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.

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.

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

We sat down for an initial listen of the upcoming record from The Men and we were left pretty blown away by what counts as a really ambitious step up for the band. So here is what we made of the record track by track. Look out for more of these ‘First Play’ pieces soon.
Turn It Around

Fierce, big poppy opener from The Men. This song bares its teeth from the off but shows some big melodic touches too and some nice guitar work to finish things off. More Foo Fighters than Circle Jerks.

Animal

More melodic guitars on order here but with poppy new wave female vox trailing a shredded vocal. Two tracks in and this record is an awful lot of fun and sounding like a big step up.

Country Song

Not quite Country, but what you do get is some quivering, quick tremolo guitar and some gentle slide work in the background too. There’s a jangling restraint to this that certainly wasn’t hinted at by their noisy beginnings.

Oscillation

Country Song segues into mammoth jam Oscillations nicely. Low-key chugging riffs prop up drum fills and chiming guitar until the song explodes around the 5 minute mark. Glorious stuff.

Please Don’t Go Away

Some big emotional payoff with swirling guitars and a pleading refrain. More pop bent on this track and more thoughts of early Foo Fighters.

Open Your Heart

First single and (hopefully) everybody has heard this by now. Big song and a good indication of the rest of the record. Check out a live take of the song below…

Candy

Three chord pop song and some overtones of Velvet Underground. A bit more low key than the rest of the record but Candy lands some hefty emotional punches yet again. The impressive thing about this record is how deftly The Men turn out these huge, riffy guitar songs with big hooks but also manage to hit you squarely in the gut emotionally too.

Cube

Back to the beaten path for The Men and a noisy two and a half minute squall. A palette cleanser jam and one that will please any fans of their earlier stuff.

Presence

Another long song and a slightly slower, softer start but the track builds block by block as churning guitars start to pile up. Almost Krautrock vibe to this.

Ex-Dreams

Closer and it’s back into the fast lane with big riffs and hooks again. A great closer for a really superb record. Big step up from The Men and this could be their breakout record.

Great stuff as usual from The Guardian who corner Andrew Bird ahead of his performance in the boat that sits atop the crest of London’s Hayward Gallery at the moment. That show happened on Saturday and sounded fantastic so keep an eye on The Guardian who will be replaying the live stream magic from Tuesday for this week.

Django Django have kicked off the year with intent – their new record scoring high across the board, the highlight being a 5 star treatment in The Guardian..

Not heard anything of theirs yet? Well the hype train hasn’t left the station yet, catch up and watch their art-attack video for excellent single ‘Default’ above.

There’s been a bit of a tidal wave of buzz for The Men over the past few days from the likes of NPR and Pitchfork. The band are set to release a new record this Spring and it’s shaping up to be more accessible than previous material – a potential dambuster record, introducing them to a whole lot of new people. ‘Open Your Heart’ is a song they are letting go from that record and boy does it raise the excitement levels. Take a listen:

The Men – Open Your Heart by myblogcliche

We’re excited today to present a new raft of names for Field Day 2012. Joining the names you already know about as well as recent additions such as Grimes, Mazzy Star, Death Grips and Zomby will be…

Blawan
Blood Orange
Daniel Avery (Stopmakingme)
Django Django
Friends
Huw Stephens DJ
Julia Holter
Justin Spear DJ
Kindness
Korallreven
Koreless
Liars
Modeselektor

Look out for much more on the blog from these acts over the coming weeks as well as some exclusive content.

The week starts with some exciting news in the form of a track from Andrew Bird’s upcoming record ‘Break it Yourself’. The song is classic Andrew Bird but skews with the formula slightly with reverb heavy off-beat chords and pounding 60s drums. Dig in below.

You can also order the record from his website now in a variety of interesting collector-friendly formats here.

Eyeoneye by Andrew Bird

Here’s a new one from one of 2012 most exciting prospects Zulu Winter. This one continues on from ‘Never Leave’ with atmospheric synths and taut rhythms. They’ve got a sly love of an epic coda too. Looking forward to hearing more from them, with an album slated for late Spring.