Band of the Week: Marmozets, McFly and more!

So, we'll kick off this week with Marmozets. Female fronted math rock. Very scrummy. For now, let's have their most recent single, Good Days, which you can download from their BandCamp page. There's also a great video to go with it which I posted HERE.



Then we'll have the pop-rock band McFly. Because I love them. Also, their new single is rather more awesome than their other recent material. So let's have the video to said new single, Love Is Easy.

Next up, this piece of... almost loveliness. It's a track by Neil Finn which is going to be included on the soundtrack to the upcoming film, The Hobbit. I wasn't too sure about it when I first listened, but I think it's growing on me. Have a listen - see what you think.

Finally, a band I found by accident courtesy of the latest episode of the excellent QI. They're called Maxillofacial Death Pyramid. Forgive the slightly weird name, they're actually pretty decent. Let's call it hardcore punk. Probably not quite the right genre, but that's what their Bandcamp says and I suck at genres.


That'll do for this week, I think.

Band of the Week: How To Destroy Angels, The Grazing Saints and more!

My little spate of posting on a weekly basis got screwed up last week. Sad times. Let's see how long it lasts this time, shall we? On to the music.

We kick off this week with dark ambient/post-industrial-ness in the form of How To Destroy Angels. They have a new EP coming out soon (i.e. next week), or so I am informed by their website. Debut album is also apparently due out next year. For now, check out Keep It Together.

Keep it together by howtodestroyangels

Their debut self-titled EP is available for free download from their store HERE. Tis rather lovely.

Next up, some bluesy indie rock from The Grazing Saints. Their new(ish) EP Infernal Combustion Engine is a free download from their Bandcamp. Have a listen:



Then we'll have... hip-hop...ska...punk...rock? It's Sonic Boom Six. Make your own mind up on genres because I can't pick one. Have a listen to recent single Virus. I'm fairly reliably informed it's more electronic than older material, but I think it sounds pretty good.

Finally, we'll have Diablo Swing Orchestra. Again. Yes, I know I only posted about them a few days ago. Avant-garde, jazzy metal. Most delicious. And I think we'll have the same video again, because Voodoo Mon Amour is just so damn catchy.

As always, check it out and (hopefully) enjoy.

Current Love: Good Days by Marmozets (video)

So, Marmozets just released their video for new single Good Days. So much goodness. Need to see them live again. Anyways, get yer lugholes round this:



God, it's good. You can get the single HERE from Venn Records. Comes as vinyl or download. You can also get it from Marmozets' BANDCAMP. Go go go.

Band of the Week: Zoëtrøpe, Dana Jade, Verses and Hugh Laurie?!

What are we up to now? Three weeks of remembering to post Band of the Week? Hurray for regularity. Anyhoos, moving on to the important bits.

Let's kick off this week with the mad art punk of Zoëtrøpe. Here's the debut single from last year (I believe):

You can also check out their SoundCloud page, which has a whole bunch of other bits and pieces on it.


And now we'll have some punky rock courtesy of Dana Jade. Here's her recently released self-titled debut album:


You can also download her single Little Sister for free. Have a listen:


Next up, British rock band Verses. We're talking rock in the vein of Young Guns here. Good stuff. Actually, having said that... they remind me more of Emery. Minus the screaming. Anyhoos, I'm struggling to find a decent link for streaming, so let's have this little thing from YouTube of the track Who We Are from their new EP. I should probably point out that said EP (Come To Life) is being given away free with Rock Sound at the moment... Right, video.

You can also check out their Facebook page.

Finally, the loveliness that is the awesome Hugh Laurie singing. Y'know, Hugh Laurie of Fry & Laurie and Blackadder fame? And assorted other brilliance. Or, for American readers, House. He released an album of blues tracks last year. Much loveliness. Anyhoos, enough babbling. You can get a free download of Guess I'm A Fool from Laurie's site HERE. GO!

That'll do for this week. Check it out and pass it on.

Band of the Week: Mandala, Plurals, & more!

Well, would you look at that? I actually remembered Band of the Week for a change. Considered renaming it "Band of the indeterminate time period" but it just sounded silly... Anyhoos, onwards.

First up we have English instrumental duo Mandala. Scrummy proggy, metally brilliance. Seriously good. Here's new single Wind Secular:


Next up, more instrumental prog metal stuff! Woo! This time from Belgian project Plurals. Have a listen to the Inner Planets EP, which is currently a free download:


Then we'll have the new (ish) track from Aamir al-Loki because I only remembered it existed last week. New EP should be coming soon, so that's also pretty awesome.


Next, I think we'll have Harlequin Jones. Dark cabaret loveliness. Yum. Check out The Bad Beginning:


Finally, not really a band, but I just had to share because they're absolutely brilliant - the re-issue label Dust-to-Digital. They take old recordings, digitise them, then release them as CDs and I have found some most delicious stuff on their BandCamp. For the purposes of this post, let's have this, which is the first disc of an album of upright bass tracks:

Randomness: She Makes War - Minefields video

Just thought I'd share the video for the lovely She Makes War's new single Minefields. Here you go:

And while you're at it, why not check out the single on Bandcamp, which comes with a live album. If you really want to, you can download it for free, but I suggest you chip in a couple of quid at least. She deserves it.

God, it's posts galore this week, isn't it? Let's hope I can keep it up.

Band of the Week: Patricia Wake, Circus Contraption, Jill Tracy & assorted Minecraft wotsits

Oh my, Band of the Week? The joy.

Well, maybe not joy, but hey - Band of the Week is here again! It's now probably more like Band-of-the-whenever-the-hell-I-remember-to-post, but it'll do. Let's kick off with the glorious acoustic loveliness of Patricia Wake - a little dark, sometimes sad and some odd references to entropy... Inner geek is loving the entropy references.



Following that, the joyfully sinister madness of Circus Contraption. Let's call it dark carnival - very jazzy with big chunks of cabaret and an overall circus vibe as helpfully hinted in the name of the band. Check out their awesomeness HERE.

Next up, the ever wonderful Jill Tracy. She's just released a Christmas album. Yes, I know it's only October. Trust me, you need to listen to this. Christmas songs + Jill Tracy = hauntingly beautiful magic. Have a listen, you'll see.



Finally, some assorted Minecraft-related goodies. Minecraft is a game. It's awesome. Even more awesome - THIS:

 And THIS:

And finally, this:


Does that make up for the lack of posting? Probably not but check them out anyways and pass it on.

Band of the Week: The Runaways, earthtone9 & Bitter Ruin

Soooo, first post in over a month. Not doing too well at keeping on top of this, am I? Ah well. Let's kick off this week's post with the classic all-girl punk rock group The Runaways. Y'know, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherrie Curry? General awesomeness. Here's their brilliant Cherry Bomb.

Next up, British alt-metallers earthtone9. They're in the process of recording a new album, their first in about a decade. You can still donate to their PledgeMusic campaign HERE. For now, check out recent single Tide of Ambition.

Finally, indie-noir/dark cabaret duo Bitter Ruin. Deliciously dark, quirky and amazingly energetic. All of their material is available on their Bandcamp page, but for tasters, let's have the Hung, Drawn & Quartered EP/mini-album.



Only three today, that;ll do, right? Check it out and pass it on.

Band of the Week: Slowcoaches, Luminal and more!

So, I initially debated doing a weekly/monthly "Bandcamp Finds" type thing, but we all know I'm useless at actually remembering to post things, so we'll just stick with the semi-regular Band of the Week. With lots of Bandcamp-discovered goodness included.

This week's kicks off with lo-fi indie rockers Slowcoaches. Another band I found through the apparently excellent Tye Die Tapes. Their new EP is released tomorrow, after which they're going on tour round the UK. Check out said EP, We're So Heavy:




Next up, Maryland based Luminal. Indie rock with synths, mainly. The vocals can be slightly awkward in places, but the music's pretty cool. Check out the album Overdraft, which is free download from Bandcamp.




Following them, I think we'll have Special Benny, sort of ambient, indie-electro-ness. Oddly (or perhaps not), I found out about them through the hit BBC children's programme Horrible Histories. I figured I'd look up the cast, just to see what else they'd done and discovered that one of them was also in Special Benny. So I looked them up and pretty much fell in love. So here we have Toys:




In relation to this, I found that the same cast member, Mathew Baynton, also has a solo project under the name Dog Ears. Beautiful acoustic indie-folk type stuff. Mrs Winchester is a personal favourite, but let's just post the entire So It Goes EP:




And finally, let's have She Makes War, indie gloom-pop loveliness from Laura Kidd. Her new album Little Battles is due out at the beginning of April, but for now have a listen to last album Disarm. It's available for "name your price" download on Bandcamp. I.e., you can have it free if you want, but I recommend paying something for it - it's very much worth it.




Think that'll do for this week. Have a listen and pass it on.

Band of the Week: more random discoveries!

Not Bandcamp discoveries this week (well, maybe a couple), but hurray for random 'net treasures.

First up (and yes, I know I've mentioned her several times before, shush), the delightful Aamir al-Loki. Goth-electro-pop. Check out her video for Don't here:

Next up, Fairy Meds. Female fronted punk rock. Another random Bandcamp discovery.

(tis free download, by the way...)

And then... let's have letlive., who I've also mentioned a couple of times before in relation to their amazing live show. Progressive post-hardcore loveliness. Here's the latest video for Muther:

Next we'll have Cloudkicker, which is another Bandcamp discovery. Instrumental metal. Great for sticking on while working, I find. Let's have Discovery, since that's the album I actually have. There's loads of them though. The title track of this one is especially awesome.

(all of his albums are free downloads, if I remember rightly...)

How many's that? Four's not enough, surely?Ahh, I know what we can finish with. I rediscovered this piece of awesomeness last week and completely forgot to share. This is Pistol Youth's acoustic cover of Flo-Rida's Low. It's rather brilliant, as are Pistol Youth in general. Indie/alternative rock.

Off you pop.

Band of the Week: Bandcamp discoveries

Bandcamp is a wonderful website and a most amazing tool for finding new music. So I thought I'd share some of my favourite discoveries.

First up, Brighton's dark cabaret finest Birdeatsbaby. Scrumptiousness all round. Have a listen to their new album:



Next up, the ever awesome One-Eyed Doll. Female fronted punk-metal-rock thing. Here's their most recent album:



And then, I think we'll have Norwich locals Fever Fever. I'd forgotten that I found out about them through Bandcamp until I saw them supporting Fight Like Apes last year and realised I recognised the sound. They have a free download of their track Teeth.



Then we'll have the deliciousness that is Jill Tracy. More dark cabaret, this time with a more classical, jazzy feel.



And finally, I think we'll have Fawn Spots, because their new EP just arrived today. Hurray for cassette tapes. Lo-fi indie rock. All fuzzy and awesome.



Think that'll do, yes? Oh go on then, we'll have a pic of the pretty pretty tape.

Shinies.

Band of the Week: One-Eyed Doll (take 2)

I feel shit today. Guess what makes me feel better when I'm ill?

One-Eyed fucking Doll.

Given that it's just over a year since I first heard of them and they're still pretty much my favourite band (which is a big deal, given my fickle tastes), I thought they deserved a second Band of the Week feature. Prepare for video wall.

You're A Vampire

"Let’s go outside
And chase the squirrels
And drain their blood
Because you’re a vampire"

Nudie Bar

"Gonna rig up some propane tanks
Gonna light the fuse and kill some skanks
Gonna stand back and watch it burn
Maybe that will make him learn"

Fight

"Am I crazy
Am I deranged
Am I crazy
Or have things changed"

 

Committed

"To be a sheep; a blissful guinea pig
Ignorance is your god, too
Society awaits with open arms
We'll brainwash your demons out of you" 

Hoochie Mama

"I don't care about
How much you can lift
And I don't want to hear
Your new death metal riff "

'K, so not as video wall-ish as I intended, but I figure those 4 videos are enough to explain just how awesome One-Eyed Doll are. But just in case you need a little more persuasion, just check out how very endearing Kimberly Freeman is in this doc (and PJ aka Number 3).

Aaaaand, that has positioned weird and I can't quite work out how to fix it. Blame my on-the-verge-of-passing-out brain. Ugh, bugs.

Basically, One-Eyed Doll are most awesome female-fronted rock with an insane amount of energy and totally worth your time to check out. Keep an eye out for the new album, Dirty, which should be releasing in the next few months.

Finally, have a shit-ton of links. I wonder how much a shit-ton actually is? Does anyone else actually use shit-ton as a term or is it just me?

Shutting up now. Linkies:

Bandcamp

Last.FM

Twitter

Facebook

Youtube

Official Forums

Is that enough links, d'you think?

Current Love: Cut Ribbons' new single

Just look at it! It's so pretty. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of pink, but it's a cassette. A pretty, awesome sounding, pink cassette.

You can check out the single (Side A) on Soundcloud and the demos (Side B) on Bandcamp. Then go and get yerself one of these pretties from Club Kissability.

That is all. Just had to share the pretties. On a side note, I have a t-shirt with that print on it. It's made of awesome. Just have to wait till I get home at the weekend to steal my parents' cassette player.

Band of the Week: Cut Ribbons and Fever Fever

Oh good heavens, Band of the Week? Yes indeed, my lovely non-existent readers. This week we have scrummies in the form of Welsh indie rockers Cut Ribbons and Norwich art punks Fever Fever. In (the most likely) case that you haven't read my review of Fight Like Apes' gig at the Arts Centre, these two bands were the support acts. If you haven't read the review - read it NAOW.

So, first up, Cut Ribbons. In my review, I described them as non-descript indie rock, save for the male-female dual vocals. I take that back. Their live show was great, really great but I think I came to the non-descript conclusion too quickly. So, OK, there really isn't anything particularly new about Cut Ribbons, but how often do you find a band that does have that? What they do is really nice indie rock, with lovely vocals and some awesome sing-along-able bits. Have a listen:

Cut Ribbons by Kissability

And then go check out their Bandcamp, where you can download their demos EP for free. Their new single White Horses is out 26th December and will be available HERE.

Next up, Fever Fever. Three people making a lot of noise. Dual female vocals as well, which is awesome. Raucous and generally pretty damn awesome. Although I should point out that it seems to be very hard to translate their live energy to disc. That said, their recorded material is still brilliant. Check out the free download Teeth on Bandcamp, then I recommend getting hold of the Bloodless EP and new single Pins.




Aaaaaand, I think that'll do for now. Have a listen and pass it on.

One last little bonus - this only just came out today. Cut Ribbons' first video for White Horses.


White Horses from Cut Ribbons on Vimeo.

Current Love: Kimberly Freeman's new album

I was half tempted to write a second Band of the Week blog this week, just for the delightful Kimberly Freeman, but I held off. Current Love will do for now. And yes, I know I already wrote about her single this week, but this morning I got my hands on the new album "Into Outer Space" and therefore babbling is in order. And here it is:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I love it. Love love love love love. Ahem.

It's a beautiful album. Lovely mix of tracks, all in a generally electronic vein. There's some brilliantly upbeat ones like the previously mentioned Fame And Loathing. Then there's some gorgeously slow, ballad like tracks such as Fairy and Water Song (previously released to raise money for the Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami appeal). It all meshes beautifully as an album, right down to the last track Lost In The Sound, a new electro version of the song Ghetto Love which was on Kimberly's first album.

Kimberly and One-Eyed Doll, the band she fronts (who I also happen to love) have a ridiculously strong fanbase and they're making the most of that with this album. Manufacture of the physical album hasn't started yet and to fund it, they're using a pre-order system. By pre-ordering, you get an immediate download of the album, but you also get a physical copy once it's been made. Unlike most of Kimberly's and One-Eyed Doll's material, this album has no "Name Your Price (even nothing!)" option. But for a minimum of US$10, this album is well worth it. And obviously the rest of the fans agree with me, because the preorder is currently the top-seller on bandcamp.com. It was only released yesterday.

Sooooo, head on over HERE and have a listen to opening track "Into Outer Space". You can also check out Fame And Loathing and a new version of Float Away HERE which are also on the album. And then, when you've (hopefully) fallen head over heels in love with Kimberly Freeman's awesomeness, why not pre-order the album? The sooner they raise the money, the quicker everyone gets the album. Although going by how quickly it became the top-seller on bandcamp.com, I'm thinking it might be fairly soon. Go go go.