Following their critically acclaimed debut Crazy For You, Best Coast have announced their second album will be released this Spring while their five-date UK headline tour will kick off this June

The as-yet-untitled longer player is currently being recorded by Jon Brion in LA’s Capitol Studios and is due for release via Wichita Recordings in the UK/Europe and Mexican Summer in the US.

The band, playing as an expanded four piece, will be playing the following dates this summer:

June
16 – ABC 2, Glasgow
17 – HMV Ritz, Manchester
18 – Academy, Birmingham
20 – Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London
21 – Coalition, Brighton
22 – The Garden Stage, Isle of Wight Festival

Tickets go on sale Monday 13 February at 10am.

As winter once sets its icy grip on these fair isles, Best Fit’s thoughts once again turn to a place that, to be fair, tends to deal with chilly weather slightly better than us. We’ve come back with a packed 20th edition, which finds us welcoming back some Oh! Canada veterans (No Gold, Elliott Brood, Hooded Fang, Chains of Love, BA Johnston, The Darcys), discovering new projects from familiar faces (Del Bel, Phèdre , Bernice, Marine Dreams, Whitehorse) and showcasing tracks from a host of our favourite new discoveries of 2012 so far.

Our thanks go out to Jon Janes for creating the artwork, and to all those who made this edition possible.

Enjoy Oh! Canada 20 and stay warm! Stream in full below or alternatively, download the entire compilation in a handy .zip file here.

You can follow Oh! Canada on Twitter @ohcanada_uk

Since selling out London shows at the ICA and Union Chapel, Canadian folk instrumentalists Timber Timbre have brought their ragged yet restrained blues-esque sound to ever-growing levels of musical beauty, developing a chillingly elegant, unwavering power over all who listen.

They’ve been announced as tour support for the forhcoming Laura Marling UK dates, before embarking on their own headline shows around the world including a date at London’s Assembly Hall.

March
1 – Corn Exchange, Cambridge*
2 – Symphony Hall, Birmingham*
3 – Colston Hall, Bristol*
5 – Gateshead Hall, Gateshead*
6 – Academy, Leeds *
7 – Hammersmith Apollo. London*
9 – Academy, Manchester*
10 – Academy, Glasgow*
11 – Victoria Hall, Stoke*
13 – Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham*
14 – Guildhall, Southampton*
16 – Islington Assembly Hall, London
(* = Laura Marling support)

Solar Systems is the new project from East London based producer / remixer extroadinaire Dreamtrak and Laura from indie pop upstarts Internet Forever. ‘Throw Your Hands Up’ is the duo’s first offering and is a gloriously upbeat hint of more excellence to come. Like most of Dreamtrak’s work, there’s a balearic tinged four to the floor essence at play with Laura’s relaxed tones pulling everything together. Realistically, this could well be a lost nugget from the heady days of Ibizia in the nineties – all sun-kissed and doe eyed. We approve.

The second instalment in Battles‘ Dross Glop remix series looks rather more exciting than the first, with Kode9 and Alchemist reworks sounding particularly enticing. Stream the predictably good Shabazz Palaces version of ‘White Electric’, also taken from Dross Glop 2, below.

Geoff Barrow never stops. The Portishead man’s Invada label goes from strength to strength, with a new compilation demonstrating the imprint’s ever-broadening horizons.

‘Your Breath Smells Of Paco Rabanne’, by Australian producer Katalyst, is the standout from that collection – a Beatles-sampling oddity that manages to sound like Madlib, Beans, and Dabrye all together.

Katalyst will also appear on Barrow’s forthcoming hip-hop project. The first release under his new Quakers moniker is out on Stones Throw later this year, and also features guest spots from Guilty Simpson, MED, Aloe Blacc, and many more.

Do you like to party? We do. Especially on a Friday. “We got the swag” – yo, just like the Beyonce (who incidentally has just filed to trademark her newborn baby’s name – wtf is all that about?) . Anyway, currently on the promotional trail for their delighftul new album Something, Chairlift hooked up with that Das Racist chap to cover Miss B’s ‘Party’ for Australian radio. It is, in a word – sexay.

Bruce Springsteen has revealed that Jake Clemons, nephew of former E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, will be taking over some of his late uncle’s duties on the forthcoming ‘Wrecking Ball’ tour alongside fellow saxophonist Ed Manion.

Speaking of his uncles passing last June Jake said: “It’s a strange new world without Clarence,” he wrote.  “He has given so much through the years, and now we are left with a gaping Big Man sized hole in the universe. Yet, as his gift continues to inspire, and as well all continue to process the vast changes of our reality, I again turn to music. It’s what I have. It’s what he gave me from the first moment of seeing him on stage. It’s what he’s left me with now, and the closeness and the love he and I shared will always remain captured in a moment through pursed lips on a metal mouthpiece.”

Photo: Dom Brady

KCRW’s Mathieu Schrayer is opening up his vaults of unreleased mid-00s gems. A couple of days ago we had a previously unreleased Dilla production – and today there’s a Raphael Saadiq track, produced by Steve Spacek, from a 2004 record that was apparently never finished. Guest spots from Common and Ledisi.

U.S President Barack Obama has compiled a 28-track Spotify playlist to soundtrack his up coming election campaign.The official mixtape, which you can check out here, features songs from the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Florence and the Machine, No Doubt, U2, Wilco and Arcade Fire.

Following the news that she will be releasing her new album Cyrk this spring, Cate Le Bon has unveiled the dates of her UK tour. Kicking off ahead of its release on 30 April the string of dates will include a special circus themed album launch party in London.

April
23 – Album launch party @ Village Underground, London
24 – Soup Kitchen, Manchester
25 – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
26 – Harley, Sheffield
28 – The Printhaus, Cardiff

Dark, dreamy and decadent, Oslo’s Maribel are doing a very good job of capturing people’s attention at the moment. Just ahead of the release of their latest album Reveries and following an extremely well received support slot to Lanterns on the Lake in London last month, Maribel’s Paal Espen Kapelrud talks about the eventful life of the band up until this point, and what inspired the creation of their driving, enigmatic, sexy new release.

Who are Maribel and where are you from?

We are Paal Espen Kapelrud, Lewi Chlopiski Bekkesletten, Rebekka Von Markstein and Liv Inger Engevik. We’re based in Oslo, but Liv Inger is living in San Francisco now, Rebekka comes from East-Germany and travels back and forth a lot and Lewi’s half Polish. We have had different drummers through the years. Even Aarebrot recently joined us. We hope he stays.

What do Maribel sound like?

Someone wrote My Bloody Valentine soundtracking Twin Peaks. I guess that’s a pretty fair description.

You’re about to release your second album, Reveries – how did the album come about? Where did you write and record it, and what were your main inspirations?

Most of the tunes were written in my apartment. The basic ideas at least. I recorded a lot of demos before we went in the studio. We chose to work with Bjarne Stensli (Harrys Gym) again. He co-produced Aesthetics [Maribel's 2009 debut album]. He knows the band well and has been around since the beginning. And he owns his own recording studio which has become quite an institution here in Oslo. I even think Bruce Springsteen recorded there once. Pretty crazy.

We wanted the studio sessions to be experimental and open. We wanted the songs to evolve and grow while we were recording. We recorded and re-recorded, mixed and re-mixed the songs so many times. Some of them ended up close to the original idea. And some of them were re-written completely. We wanted to have that opportunity on this record and we got that opportunity with Bjarne.

As for inspiration… Lots of things. Music of course. We’ve been very inspired by J Dilla’s work, Erik Satie, Burt Bacharach, John Barry, Angelo Badalamenti, Adrian Younge lately. Movies. Especially, the works of Joseph Losey. Literature. Read Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire while working on this album. It had an impact lyrically I believe.

The band’s situation has changed dramatically since you recorded your first album, can you tell us the story of Maribel since Aesthetics was released?

It’s not that dramatic really. Bjarne has always been around. Rebekka has been in and out since 2007. The main difference is Rebekka being the lead singer on this album. She was away when Aesthetics was recorded. Well… maybe a little bit of drama was involved. It was a chaotic time back then. It just felt like everything was falling apart. We kind of lost the track. At some point I just knew we had to close it down for some time if the band was to survive at all. But I continued writing songs and suddenly the time had come to record a new album.

Click here to view the embedded video.

With the changes in line up, what are Maribel now able to do that they perhaps weren’t able to before?

Having a lead singer in Rebekka made a huge difference in the way the songs were written. There’s more focus on melodies and structure. She enabled me to write different kinds of songs. The same with Bjarne on drums. We worked a lot more with arrangements and dynamics. The first record was kind of accidental. Reveries is more worked through.

As a band, who and what would you say are your main influences? Musical and otherwise?

Sound wise we wanted to have a 60s vibe on the record without sounding too retro. Burt Bacharach, The Free Design, David Axelrod, Joe Meek. We wanted to make something similar to those great soundtracks from back then. The Ipcress File by John Barry, Ascenseur pour l’échafaud by Miles Davis or Repulsion by Chico Hamilton and Gábor Szabó. I’m a big fan of the Raveonettes. But where they do 2 minutes 3 chords bubblegum pop, Maribel is in a way closer to jazz and electronic music. Someone described us as a post-rock band. Fair enough.

Lyrically I have to say I was really inspired by reading Flowers of Evil by Baudelaire. Literature in general is important. I love Dostoyevsky. Rebekka does too. I remember her tipping me off on the novel White Nights. I read it and loved it. I watched the movie Le Notti Bianche, which is based on the novel by Visconti right after. Just lovely. I guess film noir would be another influence. Both thematically and aesthetically. It’s so dreamy in a dreamless sort of way. The black and whiteness, the lighting, the endless repetition, the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped, the feeling of an image being copied over and over again. Until it loses meaning. I could relate to it. It made sense in an odd way. And Twin Peaks of course. The greatest soap opera ever.

Do you have a certain sound and shape that you aim for with your music, or do like to write by getting together and seeing what happens?

It depends. On the first record we just recorded the songs we had been playing live for years. On Reveries we went in the studio only with my demos as guidance. We did some pre-production but most of the songs were shaped in the studio while recording. It comes to a point when the songs start to live on their own and you feel like you do what need to be done to make them the way ‘they’ want to be. It’s a process of continually trying and failing. Rebekka asked me the other day: “What’s the theme for the next record?” I don’t really know that beforehand. It is something that comes when a group of songs all of a sudden have something in common. You never really know how, why or when. But it happens. It happened this time. It will happen again.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You’ve played shows with all sorts of brilliant bands – what has been a highlight of your live career so far?

Playing in London at the Luminaire with Crystal Stilts in 2009 was great. We really enjoyed playing with Lanterns on the Lake at Cargo just a month ago as well. I guess we enjoy London a lot. Really hope we can come back soon.

Oslo is creating some incredible music at the minute – who do you recommend that we listen to?

Le Corbeau. Carmen Villain.

How important a part has Oslo played in the life and music of Maribel? Do you think Oslo is a musically inspiring city?

It’s important because we live here. The band met here and nearly broke up here. Oslo is running through our veins. There’s been some talk about a particular Oslo scene. I’m not sure about that though. I feel people here are very individualistic. It’s a small city. We’re all living next door so to speak, but we rarely go visit. But when the night comes we meet at bars and have a drink or two or three. Then we go home. There’s a lot of excellent music coming from Oslo. But that’s mainly because of hard work. I believe you can find a strong work-ethic here. I find that very inspiring.

Does Maribel have a band motto?

If we had a motto it would have to be ‘Destroy and Rebuild’.

What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Releasing the new album. Playing live. A lot I hope. Hopefully touring UK and Europe. We are planning to release a remix album as well this year. There are some really good artists doing remixes right now. And we will record a new EP in the spring. It will probably have a cover of a Burt Bacharach tune on it. Pretty exciting.
Maribel release Reveries on the 13 February through Splendour.

We’ve already let you know that we love 120 Days‘ latest single ‘Dahle Disco’ a-plenty over on sister site Ja Ja Ja, so we won’t waste your precious Friday time on talk. We just want to tell you that you need to see this new video, directed by Joakim Faxvaag, for said song – taken from the album 120 Days II which comes out March 5 via Norway’s best label at the moment (?), Splendour.

Forthcoming 120 Days tour dates:

February
18 – Oslo – Sunkissed/by:Larm

April
13 – Malmo – Debaser
14 – Berlin – Berghain Kantine (Vice/Noisey.com party)
17 – Zurich – This Is Tiger Present @ Exil
18 – Turin – Spazio 211
20 – Rotterdam – Motel Mosaice @ Rotown
21 – Barcelona – Lolita
23 – London – Corsica Studios

David and Peter Brewis’ last release as Field Music, 2010′s majestic Field Music (Measure), was the brothers’ most accessible, most coherent, and best album so far. For all its sprawl and experimentation – spanning 70-odd minutes and two CDs, featuring ambient Eno-inspired soundscapes and what the band termed “‘found sound’ composition” - Measure showed Field Music, assuredly and confidently,  as themselves. Having spent two albums as Field Music and a solo album each finding their feet, David Brewis commented after Measure‘s release that they now felt it “sufficient just to be us”. For the ever-restless Brewis brothers, the solution to the welcome problem of following greatness has been to reject Measure‘s sensibilities almost wholesale. Out go the sweeping baroque string sections and the art-pop song structures, in come – in the band’s own words – “the surreal abstractions of 20th century film music, from Bernstein to Willy Wonka”. Measure‘s title said a lot about the music, controlled and orderly, a rare double album that flowed beautifully and never threatened to spiral out of control. Plumb‘s title is as cryptic as anything found within.

When I interviewed David Brewis recently, he spoke of how he and his brother feel “personally attached” to the album format. The traditional rockist/indie perspective on such matters is that the sum of the tracks adds up to more than their whole: “an album” is a work of art to be taken hollistically, to be listened to as a piece, not to be ripped and torn apart and sold for 79p per segment. “An album”, as understood by those serious about their music, is a singular artistic statement, of which we have certain expectations, stylistically, structurally, and thematically.

So just prior to the release of Plumb seems like an odd time for the Brewises to declare their love for the album format. It’s not that Plumb is an album open to being chopped and shuffled – far from it, due to the clipped, cropped, shifting nature of most of the tracks – but that, at full flow, it feels more like a dismantling of the album format than a paean to a dying art.

For a band frequently pegged as “prog”, Field Music are strangely averse to holding onto anything for longer than they have to. Prog takes its inspiration from improvisational jazz, building around a steady pattern and developing a single idea for as long as it needs to reach a conclusion, but Plumbfinds Field Music cutting away the building part of that trajectory, leaving us with a series of beginnings and conclusions. Several times on the album (notably on tail-end numbers ‘How Many More Times’ and ‘Ce Soir’) we expect a song to lift off, but instead it folds back, or simply fades out: the ellipses in the middle are left for us to fill in. Field Music’s sound and ever-shifting time signatures bear the hallmarks of prog, but this is prog as run through the filter of the schizophrenic, attention-deficit MTV iPod Spotify shuffle-button generation, where Queen flows into Justin Timberlake flows into Stephen Sondheim without ever blinking or thinking.A traditional “album” looks to ebb and flow, to build and release and climax; Plumb moves in more mysterious ways. Plumb is as schizophrenic as the world that surrounds it. Opener ‘Start the Day Right’ changes time signature twice, and flows into ‘It’s OK to Change’ as if the track hasn’t changed at all. Like of Montreal’s experimental Skeletal Lamping, which saw Kevin Barnes stitch together 30-second “clips” of tracks, questioning our ideas of what a song is, what an album is, without ever compromising on the remit of writing startling pop music, Plumb manages to be constantly gripping and engrossing while never leaving an opening for complacency, either on behalf of the listener or Field Music themselves.

Rather than building and releasing tension across the album, Plumb is unsettling precisely because you’re never sure where it’s going to go next. ‘Choosing Sides’, which opens with forty seconds of synth experimentation before opening onto one of the more direct songs on the record, is followed by ‘A Prelude to Pilgrim Street’, which sounds like the opening track to a concept album we’ll never hear. It’s disconcerting and ominous and, at under two minutes in length, it leaves you with a real sense of unfulfilled anticipation. The album rewards the listener who returns, but there is a sense that the great strength of the album – the rapidity with which it bombards you with catchy riffs and hooks – could so easily be a weakness when a great idea is abandoned too soon. It would be unfair to say that there are tracks here that feel undeveloped. Field Music are, if nothing else, dedicated to the communication of their ideas, but the cropped nature of the songs potentially leaves too much up to the listener.

Similarly, while it seems counter-intuitive to the praise of the cracked nature of the beast, the best tracks here are those that the Brewises allow to grow and develop without dragging in three directions at once. ‘A New Town’ rides along for four minutes on a simple funk bassline, letting its lyrical themes – an adolescent longing for the new and an escape from the routine, a counterpoint to Measure‘s ‘Each Time Is a New Time’ in which the protagonist found simple pleasure in a repeated action – be expressed. Closer ‘(I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing’ is a clear choice for first single, being the song that connects Plumb to Measure most obviously; and ‘From Hide and Seek to Heartache’, the album’s stand-out moment, slowly builds itself from a single repeating piano note, swelling into the closest thing to a ballad on the album. When Field Music demonstrate where they are able to go if they develop their elliptical fragments, they run the risk of leaving more to regret than to savour.

“My generation are opting out of choosing sides”, laments David Brewis on ‘Choosing Sides’. Plumb is an album which demands that you do just that. There are people who won’t like this record, but one now gets the feeling that the Brewis brothers relish such a prospect. Plumb‘s skittish, schizophrenic structure may aim to reflect the lack of attention we pay to anything any more, but through that it ends up demanding even more from the listener. It will divide people. But those who choose the side of Field Music, who explore all that this record has to offer, will ultimately find something worth looking for.

Buy CD or Vinyl

Carlson has overseen Earth’s development from drone pioneers who pretty much reinvented heavy metal with slower riffs (and invented Sunn O))) in the process), to a kind of super slo-mo dusty Americana: all blues, jazz and elongated country twang. It all began with Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method, then continued the progression with the “gospel” record The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull that thrived on the organ and brass of Steve Moore, before the first part of Angels replaced Moore’s blues with the cello of veteran collaborator Lori Goldston. With Adrienne Davis as always adding sensitive percussion and Karl Blau back on bass for the second time, Angels II shows that Earth are more of a band than ever before. Sure, Carlson’s languid guitar playing still dominates, but the integration with the cello, and the rhythm section, is better than it’s ever been.

Opener ‘Sigil of Brass’ (a sigil is a magical seal, and the mystical theme dominates throughout, revealing Carlson’s interest in the otherworldly, something he’s trying to focus in an epic solo project) might be the brightest and most accessible moment in the Earth canon so far; and while this gentle introduction is extremely pleasant, the real joys can be found in the slowly unwinding epics that follow.  Hex’s desert-noir has had a folk element added to it through Goldston’s cello, (whose influence on Nirvana Unplugged should not be underestimated); while Carlson seems to have developed a lighter touch in his playing, turning a track like ‘His Teeth Did Brightly Shine’ into something akin to the slowcore of the early ’90s. There is, however, still more of a weight behind what Earth does than was found in that genre, with Carlson still bringing the darkness as the track chugs along, sparked by some improv soloing.

The moment that best captures what Goldston has added comes with ‘Multiplicity of Doors’, a stately waltz that combines doomy cello with scratchy guitars, intimately recorded to give it a live feel and never outstaying its welcome in its 12 minutes. ‘The Corascene Dog’ has a jazzy swing to it, with Adrienne Davis’ subtle and instinctive drumming providing ballast that ensures the duet between guitar and cello doesn’t end up meandering. Final track ‘The Rakehell’ is simply a virtuoso performance from Dylan Carlson, his bluesy grooves building and falling, each note being hypnotically teased out for as long as possible before the track finally dumps us in the middle of the desert, abandoned and broken.

Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II is an excellent record from beginning to end; engaging and intimate, yet widescreen and full of ambition in terms of its themes, sound and construction. Some of it was recorded live in the studio as jams developed into songs, and this gives the album a natural and welcoming feel. Earth, by moving further away from their drone and noise beginnings, have become an even more interesting and exciting prospect over 20 years since the project first began – they’re by far the best act on Southern Lord. It seems that Carlson is intent on remaining prolific, and I for one can’t wait for what’s next.

Look, I’m not saying we don’t have stuff in common. We probably both grew up on a steady diet of Pac-NW proto-hipster rock, and I bet we both harbored a fantasy of being in a band throughout those years. But my god, you’re never going to hear a NPR-blogged tune as hollowed-out as ‘Thunderbirds’ again any time soon. Or a take on woozy noise-pop as utterly toothless as ‘I Can Be Dreamy’ again any time soon. Or a broken, Gary Glitter-aping guitar rumble as gawky as ‘CKSFAR’ again any time soon. Sure it’s noisy; if you’re nice you could say things like “rambunctious” – but without a meaningful song structure in sight all those catchy adjectives fall by the wayside. It’s a record that seems to come from a band that hasn’t written any songs yet, just a criss-cross mesh of brown-note tones and (wait for it) a fuzzy vocal channel. It’s not fun, profound, danceable, thinkable, likeable, or even all that hateable – this is empty-release-window music.

In short, records like Dracula are the kind of thing that the unacquainted use to call the indie-rock universe on their shit. If hipster-garbage had a calling card, it’d be Coolrunnings. They are a perfect example of getting caught up in the names, waves, and giddy, gimmicky chaff without first thinking about the music. The game don’t need them, and neither do you – in 2012 it’s impossible to fall for this shit twice.

A mysterious picture that features a map of Shoreditch while referencing Jay Z and Kanye West‘s collaborative project Watch The Throne indicates that the pair might be doing something at the pictured location today at 5pm. Reports from twitter suggest that he will be performing live, others that he will be screening the video for ’Niggas In Paris’ as well as announcing the dates of his forthcoming UK/EU tour. More news here when we have it

Three Trapped Tigers, without doubt one of the best British bands of the last decade, will be playing their first three EPs back to back on a string of dates next month.

As a teaser they are giving away three tracks from those EPs, which you can download below. Catch the band at the following dates (and take earplugs/a sense of wonder):

05 March – Manchester – Ruby Lounge
06 March – Cambridge – Portland
07 March – London – The Arch @ Village Underground
08 March – Cheltenham – Frog & Fiddle
09 March – Brighton – Green Door Store

Back in October of last year we met with Emil Svanängen whilst he was on a brief solo trip to London. In town to perform a low-key show to road test songs from his latest record Hall Music, Emil treated us to a stirring version of recent single ‘My Heart’ which left all present in the room collectively open mouthed. Not stopping there, we left the cameras rolling for a second song – ‘Violent’, taken off the 2009 album Dear John. The original is one of Loney Dear’s finest moments to date – the perfect juxtaposition of lovelorn lyrics and melodic purity all backed by a rousing, stomach turning rhythm section that soars and swoops in all the right places. Here though, Svanängen strips the song to its bear bones – extending it to a lengthy 8 minutes, the complex chord progression swapped in favour of percussive guitar and gentle pipe organ accompaniment triggered by a mass of floor pedals.

It’s everything you can expect from a typical Loney Dear performance: passionate, intuative, raw and incredibly endearing. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Photo by Magnus Blikeng - Caribou play 'Now Wave at the Apollo'

Like most Mancunians, I’m packed with civic pride. And, like a typically arrogant Manc, I will happily brag about my city’s success stories. Already, within this series of articles about Manchester, I’ve waxed lyrical about the gaggle of its fine new bands and have offered up the view that the gig-going community has a fabulous choice of venues to experience live music. However, there is another key element to Manchester’s current buoyancy; it can also boast a fantastic set of promoters.

If I am honest, up until recently I never really thought about the role promoters play in a music scene. The letters ‘SJM presents’  - for example – may have been printed on many tickets I had bought, but all I thought a promoter did was book a venue, place an advert in some music publications and then sit back and watch the money roll in. But, having stood at numerous gigs watching a new band play with only 30 other people on a dank Monday night, it has since occurred to me that promoting live music may not be a surefire way of printing your own money.

So, it is pretty lucky that some intrepid people do promote new music. Manchester has a great expanse of talented bands and can attract virtually any touring artist. It has some brilliant venues and a huge student population which are potential regular gig attendees. However, somebody needs to be the ‘link’ and Manchester has a formidable set of promoters who have connected new music to the people.

In my opinion, the best of this bunch is Now Wave. Over the last four years they have developed a formidable reputation in Manchester. The list of bands they have promoted is stunning (and reads like a ‘who’s who’ of the most exciting new music of the recent past), while their ticket prices are cheap even though each gig seems rammed with exciting support acts.

Now Wave is the brainchild of two people – Wes Killerbee and Jon Wickstead – and they are almost constantly out promoting their shows and talking to people about new bands. Coupled with the fact that the Now Wave ‘brand’ is finessed with beautiful, bespoke-designed [poster artwork and a gorgeous booklet, means I have been to many Now Wave gigs just because it is, well, them.

So, it occurred to me that Manchester’s vibrant live music scene doesn’t just happen; it takes a lot of hard work and dedication from people like Wes and Jon and I became fascinated with how they had become so good at what they do. Promoters like Now Wave have become central to the city’s success. With that in mind, I met up with Jon and Wes in the upstairs bar in a city centre art house cinema. They both order Earl Grey tea as are on a “month of detox” after a crazily busy end to 2011. If promoters were ever to be the new rock stars, Jon and Wes look the part. With his long vertical beard, Wes could be a hipster version of W.G. Grace, while Jon is as fresh-faced as is humanly possible for a twenty-something male. What becomes perfectly clear over our hour-long chat is their passion and commitment to Manchester’s music scene.

How did Now Wave first come about?

Jon: "We started Now Wave about four years ago. It came about from Wes and I doing club nights together and we had taken it as far as it could go. We were putting on more and more gigs through the club nights and it progressed from there. Plus, we’ve both tried working at office jobs and we absolutely hated it."

Did you have an initial vision for what you wanted Now Wave to be?

Wes: "When we were DJing we were noticing that the songs that were getting the best reaction were brand new songs – stuff that no one else was playing but people were hearing at home and really into. We took that idea and used it as the modus operandi of the live bookings. We would book the new bands that people were hearing online, and really liked, but no one else was booking."

So, I’m guessing the name ‘Now Wave’ alludes to that philosophy?

Wes: "Yes, you’ve got New Wave and No Wave, so we had the idea of being the sounds of now. It’s fairly self-explanatory."

What was it like when you first started out?

Wes: "It was pretty hit and miss."

Jon: "The second ever Now Wave gig we did the opening band were The xx. That was quite a good gig, early doors.”

That was amazing. How do you decide to book certain bands? Do you have the same tastes in music?

Jon: “We don’t have the same music tastes but music is the main thing we care about. The starting point for booking a band is ‘do we really like it?’ and is it something that we ourselves would pay to go and watch. Sticking by that rule has done us all right.”

Wes: “When we started no one knew who we were so all the emails were outgoing with us contacting people. Slowly, by working with small bands and – we think – treating them well, promoting gigs properly and having an eye for detail, bigger bands have asked to work with us.”

How would you define promoting a gig ‘properly’?

Jon: “Actually doing some work and promoting them physically. It’s easy to post on Facebook and Twitter and fire off emails, but a big part if actually getting out into the real world and handing flyers out, putting posters up and talking to people about music. That’s a big part of what Wes and I do.”

I can vouch for that – I have received flyers from you both on many occasions. There also seems to be a real ‘brand identity’ with Now Wave. For example, all of your posters are beautifully designed. How important is this to you?

Wes: “The artwork is a key part of it. Paul [Hemmingfield] is the unofficial third member of Now Wave. He designs all the posters and has done from day one. We design a poster for every single gig. It always goes online; there will always be a physical copy of it and now we produce the [quarterly] booklet that includes every poster.”

The booklets are works of art in themselves. Aside from the publicity, what else is critical to being a successful promoter?

Wes: “Well, it’s not like we book a headliner and then think that any old support band will do. There are often two quality supports that we like as much and fit into the headline act. For example, when Real Estate play [next week], the night will start with Childhood, who are a really good new band from Northampton, then it is Outfit from Liverpool, who are a bit better known. That is a whole Friday night’s entertainment at what we think is a reasonable price [£12.50].”

Jon: “We could have just put Real Estate on and let it sell out, but we want to make it a quality night. That’s really important in these financial times; people need a reason to go out.”

I’m assuming giving value for money has become critical recently?

Wes: “It is definitely more difficult than it was 18 months ago. People are choosing to go out less. Maybe people who went to four gigs per month are now going to three. Or they might go to the cinema instead because they won’t drink as much and they will therefore know what the cost is going to be. We have become very aware of keeping ticket prices as low as possible and providing as much entertainment as possible.”

How much thought do you give to picking the right venue for a particular band, or is it more a case of booking whatever is available on a particular date?

Jon: “Picking the right venue is almost as important as choosing the right band. A good band in the wrong venue can ruin a gig. There are so many good venues in Manchester to choose from, there is not really any excuse to put someone in the wrong place.”

Wes: “In general we will start with the band, and then Jon and I will talk about the size of venue but then after that it about where will this band suit. If you need to be able to see something The Deaf Institute is amazing. But, maybe if you want to feel something and be ‘in there’ then the [Islington] Mill is better. Death Grips was amazing at the Mill and I’m not so sure it would have been as good at The Deaf Institute. But, maybe if you need to really see the performer – like Peaking Lights where he is playing instruments he has made himself – The Deaf Institute is perfect.”

Photo by Magnus Blikeng - Death Grips at Islington Mill

How big could Now Wave grow? You are huge champions of new and breakthrough bands, but do you have ambitions to promote arena or stadium shows?

Wes: “We never set out to do big gigs, but we have. Over the years, enjoyed working with certain people as they have got bigger. We want to keep working with them. We first put SBTRKT on supporting Holy Ghost at The Deaf Institute to about 80 people. Then we put on Sampha, who is the singer with SBTRKT, to about 150 people and now SBTRKT is coming back to do 1,500 at the Ritz. I don’t see why we can’t keep working with him as he gets bigger.”

You also did a show at the 3,000 capacity Manchester Apollo? How was that?

Jon: “Good but stressful. It was amazing, if you see some of the photos from it. It was a real high point for us.”

Wes: “The Apollo is an amazing building; the slanted floor, the mixture of sitting and standing and the architecture is all incredible. Our gig was billed as ‘Now Wave At The Apollo’ – it was Caribou, Battles and a mixture of other bands and DJs. I’d love to do more gigs there.”

And, as promoters of new music, how much do Now Wave get involved with ‘older’ bands, or indeed the dreaded reunion tours?

Jon: “We have done some shows for older bands. We did The Lemonheads recently performing one of their classic albums, but that was just something Wes and I liked when we were growing up.”

Wes: “As Now Wave has become better known, we have been offered stuff that we liked when we were younger. Without a doubt, the emphasis is still 90 percent on breaking new and emerging bands, but just occasionally we will book older bands. There was The Lemonheads, Thurston Moore and Stephen Malkmus in quick succession, all of whom have been heroes for us.”

There are some other great promoters in Manchester. Is their rabid competition? Must Now Wave crush all others en route to world domination?

Jon: “It is healthily competitive, I’d say. There are loads of good promoters putting their own type of music on.”

Wes: “On the electronic side, The Warehouse Project are superb, Chris who runs Hey! Manchester does alt. country and folk stuff brilliantly. Luke at Lost & Found does more ‘credible’ NME bands and does it really well. Ciaran at Wot God Forgot does more the ATP side of things and all those guys are really good.”

Can we digress for a second? Can you give me an example of a ‘credible’ NME band?

Wes: “Something like The Vaccines. They are a good band and it is a good album. If I had a 16-year-old sister, I’d love her to be listening to that. It’s not quite for me, but it is better than fucking X-Factor rubbish.”

Ha ha. So, if The Vaccines are reading this Now Wave will happily promote your next Manchester show. Getting back on topic, I’m thinking that for a city to have a number of good promoters is a very good thing.

Wes: “Absolutely. Some cities get taken over by one promoter and it is at the expense of a diverse music scene. It is better for the bands if we are competing against each other. They have more options; they can get more money, they can play at different venues and it keeps the scene healthy for people who want to see a breadth of bands.”

And, can I also assume that you both think Manchester is – currently – a great place to be a music fan?

Wes: “Well, I’ve lived in Nottingham and London and Manchester is easily the best place for music. In London there are more things to do, but you can do less of them. There is slightly less going on here but you can go to all of it. In London, something you like might be on, but it might be an hour-and-a-half away. That’s effectively Sheffield for us.”

Jon: “You can do three gigs a night in Manchester – if you are quick. Manchester is a nice size for a music scene. It is small enough to feel like there is a community but it is big enough for it not to be claustrophobic.”

Finally, the question I’ve been itching to ask. Is there any money to be made in this promoting lark? What proportion of gigs do you actually make a profit on?

Wes: “It splits three ways; a third you lose on, a third you break even and a third you make money. You are just trying to tip those odds slightly in your favour. If someone tells you they know how many tickets a show will sell they are lying. There will still be shows you expect to sell 300 and they do 50 and there is no explanation. Afterwards you may have a vague realisation; you picked a bad night or the single wasn’t as good as everyone expected, but nobody really knows. You cannot control the weather and you cannot control clashes with other gigs, which is why we pay so much attention to the posters, the support acts, the ticket prices and the venues. That’s what we can control.”

To see what else John has to say about Manchester, have a look at the other articles in this series:

Sounds of my City / Manchester : Introducing Ghost Outfit
Sounds of my City / Manchester : Manchester’s Best Venues
Sounds of my City / Manchester : Introducing Patterns 

And to find out what treats Now Wave have in store, take a look at their upcoming listings here: 

Now Wave Website.

Outfit have the potential to be a very good band. Their early triple-punch of ‘Every Night…’, ‘Vehicles’, and the excellent ‘Two Islands’ demonstrated a group of songwriters with fantastically broad reference points. One moment they sounded like early Genesis, the next like a tunefully glum Aztec Camera.

Now, surprise new single ‘Dashing In Passing’ could be the work of an entirely different band. With vocals that sound like an (even more) unhinged Prince, and bass so claustrophobically heavy it threatens to suffocate the track altogether, it is evidence the Outfit’s horizons are even wider than they had let on.

‘Dashing In Passing’ is out now on The Sounds Of Sweet Nothing – who were also responsible for yesterday’s Song Of The Day, from the excellent Yoofs.

Taken from their forthcoming limited edition 7” single Drip Haze, due out via Marshall Teller Records on 27 February, Colours have revealed new track ‘Night Climb’ and its wonderfully kaleidoscopic video. Originally appearing in our featured Tracks of the Week back in November, their foggy, ambient sound was recorded by Rory Atwell – aka Warm Brains – and finds itself in similar territory to Deerhunter. Check out the video above and head here for more info on Colours.

Frànçois and the Atlas Mountains have had an incredibly busy start to the year. Their long awaited album, E Volo Love was released through Domino at the latter end of January and, since then, the band have dazzled audiences throughout the UK playing sold out headline shows and supporting the likes of King Creosote and Jon Hopkins.

We caught up with the band in London, where they conjured up this beautiful version of album opener ‘Slow Love’ – a delicate and playful love song, accompanied by coy smiles, glorious harmonies and some pretty fine dance moves. Sublime.

Rather appropriately released on Valentine’s Day, Tennis – a.k.a. Denver-based husband and wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley – bring us their second record Young And Old just over a year after the pair released their debut Cape Dory in January 2011. A series of songs written about their shared experience sailing around the Atlantic, Cape Dory was an album wrapped in whimsy and nostalgia, a romantic record of their days before married life. On their 10-track follow up that romanticism remains intact, even down to the album’s title – based upon Romantic poet John Keats’ work of the same name.

Awash with early ’60s syths and woozy odes to modern dream pop, Tennis inevitably draw parallels with the likes of Beach House, Summer Camp and Best Coast. Low key yet upbeat, each hum of Moore’s electric organ is wrapped in nostalgia, while her rhyming lyrics – such as ‘Travelling’’s “This must be rare ‘cos nothing else could compare, not that I’m aware of” – add further depth to the innocent poeticism present throughout the record. With its familiar melodies and vintage Beach Boys tones the album’s formula is simple yet slightly saccharine, particularly during tracks such as ‘Robin’ and ‘Take Me To Heaven’. Likewise each song is concise, all of them resting around the three-minute mark, a pattern that allows each song to slowly take shape before sinking into the next. Yet for all its passion, there’s no element of surprise during Young And Old. That’s not to say, however, that it’s a disappointment.

Album opener ‘It All Feels The Same’ is a perfect way for Tennis to submerge their listeners into the cool ripples of their lo-fi American surf-pop. Beginning with the words “Took a train to, took a train to get to you/Finally got there and I couldn’t find you anywhere”, Tennis carry their theme of travel and journeying through into album number two. While these lyrics are not exactly profound, in their own context they feel appropriate in their simple delivery, particularly when presented against the music’s soft backing tones. After ‘It All Feels The Same”s climatic ending, the record moves deftly into ‘Origins’, the record’s first single. It’s clear to see why it was selected as Young And Old’s introduction: with Moore’s arpeggioed verses and Riley’s reverberating guitar, ‘Origins’ is a euphoric clash of varying tempos and multiple instruments.

Fellow Fat Possum labelmates The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney was chosen as producer, for his own experience with self-producing, and he has successfully captured the home recorded, un-slick techniques that this record demands. This perfect pairing is most evident in tracks such as ‘High Road’ – where Moore mournfully notes: “Paradise is all around, but happiness is never found” – and ‘Dreaming’, a song that is as fanciful and hazy as its title suggests. Carney also crafts the band’s preference for flooding their melodies and vocals to the fore, unlike many of their musical counterparts who tend to wash their vocals with overpowering shoegaze synths and distorting feedback fuzz. Here, the vocals are not as densely layered as they were in previous tracks such as ‘Marathon’, Carney allowing Moore’s delicate, two-line vocal harmonies to shine through alone.

If there’s a negative to note, it’s that occasionally some songs slide a little too easily into one another, rendering it difficult to differentiate between them. As such there are moments where the momentum lags somewhat, particularly during third track ‘My Better Self’ with its slightly monotonous melody. Despite the permeating drumbeats at the song’s start, it plods along at one pace, with a minimal guitar line and barely audible organ melodies. While it’s not a bad song, compared with some of Young And Old’s other offerings – such as the ’80s infused ‘Petition’ with its high, distorted chorus, and the upbeat joviality and doo wop of ‘Travelling’ – it certainly lacks the lifting and lilting movement that the majority of the album exudes.

Of the ever-expanding wave of surf-pop bands to appear over the last few years, simply put: Beach House, with their moodier, more progressive take on the genre, do it best. Yet there’s no denying that Tennis have still come up with a joyful album, one replete with a lusciously summery vibe and a smattering of exceptional songs. With its romanticism intact, Young And Old’s lyrics echo the very promise of its title: it still has its youthful, innocent touch, yet also hints at its dedication to their musical past. During Tennis’ relatively short career the duo have clearly achieved much and crafted some sublime songs, yet you can’t escape the sense that with a little more variety their releases would go even further, both on record and in a live setting.

What’s sonically great here is the dissonant 1950s riffola employed on tracks like the twanging, horror-atmospheric Lynchian bar-room opener ‘Falling Down The Stairs’ and its second half mirror ‘Perfumed’, itself a clanging, sleazy slog boasting the knowing, shivering lines “Take me honey, please take me home/My little sweetheart waits up alone” – it’s a tearing little treasure.

There’s more of this swaggering slow motion rock ‘n’ roll on the shuffle of ‘You Bring the Sadness’, all rumbling guitar and torch-song vocals. Along with a couple of other ominous, chilling terror-sludge moments like the Cocteau dream state of the pacy, flailing ‘Meow’ and the JAMC candy-sweet stomp of ‘Jezebel Jive’, these are the most substantial and enjoyable moments of darkness.

Throughout, new vocalist Rebekka Marstein shifts between anonymous and prominent states, entirely dependent on the whims of production – a more consistent vocal presence would work so much better for them.

When they revert to more trad, obvious shoegazing styles as on the Cranes-alike ‘Pretty Nights’, a terrible, indecipherable and tuneless effort, and the comedically ’90s ‘Slumber Street’ which suggests a band with their eyes firmly on their trainers, a copy of ‘Loveless’ stapled under their arm, they can disappoint big-time.

Forgettable filler like ‘The Thief’ indulges in a bit of sci-fi sound silliness that’s only rescued by a whipcrack drum pattern; but then there’s the late-game album highlight of ‘Devil’s Sigh’ to be considered. Melting through their various admirable traits and employing each to its greatest effect it’s a memorable, feedback-formed, sexy, repeating delight.

It’s an album that follows neatly in the footsteps of the dark wave of Norway’s finest ‘gazers and also pushes the genre on a little – a good dose more affecting, stylish and filmic than one would expect, if not the total seachange for which one might have hoped.

So while they do lean towards Elliott Smith or (more easily achieved) Iron & Wine territory –  lands clearly demarcated with flags of whispered vocal, fences of honeyed instrumentation and, er, skies of sadness – this EP appears to be at least a minor departure for songwriter Mark Andrew Hamilton.

Basing the EP around the tapes his parents would play relentlessly on road trips when he was a boy in the ’70s, these are markedly smoother, more radio-friendly tracks than he’s delivered before. The fact that the title track itself sounds just like an easy listening FM radio hit of the aforementioned decade doesn’t harm matters thematically.

Compact, chiming tunes like ‘Winnebago’ closing with the cry of a self aware nostalgist “Your sigh just made me weep/Can’t put my bygones where bygones oughtta be” and the naïve, overly simplistic ode to lovers past ‘By Lamplight’ add to the impression that this is a record of pure intent – but that the intention may be straight-out sentimentalism.

‘Are You There, God? It’s Me, Mark’ has the best title of the year so far and is a dramatic piece of chamber pop most reminiscent of their “old” sound. This is countered by the excellent ‘One to Many’ – boasting the clearest, most intimate vocal performance of the set and swiftly dismissing the past in favour of an unpleasant present and an uncertain future with the damning “Here there’s no do-overs, no retakes my dear/And we’ll talk about next to nothing now”. It’s like a record arguing with itself about what it wants to be, and thus instantly memorable.

‘Are You There, God? It’s Me, Mark’ aside, the instrumentation and arrangements of the rest of the tunes here seem much more geared to potential populism, less to being self-consciously rural or pointedly indie.

Though the closing reinterpretation of the opening track accommodates an unsubtle middle eight with more grace than the original it still feels like a bit of a let down – following ‘One to Many’ we’re ready for another killer blow, but get a little pat on the back instead.

Woodpigeon, then, have wrung plenty out of just five songs here – evocative, effective and sometimes wonderful, most importantly a step, however small, out from under the shadow of their influences.

With his forthcoming record World, You Need A Change of Mind due for release via Polydor/ Female Energy Records on 19 March, Kindness have revealed the brand new video for ‘Gee Up’. Mocked up to look like a seriously low budget video main man Adam Bainbridge made a while back, the footage eventually cheekily pans out to reveal a big-budget shoot. The visual in-joke then sees Bainbridge squeeze in a “subtle” album plug before various members of the production crew begin discussing the shortness of the song, where the budget went and how it “would have been better two years ago!”

The vault of unreleased Dilla productions seems to be never-ending. This Steve Spacek collaboration was originally recorded in 2007 – but had remained unearthed until last night, when KCRW’s Mathieu Schreyer put it on his Soundcloud.

Latest Pictures signing Bobby Champs makes unashamedly straightforward tech house – the sort of music that could only be played in a huge room, on a vast soundsystem. Download ‘Moonlight’ below, and stream the forthcoming ‘All Night’ here.

Exploring some of the UK’s most beloved record stores, ‘Last Shop Standing’ is a 60-minute documentary film that isn’t due for release until the summer but you can watch a clip of what is to come right now. Talking to the employees at Rough Trade East, Sister Ray, Rounder and Resident the teaser explores the trials and tribulations of running an independent record store.

Based on a book of the same name by Graham Jones, the ‘Last Shop Standing’ documentary is a collaboration between Proper Music Publishing Ltd and Blue Hippo Media. The film promises to be “a celebration of the unique spirit of comradeship and entrepreneurial ingenuity that has enabled so many shops to keep operating successfully against the backdrop of massive changes in the music industry, the biggest recession in years, the growth of online file sharing, and the explosion of choice in music consumption.”

Anticon’s Serengeti is, according to his bio, a “proudly married, mustachioed and middle-aged rapper repping no-nonsense lyrics and a salt-of-the-earth swagger.” ‘Shazam’, a paean to Shaquille O’Neill, is delivered in a manner entirely at odds with that description. It’s deranged, calling to mind mid-’90s hardcore but played through the uncanny, psychedelics-in-a-Disney-castle-under-the-sea Anticon filter. Bizarre, and very entertaining.

Acts playing in Platt Fields Park from 9-10 June include, but are not limited to:

Azealia Banks
Crystal Castles
Dizzee Rascal
Django Django
D/R/U/G/S
The Flaming Lips
Friends
Ghost Poet
Gold Panda
Justice
Joy Orbison
Kelis
Mount Kimbie
Noah & The Whale
Other Lives
Pearson Sound
Simian Mobile Disco
Tom Vek
Twin Shadow

Head here for more information and confirmed artists.

Hot Chip, Friendly Fires, Metronomy and Mount Kimbie are just some of the artists Sónar have confirmed to appear at this year’s festival, taking place in Barcelona from 14-16 June.

The full line-up announced so far is as follows:

Azari and III
Blawan
Deadmau5
Fatboy Slim
Friendly Fires
Hot Chip
Jacques Green
John Talabot
Julio Bashmore
Lapalux
LA Vampires
Maria Minerva
Metronomy
Modeselektor
Mount Kimbie,
Nicolas Jaar
Peaking Lights
Richard Hawtin
The Roots
Thundercat

Head here for more information.

Another day, another Niki & The Dove post. Today the Stockholm duo reveal a new remix of forthcoming single ‘DJ, Ease My Mind’ that has been given a onceover by Jakwob. Taking the original, Jakwob morps the track into a brooding beast – stripped of its anthemic Eurovision-esque vibe, the listener is transported to a deep dark cathedral of dub.

The group are currently over in the UK on a whistlestop tour with all dates selling out way in advance. The Line Of Best Fit will be on hand at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen show on 16 February to provide DJ support. See you there.

February
07 – The Classic Grand, Glasgow
08 – Islington Mill, Manchester
09 – Seabright Arms, London (Sold out)
16 – Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London (w/ The Line Of Best Fit DJs)

With a few live dates lined up for next month, Bella Union signed Veronica Falls have revealed a brand new track, entitled ‘My Heart Beats.’ A swirling pop anthem punctuated by saccharine vocals and soaring, hazy guitars the track was recorded by Rory Brattwell on a freezing boat on the Thames just last week.

You can catch the four-piece live at the following shows:

March
8 – Leaf, Liverpool
9 – Deaf Institute, Manchester
10 – Stereo, Glasgow
11 – Stereo, York
13 – Haunt, Brighton
14 – Scala, London

Some artists dabble in paying homage to their favourite era in music. Others go full-on method – Jonathan Wilson belongs firmly in this category. The LA-based singer-songwriter resembles a finalist in a Harvest-era Neil Young lookalike contest with his lanky hair, dishevelled attire and air of perma-stoned laidback-ease. Little in tonight’s relaxed but spirited performance suggests Wilson and his four-piece band are aware it’s 2012 and not 1972.

Lifting judiciously from Wilson’s debut of last year – the wonderfully dreamy Gentle Spirit – with a few previews of fresh material, the set appears to lift its musical clues and templates wholesale from the few hugely productive years around the time when West Coast musicians soundtracked the fade from the utopian ethos of the late sixties into the crashing comedown of the early seventies . Many of the tunes aired tonight tackle themes – unity, gentle vibes, getting it together amidst natural beauty – that went out of style around the time irony and music first got together. A self-styled scholar of LA’s loose and laidback ‘Canyon Culture’, Wilson has revived a bygone spirit of collaboration between musicians by launching old-fashioned jam sessions at his Laurel Canyon HQ. His band pay scant attention to the clock or showmanship. In a way rarely attempted since auditoriums routinely filled with thick clouds of sweet smoke, songs are allowed to sprawl organically into epic durations, there’s guitar and organ solos galore, and tempos tend to hang around the area between sleepy and just woken.

Add to this an occasional whiff of incense drifting from the stage and it all might sound suspiciously like a credibility-stretching recipe for a musty post-hippie blues parody. Granted, there are times when the noodling is served in patience-testing quantities, and Wilson’s whispery vocals don’t always do justice to the melodic strength of his material, leading those in the audience prone to distractions to spark up conversations. But Wilson’s music is a more complicated beast than the vintage West Coast throwback shorthand suggests. The excellent rhythm section insert a sturdy backbone to such horizontally beautiful gems as ‘Can We Really Party Today?’, highlighting the captivating sense of unease that throbbed just below the mellow surface on Gentle Spirit. The duelling guitars of ‘Desert Raven’ and a funk bass-fuelled rendition of Gordon Lightfoot’s ‘The Way I Feel’ positively – in search of a better word – rock, forcing even the most persistent chatterers to shut up and listen.

At 37, Wilson’s done the rounds as a producer and a jobbing guitarist for long enough to not even try to attempt to please anyone other than himself now that the spotlight’s finally on him. Occasionally, he’ll lead you down alleys where few would want to venture. Most of the time, as when a particularly stinging guitar solo is unleashed during a noisy meltdown in the middle of an otherwise stately new ballad, inspiring a loud cheer, just like extended solos used to back in the day, he’s twisting timeworn templates into compelling new shapes.

I might be listening to a little too much D’Angelo at the minute – but really, the beginning of this sounds exactly like a half-time version of the intro to ‘Devil’s Pie’, doesn’t it?

Yoofs are a Bournemouth band who like reverb, whammy bars, and metallic distortion. ‘Hazy Days’, out today as a free download on The Sounds of Sweet Nothing, is a summertime waltz that immediately brings to mind the Electric Soft Parade, but that sounds like it was recorded live, to a cassette boom box, somewhere deep in the Pacific. The drums are particularly enjoyable here: snapping hats and funk-indebted snare rolls a-go-go.

Stream ‘Hazy Days’ below – and check out their labelmates California X, whose first track appeared last week.

Adam Ant, Josh T. Pearson, Inner City, Beth Jeans Houghton, Gilles Peterson and Scritti Politti are just some of the names added to The Apple Cart Festival bill this morning.

As previously announced, The Line Of Best Fit will be hosting the second stage at this year’s event; bringing some of our much loved acts to a multi-thousand capacity arena – however, we’re keeping our lips firmly sealed about the line-up – for now….

For the uninitiated, The Apple Cart was born last year from the people behind Field Day and Underage festivals, its aim to cement a reputation as a colourful festival of ideas that caters to adults and children alike. Adopting something of a melting pot ethos, The Apple Cart presents London with an entirely fresh, multi-disciplinary take on the festival experience: no other event in the capital has Turner prize winners and world class magicians and burlesque stars sit happily alongside arena-filling comedians and established music legends all on the same bill, on the same day. We’re proud to be a part of it.

The Apple Cart takes place on Sunday 3 June at London’s Victoria Park. For tickets and other info, head over to the official site here.

Anyone who has spent a night with members of Best Fit’s editorial team will know that bromance is alive and well, thankfully now Pulled Apart By Horses have confirmed the news. Taken from their recently released sophomore record Tough Love, the Leeds based four piece have revealed a new live video of ‘Bromance Ain’t Dead’. Recorded at the fan-only show at London’s Buffalo Bar last December, where the audience were told it would just be an album play back but it turned out to be a surprise live show, the video captures the first public airing of the track.

Having revealed the details of his debut solo effort Blunderbuss last week alongside his forthcoming single ‘Love Interruption’, Jack White has now revealed ‘Machine Gun Silhouette’, the B-side to that track.

The album, recorded and produced by White in Nashville, is set to drop on 23 April via Third Man Recordings/XL.

Speaking about the record White said: “I’ve put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.”

Rob da Bank has just revealed a whole bunch of additions to the Bestival line-up.

Appearing alongside Orbital on this year’s bill at Robin Hill Country Part from 6-9 September will be the likes of:

Adam Ant
Azealia Banks
Bellowhead
Caribou (DJ)
Charlie XCX
Field Music
Four Tet (DJ)
Gary Numan
Gold Panda
Justice
Lianne La Havas
Little Dragon
Michael Kiwnauka
Sigur Rós
Soulwax
Spiritualized
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
The 2 Bears,
The Horrors
The xx
Two Door Cinema Club
Warpaint
& many more

The full line-up will be revealed later today via Bestival’s imminently re-launching site.

This week the British Tinnitus Association aims to raise awareness of a condition that affects one in ten people across the UK – and of which musicians, DJs, and music fans are particularly at risk.

My ears have always been iffy. Gigs seem to affect me more than they do my friends. Particularly loud shows disorientate me, producing the odd sensation that I am stuck behind a thick sheet of glass, or wandering around like Travolta in his Plastic Bubble.

Until about a year ago, after virtually every show I would hear that familiar ringing – two frequencies, one slightly higher than the other, one in each ear. It would normally last 24 hours at most. Then one day, I’m not exactly sure when, it just didn’t stop. Now, tinnitus is something that I live with, rather than something that comes to visit.

My tinnitus isn’t particularly debilitating. It’s only really a problem in total silence, making it occasionally difficult to sleep. Luckily I live in the middle of a block of flats, in the middle of a four-block estate, in the middle of the East End. Silence doesn’t happen that frequently.

Tinnitus is one of the UK’s most common medical complaints – and yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. Around 10 per cent of the population suffers from the condition, which can manifest in countless ways. Everyone’s tinnitus is different. Some people hear a buzz, others the noise of waves. Others still hear bird song, or even music – auditory hallucinations which science is still yet to adequately explain.

There is also a significant range of potential causes. While exposure to loud noise is the most commonly cited, for many people the roots of the condition lie in existing complaints like stress, high blood pressure, or depression.

Tinnitus Awareness Week is dedicated to building understanding of the condition amongst GPs – many of whom lack the training to deal appropriately with tinnitus care. According to a new study by the British Tinnitus Association (BTA), there are some 750,000 tinnitus consultations in England every year. The BTA identified inconsistencies in assessment techniques and referral practices amongst GPs, suggesting that the care tinnitus sufferers receive can vary dramatically – despite the existence of clinical best practice guidelines. Following consultations, a third of patients are unsatisfied with their GP’s response – and just 37 per cent are referred for further assistance.

David Stockdale, CEO of the British Tinnitus Association, said: “The BTA has long suspected that tinnitus management offered by GPs throughout the UK varies significantly. This study confirms this and has also identified that, shockingly, a large proportion of people who experience tinnitus are not given information about tinnitus management.”

Anecdotal evidence suggests that GPs’ treatment of musicians and DJs is particularly poor. Doctors reportedly often tell patients that they will have to change their lifestyle – which, in many cases, means changing profession, and leaving behind the thing that you love.

In reality, though, tinnitus can be managed and mitigated such that patients can continue to enjoy and make music. Many of the world’s most successful artists suffer from tinnitus or related conditions. Thom Yorke, Neil Young, and Mike Patton are amongst the countless musicians who have developed strategies that enable them to cope with tinnitus, without having to turn their backs on music.

This year the BTA is focusing its efforts on building awareness of the condition amongst primary care professionals, and encouraging cooperation with specialist audiologists. But, while improving care is a key priority, it is also important to raise awareness of tinnitus and other audiological conditions amongst those who suffer from them, and those who are particularly at risk. Musicians and music lovers need to take seriously the risk of tinnitus – but we also need to develop better strategies for coping with the condition, and for ensuring that tinnitus doesn’t prevent us doing what we love.

Tinnitus tips from the British Tinnitus Association 

The BTA recommends that musicians, DJs, and concertgoers should use ear plugs. Personal experience suggests that you need to invest in good quality, flat response, fitted plugs if you are to reduce the risk to your ears while still maintaining a realistic listening experience. ACS are one of the largest providers of musicians’ plugs. You should speak to a qualified audiologist to make sure you end up with the right product.

The BTA has also compiled some tips for those who have already developed tinnitus, which you can read below. I find troubling their suggestion that homeopathy might be a reasonable response – but potential quackery aside, their recommendations seem useful.  More information is available on the BTA website.

1. Exercise. Exercise regularly to boost “feel-good” endorphins, to gain a sense of well-being and lower stress levels.
2. Relax. It is well documented that stress exacerbates the experience of tinnitus so try to relax as much as possible. Many people try acupuncture, homeopathy and reflexology to help manage stress levels, and in turn improve their experience of tinnitus.
3. Use music. Listening to music can help as it distracts from the tinnitus noises, but be careful to avoid prolonged exposure to high-volume levels which can make tinnitus worse.
4. Consider your diet. Take steps to improve your health through diet so that you are healthier and fitter, which can make you feel better when you experience tinnitus. Stick to soft drinks and herbal teas, and keep well hydrated
5. Investigate products. The BTA sells a range of products which can help. These include sound therapy systems; mood lights; pillow speakers; and CDs – e.g. relaxation and beach sounds
6. Get expert help. The BTA is a world leader in tinnitus support. Use the BTA’s freephone helpline (0800 018 0527) and website. Also visit the BTA’s online forums for further advice, support and help from other people who experience the condition
7. Join a support group. Join a tinnitus support group in your area or start one if there is not an existing group in your locality. Visit www.tinnitus.org.uk/directory to locate the nearest one to you, and for a free copy of the BTA’s ‘Together’ magazine which advises on setting up a support group
8. Talk to family and friends. Make sure your family and friends understand tinnitus. Point them in the direction of the BTA’s website. The more they know, the more they will be able to help you.

Pop music’s quite the thing isn’t it? Aside from wonderful artists making wonderful music for as long as we can remember, it also weaves tales that demand attention, stories of overnight success, or years of hard graft finally paying off; buskers get signed by label execs who just happen to have been walking by, or a waitress absent-mindedly singing to get through her shift whose life is changed overnight just because the big man from A&R was sitting there having his third espresso of the day. To this we can add the story of 17 year old Swede Amanda Mair, who at the age of 15 signed to acclaimed and revered Swedish record label Labrador (home of Club 8, Acid House Kings and the Mary Onettes). After being encouraged to record a few covers at the local studio by her mother, studio owner Tom Steffenson – who also happened to be the touring drummer in Club 8 – liked what he heard and alerted bandmate, friend and Labrador boss Johan Angergård to Mair’s precocious talent. With her voice unquestionable, Angergård roped in Mary Onettes leader Philip Ekström to write and produce songs that would best show off Mair’s talents. And as the Labrador site suggests, the sound they ended up with was “a young, Swedish Dusty Springfield produced by Kate Bush”.

The end result isn’t really the Swedish version of Dusty in Memphis (Amanda in Stockholm, anyone?) and it’d be silly to compare Amanda Mair to that legend at this stage in her career; in any case her vocals bear more comparison to Kate Bush, an artist Mair admitted she hadn’t heard of (more of which later) when recording debut album Amanda Mair. It’s a pure pop record, bearing all the hallmarks of a Labrador release: pristine production, big hooks, melodies galore and above all, plenty of quality.

‘Said and Done’ opens proceedings with some Eastern strings and develops into a mid-tempo song about having no regrets, with Mair backed by clever percussion and stabs of piano. ‘Doubt’ begins with Spectoresque drums and bright keys, and Mair singing: “I run from the people I love, I will always stay true to my heart”. The track develops into a fizzing ’80s pop song, and a chorus filled with, ahem, doubt: “I wanna become what people become, but I know I’ll stay here/I wanna become what I’ll never become, but I know I’ll stay here/It’s how you’ll be one step ahead of me, I let you be one step ahead of me”. This is the sound of a song written by someone with experience, sung by someone who’s yet to go through all the ups and downs of love but who can translate the song and relate it to her own nascent experiences. To do that takes a talent, and Mair has it: she’s got intuition to go with her great voice. ‘House’ is a moving song about an apartment shared with a former lover that no longer holds its appeal, and it’s here we can hear that Kate Bush voice in all its glory. The backing track is suitably epic and defined, but doesn’t overpower Mair’s voice by layering on the paino-and-strings motif too thickly.

The click and swing of ‘Sense’ is probably the highlight of the album, its ’60s girl group vibe a real delight, the lyrics telling a story of Mair trying to forget a lover, but seeing his picture wherever she goes. The video for the song plays on Bob Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, and there’s a very funny moment when the placards that Mair holds reveal her musical preferences: (“who is Kate Bush”, then “I prefer Spice Girls”).

A quieter, more tender moment appears in the ballad ‘Skinnarviksberget’ (a hill above Stockholm, and a fine place to hang out in the summer months), the song showing off Mair’s voice and piano playing. It’s also something she can directly relate to, being a track about the innocence of youth.

The second half of the record is something of a minor disappointment in that it doesn’t continue the strong start, but ‘Before’ and ‘It’s Gonna Be Long’ are both further examples of Angergård and Ekström’s innate ability to channel their pop sensibilities into something complex yet catchy, ensuring that Amanda Mair deserves her place in the ever-impressive Labrador roster.

For Amanda Mair to release an album of such quality, at such a tender age, points to an enormous talent waiting to blossom even further. Sure, the songs are written for her at this stage, but she continues to receive musical education – both formal and informal – and there would be no surprise in discovering she’s got an equally impressive ability for writing songs as well as singing them. Forget any comparisons; let’s just enjoy Amanda Mair and its pop charms on its own fine merits.

Karen Dalton belongs to this select gathering of almost supernaturally gifted singers, her mournful voice and unhurried phrasing injecting a compelling dose of road-weary, ghostly grief to even the few jaunty tunes that ever got to share space with the low-down laments and traditional ballads that dominated her song kit.

Dalton’s early life was conducive to a life-long bout of the Blues. After a difficult childhood, and having given birth twice at a very young age, Dalton left her native Oklahoma for New York, where her powerful performances in folk clubs gained her friends and fans of the stature of Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin and Fred Neil. But her boozing turned out to be just as prodigious as her immense vocal prowess. Dalton died homeless, broken and penniless in New York in 1993, aged 56, her small discography long forgotten.

In a world that tends to read an extra layer of depth into each muttering of doomed figures, such a sad, wasteful fate was definitely no hindrance in the foundation of the posthumous cult of Karen Dalton. But you really don’t need to be well-versed in the tragic back story to be sucked in by Dalton’s music. All the proof needed to justify the generous praise from the high-profile likes of Dylan and Nick Cave is clearly audible in just about every recording Dalton ever made.

Of which there aren’t too many. A chronic studio-phobe, Dalton made just two albums proper (1969′s It’s So Hard to Tell Who’s Going to Love You Best and 1971′s In My Own Time), and even then she had to be cajoled into a formal recording situation – not that you’d guess from the uniformly excellent results. Too uncomfortable on stage to commit to serial gigging, the vast majority of Dalton’s singing was done in informal sessions with friends, far away from the clutches of the music business. Recorded by Carl Baron, who lugged his recording gear to the remote Colorado cabin where Dalton had retreated to escape the hustle of New York, these 13 tracks allow us the guilty thrill of eavesdropping on Dalton at ease and in action, picking and harmonising far from prying eyes in her favoured private musical sphere.

Handsomely packaged, 1966 captures Dalton and then-husband Richard Tucker running through their setlist for a forthcoming gig. As stellar as the duo performances are, it’s probably not the best place for newcomers to start. As you’d expect from an amateur recording, the sound quality is fairly primitive, and the relaxed setting – you can practically smell the smoke from the cabin’s wood-burning oven – means some tracks evaporate before they make it to any kind of a satisfactory conclusion.

But at its best, 1966 is an intimate, raw gem, with both the fresh (at the time) material from Neil and Hardin, and Dalton’s trademark traditional ballads throbbing with a rare and convincing degree of hurt and longing. A near-spectral interpretation of ‘Cotton Eyed Joe’ is especially hypnotic, and a wounded take on Dalton’s signature tune ‘Katie Cruel’ packs a compelling howl of regret. Both are prime examples of Dalton’s key talent: tapping into the rich seam of sorrow at the core of America’s folk song tradition to produce music that’s not so much ageless as totally freed of such earthly concepts as time and decay.

Featuring a giant, living, sculpted version of the songstress herself, St. Vincent – aka Annie Clark – has revealed the brand new Hiro Murai directed video for Strange Mercy-featured number ‘Cheerleader’.

Niki & The Dove go super high budget on the new video for ‘The Fox’. Although the band don’t feature, some impressive CGI effects transform a masked character into various guises alongside some super impressive scenery, space scenes, flying mathematical helmets…. Oh whatever. Just watch the bloody thing.

February
07 – The Classic Grand, Glasgow
08 – Islington Mill, Manchester
09 – Seabright Arms, London (Sold out)
16 – Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London (w/ The Line Of Best Fit DJs)

Bored? Sick of the work stereo? Or maybe you just really like Wilco?

Well, we’re here to give you 50 minutes of salvation. Wilco performed a collection of favourites from a range of albums throughout their career, including Being There, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and their latest album The Whole Love, on Austin City Limits earlier this month. The stream also has an interview with the band at the end, so make sure you watch it all the way through!

I Break Horses

I Break Horses, Midlake and Dirty Three are just three of the artists that have been confirmed to play the Bella Union curated day at this year’s End of The Road Festival.

Having been regular attendants at End of the Road in its six year history, with the likes of Fleet Foxes, The Low Anthem and Explosions In The Sky having all graced the festival’s stages, the label – who are celebrating their 15th year in 2012 – have picked the following artists to return for the festival’s seventh year:

Alessi’s Ark
Beach House
Cashier No. 9
Dirty Three
Hannah Cohen
I Break Horses
John Grant
Jonathan Wilson
Lanterns On The Lake
The Low Anthem
Midlake
Mountain Man
Our Broken Garden
Poor Moon
Roy Harper
Veronica Falls

End of The Road Festival takes place from 31 August – 2 September at The Larmer Tree Gardens in Dorset.

The first album was a document of high seas and high jinx, of young love blossoming aboard a yacht heading down the eastern coast of America. Alaina  Moore and Patrick Riley, also known as Tennis sold all of their possessions to head off on the adventure of a lifetime on a sail boat that they’d make their home, and had such a great time doing it that they wrote a whole bunch of songs about the trip and named the album after the vessel that had carried them on their journey, Cape Dory.

Next up came months of extensive and intensive touring around the world, but the Denver based duo are now set to make a return with a new album, a new approach and a new addition. Having recruited touring sticksman James Barone into the ranks, Tennis set about recording their second record Young and Old in Nashville under the watchful eye of Black Keys drummer/producer/all round cheeky monkey Patrick Carney.

Young and Old retains all of the delicacy and the irresistible pop pinch of the band’s first album, but with added finesse and confidence. It’s a record which sounds like sunny days seen through a Super 8 camera lens, a soft and bright affair which is destined to accompany 2012′s summer afternoons. It’s also available to stream here on The Line of Best Fit, so listen, enjoy, and then listen and enjoy again when the record is released on the 13 February through ATP Recordings.

Catch Tennis at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen on 13 February, or at their special in-store performance at London’s Rough Trade East on Valentine’s day.