One Inch Badge presents: Sea Monsters – Day Two

With Speak Galactic, The Sticks, Cold Pumas, and Drum EyesSea Monsters is a mini festival in Brighton put on by local label One Inch Badge celebrating some of the city’s best musical output over five days in The Prince Albert. I didn’t manage to make day one because I’m rubbish and I’m not able to make days four and five for similar but more legitimate reasons, but I will be attempting to write about day two.The thing I always forget about gigs is to not turn up when doors are supposed to open, especially when you’re going on your own. Even with a phone that you can pretend to text with and a toilet you can pretend to wee in every so often, you...

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Burglarised

So it turns out when I was writing about Dan Amos a few weeks back I might have actually been talking about the band Burglarised. Dan Amos may have been a pretty main member, but still, should have probably got my facts right.Also, it turns out that Burglarised have a good few releases to their name (according to their MySpace, 7 EPs or LPs, one as recent as last year) including Thunderheart!, which I posted about it. It also looks like Burglarised were played on Radio 1 by Rob Da Bank back in 2006 and also received some online press here and here (some of it pretty amusing in its criticism of the lo-fi sound before it was so common).Obviously...

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Releases: Best of the Week

Plenty of decent stuff this week worth buying (from your local independent record store!) and a strong debut or two.Week starting Monday 31 January:Jonny - Jonny (Turnstile)Jonny - Michaelangelo (non-album track taken from their free EP)Esben and the Witch - Violet Cries (Matador Records)The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries)Hercules and Love Affair - Blue Songs (Moshi Moshi) Seefeel – Seefeel (Warp)Remember you can get in touch if you want to suggest things I've missed or stuff out soon I should know of but might not know because I'm rubbi...

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Yes Know

One of the great things about music is that there’s stuff to suit all moods and moments. To get the best out of some music, you need to have four pints of beer sloshing around in your stomach and a big field to stand around in the sun in – the speakers blaring out, the bass thudding you in the chest like fist into a punch bag. Other music is best enjoyed in a relaxed and quiet evening, the moonlight shining into your bedroom as you sit alone in a half-asleep daze. The music of Californian Sandy Gilfillan aka Yes Know firmly sits in the latter camp of sounds. Chilled out and frankly beautiful, Sandy’s dreamy vocals sit alongside all sorts of twinkling...

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Aux Arc

Aux Arc aren’t the newest band you’ll find being written about on the internet given that they were blogged about almost a year ago now, but they may well be one of the more underrated. Yet they seem to have been largely ignored and unheard since being blogged about back then, despite it being the kind of music that you’d expect to find its way to every crevasse of HypeMachine in mere moments of retweeting and via’s.Formed of three guys based in Savannah, Georgia, Aux Arc make perfect pop music, albeit influenced by a lap around the globe and a step back to the doo-wop of the 60s. Vocals – when not harmonised in celebrator manner – carry a melancholic...

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Livid Kids

This is a lazy and frankly half-arsed write-up, but I’m in a bit of a rush (which is a poor excuse, I know), and all you really want is to hear the songs rather than read my words anyway. Livid Kids are a two-piece from Indiana, making lazy lo-fi garage rock along Beat Happening and Moldy Peaches lines. Vocals have that lack of caring, atonal quality – slowly dragging on whilst the guitar and drums and franticly worked alongside them, which makes for a nice effect. It was apparently recorded in a bedroom. I wish I was the next door neighbour.Michael Bishop/On The Green LP, their second release, is out now and available on their bandcamp.Livid...

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Soccer96

With all the wonderful music from around the world readily available at the tip of a finger, bands perhaps have an even tougher time than in previous years deciding exactly which styles will contribute to their own sounds, and which are simply more to be enjoyed rather than replicated. Of course, there’s always the argument that you could just cram all of your favourite music into your own and hope that it comes out as some sort of coherent sound rather than a big, confusing mess. After all, it’s worked for Brighton’s Soccer96.Forcing together psychedelic world sounds with electronica, post-rock, math-rock, and even prog and jazz, the two-piece...

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Maymok

Don’t know a whole load about Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Tim Kraus aka Maymok but his tracks have had my head on a constant spin these past few days. Wonderful looping, psychedelic and kaleidoPOPic (I know, I'm shameless) beats.Maymok - Family/FriendsMaymok - SpacestationBandcamp | MySpace | EP at Two Michael Jord...

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Couldn’t Take Their Eyes Off Of Each Other..

Selena Gomez - Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez Couldn’t Take Their Eyes Off Of Each Other At Friend’s Birthday Party!An eyewitness tells that Justin Bieber and Selena Gomezshe may have been texting each other while at the party!Justin Bieber brought Selena Gomez along with him to attend his tour mate Jessica Jarrell’s sweet sixteen birthday party at the Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale, Calif. on Jan. 15. Although Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez tried to play coy, the chemistry between them was obvious!And although the couple (justin Bieber and Selena Gomez) interacted, they “avoided Pda since the place was packed and respectfully declined taking...

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Releases: Best of the Week

Still going strong. Some of the best releases from the alternative crowd this week. Good releases from bands new and old.Week starting Monday January 24:The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar (Atlantic)The Joy Formidable - WhirringCloud Nothings - Cloud Nothings (Wichita)Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours (V2)Deerhoof - Deerhoof vs. Evil (PolyVinyl)Gang Of Four – Content (Gronland)Young Prisms – Friends for Now (Kani...

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Under Alien Skies

What happens when you take all of the best music of the last few years and compact it into one EP? A band trying their hardest to thrust themselves into the hipster limelight? An over-complicated and poorly flowing collision of incompatible sounds? Maybe for most bands, but not if you’re Under Alien Skies, apparently. Their sounds feels fresh from a dream, the north-Walian duo combining woozy harmonised vocals, tender trip-hop beats, electro-tinged wavy reverb and world-y influences creating just the sort of laid-back sounds for a hungover Saturday morning.They’re soon to be touring and are also in the process of putting together a full-length...

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Right Hand Left Hand

I’ve been meaning to post about these for quite a long time but, as usual, I somehow never got around to it. Right Hand Left Hand are one of Cardiff’s most exhilarating, interesting, and quite simply impressive bands at the moment, and should have been an obvious choice for me to write about here months ago, to be honest.Formed of two veterans of the Cardiff music scene – Rhodri Viney, who has been credited as a member or musician (or whatever) on albums so many times it’d be difficult to keep count (but some that pop to my mind now include ex-Boo Radley songwriter Martin Carr, experimental folk-y/krauter H. Hawkline, post-rockers Vito and who...

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Illness

As much as the lo-fi sound is loved by many, when it’s chosen by a band (rather than forced on them by necessity of lack of equipment/funds etc) I always think it comes as a bit of a risk. As well as those who live the DIY feel, there are always those people (and there are probably more of them) who seem unable to listen to any music that crackles or fuzzes. Of course, a band might not necessarily want this type of person to like their music or be making music with the aim of anyone liking it whatsoever, but it can still be, at times, cutting off a big proportion of potential fans or gig-goers.Brighton two-piece Illness go one further by opting...

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Their Only Dreams

The more years go by, the more new things are tried, the more difficult it becomes for musicians to make sounds that can be considered truly original. Dubstep producers cut and sample stuff from the past, adding their own beats and twists; some bands not always succesfully try to make something completely their own, but the vast majority of (usually mainstream) bands regurgitate sounds from the past without even an ounce of originality.Their Only Dreams is Californian-based musician David Lyudmirsky. David borrows bits and bobs from the past, namely 70s psychedelia along David Bowie/Lou Reed/Gary Numan (sorry for being uninventive, but it’s probably...

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Lizard Queen

With every new blog post, I try to avoid things becoming boring by saying something a bit different from the previous few posts, when, a lot of the time, all I really want to say is “THIS BAND MAKES REALLY GOOD MUSIC PLEASE LISTEN TO IT.”Lizard Queen is a band from the northwest of England, near Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield, but not near enough to any of these places to call them a Leeds/Bradford/Huddersfield/Wakefield-based band. Among its four members is Will Jones, drummer for and brother of Louis Jones and his band Spectrals, who sings here in Lizard Queen.Like Spectrals, Lizard Queen opt for a lo-fi sound to songs, though...

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Releases: Best of the Week

Another week of some of the best releases from (some) new bands.Week starting Monday 17 December:Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum) Smith Westerns - All Die Young > Anna Calvi - Anna Calvi (Domino)The Decemberists - The King Is Dead (Capitol)Hot Club De Paris – Free The Pterodactyle 3 [Compilation] (Moshi Moshi)Tennis – Cape Dory (Fat Possum)Feel free to get in touch to make any recommendations on future releas...

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VVOLVES

Bands often share members. That’s obviously commonplace. But Cardiff as a city seems to have a higher proportion of bands sharing members than most other places. Perhaps it’s because that, for a capital city with lots going on culturally and a large student population, it’s quite a small place, or perhaps it’s just because it’s the music scene I know the most about. Probably that one, to be honest.Regardless, VVOLVES (two v’s, not one w) are a band that fit into the possibly invalid Cardiff-band-members-share theory. Lead-singer Tom is also (or perhaps previously – not sure if they are still active) of electro-guitar one-man-band Zimmermans (who...

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Video: Brown Brogues

I’ve been meaning to post about Brown Brogues for a good few months but somehow never got round to it. Their carefree and lo-fi take on garage rock has got them catching the attention of a good few fans during 2010, and 2011 looks to be an exciting year for them.The Wigan band have just made a video for single Treet U Beta to promote their upcoming 7" through Suffering Jukebox. The video was made with the guys that do the videos for Manchester Scenewipe, so it was always going to be good. It features beer, crooning, and old ladies dancing – and a pretty darn good song. Watch (and listen to) it below.Facebook | Bandcamp | MySp...

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Dan Amos

I've just been sent an album by an artist called Dan Amos from the guys in the band Illness, who are doing their best to share the love of some very, very good and very, very lo-fi experimental psych pop.Between us, we don’t know much about Dan. We think he’s from Kent, we’re not sure if he plays live, and we’re not sure if he still even makes music anymore but we do know he makes awesome music, and that’s what matters.Thunderheart is 17 tracks of passion, joy, and a natural flare for writing what seem to be effortlessly brilliant pop songs – dirty synth sounds burst into colour alongside Dan’s weirdo vocals and a catchy drum beat. They might be covered in thick layers upon thick layers of noise and fuzz, but dig below the surface and you will be more than rewarded with sweet, sweet goodness.Listen...

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Mowbird

Fuzzy garage rock from Wrexham, with hints of surf, punk, and pop. Who’d have thought it?Download some tracks below, at the band's Last FM page, or download the Excellent, OK EP plus two demos from their bandcamp.Mowbird - Oh, SusanMowbird - Thank You, You Are Revolting (demo)Facebook | MySpace | via waitforthecl...

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Levek

Florida’s Levek may have been first blogged in 2009 last year, made some blogs best of 2010 lists, and possibly even have been active since 2008 (judging from MySpace dates), but that doesn’t mean I can’t share his stuff now, right? It’s seriously good, so it’d seem a shame not to.The work of David Levesque, apparently a former school bus driver if you believe the words that anybody who has ever written about him has mentioned, Levek is self-described as “Mickey Mouse tribal sounds”.As sarcastic as that may sound, much of the music isn’t actually that far off the description. NW 4th St., for instance, genuinely sounds like it should soundtrack...

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Red Psalm

Post-punk has really had a kick in the teeth from mainstream bands in the past few years. For a genre so important and creative, recent dull Joy Division carbon copies (White Lies, Editors, Chapel Club etc) will have left a generation of youth wondering what the fuss was all about. If there was any justice in this industry, Red Psalm would storm the charts and re-inspire the masses. Red Psalm is Kansas City’s John Dickson. Basic guitar lines accompany bass-snare drum machine, buzzing bass, whirring synth, and John’s recognisable deep monotone vocals and some noisey droning effects. As obvious as it is that this is the music of one man sat in...

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Aishwarya Rai Calendar 2011

Download Now. Aishwarya Rai Calendar 2011...

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Coolrunnings: New Song

Sweet new track from Knoxville's Coolrunnings. Reminds me of Smith Westerns' 70s vibe, but maybe that's just because Dye It Blonde is brilliant. Coolrunnings - Jesse (demo) More downloads here.Facebook | Twitter | MySpace | Bandc...

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Releases: Best of the Week

In a feature I hope to run weekly, I'll highlight some of the best album (or EP) releases from the upcoming week - with a focus on, but not strictly limited to, new bands and independent labels. So:Week starting Monday January 10:British Sea Power - Valhalla Dancehall (Rough Trade)British Sea Power - Living Is So Easy (via)Ducktails - Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (Woodsist)Jim Noir - Zooper Dooper EP (Self-released)Wire - Red Barked Tree (Pink Flag)Cake – Showroom of Compassion (Upbeat Records/A...

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Featured Blog: Reeks Of Effort

As odd as it may seem as a blogger, I've decided to feature other blogs and writers on here so to draw attention to the good things other people are doing. It's a bit like Tesco telling their shoppers to go to Asda, I know, but I'm crazy like that.The first of hopefully many other blog features is Reeks Of Effort - a blog run by some guys from Cardiff that I only stumbled upon fairly recently. What I liked about it was that it's main focus seemed to be on lesser known older bands, rather than bands that have barely had chance to play their first show. I also liked that I didn't have a clue about a good few of these bands yet loved their music almost instantly. Find below an email conversation with those behind that blog, disguised cleverly as a face-to-face interview.Hello, Reeks Of Effort....

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Among Brothers – Homes EP

Following a band’s growth is a really interesting and exciting process. Seeing them move from playing a show to a small room of people, to following the progress of them recording their first batch of songs, to them putting out their first official release. It gives you a personal insight into the band and the sounds they construct, but as well as sometimes making you feel a bit stalker-ish, it can also give you a strange and undue sense of pride and ownership when their first release is put out and received positively, as if you contributed somehow.Of course I didn’t at all contribute to Among Brothers' music. I’m not in the band. I wasn’t in...

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The Yes Club

Dirty, dusty, abrasive, fast-paced, and noisey, New York-based The Yes Club have only two songs uploaded on to bandcamp for free download, yet have caught the attention of music bloggers worldwide. Awesome noisey psych garage. We don’t have much info or music from these yet (MySpace suggests they may have only been a band for 3 months), but I’m expecting we’ll hear lots more about and from them soon. Until then, download 'Whoa' and 'Second Sunday' below (or at their bandcamp), or hear a third track on MySpace.The Yes Club - Second SundayThe Yes Club - W...

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Gala Drop

Supporting Panda Bear is usually a good sign that your music is getting heard by the right people, as is being featured on blogs such as Altered Zones, yvynyl, and Salad Fork, but it’s with good reason that Gala Drop are developing a real buzz.As you might expect from an artist supporting Panda Bear, Portugal’s Gala Drop are a little bit weird, which is something that works in their favour given that being odd is pretty fashionable at the moment. They cover a good range of weird, too, rather than sticking to one area of weirdness. Weird. Drop opens with Wild Beasts’ styled drum patterns, delicate guitar twangs and pleasant looping bleeps which...

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