Jamie T- Man Machine video

Mr T as in Jamie not the bling wearing Snickers addict, releases his third track from Kings & Queens next month with the very brilliant Man Machine. If you haven't checked out Jamie T's second album yet then do so as it's pretty damn awesome. Man Machine will be released as an EP with three brand new tracks; Jenny Can't Rely On Me, Man Not A Monster and Believing In Things That Can't Be Done. This is the third EP from Jamie this year following the release of Sticks N' Stones and Chaka Demus and while he may have postponed his UK and Irish tour due to a bout of Laryngitis he promises to reschedule as soon as he is fit enough.

In the mean time enjoy the very catchy Man Machine.

Cassius- Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes: Video

French duo Cassius release a brand new EP today July 14th titled Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes on their own Cassius Records. It is a four track EP and the tracklisting goes as follows:

1.Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes (Single Edit)
2.Almost Cut My Hair
3.Y-S-T-C
4.Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes (Extended Version)

It's good to see the Cassius boys return on form and hopefully an album shall follow in the near future. You can here the first two tracks from their EP on their MySpace now and the video to accompany Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes features clips from cult film Gummo.

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Thecocknbullkid-Clean Apart: Free MP3

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to see Anita Blay aka Thecocknbullkid supporting Casio Kids and Friendly Fires at the Heineken Spheres gig in Waterford. It must have been slightly daunting opening for the full capacity crowd who were predominantly there to catch headline act Friendly Fires, but Blay delivered with a cool, sleek confidence and without arrogance, smiling back at the many faces crammed against the barrier to see her perform.

IAMSOUND Records have just announced that they shall be releasing an EP from the 23 year old synth pop singer from London in August titled the Querelle EP. It shall consist of four tracks Kiss Kiss Kill, Clean Apart, Boys And Girls and the very excellent I'm Not Sorry. To keep us happy while we wait for the EP release IAMSOUND are giving away a free mp3 of Clean Apart. You can get your copy here thecocknbullkid - "Clean Apart"

Check out more music from Thecocknbullkid below.

The Ambience Affair-Service Bell (Grizzly Bear Cover Version)

Cover versions can be pretty hard to get right.
However Dublin based band The Ambience Affair managed to perform a very credible version of Grizzly Bear's Service Bell (from Horn Of Plenty), at their gig in Whelan's last Friday night and also featured the vocal talents of Elaine Kelly from the delightful Carnival Moon.
The Ambience Affair plan on re-releasing their Fragile Things EP on June 1st which shall feature a new track titled Mockery.
Check out their version of Service Bell HERE and video to Vacant Hearts HERE


Read our review of Veckatimest from Grizzly Bear

Bon Iver's Blood Ban EP gets the review treatment

Bon Iver came rushing out of the darkness from a remote cabin in Wisconsin sometime around 2007 with the album For Emma, forever ago. At this point the band was simply Justin Vernon, forlorn singer songwriter who lived in isolation to bring 2007s answer to the likes of Iron & Wine and to rival Sufjan Stevens, who's rather lazy album production has left a perpetual question mark hanging over his head.
Now its 2009, the beginning at least and Bon Iver is now a three piece with Mike Noyce and Sean Carey in tow. The band has chosen to mark the beginning of the year with an EP entitled Blood Bank, 4 tracks of melancholic 'neo' folk about [perhaps] lamenting past loves or future lovers.
Firstly, there is no deviance here, Blood Bank could be another 4 tracks off For Emma... and it just seems like another 'why did they bother?' EP, that bands feel the need to release from time to time just to stay in the game, or make money, whichever comes first. Don't get me wrong, Blood Bank isn't bad per say, in fact the first three tracks are nice and neat little slices of folk ramblings, it's just that, in an age of downloading and more demand on content from the still-loyal consumers out there, releasing a 4 track EP seems a bit like a piss take.

The band may have won a lot more hearts by perhaps putting up the EP for free download, at least rewarding those once loyal. Instead I think people with downloading skills [so, nearly everyone] are going to think twice about buying the next full length release for Bon Iver, simply on the basis of taking the piss with this EP.

Now let me recap briefly before this turns into a rant about downloading and the industry doing nothing to reward those still loyal to buying music. Blood Bank isn't bad, the first three tracks, as I've said, are sweet slices of the folk dribbles we have come to expect since For Emma... and fans won't be disappointed. Things get hairy on the last track Woods with the Cher-ish vocals, but the less said about that the better, and who knows, maybe I was perpetually scarred by that vocoder all those years ago hence the sound of it drives me into psychotic spins.

So, this is 3 tracks of nice folk from one of the better singer songwriters of the last few years. Worth a spin.

Review by Patrick Fennelly

Abigail Smith: Oh Sam video

Adena Rice from the Tisch School of Arts in NY, has made a very brilliant video to Abigail Smith's equally brilliant track Oh Sam. It is beautifully edited and leaves you feeling quite happy after watching it.