinnerette which, with its grooving stomp, shows a diffenet side to Dalle and her voice. She is more than capable of singing, with that trademark throaty grit of hers intact, and whilst Spinnerette itself garnered mixed reviews, I'd recommend you take a listen in order to make your own mind up.

http://spinnerettemusic.com/
https://twitter.com/Spinnerette
https://www.facebook.com/spinnerette

Flashback Friday - Marina and the Diamonds - 'Mowgli's Road'

Is it that time of week again already? It feels like barely five minutes since I did this post last week. Anyways, here we are and if you're British you'll know that our promising looking summer has dissipated into perpetual GLOOM. Perhaps I cursed us all by posting that summer playlist a tad too early.

This week, I've been listening to a lot of Marina because - let's face it - when is there ever a wrong time to listen to Marina? Those unacquainted with her pre-Electra Heart efforts will find themselves met with a less mainstream sound which, whilst still electronic, is far more piano based, as seen in songs such as 'Obsessions', 'Hermit The Frog', 'Numb' and 'Guilty'. 'Mowgli's Road'  - the first single taken from Marina's 2009 debut, The Family Jewels - is easily one of the singer's most bizarre, seeing her cuckoo (literally) her way through three minutes of cartoonish shtick that is reminiscent of a Noughties Kate Bush. As always, Marina's voice is her best asset which - though no doubt irritating for some - is capable of many feats, her whooping vibrato channeling many a character as she embodies her role as a lost Mowgli, stumbling along the path of life unsure of their aim, with the lyrics 'There's a fork in the road/ I'll do as I'm told/ Well I don't know (don't know, don't know, don't know)/ Who I wanna be' reinforcing this dilemma of being controlled - most likely by her label - in her quest for recognition.

Marina is currently touring the US in support of her second album Electra Heart (which is out now), along with support from  Charli XCX.

Do you like Marina? Which do you prefer - her first album or Electra Heart? What is your favourite Marina song?

http://www.marinaandthediamonds.com/
https://twitter.com/MarinasDiamonds
https://www.facebook.com/marinaandthediamonds
https://soundcloud.com/marina-and-the-diamonds

Flashback Friday.. Everything Everything - 'MY KZ UR BF'

Really quick one today! I know that I've not posted much this week, but I just haven't seemed to have the time. My deadlines are drawing closer and I still have a huge pile of work to do. I really don't want to be spending the festive period being a hermit in my bedroom, so I'm hoping to get it all done before Christmas. I've done almost all of my Christmas shopping by now, so I can almost begin my favourite part - wrapping!

Anyway, this Flashback Friday is Everything Everything. I know, it's not old at all (it was first released in 2009) but now that their second album is due out in early 2013, I feel that I can get away with writing about it in this section.

If you loved my previous post on the band for their single 'Cough Cough', then you'll definitely love 'MY KZ UR BF' - that's what I can only imagine to be 'My Keys, Your Boyfriend' in English. Whilst I feel 'Cough Cough' is a superior song, 'MY KZ, UR BF'  is less streamlined and more quirky, the song itself a heightened metaphor comparing an argument over a girl at a party to the impending apocalypse. As always, Jonathan Higg's quavering, pitch swinging vocals are more than impressive, as are the sheer amount of words that he somehow manages to fit into a sentence.

'MY KZ, UR BF' is taken from Everything Everything's debut album, Man Alive.
They are also going on a UK and European tour starting in Feb 2013.

http://www.everything-everything.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/EverythingEverythinguk/
https://soundcloud.com/everythingeverything
https://twitter.com/E_E_

New Waves.. Delphic - 'Baiya'

Edit: Snazzy new video has been debuted - woop! 

Manchester band, Delphic, return with 'Baiya', the first song to début  from their second album, Collections.

'Baiya' is reminiscent of the electro-pop vein of the singles taken from their previous 2009 album, Acolyte, albeit perhaps more chart friendly, with synths flowing as opposed to being used for choppy rhythms a la 'Doubt' and 'Halcyon', incorporating oriental strings around the refrain 'All hell is breaking loose' and walking the fine line between modern and comfortably retro. It is also not the euphorically hectic maelstrom of noise that was previously released song, 'Good Life' (I had no idea that this song existed until today!)

That said, I'm so glad to see/hear of Delphic again! I loved Acolyte and will most likely love Collections when it's released.

Collections is released on 28th Jan 2013.

http://www.facebook.com/delphicmusic

http://www.delphic.cc/

http://soundcloud.com/delphic

New Waves.. LIGHTS - 'Timing Is Everything'

And now, a bit of LIGHTS to perk up these dark days!

For some reason, this video isn't listed on a YouTube search and can only be found with a direct link (CONFUSED!), but it's on LIGHTS' own YouTube channel, so it must be official.

You may be unaware, but I adore LIGHTS, she's a talented and cute soul! The next single, taken from her second album, Siberia, is 'Timing Is Everything', lyrically concerning how unpredictable life and love can be. She is probably also the only artist that I've come across who has managed to put the phrase 'different trajectories' successfully into a song (There I was, none the wiser/ Both of us/ Different trajectories).

The video itself is pretty weird; lots of gym exercising, dancing and shiny spandex, which I suppose is meant to highlight the song's theme's of love springing from unexpected places. My favourite LIGHTS video will most likely always be the one for 'Second Go', the attack of Coloured Paint VS. White House! You could tell it was a one take job, they would have been totally screwed if it had gone wrong!

LIGHTS is currently on her final 2012 US tour for Siberia.

http://music.iamlights.com/
https://twitter.com/lights
http://www.facebook.com/lights

Flashback Friday's.. The Maccabees - 'Can You Give It'

Not quite sure what made me choose this song as this week's Friday Flashback (apologies for the lack of features these past few weeks!), especially as I haven't been listening to The Maccabees much recently at all.

'Can You Give It' is the song the first alerted me to The Maccabees, albeit, unintentionally. I recall, circa 2009, this song being plastered over many an advert, as it is an undeniably uplifting song, as seen when played to a live crowd, as seen below at their performance of Glastonbury 2009.

I didn't realise that this was, in fact, The Maccabees, until I Youtube'd them following their release of Give It To the Wild in 2012, having been enraptured by a session performance of 'Child' on late night Channel 4. I must say, there's nothing as exciting as rediscovering a song that you'd deemed lost!

If you've never listened to The Maccabees, I can't reccommend them highly enough! Although I do suggest that you consider Give It To the Wild and their previous albums separately, as even though Give It To the Wild seems an almost natural and inevitable progression for the band, the sounds are markedly different.

Give It To the Wild is out now.

'Can You Give It' live at Glastonbury 2009

Flashback Friday's.. Incubus - 'Black Heart Inertia'

Most everyone should have heard of Incbus. A lot of people probably don't realise that they know their music, though you may surprise yourself by secretly knowing all the words to 'Drive', 'Pardon Me', 'Megalomanic' or 'Are You In'.

All of those songs pre-date this one, as 'Black Heart Inertia' was only released in 2009 as part of their Best of.. compilation Monuments and Melodies. 

'Black Heart Inertia' is not one of the most immediate Incubus songs; the first few times that I heard it, I found it rather nondescript and almost mediocre from a band that I expected more of. However, somewhere along the way, something just clicked, and I got it, and boy, am I glad that it did!

If I ever feel like listening to Incubus, this is the song that I turn to first, it really is amazing. Once you finally get caught by the chorus, you begin to notice how brilliant the parts are that you missed before; the flow of the verses, the lyrics and metaphor, even - simply! - the music itself!

The video is perhaps the most un-Incubus video I've ever seen, and I doubt that it's intended to be taken that seriously.

If you've never listened to Incubus, listen to the live version of 'Pardon Me' below, or click the links to the aforementioned songs above. Hopefully, you'll see how diverse they are and find yourself becoming a new fan!

Their newest album If Not Now, When? is available now.


http://incubushq.com/main
http://www.facebook.com/incubus
http://soundcloud.com/incubus

'Pardon Me'(Live Acoustic)