Video: Metronomy - She Wants

Electronic quartet Metronomy are due to return this year with a brand new studio album The English Riviera, but first they have served up a small bite of what's to come with She Wants, a delicious dark and funky synth pop tune with a creepy video to boot.  

The English Riviera is Metronomy's third album and is the follow up to 2009's very awesome Nights Out.

She Wants is released on January 28th in Ireland and January 31st in the UK.

METRONOMY - She Wants - By JUL & MAT from JUL & MAT on Vimeo.

Video: Memory Tapes - Today Is Our Life

A couple of days ago Memory Tapes revealed a brand new studio track from his forthcoming studio album through a compilation called Love SIC Disco, available for free on The Guardian UK website. Love SIC Disco itself is a cool 18 tracks and the new Memory Tapes track, Today Is Our Life really glimmers above most on the album.

The video was released yesterday and it was put together by Jamie Harley who is also responsible for some videos from Twin Shadow and Memoryhouse. Today Is Our Life is a cleverly constructed collage of footage from the 1920's and 30's, all brilliantly layered to give that trippy kaleidoscope affect.

After taking a touring break to concentrate on various remixes, including the fantastic rework of Babe, Terror's  Havai, it's good to know Dayve Hawk aka Memory Tapes also has a new studio album due later this year.

Memory Tapes : "Today Is Our Life" from Jamie Harley on Vimeo.

Free Clark Phrenic Mix Download

Ahead of his Button Factory gig on February 4th, Clark has just dropped a brand new MPC DJ mix on us. It was broadcast on 6Music last week and he now put it up on Soundcloud for us all to enjoy! As quoted from the Warp Records website Clark says of the mix:

"So I thought I was just innocently putting some of my favourite dancefloor material together for DJ sets, then found out via dirty wildfire rumors in Berlin, that all of a sudden I had a "secret side project going on", I was collaborating with Chicago Jack-House legends such as Waxmaster Maurice and DJ Hyperactive. Haha. "That could be ace" thought I. So without a few artists consent I decided to collaborate. Collaborations are always best when you sneak in from the side and shadow-box peoples tracks so they end up having a signature of your own.
A lot of that material is so deliciously stripped that it proved ripe to be embellished with the analogue machine-funk I was riffing out in the studio at the time.

There we go. Boom. Hope you enjoy it."

Clark - Phrenic Mix by throttleclark

The tracklisting for the Phrenic Mix is as follows:

Clark - Dulceria Remix
Neil Landstrumm - Index Revisited
Cajmere - Only 4 U (Instrumental Edit)
DJ Hyperactive - Teeter-Totter
Thomas Kroner - Woodcarver
Surgeon - 9 Hours Into The Future
Actress - Let's Fly
Paris Mitchell - Ghetto Shout (Clark Edit)
Waxmaster Maurice - Tha Wop
Dorian Concept - Trilingual Sex Experience
Bernard Purdie - Disco Beat
Clark - Dirty Pixie
Clark – Untitled 

Listen to Faris Badwan from The Horrors new side project Cat's Eyes.

The Horrors have always been an impeccably cool band, but they were seen to be more about style than substance before the release of 2009's Primary Colours album. Their debut Strange House was their effort at modern garage rock while Primary Colours gave them the "hip" status and recognition with the taste makers, as well as earning them a Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize nomination.

Lead vocalist Faris Badwan however has decided to take a break from his band mates and the advantageous position The Horrors are now in to form a new project with Canadian classical musician Rachel Zaffira, called Cat's Eyes. They performed their first gig in St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican City last month and you can see some of the footage below.

Cat's Eyes are releasing their debut EP in February and an album in April but if you head over to www.catseyesmusic.com you can get a gorgeous download of Not A Friend from the duo. 

The track itself is delicate with an alluring edge and is slightly reminiscent of the Beach Boys classic God Only Knows even without that intention. Not A Friend is definitely worth the download whether you are a Horrors fan or not.

Video: Twin Atlantic - Edit Me

So 2011 is the year we lucky people finally get to hear a full length release from Scottish rockers Twin Atlantic! The first taster from the album is new single Edit Me, three minutes of good solid rock which goes to prove that this band have more than another mini album in them. Earlier this week Twin Atlantic revealed that their new album titled Free, shall be released sometime in April, but in the meantime wrap your ears around Edit Me which get's it's official release on February 11th.

Photo's: Twin Atlantic live @ The O2 Dublin, September 2010

Video: Laura Marling - The Needle & The Damage Done.

While many artists have attempted to cover various Neil Young songs over the years and some very badly (I'm looking at you Tori Amos and Duran Duran), it's always quite a treat when someone gets it right. Last month Laura Marling released a version of The Needle And The Damage Done and it's superb.

The track was produced by Jack White who seems to have a great knack for producing quality country rock tracks and the video is also a very nice and clever animation by Redman and Sasufi. Enjoy!

Video: Gorillaz Feat. Snoop - Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach

The mighty Snoop teamed up with Gorillaz earlier this year for the intro song on Plastic Beach, with Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach and they have just released the video to it. Snoop is on Plastic Beach and looks quite dapper in this top hat and embellished tail coat but I don't think you could expect anything less.

Live Photos: LCD Soundystem Live In Tripod November 21st 2010

Last Sunday saw LCD Soundsystem take to the stage for a third time over the weekend to ensure it was one of the gigs of the year in Tripod, Dublin. Being a Sunday and a busy gig weekend about town, I almost expected a subdued crowd in Tripod, but wonderfully that was not the case as James Murphy and his band of merry men and woman, slammed out two fantastic hours of non stop party filled tunes. Personal favourites Losing My Edge and Someone Great were outstanding, while Yeah almost had the roof lift off the building. All My Friends finished the nights proceedings and the tingling down my spine told me that we were witnessing something quite special.

Here are some photos I took on the night and if you happened to miss it, do yourself a favour and go see them if they ever come back.

James Murphy

Pat Mahony


Nancy Whang

James Murphy

Dave Scott Stone

You can view more LCD photos HERE.

Halves - Growing & Glow Featuring Jennifer Evans Live On The View

It Goes, It Goes (Forever & Ever) from Halves is one of my favourite releases of 2010. The intricacy on each track is simply quite stunning and the one track in particular that I have taken to listening to the most from the album is Growing & Glow. Last night they performed a gorgeous version on RTE's The View with Jennifer Evans on vocals. The album version features Metric front woman and Broken Social Scene member Amy Milan but this recording with Jennifer is equally as wonderful.

Live Photos: Paramore Live @ The O2 November 6th 2010

On Saturday November 6th, Paramore played in Dublin's O2 arena to a heroes welcome. I was lucky enough to have a photo pass on the night ans below are some of the shots I took of Hayley Williams and Co. with Williams sporting a shiny new pink hair do to kick off their European tour.

Hayley Williams

Jeremy Davis & Hayley Williams

Josh Farro

Taylor York

Hayley Williams

You can view the full Paramore set HERE and a big thanks to Warner Music Ireland for the photo pass.

Video: Shit Robot - Take 'Em Up featuring Nancy Whang

Shit Robot has released one of my favourite dance albums of 2010 with From The Cradle To The Grave. A real treat for dance fans this year. Take 'Em Up featuring Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem fame on vocals in particular, is an electro disco anthem in it's itself with it's breezy vocal and synth-tastic rhythms. The video has just premiered over at Pitchfork and it was directed by fellow Irish man Eoghan Kidney who has in the past been responsible for some gorgeous video's from Somadrone and Valerie Francis and this is as equally masterful.

Video: Shobaleader One - Megazine

Squarepusher has joined a band or at least created one with "a bunch of people you may or not have heard of from other bands and projects" called Shobaleader One. In and interview over on the Warp Records site, Tom Jenkins reveals the aim of Shobaleader One "The overall aim is to articulate my music through the medium of a band. I always thought that a band would be a limiting thing. I've got very used to being able to make music by programming or playing without having to explain anything to anyone, and I assumed it would slow everything down if I had to. Actually it has made it quicker because I'm not trying to be four people simultaneously any more".

The first track to get some airing from the their first full length LP d'Demonstrator, is Megazine. A little like Daft Punk if they combined some heavy metal riffs with their electro disco madness - which I like. 
d'Demonstrator is out now on Warp Records.

Video: Local Natives - Wide Eyes

If you haven't already watched the video to Local Natives Wide Eyes then you are in for a treat.

The story revolves around some poor bloke who is stalked by a crazy and in your face shark but finally cracks after one too many encounters with the big fish!

A lighthearted 5 minutes to a sublime and elegantly performed track. Wide Eyes is from Local Natives' 2009 critically acclaimed debut Gorilla Manor.

Live Photos: Hard Working Class Heroes 2010

Last weekend The Hard Working Class Heroes Festival took place over three days, in 6 venues at night and 16 venues during the day. 

With a champion lineup in place to keep you gloriously running around from venue to venue, it made me very proud to be part of something that showcased some of the incredible talent that's coming out of Ireland right now. Whether you attended as a punter, volunteer, journalist, panelist, photographer etc it doesn't matter, as anyone I spoke to seemed to bask in the enthusiasm of it all. There were timetable clashes galore, but it's a festival after all and I tried to meet a nice balance of new music (I finally managed to see Enemies - a definite highlight) and familiar (The wonderful Halves, energetic Le Galaxie and loud and brilliant Le Faro) and it paid off nicely.

Also at this years festival I was picked to showcase one of my photo's at the HWCH Photography exhibition which runs in The Workmans Club, Dublin until October 30th, so pop on down if you get a chance as there is some fantastic shots on display from 14 other photographers too. 

In between venue hopping and watching bands I managed to take a few shots over the weekend. Some of which you can see below and the full set you can view here.

Congrats to all involved for pulling off such a fantastic weekend!

The Holy Innocents

The Dirty 9s

The Evening Watch

Enemies

Halves

Le Galaxie

The Cast Of Cheers

Babe, Terror - 'Havai' (Memory Tapes Rework)

You might have guessed by now that I am a Memory Tapes fan since I post a lot of his remixes and reworks on this blog. So here is another, a wonderful rework of Babe, Terror's Havai and it's nothing short of stellar. Babe, Terror uses his voice and lo-fi recording equipment to make music, making it a fantastic template for the mesmerising stylings created by Memory Tapes. The accompanying video was shot with an intangible and vintage feel which I suppose reflects the rework itself. It's a good one for a Friday!

The 'Havai'/Epicentro EP is out on Monday on Phantasy Sound with the original track and re-workings from Memory Tapes and Duke Dumont.

Listen To Spies - Liars Call Me King EP With Free Download

Spies first came to my attention last year when a friend recommended them to play a gig I was putting on in The Twisted Pepper. They were then called Lumiere and I instantly loved their post punk tones, dipped in contorted Indie murmurs that were reminiscent of Joy Division and Interpol.

So it is a year later and they are just about to release their first proper EP Liars Call Me King on 7"and free digital download via their Bandcamp Page. This three track EP has seen Spies flourish confidently as a band and develop into something quite exciting. Liars Call Me King, Falter and Fill The Silence make up this fantastic 3 track EP and you can avail of them digitally for free by heading to their Bandcamp Page.

If you like what you hear, you will be able to grab your copy of the 7" from October 27th in Ireland in Tower Records and any other decent record shops.

Video: Crystal Fighters - Follow

I am addicted to the brand new single from Crystal Fighters called Follow. It's definitely one of those songs that keeps building in pace until you are practically dancing around the room like a lunatic. The video is a multicoloured event and was directed by Ian Pons Jewell.

Follow is the song to start your weekend to - so watch, listen and dance and it's out in Ireland today and the UK on Monday September 27th.

Video: Abe Vigoda - Throwing Shade

To coincide with the release of their third studio album Crush,  Abe Vigoda have dropped the video to album track Throwing Shade upon us. The song and album itself sees a departure of the tropical punk stylings of 2008's release Skeleton, inviting in a more danceable sound. Crush can take the nu wave route at times and Throwing Shade is a fine example of that, but the album as a whole is still stamped with the clamorous guitars and fast paced rhythm Abe Vigoda are famous for, just this time alongside more synths and sequencers. 
Throwing Shade was directed by Vice Cooler and Crush is out now on Bella Union

Video: Ok Go - White Knuckles

OK Go are definitely renowned for their pretty stunning video's and their video to the seriously funky White Knuckles is no exception. In fact it's quite fantastic and for dog lovers it surely gets a ten out of ten. This is the best 3.36 mins you will spend today as it shall certainly make you smile (unless you hate dogs).

White Knuckles is taken from Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.

Clare Maguire - Ain't Nobody: Memory Tapes Remix

Clare Maguire is probably going to be championed as 2011's Florence, Adele or Ellie Goulding as it seems someone needs to fit into these hype machine shoes each year. Vocally though Clare has an old school bluesy folk style, similarly sounding to Sandy Denny or Maddy Prior. Her music however, is not of that ilk and Ms Maguire is more pop than 70's blues folk.

Memory Tapes has just finished remixing a stunning version of Ain't Nobody from the Birmingham lass and he wants us all to hear it. We end up floating in the dreamy, almost ghostly electronica that is typical of Memory Tapes in this remix, giving it a hypnotic and gentle build throughout the track.

Have a listen for yourself and if you like, head HERE to get yourself a copy.