Those Old Puritans return

These New Puritans are back early in 2010 with new album Hidden. It seems like the Christmas spirit has overwhelmed them beforehand though – here’s the first single, We Want War, a whopping seven minutes of goodness.  Judging from it, TNPs’ intense electro rock just got more intense, and more electro – think War of the Worlds on acid, and you’re just about there:

MySpace

Is Tropical (is good)

IS TROPICAL are new South London trio well worth checking out.  Their debut single (out 18 January), When O When, offers a fiddly alt-rock sound: initially quiet and lo-fi, then later burly and booming.  There’s a touch of the psychedelic to the feverish vocals, plus some gorgeous guitar solos.  Throw in some Klaxons-style electro meddling and these guys are set for a good 2010.  Maybe their fans will be called the IT Crowd (hahaha? ha? hmm)…

IS TROPICAL ought to be at their boisterous best live, too – apparently they play in masks, with self-made video projections behind.  Check out a forthcoming date at The Legion as part of the Disco Not Disco festival.

MySpace
Live dates:  Tues 15 December – The Legion, Shoreditch (details here) / Thurs 4 February – Stag’s Head,  DeBeauvoir Town

Edward Sharpe’s Home gets the Ugandan treatment

This is pretty cool – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros raised money for the Gulu Widows Group of Uganda at their recent album launch, with the women using the cash to start a farm to sustain their community.  In thanks they’ve performed a chunk of the band’s much-loved song Home, along with some pretty dubious dancing:

Unmade Beds’ killer soundtrack

Unmade Beds is a great little indie film out this Friday (11 December) in the UK.  Set in and around a Hackney squat, it’s a real slice of East London, with scenes in Broadway Market and London Fields among other locations.  But what’s really notable is its music: coupled with lots of gig footage and a music video recording, Unmade Beds has a brilliant soundtrack, full of innovative sounds old and new.  Here’s a taste of some of the new stuff:

(We Are) Performance
A Manchester fourpiece of two Joes and two sisters (Billie & Laura), this lot are purveyors of an uplifting, rather classic rock sound.  That is, on Let’s Start, which is an anthemic, White Lies-esque boomer with nice lyrics and radio-friendly guitars.  Surrender is more interesting: more crashing and more synthy, and enhanced with some backing vocals by the girls.  Currently tarting up their second album and signed to Too Much Information records, they are seen recording a video in Unmade Beds’ central squat.
Myspace |

Connan Mockasin
A London-based Kiwi electric blues band whose ever-changing members have but one mainstay: Connan Hosford.  Often clad in homemade mockasins (hence the name), Connan offers a dreamy digital soundscape like a blissful acid comedown in an eclectic instruments shop.  There are fabulously bonkers Michael Jackson covers on offer, too, and generally more than enough ammunition for believing that pigeon really is talking to you…
MySpace |

Plaster of Paris
A boy-girl duo formed at Camberwell Art School, this pair utilise only an acoustic guitar, a gramophone horn they inventively label a ‘kazoomaphone’ and Molly’s lush, slightly sorrowful voice, which sounds a bit Peggy Sue, a bit Kate Bush and a bit Florence Welch.  There’s something very ad-lib and unserious about their sound, which veers between blues, jazz and frop (folk-pop – see what I did there?).  A David Bowie cover has very kindly been provided and is available below.
MySpace | MP3: Plaster of Paris – Sorrow

Black Moustache
In one memorable scene, the maverick Axl gets into his gladrags and gyrates to the tune of ‘Hot Monkey, Hot Ass’, a weird and electro rock growler from this New York duo.  I cannot find a single solitary fact about them on the entire interweb save for the video of the aforementioned belter, below.  It’s dirty, it’s awful, it’s wonderful and it’s got a bad attitude.  Enjoy…

New digs

1.  I’m back - repaired laptop, recharged batteries and absolutely no wish to be outside in the polar tundra that London’s become.  To quote a friend, it’s well cold innit?
2. Regular visitors with too much time on their hand and not enough beer in their fridge may have noticed I’ve moved.  With the help of my extraordinarily kind and talented friend, David Bushell (his services available detailed here), I now have my own domain and oodles more capability.  Once I’ve regained control of my inbox and urgently tapped out a few must-write blogs, expect some cool additions to this little London blog.  A mighty fine musical tribute both to David’s techno know-how and his ’unusual’ humour is available below.

Sorry it’s all taken so long – hopefully it’ll be onwards and upwards from here.
Richard

MP3: Clint Boon – White No Sugar (Full Strength Bascombe Blend) (zSHARE)