Brighton Music Blog End of Year Top Twenty, 9 – IYES / Breathe

Posted on 16/12/2014 by brightonmusicblog

If your main exposure to the local music scene is through the live route, then you might assume that IYES have had a pretty quiet year – By our calculations they’ve only played in Brighton once, supporting Raleigh Ritchie a few weeks ago at the Haunt. Actually though, they’ve been pretty busy. In the spring ‘Til Infinity, which featured in out 2013 list, got a 7” release backed with their cover of Crazy in Love, and there have been numerous remixes which have appeared (including a turn for Jack Garratt, who’s hotly tipped for big things next year). More recently they’ve signed to Sony and had their track Glow feature in mobile phone ads and get scheduled for release early next year. They have had one proper single this year, the sultry, effervescent, MNEK produced Breathe:

Brighton Music Blog End of Year Top Twenty, 10 – Fickle Friends / Swim

Posted on 15/12/2014 by brightonmusicblog

Right now we’re in deepest midwinter, less than a week away from the shortest day of the year. Thankfully though, it won’t always be so – Give it a few months and it’ll be spring. The days will be getting longer and the weather will be getting better, and then out of nowhere we’ll have a day that almost feels summery, where you leave your coat at home and bask in the warmth of the sun for the first time in months. Swim by Fickle Friends sounds like that day feels.

New Music – Random Acts of Vinyl, King Porter Stomp, GAPS

Posted on 02/12/2014 by brightonmusicblog

The flow of new music has slowed recently, as it always does this time of year. The blogs are otherwise occupied with end of year lists (ours will be coming soon), but there’s still a few bits and pieces out there to tell you about.

King Porter Stomp‘s new single Warning, which features the talents of reggae legend Prince Fatty came out last week on Feet Up records on 10″ and download. It’s backed with a Dub remix by dub producer Nick Manasseh.

Yesterday saw the release of GAPS new single She Bears a Flower. We posted up the video for the single back in October, so we won’t repeat ourselves. Instead what we have for you is the b-side We Are Here – the most ambient thing we’ve heard from the band so far:

Finally, now it’s December it was inevitable that there would be some Christmas music coming. Random Acts of Vinyl have put out a four track 10″ EP with their bands each penning an original festive tune. We’ve got the audio of Fire Eyes‘ O Falling Snow below and the EP also has contributions from Beat Hotel, The Delta Bell and Palm Springs. Details of how you can get hold of the EP will be in the next blog we put up later this evening.

IYES and Sam Jordan support Raleigh Ritchie at The Haunt

Posted on 01/12/2014 by brightonmusicblog

In 2013 we must have seen IYES at least half a dozen times. Things have been a bit quieter in 2014 though – despite a few singles and remixes it was only last night that they played their first hometown gig of the year, supporting Game of Thrones actor turned R&B songsmith Raleigh Ritchie. Since we last saw them they’ve signed to Sony (you’ve probably heard their track Glow on the adverts for Sony phones), and they’re sounding better than ever. Support came from local lad Sam Jordan, whose set was running late which mean that IYES had to cut a few songs from their set. Hopefully they’ll be back soon with a headline gig when Glow gets released in February. Until then here’s our shots from the last night. Click through to view large:

New Music

Posted on 18/11/2014 by brightonmusicblog

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve made a New Music post – not because there hasn’t been good new music coming out, but because life’s got in the way – so we’ve got some catching up to do.

First up is the first music put online from the White brothers new project The Fiction Aisle. They’ve played a couple of gigs at the Prince Albert (with the next in their residency being on 26th November) but Blue is the first most people would have heard of the new band. Where Electric Soft Parade were all about a guitar based sound, The Fiction Aisle present beautiful shimmering pop:

Next up is a new tune from Ambassadeurs written while on tour recently in the States. From You is four minutes of effortless electronica.

BentCousin post up far more tracks than we get a chance to but their latest effort, Hid, is rather lovely, a simple string backed song with Amelia taking on the bulk of vocal duties.

Great Pagans launched their album Cupid In Error at the Green Door Store on 6th November at and haven’t rested on their laurels since then, sharing a remix of So Pure by fellow Brighton act Acquaintance.

Fickle Friends have breathed some new life into some of their old singles in the past few weeks, with a few remixes popping up and now a Vevo featured video of For You:

Time for T launch their self titled EP next Monday (24th November). They’re holding a London launch on the day, but the Brighton party isn’t until 13th December. As a taster, they’ve shared EP track Long Day Home

Last but by no means least is New Year’s Prayer, the lead track from Night House‘s upcoming debut EP, which is also self titled:

IYES – Glow

Posted on 04/11/2014 by brightonmusicblog

First time we heard Glow was a while back, in demo form on Soundcloud, the second demo IYES had put up after getting the whole of the internet’s attention with Lighthouse. Both tracks have long disappeared from Soundcloud and IYES have been pretty quiet in 2014, save for a few remixes, but then a couple of months ago Glow came back into our lives, soundtracking an ad for the new Sony Smartphone.

News came in earlier today letting us know that the single – sounding even better than ever in it’s newly re-recorded state – comes out on 22nd December on Love by Mistake, a new imprint of Sony records run by the band. The debut album is due in Spring next year and if you want to catch the band live they’re playing at the Hoxton Square bar and kitchen on 3rd December.

October Top Ten

Posted on 02/11/2014 by brightonmusicblog

We probably posted more new music in October than we had in any month in the three years we’ve been writing (we turned three on Friday!). Here’s our top picks from what we’ve heard:

1. Fujiya & Miyagi – Daggers (Stephen Morris remix)

When we’re not listening to bands from Brighton, there’s a good chance that New Order ends up on the stereo, so when we read last week that one of our favourite Brighton bands had been remixed by a member of New Order it was almost inevitable that we’d love it.

2. Native Roses – Shadows (Ambassadeurs remix)

More Ambassadeurs than Native Roses, this remix of lush textured electronica didn’t bear a great resemblance to the original, but it’s beauty won us over.

3. Great Pagans – Tangled up in Chemistry

Great Pagans album Cupid in Error was one of the highlights of the month. We could have picked any of the tracks – it’s all good – be we chose Tangled Up in Chemistry

4. Normanton Street – This Wolf

We gave Normanton Street’s Much Respect EP a post of it’s own a day before it’s release last week, and deservedly so. The track we’ve chosen for our top ten is the beautiful stripped down This Wolf.

5. Heliopause – City of Glass

Heliopause have popped up quite frequently on the blog over the years, as folk, then nudging post rock, and most recently as more straightforward indie. It suits them.

6. The DuBarrys – Undress Your Soul

The DuBarrys had a self titled EP out this month, and lead track Undress Your Soul is a beautiful folk-pop classic in the making.

7. Fire Eyes – Hide Out

Random Acts of Vinyl’s latest 7″ release by Fire Eyes is a great track on it’s own, but it confirmed it’s place in our top ten with remixes by the Bad Seeds’ Barry Adamson and AK/DK.

8. Eva Bowan – Lacerta XI

Eva Bowan’s latest EP Hyperspectacle has been released by local label KLDCP and is possibly her most accessible, most cohesive work yet. We loved EP opener Lacerta XI.

9. Dog in the Snow – Concrete Wall

Technically, Concrete Wall came out last month, being released as the B-side to Dog in the Snow’s Africa single, but it only got posted up to Soundcloud this month, and it’s still getting a lot of plays around these parts.

10. Nightkites – Drones

We got the heads up about Nightkites’ future garage from GAPS who posted up a link to the music on their facebook page. The EP is named after the paranoid yet slightly hopeful standout track Drones.

New Music – Fujiya & Miyagi, Tigercub, Tyrannosaurus Dead, Ewan Hoozarmi, Abraham Moughrabi, Morning Smoke, Prince Vaseline, IYES

Posted on 30/10/2014 by brightonmusicblog

At the start of the week we posted what we said was “probably” our last New Music post of the month. As it turns out, there’s been so many great tunes in our in box we’ve decided to squeeze in another.

This evening we got very excited when Fujiya & Miyagi posted a brand new remix of Daggers from their latest album Artificial Sweeteners put together by Stephen Morris from New Order

Blood Red Shoes have launched their own label called Jazz Life, and the first release will be out on 1st December from Tigercub with a newly recorded version of live favourite Centrefold:

Tyrannosaurus Dead‘s new album Flying Ant Day is out a week next monday. To get everyone in the mood they’ve shared the track Bagged & Boarded:

Ewan Hoozarmi has a new free download up on Soundcloud. Reaching Dragons is five minutes of funky electro-house:

As well as tomorrow night being Normanton Street’s EP launch at The Haunt and Spit Shake Sister’s single launch at Bleach, it’s also the next Spectrum at the Dome Studio Theatre, which this month is headlined by Speak Galactic. Joining them on the bill is Abraham Moughrabi, who’s recorded a live video of Cross The Line for the Site and Sound part of Spectrum in advance of the night:

One of the supports at the Spit Shake Sisters launch tomorrow is Morning Smoke. They got in touch to let us know about their new single Hunger which is out on December 1st:

As I’m writing this, I’m missing out on Prince Vaseline playing live at the Prince Albert supporting 80s Matchbox spin off group Piano Wire. If you didn’t make the gig either (or maybe if you did and you’re reading this later), here’s the video for their new track Orchid:

Finally a new remix by IYES who are on the brink of releasing some new material of their own very soon. Here’s their taken on Jack Garratt‘s Worry, which they’ve turned into a much more upbeat, dancable affair:

First listen : Normanton Street – Much Respect EP

Posted on 30/10/2014 by brightonmusicblog

We’ve given Normanton Street mentions before when they’ve popped onto our radar, and now we’re happy to host the premiere of their new Much Respect EP.

The six track EP comes out tomorrow and features (in their words) “three distinct vocals, jazz influenced guitars, warm bass grooves, tight rhythmic drums along with memorable saxophone melodies”. Laid back opening tracks Fly Lady (Get Money) and New Dawn contrast Ned and Nicholson’s rap with Phoebe’s soulful vocal, then No Drama takes things in a jazzier direction. Grass is Greener serves up some old school hip hop before Rakim (The 26th Year) takes things up a notch, and the stripped back acoustic R’n’B of This Wolf is the perfect showcase for Phoebes voice. Take a listen for yourself below:

The band have been on the road playing gigs in support of the new EP this week, playing in Nottingham, London, Leicester, Manchester and Sheffield, but return back to Brighton for the official launch party tomorrow night at the Haunt, with support coming from Time for T, New Street Adventure and Wolflung.

New Music – Clowwns, Eagles for Hands, J Tropic, Black Honey, Nightkites, Mount Bank

Posted on 27/10/2014 by brightonmusicblog

Here’s what’s likely to be our last new music post of October, with half a dozen brand new tunes for you to feast your ears on.

First up is the subtly renamed Clowwns (formerly with just the one w), with a video for their upcoming single Shame on You. They’ve been one of the city’s best live bands for a while, so it’s great to hear the music getting out there.

Spirit Hips is the new single from Eagles for Hands. The track is less housey than the other singles that he’s put out this year, but still packs a massive dancefloor punch. It comes out on 17th November, and is followed the following Monday (24th) with a gig at Sticky Mike’s.

Who U Are is the third and final track from J Tropic‘s Love Up EP, which comes out today on Duly Noted. We’ve featured the other tracks – Love Up and Solid Gold, and the third track doesn’t disappoint.

Sticking with Duly Noted records, we’ve got a new track from Black Honey, which is going to feature on their debut EP Sleep Forever. Bloodlust is the fourth track on the EP which is going to be onsale at upcoming gigs:

Next up we’ve got a track from a brand new Brighton band called Nightkites. Drones is the lead track from an EP of the same name which is available to download now from Soundcloud. If you were a fan of Burial, this should be right up your street.

Finally, we have the a new track from Mount Bank, foxing our attempts to write about it giving it a title of the symbol of a crescent. The track is some lovely ambient electronica, unassumingly aimless for the first minute before a repeated piano motif brings everything together: