Good Weather For Airstrikes

NOTE: After six months abroad, I’ve finally left London and am currently cruising around the Adriatic on a charter with some friends. I won’t be back in the states (or in front of a computer) until the 13th of June, so until then I’ve cued up some reposts of older content featuring bands who have gone a bit overlooked but are still fully deserving of your attention.

A year later and the Moths, well, are no longer the Moths. Somehow they found an even more unfortunate name in Me My Head, and have gone back to square one. They’re still at it though, gigging around the UK and building buzz, but sadly they’re definitely no closer to making it now than they were at this time last year.

Their band name may be less than ideal (deal with it, you’ll get over it the second the music starts), but holy shit these kids have talent. The Moths unfuckwithable debut 7″ features a triple threat of near-flawless British guitar-pop gems infused with synths and a drum machine to give it an electro-punk flavor. It’s rare enough that you find a debut single with a B-side good enough to rival its spotlighted counterpart, but to come across a debut with two B-sides every bit as good as the A-side is fucking unheard of. But that’s exactly the case here, with “Wild Birds” and “Valentine” proving to be every bit as good as – if not better than - “Games”, no easy task considering the extremely high quality of the headline track in its own right.

The tricky thing is, there’s nothing of overwhelming academic merit about these songs and the whole affair isn’t all that groundbreaking per se, but at the same time you’d be hard-pressed to find a single band that you could convincingly argue the Moths were ripping off here. Sure, the huge synthy parts in “Games” have a very Killers feel about them and frontman James Fox’s diction recalls that of Interpol’s Paul Banks at times, and yeah, that bouncy synth riff in “Wild Birds” is straight out of Gnarls Barkley’s “Gone Daddy Gone”, but none of these instances give off the impression that the band consciously took notes from any of those bands at any point. Furthermore, you can’t really point to one specific thing the band does truly spectacularly. The lyrics are thoroughly enjoyable most of the time (“a joy and a pleasure to listen to” as Rya might assert), but choruses like “All just a game in my head!” (“Games”) and “I’m never gonna let you go!” (“Wild Birds”) aren’t exactly breaking new ground or anything. The guitarmanship here is pretty routine, ditto for the drums (which are actually programmed on a drum machine), but shit – when everything comes together, the final package just cannot be denied.

The synth work takes the tracks to a whole new level while remaining subtle enough not to steal the show completely, and nowhere is this more evident than on “Games”, the single’s actual A-Side despite some significant thunder-stealing on behalf of “Wild Birds” and “Valentine”. The chorus, while admittedly generic, hits as hard as anything you’ll hear this year and the track is a joyride from start to finish, bursting at the seams with an unflinching vitality. “Wild Birds” is more of the same with a bouncier synth riff (”Gone Daddy Gone” anyone?) thrown into the mix and with Fox’s incredibly endearing lyrics and vocal structures taking center stage, it’s a real grower that will stick around in your head for weeks if you let it. But the real showstopper here is “Valentine”, a shining example of how unbridled optimism, youthful exuberance and clever lyricism can converge to create one of the best tracks of the year.

In fact, the band’s knack for simplistic yet incredibly addictive and endlessly enjoyable guitar-pop, with its youthful vitality and endearing lyricism, recalls the Wombats more than anything else I’ve heard in the last year, even if the two possess marked stylistic differences. So it’s fitting then, that as the Wombats’, the best unsigned band in Britain until they’re recent signing with 14th Floor Recordings, star rises from the obscurity of the realm of the unsigned, the torched is passed on to the only other band in the UK at the moment with the chops to beat them at their own game. Only time will tell, but with three tracks good enough to shine as singles in any other band’s repertoire on the Moths’ first-ever release, it’s safe to say it doesn’t get much more promising than this.

MP3: “Games” - The Moths
MP3: “Wild Birds” - The Moths
MP3: “Valentine” - The Moths

After months of keeping us waiting not-so-patiently, Wale’s finally dropped the proper edit of his Justice bootleg on us and while the go-go drums in the song’s final third are sorely missed, it’s nice to finally have a cleaned polish version to rock on the headphones. That said, this just gives amateur DJs everywhere (who, me?) another excuse to beat “D.A.N.C.E.” even further into the ground in indie discos around the world, but y’know what, I’m okay with that.

MP3: “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.” - Wale

In other genre-mashing hip-hop news, I’ve finally tracked down this awesome bootleg of Royksopp’s “Remind Me”, courtesy of shit-hot Brooklyn MC Mickey Factz. I first heard this like a year ago at Major in DC and all the brothers working the counter were all “Who dropped this beat?”, and I was all “Royksopp, mannnn”, and for a fleeting moment felt accepted by the DC hip-hop heads who populate Major. Now, thanks to a mention in the most recent issue of SPIN, I’ve finally copped this shit and it’s most excellent. I’m loving this new direction hip hop’s going in more and more everyday.

MP3: “You Remind Me” (ft. Jesse Boykins III) - Mickey Factz

There was no shortage of great shows in London last Monday, but without a doubt the hottest ticket in town belonged to Sebastien Tellier’s sold-out performance at the Scala, featuring support from none other than shit-hot industry darling Lykke Li. Having already seen Lykke kill it in intimate venues around London on multiple occasions and with the news that Tellier had added a live drummer to his already solid synth-and-guitars live set up, I went in with high-ass expectations, only to be treated to one of the best shows of the year.

First and foremost, Lykke Li is a fucking superstar. Every time I’ve seen her seems to be better than the last, but she set the bar ridiculously high this time out, winning over an audience at a show that sold out before her name was even added to the bill. Every single song owned its studio-recorded counterpart, and while “Little Bit” and set-closer “I’m Good I’m Gone” went off every bit as brilliantly as expected and more, it was future single “Breakin’ It Up” that stole the show. Curiously left off the set list at previous shows I’d seen her play, it stole the whole damn show on Sunday night, and sounded like a whole new song when compared to the version found on record. Tweaked and reproduced a bit, this could be a huge single after Atlantic inevitably ride “I’m Good I’m Gone” and “Little Bit” into the ground in a few months’ time.

MP3: “Breaking It Up” - Lykke Li

Aforementioned closer “I’m Good I’m Gone” was, as expected, brilliant as well. The song’s “I know your hands will clap” lyric seems tailor-made for audience participation, but I guess I was the only one lame enough to throw up the handclaps she was fishing for. Lykke pointed to me with her drumstick and we had some serious eye contact for a solid 7/10ths of a second or so and I kind of felt like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Timberlake concert. For serious.

MP3: “I’m Good I’m Gone” (Sumo Edit) - Lykke Li

Then it was time for Tellier to get his sexy on, and he took the stage a short time later and launched into “Kilometer”, which sounds like it was nicked straight from Justin Timberlake’s songbook (or rather, Justin Timberlake’s songwriters’ songbook), and provided the perfect lead-in to what would prove to be a phenomenal set. Sexuality’s a great album in its own right, but I really can’t stress how much better every song sounds live when those massive and unrelenting synths are just washing over you, in that deep kind of visceral way. “Divine” followed shortly thereafter and totally slayed, with Sebastien rolling around the stage and giving a little preview of the antics to follow. Things got filthier and filthier as the set went on, as we were treated to the sight of Seb spanking the piano, fellating the microphone and, uh, stimulating the mic stand. There were also sex noises. Lots of sex noises.

MP3: “Divine” - Sebastien Tellier

He closed with an empire-toppling medley of “La Ritournelle”, which saw him solo on the piano for the song’s first half before bringing in a barrage of drums and synths after his first vocal refrain, which slowly decrescendoed into the opening notes of Sexuality-closer “L’Amour et La Violence”. Then it was off the stage and outside for a cigarette (I’m making a pretty safe assumption here) before he returned for a rousing performance of “Sexual Sportswear”. Words cannot do justice how amazing this track sounds with live drums, and as there’s not much for Seb to do on this one given its lack of vocals, he threw in some sex noises for good measure. Naturally.

MP3: “Sexual Sportswear” - Sebastien Tellier

Back to the grind then for a few more exams and then driving down to All Tomorrow’s Parties with the Les Savy Fav bros next weekend. Pumped.

Female singer-songwriters had a banner year in 2007, with figureheads in this post-Lily-Allen-or-whatever movement like Kate Nash and Laura Marling killing it with major label deals, sold out tours, critically acclaimed releases and all kinds of other next-level shit. 2008 seems to be yielding more of the same, with industry heads shitting themselves over the likes of Lykke Li, Florence & The Machine and other left-field pop talents of their ilk. One such artist who’s flown under the radar to this point is Marina & The Diamonds, but her star is very much on the rise and you better believe you’ll be hearing a lot more about the Welsh-born chanteuse in 2008.

More Kate Bush than Kate Nash, Marina writes, sings, records and produces haunting piano-based tracks in her bedroom and the results are totally ace. Though I’ve heard but a scant three tracks, I don’t think it’s too soon to declare her a special talent worth writing the fuck home about. Tracks like “We’ve Got Obsessions” and “Hermit The Frog” establish her as a beacon of hope in the oversaturated and increasingly dull London singer-songwriter scene, her endearing personality shining through in her winning lyricism, and her powerful vocals and excellent lo-fi production validating her as the total package. Below is “We’ve Got Obsessions”, arguably her strongest track and, somewhat surprisingly, my most listened to song of 2008. Vulnerable, beautiful and damn near perfect. I get chills every third listen or so when that part when the beat drops after the first verse hits.

MP3: “We’ve Got Obsessions” (Demo) - Marina & The Diamonds [exclusive]

Wale returned this week with a new track off his upcoming Mixtape About Nothing called “Back In The Go Go”. It’s less polished than “Nike Boots” and some of his other offerings, but it features what might be his best lyrics yet and rocks a go go beat that’s so quintessentially DC I can’t not love it. And just as “Nike Boots” soundtracked the Redskins amazing run into the playoffs last winter, “Back In The Go Go” has arrived just in time to coincide with another improbable late-season surge for DC sports, with the Capitals looking to complete a miraculous run from last place in the Eastern Conference into a #3 seed playoff birth with one game remaining and the Wizards also looking to lock down a playoff spot with Gilbert Arenas back in the lineup for the first time in months. Wale even shouts out Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin on “Go Go”: “Doin’ it for the Capital, Wale Ovechkin”, the first and possibly only NHL reference in hip-hop history.

MP3: “Back In The Go Go” (ft. Bun B & Pusha T) – Wale

There’s also a new unofficial Wale mixtape, The Beast of the Beltway, in circulation, compiled by London-via-NoVa mash-up artist DJ Maf and featuring rare/unreleased Wale cuts and some truly absurd mash-ups. We’ll focus on the mashes then, as DJ Maf has chosen some pretty flawless material to work with. First, there’s “Dangerous Girls”, which takes the rap from Wale’s “Good Girls” and transposes it over a slowed-down version of Danger’s “11h30”. But the real jam is “W.A.L.E.F.R.I.E.N.D.S.”, which follows in the footsteps of Wale’s “D.A.N.C.E.” bootleg, combining “Ice Cream Girl” with – what else? – “We Are Your Friends” with phenomenal results.

MP3: “Dangerous Girls” – Wale vs Danger
MP3: “W.A.L.E.F.R.I.E.N.D.S.” – Wale vs Justice

Finally, the most exciting news of all might be the announcement that Wale’s much-hyped remix of “D.A.N.C.E.” will be seeing an official release this month, complete with a So-Me inspired (directed?) music video and everything. Check these two brief clips (here and here) from the official video and start getting very, very excited.

TONIGHT: FRESH PRINTS TAKEOVER PULSE

Come to the Redstar in Camberwell Green tonight to see Fresh Prints obliterate the dancefloor. I haven’t heard of any of the other acts, but I do know Fresh Prints are going to ROCK shit. Guaranteed.

Our love for the late London three-piece Fear of Flying has been well documented over the past two years, so you can imagine our disappointment when we learned of the group’s dissolution in late 2007. But disappointment quickly turned to excitement when it was revealed the boys were back together and recording under a new name, and the results are all kinds of brilliant. White Lies, as they’re now called, pick up where Fear of Flying left off with a fairly straightforward brand of infectious guitar-rock, but where their former group made their money on cheap, catchy hooks and frantic pacing, the new recordings have a newfound depth to them. Darker, more ambitious and with a previously unheard penchant for the epic, White Lies’ look fully able to go the distance this time out.

Recording once again under the tutelage of legendary producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur, Kaiser Chiefs), White Lies seem to have embraced the sound of some of the production maestro’s former bands. On demo tracks “Unfinished Business” and “Death”, frontman Harry McVeigh channels Morrissey with a touch of Brandon Flowers for good measure, while the instrumentation recalls that of Echo & The Bunny Men or Joy Division. Surely the last thing we need right now is another band ripping off the aforementioned, but somehow White Lies rise above their like-minded contemporaries and sound like nothing else I’ve heard so far in 2008. Furthermore, their finely-tuned, polished sound could lead you to mistake them for a band two albums into their career, but in fact their debut single doesn’t drop until the end of the month. Out April 28th on Chess Club Recordings, a new label co-founded by Lies drummer Jack Brown, Will Street (son of Stephen) and video director and photographer Max Knight, “Unfinished Business” looks set to cause quite a stir in the industry, though word on the street has it they’ve already been locked up by Universal offshoot Fiction Records (Snow Patrol, Kate Nash, The Maccabees) for a full-album deal. Either way, White Lies are a definite band to watch for 2008. “Death” sounds like the best song the Killers never wrote (the breakdown at the end? yeahhh) and you’d be wise to get all up on that shit below.

MP3: “Death” (Demo) - White Lies

So things have been (and may continue to be, I’m afraid) a bit quiet around here this week as I’m on spring break and traveling Europe (Prague->Berlin->Barcelona->Maorca) until the end of the month, but I’ll be doing my damnedest to drop in with periodic updates and I’ve got my polaroid camera (just to make sure things stay extra hipster) and my full library of music with me so I’ll see what I can do. At the very least I’m leaving you with “No Comply”, one of the best and most overlooked tracks of 2007, which was slotted at #15 on my ill-fated Top 50 Singles of 2007 list, but somehow has gone unmentioned on these pages until now. I’ve been listening to it damn near on repeat recently and it’s undoubtedly worthy of your attention especially considering how underheard and underpraised this shit was last year, so be sure to get at it below.

2007 saw Studio quietly establish themselves as one of the most promising acts in the vast Scandinavian electronic music scene, with “No Comply” standing out as the group’s masterwork to date. Accessing the same place occupied by Royksopp’s “Eple”, the song is a lesson in blissful escapism, bouncing along on a sunny melody that makes the track a curious export from a region that will go without sunlight for weeks during those long Scandinavian winters. This is the kind of thing you’d expect if the next big electronic scene popped up in Bermuda, but regardless of its origin it was one of the absolute best tracks of last year and a big reason you won’t be forgetting Studio’s name any time soon.

Like their fine remixes, “No Comply” showcases Studio’s unique balearic sound and expansive production style, the duo’s knack for breathtaking atmospheric soundscapes and decidedly low-key instrumentals setting them apart from the rest of the pack in the crowded Scandinavian electronic scene. There are vocals here, but whereas their excellent Kylie Minogue and Shout Out Louds remixes are driven by the originals’ vocal structures, it’s the consistently-evolving instrumental of “No Comply” that dictates the where to song will flow to next, the chorus owing it’s success far more to its brilliant downward spiral of shimmering guitars than the repeating “It’s all in good time…” refrain. The pristine instrumental would have ensured the song success even without vocals, though the lead vocal here proves its value in its ability to lend the song an accessibility it might have forfeited without them. All in all, this is one of the best things to come out of Scandinavia in ages and Studio seem fully prepared to enjoy Royksopp-esque levels of international success and should no doubt be able to if they can maintain the high standard set on “No Comply” on future efforts. This shit is perfect for the season and likely won’t be leaving my speakers during our stopover in Barcelona and Maorca, and I hope it can provide the perfect soundtrack to some of your sunnier plans as well.

MP3: “No Comply” - Studio

And just to round things out, here are a few more reasons to get all hot and bothered over the Swedish duo in the form of their aforementioned and previously-posted remix work for Kylie Minogue’s “2 Hearts” and Shout Out Louds’ “Impossible”.

MP3: “2 Hearts” (Studio Version) - Kylie Minogue
MP3: “Impossible” (Possible Remake By Studio) - Shout Out Louds

It seems like only months ago that everyone was beginning to lose their shit about “Gravity’s Rainbow”, “Atlantis To Interzone” and Klaxons’ whole futurelove dance-rock sound, but the influence of the Great Klaxons Takeover of 2007 has already begun to manifest itself in a new wave of like-minded British rock acts. First there was the Author bursting onto the scene with “Taxi” late last year, and now here we have Magistrates, who sound like Klaxons squaring off with Prince, all frantic group vocals and glossy falsettos. The Essex-based quartet remain relatively unknown in the London indie scene, but with a slot supporting Black Kids’ sold-out ICA show later this week and their name skipping across the radar of more and more A&R folks around the industry, you better believe this is a band to keep a close eye on in 2008. I’ve even heard one industry head say he thinks they’re the best new band he’s heard since Vampire Weekend, but I’ll leave that for you to decide. Here’s “The Inbetweens”, the finest cut off the band’s phenomenal three-track demo, the rest of which you can and should check out on their MySpace.

MP3: “The Inbetweens” (Demo) - Magistrates [exclusive]

In other news, we DJ’d Apocalypso at the Old Queen’s Head last Saturday and I think it’s safe to say we made a pretty excellent debut. Things were helped significantly by the fact that we got 20 or so of our friends heavily boozed up and had them pad the audience and dance their balls off, but we held our own on the decks too despite some initial technical difficulties. We played a good 15 tracks or so including a few easy crowd favorites, but this one in particular went off unexpectedly well. Sadly we had to play it in 128 kbps because as far as I can tell it doesn’t exist in 320 anywhere, so if you’ve somehow got the hook up drop us a line, will you?

MP3: “What Am I Fighting For?” (LA Priest Remix) - Unklejam

Shortly after arriving in the UK in January I got an email from one Mr. Jeremy Warmsley tipping me off about an internet TV show he’d launched with his flatmate Fay Buzzard. Built around intimate live performances from London’s brightest young songwriters, Welcome To Our TV Show is a really special look into the extended family of musicians that many of London’s brilliant folk and indie talents belong to. Episode 1 features performances from the Mystery Jets, Laura Marling, Noah & The Whale and of course Warmsley himself, while Episode 2 has Lightspeed Champion, Laura Groves, Emmy The Great and a duet between Emmy and Jeremy in the clip’s final scene. I’m still too incompetent to figure out how to embed YouTube clips on Wordpress, but you’ll find links to both parts of each episode below and I highly recommend you check it out.

Episode 1 (December): [Part One] [Part Two]
Episode 2 (January): [Part One] [Part Two]

The best part of all this, though, is Jeremy’s been kind enough to provide me with MP3s of all of the tracks performed and recorded on the show, and given that many of the songs performed are rare or unreleased material and covers, I’m really happy to make them available for download. Downloads of all of the songs from episodes one and two are available below, but you should definitely view the videos as well.

Episode One
MP3: “Flakes” (Live) – Mystery Jets
MP3: “To Cyril At Crunkmas” (Live) – Noah & The Whale
MP3: “Shine” (Live) – Laura Marling
MP3: “Going Out of My Head” (Live) – Jeremy Warmsley

Episode Two
MP3: “Boat Song” (Live) - Emmy The Great & Jeremy Warmsley
MP3: “Hooker Song” (Live) - Lightspeed Champion
MP3: “I Wish I” (Live) - Laura Groves
MP3: “24″ (Live) - Emmy The Great

Good news and bad news… Bad news: Despite the absurd amount of work that both Rya and I have put into it, the Great Top 50 Singles Project of 2007 has been abandoned. That said, I wouldn’t be completely surprised if it popped up here at some completely arbitrary point far removed from 2007 like July or some shit, so keep hope alive if you can even be bothered to care at this point. Good news: I’ve amassed a ridiculously large backlog of content to post in the epic amount of time spent on that Top Singles bullshit and now that I’ve put it behind me I can get back to my regular posting habits and start disseminating the aforementioned hot jams to the masses. Furthermore, we’ve got a shit ton of exclusive content lined up for you in the coming weeks, so stick around, will you?

Said exclusive content will begin later today or tomorrow, but here’s this in the mean time. I never thought So-Me could top “D.A.N.C.E.”, and then he raised the bar again with his video for Kanye’s “Good Life”. Then he goes and drops this shit on us? Out of control. Fuck YouTube, hi-res download below.

Video: “DVNO”
Artist: Justice
Director: So-Me, Machine Molle and Yourgo Tloupas
Watch: [Daily Motion]
Download: [Quicktime • 32 MB] [direct link]

Word on the street is dude’s got a live action feature-length film in the works. Excited much?

ALSO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT:

Dekker is a friend of mine from Clinton’s and he’s been putting on his excellent Apocalypso night at The Old Queen’s Head in Islington for exactly a year now, and to celebrate they’ve got an extra special line-up all ready to go for Saturday, featuring none other than Paul Epworth A.K.A. Phones A.K.A. Epic Man A.K.A. the fucking man headlining and yours truly getting things started on the ones and twos from 9-10:15 PM. My roommate and I have been DJing under the name Fresh Prints since… alright well this is our first formal gig outside of a few afterparties here and there, but I assure you it’ll be awesome. Anyone coming down (which you should, even if only to see Mr. Epworth do the damn thing from 1:30-2:45) shouldn’t expect any world class transitions or superior mixing skills on display during our set, but you can fully expect to hear jams of the extremely hot variety dropped in spades. Rounding out the night are a live performance from Miss Odd Kid and sets from the Magic Circle and Adventures Close To Home DJs, both of whom know how to put it down with authority, and of course Dekker himself. Set times are below, as well as one of Phones’ finest and most obscure remixes to get you in the mood. See you there?

MP3: “Never Felt Like This Before” (Phones Volt Version) - Shaznay Lewis

• Fresh Prints (9:00-10:15)

• Adventures Close To Home (10:15-11:30)

• Magic Circle (11:30-12:15)

• Miss Odd Kid (12:15-12:45)

• Dekker (12:45-1:30)

• Paul Epworth (1:30-2:45)
• Naomi // (2:45-3:30)

• Everyone (3:30-4:00)