Music: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

New album: Modern Vampires of the City

So, while everyone else is talking about Reading & Leeds lineups (Biffy, Foals, etc) I'm going to have a jolly good rant about Vampire Weekend.  Obviously, that's entirely because Vampire Weekend are great and in no way related to being bitter about not going to Reading OR Leeds... again.

First - the news.  Today Vampire Weekend, rather cryptically, announced that their new album will be called Modern Vampires of the City and released on May 7th 2013.

After tweeting mysteriously for several days 'VW', '#MVOTC', 'LPIII' and 'MMXIII' i.e. 'Vampire Weekend', '#Modern Vampires Of The City', 'Album 3' and '2013', it was clear that they were on the brink of the announcement.  This morning the tweet read just 'NYT classifieds'.  Fortunately, I can rely on a couple of trustworthy music journalists (and a photo...) that lo and behold in the lost & found: 'Modern Vampires Of The City May 7, 2013'

As seen on Pitchfork http://pitchfork.com

Two hours later and it was official.  Now, I can spend the next four months hoping that the new album will match up to their previous efforts.

I first heard Vampire Weekend when they released their single A-Punk and was immediately drawn to the sheer madness of it all.  The whole track hangs together on what seems like a thread - as though any second it could all descend into chaos.  I don't think that my 19 (ish) year old self had really heard anything like them in new music - I suspect it was the last time I really loved anything in the chart.  Next came Oxford Comma - the whole track is so simple when you break it down to it's component parts, but it manages to maintain it's unpredictability, a theme that ran through the whole first album and into the second.

I have two memories that stand out about Vampire Weekend.  Many years ago (four years ago) I worked in a well known high street music retailer (HMV).  A man approached the counter - not unusual as you might imagine - but when he opened his mouth I realised I was dealing with a first class w*****.  "Excuse me my dear, please could you tell me which of these two Vampire Weekend albums, might be considered more Afro-pop? I'd like to listen to some Afro-pop".  Oh Lord...

The second is seeing Vampire Weekend live when I DID make it to Leeds Festival.  Singer Ezra Koenig strolled onto the stage in some khaki shorts, a plain t-shirt and his loafers.  I glanced to the person next to me - we'd only heard the first album at this stage and we weren't quite sure how they were going to match up to the energy it had - especially not in loafers.  Completely unassuming, the crowd watching with an air of expectation.. "I see a mansard roof through the trees... I see a salty message written in the eaves... The ground beneath my feet, the hot garbage and concrete... And now the tops of buildings, I can see them too" and the whole tent (it was a festival remember) erupted with the music.

As well as a new album, tour dates have also been announced.  Though it mostly covers the US, they do have one London date, at The Troxy on May 8th.

www.vampireweekend.com

Vampire Weekend Twitter

Music: thenewno2 - Never Too Late

Spacesbetweenwordsissoyesterday

In brief - because it would be easy to write a manual on this lot - thenewno2 are singer / guitarist Dhani Harrison, keyboard / programmer Paul Hicks, keyboards / guitarist Jonathan Sadoff, guitarist Jeremy Faccone, bassist Aaron Older and drummer Frank Zummo.  A band including Grammy Award winners and a Beatles' and a Hollies' child, experienced in not only making music but also films and artwork, and who are not shy of a side project are clearly going to fit the brief for any challenge.  For a film score, for example.

And here is where we meet the track Never Too Late.  Never Too Late is one of two currently unreleased tracks by the band that feature on their score for upcoming film Beautiful Creatures, which counts Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson among it's cast.  The films director, Richard LaGravenese, asked for a sound that he had never heard before, and said that he was 'knocked out' by the bands ideas, excitement, and creativity as they created a new genre, which the band dubbed 'swamptronica'.  Thenewno2 recruited almost a dozen extra voices and influences for the score, including The Duke Spirit's Leila Moss who features on Never Too Late as well as Run To Me (also featuring Ben Harper).

In anticipation of the release of the soundtrack on February 12th (followed by the film, Beautiful Creatures, on February 14th) you can listen to Never Too Late on Soundcloud.  You will find that the track fits perfectly with film music.  The variances in texture, from sparse and myseterious to thick, epic string undercurrents, and the unpredictable rythms and chords make for a piece of music that is able to capture your interest to hear it to the end.  Leila Moss's smooth, unassuming but powerful vocals compliment the track, as do the guitar solos, while it all builds up to a dramatic and slightly discordant, haunting finish.

You will find Never Too Late below, but to hear more please visit the Soundcloud page.  You can also visit their website or follow them on Twitter (@thenewno2).

Release of the Beautiful Creature Original Motion Soundtrack, on Watertower / Sony Music is on February 12th 2013.

Music: Erica Wexler

Erica Wexler is pure and simple singer, songwriter, songstress material.  She is all about the vocals, and is successful with pretty turns and twists in a natural, Karen Carpenter way.

Fascinatingly, she also had a relationship with one of my favourite artists, Roy Lichtenstein, and will soon be putting up an array of his work on her website.  Also, from her website you can download a free MP3 of a new track Flesh.

Music: The Sound of Arrows - Conquest

The Sound of Arrows are to release their newest single, Conquest, from their critically acclaimed album Voyage on June 25th.

Stefan Storm (best name ever!) and Oskar Gullstrand have a sound similar to that of Lo-Fi-Fnk - electronic, contagious and just a little bit camp.  Their bass rhythms have the same gentle reggae/ska sway of Blondie's Tide Is High, and this applies to their remix of Maroon 5's Payphone, which you can listen to here.  There is constant change throughout the remix, but would be better if it was three minutes long rather than five.

Their remixes don't stop at their tinkering with other peoples songs - they've also had a fair few of their own tracks looked at by artists such as Tiesto and Fear of Tigers.  There will be a compilation of these remixes released at the end of June, which will be available from their band website and Facebook page (hint - follow).

Music: Hadouken - Parasite

So, here's how this will go.  Dub fans will tell me its terrible dub.  Drum and Bass fans will say it's terrible D&B.  And you'll both tell me it's all be done before.  But I don't even care because the hardened Hadouken fans will back me up I'm sure.

The bands that are successful are those that progress and stay ahead of the times - or at least keep up - but retain their sense of self.  They have a particular sound, whether it's their style or their voice, that can be applied to any track and you'll always hear it and know who it is.  Think through the most successful acts: Madonna, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Muse (OK they're along a different line to the others but it still applies).  Hadouken always seem to manage the same, and it's only to their credit.

Their blend of a million and one genres always manage to keep a certain... Hadoukeness that makes them unique.  With a new single soon to be released, Hadouken have given us a little taster of what's to come.  If you're quick you can download it for free by following this link.  Alternatively, you can buy it from iTunes bundled with some remixes (or have a listen below):




Listen to more Hadouken at Soundcloud!!

Internet: Beat Suite Tweets

Music and apps and social media - surely there is no better combination.  Red Bull's Beat Suite Tweets app is a clever little animal, turning your tweets into a little snippet of music based on the mood of your words.  I'm sure this video will explain it much better:

If you want to try out your own tweets on the Beat Suite click here.  It gets old pretty quickly, but if you fancy a ten minute break from work...

Music: David Bowie - Life on Mars

I've been singing this song for two days now and so I would like to remind you of it's existence...