Sleigh Bells Video Interview

We’re more than a little obsessed with Sleigh Bells right now. The new record rules and we were pleased to find this funny little video interview, featuring dinosaur impressions and tour injury tips.

Metronomy – The Look (Two Inch Punch Shook Shook Remix)

Metronomy are prepping a remix EP at the moment as well as a single for The Look – one of our favourites from last year’s record. Two Inch Punch is one remixer to take on that track and it’s absolutely huge. Check it out below, we’ve managed to play it a few times in a row now, breathing new life into a song we’ve played over and over this past year.

 

Stream Andrew Bird and Julia Holter records now

The reliable as ever NPR have offered up to excellent new albums for your streaming pleasure today. First up is Andrew Bird and his long-awaited ‘Break it Yourself’ album. We’ve been big fans of Andrew Bird’s work for years and eagerly anticipate this record. From a first listen it looks like it exceeds expectations and sets the stage nicely for Field Day and a big headline show with Eat Your Own Ears too.

Listen: Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself

Next up is a record that Field Day has had mitts on for some time now, Julia Holter’s brilliant ‘Ekstasis’. This droney, starlit record is a contender for album of the year already and a great late night listen. Dig in and give it some time to draw you up to its cloudy headspace.

Listen: Julia Holter – Ekstasis

New Vid: Beirut – Vagabond

Here’s a great new video from Beirut and visually/conceptually it’s a surprise they haven’t explored this before. Seems like a perfectly grainy take on their aesthetic. Great song too.

Zulu Winter – Language (First Play)

We sat down and had a listen to the upcoming debut album from hotly-tipped band Zulu Winter. The group have only been only been around for a minute, but their first LP sounds huge, and very very good to our ears. Here is a track-by-track of what you can expect.

Key to My Heart

The first few seconds of Language is made up of swarmed guitars and elevating atmospherics. The kick in eventually comes announced by some big drums, and it doesn’t disappoint. The whole thing sounds just as big as when we first heard the song live last year and sets the scene perfectly.

We Should Be Swimming

Next up is Zulu Winter’s recent single We Should Be Swimming, which swaggers into Friendly Fires territory, singer Will Daunt showing off his full croon in the chorus. It’s a tight pop song, and no surprise that it is getting support from the likes of Zane Lowe and even Fearne Cotton at Radio One.

Bitter Moon

A lot of these songs were written over the course of several months in 2011, the band recording in South London entirely for themselves before being discovered. Bitter Moon is a more recent addition though, and glides on atmospherics and sharp interjections – it sounds almost Springsteen-esque, bold, and very good.

Small Pieces

Another live favourite that the band have been playing since their embryonic first shows last Autumn. This one feels like another single, a big confident number and an album highlight for sure.

You Deserve Better

Six tracks in and the band scale things back a little. You Deserve Better starts out bare but gets bigger step-by-step throughout the track. It’s a measured track and one that wins us over with every new turn. By the time an effervescent guitar solo ramps things up we’re pretty much ready to throw our phone up in the air.

Let’s Move Back To Front

The song where it all started just 6 months ago for the band. This one came out on hot London label Double Denim and earned nods from the likes of Pitchfork. It swoons a bit like Beach House as it crashes into a succession of gorgeously airy choruses. Another big highlight on an album filled with them.

Moments Drift

A slower more atmospheric number. Daunt gets the chance to show off an upper register to rival any of this decade’s troubadours, but there’s a sense of uncommon restraint here and elsewhere that lends Language true depth of feeling.

Words That I Wield

This one builds on endlessly chiming guitars and subtle keys. Daunt takes centre stage again, and carries this type of song effortlessly. A descending synth line brings things to the cliff edge before a gorgeous end section.

Never Leave

Never Leave we also recognise from their debut single and it sounds sharp, bearing its teeth as it revolves on a vocal loop and eerie synth. There’s some big moments on this record, but the mid-section here is enormous.

People You Must Remember

Another great song and fitting end to a superb debut record. We won’t give too much away – keep your excitement shackled until it drops this Spring.

Video: Korallreven – Sa Sa Samoa

Here’s a new video for Korallreven and it’s fittingly slo-mo and elegiac, matching the track’s hazy-vibes. If anybody has been able to feel a little big of Spring in the air the past couple of days this will be welcome, it evokes the same feeling of everything good waking up at the same time.

Grimes Day

It’s Grimes Day – incase you hadn’t noticed. First an amazing story emerges about a Grimes riverboat adventure – Claire Boucher took to the Mississippi in 2009 with a friend, some live chickens and lots of potatoes. Read the story HERE, and curse the authorities who didn’t let this adventure roll to its conclusion.

Boucher has also taken over mega-blog Gorilla vs Bear today, posting some of her cultural highlights, and some pretty out-there GIFS. So head over THERE to check that out too.

Here’s a live cut for Yours Truly from a while back to add to the weight…

Sleigh Bells live from Terminal 5

Sleigh Bells celebrate the release of their new record this week and took to Terminal 5 last week for a show that was streamed online by Bowery Presents. you can watch the whole show in a series of videos on their YouTube channel. The whole thing is pretty euphoric and looks like a lot of fun. Check out A/B Machines above for a taster.

PREMIERE: Revere and Toumani Diabaté – Love Will Tear Us Apart

Here is a big exclusive treat for a Thursday afternoon. A collaboration between Revere, who appear at Field Day this year, and Malian legend Toumani Diabaté who played the festival in 2009. They take on Joy Divisions seminal ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ and give it a thick anxious air, but an enchanting and beautiful one nonetheless. It’s a great meeting of artistic minds and one we’ll be enjoying for a while.

Hidden Place

We love SBTRKT’s mask, but haven’t devoted a great deal of thought to what lay beneath it – both the man, and the origin of the mask itself. We found this chat with Hidden Place – the creator of the mask – fascinating though – as he talks about the meanings and connotations. We particularly like the ‘escapism from the ordinary’ idea. Anybody who has been to a SBTRKT show this past year would have felt that – an escape from ordinary dance show set-ups but something about the live performance feels even more extraordinary than that. Let’s hope they give out masks at Field Day to enhance that. Read the full chat below…

Hidden Place x SBTRKT

Andrew Bird – The Crown Salesman

Andrew Bird just let another new track go but this one isn’t from new album Break It Yourself but from a limited 7″ single of the same name. You can get an MP3 of lead track and Alpha Consumer cover ‘The Crown Salesman’ over on his Facebook page.

Field Day Guide To… Rustie

Rustie’s debut record Glass Swords just won The Guardian’s First Album award. He was up against the likes of The Vaccines, SBTRKT, Katy B and Anna Calvi – all acts who might have sold more records than the Scottish producer, but The Guardian plumped for Glass Swords regardless. It’s a record stuffed with swirling, glossy melodies pitched against a grimier veneer. His iridescent productions sound wholly unique in a time where electronic music is easily clustered into niché scenes and sounds. From early remixes to one-off songs like ‘Zig-Zag’ on Rough Trade’s 2008 Counter Culture disc the rise of Rustie has been a slow but satisfying ascent.

Here’s a playlist Field Day recently pieced together featuring a couple of those early tunes, some remixes and our highlights from Glass Swords. Check it out below.

Field Day Guide To… Rustie (Spotify Mix)

Sleigh Bells added to Field Day 2012 Line-up

As broken on our Field Day Facebook page, we are very pleased to welcome Sleigh Bells into the Field Day 2012 fold. The duo are back with a huge new album and we can wait to lose our minds to it at this year’s festival. Check out the video to their new killer tune ‘Comeback Kid’ below…

Toy’s 20 Tracks That Made Us

If anyone out there has a spare hour or so then NME’s crate digging with Toy is well worth a read and listen. The band pick out some gems, some obscure and some not, shedding some light on their own patchwork of influences. Check out the article below.

TOY 20 SONGS.

Outfit – Dashing in Passing

Here’s a bit of a side-step from Outfit – who grab their usual free and airy guitar music and holster it within a stranged, slow R&B-esque jam. The hooks are still there but in much slinkier surroundings. Once it worms its way into your head it’s there for good. Take a listen below as we await further details of an EP called ‘Another Night’s Dreams Reach Earth Again’ being prepped for April.

Peaking Lights – Weird Up Mix

Here’s a great mind-meld of sounds from the psychedelic and wonderful group Peaking Lights. This mix they just dropped is a satisfying jumble of blurred edges.

WEIRD UP 2012 mix by $LAYRON

Here We Go Magic – Make Up Your Mind

Here We Go Magic are back with a new record produced by Nigel Godrich. It’s out in May and you can download a first taste of it below.

Rolling Stones go behind the scenes with Here We Go Magic

Here We Go Magic have been recording with super producer Nigel Godrich lately – a cause of much excitement for us and many other we’re sure. Rolling Stone went behind the scenes of those sessions and managed to get some great shots of the band, and Godrich at work. Check it out over HERE.

Guide to David Shrigley and Field Day Acts

Cult artist David Shrigley has an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery at the moment which we thoroughly recommend. He’s also had quite a few creative run-ins with Field Day artists in the past, the highlight of which is Worried Noodles, a long album with collaborations between Shrigley and Franz Ferdinand, Liars, R. Stevie Moore as well as the likes of Hot Chip and David Byrne. Beyond that there’s a wealth of material online that is worth digging into as well. We picked out some of the best stuff.

First is a song and video that Shrigley made with R. Stevie Moore. Take a look at that provocative piece below…

The two also hooked up for a long conversation for Bomb Magazine back in 2007 too. The piece reveals quite a bit about the art of both. The chat makes for interesting insight and it’s always fascinating when two artists come together. So on to another conversation and this time Franz Ferdinand and David Shrigley trade questions for the Guardian back in 2005. Shrigley reveals he has recurring dreams about joining the band, of course. Take a read of that one here.

Finally watch and listen to a cut from Shrigley’s Worried Noodles with Liars, titled ‘Panic Button’.

If you get the chance take a look at the Shrigley exhibition which runs from the 1st of February to the 13th of May at the Hayward Gallery.

Django Django – Django Django

We’ve been gorging on the excellent Django Django record the past couple of days. It was certainly worth a little bit of a wait and is one of the better debut records from a UK band that we can remember. Best of all is that the record is infinitely previewable on Spotify right now, so go and have a listen.

“Django Django” on Spotify