Highlife – the real shit indeed

Most times I need a few listens to know if I like a song.  But every so often there comes along a tune that just blows my audio mind, and has me jigging around the room like a juked Jackie Stallone within mere seconds.  The last time that happened the delighter in question was Surprise Hotel by Fool’s Gold; and the most recent occurrence, earlier this yellow London afternoon, came courtesy of still another African-influenced track – F Kenya Rip, by Highlife – one that I heard on Dazed’s excellent August playlist. 

After some help from Pinglewood and NME, I’ve established that this Highlife is actually one Sleepy Doug Shaw, an occasional part of White Magic – themselves a folky, techno group from the same New York scene as Gang Gang Dance. Shaw dreams up jams around his drawling British vocals (to use The Fader‘s brilliant description, “his voice sounds like hot chocolate”). In an interview with NME he explained the genesis his pseudonym apon arriving in NYC: “I got heavily into African guitar music, especially the type known as highlife, and started listening to lots of awesome African bands, one of which was F. Kenya’s Guitar Band”

Hence the name of this incredibly catchy slice of paradise pop, and its main lyric – “Madame Zehae Ala”, the name of an F. Kenya’s Guitar Band song that Shaw particularly adores.  The result is paradise pop: a warm plunge pool of lazy, cheerful guitar prangs, soulful female backing singers, a kicking little rhythm and a truly tropical feel.  Just try to stop your feet from tapping along…

Almost as perfect as the song is Shaw’s account of its conception: “I began to write the song on the island of Gaspar Grande, in the 15 miles of bocas between Venezuela and the most north-westerly point of Trinidad. The sun was so bright. Rum, Collee and Carib beer were good influences. I began to play in circles.”   As a comment after the NME feature so accurately concludes: “YES! THIS IS THE SHIT! THE REAL SHIT!”  It really is.

Highlife on MySpace

MP3: Highlife – F Kenya Rip (zSHARE)

Revere – that great rock sound

Revere are a London eight-piece being bigged up in a few quarters, with a date at the Relentless Garage to come.  They offer unspeakably intense rock epics, the type hated by cobwebs, and loved by Match of the Day.  At times it’s full-throttle instrumental stuff with a hint of Mogwai but actually much groggier and more classical, or operatic; at others there are booming vocals and thumping choruses reminiscent of White Lies or, further back, Mansun, and capable of blowing your earphones straight out.  In the midst of all this string-based hubbub there come occasional midsections lined with nothing but a gorgeous trumpet solo.  Anyway, if you like Revere you’ll probably love them, and if not, a certain amount of admiration should pour forth anyhow. 

Live date:
Sat 14 November – The Relentless Garage, Highbury (details and tickets here)

Revere on MySpace

MP3: Revere – The Escape Artist (zSHARE) (very kindly provided by the band)

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool? – should I hate them?

Mere seconds after I see the name Ou Est Le Swimming Pool?, I have decided: ‘I hate this band’.  I hate their wanky anglo-French name, their faux cheeriness and their cloying attempts to be a bit cool and clever.  What’s more, I feel like I already have half an idea what they sound like, despite knowing precisely zilch about the band, other than their being listed on Rough Trade‘s newsletter’s Other Great Stuff This Week recommendations.

My cynical suspicions are alerting me to a pre-pubescent, shouty garage-rock style, doused in preppy pretentiousness and telling tales of supposedly earth-shattering love affairs.  There will be an army of dance hooks to provide a techno edge, I predict, and no end of unrelated keyboard ripples.  The singer would be a fawning male, positioned just below Dan Black on the irritation scale, and I foresee at least one girl (with an obscenely cool haircut) in the band, most likely on guitar.  They will both remix and be remixed, the latter better than the former.

Am I right, though, or should I give bands with wanky anglo-French names a break?   A picture suggests my fears may be realised:

Nevertheles, in an unusually conciliatory moment (this is what happens on Bank Holidays), I’m going to listen to their MySpace playlist to find out…

Initial impressions: there’s no girl, but rather three boys, all from Camden and trendily coiffed.  Not sure which is the singer, but judging by their faces and names (Andelé Peligroso Pericosima, Affa da, and Fernando Percival III) I’m right about the irritation factor, and Dan Black might face a challenge after all.  Comments suggest the music is going to be pop, with critical comparisons to Passion Pit and Empire of the Sun littering the page…

… and, well, gulp, *quickly knocks up a humble pie*, it’s pretty good stuff.  It is indeed the same kind of woozy, ear-caressing electro-pop served up by PP and EOTS, but this time feels somehow a bit more chilled out, as if you’re drifting along in a very pleasant semi-conscious stupor, rather than with all capacities fully engaged.  There are a load of computery effects as I anticipated, but they all fit will in shaping these various dreamscapes. 

After four songs, a loose formula is beginning to emerge… svelte verses sung nicely by the singer, and then a high-pitched, everyone-in chorus, repeated for good measure.  That’s not quite fair, as there are differentials – a shouty solo on These New Knights; the trippy intensity of Dance The Way I Feel, easily the best track – but I think many more discrepancies will need to materialise before this trio can make a play for fully-fledged stardom.  The hunt for the swimming pool can wait.

In addition, just to try and salvage a few iotas of respect for my pathetic predictions, I find out from the fabulous Sheena Beaston blog that OELSP have recently remixed Lily Allen (yes!).

Live date:
Tues 22 September – The Legion, Shoreditch (Dance The Way I Feel single launch)

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool? on MySpace

MP3: Ou Est Le Swimming Pool? – Dance The Way I Feel (zSHARE)
Buy: Dance The Way I Feel via Young & Loss Club from 7 September.

London Live Dates – Bell Orchestre, The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Speech Debelle and more…

Another shedload of exciting and imminent London live dates to check out, in date order with the soonest first:

Bell Orchestre
Its six maverick members including protagonists from the Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre play lovingly-arranged and rather noirish numbers designed more for heads than hips, and all sounding a mite church-like in their intensity and elegance.  Watch out, though: according to BO’s website‘s blurb, “to say they are an instrumental band is like saying El Greco was just a painter, or Frank Gehry just builds museums: it fails to capture their essence”. Tut tut.
Wed 9 September – The Relentless Garage, Highbury
Bell Orchestre on MySpace
MP3: Bell Orchestre – Icycles/Bicycles (zSHARE)

The xx
Much discussed on this blog already, the achingly hip pop auteurs are now due to play an extra date in Camden: the darkness and odd cats of the Barfly ought to suit their fiddly, shadowy potboilers rather well.
Wed 9 September – Barfly, Camden
The xx on MySpace
MP3: The xx – Infinity (zSHARE)

Shearwater
Six albums – not bad for a supposed Okkervil River side-project.  Formed in 2001 by OR members Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff, Shearwater offer flightier, more angelic and existential sounds than their parent band – perhaps explaining why the band’s name honours a soaring seabird. These are graceful, grandiose melodies that go straight for those back-neck hairs of yours – and you’d do well to let them have their way.
Mon 14 September – Luminaire, Kilburn
Sat 5 December - Union Chapel, Highbury 
Shearwater on MySpace
MP3: Shearwater – Leviathan Bound (zSHARE)

The Phenomenal Handclap Band
There’s something very Shoreditch or Skins soundtrack about TPHC – edgy, scarcely connected beats; zany cheerfulness; and Weirdsville effects galore.  Initially the eight-piece are hard to get into, and their mash-up dance-pop sound difficult to love.  But slowly the irresistible spirit of songs like 15-20 or the vaguely Scissor Sisters-esque You’ll Disappear wins you over.  Think 80s disco, sugar-coated guitars, careering keyboards, the odd brass solo and, yes, lots of clapping…
Tues 22 September – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, Shoreditch
The Phenomenal Handclap Band on MySpace
MP3: The Phenomenal Handclap Band – 15-20 (zSHARE)

Trespassers William
If the London ratrace is proving a a tad too tumultuous for you, the pretty melodies of this Seattle two-piece could be just what the music doctor ordered. Matt Brown’s graceful stringwork cloaks cardigan-style around Anna-Lynne Williams’ fragile voice to create a potent serving of slumber and chill-out pop – slow-fi, if you like.
Tues 6 October – The Wilmington Arms, Clerkenwell
Fri 6 November – Luminaire, Kilburn
Trespassers William on MySpace
MP3: Trespassers William – Different Stars (zSHARE)

Speech Debelle
My reaction on seeing Speech play at the South Bank Centre last month was that her music’s very difficult to follow in the flesh.  Perhaps my ears are just full of wax, but it seemed to me that Speech’s chattering MC style and her fast-moving tales of life and strife were much more easily experienced – crying, gasping, beaming – on record.  The same can’t be said about her terrific band though, who are a treat to watch. October 2009
Wed 7 October – Scala, Kings Cross
Speech Debelle on MySpace
MP3: Speech Debelle – Searching (zSHARE)

The Cave Singers
Another Seattle act, this three-piece reminds me a little of Iron & Wine (no bad thing indeed) with their long, languid and somehow especially rhythmic melodes.  Formed out of the ashes of Pretty Girls Make Graves (they have a song called Dancing On Our Graves) and promoting their second album, the band’s sound has intent guitars and drums accompanying Pete Quirk’s pleasantly crackling vocals, with the occasional gentle samples. 
Fri 20 November – ULU, Bloomsbury
Sat 5 December - Union Chapel, Highbury (supporting Shearwater)
The Cave Singers on MySpace
MP3: The Cave Singers – Beach House (zSHARE)

Deer Tick
This Rhode Island band are as hirsute as the Fleet Foxes, but proffer a much bluesier sound.  Guitars throb passionately or chirp cheerfully, the lyrics talk of sons of bitches and old-fashioned potions, and the whole thing sweetly reeks of whisky, cowboy boots, Pontiacs and paraffin lamps. It’s very American, right down to the name of the chalky-voiced lead singer, John Joseph McCauley III.
Tues 1 December – Borderline, Soho
Deer Tick on MySpace
MP3: Deer Tick – Easy (Live) (zSHARE)

Imogen Heap – one tweet = one free video

Imogen Heap’s always been as wacky as she’s talented, but I never had the English multi-instrumentalist down as a social media guru.  I do now, though… Fans can download her latest ”Canvas” video (from upcoming album #Ellipse) free in exchange for writing a tweet on her Twitter page.  You can say whatever you want, and vent whatever spleen you got.  I think that’s pretty cool.

Imogen Heap on MySpace
Imogen Heap’s website

MP3: Imogen Heap – First Train Home (zSHARE)

Free Jack Peñate show on Thursday night

Jack Peñate has announced a free warm-up show this Thursday evening before his Reading and Leeds Festival performances over the Bank Holiday weekend.  Entry is on a first come, first served basis, with doors at 6pm and Jack due on stage at 9pm.

Live date:
Thurs 27 August – Flowerpot, Kentish Town (details here)

Jack Peñate on MySpace
Jack Peñate’s website 

Buy Everything is New here.

MP3: Jack Peñate – Every Glance (zSHARE)

The Temper Trap announce UK tour – are they plain wonderful, or just plain?

Australian act The Temper Trap have announced a UK tour to mark their newfound prominence.  Details of the London stop are below – expect tickets to shift really quickly.

As NME reports, rhe band were due to play at The Relentless Garage, but the gig will now take place at Heaven, which has a bigger capacity to suit the suddenly bulging fanbase.  Tickets for the original venue will still be valid for the Heaven gig, and a batch of new tickets have also gone on sale.

I really like Sweet Disposition, even though it positively screams BBC soundtrack and Virgin Radio drivetime fodder.  This is indisputably a good song, with beautiful high-pitched notes and an attractively-epic sound.  I’m not nearly so wowed by the rest of The Temper Trap’s current catalogue though; at Field Day it all sounded obvious and plain, if spritely and perfectly pleasant. 

But please feel free to disagree, and to tell me I have TTT all wrong…

Live date:
Wed 23 September – Heaven, Charing Cross (tickets here)

The Temper Trap on MySpace
The Temper Trap’s website

Buy albums and singles by The Temper Trap here.

MP3: The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (zSHARE)

UPDATE!!!  Thurs 27 Aug
Wow, this band really has hit the big time – the show at Heaven has sold out, as of this morning.  Looks like not too many people share my ‘plain’ analysis!  Richard

Dimbleby & Capper

Prior to the whirling devilishness of Edward Sharpe last Thursday, I really enjoyed the support set by one Dimbleby & Capper. 

A tap of the keyboard, a swish of the return key and a snap of Google magic later, I can tell you that Dimbleby & Capper is in fact a pseudonym for unsigned 21-year-old Laura Bettinson, the bewitching lead singer I encounted, possessed with untidy short blonde hair, a wisp of a black dress, and a rather sardonic sense of humour.  On stage she seems to be ever-supported by a trio of musicians in Venetian masks (a la Eyes Wide Shut), enabling a fuller sound.

What sort of sound, you ask?  On the most basic level it’s a pop, but with a fusilade of quirks – spicy keyboard melodies, an occasional lashing of 80s power ballads, and a smouldering, slow sassiness.  The songs are seductive, slowly intoxicating the listener after initial apathy, and oddball and a bit experimental, rather like The xx. 

Much as I liked her music, Laura equally wowed me with her courage.  In a murmurous room, plainly populated by Edward Sharpe fans impatient for the main course, she dared to showcase her full range, including a slow-beat, acoustic potboiler, where more or less the only sound was Laura singing soft as a whisper over a recorded sample of (I think) her vocals.  It wasn’t a loud song, and the sound of ignorant, ignoramus Sharpe fans chatting over a pint was clearly audible, but Laura performed it brilliantly. 

I’m not alone in suggesting her talent – a slot on the BBC’s Introducing stage at Glastonbury this year proves as much.  Given that, and her beauty / fashion sense, I’d suggest seeing her soon, as everyone else is bound to catch on one of these days…

Live date:
Thurs 24 September – Smash & Grab at Proud Galleries, Camden (details here)

Dimbleby & Capper on MySpace

MP3: Dimbleby & Capper – Beautiful But Boring (zSHARE)

Noah & The Whale tonight – updated info

Doors open at 6pm for Noah & The Whale’s free gig at Pure Groove records tonight.  I had the start time down as 7.30, but this could mean it’s more like the usual 6.30 deal.  I suspect this’ll be a popular one, so I’d advise would-be attendees to get down to Farringdon as early as possible.  Maybe that last email can wait ’til tomorrow?

Live date:
Mon 24 August – Pure Groove, Farringdon (details here)

Noah & The Whale on MySpace

MP3: Noah & The Whale – The First Days Of Spring (zSHARE)

Perfection lives in Paris

Sorry to everyone for the few days’ silence.  I’ve been in Paris, having a fairytale time with a beautiful (inside and out) girl who makes me feel incredible.  So amazing that I’m just grinning like an idiot, and nowhere near sane enough to write anything remotely lucid about music.  Instead then, here’s a song for a sunny day: a gorgeous, sun-kissed daydream of a song that makes me smile and cry and float like a bird.  And a song which reminds me of the girl who I newly adore.

Normal service to be restored soon, once my swoon subsides a little…

MP3: Fleet Foxes – Mykonos (zSHARE)