Wayne Robbins and The Hellsayers - Lonesome Sea

Wayne Robbins & The Hellsayers, The Lonesome Sea

I found this album in the £1 discount box at Rough Trade records. Lucky for me. Why it was only £1 I do not know, probably because people haven't been braiwashed by advertising into buying it. Do not be deceived however because the treasures that you can find in music are sometimes hidden far away in the back corners of a record shop.

So I listened to the music and was pretty happy with my purchase, the album lifts you up and pulls your strings with sounds that range from dreamy slide guitar to distorted and noisy guitars all the while keeping the melody strong and impulsive. The songs draw you in and the album actually does sound like a lonesome sea, nice title. The album has a song called Forgiveness and that is by far my favourite.

Find them on Myspace

Download a track here for free, then buy the album

Hopefully they keep making amazing music, it is always sad when really good bands give up because the music industry was too busy wasting it's time and money on complete shite music filled with cliches, tricks, and gimicks. I'm hoping for a change in attitude but only the consumer can cause that to happen.

Tune Yards

Lady with a loop station, a little guitar and a big sound.
Watch the video to see how she puts together a song by recording in sounds. The latest craze for solo performers.

Bon Iver

His voice sends chills down your spine. He's the sort of person the industry would try to polish up but nope, he's keeping the beard by golly.

Free downloads here

The Low Lows

The Low Lows are a band worth checking out.

I saw them live some time back when I went to see Parkbench playing at the Luminaire and they were quite captivating. The musicians in that band reacted so well off each other and were able to use build ups in all the right places. When so many bands bombard you with a wall of noise this band had all the intensity you'd want without overloading your senses to the point where you lose interest.

They've done a CD which is not as good as their live performance but certainly is a really good listen. Go and see them live if you get a chance.

Free downloads here, listen and buy more

The National

I thought of Tindersticks when I heard The National. They are from Brooklyn and their music is quite beautiful.

Find them on Myspace, they are doing a tour and are playing the Royal Albert Hall in London on the 6th of May

Holly Golightly

Sultry singer Holly Golightly is definitely one for your album collection. She's supercool in all the right ways. She reminds a little bit of Mazzy Star if she was a rockabilly.

If you don't know where to start because she's done a few records then download some free tracks then buy your fav album

Sneak Preview of the New Listen Lisse Video

Raise Me from the album Pow Bang, the official video is to be released very soon, made and filmed in and around Stoke Newington and Hackney.

The Veils

The Veils

When I hear bands like this I can tell that they strayed away from popular culture a bit and delved into books and films that were rich in dark and mysterious themes or maybe it just runs through the songwriters blood.

They wrote a song called Jesus for the Jugular which is probably the best thing I've heard in a while.  He has a voice there is no doubt about that.  His voice ranges in emotional intensity and while they deliver a good pop song the thing which drew me to them were songs like Nux Vomica which in my opinion is them at their best and is probably more like how they sound live.  They come at you with violent stabs on the keyboards, drums and guitar then break into silence as the story continues.  It's a song about being angry about things that you should fucking be angry about and I would be annoyed at anyone who called this sort of thing disaffected which is a term I've grown to dislike.  He preaches "you see my sad wife and my high margin of profit, but you don't care at all"  then later he screams/demands/screeches out "I'll see you all and I'll raise you" with all the intensity of teeth ripping through flesh as it comes at you like a warning or a premonition.   While their music has this sort of violent intensity it also does escape into songs that are very listenable and he shows other sides to his voice and the music is melodic nice and catchy.

 I can't say enough good things about Jesus for the Jugular (free download)  but you might decide on your own favourites. 

Listen Lisse - Pow Bang

Listen Lisse have a new album - Pow Bang. Following the first solo album "It's Not You" comes another one called "Pow Bang

How did it happen?

"I started writing some new songs and one thing led to another, I wrote and rewrote lyrics many times until they were right. I quit my job for a few months, seriously annoyed the neighbours, some even moved out. ha ha ha. But this was all for a good cause so I'm not looking back in anger and I hope neither are they. I found some good buds to help me with the mixing and engineering, tackled the album sleeve myself with the help of a kind friend. I had to get a job again to finance the album costs but thankfully a few good friends pre-ordered the album which helped out. So basically what most women would spend on pedicures in a year I saved and spent on a new album. Where did I record it? At home of course but then where else could I really get that intimate quality in the music. The album is now on it's way to airwaves via radio waves, pass it on to your ears convince them to listen intently, have sympathy for the neighbours and know that I enjoyed making it so you will enjoy listening to it."

It's available on CDBaby

at iTunes

Read a review by Devil Has The Best Tuna

Download "On The Road" and other tracks for free

Problem Being

When Problem Being first come on stage you don't know what to think and then it slowly dawns on you - they had little or no parental guidance and this is their way of expressing it...

They are quirky, a bit goth and all dressed up to impress, I can see them doing really well in Japan where there doesn't seem to be a line between toys, real men/women, action heros and barbie dolls.....and I mean that in the nicest possible way.

Rosa Alchemica - Baltic Beats

Fresh Fresh out of the Baltic regions now living in London joined by a Kiwi and Englishman the band Rosa Alchemica have now released an album called 3000 Miles 3000 Nights. The band show a strong influence from the well known Russian band Кино (Ki-NO) led by Russian/Korean frontman Viktor Tsoi.
The album title references the 3000 miles travelled from Estonia, and the 3000 nights it took to finish the album, exagerated only slightly. It's got the kind of music only an Ex-Soviet sort of influence could conjure and which is something that gives it an edge and a sort of freshness that some pretty boy bands seem to lack. Play the album to your parents and they'll tell you to turn it down but then what do they know.

Quinta - medieval folk band

I walked into the Oto Cafe in Dalston one Saturday night and saw on stage a folk band that had the audience transfixed in a sound scape of minimal noises, folk instruments, vocal solos and choruses. They were part drama, part music, part out of this world. They summoned all the subtlety in the world that usually gets ignored in favour of the brutal expression of loud bands. Their stage presence was quite absorbing as they moved around in costume giving solos to various band members. They are doing a tour at the moment. Check out their myspace page

They've released an album which I've heard and can say really captures the same sort of thing they captured live. It's released on Taratuga Records. and is a limited edition.

Audio Porn - A Message from our Sponsors

Audioporn

I borrowed their new CD from a friend after seeing them live at Bardens Boudoir sometime last year.. The cd is released on Alien Frequency Productions.

So far my favourite song is Get up and Get Happy. The keyboardist and backing vocalist is the singer from Lynch Ryder Lulu, another good band to check out. Both have a natural ability to be sincere in what they do, you won't find ego tripsters here just good music and talent.

Get the CD here

The Devils Underground - Rosa Alchemica, Listen Lisse, Electric Litany, Tessellators

Halloween Party at Bardens Boudoir in Dalston London, 31 November 2008

DJs:

CatPaw

Plus:
Fire breathing Miguel
Hula Hoop dancing

bands:

Rosa Alchemica
Listen Lisse
Electric Litany
Tessellators

Blue Bambinos

24th October 2008
You only went out to have a quiet drink but now you've seen the Blue Bambinos and they've shaken you a bit now you're leaning on the bar with another rum n coke. They made a saw sing and the lights went blurry as the things you'd been bottling up all week were given a stir and now there's no stopping you and who knows what is gonna happen next. The singers howling about something and no doubt the dogs outside on the streets are doing the same. They've awoken the spirit of the west country in all its glory and now they are spilling it everywhere and most certainly into the little hole that had been getting bigger inside of you; now it's filled with all the angst and raw emotion that you knew you had and now it needs an object on which to unleash it. You contemplate this at the bar and order another round, you even steal money from your best friend to get another pint and take swigs from whoevers hip flask. The rest of the night is a blur and you never made it home in time to do all the things you had to do by the morning, and you don't really mind...because somehow it doesn't matter anymore.

They've just released an album...see their myspace for details.....
Blue Bambinos myspace

Stunsets - Electronic stunsetters

When you go and see a band on a Wednesday night and they make you dance you think two things; the first is that it is good that they made you dance and forget about your job and the second is how much better it would have been if it were a Friday night and that they had played for an hour instead of 30 minutes. A band that plays for 30 minutes and leaves you wanting more has passed a certain test by not making songs that just repeat the first song. Stunsets have this ability, first they warm you up in a kind of subtle way and then keep you elevated till the rest of the set. The singer has a strong voice that seems versatile and somehow reassuring, he's not edgy but rather has a essential kind of intensity that any good singer should have.

Their overall stage presence gives you the feeling that they are about pleasing the audience which is a nice antidote to the many bands out there who seem to disappear into a world of their own and ignore the audience.

It's the kind of music that your parents can be comfortable with which is a slight contradiction to the lyrics "your mother won't understand" which suggests that it is music and not just noise...

Hear them here

Alan McGee on Why I'm Giving up my label

This is an interesting read for all you bands out there waiting for the big "getting signed" might be worth thinking about ever wanting to sign away the rights to your music...

Alan McGee - article in The Independent

Order the 7" now before it sells out

The latest offering from Filthy Little Angels crams an astounding 19 tracks on one slab of seven inch sized black wax. Featuring the talent of label regulars Hyperbubble, Rocket Uppercut and Billy Ruffian alongside the likes of Town Bike, Geese and Listen Lisse, the compilation produces more pop-hooks in 17 and a half minutes than you'll find on most full-length records. The 'Just a Minute' 7" is limited to 300 copies and is released on October 27th 2008.

Order it here

The Intolerable Kidd

This kid is anything but intolerable really... he's doing fingerpicking on his guitar and wearing braces, he looks like a country boy from outerspace. He disappears into his own little world and recalls his stories for you to listen to. He doesn't talk much to the audience but that is nice because so many singer/songwriters seem to feel the need to be comedians as well as singers, but silence inbetween songs can be just as effective, if you have nothing to say then say nothing.

Go and see him playing if you want to be involved in his private world of story telling and acoustic guitar sounds... He's no James Blunt, thank god.

The Intolerable Kidd myspace

Bill Callahan - Smog

There is something untouchable about Smog (Bill Callahan), he started out recording his own music on low fi equipment and is known for his dead pan introverted style and lyrics. Here's a video:



Free Downloads of Bill Callahan here of course buy the album as well

Read an interview here

Lyrics to Bathysphere

When I was seven
I asked my mother
To trip me to the bay
And put me on a ship
And lower me down
Lower me out of here

Because when I was seven
I wanted to live in a bathysphere

Between coral
Silent eel
Silver swordfish
I cant really feel or dream down here

And if the water should cut my line
Set me free
And if the water should cut my line
Set me free, I don’t mind
Ill be the lost sailor, my home is the sea

When I was seven
My father said to me
but you cant swim
And I’ve never dreamed of the sea again