It’s been a while since we’ve done a New Music post, so here’s a round up of some of the things we think you should be listening to.
Two thirds of Dream Wife are from Brighton, but their third member Rakel Mjöll is from Iceland. Brighton’s been home to Icelandic musicians before – Emiliana Torrini lived here for a number of years – but she never rocked out like this. Dream Wife’s new release EP01 is out now on Cannibal Hymns, and this is the title track Hey Heartbreaker. The band play a late night set at Sticky Mike’s on 1st April at the new-ish Busy Doing Nothing night.
Kicking off this week’s new music post is the latest track from David Harks, who featured in last year’s top ten tracks (which reminds us, we really should think about getting something together for this year). Tripping Ghosts is a more ethereal affair, mirroring the reflective nature of the lyrics. It’s out now on Jumjum records, backed with a remix by French duo Loframes:
We didn’t do a top ten at the end of November. It had been a quiet month, and we were gearing up for our top twenty that we posted in December. Both months had a few great tunes that are too good to pass up though, so this month’s top ten has a few tracks from the end of last year too.
1 The Go! Team / The Scene Between
The Go! Team are back! Our top spot is the lead track from the band’s new album also called The Scene Between, out in March on Memphis Industries.
2 Anneka / End of It
End of It only features Anneka’s voice, but the layers and the textures and the harmonies demand repeat listens.
3 GAPS / She Bears a Flower
GAPS latest release came out right at the end of November last year sounding like some a futuristic remix of an Elizabethan childrens folk song.
We liked Tom White’s new band’s first proper track so much that we got it into our end of the year round up, even though it hadn’t been in one of our top ten posts. Since we’re catching up on November here it would be wrong of us to omit it.
6 David Harks / Odyssey
We loved Open Arms, also taken from David Harks’ Lomo EP but shared much earlier in the year, as soon as we heard it but Odyssey was much more of a slow burner working it’s way under our skin until we couldn’t stop listening to it.
7 Tyrannosaurus Dead – Flying Ant Day
Tyrannosaurus Dead were the first band we ever interviewed on the blog, so it’s great to see their debut album (also called Flying Ant Day) finally released.
8 Seadog / Transmitter
Seadog’s Transmitter EP was launched at the end of December, while most of us were busy being distracted. The physical release is due in the springtime, but you can grab the EP now if you head over to Bandcamp.
9 Phantom Runners / Laserbeam
Laserbeam is a free download from Phantom Runnerscover on Soundcloud. Hanging out with Huey Morgan (who’s produced their last few tracks) is obviously rubbing off – this is the most laid back thing they’ve done.
10 Man Ray Sky / Ether Song
Finishing up with the title track from an EP from December, Ether Song is four minutes of breezy guitar pop.
It’s very easy to bandy around the term feel-good. It’s lazy journalistic shorthand for anything vaguely positive and in most cases there are normally many more adjectives which would better fit the bill. But feel-good is how we’re going to describe David Harks summer single Open Arms, taken from his LOMO EP which has only just got a full release this week. The balance between house and pop hasn’t sounded this great since the Beloved back in the early nineties.
There’s an unwritten rule that if you’re going to release any music, you do it in the first eleven months of the year. That way it’s out there in time to be included in any end of year lists, and you don’t end up competing for anyone’s attention with X-factor contestants or Greatest Hits compilations. But obviously nobody told the musicians of Brighton – we’ve got sixteen different tracks for you in this post.
First up is the new release from David Harks, who’s been posting up other tracks from his Lomo EP over the past few months. The title track Odyssey is now out there, and the whole EP is available to buy on iTunes, out now on his own Jumjum Records imprint.
Next we have the first new music from Brighton Music Blog favourite Anneka for a while. End of It is built up from a number of vocal lines sung by her, with mournful harmonies and percussive exhalations. Apparently the track (which is available as a free download if you click through and follow the links) is a taster of more to come in early 2015.
Ital Tek has been busy working on his next album this year so hasn’t appeared too active to the outside world. Last Christmas he gave away a free download of one of his tracks and this year he’s doing the same, with new tune Crossed Wires:
Fickle Friends are also giving away a track for Christmas. If you head over to their bandcamp page you can grab their cover of Gorgon City’s Ready For Your Love
Sticking with tracks for Christmas, here’s Crayola Lectern‘s seasonal offering. (No More) Happy Endings is a little cheerier than last year’s SFXmas, and gives us some a hint of what we might expect when the band finish recording their second album:
Soccer96 have a new EP out on Wotnot records on 7″ and download, entitled Jupiter Masterdrive. The title track is a few minutes of wonky hip hop and is called Constellation. To hear the rest of the EP and buy it on either format head over to the band’s bandcamp page
A lot of people were quite excited about the recent news about Twin Peaks returning, and we can probably count electronica band Dark Train amongst that number. Their latest offering is a cover of Julee Cruse’s Falling which featured heavily in the original series.
We loved Cate Ferris‘ Disappear EP which came out earlier this year. Last week saw the release of the sister remix EP, suitably entitled Reappear:
Another new EP is the new release from Man Ray Sky (currently hosting their launch party at the Hope as I type). The EP name and lead track is the breezy Ether Song:
Kanzi‘s debut EP isn’t out until January sometime (I’ve read several different dates on different bits of the internet), but you can check out lead track Two Hearts now:
Troves debut double a-side single came out back in September on Nude Records. Keeping interest up for the release is a new video for the beautiful track Afterthought:
Anushka have released another single from their Broken Circuit long player. Kisses is a different version from the one on the album, with the addition of of extra vocals from guest MC Trim. I’ve also also just seen in the PR email I got that I missed out on a live performance from the band last weekend. Sorry!
If you fancy some electro pop then get your ears around Astrid’s Tea Party‘s debut single. What’s in it for Me? is up as a free download for a limited period and will be followed up with an EP in early 2015.
Math-pop band Orchards new single Chemystery was released last thursday. It’s taken from their new EP which is due to drop in March next year:
Rooster Cole has uploaded a few tracks to Soundcloud and has promised more music and more live shows for 2015. Here’s one of those tracks, the quirky Bird Don’t Sing:
Finally we finish up a video from Battery Operated Orchestra. Flouro Sushi is taken from the band’s debut album Incomplete Until Broken, out now via Bandcamp.
2) David Harks latest offering Open Arms has been getting a lot of plays around these parts, keeping the summer alive when the sun deserted us for most of August:
3) We first wrote about Believe in Nothing by The New Union back at the beginning of July, but it didn’t get released until 4th August. The band will be back on the Brighton stage on 16th September supporting Coasts at the Komedia.
4) Hushabye was originally the b-side to Jennifer Left‘s 2012 single Black Dog. This month the album of the same name got released:
5) The Night is the double a-side to to Twin, which is Oslo Park‘s debut single which came out on 25th August:
6) Curxes new single Valkyrie was also out this month, continuing their track record of packing a great tune into a full on aural assault:
7) The Wytches album Annabel Dream Weaver was also one of this months highlights, and it was preceded by the single Burn Out The Bruise
8) We’ve been enjoying the fragile folk of Lutine‘s single Sallow Tree. Noted music have just added up another track from the band’s forthcoming album to their website today.
9) Dark Horses made a return this month with Hail Lucid State, their second album produced by Richard Fearless. Saturn Returns was the single, not to be confused with Goldie’s 1998 album
10) Duly Noted Record’s Black Honey remain just as elusive for the release of their second single Teenager, with no information about the band forthcoming other than a phone number to contact them on…
We’ve got a bit of catching up to do with our new music posts – we haven’t made one since the first week of August. Consequently, we’ve got eleven new tracks to serve up for you.
First is thew new track from Oslo Parks. The Night is the double a side to Twin, which we wrote about back in July, and is out today on 7″ on X Novo records. The band play their debut gig at the Green Door Store on 2nd October.
David Harks was brought to our attention by our friends over at Breaking More Waves who despite being based fifty miles up the coast are sometimes better in touch with some parts of the Brighton music scene than we are. Open Arms is one of those tracks that we wish we’d heard when the sun was shining and the temperature was nudging at thirty degrees. It oozes summer from every pore – blissful house beats, steel drums and a breathy male vocal. Fantastic stuff.
Fragile Creatures eponymous new EP comes out on 31st August. Sunshine did the rounds earlier in the summer, and now you can get your ears around Stowaways, another lovely slice of guitar pop. The EP will be available via the usual download sites, and the band are headlining at The Komedia on 12th September.
Youth in Decay is the debut track from new Brighton synth-pop trio Troves. There’s not a great deal of info about the band out there yet, but we’ll be keeping a very close ear to the ground and keeping you up to date:
Clay Cats put out their Soap EP a couple of weeks ago. If you like the sound of the title track that we’re featuring here, you can grab the whole EP over on Bandcamp, and you can catch the band at Brighton Arts Club this friday.
Garden Heart have just put out their debut single Cure, loaded with three part female harmonies and indie guitars. It’s being followed swiftly with a self titled EP which is out on 17th September, and the band are playing a launch show at Bleach on Tuesday 16th September.
One of the supports for Garden Heart’s debut gig is Thyla, who just last week posted up a video for their track Cornfields, which will appear on their upcoming debut EP War which is due in October:
Stranger in my Head is the second track to be put up from Fable‘s debut EP Parasite, which has a release date of 13th October. It’s not quite as harsh as I Speak Words which we featured a few weeks ago, but still features uncompromising electro beats and vocals which belie the face that Fable has only just turned nineteen:
Thieves by the Code have just announced details of their debut album Tales from the Green Muse and Beyond. It’s out on 4th October, and to whet our apetite they’ve put up So Slick:
Last week the world was greeted with the sad news of Robin Williams’ passing. The latest upload from Crayola Lectern, a new track called Mork, isn’t a cheap cash in on a tragic event, but a track written for his second album which had been mastered and approved by Williams people before events overtook matters. In Crayola Lectern’s own words:
“This track was mixed a couple of weeks ago for the upcoming second Crayola Lectern album. It is the centrepiece of the album like Trip In ‘D’ was for the first. I’d been in touch with Robin Williams’ fan club asking about how to get a copy to him for his approval and had received a reply. Then, a few days later came the awful news of his demise.
Ironically, this song is very much a celebration of the magic spark that ignites the spirit and gives life; it even charts a life, starting at the crib and ending with old age. Robin Williams, to me, always had a unique way about him which cut through to the essence of humanity and my ‘Mork’ was just an attempt to use his character to make that representation, in a way which celebrates our existence on this planet.”
Finally, we posted about Curxes new single Valykrie in our most recent New Music post, which was subsequently released on 18th August. The track was backed with an instrumental and a four to the floor remix from Deluxe Flamingos which we’re happy to share with you here:
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