To see our names are written on the wreck of '86

Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen

When listening to Ellie Goulding’s music, there are two important steps you need to take to get yourself into the right frame of mind:

1.) Disengage brain - Just give yourself five minutes to not criticise, over think or worry if it’s OK to like something so uncool. Just treat Goulding’s dewy eyed pop like National Geographic. Well made, entertaining but ultimately throwaway.

2.) Regress to a the emotional state of a teenager - For those of you still in your teens you’re already there. For those of you born the wrong side of 1993 just remember how watching Ross and Rachel finally kissing in the second series of Friends made you punch the air with joy.

Done both? Then you’re ready to enjoy Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen.” As the standout track from her new album of the same name it’s packed full of sun soaked synths and giddying rhythms which rain down one of the choruses of 2012. One which washes you with wave after wave of ecstasy that allows you to escape the confines of day to day life. Something we all need to do from time to time.

Rising Talent #3 - Peers

Apart from it’s Festival, the town of Reading isn’t normally considered a hotbed for new music. It certainly is never mentioned in the same breath as it’s more illustrious neighbours of Oxford and London. However over the last decade a bands like Dry The River, Dan Le Sac, Pete and The Pirates and Does it Offend You Yeah! have broken through onto the national airwaves.

The next band which looks set to breakout of the local scene are indie rcokers, PEERS. The quartet, led by Matthew (guitars and vocals), have managed to garner a mass of local support, including high praise from BBC Introducing’s Linda Serck and are the darlings of legendary local promoter Sid Siddle. In 2010 despite all being aged less than 18 and only formed for 6 months, they were asked to play the introducing stage at Reading and Leeds.

Since then their sound has evolved and recent demos show significant promise. On ‘Guilt’ there’s more than a hint of the subtle song structures used by The Maccabees on their latest album, Given To The Wild. All that’s missing is the gut wrenching oomph that working with a full blown producer would add.

On ‘Midnight,’ the bands other major influence, Bombay Bicycle Club can be heard. Here PEERS marry the deftly sweet but never quite sickly pop of Steadman with a slightly more straightforward rock sound. With the catchy as all hell ‘Nightdriving’ (free download below) PEERS shoot straight for the airwaves of Radio 1, with an ear-worm of a chorus that fosters moments of involuntarily singing for days on end.

It’s probably a little too early to tell just how far they’ll go, but PEERS, who share managers with Alt-J, look to have the talent to become the next band to go nationwide from Berkshires famous festival town.

At Least Harry Potter Has A Proper Story

Future Of The Left - Robocop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop

Andrew Falkous has always been a likable asshole. A Charles Bukowski of music, retaining an unhealthy distaste for everything and (nearly) everyone. Delivering compelling insights into the paradoxes of human nature, politics and opinions of the wider public.

On ‘Robocop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop,’ he’s at his vitriolic best, dissecting the cause of Hollywoods obsession with sequels. Like Bukowski, he puts forward an exaggerated character to his audience. A hyper macho lunkhead, full of vitriol but intelligent and engaging. A vessel through which he delivers visceral, darkly humorous and thought provoking lyrics.

The first half of the track is deliberately obtuse. Awkwardly lurching from verse to verse of anger directed at the movie going public, “Middle aged men on a movie date, committed to mortal shame, Hey! Relax! No-one died - in fact, they left improved! If Michael Bay wants a bigger house, let's help him.” In the hands of another songwriter, the subject matter would’ve ended in a four letter tirade at Hollywood movie for pandering to the masses, but that just isn’t Falkous style.

At the fulcrum of the track, Falkous highlights the real problem. Hitting out at those who complain about Hollywood only making sequels, but then perpetuate the problem by going to watch Taken 2, “1 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3.” Describing how our desire to seem interesting extends to lying (to ourselves) about the diminishing returns that most sequels offer. Then lampoons his own point by launching into absurd tirade about the potential plot for “Pirates of the Caribbean 47” that if distilled to a movie trailer would entice with it’s promises of entertainment.

Like any piece of effective social commentary, the track lifts the mirror on an ugly symmetry. That our actions as a collective consumer group are to blame to the state of Hollywoods output. It’s a disquieting thought, the sort that only a particular kind of bastard has the balls to articulate.

Future Of The Left - Robocop 4 (Fuck Off Robocop) by ....andeveryonesadj

You say that they’ve all left you all behind

Bat For Lashes - Laura

During a scene of his directorial debut film, Garden State, Zach Braff’s lead character, Largeman, describes how the meaning of “home” changes. Theorising that once you leave and enough time passes “home” becomes a fictionally positive memory of a place and people that no longer exist. That longing for it to be “the way it was” isn’t healthy and you have mould a new idea of home wherever you are. It’s an effecting scene, simple but disquietingly honest which cuts to the heart of why nostalgia can be a cause of a great damage to the present.

Bat For Lashes (AKA Natalie Khan) tackles nostalgia in a similar fashion for her latest single, Laura. Instead of Braff’s existential approach, Khan embodies her own youthful ideas of nostalgia using a protagonist of whom she sings about with a sorrowful admiration. Fondly remembering the effervescence and devil may care attitude of the hollow plaudits that she and her friends used to through around, “You’re more than a superstar.” Then admitting to a combination of Clockwork Orange esq nihilism “And in this old horror show,” and self loathing “Let’s sing along to that lonely song." Bundling this parable in a composition as simplistic as Braff’s scene, which after multiple listens become no less disquieting and even more haunting.

Laura is taken from Bat For Lashes forthcoming new Album, The Haunted Man which is out on October 15th

And I Live To See Your Face

Grizzly Bear - Sleeping Ute

Daniel Rosen’s distinctive guitar work and satisfyingly complex songs structures have always given Grizzly Bear’s subtly crafted music an holistic quality. Creating a metaphysical space in which the listener can explore the connection between all things; be they man made, natural, spiritual or imaginary. A sensation not unlike staring into the depths a clear lake. Where your eye’s can see all the way to the riverbed, able to focus on the individual depths of detail, without losing the sense of the whole. So when Grizzly Bears newest track, ‘Sleeping Ute,’ threatened to disturb this delicate ecosystem with an ambitiously loud and vibrant new direction, a feeling of great unease swept over me. 

The track opens in a bombast of Rosen's guitars, which expand and contract over dense percussion in beguiling fashion. The sound is bold but never overreaches, confidently replacing the vocal harmonies of classics like, ‘While You Wait For the Others’ or ‘Central and Remote,’ with all manner of layered instruments to elevate the soundscape. Whilst the change is initially jarring and will catch fans off guard, it's worth sticking with. As after repeated listens the beautiful mannerisms and charm of Grizzly Bears music reveal themselves to be unharmed and even more pronounced. Evolving to exciting new highs for a band who were already very easy to admire.

Listen to Sleeping Ute below:
 

Interview - Cloud Nothings

2012 has been a year of reinvention for Cloud Nothings. In January the Ohio quartet, led by Dylan Baldi, released Attack On Memory, their third album in 18 months. The record signaled a shift in direction, moving away from the comfort of indie-pop to a dark, uncompromising and at times ambitious punk sound. It was a bold move which paid dividends. Earning the album a string of high review scores and new army of fans.

Six months on, Cloud Nothings are still riding the wave of hype and are about to embark on a world tour. Before the last show of their UK tour, [edit] radio caught up with Baldi in the paint cracked dressing room of the Leeds based, Brudenell Social Club, to grab a chat about Attack on Memory, the Queens diamond jubilee and a Japanese cafe where you can pay to stroke cats.

Dot To Dot Festival - Manchester - 4/6/2012 Dot To Dot Festival - Manchester - 4/6/2012

As the summer months are upon us and festival season has begun in earnest, ticket holders for camping festivals like Reading or Leeds, all start following the weather forecasts with a little more frequency. Are they going to get fair skies to compliment the £200 worth of music they’ve shelled out for? Or should they prepare for a Bear Grylls survival weekend? Like with all things reliant on weather over the British summer, nothing is certain. 

Maybe thats why day long urban festivals like Dot to Dot have become so popular? They offer a great lineup of venues and rising stars at a fraction of the cost, (a ticket for Dot to Dot was only £20) without the risk of a wash out. Indeed the overcast conditions in Manchester didn’t affect the enjoyment to be had over the 14 hours of exceptional music that Dot to Dot offered it’s attendees.