April Top Ten

Posted on 04/05/2014 by brightonmusicblog

April was another great month for Brighton music with some fantastic albums being released as well as some lovely one offs for Record Store Day. May’s already shaping up nicely too but until then, here are our favourite tracks from last month:

1. Eagles for Hands – Handprints

Handprints is the sound of the party starting – lots of cowbell, housey piano and uplifting vocals. Eagles for hands are top of our list of bands to catch at the Great Escape next week – they’re at Coalition on Saturday night at 2.30am, and also at KLDSCP’s party alongside Caveman Genius and Foreign Skin and a whole host of other acts.

2. Fujiya & Miyagi – Flaws

Fujiya & Miyagi’s new album Artificial Sweeteners is out on Monday, although if you get down to Resident today they’re already selling signed copies. Flaws is the first single and is a great indicator of what to expect from the rest of the record – classic Fujiya & Miyagi with more electronics thrown into the mix. There’s still a few tickets left for their gig at the Haunt on 6th June but it will sell out, so I’d get a ticket sooner rather than later.

3. Fear of Men – Luna

Luna is the first single from Fear of Men’s brilliant new album Loom. If we didn’t love the track (which we do), it might have warranted a place in our top ten just on the basis of the utterly beautiful packaging – a fanzine written by the band and a clear flexidisc (along with download codes).

4. AK/DK – Maxwell’s Waves

AK/DK’s new album Synth + Drums + Noise + Space was one of our highlights this month. The lead track is the bleepy Maxwell’s Waves, and electronic krautrock rush. AK/DK are the support at Fujiya & Miyagi’s gig at The Haunt that we mentioned earlier.

5. Curxes – Jaws

In April, Curxes put out Precurxor – a roundup of of old tracks and demos to keep our interest while they get on with the business of recording their proper debut album. It’s definitely working for us. Our highlight is Jaws, which captures the urgency and power of their live shows.

6. Winston & Goldstein – Ode to a Massive Obsession

When we heard that Jacqueline from Kins had a new project, we didn’t envisage Winston & Goldstein, whose main influence seems to be mid-nineties alternative dance music from what we’ve heard so far. There’s a heavy hint of Leftfield in Ode to a Massive Obsession, which can only be a good thing in our book. Oh, and the video is all kinds of brilliant too.

7. Blood Red Shoes – Speech Coma

Speech Coma is the new Blood Red Shoes single. The the chorus goes “I can’t get the words out / I can’t get the words out / It’s like someone cut out my tongue”. And so does the video. Quite literally. Not for the faint hearted.

8. Cate Ferris – Gotta Do Better

We haven’t got a media link for Gotta Do Better, the latest offering from Cate Ferris. The only way to hear it is to sign up to her page on PledgeMusic, where she’s currently raising money for her new EP.

9. Cleff – Restart

Restart is on Cleff’s new Listen In EP, a lovely blend of electronic and classical music. We posted open the EP’s opening track Big Ideas earlier this month, but it was Restart which got under our skin.

10. Fickle Friends – Play

Fickle Friends have got a real knack for a catchy pop song. We loved Swim earlier this year, and they’ve done it again with Play. Fickle Friends are another band who are on our list for the Great Escape, playing at the Green Door Store on Saturday night, and at the Mesmerist on Saturday afternoon.

March Top Ten

Posted on 01/04/2014 by brightonmusicblog

Here’s the pick of our favourite tracks we’ve been listening to this month, just in case you missed them first time around

1 – Bentcousin with LL & the D’s / You Make Me Feel So Young

OK, so maybe we’re a bit biased here because Bentcousin gave us our first exclusive track that we’ve posted on the blog, but nevertheless it’s still a great catchy tune

2 – Dog in the Snow / Factory

Dog in the Snow’s latest single is a more electronic affair than their earlier work, and their best yet in our opinion.

3 – The New Union / Now

The NME have just caught onto the New Union’s new single Now. We first posted about it back in February.

4 – IYES / Breathe

IYES ascendancy continues apace with their new single Breathe which ropes in production dues from MNEK.

5 – Phantom Runners / Chase the Feeling

Another Brighton band who’ve roped in a name producer are Phantom Runners, whose new single has the guiding hand of the Fun Lovin Criminals’ Huey Morgan.

6 – Them The Sky / Fall (Finjin remix)

The original of Fall was a more guitar based post rock affair, but in it’s remixed form is much more blissed out.

7 – A Lily / A House is not a Motel

Over the course of March, A Lily put out an EP of four cover versions called Augury. Their version of Love’s A House is not a Motel is our pick.

8 – Eagles for Hands / Appalachia (feat Sivu)

Eagles for Hands latest soundcloud upload is a collaboration with Sivu, which shows a completely different side to both artists work.

9 – Black Rooster Black Shag / Borderline

The new video from Black Rooster Black Shag is another teaser for the band’s debut album which gets released on 1st May, which we’ll be telling you more about very soon.

10 – Hypnotized / Hylia

Hylia is the track with the strongest Eastern flavour from Hypnotized’s new Telesto EP, marrying sitars with rolling beats.

August top ten

Posted on 02/09/2013 by brightonmusicblog

Here are the top tunes that were on the Brighton Music Blog stereo in August. As always, the diversity of the music being made in this city is impressive, from retro garage to chilled electronica and everything inbetween.

1) Spit Shake Sisters – Modern Drugs Make Aliens

Our most listened to track of the last month wasn’t a proper single, and was just put out to bring Spit Shake Sister’s output up to date following a change in personnel. Modern Drugs Make Aliens wasn’t even the lead song on the two track download. But nevertheless we’re big fans of this Hammond led hip swinger.

2) Electric Soft Parade – 1969

1969 is a popular year for songwriters. Serge Gainsbourg, Iggy Pop and, er, Bryan Adams have all taken advantage of writing about a year that recalls a time of free love, which also has a lot of rhymes. I’m sure the innuendo has nothing to do with it’s popularity. Now it’s Electric Soft Parade’s turn, putting out the summery guitar pop of 1969 as a free download from their label’s website.

3) Adolescent – Shy

Shy came out on an electronica compilation called Coast to Coast put out by Irish blog Believe In Sound. Call us biased, but in our opinion the Brighton track with the best thing on it. You can download the whole compilation for free on bandcamp.

4) Bon Iver – Wash (Foreign Skin remix)

Bon Iver’s not from Brighton, I hear you say. Well, no – but Flavia Aliverti, better known as Foreign Skin, is. We were won over by her set at Two Three Four at Green Door Store at the start of the month, and not long after this rather lovely unofficial remix turned up on SoundCloud and Bandcamp (see the links underneath the video on YouTube). Grab it before it disappears

5) The Hundredth Anniversary – Last Drive

The Hundredth Anniversary continue to put out high quality shoegaze, and Last Drive is no exception. Head over to the website they created to go with the track, play with the visuals, and download the track to listen to at your leisure.

6) The Raving Beauties – Oh Lover

At The Helm is a new Brighton based label from the guys behind Brighthelmstone promotions and Wildwood promotions, and the sunny Americana of Oh Lover is their first release

7) Phantom Runners – It Takes Me Away

We only heard this last week, but we loved it on first listen. We heard some very exciting news about who might be producing the Phantom Runners next EP, but we think it might be a secret so all we’ll say is keep your eyes and ears peeled.

8) Samuel Organ – E/\/\ER/\LD

The Physics House Band’s own label Kaleidoscope put out their second release this month, a three track solo EP called Y by Physics House Band member Samuel Organ. It’s not easy listening by any means, but neither is a lot of Aphex Twin’s output, which this track feels like it could be a natural heir to.

9) P For Persia – Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley got reviewed by Drowned In Sound, who described it as “a Twin Peaks remix done on an Atari by Fuck Buttons channelling their inner Kid606, before asking a bunch of shouty screamo kids to come in and do some vocals.”. They didn’t mention that it was just one track on a split EP with Speak Galactic, that the EP was called Aegis Arctic Alp, or that it was coming out on purple vinyl, all of which makes it an even more exciting prospect.

10) Flash Bang Band / Screw Come Loose

The second track in our top ten from At The Helm Records, Screw Come Loose, is the single that’s come out to promote the new Flash Bang Band album Bite Your Tongue. The album is out now and features some of their older singles (If You’re Driving and DananananaFreud). The launch party is at the Green Door Store on 15th September, where they’ll be joined by P For Persia and Clowns.

June Top Ten

Posted on 03/07/2013 by brightonmusicblog

Here’s our regular monthly post of what’s hot on the Brighton Music Blog stereo over the last month.

1) Electric Soft Parade – Summertime in My Heart

We’ve probably listened to more Electric Soft Parade this month than everything else put together, and our top ten probably should just be the tracklist of Idiots, but what fun would that be? Summertime edged out in front of the other tracks, mainly because it’s the current single.

2) Milk & Biscuits – Hairstyles

Hairstyles is the second single from Milk & Biscuits forthcoming album Spirit Nap, and it’s great. It’s a bit Belle & Sebastian, a bit retro pop, and has a video filmed all around Brighton:

3) Us Baby Bear Bones – Swamp

We’ve been waiting for “What Starts With a U Ends With An I” for ages, and it was well worth the wait. A few of the tracks had appeared on YouTube, but the EP was the first chance we’d had to listen to Swamp over and over:

4) The Beautiful Word – Particles

When we first posted up the video for Particles back in May we said that it could well be the best thing they’ve done. After repeated plays, we’re pretty much sure it is.

5) New Union – Staying Friends

Staying Friends is the lead track on the New Union’s eponymous EP which came out four weeks ago. All four tracks on the EP are great, and the artwork for the 12″ is just as classy as we’ve come to expect from the band.

6) IYES – Lighthouse (BBC Introducing Session)

For their recent BBC session IYES swapped the electronics for a cello and it sounded lush. Unfortunately it’s long disappeared from iPlayer, so here’s the original:

7) Gaps – Cascade

We posted up the video for Gaps lovely, hypnotic upcoming single Keep You a couple of weeks ago, but we ended up listening to it’s AA side Cascade even more. The Guardian agreed with us and made them yesterday’s New Band of the Day! The single will be released on 15th July on Sexbeat.

8) Curxes – Further Still (Avec Sans Remix)

We featured the original version of Further Still in our April Top Ten, but this month a remix surfaced which reversed the vocals, giving the tune a completely different melody:

9) Champione – Bear vs Bear

We only got the chance to give Champione’s tunes a listen last week, which means they haven’t had that many listens which is why Bear vs Bear is only at number nine. This, and the rest of the Home EP, are definitely going to get a lot more listens over the next few weeks:

10) Rivieras – Weekend

Rivieras got in touch on twitter and pointed us in the direction of their latest EP, a four tracker called Weekend. We liked what we heard, but we spotted that it had been up on Soundcloud for at least six months, so didn’t really sit alongside the new music that we write about most of the time. It’s definitely worth a listen though. Here’s the title track: