The Indelicates

The Indelicates are supposedly "despicable folk-rock cabaret with a mission to end all music". They definitely are the joint project of Julia (founding member of The Pipettes, who left for this band) and Simon (a well known figure of the Brighton music scene), with a bunch of talented musicians in tow.

The Indelicates became somewhat notorious early this year for writing a song entitled 'Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die' which was making the rounds. In fact, they have had over 8,000 downloads of their demos from their website. The song itself is a bit of a novelty number yet still has its charms, especially with the his-and-hers vocals.

"Neo-Brecht/Weill theatricality? Check. Profane razor strop wit? Check. Irreverent misanthropy? Check. Scathing socio-cultural critiques? Check. Acid sweet indiepop songcraft? Check. Meet the first Great band of 2006, the fabulously unfashionable, unfashionably fabulous Indelicates." - Rolling Stone

Fast forward a few months and I stumble across their cover of Billy Bragg's 'A New England'. Julia's smooth vocals, joyful strings and the jangly keys add a fresh and exciting twist to what is a fantastic song in its own right.

The Indelicates have just released their debut single 'We Hate The Kids', a cynical social commentary of sorts which probably wouldn't look out of place on an episode of Grumpy Old Men. I'm not sure why they nick the "dance to the radio" bit out of Joy Division's 'Transmission' but we can ignore that in lieu of the nasty wit and the lovely apt ending - "no more music, thank you and goodnight". B-side 'Burn All The Photographs' is a haunting affair with theatrical piano and particularly piercing vocals. Think Phantom Of The Opera meets the Reichstag fire of 1933 in Nazi Germany.

'We Hate The Kids' is out now on 7" vinyl. Buy from Sad Gnome Records (link).

The Indelicates - Waiting For Pete Doherty To Die
The Indelicates - A New England (Billy Bragg cover)
The Indelicates - We Hate The Kids (Demo)
The Indelicates - Burn All The Photographs (Demo)

You can also catch The Indelicates live at Rough Trade in Covent Garden for free on August 6th. For details on that and other dates, see their website (link).

Lily Allen - Jazzy?

I wasn't intending on posting about Lily "MySpace Sensation" Allen for quite some time but then I found out the world revolves around her.













From her war on terror/indie/whatevs (link) to her prattish behaviour at T In The Park (I'VE GOT A NO.1! I AM GOD!) to saying that she'd celebrate her chart success by dabbling in a few drugs (link), Lily Allen hasn't been terribly endearing as of late. Apart from in the eyes of her label bosses apparently. Lily has supposedly been paid 20k by Parlophone (or is it EMI?) after she didn't make the Mercury Music Prize shortlist (link). No, I don't get it either.

Anyways, Ms Allen is off on her first UK tour in October following her summer festival appearances. See her MySpace (link) for all the dates. I'm not overly sure but I think debut single LDN is being re-released around then as well.

Lily Allen - LDN

Lily also popped into Jo Whiley's Live Lounge a couple of weeks ago for a BBC Radio 1 session, where she performed her latest hit 'Smile' and a cover of 'Naive', originally by The Kooks. She criticised The Kooks recently so I guess this is her way of burying the hatchet.

Lily Allen - Naive (The Kooks cover)
You can download the rest of the Lily Allen live lounge appearance on SaveFile (link).

Richard Hawley

Sheffield's Richard Hawley is apparently the punter's tip for the Nationwide Music Prize 2006 with his third solo album, 'Coles Corner'.

The betting on the ex-member of Britpop outfit The Longpigs has been so strong that his odds have halved from 8/1 to 4/1 on betting giants Ladbrokes. Arctic Monkeys remain favourites however at 5/2.

Before embarking on a solo career, Hawley was asked by Jarvis Cocker to play with Pulp and was a touring member in the late 90's. He hasn't been above the odd session work either; he's worked with Robbie Williams, played guitar on the All Saints cover of 'Under The Bridge' and worked on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrman's Romeo & Juliet. Respec'.

“The first Briton in years to recognise the genius of the 50’s production from Sun studios without resorting to pastiche … he croons like an angel … watch out for this man.” The Independent

I admit to not having listened to the majority of Hawley's work but he put in a stellar performance on Later With Jools Holland last year. Here's the track he played, nicked off Mr Red Penguin's blog (link) bloody ages ago.

Richard Hawley - Just Like The Rain (Live On Later With...)

Hear some of 'Coles Corner' here then buy it if you wish from HMV (link).

Richard Hawley is also playing live at a handful of festivals over the summer, see his website (link) for more details.

Peter Bjorn And John

When I first heard someone mention Peter Bjorn And John on the radio, I thought they were talking about Abba. They're both Swedish at least. But where's the comma?! Schoolboy error or some sort of twisted irony?

Then I heard 'Young Folks' - whistling, bongos, maracas - utter genius. Peter is joined by Victoria Bergstrom of The Concretes on vocals, giving it a bit of an Olivia Newton John and John Travolta vibe but without the major cringe factor. 'Young Folks' is surely one of the most infectious songs to be released this year. If everyone isn't whistling along by the end of summer, it will be a travesty.

"It's groovy and melancholy at the same time," explains Bjorn Yttling, the band's keyboard and bass player (Guardian article). Indeed.

It's also quite funny that such a delightfully simple song receives such a mental review from Pitchfork ( link). Well, the second paragraph anyway.

Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks

Download the Erol Alkan rework at Batteria Ricaricabile (link). Oh Pitchfork, how you make me lol.

'Young Folks' is released on Wichita in the UK on July 31st. Preorder here.
'Writer's Block', the third Peter Bjorn And John album is out on August 7th.

They're also touring the UK in August, supported on some dates by Keep Hope Inside faves Hot Club de Paris. Check the dates on the PBAJ MySpace (link).

Nationwide Music Prize

So the 2006 Nationwide Music Prize (Mercury Music Prize sounded better) shortlist has been announced and is largely unsurprising. It has its usual solitary urban act in Sway and usual relatively unknown artist in Zoe Rahman, who won the Perrier Young Jazz Musician award or something similar.

Arctic Monkeys - 'Whatever People Say I Am That's What I Am Not'
Editors - 'The Back Room'
Guillemots - 'Through The Windowpane'
Hot Chip - 'The Warning'
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan - 'Ballad Of The Broken Seas'
Lou Rhodes - 'Beloved One'
Muse - 'Black Holes & Revelations'
Richard Hawley - 'Coles Corner'
Scritti Politti - 'White Bread Black Beer'
Sway - 'This Is My Demo'
Thom Yorke - 'The Eraser'
Zoe Rahman - 'Melting Pot'

The winner will be announced on September 5th. Who do you reckon it'll be? For some reason I'm sensing an Arctic Monkeys victory.

p.s the Nationwide Music Prize long list is here.

The Spinto Band

I first(/last) mentioned Delaware six piece The Spinto Band in my brief recap of the Great Escape festival (link) where they were easily one of the best bands on show. Now they've gone and given us a free golden oldie, they're too kind. Seeing as they made numerous albums before their major debut, it's a nice insight to the early days (it was written during their senior year at high school in 2000).

Pavement, Arcade Fire and The Flaming Lips seem to all be mentioned when describing The Spinto Band but 'Japan Is An Island' reminds me of early 00's Weezer (fingers crossed they're not dead and buried!) but with beeps. Download the mp3 from their website (link). Prior warning - You have to sign up to their mailing list but you might want to anyway I guess.

The track isn't quite upto the standard of these gems though:
The Spinto Band - Oh Mandy
The Spinto Band - Brown Boxes

Buy 'Nice And Nicely Done' from HMV.

Welcome to the Hot Club de Paris

"They have the tight jerky eccentricity of The Futureheads, the ramblings of Chas and Dave and all in a little bundle of close harmony singing and sharper than thou riffs." Artrocker

Hot Club de Paris are John Kennedy of XFM's favourite new band of 2006 (and with the amount of bands he loves, that's quite something!). They're mine too. Why? The NME have said "this trio display a manic charm that is utterly unique", and it's this charm that makes them instantly loveable.

The thing with Hot Club de Paris is that they're a bit unpredictable and that results in some interesting times. For instance, they cancelled a whole bunch of gigs so they could finish recording their debut album at Elevator Studios in their home town of Liverpool. That included turning down performing at the South By South West festival in the States too. Mentalists.

Then there was their majestic live performance at the Great Escape festival in May (link). From the acapella harmonies to the beatboxing to the mask of zorro t-shirt - it was sheer madness, but complete brilliance.

They're currently supporting Sheffield young un's Milburn on tour and will hit most of the UK throughout the next few months (see their MySpace for the dates).

Sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachother is out on July 24th. Preorder from HMV. Their debut album is out in September on Moshi Moshi records, produced by Tim Speed.

Hot Club de Paris - Your Face Looks All Wrong
Hot Club de Paris - Shipwreck
Hot Club de Paris - Sometimesitsbetternottostickbitsofeachotherineachother (Demo)

Rise: London United

London's free annual anti-racist festival Rise (formerly known as Respect) occurs tomorrow, Saturday 8th July from noon till 8.30pm at Finsbury Park.

Rise: London United 2006 features nearly 70 acts playing over 8 stages to celebrate the diversity of the nation's capital. The likes of Run DMC, De La Soul, Asian Dub Foundation and Chumbawumba(!) have performed for the festival in the past.



This year's main stage shows off the talents of Graham Coxon, Blur's former guitarist and now acclaimed solo artist; punk monsters the Buzzcocks; rising hip hop superstar Common; 'Godfather of Acid Jazz' Roy Ayers; The Duke Spirit, purveyors of moody, dark rock; reggae legends The Wailers and human beatbox machine Killa Kela. Mos Def and Sway have unfortunately had to pull out.

1.15pm Killa Kela
2.10pm The Duke Spirit
3.05pm Roy Ayers
4.15pm Common
5.20pm Graham Coxon
6.20pm Buzzcocks
7.30pm The Wailers

Pop down tomorrow and buy a programme or something, I had to sell loads at the event in 2004. Maybe even make a significant donation or join the National Assembly Against Racism (NAAR). Have some fun.

Rise Festival website
NAAR website
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Apologies for lack of postage and mp3s recently, my computer is dying. If anyone knows how can I sort out an "mprexe has caused an error in kernel32.dll" problem, email me (dass695[at]yahoo.co.uk) and I will be very grateful.

The Strokes

The Strokes need no introduction but you might remember me mentioning that they've recently recorded a Marvin Gaye cover for the b-side of next single You Only Live Once (here). Well, it's leaked now. Sounds a bit odd really and features Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and the ginger ninja of QOTSA Josh Homme. Vedder shares vocals with Julian Casablancas while Homme provides some extra percussive support.

The Strokes - Mercy, Mercy, Me

Preorder You Only Live Once at HMV.
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The Strokes are also performing at London's Natural History Museum on July 6th, as part of T-Mobile's Street Gigs. Similar to the flash mob/guerrila gig movement, previous events have included The Rakes in a kebab shop and The Streets at a lighthouse. There's less than a day to register for tickets, so sign up speedily here.