Indiepop 'darlings' Los Campesinos! recently released 'The International Tweexcore Underground', a pretty amazing take on warring musical tastes, with Gareth on the twee side ("I never cared about Henry Rollins") and Aleks representing hardcore ("I never cared about Calvin Johnson"). Great video to boot, take a peek below. And not only that, they decided to flank that song with two cover versions (one twee, one hardcore) so that it would be a concept single. Crazy bananas.
Their cover of Black Flag's 'Police Story' didn't agree with me at all but I think their remake of 90's twee band, Heavenly's 'C Is The Heavenly Option' (or should that be Twee Is The Heavenly Option....sorry) is possibly my favourite cover this year. And considering how much I love covers, that is high praise indeed. Okay, they are just taking an already good song and adding a slight modern twist, LC! stylee, but maybe it's that relative simplicity which appeals to me. I think Calvin Johnson sounds a bit funny on the original too. It reminds me far too much of the B52s. Not that that's always a bad thing but it is here. Anyways, the LC! cover is below but for posterity, I've decided to upload the original as well - which do you prefer? It's like VHS vs Betamax all over again.
But the A-side is even better so I'm sticking that up as well. Admittedly, only a live version because you should buy the single obviously! Although (brace yourself for some rare negativity) I'm not sure LC! do the business live. I saw them again recently at ULU in London and thought there was something lacking. The sound in the venue wasn't that great though and they did a fantastic dance to 'Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks' but it's a bit sad if a gimmick is the best bit of your performance. On a brighter note, the album is almost destined to be a good un!
Los Campesinos! - C Is The Heavenly Option [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
Heavenly - C Is The Heavenly Option [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
Los Campesinos! - The International Tweexcore Underground (Live At London Calling) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
'The International Tweexcore Underground' is available in all good record stores and download stores (iTunes etc). Los Campesinos! are also hitting Europe and USA, check their [website] for further details.
on Sunday, November 04, 2007
If you're a case sensitive fascist, frYars is probably not for you. But if you can look past the ludicrous capitalisation of this Patrick Wolf-meets-Bat For Lashes electronic outfit, then you will enjoy the wonderful sounds technology these days can make. In fact, it is quite remarkable how one bloke can construct such dulcet tones simply from a computer and keyboard, as shown by the BBC 6Music Session I am about to share with you all.
frYars is the brainchild of London teenager Ben Garrett, one of a clutch of talented youngsters in our fair capital. He's teamed up with the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and Cajun Dance Party, as well as ex-Ladyfuzz drummer and now solo artist, Esser. Esser's pretty good too by the way. Oh and the producer of the recent frYars EP was none other than ex-Clor man, Luke Smith. And while we're here, R.I.P Clor and Ladyfuzz, two London bands that had much more in them than simply one album each.
From the interview that accompanied his performance for Tom Robinson's BBC 6Music show, I gathered:
a) he doesn't much like Radiohead
b) his personality seems to mirror his music, i.e quirky
c) he used to be a drummer
d) he has someone to help him play live (alas I have forgotten their name, sorry unknown musician person!)
e) it's amazing what lovely noise a couple of keyboards can make
The tracks he played for the recent session were 'Horse Or Man', 'Madeline' and 'The Ides', which is also incidentally the title of his critically acclaimed EP (even Pitchfork were fans!). Aside from your enjoyment of the juxtaposition of strings and electronica, you might notice how atmospheric his music is; if a "pop" career doesn't work out then he'd be great at making meditational relaxation backing tracks. As with all offbeat artists, I have no idea what his lyrics are really about but who cares? These tracks are fantastic.
frYars - The Ides (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
frYars - Madeline (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
frYars - Horse Or Man (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
frYars is also playing a couple of live dates at the end of November in London, which could quite possibly be his first ever ones. Check his [MySpace] for more details on those dates and how to buy his EP, which is available on iTunes and from independent record stores.
frYars is the brainchild of London teenager Ben Garrett, one of a clutch of talented youngsters in our fair capital. He's teamed up with the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club and Cajun Dance Party, as well as ex-Ladyfuzz drummer and now solo artist, Esser. Esser's pretty good too by the way. Oh and the producer of the recent frYars EP was none other than ex-Clor man, Luke Smith. And while we're here, R.I.P Clor and Ladyfuzz, two London bands that had much more in them than simply one album each.
From the interview that accompanied his performance for Tom Robinson's BBC 6Music show, I gathered:
a) he doesn't much like Radiohead
b) his personality seems to mirror his music, i.e quirky
c) he used to be a drummer
d) he has someone to help him play live (alas I have forgotten their name, sorry unknown musician person!)
e) it's amazing what lovely noise a couple of keyboards can make
The tracks he played for the recent session were 'Horse Or Man', 'Madeline' and 'The Ides', which is also incidentally the title of his critically acclaimed EP (even Pitchfork were fans!). Aside from your enjoyment of the juxtaposition of strings and electronica, you might notice how atmospheric his music is; if a "pop" career doesn't work out then he'd be great at making meditational relaxation backing tracks. As with all offbeat artists, I have no idea what his lyrics are really about but who cares? These tracks are fantastic.
frYars - The Ides (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost link]//[Sendspace link]
frYars - Madeline (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
frYars - Horse Or Man (BBC 6Music Session) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
frYars is also playing a couple of live dates at the end of November in London, which could quite possibly be his first ever ones. Check his [MySpace] for more details on those dates and how to buy his EP, which is available on iTunes and from independent record stores.
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