While desperately sad at the imminent closure of BBC 6 Music (everyone seems to be handling BBC Asian’s demise much better) – and the absence of a Sunday night spent listening to weird and wonderful Mexican flute rock or Japanese tango, of a radio station daring enough to play daring new music, and of non-cringeworthy live sets –  SOIWT is a little over email petitions collecting signatures.

Praise be for Proud, then.  The Camden stables venue has organised an impromptu ‘Save 6 Music’ night tomorrow (Wednesday), with live performances from the excellent Kitty, Daisy & Lewis and hip hopper Master Shortie.  The bad news is that Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong will be there, but happily they’ll only be DJing, not making noxious racket as normal.  The Maccabees, The Holloways and Ali Love will also take up deck duties, with more acts apparently to be announced.  Rather than get names on paper, the evening pledges to raise awareness about the plight of “the most iconic radio station of our time”.  You might argue that anyone who’d heard about the event would surely already be aware by default, but they probably mean in the bigger sense…

The Save 6 Music Facebook group has above 150,000 members now; it’s being run by modern culture’s cheerleaders-in-chief, Jon and Tracy Morter – they of last Christmas’ campaign to get Rage Against The Machine in the No. 1 spot.  Mr Morter is clearly letting the fame get to him, though, as he’s also among tomorrow’s disk-jockeys.  Meanwhile, poor Auntie’s received around 8,000 letters of outrage.  People power is so clearly hip right now, but will Mark Thompson give a Beeb?  Let’s hope so.

Proud says tickets will go fast, which probably means they won’t.  But it’s worth booking now just in case.  Try here.  They total £5.50 and all profit goes to Shelter, the heroic homeless charity.

Y’see, once upon a time Lovebox was a Victoria Park festival one relied on for chart-friendly dance music (Mylo), middling indie bands whose better days had long passed (Super Furry Animals), and ageing soul legends with just one, achingly annoying hit-song (Candi Staton).   While the musicians were present were generally good – not least founders and every-yearers Groove Armada – none were especially controversial or, well, interesting. 

And the crowd?  Like, please.  This was the London festival when everyone got to pretend they were down with the East London kids: cue an invasion of “Vicky Park” by the sandals-and-sunnies brigade, glass of wine in hand, handbag on arm, and Sunday Times being obediently lugged by t-shirted boyf.  These were the ominous portents of Shoreditch’s subsequent westernisation, a troop of boutiquey bores who heralded the boom in bottled ciders and exulted in a weekend ’festival’ where you didn’t have to camp, or anything unnatural like that. 

But last year, the times, as Bob Dylan sort of said, were a-changing.  The line-up assumed an air of daring: N.E.R.D., Diplo, Gang of Four, Noah & The Whale (hardly barnstorming danceness), Nextmen, Fenech Soler… Even Florence & The Machine was vaguely unknown when the names were first broadcast, if you can remember those empty pre-Flo days.  Holy Smoky Robinson and the Bandits said Batman lovers to each other, this is almost exciting. 

And what of this year?  Well, the line-up’s just out and guess what?  It’s more o’ the same.  Ok, so there’s Grace Jones and Mark Ronson, but shuffle past that and the bill’s eclecticism positively leaps out and ruffles your side parting: Chromeo, Crookers, Ellie Goulding, Empire of the Sun, Hurts, Joy Orbison and Wild Beasts, to name a few.  None of these are as unlikely as, say, Afrikan Boy, would be, but still there is a notably cool, undiscovered kinda vibe going on, one more in keeping with the traditional East London ethos.  (SOIWT also applauds the appearance of the coolest ‘old band’ around, Roxy Music, pretty much guaranteeing a rendition of Shameless, the new Groove Armada track featuring Bryan Ferry.)

So did Lovebox get cool?  Maybe not quite yet – but definitely cooler.  It’s trendier, too – these days its hepcats feature in the pages of Vogue, bedecked in a charity shop, ethnic-style garb with a firm boho vibe.  It’ll never be a down-and-dirty do without the overnight element, but there’s a more than a little untidiness to be found at today’s Lovebox.  And untidiness is good.

Tickets here if you’re not too daunted.

MP3: Groove Armada – Shameless (Feat. Bryan Ferry)

Weird Tapes – The Walking Dead
A old song from when Dayve Hawke – a man who is to SOIWT’s ear what SOIWT’s girlfriend is to SOIWT’s… heart – called himself Weird Tapes rather than Memory Tapes.  As Weird Tapes, Hawke was a little more techno-based: this number has diluted lyrics, distant peels and sorrowful loops.  The main and most memorable sound is a startling simple do-do-dododo refrain that chills and thrills in equal, pulsating measure.  You never want it to end, making the purposefully abrupt ending especially unjust.

Morningbell – Stay In The Garden
Rich in smokey jazz tones and Deep South-style woodwind, this song sees Morningbell depart their usual rock territory for a land altogether more exotic and mysterious.  Instruments positively flirt with each other here, as Travis purrs biblical lyrics into the mike, strings are pregnantly plucked and time drifts by with all the urgency of a hot summer’s evening.  One of the sexiest songs you’ll hear all year.

U.S. Girls – Turnaround Time
Mondays, eh?  So pfftttt.  SOIWT’s thoughts on this dreadful day typically go a little like this: “ummmm, so that seemed like a fun weekend.  But how did I get from Manor House to Bow?  Who was that guy in the police helmet?  And where did I leave my scarf?  Megan Remy, Philly’s U.S. Girls, can’t help answer those questions, but she can provide an apt soundtrack to your distorted, already-halcyon memories via this slice of dank and choppy lo-fi pop, full of beeps and confusion.  Think The Big Pink but female and ten times slurrier.

Four Tet – Angel Echoes
Here are five incredibly soft things: 1. Lamb’s Ear (that really strokable plant with grey hair).  2. Grizzly bears – not that SOIWT! has ever touched one, but, like, d’oh. 3. New towels.  4. Diane Kruger’sKruger’s skin in that L’Oreal advert on telly at the mo*.  5. Four Tet’s new song, Angel Echoes.  Hypnotic and haunting, this latest tune from Londoner Kieran Hebden’s current album is the sonic equivalent of a empty, musty church in early morning sunlight and shadows.  It lasts four minutes but feels like 94, such is the snoozy goodness on offer.
*L’Oreal has not paid this blog for the dream-like endorsement above, although a few free samples would no doubt be appreciated by Mrs SOIWT if L’Oreal felt obliged to repay this good turn. 

Erland & The Carnival – Trouble In Mind
Mellowness has dominated today’s round-up, but here’s a chirpy (despite the regretful lyrics) pearl from the excellent Erland & The Carnival to finish.  What’s particularly great about Trouble In Mind is not its pacy beat, nor Erland’s maudlin voice, nor the occasional fuzzy interludes, nor even the tender strings - but rather the way it all sounds so easy, so fabulously simple and effortless.  A fiver says you’ll be humming along all week.

Downloads via song titles.

Oxford’s Foals made a huge splash when they arrived on the music scene a couple of years back; offering a growling, chaotic and murderously funky disco rock, they were the Klaxons but ten times dirtier.  But after the auspicious start, the quintet hated their album and a long period of silence followed.  Thankfully, Foals have just announced a second album, Total Life Forever, to be out on 10 May.  A song from it, Spanish Sahara, is on video below, with a free Mount Kimbie remix available for download below too.   The tune suggests the ”lusher” sound the band recently pledged: a more elegant tumult while just as dark, the sound rarefied with a ghostly, trance-like feel.  For the shake-up, Mount Kimbie take that sense of foreboding and run with it.

There’s an Electric Ballroom date on Mon 10 May (tix on sale from Fri 12 March), and I have half a hunch that Foals might return to light up Field Day again in July.  We’ll see.

MySpace | Website | Buy
MP3: Foals – Spanish Sahara (Mount Kimbie remix)

Band Of Skulls – Honest
The TV show Skins continues to be one of SOIWT!’s most reliable musical dealers, and the most recent episode (Freddie & Effy) provided a particularly good fix.  This song played over the preview for next week’s show.  It’s a slow, slightly-emo track, with a lights-down-low sound, swirling female vocals, an itinerant structure and a likeable hint of madness in the lyrics.  Band Of Skulls are a UK trio very popular in the US, where they’ve toured with Metric and even made the dreaded Twilight soundtrack.  This is from a stripped-down Lounge Act session with Woxy.

Pretty Lights – I Can See Your Face
Pretty Lights is Derek Vincent Smith, a Coloradan who crafts his songs by fusing together loads of other songs.  Stupid?  Impossible?  Pointless? Uninventive?  In fact it’s none of these things – it’s stonkingly, thrillingly brilliant.  Witness this seven-minute belter, a murderous, funky-as-hell musical cocktail bursting with familiar whines, bass, some more bass and too many genres to name.  Three EPs will follow in 2010, with a drip-drip release schedule on PL’s website. File under ’shouldn’t work but does’. 

Os Mercúrios - Rimbaud de Bicicletta
As winter blows and blusters its last, festival line-ups filter out and H&M introduces new t-shirt ranges, so thoughts turn irresistibly to that most wonderful of times: summer.  Here’s a little early taste of it, courtesy of Brazilian trio Os Mercúrios.  Telling the tale of a cyclist they thought eerily resembled poet Arthur Rimbaud and a greeting he (possibly*) gave to them, this is a pysched-out lo-fi slice of Latin American pie, complete with insatiable ballroom bounce, tinkling drums, guitars and the most melodious of organ sounds. 
*The band members disagree on this point!

Bear in Heaven – Lovesick Teenagers
If you’re into richly-crafted, dense guitar songs with loads of layers and myriad compsition, with nostalgic lyrics and high-pitched vocals, and with syrupy bass-playing, then you’re a fussy bastard.  But you’re also in luck, as that’s just what Bear in Heaven provide here.  Look out for the rarefied feedback (which SOIWT! thinks sounds like drunken owls), be ready for the abrupt and criminally premature ending and look out for Brooklyn-based BIH’s forthcoming London live dates at The Lexington and The Windmill.

Not Squares – Asylum
A rollicking rock song from Belfast punk-dance (punce?) trio Not Squares, driven along by a taut bass, featuring cowbells and all manner of shouts and screams.  This is simple, old-fashioned fun, building up the pace and offering a pleasing amount of chaos mixed in with neat rhythms.  It’s like a particularly effervescent friend – when they’ve gone, or the song’s finished, the silence is sudden and stark – and most definitely what SOIWT! would call a going-out song.

Downloads via song titles.

More garagey punk today, this time courtesy of Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux, a louche quartet of young Londoners who apparently specialise in changing their name.   Less lo-fi and chaotic than the aforementioned Speak & The Spells, this chameleonic quartet’s melodies are immediately appealing via the worldly brogue of their singer.  Around him come careering guitars and tumultous drums, plus a dash of rockabilly and flashes of burlesque-style weirdness.  All in all, we’re talking a high-falutin racket that’ll have you doing a silly dance without taxing your Penny Lane too much.

MySpace | Website | Buy
MP3: Eighteen Nightmares at the Lux – Ketchup Stains  (very kindly provided by the band)

Tickets for the late-summer / early-autumn Offset Festival (4-5 September) in Hainault Forest are now on sale.  There’s no sniff of a line-up yet but Offset’s can always be trusted for a quirky carnival of alternative, mostly emerging acts.  Visitors to North London last year included The xx, Wild Beasts and Metronomy.  Weekend tickets in 2010 start at £45, or £55 with camping.

If you want to see Speak & The Spells live and let loose, there’s a single launch party for She’s Dead at the Stag’s Head on Wednesday 3 March.  Also, make sure you read super ace’s blog about the band.

MySpace | Buy (Robot Elephant Records) 
MP3: Speak & The Spells – Brianna

We Are Standard – The First Girl Who Got A Kiss Without A Please
When you hear that We Are Standard are from Northern Spain, thoughts of Latin jams and ay-yay-yays come to mind.  Incorrectly as it turns out: quickly building a reputation in the blogosphere, WAS actually produce a rhythmic and punkish dance-rock.  With a debut album produced by Gang of Four’s Andy Gill soon to arrive, this is the first single, featuring a pared-down sound and some beat-your-thigh guitar work.

Or, The Whale – Toxic
Regular readers will know SOIWT! is darn fussy when it comes to covers, insisting they do something quite different with a song.  Or, The Whale definitely does that; were it not for the incredibly recognisable central chorus of Britney’s original, this shoegazey cover would be quite unrecognisable.  Where Brit was sassy and assertive, San Fran sevenpiece Or, The Whale are forlorn and subdued.  Not since a busker outside the Tate Modern sang a blues version of Here Comes The Sun has one song sounded quite so different.

Gorillaz – Stylo
Dear Damon Albarn: SOIWT! does likes the new Gorillaz song – a trance-like blur of jaggy electro beats, with a particularly nice contradiction between your own candy-sweet vocals, Mos Def’s dark mutters and typically passionate soul from Bobby Womack – but neverthless wonders if a) this doesn’t all seems a bit too, well, easy, and b) whether your album will just be a dancey-trancey blur arrogantly underpinned by cool names you’ve recruited?  Please write back soon and confirm, yours sincerely, SOIWT!.

Mr. Beasley – Wrong
Mr. Beasley is Hull duo Sarah Johns and Bobby Beasley.  After a three year gap since first record Neon, they’re back with more blissful, shimmery chill-out just screaming out for electro trickery on the decks.  Sarah sounds a bit like Lykke Li and the overall vibe has echoes of Massive Attack and Portishead, only not quite so intense and a bit more ghostly, a la Four Tet’s slow stuff.  This one’s so ephemeral and fragile that once it finishes, you’re not entirely sure it played in the first place.

Kid Cudi – Highs N Lows
You gotta love Kid Cudi – while everyone else in hip-hop is either dissing fellow MCs or singing with cool synth-pop bands, he’s putting out a previously unreleased song where he sings over a Bob Dylan jam.  Never mind that the original was perfectly good, or that this is a summery song release in coldest winter; let’s just celebrate Cudi’s sheer awesomeness, and how neatly his smooth delivery combines with those blissful Dylan melodies.  (Thanks to Audio Drums for this one.)

MP3s available via the song titles.

We’ll be able to find on Tuesday 11 May as the RAA play the excellent Lexington on Pentonville Road (tickets).  It’s a way off, but well worth putting in the diary.

MySpace | Website | Buy
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – Frank, AB