DIY, October 2012

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DIY in association with

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GOODVSEVIL

EDITOR’S LETTER

WHAT'S ON THE DIY TEAM'S RADAR

Victoria Sinden Deputy Editor GOOD: There are a ton of TV shows returning at the moment: Fringe, Community, How I Met Your Mother…

EVIL: December’s going to be rubbish for album releases.

There are two schools of thought on The Killers - it’s impossible to ignore that. There shouldn’t be, though. The Killers are brilliant. Even if you don’t like their music - even if you disagree with everything that comes out of their mouths - they’re the kind of band we need. That’s why they’re on our cover.

Sarah Jamieson News Editor GOOD: My Chemical Romance (yes, I’m a loser) are finally releasing their scrapped album, ‘Conventional Weapons’.

EVIL: Reading our fashion section and promptly deciding you need to BUY IT ALL.

In Brandon Flowers there’s a man who knows exactly what it means to be in a massive stadium rock band. He’s not afraid to be himself, even if it ends up looking a little silly. Yes, Brandon, we remember the moustache.

In an era where some look at music as a world of bedroom bloggers and anonymous laptop heroes, we need characters with personality. The Killers have that in skiploads. Everything else is subjective.

GOOD: ‘Panic Station’ from Muse’s latest album ‘The 2nd Law’ is the most ludicrous thing I’ve heard this year. I love it.

EVIL: ‘Panic Station’ from Muse’s latest album ‘The 2nd Law’ is the most ludicrous thing I’ve heard this year. I hate it.

Jamie Milton Neu Editor GOOD: Seeing ATP announce not one, but two spring and summer events, with one of my favourite bands Deerhunter curating the June stint.

EVIL: Discovering that just about everybody living on my road was pirating - of all people - Ed Sheeran’s debut album.

My worst fears about humanity have all but been confirmed.

Louise Mason Art Director GOOD: Waiting for the little green man.

EVIL: Being run over.

Becky Reed Film Editor GOOD: America’s finest director Paul Thomas Anderson breaking per-screen box office records in the US with The Master, thus sticking two fingers to the studios who wouldn’t fund it.

EVIL: Taken 2 being hacked to pieces for a 12A certificate - the first was an 18 on DVD. Liam Neeson practically strokes his enemies to sleep.

Jack Clothier Head Of Marketing & Events GOOD: Southsea Festival. A brilliant indie romp on the south coast proving that DIY festivals work!

EVIL: People who don’t convey any affection in their emails...

Where’s the kisses / smiley faces?

THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY...

100 1 PERCENT OF OUR GEAR THAT BROKE DOWN AT READING. OR AT LEAST IT FELT LIKE IT.

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NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVE ICONS WE SKYPED FROM THE OFFICE LOOS THIS MONTH.

DIY STAFFERS WHO MANAGED TO GET SHUT OUT OF GREEN DAY’S SECRET READING SET.

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BOTTLES OF PROSECCO MORE THAN YOU SHOULD DRINK AT A FESTIVAL.

MEMBERS OF OUR TEAM WHO HAVE SPENT THE MONTH STALKING BRANDON FLOWERS.

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STAFF LIST

CO N T E N TS

Editor Stephen Ackroyd Deputy / Online Editor Victoria Sinden Senior Editor Emma Swann News Editor Sarah Jamieson Neu Editor Jamie Milton Art Director Louise Mason Film Editor Becky Reed Games Editor Michael J Fax TV Editor Christa Ktorides Staff Writers: El Hunt, Harriet Jennings, Jake May Head Of Marketing & Events Jack Clothier

CONTRIBUTORS

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EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

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MERCURY PRIZE

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DISCLOSURE

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THE KILLERS

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DOG IS DEAD

Alex Lynham, Alex Yau, Andrew Backhouse, Andrew Jones, Ben Marsden, Bevis Man, Colm McAuliffe, Coral Williamson, Daniel Wright, David Newbury, Derek Robertson, Heather McDaid, Hugh Morris, Huw Oliver, Jack McKenna, Jack Parker, Joe O’Sullivan, Kosta Lucas, Martyn Young, Nathan Wood, Niall Kavanagh, Richard Skilbeck, Sam Faulkner, Simone Scott Warren, Wayne Flanagan

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T H E WAV E

PHOTOGRAPHERS

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A M A N DA PA L M E R

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TA L L S H I P S

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TA M E I M PA L A

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BAT FO R L AS H ES

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TRAIL OF DEAD

R EG UL ARS

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6N E W S 20 N E U 82 B A C K

P A G E

R E V I E W S 54 64 74 76 78 80

A L B U M S L I V E T E C H F A S H I O N F I L M S G A M E S

Louise Nindi, Sarah Louise Bennett

CONTACT/SALES For DIY editorial info@thisisfakediy.co.uk tel: +44 (0)20 76137248 For DIY sales rupert@sonicdigital.co.uk tel: +44 (0)20 76130555 For DIY online sales lawrence@sonicdigital.co.uk tel: +44 (0)20 76130555

DIY is published by Sonic Media Group. All material copyright (c). All rights reserved.

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Disclaimer: While every effort is made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for which Sonic Media Group holds no responsibility. The opinions of the contributors do not necessarily bear a relation to those of DIY or its staff and we disclaim liability for those impressions.

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2013 EVERYTHING

EVERYTHING RETURN: “I HOPE PEOPLE SEE US IN A NEW LIGHT” Albums

It’s been two years since they first broke out and on to the airwaves with their debut ‘Man Alive’, but Everything Everything are back (back! back!!) and intend to start changing perceptions. “I hope that people see us in a new light,” starts lead singer Jonathan Higgs, as we begin to eagerly question him on their forthcoming album. “I’ve already seen some reviews that have said, ‘They’re back and they’re just as ridiculous as ever’, and I kinda wanna shake that ‘ridiculous’ tag a little bit. I want to be a band of more than just our time and niche; that spans the ages a bit more.”

The Mancunian four-piece – also comprising Jeremy Pritchard, Michael Spearman and Alex Robertshaw – plan to do just that with their due-in-2013 full-length ‘Arc’; that dreaded second record. “When I sat down after ‘Man Alive’ had finished, I made a folder on my computer called ‘Easy Second Album’ as a bit of a confidence booster for myself,” he explains, when we ask if the curse of the sophomore ever reared its ugly head, “and I think it worked. We don’t ever want to do the same thing, so there are those kind of worries, but in terms of, ‘Oh god, what are we going to write?’, that really didn’t happen.”

As it turns out, the band have been super-efficient on the writing front, beginning the earliest processes as soon as their debut hit the shelves: “We’ve been writing all the time since ‘Man Alive’ came out really, just in dribs and 6 thisisfakediy.co.uk

drabs, and then we got really intense within the last year, until we started recording around January or February.

It’s been about two years in the making.

“We did a lot of touring throughout that whole time and we would watch bands and see how their songs worked with the crowd. A lot of outside influence came in during that period. Obviously with ‘Man Alive’, as it was our debut, we were quite inward-looking. You’ve got all of these thoughts about what you think is right about the music and how it should be. Suddenly, you’re exposed to this world and you’ve got a lot of new things to think about.

“You don’t always consider that. You kind of think you’re going to stick to your teenage ideas but you do change your mind on some things. You become more open about stuff, and less snobby, I think. More inclined to have a good song, rather than songs trying to outclever each other. The first album is a little like that: everything’s a bit all over the place. This one is a bit more focused, and there are higher quality tunes, I think.”

Needless to say, fans shouldn’t expect a complete change of heart. The band are still a million miles from boring, even going as far as to use actual human coughing as a form of percussion on the first taster of the record, the aptly titled ‘Cough Cough’. “We did experiment!

We rewrote things a lot in different

ways, cut things up and put them with other things, and just tried to make everything as, sort of, sing-able as we could. Just trying to make it live longer; more classic tunes, songs that you can sing on any instrument. Something that doesn’t rely on this particular crazy sound to work: it’s more about the song than the way it’s done. Then again, we did get really anal about the sound of it, but that’s just who we are.”

He is still, though, quick to emphasise that the art of song structure is a key element within ‘Arc’. “The song needs to come first. I’ve certainly learned that, as a songwriter in the last few years, no one cares what sound was cool that year. It’s all about whether the song’s good and the lyrics felt real at the time, or through time, more than trying to chase after this very fleeting, new sound. We still do that, but we try to concentrate harder on the song first, going further with it, trying to push it. Then, you make it sound exciting afterwards.”

But the most defining factor with their second album, seems to lie in one simple sentiment, which Higgs voices as we draw our conversation to a close: “You should be able to sing it, basically.” He stops and laughs, “because you just couldn’t sing the first one.”

Everything Everything’s new album ‘Arc’ will be released on 14th January 2013 via RCA Victor.

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NEWS ALBUMS 2013

2013

THE JOY FORMIDABLE GO WILD Albums

Some bands like to stay close to home when they’re recording a new album, some like to travel a little further afield. Some decide to venture into the countryside, whilst others prefer the company of a big city. Not many, however, choose to up sticks and relocate to Portland, Maine, in the middle of winter. The Joy Formidable though? That was right up their street.

Finishing up a tour on the eastern side of America, the Welsh three-piece halted in the city to spend some months writing and recording their brand new record, ‘Wolf ’s Law’. We’d hazard a guess though that they didn’t quite expect to get snowed in: “It was a crazy, strange move in some ways. Maine in January? It’s intense!” starts vocalist Ritzy Bryan. “To put it lightly, it was very cold - temperatures that I don’t think we’ve ever experienced before. We were snowed in for a huge chunk of the process, but I think it’s exactly the kind of environment that we needed.

“It was very, very isolated in nature; very wild. The perfect location and place to properly reflect on all of the things that we had written in the last twelve months. We were just consumed by the music. We lost track of the time, whether it was day or night, and it was very fruitful. We almost couldn’t track or

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record fast enough. In that sense, we found a place that was really inspiring and was away from all the normal chaos. We love it and we embrace that but it was a very marked contrast.”

If that doesn’t sound intense, we’re not sure what does. Did the setting have a direct effect on the album itself ? “That location definitely gave us a chance to reflect with ourselves, on many levels, spiritually and creatively. There’s a moment of calm in all the chaos and I think it made us question some things. It made us realise that there was a new stride to the band; nature and our surroundings definitely leaked into this album.”

So, what else should we expect from the band’s self-produced second album? “There’s a lot of breadth. We were ambitious with the composition and the instrumentation. A lot of the songs were conceived with just voice and one accompaniment; very different to [debut album] ‘The Big Roar’. It’s all about the melody and the soul and so many tracks on the record, we’ve left them raw and as they were first conceived. But, others have grown into fully orchestrated, fantastical, bombastic songs at the same time.

“A lot of my relationships have fallen apart over the last ten years, and I think during the making of this album, I’ve started to see some form of resolution. In some sense, I’ve been trying to heal, and reflect on how much time has been wasted in that sense. There’s a sense of being encouraged, a new beginning, and the idea that time is precious; being aware of time passing and your own mortality and how fleeting the moment can be.

That’s one of the beauties of making a record: it does almost make time stop, and gives you that moment to look back on and question, without life always getting in the way.”

The Joy Formidable’s new album ‘Wolf ’s Law’ will be released in January 2013.

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STUDIO

2013 IN THE STUDIO: Albums

FRIGHTENED RABBIT

It had been a while since we’d heard from Frightened Rabbit, when - just as we were beginning to wonder where on earth they had got themselves to - a brand new track emerged, ‘State Hospital’, which doubles as the title to the five-piece’s forthcoming EP. The infinitely more thrilling detail though, lies in the discovery that said five-track is just an appetizer for - you guessed it - their brand new album.

“On the new record, it’s slightly less about my own life; I’m trying to widen the scope further, deal with wider social environments,” explains Scott Hutchinson, on the other end of the phone, as he indulges in a Glaswegian coffee. “There are some directions that people are going to be surprised by.”

Having already admitted that this writing process was a much more collaborative effort than with previous records, what was the reasoning behind the change? “I think it had to happen. I’d trodden that path so many times. I started to notice patterns in my own writing and that, to me, is really unhealthy. I don’t think that’s a positive thing. In order to develop this time, it was natural to me to open it up, and it’s been more exciting.”

So, what can he tell us about album number four? “It’s true that every record is always informed by the things that you think you did wrong on the one before, so from that standpoint, what I didn’t like about [last album] ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ in the end, I thought it was too busy. I thought it was too layered a record. Often, things were just hidden in a noise.

“After that, I really wanted to make an album that sounds like

a band again. Not just a straight up live album or anything, but something that, at its core, is played by a band, as opposed to layer upon layer of sound. I think we stripped things back a lot.

It’s a much clearer record in itself.

“I want listeners to feel as though they’re right there in the room. In some of the quieter moments, as though you’re standing right in front of me, I’m singing to you. A lot of the more intimate moments in the album are just so bare, it makes the whole thing a lot more powerful and personal.”

And as for Hutchinson’s infamously personal lyrics; will they stay intact? “I think with the last album, lyrically, I tried to be quite bleak, with lots of gaps between narratives; leave it open and spacious, but with this one, it’s more lyrically dense and I’m much happier with it because of it.”

Working with Leo Abrahams in south Wales (“To have him as a constant presence was incredible.”) the band seem to have felt comfortable enough to scratch their creative itches, and remain entirely unconcerned about the major label stigmas that will no doubt be thrown their way. “We wanted to make sure things were just right. It was a big thing for us; the first record on a new label and we just wanted to get it absolutely right. There was no half measures or cutting corners. I think it took a while, but I’m totally glad that we took the time. It’s perhaps the strangest record we’ve ever made, and it’s on a major label.”

Frightened Rabbit’s new EP ‘State Hospital’ is out now via Atlantic Records. Their album will be released in early 2013.

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DIY NEWS

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B R I E F JAMES MURPHY is collaborating with director Ron Howard, partnering with camera giant Canon, for an online project. Murphy will be one of five celebrities involved in Project Imagination, which sees participants create short films inspired by a series of photographs submitted by the public.

YOU ME AT SIX TAKE ON WEMBLEY You Me At Six are never ones to do things by half, and that’s an ethos they’ve stuck to intensely when it comes to the closing of their latest album. Having toured relentlessly off the back of their third full-length ‘Sinners Never Sleep’, the Surrey five-piece have decided to end things with a bit of a bang, during – in their own words – “one final night of sin.” They’re going to be headlining the ridiculously massive Wembley Arena for a final show (to end all shows...) this December.

The announcement that the band – who scored a number three position in the charts with their most recent record – will be taking on the arena came alongside the news that the entire gig will be recorded for a very special DVD release, to celebrate the band’s biggest headline slot to date.

“It’s going to be insane!” guitarist Max Helyer tells us. “It’s pretty hard to get your head around, but it’s definitely going to be the best way to round things off.”

However, he’s also quick to warn fans that this will definitely be their one and only UK date for the rest of the year: “There’s not going to be any other shows. We’re not gonna come up to Scotland, or go anywhere else, so if you want to see us before 2012 ends, you’ve gotta come to Wembley!”

See you there? We reckon so.

You Me At Six will play Wembley Arena, London on 8th December.

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DEFTONES have announced plans to release their seventh studio album ‘Koi No Yokan’ on 13th November through Reprise Records. The record was recorded with producer Nick Raskulinecz , and you can hear the first track from it on thisisfakediy.co.uk.

THE BLACK KEYS are set to head out on a run of UK arenas this winter.

The band will be supported by The Maccabees at the following dates: December 07 Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, 08 Glasgow SECC, 09 Birmingham NIA, 11 Manchester Arena, 12 London O2 Arena.

THE WEEKND has unveiled plans to give his collection of mixtapes an official release. ‘House Of Balloons’, ‘Thursday’ and ‘Echoes Of Silence’ are due on 13th November.

JAMES BLAKE has joined the line up for Pitchfork Music Festival in Paris, which takes place from 1st - 3rd November. Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, M83, Robyn, The Walkmen, Liars, Japandroids, Purity Ring and Twin Shadow are also on the line up.

DEAP VALLY

WORK ON “RAW” DEBUT ALBUM Deap Vally are two of our current favourite noise-makers, and we’ve just had some fantastic news from their camp: they’re making an album! Yes, you probably could’ve guessed that, but we’ve got ahold of a good handful of details about their first full-length and things are sounding very promising indeed.

“We still have the bulk of it to do,” tells frontwoman Lindsey Troy. “When we get home from this tour, we’re going to finish recording; spend a few weeks in the studio and bang it out.”

“It’s very performance-based,” adds drummer Julie Edwards.

“It’s just about nailing the performance and the feel, then once we’ve done that, we can move on.”

“Our whole ethos is to aim for spirit and soul rather than perfection,” concludes Troy. “I think, as a two-piece, the little mistakes and imperfections make the recordings.”

And as for the producer? Edwards lets us in on that too. “We’re working with Lars Stalfors. He just knows how to nail it for us, in terms of getting it raw and capturing our performance and spirit. It’s weird when you work with a producer because it’s really so intimate, if you end up working with someone that you can’t feel intimate with, it f**ks the whole process up.”

Deap Vally will be touring the UK this November.

TIMOH NO BURGESS I LOVE YOU DELUXE LP / LIMITED DOUBLE CD / DL / ITUNES LP

OUT OCTOBER 1ST "HE'S JOINED FORCES WITH LAMBCHOP LEADER KURT WAGNER AND RECRUITED SOME OF THE NASHVILLE MAN'S BANDMATES, EXPERIMENTALIST R STEVIE MOORE AND MY MORNING JACKET'S CARL BROEMELTO PLAY ON AN ALBUM THAT SOUNDS HUSHED, BUCOLIC AND CAREFULLY CRAFTED" Q

OGEN025 OGENESIS

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NEWS LOWER THAN ATLANTIS

LOWER THAN ATLANTIS: TALK NEW ALBUM: “WE DO WHAT WE DO VERY WELL”

T

hings have been going pretty well for Lower Than Atlantis, what with a sold out headline tour in early 2012, signing a major label contract and supporting, you know, Blink 182, but it’s now that the band are getting ready for their biggest feat yet: releasing their brand new album.

The third in their discography, the Watford four-piece have been working on ‘Changing Tune’ for over a year now and, with the release looming ever closer, we caught up with frontman Mike Duce to find out a little more about it.

“We’re not trying to say that we’re doing anything new, or that we’re the best band in the world or anything,” starts Duce, a young man known for being a fairly straightforward talker. “We just like to think that we do what we do very well, and that’s it really. It’s just twelve good rock songs.”

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A solid synopsis, surely, for the band’s third and rather long-awaited fulllength. Having released the follow-up to their debut ‘Far Q’ back in early 2011, the band have been writing for their latest release ever since: “We’re always writing. We never stop. We started demoing stuff again yesterday, and that’s where we’re going straight after today.

We’re just always writing. If you have forty songs when it comes to a new album, you can pick the best ones.”

So, how were things different with ‘Changing Tune’? “Because we’ve toured so much together, we’re obviously going to get tighter as we’ve been playing together more and more. Plus, we were listening to the same music because we’d been together for the whole time, so when someone came up with an idea, everyone knew where they were going with it.” And that’s something that made the album more cohesive? “Yeah, absolutely.”

Granted, the band may be quick to undersell the album simply as ‘twelve good rock songs’ but surely, there must be something more than that? Duce lets us in on his thoughts on the band’s message.

“As horrible and cliché as it sounds, we do write music for ourselves but it’s also for like-minded people who would be interested in the same thing. The message - I would say at the moment is, overall, we’re just four normal blokes from nothing that just worked hard and now we’re doing this. We’re sitting in Universal Records, doing an interview.

If we can do it, anyone can f**king do it.

Take that away from it.”

Lower Than Atlantis’ new album ‘Changing Tune’ will be released on 1st October via Island Records.

BORN IN BRITAIN

w w w. g o l a . c o . u k 13

NEWS INTERPOL

INTERPOL’S PAUL BANKS MAKES SECOND SOLO OUTING ‘What’s in a name?’ Shakespeare asked.

Pose that same question to Paul Banks and you’ll get quite a lengthy answer.

The Interpol frontman is gearing up to release his second solo album, but it will be his first under his real name. Having released his debut back in 2009, the fulllength was put out using his alternative moniker, Julian Plenti.

“Most of the first songs on my first record were written in the nineties and the earlier parts of the 2000s. That era, before I even joined Interpol, I was going under the name of Julian Plenti when I played live. Then I did the band for a decade, but I promised myself that I must come back to the material.

“I had this idea that I would be sixty and have ‘On The Esplanade’ in my head as being the only person that ever heard that song even though I wrote it when I was 18 or 19. So, after three records with Interpol, I said, ‘Well, f**king do it man, you’re almost thirty. Make the record that you told yourself you would make.’

When I first conceived that material, it was as Julian Plenti; I just felt like I had to follow through with that idea.”

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However, with his early material finally seeing the light of day through ‘...

Is Skyscraper’, the frontman decided it was time to leave Plenti behind, at least for the time being. “It was just about fulfilling a promise to myself, so, having done that, I didn’t feel any strong compulsion to continue with the alter ego. It wasn’t at all contrived to me to do the first one that way, but to follow-up with another one would begin to feel a little like I was forcing something.”

And so begins the era of ‘Banks’, an album that he claims allowed him to “actually execute the music that I hear in my head.”

“I guess a lot of this looks like a departure but it’s not,” he explains.

“This is what I’ve been doing since I was fifteen, writing songs. When I first started out, I would just pour myself into an acoustic guitar but I always felt that it was lacking something. When I joined the full band, I realised that that was the full sonic experience that I’m interested in, but it wasn’t really until more recent years when I started using the programme Logic that I learned how I

could actually externalise [that music] by using a programme that allowed me to basically be all the members in a band.”

Then came working with producer Peter Katis, which helped Paul to fully realise the vision of his second album: “I let him in to my creative process a little bit more than I’ve ever let alone else in. That was new for me to say to somebody, ‘What do you think? How do I fix what I perceive to be a flaw in this composition?’

I think he understands where I’m coming from as a musician.”

It feels as though Banks’ solo records are more for his own growth and gain than his audience, but is there anything that he hopes they’ll take away from his sophomore effort? “I have no idea what people will take away from it, but I feel really good about it. It’s the best music that I can make at this time. I look at my solo records and think that my goal is that each will be better than the one before and hopefully, people will agree with me on that.”

Paul Banks’ new album ‘Banks’ will be released on 22nd October via Matador.

THE CRIBS WORK ON TWO ALBUMS AT ONCE

June may feel like a while ago, but if you cast your memory to way back when, you may recall us telling you about The Cribs’ recording session with Steve Albini. While only one track from those sessions appeared on the band’s latest full-length, there may be a little more life left than we first thought. Catching up with the Jarman brothers recently, Gary let us in on a little secret: they hope to release an album full of Albini-produced material, and soon.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff from the Albini sessions that we did for ‘In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull’ that we didn’t finish, or that we did finish, but we didn’t use for the album. We’ve got nearly half an album’s worth of stuff recorded with Steve that we want to finish. We’re hopefully going to soon. We want it to be quite a quick and visceral record. Not too much thinking, not too much planning. That was the whole intent of the Albini sessions in the first place; why we decided to go with him.”

Now, if the prospect of a full album’s worth of songs produced by the man behind the likes of Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard and Pixies wasn’t exciting enough, that’s not all the Wakefield three-piece have up their sleeve. “I don’t want to put all of our eggs in one basket. So, we kinda want to be working on another record at the same time, so we can have that kind of release for us, but also have something a bit broader too.”

It must be exciting to have got to the position in your career where you can take a few more risks, and try new directions? “We’ve got to that point now where I do hope to get out of this sort of niche. It used to be so easy for bands to have crossovers, and now that it doesn’t happen much, it feels really exciting. It makes me want to do that.

I really want to make a pop record next time.”

The Cribs’ latest album ‘In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull’ is out now via Wichita.

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B R I E F ROLO TOMASSI will release their brand new album ‘Astraea’ on 5th November.

The band’s third studio effort is due through their own Destination Moon Records, and doubles as the first album with new members Nathan Fairweather and Chris Cayford.

ELBOW have added a second London show to their planned UK live run. The tour now sees the band play six arena shows around the country, appearing at both The O2 and Wembley Arena in the capital.

SONIC YOUTH will be releasing a brand new live album of material recorded during their 1985 performance at Chicago’s Smart Bar. Due for release on 14th November, the record is comprised of the band’s original fourteen track set, which was recorded on 4-track cassette.

SIGUR ROS have unveiled plans to return to the UK following their performance at this year’s Bestival. The band will play a handful of shows around the country in March 2013. Find the full set of dates at thisisfakediy.co.uk.

JACK WHITE had already confirmed plans for a six-date UK run, and has now revealed that he will play a second show at London’s Alexandra Palace. The ‘Blunderbuss’ solo star will play the huge venue on both 2nd and 3rd November.

TEGAN AND SARA have been revealed as support for The Killers when the latter return to our shores for a full arena tour this October. The sisterly duo have recently finished work on their longawaited ninth album, which is expected to be released early next year.

CRYSTAL CASTLES have announced that their newest album is due this winter. The duo, who recently performed at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival, have confirmed the release via a caption on a Facebook photo which simply reads: “new album = november”.

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NEWS THE MERCURY PRIZE

M E R C U R Y R I S I N G AFTER HOWEVER MANY YEARS AS ONE OF THE MOST CHERISHED BANDS AROUND, FIELD MUSIC HAVE FINALLY FOUND THEMSELVES NOMINATED FOR THE BIG ONE. CAN THEY TAKE HOME THIS YEAR’S MERCURY MUSIC PRIZE? EMMA SWANN ASKS PETER BREWIS IF HE’S PLANNING HIS WINNERS SPEECH YET. It’s fair to assume Field Music weren’t expecting a Mercury nod. While Lauren Laverne was reading their name out in a central London private members’ club, the younger Brewis was on holiday. And why would they presume such a thing? They’re four albums and eight years in, neither debutante nor elder statesmen. They’re too well-known to be obscure. They’re not (quite) jazz.

Among this year’s contenders for the award, it’s the Sunderland duo’s nomination that’s the most heart-warming. Lauded by critics and loved by those ‘in the know’ since the release of their self-titled debut back in 2005, the brothers’ intermittent 16 thisisfakediy.co.uk

mentions of frugality and getting by as a working musician suggested that so-called commercial success was still slightly beyond their reach. They emerged alongside friends, collaborators and neighbours The Futureheads and Maximo Park, but didn’t quite hit the same peaks.

Compare this to their fellow nominees: Alt-J, Jessie Ware, Django Django, Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka, Lianne La Havas, even the customary folk and jazz numbers Sam Lee and Roller Trio are all on their debut. Plan B, as well as winning Ivor Novellos, BRITs and MOBOs, has sold close to a million records. The Maccabees, although largely forgotten in this list,

went as far as reaching Number Four in the chart with ‘Given To The Wild’. Richard Hawley is, well, Richard fucking Hawley.

So could the £20,000 prize money find a better home than Field Music’s compact studio hidden away on the banks of the Wear?

In the interviews conducted the day following the nomination announcement, it was possible to hear Peter Brewis’ hangover from the other side of the room to whichever radio station he was talking to. Thankfully, by the time we’re talking to him, he’s fully recovered. And he’s not even given the prize money a single real thought – not for themselves, anyway.

“I’m certainly not contemplating that!”, he’s quick to assert, “me and Dave, we get by alright, we’re very, to put it politely, frugal.

And so are Memphis, or I hope they are! So we don’t spend that much, and we scrape a living by doing Field Music and a few other things on the side. I don’t know what we’d do with £20,000. Maybe other people on the list would need it to pay off debts? We don’t really have any debts, well, student loans, but I don’t think that’d be a good use for the Mercury music prize! We’re not in debt, so maybe we should just sit out...”

It’s that self-deprecation mixed with a grounded sense of just where Field Music fit in with things that can’t help but endear the pair to you. While business-heads may be poring over statistics for a potential sales bump, Peter’s worried their old fans might desert them.

“I’ve been a bit snobby about the music prize in a way, as I’ve said to other people as well, but music’s not a competition and as we all know, it’s subjective. I don’t know if it’ll make a difference, but I’d hope that people who’ve liked us before getting a Mercury nomination won’t leave us because of it!”

There’s a sense that, while Peter did wonder if ‘Tones of Town’ might have made the shortlist following its release in 2007, this has come at the best possible time for the duo. No expectations from anyone bar themselves, a solid, dedicated and steady fan base – no hype. While his description of the band’s debut as “not very successful” might be a bit of a stretch; it was, at least well-received, their lack of instant fame surely must make this recognition sweeter now than six or seven years ago.

“I don’t think it could’ve happened at a better period for us”, he agrees, “we’ve managed to build up an audience, I don’t think we’ve ever had any hype. Over the past seven years or whatever it’s been now that people have found out about us, come to our gigs and bought our records, they feel like they have a bit of ownership over us, because they’ve discovered us through other ways. We haven’t spent loads of money on press or advertising, so it’s not like we’re ever forcibly fed down people’s throats. So when all of this blows over, hopefully the people who liked us anyway will still like us.”

A band whose profile will have increased at least tenfold in a matter of hours and they’re still concerned their existing fans might still desert them.

“Things have picked up”, he continues “more people have found out about us as we’ve gone on. I’m not daft enough to realise that there’s a plateau, and maybe it’s this. Maybe this is where people do get sick of us. It’s alright, we’ve had a good innings!”

The overall winner of the 2012 Barclaycard Mercury Prize will be announced at the ‘Albums Of The Year’ Awards Show on 1st November 2012.

RACE FOR THE PRIZE WHO’S SET TO USURP PJ HARVEY AND NAB THE 2012 MERCURY MUSIC PRIZE. ALT-J AN AWESOME WAVE

The Cambridge quartet’s subtle weirdness was the bookies’ favourite even before the announcement was made.

BEN HOWARD EVERY KINGDOM

The Devon singer-songwriter’s path to Top Ten album success has been nothing if not meteoric; signed to Island in 2011.

DJANGO DJANGO DJANGO DJANGO

It’s possible the band’s signature tune ‘Default’ has been the most-played song of the year. After all, Adele’s got some time off.

FIELD MUSIC PLUMB

Fourth time lucky for the self-produced Sunderland duo’s intricate, timescale-jumping sounds.

JESSIE WARE DEVOTION

It felt like Ms Ware’s debut was a long time coming, but eventually ‘Wildest Moments’ did soundtrack some summer sporting action.

LIANNE LA HAVAS IS YOUR LOVE BIG ENOUGH?

Lest we ‘Forget’. Lianne’s breakthrough single back in February found its way in to even the most stubborn of earworm-holes.

MICHAEL KIWANUKA HOME AGAIN

With a voice that smooth, we’re betting ‘Home Again’ has soundtracked many a surfers’ barbecue this summer.

PLAN B ILL MANORS

Recent magazine shoots might suggest the east Londoner’s not making quite the statement he wanted, but with rap and politics, that’s two boxes well and truly ticked.

RICHARD HAWLEY STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE

Near-universally praised, this seventh long-player provides the year’s elder statesman (read: old guy).

ROLLER TRIO ROLLER TRIO

TOKEN JAZZ ENTRY ALERT! The Leeds trio make, er, jazz. That’s us told.

SAM LEE GROUND OF ITS OWN

Yes, it’s the previously (relatively) unknown singer-songwriter slot! Trained by gypsies, Sam sings traditional folk.

THE MACCABEES GIVEN TO THE WILD

Despite the sense of mouth-agape awe at how a plinky-plonky indie gang could make something quite so expansive and, well, great, you’ve all forgotten they were even on this with Alt-J fever, haven’t you?

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DIY LIVE

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WE’RE AT THE BORDERLINE TONIGHT AND YOU’RE ABOUT TO PLAY YOUR HEADLINE SLOT AT THE DIY IS 10 SHOW. HOW’RE YOU FEELING? Murray: I’m good! But I am feeling tired because we just played a set under a pseudoname, which was Saul Goodman, for all the Breaking Bad fans.

AND WHAT DID SAUL GOODMAN GET UP TO? M: It was Saul Goodman’s first ever show… No, we, The Xcerts, played four new songs because we’ve been stuck in a little room writing and going to the studio and demoing. We don’t know if these songs are any good or not, so we just wanted to release them - a little bit - to some strangers.

NEW MATERIAL EH? M: With the new stuff, the songs that we wrote, it was an organic way of writing.

We didn’t think about anything; we just wrote, but this time around, we’re writing to a… not a concept. Well, I guess a musical concept. It’s not a concept album, but I meant… We basically set ourselves the challenge to write a record in a certain style, and that will come to fruition when we go into the studio. But, this is going to be a long process for album number three.

YOU’RE ABOUT TO PLAY ‘SCATTERBRAIN’ IN FULL. HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT IT ALL? M: I am really excited because, when DIY offered us this show, we thought, ‘Yeah, that’d be great’, but it turns out it’s hard work playing songs that you haven’t played in two years. Now, ‘Scatterbrain’ feels like a real studio record, even though it’s quite raw, a lot of the stuff that we worked on in the studio was quite complex and experimental.

So, it’s pretty much taken us two years to learn how to play it properly. I hope everyone has fun and doesn’t over-analyse us trying to play ‘the record’.

ANY FINAL SURPRISES? M: Well, we wanted to get Mike Sapone on Skype as our backdrop, but he couldn’t.

Actually, he emailed us today actually saying, ‘Scatterbrain show today! Knock ‘em dead!’

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THE XCERTS

PLAY ‘SCATTERBRAIN’ IN FULL

IF YOU GO DOWN TO SOHO TONIGHT, YOU’RE IN FOR A BIG SURPRISE. WELL, WE WEREN’T GOING TO LET YOU BE DISAPPOINTED BY OUR BIRTHDAY SHENANIGANS, WERE WE?!

Around about the time that our second support of the night hit the stage, our plan begins to come to fruition. Saul Goodman burst into their first ever set and... wait a second, they look familiar? Oh. That would be because it’s The Xcerts. Granted, they’re not wearing fake wigs or costumes, so it’s not too hard to tell, but their four song set is comprised of entirely new material, and we’re the first audience privy to it. The songs hit all the right marks on first listen, and whilst it’s all a whirlwind of excitement for this evening’s audience, the set ends and everyone seems in agreement that whatever is set to come next for the band is going to be bloody good.

Fast forward about an hour, a slight change of gear setup and the donning of a few new shirts and The Xcerts take to the stage to do exactly what we’ve all been waiting for; play ‘Scatterbrain’ in full. Laden with noise and distortion, the energy is high from the go. The room is packed and people are singing along as soon as the lyrics kick in and it’s instantly evident that this is the perfect album for the live environment. Being one of our favourites from 2010 – and your top one, at that – the set is wonderfully special, even when the odd f**k up does creep in (Murray MacLeod, we’re looking at you.) There’s a beauty in the imperfection, and an intensity in the rawness that keeps the audience enthralled throughout, reminding us just why we chose this band and this album.

Ending their set with the explosive ‘Hurt With Me’ before transitioning into the haunting rarity ‘Lament’, the applause is deafening and, as they exit the stage and Bruce Springsteen begins to play over the PA, we’re not the only ones left wondering how that was so brilliant. (Sarah Jamieson)

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NEWS DISCLOSURE

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ame moves in mysterious ways.

Disclosure - who aren’t exactly unknowns, having cemented themselves as staples of the DJ touring circuit these past few months - approach a record store in Kingston to go and visit their friend Jessie; she’s in the middle of launching her debut album ‘Devotion’. Before Guy and Howard Lawrence have a chance to catch up, they’re thrown aside by a flock of screaming teenagers. “‘Oh my God! Is it Jessie Ware!?” they cry, unaware they’ve just interrupted an all-star get together.

Guy tells us in a chat over Skype: “We were like ‘You’ve gone famous, what’s going on here?’” “It is a bit weird,” adds Howard. “To us she’s just our mate. Now she’s on BBC Breakfast.”

This past February, Disclosure unveiled a remix of Jessie’s ‘Running’, but it wasn’t just a remix. It was as if they’d taken the original’s soul and restraint and thrown everything to one side. Suddenly Jessie Ware sounded like a garage singer ‘Running’ was an entirely different song.

Herein lies the appeal of an act yet to reach the success Jessie’s debut is grasping at. They’re not far off, though.

Their rise can be viewed as both gradual and sudden, depending on how you look at things. Brothers Lawrence appeared three years back with singles on Moshi Moshi and Transparent, and in terms of recorded material they’ve been building up steadily to the end-point of this chapter in their career; a debut album due in spring of next year. But then again, Disclosure only played their first show in a grimy pub - London’s Old Blue Last - two years into their existence.

“That show was probably the most nerve wracking one that we’ve done,” admits Guy. “When you first play it’s like ‘Oh my god, what’s gonna go wrong?’ The hardest part is working out how to actually go about doing it.” That’s unless you’re Deadmau5 and your only fear is whether a biscuit crumb might have lodged itself underneath your space bar, surely. “I was chatting to people the other day about 20 thisisfakediy.co.uk

NEW BANDS

David Guetta and how he fake DJs... I feel a bit sorry for him in a way,” Guy muses. “If you’re getting paid hundreds of thousands of pounds per show - which he is - it’s like if you mess up, then it’s so much money you’re liable for. There’s so much pressure.”

Disclosure pride themselves on doing the exact opposite of a David Guetta. Live elements are key, with guest vocalists Jessie Ware included - turning up to the pair’s summer shows. “We’ve seen a lot of people who say they play live and they just turn up with an Ableton controller.

There’s nothing wrong with having a backing track here and there, but we like making it visual for the crowd.” Guy and Howard grew up playing instruments, their parents already having a history in music themselves. “Most techno producers are just programmers, they work machines.

Playing instruments such as guitar and piano meant that it’d be silly for us to avoid using them.”

Conversation turns to their parents again when I mention the video - the unofficial video, I should hasten to add - for their ‘What’s In Your Head’ track. It featured Daisy Lowe and approximately two hundred other topless women. A fan from Poland uploaded it one evening. “Our mum did find it... She was one of the first to see it,” admits a cautious-sounding Guy. “We were tempted to take it down because we didn’t want to offend anyone, but instead we went to bed, woke up and it had 30,000 views. It’s pretty great really, when you think about it.”

Disclosure’s music is undeniably sexy. It inhabits the European club environment, not some dingy London pub. And you can’t really blame a pair of guys - 21 and 18 respectively - for having little else on their mind. Age isn’t really a factor anymore for Guy and Howard, even though they’re constantly lumbered with the “young” tag. “I’ll be interested in seeing when people stop talking about our age.

It’ll be a sign that we’ve gotten old,” Guy jokes.

But at these still considerably youthful ages, Disclosure are beginning to shake off the newcomer tag, going full steam ahead with a debut album that’ll inevitably crown them as one of the UK’s finest electronic acts. While we wait, we’re promised a new single, and even some songs where Guy and Howard try their own hand at vocals. If there’s one act that’s not resting on its laurels, it’s Disclosure.

Disclosure’s new single ‘Latch (Feat. Sam Smith)’ will be released soon via PMR Records.

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Around this time last year, Jeremy Lee Given (aka Abadabad) got bloggers all excited with a handful of seemingly simple, sun-drenched pop songs. The now four-piece - named after mishearing the Pakistani city of Abbottabad on TV - are back with a debut EP release. Included in various ‘ones to watch’ lists for 2012, it seems those lofty predictions are not far off the money. And you have to hand it to them, the Boston-viaBrooklyn band certainly know how to produce some seriously infectious melodies. At best Abadabad are undeniably perfect for lounging in the sun. Their effortless sound oozes a certain lo-fi, vintage feel, take the brilliantly titled ‘All The Bros Say’ for example. As they themselves proclaim: they could well be “the band of the next five summers.” Don’t you dare put those shades in the bottom drawer of your wardrobe just yet. (Wayne Flanagan)

There comes a certain risk with publishing 120 gushing words on an artist who’s only recorded one song at the time of writing.

In the short time this magazine takes to come back from the printers Dan Croll could have flipped from BBC 6 Music and Nick Grimshaw-adored cool cat of the minute to bigger flop than Viva Brother. But then, most songs aren’t as head-spinningly catchy and nigh on perfect as ‘From Nowhere’. Blending (very) subtle 70s rock influences with a psychedelic electro-pop beat, the Liverpudlian artist’s debut release is a grooving, bouncing, and undeniably massive pop hit in waiting. There is a risk of laying such superlatives on one lone recording, but you get the sense that Dan Croll has plenty more to give. ( Jake May)

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It’s not as if the motto of “I drink, cheap beer, so what, f**k you” is of any groundbreaking status. We’ve had young ruffians in our ranks for decades, pacing across the music industry like they own the place. Last year’s “Kill people, burn s**t, f**k school” chant of Odd Future’s was a little less PC, a little less scruffy. And so we embrace L.A.’s FIDLAR and their rough-neck sound with open arms.

‘Cheap Beer’ is just one of many bursts of frustration recorded to tape: FIDLAR are a band intent on informing you about the fact that they don’t give a s**t about society, conformity and health & safety. Obviously this makes them one of the coolest bands around today. But then there’s the songs: shortlived and glorious while they last, they lurch beyond the twominute mark before coming to an abrupt halt. And all of this works perfectly in a live setting, as the group’s recent set at Reading Festival attested with profound clarity. ( Jamie Milton)

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Last month saw Florida’s YUNO digitally release a handful of new material and, much to journalistic distress, the content refuses to be pigeonholed, which is bound to leave a lot of genre-junkies scratching their heads. YUNO’s influences are fairly transparent, yet wide ranging. ‘Sunlight’ recalls the lo-fi surf pop sound honed

by Beach Fossils that is glimmered in a digitised Twin Shadowesque production. Temporary contingency then spills over into the punkier and more upbeat ‘You Never Call Me (On The Phone)’, which would not seem misplaced on a Wavves album.

However, perplexity then strikes with ‘Thingamajig’ and ‘Disney World’, which are purely electronic, autotune-encompassing numbers. Although this young fella is clearly having some kind of identity crisis (Surftronica? Digi-wave? Whatever).

YUNO’s music is drenched in a youthful sweetness and pop innocence that remains difficult to dislike. (Niall Kavanagh)

3MIND ENTERPRISES We’re not really sure what the ‘scene’ is like in Turin (maybe they have their very own disco-orientated version of Shoreditch?) but recently, young Italian producer Andrea Tirone left his homeland and ventured to the UK to sample its ever diverse musical climate.

‘Summer War’ - his first release on the forward-thinking Double Denim label - shows Tirone’s ability to fuse together two varying styles into one very assured, ghost-like delicacy. At times, it almost feels like a tug of war, with each element battling for space within the alluring mix. His soft, unorthodox vocals veer towards a more fragile, tranquil nature, while the skittish percussion and brooding synth undertones pull at early hour nightclub endeavours. A masterful medley if ever we’ve heard one. (Wayne Flanagan) 22 thisisfakediy.co.uk

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Yannick Ilunga possesses the kind of baritone vocal you dream of having if you were to be reincarnated as any songwriter.

Make me a Matt Berninger, a Tunde Adebimpe, a Yannick Ilunga, you might say. These vocals: they make every off-hand phrase a grand statement, a declaration of intent. In Petite Noir’s genre skewing, head-turning ‘Till We Ghosts’, Ilunga throws out words like “Tell my wife, ‘cause she doesn’t know, I’m never gonna be the same again.” Against such a colourful backdrop - tribal percussions, acoustic guitar patterns and spiky, Foals-like riffs, floaty synths - these words might not be the first thing you pick up on, but Ilunga harbours this incredible ability to stop you in your tracks. This is about as grand and ambitious as a debut single gets, so take notice. ( Jamie Milton)

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PLAYLOUNGE: A REVOLUTION IN THRASH Photo: Louise Nindi

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laylounge talk about music just like you and I do. They verge into fanboy territory when discussing the time they went to a DIY Presents show to see Japandroids play for free at London’s Old Blue Last. They speak about Johnny Foreigner as if the band has achieved untouchable, demi-God status. Yet Playlounge are about to tour with JoFo. It wasn’t long ago that Sam and Laurie found out these heroes were fans of the band.

“When we got asked to play with those guys, it’s like ‘Oh my god, that’s actually happening’. I still can’t get my head around the Fear And Records thing, either [the label will release Playlounge’s new EP, ‘Thrash Magic’].

How have these [labels] even heard our music?”

Imagine being thrust head-first into a music scene that you’ve always gazed upon from a distance. This is what’s happened to Playlounge over the past year, to a T. I ask them if there’s any existing band who they’ve yet to cross paths with; whom they adore. Sam’s reply - “We never thought we’d end up playing with Johnny Foreigner. If you asked me a couple of months ago I’d have said them” - puts into focus just how quickly things have progressed for the pair of noise-makers.

“HOW HAVE THESE [LABELS] EVEN HEARD OUR MUSIC?”

Playlounge are a band who go along for the thrill of the ride.

When Neu first wrote about the band earlier this year, we said “Playlounge give you this sense of clarity, of rejuvenation, like only the most triumphant rock bands can.” And this 24 thisisfakediy.co.uk

triumphalism is perhaps what’s made the pair so prominent amongst a flock of bands all pedalling the same aesthetic. They refer to tours with the likes of Joanna Gruesome, as makings of an “inverted commas scene”. Sam says, “There’s a brotherhood between all of the bands. I guess in ten years time people might call it a scene but it’s just a pretentious thing that we do.”

‘Thrash Magic’ however, allows Sam and Laurie to stand out in the crowd. It’s the most intense, thrilling work the band have thus far put their name to. It’s laced with hate, but the songs themselves sound crystal-clear with happiness.

One track - ‘Sweet Tooth’ contains a chorus consisting entirely of the words “I hate you”, repeated over and over. “If something bad happens to me I wanna get it all out,” explains Sam. “Every time we play that

song I’ll feel exactly what I felt when I first wrote it.”

He adds, self-consciously: “I hope I’m not coming across as an aggressive person or anything like that.” Sam and Laurie are in fact some of the warmest, most likeable band members we’ve ever met, but it’s this underlying message of frustration that makes their songs what they are: glorious bursts of expression.

Spontaneous or calculated, it needn’t matter: everything is illuminated. This is why the band are getting signed for big releases, this is why they’re playing shows with their heroes. It’s just a case of getting their heads around it all. But you sense that deep down, Playlounge are enjoying the surreal journey of fast-becoming a significant band.

Playlounge’s new EP ‘Thrash Magic’ will be released on 22nd October via Fear And Records.

DEATH AT SEA:

NEu news

DAUGHTER may be hard at

work on their debut album, but they’ve decided to be extra productive and announce a UK tour. Visit thisisfakediy. co.uk for dates.

Manchester’s PINS have shared the video for the lead, title-track on their forthcoming ‘LUVU4LYF’ EP. Watch it now on thisisfakediy.co.uk.

20-year-old Nottingham duo

SHELTER POINT have revealed details of their debut EP - ‘Forever For Now’ will be available from 22nd October through Hotflush Recordings.

SPLASHH have confirmed plans for a new headline show. The band will appear at London’s 100 Club on 3rd December.

YOUR NEW FAVOURITE CASTAWAYS

“We’re not known in London, yet” proclaims frontman Ralph Kinsella on talking about their recent debut capital show, “The one at the Lexington? There weren’t many people there, but there were a few press guys.” Perhaps fitting expectations from a show so far away from home, so soon after forming. That’s right, Death At Sea have only been together since January 2012 - but since then, the Liverpudlian trio have gained an admirable status amongst their local scene whilst obstinately recording. And after a mere nine months of existence, the band will release their second single ‘Drag’.

“There is a love of poetry,” Ralph tells us, “but I tend to write songs about how I’m feeling at the time.” So the melancholy aspect of the band’s song writing skills don’t just appear from fairy-tale worlds of unanimous despondency: “When he’s with her, she bleeds glitter” is just one of their beautiful, if a little disturbing, slices of romanticism. “We write lots of songs but just pick the best to record,” he continues, and indeed this single is, perhaps, the best thing they have recorded thus far.

But, although we have only gained insight into glimpses from the band’s back catalogue, including the subtly psychedelic single ‘Sea Foam Green’ to name one of a scarce number: Ralph surprisingly goes on to state: “We have an album recorded, we’re just waiting to be able release it.” So with that amount of material under their belts, we may be about to gain a stronger discernment of their tantalizing sound.

Whatever happens next, Death At Sea’s full-length should take them to the places that they’re striving for and rightfully deserve, setting to prove that their bedroom lo-fi sound delves deeper than a poetic tri-chord wonder that only lasts for five-minutes, but into a depth that they are already beginning to prove: adjacent to recent concern and speculation – “guitar music is not dead,” as we’ve already seen for ourselves over the recent year. Maybe Death At Sea could turn out to be another vital asset to keep the sound of the six-string alive and kicking.

Death At Sea’s new single ‘Drag’ will be released on 4th November via Death At Sea Records.

Glasgow trio CHVRCHES’ have revealed their second single to date: ‘The Mother We Share’ is due on 5th November through National Anthem / Create Control.

LA-based four-piece BLACKS& are gearing up for the release of their debut single. ‘The Race Is On’ is due out on 22nd October, via Hey Moon.

CRASH & THE ‘COOTS

have announced their brand spankin’ new EP. The four-piece will release ‘John Coles Park’ through new London cassette label Heart Throb Records - run in part by DIY’s very own Neu Editor Jamie Milton - on 29th October.

London’s LULS have announced details of a debut double-A side 7” single - ‘Swing Low’ / ‘Young’ - to be released on 22nd October. They also play a free DIY Presents show at Oakford Social Club, Reading on 6th October.

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NEU MIXTAPE

NEu

NOT CONTENT WITH GIVING YOU A FREE MAGAZINE, WE'VE PUT TOGETHER A FREE MIXTAPE FULL OF OUR FAVOURITE NEW BANDS; DOWNLOAD FROM THISISFAKEDIY.CO.UK/MIXTAPE

1 HOLY STRAYS CHRISTABELL A

Holy Strays is a Neu favourite; an upcoming artist of few contemporaries. This is haunting chamber-electronic pop from Paris producer Sebastian Forrester. ‘Christabell A’ forms one half of a mind-expanding, affecting work.

2 LASER BACKGROUND PINWHEELS

Slacker pop heads in a strangely uplifting direction here. Philadelphia’s Andrew Molholt constructs sedated love songs, all laced together with a queasy aesthetic and dreamy atmospherics. Bliss never felt so weird.

3 YOUAN KNOW YOUR NAME

Youan is responsible for spearheading an influx of UK producers blending R&B samples with gorgeous, heartfelt melodies.

‘Know Your Name’ retains the musician’s anonymity, while furthering his cause of being one of the biggest talents out there today.

4 LOVE IN AZORES SUN IN COLLAPSE

Sun-kissed tropical pop, rooted somewhere in the mountainous regions, besides the Mediterranean sea, ‘Sun In Collapse’ is the debut track from Love In Azores, who came to the UK swept up from the shore.

5 9MARY IF YOU CAN’T LOVE THIS ALL GOES AWAY...

‘If You Can’t Love...’ is one of many examples of 17-year-old Flo Morrissey’s outstanding talent. She melts together cryptic lyrics and obtuse guitar arrangements into one cohesive sound of unparalleled beauty.

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6 ASTRONAUTS ETC MYSTERY COLORS

Anthony Ferraro swept the blogs into a fuzzy daze this past month with debut track ‘Mystery Colors’ racking up tens of thousands of Soundcloud plays. Taken from a forthcoming debut EP, ‘Supermelodic Pulp’, this is space-pop at its most stratospheric.

7 THE WHITE ALBUM COUNTING TREASURES

The debut ‘Conquistador’ album is crammed with treats such as these; effortlessly laid-back, crystallised beauties, sung by men with the most formidable beards you’re ever likely to encounter. The White Album’s ‘Counting Treasures’ is for the evening lull and the dreamy escape from reality.

8 POLEDO LAURA PALMER IS DEAD

Oxford three-piece Poledo bring scuzzy guitars to the forefront with this Art Is Hard Records-released piece of grungy indie rock that brings to mind Yuck, Let’s Wrestle and early Pete & The Pirates. It’s catchy, it’s dirty, and it’s excellent.

Laura Palmer iiis deeeaaaaaad.

9 THE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY SLIP

Brooding, warm and fuzzy are three traits we at DIY happen to quite often like of a song, and Brighton indie rock four-piece The Hundredth Anniversary display all three on ‘Slip’, one half of their double A-side single on Tiny Lights Recordings released on the first day October.

10 IDES 16

Alanna McArdle lives in London, writes songs in her bedroom, and uploads them to Soundcloud as ides. Made up of little more than her own haunting vocals and some distorted, looping guitar lines, they’re sparse, delicate, and captivatingly beautiful. ‘16’ is an absolutely stunning example.

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bat cr INTERVIEW THE KILLERS

SARAH JAM I ES O N TA L K S T O T H E THE KILLERS ABOUT THEIR RETURN, AND NEW ALBUM ‘ B AT T L E B O R N ’ .

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tle y 29

INTERVIEW THE KILLERS

“THIS BEING

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IS

US US”

IMAGINE BEING STOOD ON THE EDGE OF A VAST STAGE AND, IN ANY DIRECTION YOU GAZE, YOU’RE MET WITH FACES STARING BACK AT YOU. There are thousands of bodies stretching out to meet the horizon, blending into the dark night.

Maybe there are stars above your head, maybe a cool wind whips at your face. It’s breathtaking, it’s awe-inspiring, and above all, it’s completely surreal. The congregation that resides in front of you, they echo your words with true belief. There’s euphoria in the air and you’re stood amidst it all. You are the leader of this sea of people and your music, your melodies, your lyrics, unite them all.

Now, we can’t be entirely resolute in our imagery but that’s - sort of, at least - how we like to imagine life in The Killers to be.

After all, they are a band that require no real introduction. Having released their debut album ‘Hot Fuss’ less than a decade ago, the Las Vegas quintet were catapulted to the top of their game.

By the time second album, ‘Sam’s Town’, was unleashed they were selling out arenas in minutes, and headlining festivals all around the world. In fact, every one of their albums released thus far has found a home at the top of the UK charts. And whether your song of choice was ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘When You Were Young’ or ‘Human’, we all know that their melodies are etched into your brain.

For a while though, it seemed as though the curtain may have fallen on the band for the final time. Following the release of third studio album ‘Day & Age’, the heavy touring schedule took its inevitable toll and the band ground to a halt as 2009 drew to a close. One hundred and thirty seven shows says that’s no mean feat, but the run, which saw them visit six continents, had finally tired them out, leaving the four-piece missing their families and feeling the burn. With the dawning of 2010, the door seemed to be closed upon them for the foreseeable future.

“I think the first couple practices,” begins guitarist Dave Keuning, as we sit in the café of a North London photo studio, asking how it was to join each other in the studio again, “for whatever Granted, the four-piece didn’t entirely go quietly. In fact, only one member went without the reason, it didn’t seem like release of a solo album during the band’s hiatus; vocalist Brandon Flowers unveiled ‘Flamingo’ we created as much magic. in late 2010, Ronnie Vannucci Jr. released Big Talk’s self-titled effort in June 2011, whilst Mark Stoermer’s ‘Another Life’ dropped later that same year. Then, before you knew it, they were all in But I don’t know… that might’ve just been bad luck, a studio together, and The Killers were back in the game. Sort of.

I dunno. Then, we got some ideas. Once there’s one idea forming, it usually creates other ideas from there. We had some days that were more productive than others, which is normal, I guess.”

“We’re not complacent,” interjects their frontman Flowers, who plots his words with a deliberate thoughtfulness. “That’s one of the reasons that it was so difficult. We’re all so... we gotta really take a look at what we’re doing and ask the hard questions: ‘Is it good enough? Is it ready?’ We worked hard on this record. Every time you put a record out, a few months later there are regrets, and this is the closest - I think - that we’ve come to hopefully not having any.”

He laughs, self-assuringly.

It seems then, that their fourth release ‘Battle Born’ was a difficult birth, and when you begin to discover the logistics, that’s not all that surprising. Not only did the writing and recording process see the band reconvene in their own Battle Born Studios for the first time since their hiatus, with the work taking the best part of a year (“It took a long time, from start to finish,” says Keuning) but the group were unable to lock down one producer for a long enough period to visit Las Vegas and head up the whole project. So, instead of waiting around for one big name, they employed the help of five: Stuart Price, Steve Lillywhite, Damian Taylor, Brendan O’Brien and Daniel Lanois.

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INTERVIEW THE KILLERS

“ E V E R Y T I M E Y O U P U T A R E C O R D O U T T H E R E A R E R E G R E T S ”

“It was a complicated thing with the producers. It wasn’t very organised!” explains the guitarist. “They were never there all at the same time. It was more like, this guy could work this month, this guy could work this week. Every once in a while, Damian Taylor and Steve Price would work together but usually, it was just one of them. Occasionally, it was just us working on something.” Was that not a daunting task in itself ? “You’ve got to be fearless. I learned that from Stuart Price,” say Flowers of the man who worked alongside him on his debut solo release. “He’s so fast, and we did some of our best work in a matter of hours with Stuart. So, really, a week with someone nowadays can be a lot of time. What’s capable of being accomplished is amazing.”

However, not everything made for such quick work, a factor no doubt reflected by the full recording period. A constantly fluctuating tracklisting meant that some songs which simply didn’t exist at first, were rewritten, re-recorded and re-entered into the mixing pot on numerous occasions; something perfectly demonstrated by the band’s glorious lead single ‘Runaways’: “That’s been kicking around a long time,” explains Flowers. “That was when we were touring for ‘Day & Age’. There are things that take reworking and you know, beating them to the ground, digging them back up and only then are they finished.”

Obviously though, for an album with so many producers, would it ever be the case that too many cooks spoil the broth? With such influential men at work, did it ever cross the band’s mind that maybe each name would leave too much of their own mark and mean that the record, in turn, lost a little of its own Killers essence? “I think we can tell a little bit…” Keuning sounds a little uncertain. “We know how the producer influenced a certain song. Dan Lanois had a style and Stuart Price had a certain style and Brendan O’Brien has his own, but within that, we always were the ones that would have the song ideas.”

Flowers is a little more sure about the band’s strength: “You can stick us in a room with whoever you want and it sounds like The Killers. It’s a testament to us, I think. Our identity is strong.”

Undoubtedly too, ‘Battle Born’ is the album that demonstrates that most. With their debut ‘Hot Fuss’ being dubbed too ‘anglophilic’, ‘Sam’s Town’ being too ‘Americana’ and ‘Day & Age’ simply declared too ‘pop’ by the press, it’s through their fourth effort that it feels as though the four of them have finally found their stride. “There’s always been some road, or some new twist

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or turn, that we’ve gone down,” says Flowers, “and we just thought it was time to take a deep breath and figure out what we’re best at. With each record, it was what road we were going down and the focus of the media and all of this stuff...” he pauses.

“This is us being us. I was pushing myself lyrically more than I ever have. I really wanted it to just be fully realised. Before, we had deadlines and I ended up fudging a couple of things, and then I’ve gotta sing it every night… This record is very different in that respect. These stories are fully realised. Every song is.”

“I just tell people,” says Keuning, “it’s got a little bit of all the albums - ‘Hot Fuss’, ‘Sam’s Town’, ‘Day & Age’ - because that’s who we are. We never completely got away from those albums because they’re so within us. I think that’s natural. That’s what you’d expect it to be: a little bit of all three of those albums, plus a little bit of a new, modern Killers sound.”

“It helped that we made a point to not have a deadline at first,” he adds, when we ask if the sheer amount of time they had allowed for more freedom to define themselves fully, before Flowers agrees: “We definitely had more time to live with it and get our fingerprints on it.”

“We were right, kinda overlapping it,” adds the guitarist. “We squeezed it just at the last second and a couple more songs made the record because of that.”

Undeniably though, all that freedom could equate to not ever feeling fully satisfied with the end product. “That’s the danger of having your own studio and having the freedom that we have,” starts Flowers, before smiling, “but it’s all working out. We’re alright.”

And on hearing their fourth full-length, you’d no doubt agree. With soaring choruses and picturesque vignettes of Las Vegas life, this is an album that marks the return of one of the world’s biggest contemporary bands, and simultaneously pulls no punches in encapsulating just what made The Killers so great the first, second and third time around. A seemingly perfect blend of their previous works, that still pangs with the same nostalgia-laden melodies that grabbed you way back when, their new songs already feel like they’ll glide easily in amongst their back-catalogue. Truthfully, it’d only be fair to say this feels less like battle born; more battle won.

The Killers’ new album ‘Battle Born’ is out now via Mercury.

33

INTERVIEW DOG IS DEAD

D O G D A Y S

EVERY MUSICIAN WILL TELL YOU THEY WORK HARD, BUT DOG IS DEAD REALLY HAVEN’T It’s been a long old road for Nottingham quintet Dog Is Dead, but the journey has been more than worth it; when I catch frontman Rob Milton the band are getting ready to play a show in London for Vogue’s Fashion Night Out, and with the release of their long-awaited debut album ‘All Our Favourite Stories’ imminent, it seems that things are on the up for the band.

of when you consider Atlantic’s roster. Rob’s got a different view, however: “We played in the band for years and years, and no-one gave a s**t. We released singles ourselves; made a record ourselves. We paid our dues. We’ve never been part of a scene, never been on a ‘cool’ indie record label or anything like that. We made a bit of a splash putting out our own singles, and built our way up to it.”

Dog Is Dead gained a lot of their popularity from releasing free singles and EPs, so it’s a natural talking point. Rob’s pretty enthusiastic about keeping the tradition going, rather than taking a break after the album comes out. “We’re not very good at taking breaks, we’re quite a restless band. I think we’re definitely back to writing as soon as we can. We’re gonna tour like crazy after the record comes out; that’s priority number one, but I don’t think we’ll ever stop writing, it’s like I’ve got the fever.

“As for giving away songs for free, we love doing that. The way music is right now, the current climate, people won’t necessarily buy your music so why not give everyone a little bit of a taste here and there?”

We talk about a few of the singles, including the recently rereleased ‘Glockenspiel Song’, and the role it played in a certain teen drama. Did the band worry about being known as ‘that band who played on Skins’? “I think we’ve managed to avoid that. It was a great thing to do, we were really happy to do it; it’s a great stepping stone. And the directors wanting us to do that was really brilliant, and it was a great opportunity “WE PLAYED and experience.

“But I think people realised IN THE BAND there’s a lot more substance FOR YEARS there than just being ‘an E4 show band’ or whatever, AND YEARS, and we were very quick to AND NO-ONE prove ourselves, that there’s real depth to what we do.

GAVE A S**T. It’s not just a one-sided WE PAID OUR thing. The good thing about ‘Glockenspiel Song’ is that DUES.”

If you were looking at just Dog Is Dead for an example of the current music climate, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s pretty healthy. After all, a harmonious indie-pop band who like to incorporate a bit of jazz into their music and are just releasing their first album probably wouldn’t be the first thing you think

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A R E O V E R

HAD OVERNIGHT SUCCESS, AS FRONTMAN ROB MILTON TELLS CORAL WILLIAMSON.

the directors thought it summed up all the emotion of what they were going through, and wanted a bit anthemic summer tune that encapsulated what they went through. But I think on the record, you see a whole different side to it, and when we put out songs like ‘Two Devils’, that immediately shows the other side of what we do.”

I admit that ‘Two Devils’ is my favourite of their songs, and we touch on the ‘true-life’ aspects of their lyrics. ‘Teenage Daughter’, Rob explains, is “about a conversation I had with someone before they went on a long flight. They were going to the other side of the world, and were expecting a child, and it led on from that, and how I imagined how things could pan out. So it’s about a real event but then heightened and enhanced. And ‘Two Devils’ is like that as well. It’s about the breaking down of a relationship, and the guilt. I think I try to tell stories as well as portray real emotions of real people.”

“WE’RE NOT VERY GOOD AT TAKING BREAKS.”

Since we’re talking about stories, and in light of the fact that their album is called ‘All Our Favourite Stories’, I can’t help but ask what Rob’s favourite story is. He laughs, clearly not expecting the question. “I should probably have an answer to that! I read a lot

of Bukowski and dickhead writers who make your skin crawl. I don’t know if I should answer with The Hungry Caterpillar or Bukowski, they’re both great.” So no Fifty Shades Of Grey? “I haven’t got to that yet, I hear it’s great though.”

I can’t end the conversation without asking about their newest video to ‘Talk Through The Night’. Rob’s enthusiasm for it is practically endless, probably due to the fact that most of the ideas, from the 8-bit backdrop to the strange Fear And Loathing-esque outfits, were his. “It was so much fun! I was a bit nervous because it was the first time I’ve come up with the entire concept myself, and then I opened it up to directors, and De La Muerte were really great, they took my idea and tweaked it, enhanced it, and were really specific about the scenes we should take on. When we looked at their ideas we were like, ‘This is going to be brilliant’. And the best thing about making the video is that it’s intentionally meant to look a bit naff. So you can have a lot of fun trying to make something that’s not too polished, it’s brilliant. At the same time, when you’re making it you have no idea what it’s going to look like, because the whole thing’s green screen.

“And now I’ve realised, I want an old, really cool car.”

Well sure, why not? The way Dog Is Dead are going, they’ll probably all be able to get fancy old cars sometime soon.

Dog Is Dead’s debut album ‘All Our Favourite Stories’ will be released on 8th October via Atlantic.

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FEATURE AN AWESOME WAVE

A N

A W E S O M E

THERE’S A NEW BREED OF POST-HARDCORE BANDS MAKING THEIR MARK. SARAH JAMIESON INVESTIGATES. LA DISPUTE

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ising through the ranks of heavy music, there is a community of bands who are striving more for creative freedom than stardom.

Building up their collective resumés through sheer determination and talent, here is a set of bands who are inspiring a generation of hardcore fans to shake themselves out of the previously accepted version of the genre, and open their eyes to a new level of integrity within music.

And somewhere along the way, people started to call it ‘The Wave’.

Now, granted, anything with a moniker instantly becomes more insatiable, more accessible, and thus, it’s unsurprising to learn that these bands have begun to turn heads, but even before we fully approach the subject, we learn quickly that those words have become more of a curse than a blessing.

“That whole thing is the utmost joke,” begins James Carroll, of Make Do And Mend, when we call him in his home of West Hartford, Connecticut. “It came about with us sitting in Touché Amoré’s van, just joking around. It was TOUCHE AMORE something funny that we came up with, and even ran with for a little bit.

For a month or so we joked about it, but once we realised that people had started to pick up on it and use it as a ranking system, we very quickly stopped

PHOTO: EMMA SWANN

R

lies more simply in limitation. However, the community itself holds a much larger sphere of influence.

“Balance And Composure, to potentially Seahaven,” lists Defeater guitarist Jay Manze, when we ask who else he would consider to be a part of the movement. “All Teeth, Former Thieves, Comadre, Living With Lions... It’s just anybody who is putting the gimmick stuff aside. It’s not even a sound. It’s just, put the gimmick aside and know that things are what they are, enjoy what you can and be honest with what you make.”

What’s more impressive is how closely knit this group has become, despite geography getting in the way. The acts alone name some of their hometowns as Grand Rapids in Michigan, Los Angeles in California and Baltimore in Maryland. It’s simply through touring, and the support systems they themselves have put in place, that their relationships have solidified more so. “With Touché,” says Vander Lugt, when speaking of his labelmates, “we started playing shows about four years ago when both our bands had just started out. They’d book us a show in California when we were out that way, we’d get them a show when they were in Michigan. I guess we grew up together even though we were on opposite sides of the country.”

In fact, as it turns out, only two of the “Wave” bands grew up anywhere near each other; Defeater and Make Do And Mend are both Massachusettsbased, even, at one time sharing a

“WE’VE GOT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE’RE DOING SOMETHING AS GOOD AS OUR FRIENDS.” JAMES CARROLL, MAKE DO AND MEND talking about it. We created a monster in a certain sense, but what can you do?”

“It was more of a huge joke on Twitter,” emphasises Brad Vander Lugt of La Dispute. “Then, people just ran with it and some kids took it really seriously, like we were trying to create some kind of collective, which it wasn’t at all. But we are really good friends with all of those bands. They’re like brothers to us and I think, in that way, it is a collective.”

The remarkable part of this collective though, lies in the bands themselves, and their relationships with one another.

With ‘The Wave’ first being pinned as just five select groups – Make Do And Mend and La Dispute are joined by Defeater, Pianos Become The Teeth and Touché Amoré – the stigma of the title

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FEATURE AN AWESOME WAVE

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upon huge sold out US tours, as well as large scale support slots – Touché opened for Rise Against on their European arena tour, and - alongside Balance And Composure are currently supporting Circa Survive in the States; they’ve even found themselves taking the odd broadsheet column inch.

“It’s absolutely amazing to watch your friends bands grow and grow and grow to a point where… La Dispute, on their last tour in the States, they filled a couple thousand cap room in Philly,” explains Manze, before his bandmate Derek Archambault joins in, “That’s just not heard of.”

“For a band that does exactly what they want,” Manze continues, “because they don’t write music for anyone but themselves, that’s amazing.”

The final question, however, must be asked: does this really hold the strength to be named a movement? Well, we may just have to see, but Carroll has his own thoughts. “Right now, we’re living and playing music in a time where there’s a very relevant set of happenings and bands and in that way, it is very basically a movement. I don’t by any means think we’re inventing the wheel or bringing radical change to modern music at large, but I think that in modern music, there will definitely be bands amongst this crop that will be remembered for a very long time.”

PIANOS BECOME THE TEETH

member.

Regardless of their overlap though, each and every band within the community maintains their own sense of self, and perfectly encapsulates their art.

Whether it be Defeater’s lustrous brand of conceptladen hardcore, or Touché Amoré’s adrenaline-fuelled minute-long assaults; La Dispute’s lyrically tumultuous tales of life and death, or Make Do And Mend’s gruff dealings with everyday life, there’s an honesty and compassion that lies deep within the music that feels like it’s been missing from the genre for far too long.

“Make Do And Mend are one of my favourite bands because they have the same mentality if they’re playing to twenty people, as they do if they’re playing to six hundred people,” explains Mike York, guitarist of Pianos Become The Teeth. “They just have a ‘give it their all’ attitude and I love watching that band.”

“And the best part about it,” adds in frontman of Touché Amoré, Jeremy Bolm, “is the fact that you can just come talk to us all. Everyone will be hanging out at merch after shows. Everyone wants to meet kids. We’re so easy to just speak to. There’s no hierarchy.” A statement mirrored by Pianos Become The Teeth vocalist Kyle Durfey: “There’s no rock star mentality. It’s really easy to get along with anybody.”

But is there ever any friendly competition between the bands? Well, not so much rivalries…

“With anything with your friends,” starts Carroll.

“Like, when your first friend learns to ride a bike, then everybody starts learning how to ride a bike. Everybody starts to take their training wheels off. I think we do that a lot within our world. I remember, last year, hearing Balance And Composure’s new record ‘Separation’ and just thinking they just stepped it up and took the world of music to a new level. I feel like that all the time! Hearing [Touché Amoré’s] ‘Parting The Sea…’ did the same. I remember hearing that record and thinking, ‘We gotta step up and take our training wheels off !’

We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing something as good as our friends.”

And so, it seems inevitable that this collective is really causing a stir. A handful of bands have already embarked

“PUT THE GIMMICK ASIDE AND BE HONEST WITH WHAT YOU MAKE.” JAY MANZE, DEFEATER

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY IT’S ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY WITH THIS LOT, SO WE FIGURED WE BETTER GIVE YOU A TASTE OF A BUNCH OF OTHER BANDS YOU’LL PROBABLY LOVE.

BALANCE AND COMPOSURE

Hailing from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, these five young men share label No Sleep Records with a handful of our other bands, and just so happened to release one of the most exciting debuts in post-hardcore with their 2011 effort ‘Separation’.

TITLE FIGHT

From just around the corner in Kingston, PA, Title Fight somehow effortlessly encapsulate an indescribable articulacy within their aggressive melodic hardcore. Having released ‘Shed’ just last year, 2012 sees them quickly return with their just-aspromising follow-up ‘Floral Green’.

TIGERS JAW

Despite being entirely different, this indie-rock band seamlessly fit into the collective with their fragile yet emotive songs.

Having released a split with the aforementioned Balance & Composure back in 2011, they’re living proof that this community knows no genre bounds.

FORMER THIEVES

Holding up the more heavy end of the spectrum, this Iowa band have already found themselves touring the UK alongside the likes of Defeater, and their angular brand of hardcore will no doubt see them return very soon.

JOYCE MANOR

Again, they stray more away from the aggressive side of the family, but nevertheless, their disjointed but poignant offerings were enough to have Touché Amoré’s frontman Jeremy Bolm mention them in almost every interview he ever conducted. So, in his words, “Listen to Joyce Manor.”

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INTERVIEW AMANDA PALMER

A WOMAN OF E X T R E M E S

DAVID NEWBURY UPS AND DOWNS,

MEETS AMANDA ROCK AND ROLL,

PALMER TO DISCUSS AND HER NEW ALBUM.

photo: emma swann

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“I MADE A LOT OF PEOPLE ANGRY.

A lot of friends shouted at me,” admits a suddenly coy Amanda Palmer, her knees around her chin staring at a herbal tea. “It wasn’t deliberate, and I did lots of apologising.” It’s not easy cutting yourself off from loved ones to a record an album with money they have lent you.

Palmer is clearly saddened at the thought of hurting them, and resorts to one word answers as she’s probed. Yet she confesses, “It’s what needed to be done. There’s something important about shutting everything out and focussing on one thing, not letting the rest of your cares eat away at your creative time.”

The recording of ‘Theatre Is Evil’ was a blitzkrieg accumulation of four years of song writing which saw the 36-year-old split with her record label, undertake a brief Dresden Dolls reunion and marry writer Neil Gaiman. It is an album, by Palmer’s own admission, which is “all over the f**king place.” Yet it brilliantly captures a musician who is finally fulfilling ambitions: “One of the things you learn to do as an artist is to start honing your ability to know what certain songs need to be fully realised and sometimes that means letting go of what’s comfortable.

“I could have recorded this album as a solo piano record but I would have known I was f**king it up. I borrowed money from a bunch of people to record it so I didn’t have to go out on tour, and could just do the record how it needed to be done.”

Palmer is acutely aware of money; she doesn’t crave it, nor necessarily want it, but she knows its importance. Not only did it enable ‘Theatre Is Evil’’s realisation, but it has built a unique connection with her fans. By crowd-funding through Kickstarter, Palmer raised over a million dollars to allow her to release and promote the album.

She’s visibly excited as she talks about those that helped her out through the platform, enthusing about meeting two Norwegians who contributed hundreds of dollars to the project in return for a private gig in their backyard. “One of them was called Thor. Can you believe that?” she shrieks.

Palmer’s devotion to her fans is unquestionable and she thrives off her prolific blogging and tweeting: “It’s given us a closer conversation and the fact that we can literally talk to each other all the time and that I can be very open in real time about what I’m doing and how I’m doing it and what it’s costing. That never used to be possible.” This online presence is starting to directly affect her work: “Before I had my blog a lot of the ideas I had would go in to my songs, but now sometimes a good lyric just becomes a good tweet. On the other hand I feel so buoyed and encouraged by the people connecting with me that my own discipline about song writing has become better ‘cos I’m aware I have an audience for it.”

“I’VE NEVER BEEN VERY GOOD AT MAKING THINGS UP…”

Despite being a selfconfessed “over-sharer”, it’s the degree of privacy in Palmer’s life which is most striking: “There are still lots of things in my life that I don’t talk about, but you don’t know about them, and never will.” She admits tweeting things that have hurt people, and suddenly turns allusive as she finds herself on the topic of her private life: “It’s the realisation that I can really

hurt people because I have such a reach. I learnt early on that if I have a power I should only use it for good.”

Although the record promotion, the ability to host exhibitions and the fulfilment of her ideas wouldn’t be possible without the input from her global following she is in no way enslaved to her fans. Indeed, she is filled with disdain at the thought of artists pandering to their fans by saying ‘If you help pay for the record we’ll do whatever you want.’ Palmer is above such petty shallowness: “The reason my fans like me is that I do what I want, and they’re just invited along. They don’t have to like it, they don’t have to embrace it and they certainly can’t change it.”

Amanda Palmer is a woman of extremes; outrageously open and honest, yet intensely private. Calling the album ‘Theatre Is Evil’ appears to be a realisation that the flamboyant cabaret image so rooted in her public persona is an act which is about to close. She acknowledges that she is not in her 20s anymore and no longer needs to show off.

She is a contentedly married mid-30s artist with an unbelievably amazing album and nothing else matters: “My whole life and I’ve been trying to fit the mould of an artist, and nowadays I just don’t give a f**k. I’m like, you know, if I want to take pictures of myself naked while I’m writing a song then f**k it, I don’t care. It’s very liberating.”

Amanda Palmer’s new album ‘Theatre Is Evil’ is out now via 8 Ft Records.

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INTERVIEW TALL SHIPS

YOU CAN’T MISTAKE MY COSMOLOGY

WHEN TALL SHIPS RELOCATED TO BRIGHTON, THEY CLEARLY HAD NO PROBLEM SETTLING IN. JUST OVER A YEAR LATER AND THEY’RE ON THE VERGE OF RELEASING THEIR DEBUT ALBUM. WORDS: HUW OLIVER

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EVERYONE LOVES SONGS ABOUT FLOCKS OF STARLINGS AND TECTONIC PLATES, RIGHT? One Direction, Maynard, Jeppo... they’re all on about it. And Tall Ships. Definitely Tall Ships. This is their thing, you must understand - they’re geeky, with a penchant for talking about the science of our surroundings.

“Lyrically, I’ve never been very good at making things up,” lead singer Ric explains, “so I’m incredibly influenced by real stuff like science. I like reading about it and then relating it to human experience because it’s facts. It’s a refreshing way of thinking about the world if you can take that stuff and use it.”

Lead singer Ric is sprightly, as well he should be - the group are on the verge of releasing their debut album. “The name ‘Everything Touching’ comes from the closing line of the opening track, ‘T Equals 0’, which is about the Big Bang. It’s a very literal reference to that point.

“When I was writing this album, I became really obsessed with the idea of the Big Bang and the fact that everything which exists was contained in this infinitesimal singularity and how it all kind of exploded from that. Every single particle and molecule was compressed into this one infinitely small point.”

“IT’S TAKEN A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME FOR THIS TO ALL COME TOGETHER.”

See, there is it, that science stuff again.

Clearly, the band aren’t lacking in ambition - as if discussing the creation of the universe wasn’t grand enough, the ten songs here on ‘Everything Touching’ together make for one capricious yet enthralling listen. Put simply, it’s a virtually faultless indie-pop record.

Erring from poise and restraint through rawk riffage to blistering crescendos, here’s an album which leaves you thoroughly nonplussed but beatifically eager for more. Imagine the mighty exuberance of Biffy if hooked on the gangly irregularity of Minus The Bear and manifold harmonies of Midlake.

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But don’t think about labelling them ‘math-rock’. “It winds me up quite a lot really. You’ve got bands like Don Caballero who really are, like, math-rock. It’s incredibly technical, breathtaking music which is absolutely amazing. It’s very mathematical in its structure and time signatures.

“But calling us math-rock does true math-rock bands an actual injustice. We use traditional song structures and timing; I think every song we’ve ever written has been in 4/4.” It’s a fair point, for sure, so we think we’ll stick with ‘encyclopaedo-pop’ (making sure, of course, no one truncates the term any further).

“I’VE NEVER BEEN VERY GOOD AT MAKING THINGS UP…”

In fact, one song – second single ‘Gallop’ – anomalously sounds like The Smiths. Could they really be Smiths fans?

“No, not at all, really. I, for one, am not really a fan, and none of us really are. I can definitely see the connection between the two though. I think it’s quite similar vocally.”

Having started out as an instrumental band, they still see themselves as a live act first and foremost, which perhaps explains the album’s heady, schizoid nature. “We really write songs for the live setting, so generally that does involve making these crescendos, build-ups and these big drops because live, that’s what we love doing. I think live music is when music is most powerful and engaging.”

Fame is a weird thing for most bands, and Tall Ships seem rather touched, almost stupefied, by the loyal fanbase they’ve steadily acquired, as their tweet following their headline performance on the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading Festival affirms: “READING THAT WAS UNBELIEVABLE. THANK YOU SO MUCH. HUGE LOVE TO @bbc_ introducing AND ALL YOU BABES WHO SANG WITH US #TEENAGEDREAMSDOCOMETRUE.” “We’re so used to doing support tours where there’s really no pressure at all. You just turn up, play and hope to steal a few fans,” Ric laughs. In reality though, they’ve toured the UK unrelentingly since their formation, playing heaps of headline gigs as well as shows with the likes of We Are Scientists and Three Trapped Tigers.

And this profound commitment of theirs is now paying off; the forthcoming autumn tour takes in their largest ever headline shows, including a date at the recently revamped XOYO in East London: “We’re incredibly excited but also incredibly nervous about this tour. It’s really nice slowly starting to play these new songs because they’re pretty different to the old ones, but we just hope that people turn up and people care. XOYO is going to be a really good night.”

We say absolutely, go ahead and pencil in a date with Tall Ships, leaving Ric to wrap up: “It’s taken a really, really long time for this to all come together. We’ve had an amazing journey getting to this point, but it definitely feels right about now.”

Tall Ships’ debut album ‘Everything Touching’ will be released on 5th October via Big Scary Monsters.

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INTERVIEW TAME IMPALA

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“IT’S ALL ABOUT BEING AN IMBECILE” TAME IMPALA ON EVOLUTION, DIY AND LOST DEMOS.

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wo years ago Kevin Parker released Tame Impala’s debut album, and the world listened. The music press went crazy for ‘Innerspeaker’, the fans were ecstatic, and to top it all off, over in Parker’s birthplace Australia, it scooped the J Award for album of the year. Whilst Kevin Parker might claim to be full of nonsense, he is clearly one of the most innovative, and, it turns out, one of the nicest rock musicians around. Most people would need a bit of a break after the massive excitement of a stratosphere-smashing debut; Tame Impala took just one month out before getting back in the studio. With release date nearing for one of the most hotly anticipated albums of this year, El Hunt phoned up the man who can’t stop making music to get the lowdown on ‘Lonerism’.

You started work on ‘Lonerism’ almost straight after ‘Innerspeaker’ came out, how was that, going from one album to the next so quickly? Did you find it reduced the pressure on you at all?

Yeah I guess, although that wasn’t the idea. With me, I’m always recording music, and if I’m not recording music I don’t really find a use for myself [Laughs]. I love being in the studio and recording a piece of music I’m happy with, you know, the longer I go without feeling like I’ve done something, it’s like I’m not feeling good about myself. After the last album I had all these ideas about what I was going to do differently, and it just started happening.

‘Lonerism’, to my ears “I’D EXHAUSTED at least, does sound fairly different, as MY LOVE OF you say. There’s lot of EXPERIMENTING elements like the rich, WITH GUITAR.” really prominent use of synthesiser sounds that I couldn’t hear nearly as strongly in the first album. Did you experiment with a lot of different stuff sonically?

Yeah I think for the time being I’d exhausted my love of experimenting with guitar sounds, so I was really eager to start other things. I was at my friend’s studio one day and he had this kind of vintage synth – I’d never played one before – and I just put my finger on one of the keys and found this whole unique world in a key [Laughs]. Not literally, but that’s what it felt like.

You’ve previously said this album sounds a bit like if Britney Spears did a joint album with The Flaming Lips [Kevin

groans audibly]. Do you think ‘Lonerism’ is a pop album?

I think that comment was probably taken completely out of context. I’m totally obsessed with these really sugary pop melodies – and I still am, it’s still true. The next single that comes out is going to illustrate that. I’ve always loved really cheesy pop songs, yeah, all kinds of pop. Michael Jackson and the Spice Girls. [Laughs] I was doing the same thing there as I am now with you, just dropping names. I didn’t make it [‘Lonerism’] to sound like Britney Spears! Anyway, it was the idea of all these sugary pop melodies, and crossing that with really crazy f**ked up production.

Did you write ‘Lonerism’ in the same way as you did the last album, with the same kind of processes?

It was a similar process in that it was mainly just me in the studio - the band stuff comes in when we play live and we’ve not really played [this album] together as a band yet, properly. I think this time it was a lot less thought out than the first one, though.

You recorded this album all over the place, you were on tour during some of it weren’t you?

Yeah, for some of it, it was literally where I happened to be at the time. On the first

album we weren’t touring as much, we sort of hired out this house for about seven weeks, and set up and did it there. With this one I didn’t really bother organising any session time – there were no recording sessions other than me just living in my studio [in Perth]; that was my home, basically. We did some recording in the back of a van, too, little keyboard parts or whatever just going on. I just play around with sounds on the road, you know, whatever I have with me I use.

Did you prefer working in that way, where you had the freedom to move around and record whenever an idea sprung to you?

Yeah, I’m a big believer in that. If you’ve only got two weeks to record an album, it can be really restraining. It’s a luxury of the way we record, which is really kind of DIY. Hey, wait, that’s the name of your magazine isn’t it?

We are DIY, yeah, in fact that’s a brilliant tagline you’ve come up with right there...

The luxury of the DIY, whatever you want, wherever you want.

We should collaborate.

[Descends into fits of laughter] Yeah, yeah, definitely, I like it a lot.

So on to your artwork, it’s of Paris, and shot from the

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perspective of a person looking through a fence, very much separated from all the people together inside – and then you’ve got the title, ‘Lonerism’. Would you say that the idea of isolation is a thread running through the album?

Yeah, totally, all the songs in some way are something to do with that. It’s about the persona of someone who is really isolated – but not necessarily deliberately. Most of the songs are really about other people, being amongst other people. It’s really just the idea of being someone who doesn’t feel part of the rest of the world.

While you were traveling “IT’S A SECRET around recording, you lost WISH OF MINE an iPod with about half the demos on, didn’t you?

THAT THE Ahh, I found it again ALBUM WOULD [Laughs] which was quite relieving to say the least.

LEAK AS

SOON AS IT’S I can imagine! When you FINISHED.” lost it, was the danger of the album leaking a main concern?

To be honest I’m not really worried [about leaks], I mean as long as the song is in a state that I’m happy with. When we start a song, the first thing I want is to play it to the rest of the world. Obviously it’s good to wait till the song’s finished, but when you fall in love with something that you’ve created you really just want everyone to hear it. It would obviously be bad if the album were to leak, but it’s kind of a secret wish of mine that the album would just leak out as soon as it’s finished. If it leaked tomorrow, I’d be really happy [Chuckles]. I know you’re not really meant to say that, but I can’t wait to hear what the fans think.

The latest song you released, ‘Elephant’, feels very different from stuff we’ve heard before – it’s really not faded or reverb drowned at all, and feels quite bluesy and very immediate to me. Why did you choose it?

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Strangely enough a lot of people are saying it [‘Elephant’] is really similar, and that it bridged the gap, and I’m like ‘Oh, really?’ It’s cool though; it’s good that people hear different things.

I think we just thought that was a cool single to start with, because it’s really instantly appealing. Other Tame Impala songs are growers, this one’s not really a grower at all, it’s kind of like ‘ayyyy!’

Definitely, yeah. What’s next then, I guess the next job is to try and get ‘Lonerism’ working live?

Yeah, we’ve been practicing, and I went for a couple of weeks to just jam with them [the band]. We’re slowly playing the songs together and getting a feel for what’s cool and what needs changing. We’ll start playing the songs as soon as the album comes out; we’re all really excited about that.

We’ve been playing a few new songs already, a couple on tour, but we really want to play the rest of them.

Does that process - taking your album over to the band – ever present any challenges?

Yeah, totally, but depending on how you look at it.

A challenge can be an opportunity to do something else. Like, if the album version had 20 guitars on it, all at the same time [Laughs], it’s just a chance to make the song a bit different, which is always something I embrace. It’s always a cool thing if a band plays a song a bit differently to the album version.

So, one final question – and it’s a toughie - what’s your favourite aspect of being in Tame Impala?

[Pauses for at least 30 seconds, ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’] I guess getting the opportunity to travel around the place doing nothing but talking bulls**t all day and getting away with it, and that being my job. Not having to think clearly ever, never having to rely on logic. It’s all about just being an imbecile; it’s by far the best thing.

Tame Impala’s new album ‘Lonerism’ will be released on 8th October via Modular.

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INTERVIEW BAT FOR LASHES

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“WHAT WILL MY GRANDAD THINK?” BAT FOR LASHES BARES ALL ON HER NEW RECORD - IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. WORDS: SIMONE SCOTT WARREN

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I

t takes a certain amount of balls to pose naked on your album cover. To literally lay yourself bare, for all the world (and your mum) to see. With only a strategically placed man draped over her shoulders to protect her modesty, the cover artwork for the new Bat For Lashes album, ‘The Haunted Man’, is an arresting image, a visual contradiction; striking in its equal senses of strength and awkwardness. Another artist, and you might consider it a ploy for attention, an unnecessary attempt to grab column inches by flaunting their body rather than their talent.

n the sixties, it was genuinely shocking to see John and Yoko’s disrobed image on the sleeve of ‘Two Virgins’ (a cover far more iconic than the record itself ), but nowadays we’re so desensitised to nudity. Besides, usually it’s airbrushed to a level of perfection so far out of reach of the rest of us mere mortals, that it makes no real impact beyond the occasionally salacious. It’s not them. It’s the difference between a picture and a photograph.

ut this cover is not trying to be ‘nice’, and it’s not how we’re used to seeing Natasha Khan, either; she’s previously been portrayed pre-rolled in feathers and glitter. Despite being shot by a man, it’s clearly from a woman’s gaze, and untouched by computer wizardry. “I just wanted to do something much more wild, and natural and powerful in its rawness, and be proud to not Photoshop it, not change my body image to be sexy,” she tells us during a break before her Bestival set, “It was more to do with the image of the guy on my shoulders. What’s that saying about male and feminine roles?

Women are often presented in a sexual way, in a way that’s pleasing to a man, but women are much richer and complex. You can be equally powerful and vulnerable, or really raw but also a hard arse. The dichotomies of what a woman is, that’s what’s really interesting to me. I was chipping away all the glitter and the iconography that I’d done before, and really revealing myself, to see if I’m enough. Is it just as powerful? It’s not the most flattering picture of my body, but there’s something liberating about getting it out there, and the world hasn’t exploded.”

I

B

T

here is a level of bravery required in order to put such a raw image of yourself out for display in all good record shops, it must be impossible not to feel self conscious about it. “I did crap myself,” Natasha laughs, “I realised that I’d been looking at it as a piece of art, very objectively, discussing it with Ryan

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[McGinley, the photographer], and then realising that actually, that’s going to go out in Tesco. What will my Grandad think?!”

fter the previous Bat For Lashes album, 2009’s ‘Two Suns’, which itself featured a far less real, more ethereal image of Khan holding planets and surrounded by candles, reached the dizzying heights of number five on the charts, the pressures of success and touring left Natasha unsure of her next move. “I got a little bit tired and disenchanted really. I was trying to get back to being me again, and to feel normal. I was just doing lots of other creative things, like drawing, I wrote a film script, I took some illustration courses...” The rumours of writer’s block that have dogged her appear to be off the mark, however, as she tells us that she wrote around forty songs during that period. “It actually makes you feel worse if you write s**t songs, though.

When nothing good is coming out. I felt a bit lost at times, trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to say. I felt quite alone with the whole writing process, got a bit lonely and a bit stressed out. It was definitely a very long, arduous process.”

owever, unlike most of us, Khan has a phone book that includes Mr Beck Hansen, and one would imagine that knocking around with him for a few weeks could lift your creative spirits quicker than a hot air balloon. “He was absolutely gorgeous, just a lovely, lovely, man, quite childlike in the way he approaches writing music,” Khan giggles, “And we just had loads of drum machines around, played lots of beats and danced around, watched old black and white French films. We went to the beach every day for a walk. He was just a fascinating person.” As well as their previous collaboration on a track for the Twilight soundtrack, Beck makes an appearance on ‘The Haunted Man’, showing up on ‘Marilyn’. It’s a n otherworldly

A

H

track, with tripping drum machines and foreboding dis-chords, intertwining seamlessly with Natasha’s exquisite vocals.

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ut it’s lead single ‘Laura’ that steals the show, beautiful, glamourous and heartbroken, all at once, quite probably the strongest track Khan has produced to date. Like much of the record, part of its charm is in its mystery; Khan doesn’t ever dictate to her listener. “I think that’s what makes a good song, when people have their own narrative, it should be that way. There’s a lot to be said for giving just the minimum amount of information, so that your imagination can just paint the rest of the colours in the picture.”

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hat being said, there are still some clear themes to the record. Back in 2009, she had stated in an interview that she wanted the next record to be more evocative of England, and in utilising male voice choirs and medieval sounding drummers, particularly on ‘Winter Fields’, she’s held true to that wish. “The last record was about being in America,” she clarifies, “so this time, I stayed at home, and I was in the Sussex countryside.

I researched a lot about my family tree – the English side, and lived very modestly. I think it’s definitely got that aspect to it.”

I think it’s a lot about relationships too,” she continues, “and letting go of certain

“

patterns and types of people that aren’t so good, that have come from the past.

It’s definitely a more matured album, emotionally, kind of moving through a passage away from the past, and into something quite free and liberating.”

t might be a fair assumption, therefore, that having turned 30 since her last record, she’s finding herself in that different headspace that comes from leaving behind your twenties; that being that little bit more sure of who you are makes it easier to reveal that bit more of yourself. Natasha agrees up to a point, citing Laura Marling as an example of one still so young, and yet lyrically wise beyond her years. “I’m not sure it’s completely an age thing, but I do think something happens in your thirties where, you’ve been through the mill, I suppose. For me I could only have written this having gone through my 30th. And 31st. And 32nd.”

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aving been almost paralysed by the weight of expectation, you can’t help but worry a little for Khan. Despite this being her most beautiful record to date, by exposing more of herself, and not hiding behind her spiritual flights of fantasy, would she be more crushed if it’s not as well received? After all, her previous outings have all been Mercury nominated, although she’s yet to win the actual prize. Last year, she took home her very own Ivor Novello award for ‘Daniel’, the single that proved her pop songwriting credentials. The timing of ‘The Haunted Man’ seems almost deliberately off – too late for this year’s Mercury, too early for next. Is it an attempt at self sabotage? She giggles, “Yeah, because I can’t do that live TV show again! And then not winning, and pretending that you’re happy anyway. That really insincere smile. It’s quite stressful, how things will be received, it’s a strange by-product that makes you feel like you’re back at school and you’re in a competition or something. It’s really nerve wracking.”

hatever plaudits may or may not come, Natasha herself seems comfortable with putting more of herself into the album. “It’s the culmination of years of work, it’s probably my most consistent record. I think it’s quite rich, because it’s not just about sadness or darkness, there’s an array of emotions that I drew from being at home, and not being mental. It was a good thing.”

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Bat For Lashes’ new album ‘The Haunted Man’ will be released on 15th October via EMI.

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REVIEWS BACKSTORY

K C A B AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY s to ry THE TRAIL OF DEAD Lost Songs

BEHIND EVERY ALBUM THERE’S THE STORY OF ITS INCEPTION. GRANTED, SOMETIMES IT’S BORING, BUT OCCASIONALLY IT’S ACTUALLY QUITE INTERESTING. JOE O’SULLIVAN CATCHES UP WITH ...TRAIL OF DEAD TO FIND OUT JUST HOW THEIR LATEST ALBUM ‘LOST SONGS’ CAME INTO BEING.

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our last album, ‘Tao Of The Dead’, was based on a concept – ‘Lost Songs’ has been mentioned as being inspired by politics. Are you now at the stage where you set yourself a deliberate construct, to challenge yourselves?

Jason: I don’t think it’s that thought out; [it’s] whatever is currently inspiring us, in that moment you know? Conrad was writing about the Syrian conflict with ‘Up To Infinity’. We always write about what’s going on.

Mentioning ‘Up To Infinity’, you’ve dedicated that to Pussy Riot. You recorded the album in Hanover, Germany – how different was the scale in coverage there from America?

Considering the history between the three countries, did

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anything strike you in that?

Jason: You noticed it more with American coverage I think, the Huffington Post in particular has been covering it massively.

Conrad: It’s big news in Cambodia, where I live. There’s a protest going on right now in fact, that I’m missing.

Jason: The artists, people that are creative for instance, are more aware of it. They’re speaking out against it too.

When you put the track online you said that you felt you’re the only band in the past 10 years to tackle these sorts of issues. What made you feel like you had to address it, to take on the mantle as it were?

Conrad: I don’t ever think we felt that, if anything it’s the opposite: I don’t want to be the only band talking about it.

I want the young artists of this generation to start saying something with their music and their art. I mean, sure, write

love songs, write whatever kind of songs you want but... to pretend the world is just too f**ked up that you can’t do anything about it, or to think it doesn’t matter what you have to say, is just a really tragic stance to take.

OK, so do you want to be a catalyst for others?

Conrad: Not really: people just asked us what our songs are about so I told ‘em.

Whether people want to change or not is really up to them.

‘Up To Infinity’ is quite a ferocious song, how does it sit in terms of the rest of the album? What can we expect from ‘Lost Songs’?

Conrad: There’s a lot more aggressive music on this album.

Jason: A lot of faster, pissed off songs.

As a long term band, do you feel you have any milestones left, any achievements you still need to attain, anything to prove?

Conrad: Yeah! Always! I think that we still have a lot to prove, even to ourselves really. One of the things that I think we want to know is that we can continue to grow and learn more of our craft.

The whole evolution of music technology is accelerating in an amazing way so part of being an artist is staying on top of technological changes, seeing how that impacts upon our music.

Do you think it’s something that has allowed you a greater creativity? In that, you can try things you necessarily wouldn’t have before?

Jason: Yeah, pretty much. I mean... with that being said, obviously new technology can be really good or it can go against you. This album was definitely recorded with a lot of ‘old’ equipment. And Pro Tools, haha.

Pardon the pun, but any Mistakes Or Regrets?

Jason: There always is...

Conrad: You don’t dwell on

those things, they are small minor things that I would adjust if I could but there’s a certain amount of liberation that comes in just letting go. This one’s been a pretty easy record to make.

Is that due in part to the line up changes? This seems like the first time in a while that the band is ‘settled’.

Conrad: I don’t necessarily think the line up changes contribute to the ease of the record, though Jamie [drummer] does make things insanely easy... there was at least one song that was done in one take.

How long do you see the band going? As you’re so far into your career – not many bands get to the stage that you have. Do you have, not a ‘timeline’ but a rough idea of where this band will go?

Conrad: Well I’ve heard that with medical advances our generation will live to be 200 years old. So maybe we’ll have to judge that question when we reach that point?

Is there a particular song on the album that is your favourite?

Conrad: I am really, really attached to the song ‘Awestruck’.

To me, that fills me with great emotion and it has a lot to do with what the song is about.

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AND YOU WILL KNOW US

BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD Lost Songs

Though it is still somewhat controversial to say so, since ...Trail Of Dead lost their way on the often baffling ‘So Divided’ they’ve come back stronger, retaining the more refined indie-rock sensibility that marked the criminally underrated ‘Worlds Apart’ while also returning gradually to their punk roots. Last year’s ‘Tao Of The Dead’ may have been rougher and more visceral than ‘Century Of Self ’, but ‘Lost Songs’ is the album that finally sees the band that made ‘Source Tags & Codes’ return - a fact that will surely delight many hardcore fans.

The opener ‘Open Doors’, ‘Opera Obscura’, ‘Bright Young Things’ as well as ‘A Place To Rest’ could have been plucked straight from ‘Source Tags’, and the remainder of the tracks hark back to the many eras of the band. Though the pace scarcely drops below that of their breathless early career, two more laid-back tracks break the mould - ‘Heart Of Wires’, with a waltzing melody that recalls ‘Fields Of Coal’ from ‘Century Of Self ’, and ‘Awestruck’, which bears many of the hallmarks of tracks like ‘A Classic Arts Showcase’ from ‘Worlds Apart’. Closest to their radio-friendly stumbles is the title track, which has a number of melodies and sounds that wouldn’t be out of place on a recent Our Lady Peace record; luckily it’s redeemed by a storming rhythm section and a sparingly-used lead guitar motif that will linger in listeners’ heads long after the last note fades. The album highlight in any case is ‘Up To Infinity’; closest in tone to ‘Isis Unveiled’, it’s a frantic, hell-for-leather rip through the speakers.

Full disclosure: the ambitiousness of ‘Tao Of The Dead’, sonic experimentation and sheer audacity in writing a two-song punk rock album still makes it the high water-mark of their career, but this will still be one of the records of 2012; it’s hard to find fault.

Simply and gleefully a brilliant rock record, all of the things that ...Trail Of Dead fans know and love combine to make something both special and highly listenable. (Alex Lynham)

So for someone who’s not explicitly aware of ...Trail Of Dead, who reads this article, how would you sum up ‘Lost Songs’?

Conrad: Rock and roll baby. Rock and roll. [Laughs] And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead’s new album ‘Last Songs’ will be released on 22nd October via Century Media.

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REVIEWS ALBUMS

ALBUMS

6 FIIUM SHAARRK 6 MODE MODERNE No Fiction Now!

It’s hard enough to write a meaningful and useful review about music as it is, let alone about an album consisting entirely of instrumentals. With six tracks that come in at a whopping 48 minutes, this is a prodigious and intense exercise in electro-percussive nu-jazz improvisation that’s both puzzling and mesmerising. Fiium Shaarrk’s‘No Fiction Now!’ is not pleasant, immediate, catchy, digestible or even just ‘clever enough’ – the characteristics of a lot of music we perceive as good nowadays. Most people will write this off as some pretentious, anti-music, post-modernist rubbish, but this is not music that is designed to simply consume and enjoy. It seeks to challenge a listener’s normal interpretations of what music is and how it should sound. And if you have any sort of interest to test those boundaries within yourself, then ‘No Fiction Now!’ could dispel your innermost truths if given the chance. (Kosta Lucas)

Strange Bruises

There’s one undeniable aspect to Mode Moderne’s music, and it’s that they love post-punk. Drawing on influences such as The Cure and Joy Division, as well as sharing similar sounds to more recent artists such as The Horrors and Spector, the quintet aren’t ones to break free of these chains. They have their sound, and they’re sticking to it.

All too often there’s a sense of repetition on ‘Strange Bruises’, and while the record flows brilliantly, it’s always taking the safer paths. The darker tone of ‘Foul Weather Fare’ comes off as much fresher, but it’s a rare jewel in an otherwise plain crown. It’s clear that they’re appreciative of their influences, and while that isn’t a crime, simply copying the blueprint is. Nostalgia will only get you so far before people start asking where your own originality is going to come in; a question that these Vancouverites are unwilling to answer. ( Jack McKenna)

7 HOW TO DRESS WELL Total Loss

Last year How To Dress Well’s Tom Krell enjoyed the same success that similar, introverted bedroom producers received thanks to his debut ‘Love Remains’. Originally available in separate EPs, its appeal lay in its over reverberant and fragmented take on eighties R&B, and similar echoes run through its follow up ‘Total Loss’.

Downbeat atmospheres provide platforms for Krell’s androgynous falsetto and, like his Tri Angle label mate Holy Other, his dazed take is still lonesome and ghostly. xx-ish silences are disturbed by faint clicks and crackles on ‘How Many’ whilst Krell sounds particularly anguished on the Memory Tapes-like ‘Cold Nites.’

But ‘Total Loss’, as its title might otherwise suggest, is not a somber record.

Describing his emotions during recording, Krell has said: “I felt very unhappy and confused and while writing these songs. I was trying to learn to lose in a meaningful way and sustain loss as a source of creative energy.” If ‘Love Remains’ observed love’s darkest hours, ‘Total Loss’ is Krell’s attempt at finding the light and the LP’s glossiness certainly adds to that.

At times Krell does overindulge too much, the stripped back structures of ‘& It Was You’ and’ Running Back,’ for instance, getting lost in their own repetitiveness. But amongst all that haze, it’s clear that Krell has produced another gorgeous record that is incredibly open about love and loss. You’d do worse than listen to him. (Alex Yau)

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9 TAME IMPALA Lonerism

If you take the ‘–ism’ suffix in the title to connote the “action, process or result” of something, you could logically surmise that Tame Impala’s second album ‘Lonerism’ is some sort of chronicle of the phenomenon of loneliness. Whether it’s how someone acts when subjected to neglect or rejection or detailing the experiences that get one to that point, front man, Kevin Parker, has laid it all bare. He actually sounds like the loneliest man in the world.

But there are two things that make ‘Lonerism’ so incredible: the first is how crushing he makes his loneliness sound and feel; and the second is how well he balances lyrical simplicity with an exceptional ability to express these feelings in the music itself.

The world where Lonerism unfolds is not the same as ours here on Earth. It is a barren desert of a planet, far far away and Parker is both its creator and destroyer. An absolutely amazing and inspiring record. (Kosta Lucas)

MENOMENA ARE ONE OF THOSE INTERMINABLY FRUITFUL BANDS – 12 YEARS TOGETHER, AND THEY’VE NEVER MADE A DEFECTIVE MOVE. HUW OLIVER CAUGHT UP WITH DANNY AND JUSTIN TO DISCUSS THEIR NEW RECORD’S CONCEPTION. The album is called ‘Moms’, and your Dads are in your promo shots. Why did you decide to make an album about family at this point in your career?

Danny: I guess I started writing about my Mum because I was 34 at the time we started writing the songs, and my Mum died when I was 17. I kind of realised that I’d lived half my life with her, and half without her. And I know Justin started writing about his experiences with his Mum and his Grandmother who died shortly before we started writing the album.

Considering you were a member down [fellow founding member Brent left in 2010], you managed to get this album out pretty quickly, right?

D: We were both really excited about turning over a new leaf in our career, and not really repeating old patterns. When it came down to just the two of us, Justin and I just wanted to hop on it straightaway to start writing, contributing ideas to each other’s songs.

Justin: I’d also say it was because we didn’t tour much after Brent left the band.

Do you think becoming a duo was crucial for you guys to continue making music as Menomena?

J: I don’t think it was necessarily, but it was just where we found ourselves because Brent had voluntarily left the band. It wasn’t something where we said ‘Well, in order to carry on doing this, we’ve got to get rid of this guy’ [Laughs]. On the day we found out he’d left, Danny and I just sat down, and we said ‘Do you still want to continue?’ ‘Yeah, do you?’ ‘Yeah’. It was an easy decision.

7 WE ARE THE OCEAN

Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow Following the shock exit of vocalist Dan Brown, many questions surrounding the execution of We Are The Ocean’s third album reared their head. A mix of anticipation and trepidation seemed high, yet any panic surrounding ‘Maybe Today,

Maybe Tomorrow’ proved futile.

Opening with the delicate piano prelude ‘Stanford Rivers’, We Are The Ocean kick the album into gear as the bouncing riff and vocals of ‘Bleed’ takes precedence. Confident, bold, tight - it’s here that the band’s intent is clear: they are reinforcing their place in the new wave of British rock, and they’re set to blow others out of the water.

Lyrically, the band deal with subjects from not letting the world pass them by to fighting oppression and standing on their own two feet. The record simply screams maturity and growth on their part. They’ve come a long way over the years and this solidifies the journey they’ve been on, both personally and musically. They’re bold, they’re tight in their production and they’re not afraid to strip things back to their bare essentials or allow outside influences to shine through. (Heather McDaid)

8

MENOMENA Moms

Since the release of the brilliant ‘Mines’, co-founder Brent Knopf has departed Menomena. It means Justin Harris and Danny Seim have been left to create the maternally-motivated ‘Moms’.

The lyrical focus on family life makes this record their most personal, powerful and cathartic yet. Sonically, as well, they’ve pushed their sound further to fill the space Knopf vacated, which means more sax, flutes and cello (and what sounds like rusty springs on ‘Giftshoppe’).

From ‘Plumage’s’ sax freakout and ‘Heavy Is As Heavy Does’’ apocalyptic climax, ‘Moms’ is a dark, powerful and scintillating ride.

On final track, ‘One Horse’, a stately piano march is engulfed in a sea of noise before giving ways to whispers. It seems to perfectly capture the calm and storms of family life. Heavy and heavenly, ‘Moms’ is a phe-menomena-l return. (Daniel Wright)

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REVIEWS ALBUMS

7

DEEP SEA ARCADE Outlands

There’s no bones about it; ‘Outlands’ is a collection of lovely, autumnal, psych-tinged guitar pop from Deep Sea Arcade, yet another Australian proponent of the psych-revival that music has been experiencing of late.

However in place of the sludgy drone of something like Tame Impala’s debut album ‘Innerspeaker’, ‘Outlands’ embraces a cleaner jangle that’s lighter, more upbeat and more obviously radio-friendly. The overall impression is less “acid freak-out” and more akin to watching the world through rainbow-coloured sunglasses, slightly inebriated.

The LP’s opening title track is pretty indicative of the sound of the album and hence an apt choice as its title. The atmosphere is downcast and melancholic with glimmers of sunshine and spark on the standout tracks like the baggy swagger of ‘Seen No Right’ and the creeping ‘The Devil Won’t Take You’. ‘Together’ is another beautiful song with its cascading surf guitars and its steady, heartbeat drumbeat (the same one used in every song since Phil Spector’s ‘Be My Baby’ – and damn, it still works). ‘Outlands’ is also well recorded and performed and the band’s cohesion receives the honorable mention for the album’s successes. Like a lubricated machine, each member’s contribution seemingly bleeds into one another with just the right amount of everything in all the right places.

The album doesn’t have the imperfect grit of a truly memorable classic, but that’s OK because it’s the groups debut and even then, it is a solid and enjoyable album completely in and of itself. Here’s hoping that the fingerprint of the group’s future releases is more pronounced on future output because they have shown that they have all the tools to come up with something really special.

(Kosta Lucas)

It’s difficult to get past the title of Welsh legend John Cale’s new album, so much so it’s best not to concentrate on it. The incomparable one-time Velvet Underground man is a towering figure in the musical landscape at the ripe old age of seventy, and it’s unsurprising to discover that ‘Shifty Adventures...’ bears zero resemblance to any of his mid-seventies and eighties solo albums, let alone his work with ‘Laughing’ Lou and co. In fact, the most retro sounding aspect of the album is Cale’s belated use of the vocoder.

Cale’s association with the aforementioned Mr. Reed ensured the two will always be mentioned in the same breath; but while Lou knocks out third-rate metal cast offs with the likes of Metallica, John Cale’s latest is a visceral, thrilling ride, capable of soundtracking any seedy disco on the outskirts of Nookie Wood.

(Colm McAuliffe)

8

7

GWILYM GOLD Tender Metal

Since the dawn of the internet it seems that there has been a constant cycle of debate about new technology and how it can transform the way people consume music. So far ideas of a new system have remained just that, ideas waiting for someone to take them to the next level: Gwilym Gold could be the artist to begin that process. His Bronze format takes all the component parts of a piece of music and transforms them, giving a unique version every time. There are clearly defined songs here on ‘Tender Metal’, however; this is certainly not an album of bloodless impenetrable experimentation. ‘Everything is Beautiful’ is a wonderful case in point. Gold’s warm crooning voice provides the basis for beats to hop and skip around it with synthesiser flourishes. Even better was the backward vocal version that followed three listens later. Bronze forces you to pay attention to every single sound and treasure every moment. (Martyn Young)

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8

THE SOFT PACK Strapped

The second album is often the tipping point for a band; a key factor in deciding whether they will go in to flourish and develop, or drift off in to obscurity. Fortunately, for Los Angeles quartet The Soft Pack their second album ‘Strapped’ is a significant step forward from their first. Far more expansive and ambitious, while the debut was a punchy collection of straight-ahead garage rock, ‘Strapped’ sees the band operating from a far broader sonic pallette. It makes for a far more satisfying listen. Horns and copious keyboards now figure strongly in the band’s music along with fuzzed up rollicking guitar tunes. You can hear the influence of smooth 80s soul acts like Hall & Oates on the louche pop rock strut of ‘Tallboy’ and the saxophone solo on ‘Bobby Brown’ is a particularly glorious moment. These moments of vibrancy add much needed colour to the bands rock n roll thrash. An ambitious follow up that decisively moves the band’s sound forward. (Martyn Young)

7

JOHN CALE

Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood

TAMARYN Tender New Signs

‘Tender New Signs’, the second album from San Franciscan duo Tamaryn, is a record that is massive both in scope and sound.

Everything here is coated in a wash of beefedup, reverb-laden guitars. The sound is, once again, very much indebted to the late 80’s 4AD/ Cocteau Twins symphonic guitar grandeur, but Tamaryn add a punishing crunch rather than lissom lilt. Single ‘I’m Gone’ immediately introduces the huge sound, an enveloping wave of guitar noise swirls around the tender melody.

The best moments on ‘Tender New Signs’ are where a little air is let in and the lovely melodies come to the fore. A few more lighter moments would have been welcome; the glistening guitar pop of ‘Prizma’ is the closest the record gets to a moment of real brightness, but it is ultimately churlish though to complain about the intensity of Tamaryn’s sound, as it is an area in which they excel. This may be an exhausting listen, but it is definitely a rewarding one. (Martyn Young)

EFTERKLANG’S RASMUS STOLBERG IS A VERY HAPPY MAN, AS WELL HE SHOULD BE WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS BAND’S NEW ALBUM ‘PIRAMIDA’.

COLM MCAULIFFE PINS HIM DOWN FOR A CHAT. ON THE BAND’S RETURN…

“It’s a great time to be in Efterklang.

The current line up is excellent. We’re practising at the moment for the next tour and the whole thing is sounding fantastic.”

ON INFLUENCES…

“One of the biggest influences on our entire career has been [German industrial pioneers] Einstürzende Neubauten and their theoretical

approach to music has always guided us. In fact, I tried to get Blixa Bargeld to sing on our first album but he never returned my call!”

ON THE STUDIO VS LIVE…

“We are happiest in the studio. We like concepts, we like experiments.

We’ve become more and more comfortable in the studio over the years although our live performances have also evolved.”

7

BAND OF HORSES Mirage Rock

Band Of Horses may have peaked with ‘Infinite Arms’ and the way it played with pop sensibilities, but with ‘Mirage Rock’ it seems they haven’t lost any of their sense of fun. Opener ‘Knock Knock’ welcomes you back to their sound with shimmering guitars and soaring vocals. Like every record this band has put out before; there are triumphant highs (‘How To Live’) thrown together with yearning lows (‘Everything’s Gonna Be Undone’). They are all delivered with conviction and energy that you can hear in every guitar strum, drum thwack and vocal melody. It’s the vocal delivery that has always set Band Of Horses apart from the rest and they haven’t run out of hooks yet. They aren’t afraid to let other voices speak up in their songs either; ‘Electric Music’ includes a soulful female backing vocal. Vividly honest imagery is still present and correct and takes form best in ‘Shut-In Tourist’. They manage to infuse classic American country sounds with more contemporary elements and it becomes a case of what shouldn’t work, working really well. The only thing that lets the record down as a whole is the lifeless plod of ‘Feud’ but any true Band Of Horses fan will probably still love it all the same. At their best on this album; they reinvigorate the positivity of some of Fleetwood Mac’s finest songs, at their worst they are simply treading the same musical path that they always have. This record is completely free of direction changes but at least they are consistent. ‘Mirage Rock’ shouldn’t be the place to start for people just getting in to this band but it does make sure that we won’t be forgetting about them just yet. ( Jack Parker)

8

EFTERKLANG Piramida

There’s a strangely spectral grace and elegance to Efterklang’s ‘Piramida’ which befits an album largely recorded in the abandoned coal mining of Pyramiden, an archipelago by the North Pole. The use of hundreds of found sounds on the island form the backbone of the Danish trio’s fourth album; accordingly, empty oil drums, fuel tanks, glass bottles, lampshades, polar bears and the world’s northernmost grand piano all appear, often contorted out of shape into unrecognisable sonic structures.

However, the album isn’t some imposing industrial workout worthy of DAF or Nurse With Wound; the lush, inviting production, Casper Clausen’s empathetic vocals and the echoes of the stirring orchestrations which accompanied early live performances of the album create a majestic journey through sophisticated pop. The album most closely resembles ‘The Colour Of Spring’ era Talk; the jazz inflections, soaring female backing vocals and thoroughly adult arrangements could easily err on the side of middlebrow coffee table ephemera but the band’s songwriting guile and craft retains an emphasis on style over substance.

The difficult in making an album with such a strong thematic basis is that it can become easily overwrought, the theme ultimately overpowering the delivery. The fact that Efterklang have managed to cultivate such an effortless sounding exercise in sonic geographies is sheer testament to their skill. (Colm McAuliffe) 59

REVIEWS ALBUMS

COMING

>>>>

UP

8

>>>>

01/10

BETH ORTON: SUGARING SEASON LOWER THAN ATLANTIS: CHANGING TUNE TILLY & THE WALL: HEAVY MOOD TIM BURGESS: OH NO I LOVE YOU FLYING LOTUS: UNTIL THE QUIET COMES

08/10

COHEED & CAMBRIA: THE AFTERMAN: ASCENSION THIS MANY BOYFRIENDS: S/T ALL TIME LOW: DON’T PANIC WHY?: MUMPS, ETC THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: TRANSCENDENTAL YOUTH BO NINGEN: LINE THE WALL

TWO GALLANTS

The Bloom And The Blight It’s been five years since Two Gallants released their last album, and taking a glance at the artwork for ‘The Bloom And The Blight’ it seems they’ve spent their hiatus shrinking into children. The image of the duo as youngsters is a nice little accompaniment to the sounds of the album, evoking a kind of innocence you wish you still had.

This feeling comes back more than once; ‘Broken Eyes’ early on in the record is a soft, country love song, with earnest harmonicas (yes, harmonicas can be earnest) and an age-old reference to the “Girl with the broken eyes”. And then things get serious with the fierce ‘Ride Away’, its dramatic and unrelenting riffs a definite, but not unwelcome change.

Much of the album balances the loud and quiet with deft ability. At little over half an hour long, this is a concise record; even the number of instruments has been stripped back compared to previous material. The duo have evolved their folky alt-Americana and upped the heaviness in parts, making this potentially their heaviest record yet.

‘The Bloom And The Blight’ is one of those albums you could listen to again and again.

(Coral Williamson).

15/10

SONIC BOOM SIX: SONIC BOOM SIX MARTHA WAINWRIGHT: COME HOME TO MAMA PATRICK WOLF: SUNDARK & RIVERLIGHT

22/10

ANDY BURROWS: COMPANY CRADLE OF FILTH: THE MANTICORE AND OTHER HORRORS WE ARE THE PHYSICS: YOUR FRIEND, THE ATOM EGYPTIAN HIP HOP: GOOD DON’T SLEEP

29/10

MATTHEW FRIEDBERGER: SOLOS

05/11

ROLO TOMASSI: ASTRAEA DARREN HAYMAN AND THE LONG PARLIAMENT: THE VIOLENCE

21/11

CLINIC: FREE REIGN POP LEVI: MEDICINE 60 thisisfakediy.co.uk

3 PETER BRODERICK These Walls Of Mine

Labelled as an experimental piece of work, this second release of 2012 by part-time Efterklang collaborator Peter Broderick is, being generous, a haphazard affair. Paraded as a fusion of different styles - rap, beat boxing, spoken word, and gospel all feature - ‘These Walls Of Mine’ is the result of a creative process that started merely as a collection of words, lyrics, thoughts and pictures assembled over the last two years.

Channelling these components and giving them a sense of musical embodiment, Broderick’s eclectic snapshots of life are understandably as messy as they are nonsensical.

Ultimately, ‘These Walls Of Mine’ is too incoherent and disparate in style to merit any amount of satisfaction. It’s a record that is immensely hard to like, yet tries genuinely hard to be different. Whilst such experimentation is commendable in many respects, in practise the album fails miserably. (Bevis Man)

8

CAVE PAINTING Votive Life

Anybody who doesn’t think 2012 has been good for music needs to take a good, long look at the wealth of excellent debut albums it’s seen. Included on that list should be Cave Painting’s ‘Votive Life’, an exceptional piece of atmospheric alt-pop.

Previous free download ‘Leaf ’ kicks off proceedings, and whilst it eases you in it’s quickly replaced by ‘Gator’, which is laid back, with its tropical sounds (courtesy of an African marimba). It’s all very well put together.

The running theme is romance and love. Adam Kane’s swooning vocals and soaring “oohs” make for a lush soundscape that suits the topics; except for when they start going on about death, then the juxtaposition is a little strange. But that’s part of the band’s style too – just look at the videos for ‘Gator’ and album highlight ‘So Calm’.

At the risk of sounding too full of praise, ‘Votive Life’ is a genuinely brilliant debut.

(Coral Williamson)

t

THE BEST OF TRACKS

8 BAT FOR LASHES

The Haunted Man Six years since Natasha Khan’s debut, ‘Fur And Gold’? Hard to believe, but she’s used her time well.

Pitching you head first into the familiar lush, intoxicating dreamscapes she so perfectly defined with her 2009 second full-length ‘Two Suns’, ‘The Haunted Man’ is altogether more rounded, more focused, while still drawing on a dizzying array of styles and influences.

Piano ballads and quieter moments recall Kate Bush and Tori Amos, but it’s when her creativity runs amok that she truly shines.

Beautiful, daring, and captivating, it’s the sound of pop’s dark heart carving out its own niche and cementing Khan’s status as one of our most inventive, ambitious artists. (Derek Robertson)

EVERYTHING EVERYTHING COUGH COUGH

So you’re into Everything Everything, right? Heard they’re back with a new single?

If, like me, you enjoyed their 2010 debut ‘Man Alive’, don’t listen to it. Retain the memory you had of the younger Everything Everything, clueless as to who would sit on your fence and face when they weren’t there. “Well why should I not listen to the new Everything Everything single?,” I hear you cry. I’ll tell you why: because it’s too good.

Even by their own standards, ‘Cough Cough’ is dangerously good. So dangerously good in fact all the money we ever spent on buying records and songs on iTunes, we discover, has been a waste. Since the astronomical success of ‘Man Alive’ two years have passed. Where have they been? Well this is Everything Everything we’re talking about – one of the most ambitious and forward-thinking bands around.

They haven’t been idle.

They’ve been borrowing Elbow’s recording space and touring with Snow Patrol and Interpol, playing big shows to the masses across the world. On first listen to ‘Cough Cough, it’s blatant they’re are taking the natural evolution from the ideapacked ‘Man Alive’ and going all-out anthemic. Today, as we’ve come to expect from them, they went and exceeded our expectations. (Andrew Backhouse)

PALMA VIOLETS BEST OF FRIENDS

7

HEY SHOLAY ((O))

Hey Sholay have been around for a while, yet ‘((O))’ is only their debut album. As far as debuts go, it’s good; there’s no question about it, and the record will certainly earn the Sheffield band new fans. But for those who’ve tracked Hey Sholay from the beginning, there’s not much to get your teeth into.

At a mere nine tracks and 44 minutes long, ‘((O))’ doesn’t feel like it contains enough new material to justify itself. The songs are fantastic, but they aren’t new. It’s almost lazy. Almost.

It wouldn’t be fair to say that the newer material is worse; but a lot of it is notably more of an acquired taste. ‘Go Easy Tiger’ early on is a bit of an exception, with a laid back soundscape and Liam’s vocals going just a bit deeper. ‘((O))’ is a great yet mixed bag, one that probably could’ve been arranged better to make more sense. But maybe Hey Sholay don’t want to make sense. And that’s cool too. (Coral Williamson)

This might go down as the year the internet shrank within its former frame and allowed new bands to revert to old-school tactics of making a name for themselves.

Savages, Pins, Palma Violets all stand out as names chased around the proverbial playground by hungry independent labels, all on the back of live shows and the odd teaser trailer or fan-footage of a gig. But let’s face it: your parents haven’t heard of any of these bands. If you mention in conversation that there’s a lot of buzz about that Palma Violets band etc. etc., your friends won’t give a s**t.

‘Best Of Friends’ is the first real indication, for those of us shelled up in our bedrooms with a laptop our only solace, of where Palma Violets are heading. It all boils down to one song with an irresistible chorus. Half disco-euphoria, half-sweaty barbrawl, it’s guitar-led, bright, breezy, consumable, listenable. You almost forget that these things don’t arrive by the dozen anymore. The video sheds light on the band’s character on stage, with Sam Fryer’s smoke-filled-lung vocals merely adding fuel to the inkling that these guys know how to have a good time. It’s party music, it’s a festival anthem in the waiting. It’s so many things. So let’s rejoice. ( Jamie Milton)

KING KRULE ROCK BOTTOM

Archy Marshall, aka King Krule, is a charming enough figure when the jazzinfused guitars skitter skywards, when his voice is the only thing permeating near silence. But add a harsh, frenetic drum section into the flow of things and you have something altogether more entrancing. Marshall thrives in a sparse environment as much as he does in a tight, sweaty atmosphere. The latter walks tall in ‘Rock Bottom’, perhaps the most “pop” of any of his songs to date. If his arrival was the beginning of something special, this song feels like the centerpiece of King Krule’s legendary early days. ( Jamie Milton) 61

RECOMMENDED

REVIEWS ALBUMS

ALBUMS FROM THE LAST 3 MONTHS WILD NOTHING NOCTURNE

It doesn’t matter if you have no interest in decoding ‘Nocturne’’s musical genetics - this is a record of soundscapes able to stand up all by themselves.” (El Hunt)

5 BOYS NOIZE

6

SAM FLAX

You know how Marmite is kind of disgusting but all your mates like it and you don’t know why? ‘Age Waves’ is like that. Within 30 seconds of opening track ‘Fire Doesn’t Burn Itself ’ you’re covered in filthy reverb and the vocals are just kicking in, and they’re nothing to write home about. But everyone else is going to like it, so it’s worth seeing why. It’s sprawling psych-rock originally released on a cassette; of course it’s going to be liked. And, in its defence, it’s good at what it’s doing. Sam Flax has created what he wanted to create; from the strange ‘80s gangsta-synth of ‘Child Of Glass’ (a song that wouldn’t feel out of place on the GTA: Vice City soundtrack) to the reverb-soaked-yetkind-of-acoustic ‘Backwards Fire’, this is a very personal, self-indulgent creation. ‘Age Waves’ isn’t going to revolutionise anything, but it’s not trying to. (Coral Williamson)

Out Of The Black Brrrrring brrrrring. “Hello... Alex, it’s for you, it’s 2006 and it wants its sound back.”

Sadly, that is the imaginary phonecall not far from a listen to Boys Noize aka Alex Ridha’s third album ‘Out Of The Black’. Back in the mid-noughties when electro was really kicking off and clubs were pelting out Boys Noize’s ‘& Down’ to EDM virgins, the use of heavy metal distortion and all its close associates in dance music was new and exciting. It was energetic and aggressive. It was a gateway to realms and realms of beautiful electro, tech-house and techno. But it could only last so long if it did not learn to evolve. The scene has since moved on and those zeitgeist brash, brazen beats today sound tired and stale. Nobody doubts Boys Noize’s incredible technical ability and faultless production, but the musical direction is wrong. (Hugh Morris)

6

MUMFORD & SONS

8 TALL SHIPS

Age Waves

THE XX COEXIST

Music for middle class dinner parties? The xx are far more than that.

(Ben Marsden)

EUGENE MCGUINNESS THE INVITATION TO THE VOYAGE This is one invitation we’re more than happy to accept. (Ben Marsden)

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM HANDWRITTEN

This is the start of a new and exciting chapter for The Gaslight Anthem.

(Heather McDaid)

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Babel

There are two definite schools of thought to Mumford & Sons. Either they’re the best thing since bunting and shiny ankle bells, or they’re a monstrosity of posho twiddly dee bullcrap that makes the radio airwaves a dangerous place to inhabit. With accolades and awards apleanty, film star better halves and album sales coming out of every orrifice, it’s fair to say that the formula wasn’t broken, so as one might expect, nobody has made any attempt to fix it.

‘Babel’ is exactly the record you’d expect, almost audiably clad in its own tweed wastecoat. The banjos twinkle and do a little jig, the vocals build to sing-a-long crescendos, and nowhere absolutely nowhere - is anything even close to a significant risk taken. Then again, why would they? Mumford & Sons will remain huge, whatever you think. (Ben Marsden)

Everything Touching It feels like we’ve been waiting an eternity for Tall Ships to release their debut full-length, but upon hearing ‘Everything Touching’, you begin to understand just why they took their time. Within these ten tracks lies a multi-faceted journey of instrumentation, both entirely complex and unbearably subtle. Whether it’s the euphoria ignited within moments during opener ‘T=0’, or the crashing crescendo of ‘Best Ever’, the swells and build ups within the record feel truly glorious. All at the same time, the percussion is perfectly executed – especially in ‘Oscar’ - to keep the pace and drive moving whilst there’s a gentle poignancy to the vocals of Ric Phethean that work to heighten the intensity.

The atmospheric touches mean that this an album you can get truly lost in: we assure you, this is no simple science.

(Sarah Jamieson)

BLACK ALPS 7 NINE

7 FIELD MUSIC Field Music Play...

It’s easy to feel a little bit sorry for Nine Black Alps. Despite teetering on the brink of mainstream since 2005, it never really happened for them. A hiatus, new label, and a couple of personnel changes, and they’re back with fourth long player, ‘Sirens’. If we’re honest, it doesn’t start well, ‘Be My Girl’ is easily one of the worst tracks on here. But things do pick up; ‘My One And Only’ sticks with the garage rock aesthetic that the Mancunian quartet have built their reputations on, whilst ‘Phosphorescence’ allows NBA to emerge from underneath the heavy riffs and prove their songwriting metal. ‘Waiting Room’ is the true gem though, fragile with gentle harmonies. It feels as though it’s on the wrong record completely; you would hope that it’s the sign of a band not afraid to mix it up a bit - that would be a very good sign indeed. (Simone Scott Warren)

Covers compilations are often tawdry affairs. Field Music, though - riding high on the crest of that Mercury-tipped wave - navigate the potentially troublesome waters with ease.

A smattering of left-of-centre covers from the likes of John Cale, Pet Shop Boys and The Beatles, at eight tracks in just under 30 minutes it’s not a self-indulgent venture. The result is a tight package of postcard pop embossed with Field Music’s auteur sound. As the brothers themselves admit, this is not a full-scale Field Music production and as such it feels like there’s a slight lack of punch. That’s not to say any criticism should be laid squarely at the feet of the lads. In a year that has seen them hit with widespread critical acclaim, ‘Play...’ can only be considered an afterthought; albeit a very generous and well executed one: inventive, well worth a listen and never try-hard. (Nathan Wood)

6 MUSE

7

Sirens

The 2nd Law

It’s no surprise to anyone to declare Muse ‘a bit over the top’. For most of the last decade they’ve been a band who have clearly at least had their tongues slightly in cheek, progressively getting more overblown while simultaneously threatening to build their own UFO. This time, though, they’ve really taken the metaphorical disco biscuit. It’s not the ‘dubstep’ leanings you’ve read so much about - in actual fact they’re limited to a couple of tracks. It’s the all-out embracing of the madness. No, we’re not referring to the single of the same name - in actual fact that’s one of the saner moments on ‘The 2nd Law’. Rather ‘Panic Station’ - a song where Matt Bellamy finally channels Freddie Mercury in a way that leaves you struggling to not envisage the minuscule frontman thrusting his crotch around the stage. So camp the Scissor Sisters may well consider it a bit too much, it’s fair to say will Muse continue to split opinion in the most extreme way possible. (Ben Marsden)

GREEN DAY Uno

‘¡Uno!’ was always going to be a risky move. The first of three albums to come from the Californian trio, it also doubles as the band’s first offering since 2009’s ‘21st Century Breakdown’, which means it was inevitably going to have a fair bit to prove. Luckily though, Green Day seem to have pulled it out of the bag once more.

Opting for a change of pace with the first of their trilogy, things have been shaken up since their last two concept-laden musical opera beasts. ‘¡Uno!’ finds us amidst a sea of immediate riffs, catchy one-line choruses and short, sharp hits of adrenaline-fused rock making each track that little more accessible. Offerings such as ‘Kill The DJ’ and ‘Stay The Night’ manage to channel a more old school punk ethos whilst simultaneously boasting pop hooks that are catchy as hell. Granted, some tracks feel a little too repetitive at times, but overall this is more than addictive enough to have you singing right up until ‘¡Dos!’ sees the light of day. (Sarah Jamieson)

7 BENJAMIN GIBBARD Former Lives

When Death Cab For Cutie mainman Ben Gibbard revealed a solo album was on the cards, we all thought the same thing. It’s testament to his talent that we don’t find ourselves with a pad and pen analysing his lyrics for hints of a mega-famous kooktastic ex, but instead bathing in a more laid back offering. Whether fans go with ‘Former Lives’ may well depend on which side of the split they fall when it comes to Death Cab’s more recent offerings. There’s nothing in the way of a killer hook here - rather a comfortingly consistent tone throughout; but, when added to Gibbard’s familiar tones, there’s more than enough to hold both the head and the heart. Unlikely to provoke a change in the day job, but a more than worthwhile addition all the same. (Ben Marsden)

8 THE KILLERS Battle Born

It may have been four years since they last offered us an album, but The Killers have returned and are back on top form.

Fusing together all the best elements of their previous three records, ‘Battle Born’ paints the most satisfyingly picturesque vision of Nevada life and all with lashings of the arena-rock bombast that the band convey so well. Whilst drawing upon the epic storytelling of ‘Sam’s Town’, their offerings conjure up hazy nostalgic memories of late eighties movie soundtracks.

Most importantly, though, these songs stand as simply great Killers songs. Thanks to the synth elements that the band so successfully explored in their debut, and the grand pop notions of ‘Day & Age’, this set of tracks undoubtedly already sits pride of place in their back catalogue, making this an infinitely exciting time to be a fan of one of the world’s biggest bands. (Sarah Jamieson)

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READING & LEEDS - THE END OF THE SUMMER AND HOME TO ALL KINDS OF AMAZING BANDS. DIY PITCHED UP TO CATCH THE BEST OF THE BUNCH. THIS YEAR, THOUGH, THERE WAS ONE INTENT ON STEALING THE LIMELIGHT... photos: emma swann

GREEN DAY

To be totally honest, we don’t picture ourselves very awake at 11am on the second day of Reading festival, let alone running across the festival site to catch some band.

However, that’s what we’re doing with hundreds - maybe even thousands - of other festival attendees as news spreads of the “secret” set (the one we all knew was happening) which is set to start at 11am.

And then it begins. The iconic figure of Billie Joe Armstrong emerges on the NME/Radio 1 stage and all our dreams of that secret Green Day Reading set (we think rumours started for that one in the nineties...) are coming true.

The next hour-and-a-bit (against all wishes, no doubt) is pure joy. From the opening chords of ‘Welcome To Paradise’ to the end of ‘Minority’, an entire legion of half unsuspecting fans are fixated with the trio. We’re treated to all manner of hits from their huge back catalogue, and granted, it’s not quite ‘Dookie’ but they don’t put a foot wrong.

The atmosphere is electric from the start, and the tent is full just ten minutes into their set, with voices and spirits raised in celebration - Billie Joe’s words, not ours - of such a special instance.

And despite the fact that they’re at a festival, there are plenty of classic Green Day moments: grabbing a fan up to accompany them on ‘Know Your Enemy’, tee-peeing the tent, running around with a water pistol and of course, a classic BJA moon.

However, by the time that the trio are being pulled offstage - quite literally, at one point - there’s a bittersweet sense of disappointment that it’s coming to an end. And whilst we’d happily have them play all day, we probably can’t complain too much. We did get to watch Green Day after all... (Sarah Jamieson) 64 thisisfakediy.co.uk

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FOO FIGHTERS

Before the Foo Fighters take the stage for their Sunday night headlining slot there is a rumour flying around the camp that they are going to play for three hours. Three hours?!? Our little group keeps repeating this to ourselves incredulously.

A certain American website recently asked its readers to submit their favourite albums from 1996 to 2011. Quite neatly, that period almost exactly spans the Foo Fighter’s career, with only their self-titled debut missing the cut. Perhaps it says more about the website’s readership than the band, but Foo Fighters albums are conspicuous by their absence in the recently published results. No ‘The Colour And The Shape’ at number 24, no ‘Wasting Light’ at 96. By contrast, Radiohead feature FIVE times. And yet, despite this apparent absence of public approval, the Foo Fighters can legitimately claim to be one the biggest bands in the world.

Perhaps some of those votes got lost in the mail, because Reading is noticeably busier today than on Friday and Saturday and there are an awful lot of Foo Fighters shirts proudly on 66 thisisfakediy.co.uk

display.

Okay, so there are drum solos and extended endings and a Pink Floyd cover and all those things we thought Nirvana stood against, but Dave Grohl (aka ‘the nicest man in rock’) is a genuinely excellent showman, sprinting from one edge of the stage to the other and screaming like his life depended on it He even brings his daughter on stage for ‘Walk’ and although it would appear insincere and creepy if Bono did it (for a start, why would Dave Grohl’s daughter be on tour with U2?) as she sits on a guitar amp swinging her feet and wearing ear protecters, it is a proper festival moment, and we start to realise just how the Foo Fighters got this big.

It helps that Dave Grohl and the Reading Festival obviously have history and before a stripped down ‘Times Like These’ he talks with with genuine affection about the first time Nirvana played there, mid afternoon in 1991, along with the Foo Fighters’ headline slot in the Melody Maker tent in ‘95.

As it transpires, they don’t quite play for 3 hours (I make it 2 hours, 45 minutes), but for the most part the set zips along, buoyed by a succession of genuine proper rock FM anthems.

It finishes with fireworks and perhaps the one song the Foo Fighters can genuinely claim to be a modern classic, ‘Everlong’, before our group goes off to find the nearest catering van selling humble pie. (Richard Skilbeck)

AT THE DRIVE-IN

Almost twelve hours after Green Day first set the tone on the NME/Radio 1 stage, and it’s finally time for our headliners. We’ve waited a whole day for this set, but that feels like nothing in comparison to how long we’ve waited to see this band back together again. Because, after all, when they were confirmed to reunite for Coachella all the way back at the start of this year, there was an unfathomable excitement for what could be in store.

Emerging onstage clutching a broom, and shouting, “What are you doing here?! We’re here to clean up!”, we’re greeted with the ever-so-slightly larger than life (or at least his hair is) frontman that is Cedric Bixler-Zavala, as he introduces At The Drive-In’s first UK appearance in well over a decade.

And to begin with, things are pretty damn good. Opening with the first two tracks from their tremendous album ‘Relationship Of Command’, the crowd is quickly riled up.

We’re treated to the likes of ‘Arcarsenal’ and ‘Pattern Against User’, and it’s all fairly special. The songs explode in all the right places, Bixler-Zavala is just the right combination of ridiculous and genius as he throws himself around, and there’s an expert edge to the guitars and drums that could only ever come from a band as great as this one.

However, it’s as we enter the midway point of the set that the momentum begins to slow.

You begin to notice that, whilst guitarist Omar Rodriguez Lopez is almost perfect in his performance, he barely moves on stage. There’s a real sense of detachment surrounding him that, at times, is almost unsettling.

Finishing the set with ‘One Armed Scissor’ is enough to ignite a flame within the hearts of every fan there. But, as the band make their exit, we definitely leave feeling a little dazed and confused and we’re just not sure how to feel about that. (Sarah Jamieson)

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AZEALIA BANKS

It’s hard to tell whether Azealia Banks is treating this just like any other performance, or if she’s on the brink of losing it. She definitely doesn’t seem fazed when greeted with a Dance tent full to the brim; from ravers with whistles purchased from Magaluf, to the average punter with a pint in their hand, who for better or worse can’t help but get glued into what turns into a chorus of jumping idiots. Wonderful idiots.

‘212’ quite naturally closes. The now-famed Lazy Jay sample giving way to the loudest scream of the festival so far, with every hopeless attempt to rap along only adding to the fun; rarely will you hear the ‘C word’ screamed with such volume and gusto.

Meanwhile Banks shrugs it off, pacing the stage with only the backdrop of her head-bopping DJ providing any distraction. As she swings from ‘Van Vogue’ to ‘Liquorice’ with nonchalance and ease, you almost deem her a little spoiled. This is the kind of reception every kid dreams of receiving. But then again, she’s merely acting as an assured entertainer. For all we know she could have exited the stage in floods of tears before calling her family back home. You wouldn’t blame her.

The sheer scope of her fame - a fame which will only blossom, so long as she gets this bloody album out - was never more plain to see than in this cosy, sweaty tent. ( Jamie Milton)

PALMA VIOLETS

Few bands will play Reading Festival with as little to call on as Palma Violets. They’ve been on the road - you can go see them live, sure, but otherwise if you want to hear their material you’ll be restricted to shaky camera phone snippets posted to YouTube. There’s nothing else available.

That leaves the Reading crowd in an odd position. While the festival can be great for rocking up to a stage and discovering a new favourite band, it generally relies upon there being a few people there who have already made that jump to bring the atmosphere. While there are some present, there seem to be a lot more attracted by the chance to hear exactly what Rough Trade’s latest protégés are actually about.

It’s very much judgement day.

There’s little to worry about - Palma Violets’ charms are easy to see. There’s a touch of The Libertines to them - less in the music, more in the Barat and Doherty style dynamic of frontman Sam Fryer and bassist Chilli Jesson while Fryers’ vocal occasionally shows a flash of Julian Casablancas’ trademark drawl.

One thing is certain; we’ll be hearing a lot more of Palma Violets. (Stephen Ackroyd) 68 thisisfakediy.co.uk

DIY GRABBED A FEW MUSICIANS AS THEY MADE THEIR WAY OFF STAGE. HERE’S WHAT THEY TOLD US.

“

We’ve noticed growth every time we come back, so that’s cool. The crowd was phenomenal. That’s the cool thing about this festival, you know? No matter who’s playing or what day you’re playing on, it’s always going to be good because just stay and see what they want to see. I like the diversity and the crowds.” ALEX GASKARTH ALL TIME LOW “When we do festivals, I love it for the first week and then they all roll into one. Then things gets exciting again by Reading and Leeds because it’s coming to an end and we want to go out with a bang. We can have fun.” ALEX TRIMBLE TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

The last time The Cure played Reading Festival, they were on mid-afternoon, sandwiched between blues rocker Wilko Johnson and the long forgotten Doll By Doll. It was 1979, and Smith & Co were there to promote their debut album, ‘Three Imaginary Boys’.

Fast forward a mere 33 years, and the band that stand before us are (quite literally) a different band entirely. Even the one constant, Robert Smith, had yet to attempt his now trademark ‘daily fisticuffs with my hairbrush’ look. The setlist, of course, is also very different; the only track from that era that makes tonight’s mammoth two and a half hour performance is encore closer ‘Boys Don’t Cry’, still one of their best numbers.

Tonight, resplendent in a sparkling black jacket, and looking for all the world like a bedazzled but slightly senile aunt, Smith gives us all a timely reminder of how unlikely a romantic hero he really is. As the band (which now includes Bowie’s old guitarist Reeves Gabrels) power their way through genuine hit after hit, where the lull in the middle should be, instead we’re presented with ‘Inbetween Days’, followed by ‘Just Like Heaven’, followed by ‘Pictures Of You’, followed by ‘Lullaby’.

Given the set length, it seems extraordinary that we leave citing the tracks that they didn’t play; no ‘Catch’, no ‘Mint Car’, no ‘Fascination Street’. Bloody goths - never happy.

(Simone Scott Warren)

“It’s something that you just never think you’d do as a band. I’ve been to every Leeds festival, and I never would’ve thought I’d be up on that stage. It’s a bit of a dream come true…Well, it is a dream come true.” JAMES BROWN PULLED APART BY HORSES “We just got off stage and it went amazing! So, yeah, we’re really stoked. I asked if anyone had seen us last year and the whole tent pretty much said yes, which was a blatant lie, but it was amazing to see everyone there.” ROB DAMIANI DON BROCO

“

THE CURE

“It was a lot of fun. This is our fourth time here now and - this is going to sound really cliché - but it’s gotten better every time. To have that many people out there, especially as early as we played, it was great for us, especially with how well the new songs went over.” ALEX ROSAMILIA THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM

“[Reading] was so much fun! It was probably the best show of our whole career. Thinking about that, that’s a big, big statement, but I think it might be the best one we’ve ever had.” ROSS MCNAE TWIN ATLANTIC “To be honest, it went so fast that I think it was a great, and I definitely enjoyed myself. I think it was like, you know when you build something up for so long... and I was definitely nervous, and made way more mistakes than I would at a normal show, but that’s just what happens when you build something up in your head. It just went so fast, I can’t even process it!

LAURA-MARY CARTER BLOOD RED SHOES

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DEAP VALLY

Deap Vally are brilliant. Let’s just get any arguments out of the way right now. That recorded material that you’ve heard, that is nothing. Nothing, that is, in comparison to their live performance.

It is the third and final day of Reading, it is early, it is a Sunday, all factors that might make watching Deap Vally feel a little inappropriate. And, well, quite frankly it is.

They are the quintessential opposite of all things English. They are brassy, they are vulgar and they are half naked. Brilliant.

Thrashing their way through their set with screeching vocals and determined drums, Deap Vally have the Festival Republic audience eating out of their hands.

Catch them in the small stages while you still can because there is no way in hell they’ll be there for long.

(Harriet Jennings)

“IT WAS GREAT. WE WERE AIMING TO WAKE PEOPLE UP.” LINDSEY TROY, DEAP VALLY

LOS CAMPESINOS!

That a band who can hardly have claimed to have racked up the radio support, who rarely if ever grace the covers of magazines but, understandably, are close to the heart of so many are opening the main stage of a festival like Reading should be a cause for celebration. Los Campesinos! may be able to refer people to “the song off the telly” (‘You! Me! Dancing!’ and it’s flirtation with a certain brand of bottled beer), but today certainly feels quite important.

It’s no easy task they face, either. Just minutes before taking to the stage a broadcast of Green Day’s surprise set has been cut off - half way through ‘Basket Case’ no less - leaving a field full of angry hangovers less than impressed. There’s booing. Tellingly, it doesn’t last for long.

There’s something brilliantly affirming about Los Campesinos! - they write songs that combine smart lyrics with smart melodies. They may joke about filling a slot previously held by such luminaries as Do Me Bad Things, but this isn’t some fresh hype band working off an expensively promoted debut - this is a gang who already have an enviable back catalogue behind them. From recent single ‘Songs About Your Girlfriend’ through to second is-it-an-album-or-isn’t-it title-track ‘We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed’, today Los Camp are rock stars. They wear it well. (Ben Marsden) 70 thisisfakediy.co.uk

"WE'VE BEEN HERE A COUPLE OF TIMES BEFORE, WE'VE PLAYED THE NME STAGE AND WE'VE PLAYED FESTIVAL REPUBLIC. WE SEEM TO DO IT EVERY TWO YEARS - TWO YEARS AGO WE DID NME, FOUR YEARS AGO WE DID FESTIVAL REPUBLIC - AND IT'S REALLY FUN." GARETH DAVID, LOS CAMPESINOS!

THE SHINS

In a quite bizarre piece of stage management the Shins find themselves in the unenviable position of being sandwiched between Odd Future and Enter Shikari on the main stage at Reading. And you just can’t help but wonder how their wistful indie rock will go down with a crowd who have just been instructed by Tyler and co. to ‘Kill People, Burn S**t, F**k School’.

Thankfully they play to a fairly respectful, if small, crowd, although there is something slightly incongruous about the 41-year-old James Mercer singing songs about parenthood to a audience the majority of which one would hope won’t be experiencing that emotion for a few good years yet.

With James accompanied by a band of seasoned indie professionals, including Beck’s guitarist Jessica Dobson, who provides sweet harmonies throughout, it is the classic rock stylings of ‘Simple Song’ which provides the first mass singalong. Featuring a keyboard intro borrowed from The Who and a succession of chiming power-chords, it’s a track that could have graced this stage at any point in the festival’s long history.

The set is drawn mainly from recent album ‘Port Of Morrow’ and with the sun making a welcome appearance over the festival site, it is all quite lovely and inoffensive, but inevitably the biggest cheer is reserved for ‘New Slang’. Despite now being forever tainted by its association with Zach Braff, it is still pretty special live, the melody rising high above the field, carried by the voices of several thousand teary-eyed punters.

You don’t get that with Enter Shikari. (Richard Skilbeck)

GRIMES

The first time I heard Grimes call her music ‘future-pop’, I thought a little less of her. It all seemed pretentious, a little try-hard. But here you can see she’s speaking complete sense.

A quick soundcheck and it arrives in all its glory. Samples skewed within a hair’s breadth of combustion; vocals taken away from normality to become shifted and slathered in echo. This isn’t dance music, nor is opener ‘Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U)’ anything to get people on their feet. This is more something to admire from a distance or stare at in awe, which a lot of Claire Boucher fanboys/girls seem to be doing throughout the entire set.

But with the help of a topless male dancer and some free t-shirts, the atmosphere is turned on its head. The strange purring figure (and really, it does look like he’s purring and pretending to be a wild animal, with his hand gestures) acts as a vanguard of strange interpretative dance. Grimes herself also begins to move a little more alongside her grand set-up of samplers and keys, and once ‘Oblivion’ enters its opening, distinguished notes, the atmosphere is suddenly soaked in a party atmosphere. There’s no coming back from it, and by the time ‘Genesis’ and ‘Phone Sex’ make an appearance, future-pop has made its mark. ( Jamie Milton) 71

THE JOY FORMIDABLE

The first thing that hits you as The Joy Formidable launch into their opening song, ‘The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade’, is the volume - it’s proper loud in the NME tent. Lead singer Ritzy Bryan may look like your favourite slightly cooky primary school teacher but she’s determined to give main stage headliner Dave Grohl a run for his money in terms of sustained guitar abuse.

The fact is that Ritzy is The Joy formidable’s not so secret weapon and as she whirrs around the stage like a dervish she makes a pretty compelling front woman. When she steals a kiss from bass player Rhydian during the intro to ‘Cradle’ the only thing louder than the pounding drums is the sound of a thousand hearts breaking slightly in the audience.

This is the band’s only UK festival date, having spent the past few months locked in a log cabin writing second album proper ‘Wolf ’s Law’. Appropriately enough, the acoustic ‘Silent Treatment’ has a touch of Bon Iver about it, although it is perhaps somewhat ironic that the majority of the crowd talked all the way through it.

Normal service, and volume, is resumed with set closer ‘Whirring’ and as Ritzy coaxes all manners of My Bloody Valentine noises from her guitar, you could suggest that if this was 1993, post ‘Nevermind’ and ‘Siamese Dream’, The Joy Formidable would be one of the biggest bands out there. As it stands, they’ll just have to settle for being one of the best. (Richard Skilbeck) 72 thisisfakediy.co.uk

GRAHAM COXON

Less than two weeks ago we were watching Graham Coxon headline Hyde Park. As part of Blur, he was hammering out ‘Country House’; tonight, he isn’t doing that. Coxon’s solo material has always been a brilliant counter point to his more well known output. Even at its most populist, ‘Freakin’ Out’ holding claim to being one of the very best indie pop singles of the last decade. Opening with a tour of recent album ‘A+E’, opener ‘Advice’ gives way to the brilliant drone of ‘City Hall’.

By far Coxon’s most mainstream album, ‘You & I’ and the aforementioned ‘Freakin’ Out’ are what most of the Reading crowd is here for. The ones who seem to be under the impression the opening chords of ‘Ooh, Yeh, Yeh’ signal a slowed down version of Blur’s ‘Song 2’ maybe less so, but the less said about that the better. (Stephen Ackroyd)

NIKI & THE DOVE

Following an outpouring of mid-teens post Alt-J, triangle signs surrender and only a handful stick around for what could easily reckon as a potential Reading highlight. Malin Dahlström and Gustaf Karlöf regardless appear grateful of those that see sense in witnessing their sparkling Nordic pop.

The crowd is split between those that sing back every single word, and others who stand at more of a distance and take it all in. The band’s set flows majestically, with the collision of Magnus Böqvist and Karlöf ’s percussion a highlight. Focus tends to drift as the band get more and more consumed in their ways, and if you solely compare it to the Alt-J en masse love-in that preceded, attention can wane. But it’s enjoyed best with eyes closed and the mind drifting in with the truly unique magic on display. ( Jamie Milton)

DJANGO DJANGO

We may be suffering ‘festival fatigue’ but these boys are perfectly fresh faced as they run on stage, resplendent in their matching tops. It’s a little bit boyband, maybe, but it could be worse, it’s not like they begin choreographed dance routines or anything. That’d be way too much for a Sunday lunchtime.

As the Scottish lads proclaim this to be their first Reading ever and crack open a blistering version of ‘Waveforms’, the tent heats up, arms are aloft, and feet are properly tapping. It’s easy to see where the Beta Band comparisons might spring from, but as they cause a mass clapathon with single ‘Default’, and unleash surf guitars and samba rhythms, they’re perhaps more immediate, less spikey, less obtuse.

Of course, despite the best efforts of John Cusack in Hi Fidelity, the Beta Band always remained a cult concern.

On the evidence presented here today, it seems unlikely that the same fate will befall their better adjusted young siblings. (Simone Scott Warren)

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REVIEWS TECH

TECH

THE GIZMOS AND GADGETS WORTH GETTING EXCITED ABOUT THIS MONTH

SUPERHEADZ DIGITAL HARINEZUMI 2+++ CAMERA £150

The Digital Harinezumi series has been a long-time favourite of those looking to get a bit simpler with their photography and videography, using plastic lenses and deliberate accidents to create a specific aesthetic. A bit like the Lomography phenomenon, then, just digital. The latest in the series includes new colour modes, including three monochrome options and something called ‘erotic red’. If that doesn’t make you want one, what will?

VERBARIUS DIGITAL CLOCK £149.99

Brits: have you ever heard an American tell the time? Confusing, isn’t it? You’d think, what with our language being about as identical as two branches of the same tree can get, we’d not get baffled on being told it’s “ten after four”. But still, we do. The Verbarius skips past all that, and lets you install your favoured language to display it there, in words, as you want. Even in Welsh. Or Esperanto.

ESPERANTO.

INSTAGRAM COASTERS FROM £14.99, FIREBOX.COM

It seems such an obvious idea, it’s a shocker nobody thought of it earlier: snapshots of friends, fun and – let’s be honest – pets ‘doing things’, turned in to permanent fuzzy reminders. The images are square, coasters are (usually) square. Now you can get your favourite Instagram snaps turned in to small shrines to retro filters as if they’d never been anything other than carefully faded memories.

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BOOMBOTIX BLUETOOTH STREET SPEAKER FROM £49.99

It might look like the piece of chewing gum that’s inevitably stuck under whichever table you pick at the pub of an evening, but the Boombotix is a powerful little number, able to connect via Bluetooth to your favoured music device, fit in the palm of your hand, or even clip on to your bike. If, of course, you’re lucky enough to cycle anywhere quiet enough to be able to hear those fuzzy guitars over the hum of inner-city traffic.

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Saturday 22nD sEpTemBer fOrTunA pOp! pReSenTs...

WItHerED hAnD + dArRen hAyMan + oWL & mOusE

fRiDay 19 oCtOber tOO pUrE pReSenTs... bEsT fRiEndS + sEizE tHE cHaiR + mAD cOlOurS

WEdNesDaY 26tH sEpTemBeR kIlLinG mOoN pReSenTs... dUoLogUE + sEaSfiRE + vEsTalS + H.A.m @ tHE bUlL & gAtE

mOnDay 22nD oCtObeR crc pReSenTs… jOyLanD + mY gReY hOrsE + tEsSerA sKieS @ tHE bUlL & gAtE

tHuRsdAY 4tH oCtObeR lAbeL fAnDanGO pReSenTs... uLtRasOunD + sCaNneRS + dInGus kHaN @ tHE sCalA

tUeSdaY 23rD oCtObeR iDlE fReT pReSenTs... lIsTinG sHipS + sHeeN @ tHE bUlL & gAtE

fRiDay 12tH oCtObeR aLcOpoP! pReSenTs... sTaGecOacH + tHE sOcIal cLuB pLuS aLcOpoP! djS @ tHE bUlL & gAtE

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WOMEN 1. Winter Pop Jeans £72, frenchconnection.com 2. Gauged Wrap Ww Dress £38, warehouse.co.uk 3. Make Like Twiggy Dress £22, clothes-box.com 4. ASOS Pom Pom Converter Gloves, £8, asos.com 5. MOTO Red Leigh Jeans £38, topshop.com 6. Bind Cardigan £95, allsaints.com 7. Glitter Plastic Heart Ring £3, accessorize.com 8. Collar Blazer £47, missselfridge.com

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FILM

PAUL DANO You know Paul Dano as Daniel DayLewis’ nemesis in There Will Be Blood, or the mute teen in Little Miss Sunshine, and he’ll be gracing our screens many more times this autumn. The gifted young character actor balances big-budget work in Cowboys & Aliens and Knight and Day with the likes of Meek’s Cutoff and Being Flynn, with sci-fi flick Looper and So Yong Kim’s drama For Ellen out this year. Most intriguing is Ruby Sparks, marking his first romantic lead - naturally, with a twist scripted by his co-star and real-life partner Zoe Kazan.

Catching up with Dano in a London hotel to talk all things Ruby Sparks, I congratulate him on the role. “It’s definitely a special opportunity, to get to make a romantic comedy I would like - to get to fall in love and have magic and romance,” he tells us. “Then to also get to go somewhere else with it... It’s something I’d like to do more of.”

I ask if there was ever any danger of life imitating art and it becoming a vanity project. “Zoe had the idea for the story and

8 RUBY SPARKS

the characters, and I read some pages and I suggested we do it together. It seemed to make sense. I had read her plays before and I thought she’s a good writer.

I think the idea of making a good film came before giving a good performance.”

One of the most fascinating aspects of Ruby Sparks is the deconstruction of the dream girl in fiction. “Until our trailer came out, I didn’t know what the Manic Pixie Dream Girl was! I saw all this people writing about it, and thought ‘What the f**k is this?’ But I get it, and I think it’s really relevant, as the film is about the idea we have of somebody and how we harrass them to be like that.”

For Ellen screened at Sundance London earlier this year, with Dano playing a selfabsorbed rock musician (“he’s a bit of a prick”) about to lose access to his estranged daughter. “It’s actually one of my favourite parts I’ve played,” he reveals. “I also found he was so different from me that I thought

this is going to make me a better actor. I felt like I could do it, but I didn’t know how. I love putting on tighter pants and how it makes your junk feel, and putting on tattoos.”

Talking of which, I ask if he still has time to perform with Mook, the band he formed with three of his schoolfriends? “It’s hard to be consistent, but it’s nice to have something else that gives me some kicks other than just acting.” (Becky Reed)

RELEASED: 12/10/12 Actress and playwright Zoe Kazan scripts and stars in this clever, witty and deceptively dark alternative rom-com, vibrantly directed by Little Miss Sunshine’s Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris as their follow-up to the 2006 critical and cult hit. Paul Dano excels as a quirky romantic lead, playing struggling novelist Calvin, whose fictional creation Ruby (Kazan) miraculously appears in the flesh. Aware that he can manipulate her character, Calvin falls madly in love, á la Pygmalian. Kazan’s sharp and thought-provoking script rips apart the awful ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’ trope, while studying the male ego and female passivity, and the twisted games played in relationships. Real-life couple Dano and Kazan sparkle, along with supports Steve Coogan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas. Utterly bewitching. (Becky Reed)

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8 SINISTER

RELEASED: 05/10/12 This smart chiller is like a companion piece to The Cabin in the Woods - less loving hate letter to horror and more loving romantic prose that celebrates and rejoices in all that is good about the genre. Ethan Hawke is typically classy as the true crime writer morbidly obsessed with the horrific Super 8 films that literally haunt him in his new home. With a blood-curdling opening scene, director Scott Derrickson continues with genuinely disturbing imagery and jump scares filmed with panache. The mystery of the serial slayings is evocative of the peerless Manhunter with a supernatural edge, proving Sinister is no bog standard creepfest. Superior to the creepy Insidious and The Woman in Black, it’s the stuff of nightmares. (Becky Reed)

5 HIT & RUN

RELEASED: 12/10/12 Dax Shepard is Charles Bronson, a getaway driver who escapes from witness protection to get his girlfriend Annie (Kristen Bell) to LA for her dream job in this 90-minute car chase across scenic American landscapes. Tom Arnold, Michael Rosenbahm and Bradley Cooper go rushing after them in a loud, crude and middling comedy. With a clear love of ‘70s car chase thrillers, Shepard writes and co-directs a film that feels little more than an excuse for him and fiancé Bell to act together. A few scattered laughs and decent chases offer satisfactory entertainment, and the soundtrack scores high. (Andrew Jones)

4 ON THE ROAD

RELEASED: 12/10/12 Walter Salles’ adaptation of the ultra-hip Kerouac novel attempts to capture a chapter in the lives of its protagonists, but feels meandering and self-absorbed. Sam Riley’s Sal is too bland as narrator, and Kristen Stewart pops up in a decently ditzy performance as a misguided groupie. Garrett Hedlund is the highlight, with a script that hero-worships his character, the charismatic but flawed Dean. It is surprising how much navelgazing is crammed into the overlong film, which contains little substance, preferring jazzy montages of its pretty leads smoking, drinking and pouting as they contemplate existence. (Sam Faulkner)

THE PERKS 6 OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

RELEASED: 03/10/12 Author Stephen Chbosky makes his directorial debut, but is so swept up in the romance of youth he fails to make a dramatic impression. The hugely sympathetic Logan Lerman is outstanding as the nervy highschooler who bonds with riotous misfit Ezra Miller and his sweet stepsister Emma Watson. Unashamedly cheesy, some funny and touching scenes stand out in an affectionate yet muddled early ‘90s setting - would arty Smiths fans really not be able to identify David Bowie’s Heroes in a key scene? (Becky Reed) 79

GAMES OUT NOW AND COMING SOON FAR CRY 3

(Ubisoft) – Xbox 360, PS3, PC RELEASED: 30/11/12

Hey! You’re regular guy Jason Brody. Just chillin’ on holiday on some tropical islands. No biggie. YOLO, etc, right? WRONG! Prepare to suffer at the hands of crazed island inhabitants as you find yourself trapped in the middle of a local conflict and on the hunt for your lost friends. This calls for you to shoot, fight, run, hang-glide and crossbow your way across a blood-smeared island paradise. That’ll teach you not to book with a reputable travel agent.

HALO 4

(Microsoft) – Xbox 360 RELEASED: 06/11/12

That big solemn Master Chief fella returns in the first of a new trilogy for the series developed by new kids on the block 343 Industries. Taking place four years after the events of Halo 3, John-117 finds himself on a new planet called Requiem in a game set to focus less on the straight-forward FPS elements, adding exploration and a more ‘sandbox’ feel, coupled with a ‘mature’ story to the mix. You’ll still get to shoot aliens in the face though.

NEED FOR SPEED: MOST WANTED (EA) – Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, PC RELEASED: 02/11/12

The nineteenth title in the Need For Speed series proves that we do, indeed, have a need for speed. Falling somewhere between simulation and arcade, the latest racing beast from EA picks up on the Most Wanted IP which first zoomed into our lives back in 2005. With intense car action and a healthy dose of destruction, this is all you’ll need for your speed, take heed, it’s not like Assassin’s Creed, do you concede?

WALKING DEAD – 9 THE EPISODE THREE: LONG ROAD AHEAD (Telltale Games) – Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac

So you might’ve survived the zombie apocalypse in the previous two instalments, but now you’ll have to take your disparate bunch of stragglers across the crumbling countryside to Savannah and the safety of the sea. And part three of the point ‘n’ click adventure truly ramps up the scale of your emotional investment in these cel-shaded, arguing, paranoid wrecks! Twists, turns and much heavier decisions blurring what’s right and wrong make Long Road Ahead the best episode so far.

TAG 8 TEKKEN TOURNAMENT 2

(NAMCO BANDAI) – Xbox 360, PS3

There won’t be one among us who won’t threaten to kill Tekken Tag Tournament 2 at some point. You absolutely will throw your controller at the wall, you absolutely will kick off your console and storm out of the room. And you absolutely will come back soon after, sheepishly turning the console back on for another go. Mixing anger and frustration with enthralling bouts of sheer giddy brilliance, Tekken Tag Tournament returns. Prepare to fall in both love and hate.

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THE SLENDER MAN So, Halloween rears its shadow once again and it’s a chance to dig up those old games that scare us shirtless. And, you know what, you can keep your Silent Hills and obvious jump-fests like Resident Evil. As scary as they are, some of our biggest shrieks have been far less obvious. Take, for instance, the first Condemned game where you roam around a derelict department store as violent junkies acting as bandaged mannequins leap out at you. Or how about that moment in David Cage’s Fahrenheit where all the lights go out in the screeching mental asylum and the cell doors burst open...?

But the one we’re most looking forward to re-playing comes from the potentially pant-sh**ting free indie game Slender, based on

the Slender Man meme. It sees you creeping around a foggy and atmospheric forest on the hunt for loose, enigmatic pages of notes attached to poorly lit landmarks while an eerie soundtrack swells to a terrifying climax as you catch glimpses of a faceless, stretched figure lurking behind trees. The screen flickers with static and the ghoulish face of The Slender Man appears with a piercing screech – even the toughest Ross Kemps among us will whimper. As a game, it’s as thin as the Slender Man himself, but as an exercise in bottle, nothing comes close.

You’re unlikely to come out of this unscathed. Or, in our case, unskidmarked.

Happy Halloween! Don’t spook yourself.

BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD

JET SET WILLY Xbox 360, Windows Phone

Elite Systems recently brought iconic 80s classic Manic Miner to consoles and mobiles, and here they are resurrecting its spiritual successor, the atmospheric and painfully difficult Jet Set Willy. Near 100% emulation of the Spectrum original and the ability to activate infinite lives makes this an unmissable retro gem – if only to see if it’s still literally impossible to finish...

RETRO

GAME OF THE MONTH

MR. MEPHISTO

(Euro-Byte) Commodore 64, 1984

MR. MEPHISTO (Euro-Byte) Commodore 64, 1984

In celebration of the year’s spookiest time, we’re playing one of the oddest and creepiest old games we could find. Mr. Mephisto is the tale of a man who has sold his soul to the devil and gone straight to Hell upon death, just like Geri Halliwell. Your task is to guide him from the fiery depths to the glowing freedom of Heaven by manoeuvring up hellish escalators, avoiding pitchfork-wielding demons and your own idiocy.

Your own idiocy is the biggest enemy for sure – Mr Mephisto is an unforgiving yarn that sees you fall off the edges of platforms and plummet slowly into a fiery pit

more often than ascending to the scattered unlockable exits. And, like the devil, it’ll trick you. With several doors, usually only one will be the true exit with others either starting the level again, or – insert exasperated groan – back to the start of the game!

While it’s a simple idea, it manages to touch on that sweet spot between incredibly frustrating and incredibly addictive meaning you’ll spend hours with it just trying to edge a step closer to Heaven. And then when you finally see Satan descend towards you in the final level, even the most anti-religious among us will likely, as it says in the good book, poo ourselves.

Perfectly pitched (forked) for this time of year.

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BACK PAGE IN IT TO WIN IT

BACKPAGE

IN IT TO WIN IT

WHAT USE ARE COMPETITIONS WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC, ASKS DEREK ROBERTSON.

I

have an innate distrust of competitions. Not the kind where you can win a big screen TV, or a weekend in NYC; no, those are swell. I’m talking about the kind that involves some form of objective critique of artistic endeavours, a crude ranking that means someone wins, a great many more lose, and we can all argue ad infinitum about what a ridiculous result it was.

Think of the Oscars, the Brit Awards, or, at this time of year, the Mercury Music Prize.

It’s said that it only takes two idiots to outvote a genius. It’s also said that one person’s art is another person’s garbage, and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder (or listener). With that in mind, I fail to see the point behind all the hot air spouted over whether this year’s list is “good”, “bad”, or even more ridiculous a concept, “relevant”. Trying to shoehorn 12 months of everything the eclectic British music scene has to offer into a shortlist of 12 is as absurd as it is meaningless, especially when you consider that bands – or more likely their label – have to nominate themselves and pay £200 for the privilege.

Wouldn’t it be better to revel in that very eclecticism? To celebrate that people’s broad tastes allow such a diverse range

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of talents and genres to exist? Music, at its best, should bring us together, not divide us into clans. Witness the effect that Coldplay’s set – as marmite a band as you’re likely to find – at the Paralympics closing ceremony had on the nation’s psyche.

People were uplifted, inspired, and moved to tears in an outpouring of emotion and national pride. Like ‘em or loathe ‘em, there aren’t many bands who could’ve pulled it off with such aplomb, or have the pop-perfection genius of something like ‘Yellow’ lurking in their back catalogue.

So yeah, it’s great to have an expensive plastic bauble to put on your mantelpiece, but that’s sure as hell not why most people start making music, nor why I started raiding my parents’ LP collection when I was 12. Instead, let’s just give thanks for the myriad of flavours on offer and actually experience them. Go to a gig, buy an unusual album, or badger your friends to listen to your New Favourite Band. Ask a stranger what they’re listening to. Dance. Share, share, and share some more, and if you think something is good, shout from the rooftops about why we have to hear it – remember, passion is infectious. It’s the only way to make sure that, in the long run, everybody wins.

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M YOUR FRIEND, THE ATOM

we are THE PHYSICS

Features the singles Goran Ivanisevic & Applied Robotics Released 22nd October

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