Old Panda Days

New Kanye jam leaks.

2010-09-29T15:11:00.002+01:00

Samples Bon Iver's Woods. Pretty amazing stuff.

Caribou: Daytrotter Session

2010-09-19T11:34:00.003+01:00

You can find a nice new Caribou session recorded for Daytrotter.

Caribou are amazing as a live band. I just wish that when I saw them, I could have seen them for a little longer.

Link

I'm writing for a little thing called Hive at the moment.

2010-09-19T11:31:00.001+01:00

http://www.hivemag.com/

If I can upload what I write on here also then I will. Otherwise this is more of a music blog rather than a music review blog.

KISSES - Bermuda

2010-08-20T13:34:00.001+01:00

Brilliant song from "chillwave" act KISSES.
It sounds a lot like Friendly Fires mixed with Washed Out. It's very, very interesting music. Get listening.

Everything Everything - Man Alive

2010-08-11T22:31:00.008+01:00

When Everything Everything burst onto the British music scene in 2007 their welcome from the industry was positive, blending Hip-hop elements with Disco and Guitar Pop, what was not to like. A handful of singles and 3 years later comes Everything Everything's debut album Man Alive using the same formula they've used on past singles Suffragette Suffragette, Photoshop Handsome and MY KZ, YR BF, (songs which all feature on the album) to brilliant effect.

From first listen Man Alive's sound seems to draw you in and ensnare you. QWERTY Finger and first single Schoolin' pulls you into their rich, bouncy, soundscapes. This is definitely a dance album at heart and this kind of music is something the band is very good at. Final Form slows things down a bit at the half way point and Photoshop Handsome, being one of the best tracks on this record is just simple, fun music, with a killer riff. Suffragette Suffragette keeps the album teetering out of focus as the majority of the slower songs have been placed completely at the back end of the record, making the final three tracks after the brilliant Come Alive Diana all blend into one and blur out the possibilities of a grand finale.

All in all this is a good, fun and entertaining record. Nothing too heavy in terms of epic thrills but rather an easy record to get into. This is a record however, that seems unbalanced, there is not enough contrast between the tracks and only a few of the songs seem to stand out. They stand out so vividly though, that it's far to hard to ignore them. No doubt this album will sell a lot and shoot this relativity young band into the spotlight as I expect big things for this band and this decent album will no doubt get them there.

7.5/10

Arcade Fire hit #1 on the US Album Charts.

2010-08-11T15:27:00.001+01:00

Arcade Fire's brilliant 3rd album The Suburbs sold more than any other album in the United States of America last week.

Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws

2010-07-29T13:44:00.003+01:00

When a musical act changes it's sound the results can go one or two ways. Either the band will gain a lot of praise for a fantastic transformation or it won't and will be quickly forgotten. Bombay Bicycle Clubs second record Flaws comes about a year or so after the release of the wonderful I Had The Blues But I Shook them Loose, an album which took guitar pop to new levels with it's fantastic song structures and interesting yet catchy guitar riffs.

Flaws is an acoustic album, music for fans of bands such as Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale. The difference with this album in comparison to it's contemporaries is that it doesn't give as much to the listener. The whole record is weighed down with the simple fact that the songs are boring. After listening to the album, you fail to find anything interesting about it and this is because there isn't anything of interest to find. Sonically, this album is a dull attempt at what so many other bands do so much better.

There are very few merits on this album except the (frankly, very good) cover of their song Dust on the Ground and even though this is an okay track, it's still not a scratch on the brilliance of the original. Ivy and Gold being the lead single has one of their signature guitar riffs but the repetitiveness of this style of writing against an acoustic background begins to become dull. After this the next seven tracks, including covers of John Martyn and Joanna Newsom, just seem to drift by, identical to each other.
Jack Steadman's lyrics lose all the impact they had on the first record, whilst still superbly thought out and written, there is nothing interesting about the music to make you want to listen to what he's saying and rather just spin the first album again to recover from the tediousness that is Flaws.

3/10

Vamp woman suing band for $2 Million

2010-07-15T21:58:00.003+01:00

The beautiful lady on the cover of Vampire Weekends Contra is now suing the band for 2 Million Dollars.

Nothing like a quick money grab is there, Kirsten Kennis?

She should be happy she's the cover star of one of the best summer albums this year. Silly woman.

Washed Out release new song.

2010-07-11T22:11:00.004+01:00

You and I by electronic chillwave act Washed Out features vocals from Caroline Polachek of Chairlift. It was released on the brilliant [Adult Swim] singles program.

Mystery Jets - Seretonin

2010-07-11T21:40:00.008+01:00

"Freedom is an illusion generated by your brain..." croons Blain Harrison on Serotonin opener Alice Springs before bursting into a massive chorus; which seems to suggest, that after 2 years since second album Twenty One that the Mystery Jets are a band that have grown up. Creating adult song writing for an older, post-teen audience. Creating pop epics and bringing a perfect blend of guitar pop, 80's electronica and soul music.

When it comes to their song writing, they have kept a distinct simplicity to the way they approach music. Simple pop songs, speckled with a beautiful, pseudo-unique sheen. Second track Too Late To Talk brings a late 80's/90's balladeer, reminiscing on a recently ended relationship, while first single Flash a Hungry Smile brings a blur-esque bounce to the records usually straight rhythmic formulae.

Title track Seretonin is a unwelcome break from the brilliant first half of the album. It's a track that's all to simple and bland for a band that keeps itself fresher than a breeze with each record they put out. Except for the sing along bridge, which brings just enough merit for the track to warrant it's place on this record.

Electro-blues epic and next single Dreaming of Another World is a totally faultless track. The vocals, guitar arrangements and keyboards all fit perfectly with a brilliant chorus to match. Waiting on a Miracle brings this back again with yet another superb chorus, which has a nineties pop feel to it.

Mystery Jets have sonically come of age and this record shows it. It's brilliant mix of their old material and the current path they walk down, a path which can only lead to brilliance. Mixed by producer Chris Thomas who has worked with The Beatles and Sex Pistols amongst others, Mystery Jets have created an exceptional record, their best record so far and probably (and unfortunately) the greatest thing they'll ever do together.

8.5/10

Hear new Panda Bear tracks.

2010-07-09T18:31:00.004+01:00

You can hear snippets from Panda Bears forth coming album Tomboy right here at Amazon.
Also, there is a HD recording of his Primavera Sound Festival set at Gorilla vs Bear

Wavves - King of the Beach

2010-07-04T13:59:00.019+01:00

The date is 28th of May and the year is 2009. An army of Spanish festival goers toss everything they can get their hands on, at you, on to the stage of the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. Your head is a mess from the cocktail of Valium and ecstasy you took before you performed in front of thousands of people and all you can think about is yelling insults at the crowd and fighting your drummer.

You are Nathan Williams and you've duly "fucked up". Your drummer leaves you, you cancel the rest of your tour and admit to yourself and others of your alcoholism.

One year and two months later your new album leaks... and it's brilliant.

King of the Beach is Nathan Williams new album. An album, which, unlike the first Wavves record Wavves and second album Wavvves, is a lot less gritty a fair and comes with it's own sheen of pop sensibility. Removing heavily distorted, shoegaze-esque backdrops and replacing them with an pop energy which drives many of the tracks to utter brilliance.

Opener King of the Beach sounds a lot like the very early Green Day material (in a good way) only a little less whiny and Super Soaker keeps this consistent. Lead single Post Acid is indie-pop song writing at it's finest. When Will You Come, is the stand out track for the first half of the album, sounding like all the best bits from this years odd Neo-Surf scene (The Drums, Beach House, Surfer Blood) and latter track Mickey Mouse harks back to the days of old combined with this new found pop brilliance.

All together, this is a very simple record. However, do not let the it's simplicity put you off. This album is brilliant. It is very hard to fault this album, other than the fact that, even though it seems like it keeps on giving (and it gives the listener a lot) Wavves seems to have the potential to give even more and the whole thing seems a little too similar throughout. More thought needs to be put into the progression of the songs and the album lacks that.

7.5/10

Joy Formidable and Chapel Club to headline NME radar tour.

2010-07-01T12:55:00.003+01:00

The brilliant Joy Formidable and Chapel Club (pictured) are set to play NME Radar tour 2010 this Autumn.
The tour, starting at the Birmingham Academy 2 will see the two bands (and two other unannounced acts) play a series of shows across the UK.

The dates are as follows:
Birmingham Academy 2 (September 27)
Norwich Waterfront (28)
Nottingham Rescue Rooms (30)
Glasgow King Tuts (October 1)
Aberdeen Tunnels (2)
Manchester Academy 3 (4)
O2 Academy Newcastle 2 (5)
Leeds Cockpit (6)
Stoke Sugarmill (7)
Cardiff Millennium Music Hall (8)
O2 Academy Oxford 2 (10)
Brighton Concorde 2 (11)
Portsmouth Wedgewood (13)
London Koko (14)

Tickets came out yesterday.

Gaga dresses as a man for Vogue Hommes Japan...

2010-06-29T21:44:00.007+01:00

...and ends up looking like Bob Dylan.

Source

Mastodon release new song for Jonah Hex soundtrack.

2010-06-29T19:55:00.005+01:00

Indian Theme is an instrumental track by Atlanta Prog-Sludgers Mastodon, it features on their Jonah Hex EP (accompanying the film) which came out today.

Kele - The Boxer

2010-06-29T18:06:00.012+01:00

In October last year a band called Bloc Party went on hiatus after a shaky year releasing and promoting 2008 album Intimacy. An album with balanced critical response, being given both very good and very bad reviews.
Two years after the release of Bloc Party's last alum we have "The Boxer", the album Kele Okereke has "always wanted to make". Remnants of Intimacy can be found on this album, especially on tracks such as All The Things I Could Never Say which even draws influence from the bands first (and absolutely brilliant) album Silent alarm.

The album starts brilliantly with Walk Tall; with it's clap hands rhythms and distorted marching song vocals. It's all very military. The opening track slowly turns into drill synths and speak-singing, a style of vocals which can be found on Bloc Party song Mercury. The end part of this song is brilliant and shows what a diverse and interesting musician Kele can actually be and also how he has great talent in producing his music exactly how he wants to. This is very apparent, The Boxer is definitely his album, the album he really, really did want to make.

After the first track the album then moves into 90's-esque dancer On The Lam. Kele has modulated his voice to a higher pitch for this song, which, while a potentially good idea, actually gets rather annoying. Musically however, this is the best song on the album. It's heavily influenced by 90's house music and is horrendously catchy and danceable. After this track comes first single Tenderoni, musically and vocally, this song is the most balanced. Something I found when listening to Bloc Party is that the actual music is a very strong and the vocals suffer for this and vice versa. This has clearly followed onto this solo effort and brings an annoyance that is apparent in most of Kele's song writing. This song however manages to keep a balance between decent music and decent vocals.

One of my favourite songs on the record is New Rules which, strangely, is very reminiscent of Owen Pallets solo work. Lyrically and vocally it's the best track on the album. It's a very interesting track, using plucked strings and harmonized vocals instead other than the usual thumping bass drum that seems to be consistent during the album.

With all the praise you can give this record, there is a lot of filler on this album, tracks such as Everything You Wanted sounding like the ugly child of Silent Alarm and The Postal Service's Give Up. Two beautiful records that when put together create an uncomfortable sounding song followed by a silly chanted bridge. Unholy Thoughts just sounds like a B Side from A Weekend in the City and Rise just goes on too long without giving itself any merit by not giving the listener anything interesting or exciting during it's 5 minutes play time.

This is an album full of great ideas, but I find however, there aren't any interesting outcomes from these ideas. It's all rather lacklustre and there aren't enough pumping tracks like On the Lam or Tenderoni. Hard, heavy dance is what this album should have been about but it lacks the rhythmical charge to keep anyone dancing. Other than this, it's a good album which makes for easy listening but nothing really you would hear in a club, which gives the whole thing a lack of point.

5/10

Guardian's Review of Glastonbury.

2010-06-28T22:47:00.004+01:00

The part about Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood's slot at the festival is rather funny.

"In the event, those who make the journey are rewarded by the sight of Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, the former wearing a headband and performing a slap bass solo. Admittedly, he's wearing a headband and performing a slap bass solo while essaying Harrowdown Hill, his deeply upsetting song about the suicide of Dr David Kelly, but, nevertheless, it's a spectacle that would once have seemed as unlikely as Thom Yorke playing a saxophone and flying around the stage on wires while the rest of Radiohead did the Madness "nutty" dance to the strains of Paranoid Android."

Full Review

Kanye does new song... on a mountain!

2010-06-28T22:20:00.010+01:00

Kanye is back! (not that he really went anywhere)

...and the lovable/detestable egomaniac performed his new song "Power" on top of a mountain at the BET awards. I've had a bit of a soft spot for Kanye's pantomime and I like this new track. The bridge is great and the King Crimson sample is interesting but I find the percussion from both the sample and the actual beat could fit better.

He's called his upcoming album "Good Ass Job", it's not the most tactful title for an album ever and it's not something I'm really getting excited about as he (as is usual with the more popular hip hop artists) hasn't got a very good flow and his lyrics aren't the least bit inspired, but at least he's not doing auto tune any more.

"Good Ass Job" is set for release sometime in September.

Panda Bear "releases" new album tracklisting.

2010-06-28T22:04:00.004+01:00

Panda Bear (aka: Noah Lennox) of Animal Collective is never not busy these days; his new album Tomboy which is due in autumn looks exciting with Noah listing both Bach and Kurt Cobain as influences.

I love Person Pitch and I am excited that about a new record and potentially a tour. The record not overly dissimilar to his bands music but focusing more around his own song writing style.

The following titles aren't to be taken as gospel as they are not official titles as yet:

Drone
Tomboy
Surfer's Hymn
At the Jetty
Benfica
Slow Motion
Bullseye
I Want to Go With You
You Can Count on Me

Surfer's Hymn and At the Jetty sound the most interesting, but saying that is akin to judging a book by it's cover.

Excited!