SlowWave

This is a lazy review. It's not that the artist doesn't deserve my time, on the contrary, I should be writing words of wonder about Slowwave who's debut EP 'Drag Lake Sin' is available from their bandcamp site It's just I'm not only cash poor, I'm also time poor. So this leads me to review, post, whatever you will, in the form of quotes. Quotes that you could find on a email from a record label asking you to review the album, or on a poster advertising the album or from your friend describing the album and why you should listen to it, mainly from your friend*.

'Like melodic indie? You'll love this!'

'I liked this EP from the opening chords, I am a sucker for acoustic guitars, low level background fuzz and depressing vocals. Then it grew into something bigger, something better'

'Someone said they were like Doves, they aren't, they're like Doves but with more drum machines'

'Like Justin Vernon and Sufjan Stevens made a clone comprising of both their DNA and then accelerated its growth so it would record an album whilst they were still young enough to appreciate it'

'Actually, they are quite like Doves, and wow, he does sound like Chris Martin'

'This is something bigger, something better. Make it electric, I've got to know I'm still alive'

I am in a funny mood today. See for yourself

Pour [mp3]

*it has absolutely nothing to do with wanting them to quote me and this blog on their website, nothing at all I tell you

Wye Oak

On March 8th Baltimore's indie folk-rock duo Wye Oak will release their third album Civilian. The record, as lyricist/guitarist Jenn Wasner puts it, is about "aloneness, loneliness, moving on and letting go." Among critics the album has already been quite praised; the AV Club, NPR and Stereogum have listed Civilian one of their most anticipated album of 2011 based on the title track alone, so do yourself a favor and take a listen:

Civilian [mp3] (pre-order on iTunes)

Holy Ghost Tent Revival and E-S Guthrie at Rockwood Music Hall

This past weekend I caught Holy Ghost Tent Revival and E-S Guthrie at Rockwood Music Hall. Holy Ghost's set was disappointingly brief but tore the house down nonetheless, as expected. Guthrie played another powerful set as well, and I managed to get a decent video of "Daydream," one of my favorite tracks of his (available for download in an earlier post). He'll be back at Rockwood every Sunday evening in May, playing at 6pm.

Elbow announces new album!

UK-band Elbow has announced their next album, "build a rocket boys!" due for digital release on March 8th and in stores April 12th. They will also be playing Coachella on April 16th. Check back here closer to the release date for a full review of the album, but in the meantime, check out the opening track below. It isn't as rockin' or percussion-driven as my favorite Elbow songs, but it's actually quite a beautiful, soothing yet melancholy song and the more I listen to it, the more it grows on me.

James Yuill Interview

Sat down between a box of mushrooms and a noisy coffee machine in a cafe near London Fields I met up with James Yuill to discuss many things, but for Guilt Free Pleasures, it was remixing (if you want to read the rest of my interview it's on Planet Notion).

So James, you seem to have been busy remixing recently...

I've been really busy as people have contacted me and you know if they're friends, i'm like “yeah ok”, I can never say no really. I'm a bit shit like that. The vast majority of remixes are all free, and I like doing them because the association with the band you're remixing, I did a We Have Band remix and a Trophy Wife remix, they're all for free but its a way of getting to their fans. At least you get a few more people listening to your stuff, so ok its for free but its a really good promotional tool to get your name out there. Also I just really love it, you can take someone else's song and fuck it up and you know, the pressure isn’t there, you can do whatever you want over it.

What about people doing your tracks like Disco of Doom?

They did a fantastic remix, so yeah, my manager and Stephen (from Moshi Moshi) basically get people to remix, in the same vein as me remixing other people, we get people to remix me who will do a good job, but they’re going to be doing it for free too. It works both ways, If I do a remix of someone, then I can utilise their fans, but getting someone cool to do your remixes, I can utilise theirs too, you really win both ways.

What are you up to at the moment? More remixes?

Ton's of remixes, i'm remixing blamanche, do you remember the 80's band (me: no) they had a couple of tracks on adverts, they’ve got a new album coming out and one of them is a fan, and he was nice, so i'm going to do a remix which is what i'm working on at the moment. I start a 10 date germany tour at the end of Jan and basically just building up the gigs. The single crying for hollywood is coming out in march so hope to be having a really busy festival season. Im working on new tracks at the moment but in terms of a new album it wont be for a while. I've got to tour this album a lot more and festival season is so its so busy that you don't have any time, not just festivals in the uk but like all over the world. They go until end of the year. A lot of the summer festivals are having a winter one too. And then in winter you can go to south america, I played the Hot Festival in November and it was baking.

So there you have it, and below, you can have more, as there are a couple of my favourite remixes from James.

Trophy Wife - Don't Weigh Me Down (James Yuill Remix) [mp3]

We Have Band - Love What You're Doing (James Yuill Remix) [mp3]

Broadcast 2000 - Get Up & Go (James Yuill Remix) [mp3]

James Yuill - On Your Own (Disco of Doom Remix) [mp3]

Harrison Hudson Announce New Album

Harrison Hudson have announced the creation of their new album American Thunder and are asking gentlemen, ladies and fans alike to help fund their project in the form of their kickstarter page. As a "thank you for your consideration," go ahead and take a listen to their new single "Run My Way" below:

Harrison Hudson - Run My Way by favoritegentlemen

Cashew Lullabies

My brother and I have taken it upon ourselves to musically educate our two nephews (and forthcoming niece). My personal efforts began in December '06, when, my sister seven-months pregnant with her first child, I put together a two-disc set of "alternative lullabies." The first disc is loosely female-themed, and the second loosely male-themed, but the overall goal was just an eclectic mix with a relaxed mood and no overt "baby" vibe. Enjoy it late at night, or at any other time.

Cashew Lullabies, Vol. 1 [zip]

01. Ghosts and Vodka - Andrea Loves Horses
02. Nick Drake - One of These Things First
03. Andrew Bird - Sovay
04. Currituck Co. - The Tropics of Cancer
05. Cat Stevens - Moonshadow
06. The Shins - New Slang
07. Of Montreal - City Bird
08. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
09. Four Tet - My Angel Rocks Back and Forth
10. Juana Molina - El Cristal
11. Damien Rice - Cannonball
12. Caetano Veloso - Cucurrucucú Paloma
13. Van Morrison - Slim Slow Slider
14. Ron Sexsmith - Secret Heart
15. José González - Heartbeats
16. Death Cab for Cutie - A Lack of Color
17. Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas - Feel Am
18. The American Analog Set - Gone to Earth
19. The Kings of Convenience - Leaning Against the Wall
20. Feist - Now At Last

Cashew Lullabies, Vol. 2 [zip]

01. The Polyphonic Spree - Days Like This Keep Me Warm
02. Devendra Banhart - Little Yellow Spider
03. John Lennon - Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
04. Christopher O'Riley - True Love Waits
05. John Denver - Sunshine on My Shoulders
06. R.E.M. - Nightswimming
07. My Morning Jacket - Rocket Man
08. Paul Simon - Hearts and Bones
09. Creeper Lagoon - She Loves Me Not
10. Petra Haden and Bill Frisell - I Don't Want to Grow Up
11. Red House Painters - Have You Forgotten
12. Sondre Lerche - Side Two
13. Sufjan Stevens - The Lord God Bird
14. Colin Hay - Beautiful World
15. Smokey and Miho - Summer Rain
16. Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights
17. The New Amsterdams - Idaho
18. Clem Snide - Fontanelle
19. Ghosts and Vodka - Nicholas Prefers Dinosaurs

New track from the Dodos

Here's the first single from the Dodos' new album, No Color - coming March 15th in the U.S. and March 14 internationally. Neko Case sings on about half of the album. Expect a full review on the album closer to its release date.

Black Night [mp3]

New Lady Gaga song!

Lady Gaga's new song, "Born This Way," has hit the internets. Lots of people are saying it's a dead rip off of Madonna's "Express Yourself," but is it just me or do the vocals in the verses sound an awful lot like "Waterfalls" by TLC? When she is singing lines like "there's nothing wrong with lovin' who you are, she said, because he made you perfect babe" in my head I can hear TLC singing "One day he goes and takes a glimpse in the mirror but he doesn't recognize his own face" or one of the other lines in the song with that exact same tune. Anyway, check it out (and feel free to compare to "Waterfalls" and let me know if you hear it too). It's a decent song, not her best work, but still sure to be the next dance anthem that plays non-stop at gay and straight clubs alike.

Dolfish

Ohio-based Dolfish (aka Max Sollisch) is releasing his debut physical EP Your Love Is Bummin' Me Out on February 14th, which is all you really need to know before checking out this wonderful and timely cynical song.

Your Love Is Bummin' Me Out [mp3] (iTunes)

Cut Copy's "Zonoscope"

Cut Copy's new album Zonoscope came out yesterday in the States. My early impression is that it's very good, although not quite the psychedelic masterpiece I was hoping for based on last fall's incredible teaser single "Where I'm Going" (which is still available as a free download).

Alisa [mp3] (iTunes)

The deluxe version includes an enjoyable making-of documentary, most of which is already available on YouTube. Here's part one:

James Vincent McMorrow

James Vincent McMorrow is pretty much the male version of Feist, which I mean in a good way. Maybe a hint more of twang that Feist doesn't have but otherwise it's uncanny. In fact, I put a song on and within 5 seconds my boyfriend thought the exact same thing (without me having said anything). Here's an mp3, and also a music video - though I don't like the video but I'm a big fan of the song that the video is for.

If I Had a Boat [mp3] - ( Amazon / iTunes )

James Vincent McMorrow - This Old Dark Machine from Vagrant Records on Vimeo.

Alex Winston Releases Official First Single "Locomotive"

Classically trained in opera and bred on musical Americana, this Detroit-native is following her crashing pop EP The Basement Covers (released last summer) with a mini LP entitled Sister Wife. This mini LP was produced by The Knocks and Londoner Charlie Hugall (Florence and the Machine) and will be out March 8. Enjoy below the first official single as well as the title track "Sister Wife," which is the best song about polygamy you'll hear today, guaranteed.

Locomotive [mp3]
Sister Wife [mp3]

James Blake

After spending the past year and a half releasing a string of ridiculously good EPs and remixes (and finishing university of course), fresh-faced Londoner James Blake is releasing his debut, self-titled album next Monday. Something along the lines of a soulful, avant garde, dubstep singer-songwriter, Blake's productions get compared to the XX and Bon Iver, which has some merit but definitely doesn't tell the whole story.

The video above was just released for "The Wilhelm Scream," the album's second single (after Feist cover "Limit to Your Love"). But "I Never Learnt to Share" might be the best example of his current style and potential. It has a bit of a repentant religious vibe to it (there's something strangely churchy about those synth lines), along with a very satisfying drop. I've also included a couple of remix highlights that show his breadth, although I apologize for the download wait and potential advertising barrage – our usual file-sharing service is currently down.

James Blake - I Never Learnt to Share [mp3] (iTunes UK)
Mount Kimbie - Maybes (James Blake Remix) [mp3] (iTunes)
Lil Wayne - A Milli (Harmonimix Refix) [mp3]

If you enjoy this sort of thing, you might also be interested in Berlin club Berghain's Sub:stance compilation from last year, featuring similarly minded (and talented) artists like Joy Orbison.

New Ellie Goulding video

Here's a fun new video from Ellie Goulding. Totally can't stop dancing to this song.