Super Cute Voices!

You know how sometimes you here a band, and you just know they are special. A band you want to keep all to yourself but it is impossible, because all you want to do is tell everyone how awesome they are? Well, Super Cute Voices are one such group.

The Welsh two-piece is comprised of 18 year olds Stuart and Charlie, who hail from Aberystwyth and Llanelli respectively, and they make far much more noise than their diminutive numbers would suggest. I was fortunate to catch them live at an Aberystwyth battle of the bands competition yesterday, and even the compare seemed a little confused as to whether or not the band was ready to start, seeming somewhat uncertain as to if there was just two of them. Stuart handles vocal duties as well as thrashing away on guitar, whilst Charlie (a powerhouse of a drummer) hits the skins and sings all the vocoded vocals (oh yes!). However, what really makes this band stand out from all the carbon-copy indie pretenders is their use of electronic tomfoolery. All their songs are backed by a series of midi synths and 8-bit blippery, not to mention the most bizzare Japanese voice samples, all programmed by Stuart, coming together to make a complete package which sounds somewhat like the off-the-wall Japs, Polysics, or 70s new wavers Devo. Unsuprisingly, Stuart heralds these acts as their two main reference points, but that doesn't make their music devoid of originality. Rather the opposite: they take the prototypyical new wave sound and make it their own.

Imagine To My Boy trapped in a Mark Mothersbaugh's gameboy. Perhaps.

And if you are wondering who won the battle of the bands... well, let's just say the winners were cute.

Super Cute.

mp3: Super Cute Voices - So Desu Ka

mp3: Super Cute Voices - Work!

Post exams, pre lectures..

Woop. Finished my last exam on friday and since then have; drunk too much, wasted a day away being hungover, noticed that Aberystwyth has moved itself into a cloud, been climbing, eaten crumpets, and made postcards with far too many spelling mistakes in them for an English student.

Music wise 2008 has been bountiful, with the loan bringing the bank account into the plus figures it has resulted in me gaining far too many albums for me to type them all out (very much helped by a lovely housemate of mine :) However, I feel these definitely deserve a mention because they are just SO GOOD.

1) Erol Alkan - Bugged Out/ Bugged In mix
2) French Touch Anthology
3) Shy Child - Noise Won't Stop
4) Chromeo - Fancy Footwork

In regards to the French Touch Anthology, you most definitely get your money's worth - 4 discs costing around the same as a normal album. Currently I'm enjoying the second cd the most entitled The French Lounge however it has resulted in me daydreaming off into a world of black and white french films, where I get swept off my feet by a tall, dark, handsome french man... *sigh*

Anyhows, there are plenty of very cherry popping, heart meltingly good, bass lined beats to drag me back into the present day. Most noticably the noise is coming from those Italian boys; Crookers, Boy 8-Bit remixes and the Herve/ Sinden/ Switch lot.

To give you a little teaser, here is one of my favourites, and my aim of the next month or so? To get this played out in Aberystwyth, where it'll catch more than just myself hook, line and sinker...

Lethal Bizzle - Selfridges Girl Not On Myspace (Boy 8-Bit remix)

Enjoy!

x E x

A brief history of the twentieth century.

It is amazing to what levels I am willing to procrastinate in order to avoid doing any revision for my exam next week. Of course, there is far too much on the internet designed to help divert my attentions. One of my favourite past-times is to read up on little tidbits of history on wikipedia. Sad, I know, but I've always had a love of history, and it's pretty interesting stuff, honest!

One of my favourite things to do is combine this "hobby" with music, as in, find out what it is that so-and-so band are singing about. Now, there are only a couple of groups I have come across who do this to quite an extent, one of which I have never really given much time of day until earlier, when I heard they were releasing their third full-length. British Sea Power, Brightons's eccentric quartet, release Do You Like Rock Music? on January 14th, and from what I have heard of it so far, it sounds like a rather amazing record. Several years ago my good friend Robert lent me their debut, The Decline of British Sea Power, which I never got around to listening to, and until this very moment is still sat on my shelves back at home. God knows why I never gave it a spin, for they had so much going in their favour of me liking them: for example, their rather interesting stage shows which included dragging in folliage, stuffed birds, and a 10ft bear which the group would shoo of stage. Then theres the name, harking back to a nostalgic time in history when Britania ruled the waves. If that wasn't enough, they used history in their songs! Awesome! I feel stupid for never giving them a chance, but I can honestly say after hearing the majority of DYLRM? I am pretty much a fully fleged convert. They remind me a lot of Hope of the States, who split up some time ago, but released two brilliant records during their career, both of which take great influence from the past. My picks of the pack would be 'Canvey Island', a song about the flooding that hit the island in 1953 and left 58 dead (you can read more about it on wikipedia). Seriously, the song sounds massive, and clearly the band's answer to the question posed in the album title is a resounding "yes!" In 'No Lucifer' the assault continues, a track which sounds heavily influenced by Arcade Fire (ex-Arcade Fire drummer, Howard Bilerman was a contributor to the record), but none the less spectacular, with singer Yan informing the listener they "...can always just say no to the anti-aircraft crew, the boys in the Hitler-Youth".

British Sea Power's new record, Do You Like Rock Music?, is released on January 14th through Rough Trade, and can be pre-ordered here.

mp3: British Sea Power - Canvey Island
mp3: British Sea Power - No Lucifer

This neatly leads me on to my favourite band of last year, and one of my albums of the year, in the form of iLiKETRAiNS. The Leeds . The term 'library rock' has been banded around the group quite a bit, and this is a fair description of their blend of post-rock and wry, intelligent lyrics, which explore a whole host of topics from the ill-fated journey of Scott to the Antarctic in 1912 ('Terra Nova'), the great fire of London ('25 Sins') and the black death ('We All Fall Down'), the Salem witch trials ('We Go Hunting'), and a protest song at the results of Dr Richard Beeching's 1960s report into the railways, which reulted in the closure of many branch lines and the loss of thousands of jobs ('The Beeching Report'). As you can imagine, it's not your conventional topics of songwriting when in comparison with the majority of bands in the indie charts. But then again, that's what makes iLiKETRAiNS so special. In October they released their debut full-length, Elegies To Lessons Learnt, on Beggars Banquet, which is easily the most macabre and bleak album of the 2007: if it's happy-go-lucky indie-by-numbers you are after it's probably best to keep clear, but if you want to think about what you are listening to, and get a history lesson in the process then they could be the band for you.

And on the subject of wikipedia hunting, iLiKETRAiNS saved most of that bother by providing a "text book" with the album which gives information on the subjects they portray in their music. If only the history curiculum in schools was taught by iLiKETRAiNS!

iLiKETRAiNS's debut album is available now from Beggars Banquet, and can be ordered here, whilst their next single is released on vinyl/download only in February.

mp3: iLiKETRAiNS - We Go Hunting

mp3: iLiKETRAiNS - Terra Nova (taken from Progress Reform, 2006)

mp3: iLiKETRAiNS - TiNSLEYViADUCT (2005 demo)

Happy 2008 - Here is some sound.

I've been far too lazy this Christmas. A perfect chance for me to get back into the swing of blogging is squandered, with my time going into playing Wii until the early hours. Never mind, eh?

To make up for my absense I thought I'd put up a jumbo post of some of the stuff I'm liking at this current moment in time. Firstly, Okioki. Another amazing Aussie band, the Nintendo-friendly three piece from Perth have already played gigs with Hot Chip and Yuksek down under. Their myspace is a little vague with information, but they are worth a listen. Imagine playing guitar along to your gameboy and you are part of the way to working out how they sound. If you are expecting the art noise mess that Crystal Castles get out of nanoloop-ing and 8-bit sampling you may be a bit dissapointed, but if you're looking for a nostalgic gaming sound that could soundtrack games of the future, then this could be the hit your after.

mp3: Okioki - Defend the Gas Station
mp3: Okioki - Pocoyo vs The Incredible Machine

Next up, thanks to a heads-up from Gohan, his remix of fellow Parisians Thieves Like Us's 'Drugs In My Body'. This has become a personal fave of mine, and has been given quite a lot of playtime over in my media player. Thieves Like Us, signed over at Kitsune, ran a remix competition for the track towards the end of last year, spawning many a mix. Yet, out of the mixes I've heard of 'Drugs...' this is probably one of my faves. Tiny keys, synthesized choral line... simply love it. I've been watching over Gohan's stuff for awhile now, and if you haven't checked out his tracks over on his myspace, do so now! Thieves Like Us have UK tour dates in February, check their myspace for more information.

mp3: Thieves Like Us - Drugs In My Body (Gohan remix)

For our third sitting we have CHAINGANG. Flaming hell, Australia keeps throwing up some pretty awesome groups, this foursome hailing from Sydney. The email these guys sent me said a lot about the band all being from other bands, and having come together to create this slab of angry noize-rock. I haven't got an idea who the bands they used to play for were, but it seems that the line-up they are currently holding is pretty damn tight. Pulsing drums, dirty bass and heavy guitars, and with a distinctive punk attitude, encapsulated in front-woman Hayley's urgent vocals.

mp3: CHAINGANG - Get Off My Stage (demo)

Stimulation, I need some action.

If you haven't noticed, I love the Teenagers and I find that I have to write about them pretty often to relieve myself of the need that builds up inside me like steam in a kettle (as I did here and here). There is just something so fun about their minimalist blend of pervy lyrics, distinctive bass lines and tinny programmed drums. Sometimes I imagine that if it wasn't for vocalist Quentin's affected French accent the band would be rather plain, but after seeing them live I was totally enthralled. I think they are the kind of band which work better in a small venue rather than massive settings, as with my experience with them they made the stuffy Birmingham Academy 3 into the coolest party that you've ever been invited too. They are a band that actually appear to be having a good time on stage, especially Quentin who excels himself pulling (admittedly camp) shapes at the first sign of a camera from a hand sticking out of the crowd.

You may have heard 'Selflove', an album demo which was floating around on the blogs a short time back, but with the release of their latest single for Merok, Starlett Johansson, the band have renamed the track and unleashed it under the title of 'Full Flavor'. It is, as far as I can tell, a song about masturbation; a topic which seems rather fitting for a band who are renowned for writing rude songs. 'Sunset Beach' is an older song of theirs, but I still love it like I would I small child who happened to be mine. It sounds like the soundtrack to an American 80s TV show which you happened to stumble across on cable in the early hours of the morning, still feeling the effects of the heavy evening of drinks from which you haven't recovered. And then you wake up and realise it was all a dream, and you are sitting in your underpants in the living room, the TV throwing out nothing by static.

According to the band another single is in the pipeline, as well as an album, which will be on Merok.

mp3: The Teenagers - Full Flavor

mp3: The Teenagers - Sunset Beach

A foal is a horse that is one year old or younger.

Foals dress for the occasion and have awesome songs to match. Hailing from Oxford, these ex-art school types create a sound akin to Youthmovies crossed with the pop sensibilities of Bloc Party. The band won a lot of fans over at SXSW earlier this year, and with a couple of singles under their belt released on the Transgressive label, it could not be too soon for them to release an album. Did I mention they are perfectionists? In the short time they have been together they have recorded a mere handful of tracks, but the love and attention that goes into them is clear, as each one is pretty much near perfection. 'Hummer', a song the band describe as being about running, was their first single for Transgressive back in April, whilst the demo version of 'The French Open' shows the groups more progressive side...

mp3: Foals - Hummer

mp3: Foals - The French Open (demo)

Current single, 'Mathletics', is out now.

Behind my gameboy I got gamegirl.

Tranterco is one part of Melbourne's Gameboy/Gamegirl, who you will have surely heard of if you've had your finger on the pulse of the coolest blogs in blogland during the past year. Tranterco (who is responsible for the faux rapping in GB/GC) has been djaying for awhile and as well as throwing down tunes he also puts his hands to some pretty interesting mash-ups and mixes. Examples from his myspace page include a mix of Justin Timberlake's 'Rock My Body', and a mash-up featurning SebastiAn and 90s R&B outfit Bell Biv Devoe. My pick from what I have heard of his output, however, has to be his mash of Spank Rock's 'Bump' and Midnight Juggernauts' 'Shadows', and I've included it below.

I've also thrown in a Gameboy/Gamegirl track, so you can check out Tranter during his day job. 'Pumps Rumps' is, to me, a throwback to 90s group 20 Fingers' 'Short Dick Man' brought kicking and rapping (?) into the naughties, but like a million times better. GB/GG have got a killer sound, and Ican't wait until they release some new material besides the tracks over on their myspace. Head over to Hype if you want to hear more, 'Sweaty Wet/Dirty Damp' is highly recommended.

mp3: Tranterco - Midnight Spanknauts (Midnight Juggernauts vs Spank Rock)

mp3: Gameboy/Gamegirl - Pumps Rumps