Our Iron Lung

The Circuitry Of Life

2010-03-23T09:05:00.003Z

Boom, back in the game. Everyone involved in Our Iron Lung has been working tirelessly over the past few months launching and establishing Faux, an online and print arts, music, film and culture magazine running in various ad-funded regional editions. If you haven't already, get the skinny here.

It's been a while since I've written about anything quite as pop as Jett Valentine, but this is pretty brilliant stuff. Coming alongside a super remix from Mirrors, this under 3-minute long piece of piano-led pop is vaguely reminiscent of Luke Leighfield's greater moments. Crushing a stomping chorus in behind simple piano lines, Jett executes some self control in creating strong structure within Outlaws which, ultimately, pays off. Both tracks are available to stream or download thanks to Soundcloud. Thoughts?

Jett Valentine - Outlaws
Jett Valentine - Superman (Mirors Remix)

We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives

2010-02-02T15:56:00.001Z

Prior to the release of their smashing new album we sent Hannah Matthews along to interview Ellen from Los Campesinos!

Where did the inspiration come from for the name Los Campesinos! - why ‘The Peasants’?
Neil came up with the name due to the fact he did Spanish A Level, and we were all struggling to come up with a band name. It seemed to sound nice, and look pretty written down so we stuck with it, not a very exciting story I am afraid!

When I was asked to describe your music, a melee of thoughts came to mind. How would you describe your sound?
Shambolic indie pop, I don’t know, it’s quite a hard thing to do, like describing yourself naked. A melee of sound oddly appropriate.

For people reading this who might not be familiar with your music, which of your songs would you say sums Los Campesinos! up?
I would like to think that there is not one particular song which summarises us, as we like to keep growing and improving as musicians, I guess what ever is our highest listened to song on last.fm is a good place to start for newbie’s or lazies.

You deal with deep subject matter and sombre lyrics, especially on your second album, but juxtapose this with uplifting music and vibrant live performances. What would you say is more important to you as artists, the music or the lyrics?
I think that’s like trying to pick a favourite child, they are both equally as important as the other, and the juxtopositoning of both seems to create an interesting dynamic, plus they would be kind of pointless apart…

I saw you play Leeds Cockpit on October 30th, and it reaffirmed my opinion that as a live band, you’re head and shoulders above the rest. Do you enjoy playing live and where’s your favourite venue?
We do enjoy playing live and it’s amazing to have people react positively to us, and the crowd in Leeds were awesome, even though we probably gave them all swine flu. I think one of the most impressive places we have performed was a baseball stadium in Japan, that was incredibly surreal and amazing, and made us feel like successful sportsmen.

Why has it been so long since LC! have played in the UK? Will you be touring the UK with your next album?
We were hanging out in America for the first half of the year, we mixed up recording and touring for about five months. We will be doing an extensive tour of the uk next year, so look out!

Your passion for music is evident in your promotion of other bands, such as the incredible Sky Larkin. Which up and coming bands would you recommend we keep an eye out for?
Islet, Sparky Deathcap and Copy Haho are all pretty special.

[SPOTIFY] Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
[MYSPACE] Check out more from Los Campesinos! on myspace.

If You Haven't Got Anything To Say

2010-01-03T17:22:00.002Z

For a few weeks now Adam Hockley, an occasional contributor to Our Iron Lung, has been putting on a selection of acoustic acts at Kind, Lincoln. To kick-start the new year he's booked the fantastic Luke Leighfield, an indie-pop darling with an addiction to touring. I caught up with Luke over the weekend to ask him about everything from graduation to the ups and downs of being an independent artist.

Liam Haynes interviewed Luke Leighfield. He plays Kind, Lincoln on 5/1/10.

First things first, graduation! Well done. What's it like trying to tour as much as you have over the past few years, while also putting in some time getting educated?
Thanks! Touring as much as I did was amazing and great fun, but I think it's probably too grand a claim to say that I came out of university 'educated'! I managed to pass my degree but I don't really feel much more intelligent than when I started university. That's worrying, isn't it? Twelve grand down the drain. Oops. But anyway, basically, I did the bare minimum of work in order to get a 2:1 and spent the rest of my time jetting around, meeting ace people and playing fun places, and I don't regret a minute of it.

You appear to me to be a fiercely independent artist, putting out releases on your own label, touring off your own back, etc. How do you feel the place of the "artist" in relation to things like a "label" or "pr" will change over the coming few years?
For the record, it's not that I'm fiercely independent, it's just that I've never had an offer through that's really been worth taking with regards to labels etc. I'm not ruling it out in the future whatsoever! I do feel that nowadays it's perfectly plausible for bands to get a long way without the help of a label, manager or PR company thanks to various tools on the internet. However, because those tools are out there for everyone (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) then competition is extremely fierce and you really have to stay on top of everything all the time. I spend all day answering emails and messages, and I feel that if you want to get anywhere at the moment as an independent artist then these are things that have to be done.

Following on from that, do you regret not having these people by your side, or are you pleased with the way things have worked out for you so far?
I'm really proud of what I've achieved by myself, but ideally I'd like to get a team around me in the future. As I said before, it can be quite stressful doing businessy things on the internet all day. Also, your work is never done so you can never truly relax! Sometimes it would be nice to just watch 24 and not feel guilty about it, or, God forbid, have time to write some music!

I've got a funny feeling you've played Lincoln before, but assuming you haven't... What are the first things that pop into your head when you think of Lincoln?
I've only played a house gig in Lincoln before, so I'm a Lincoln gig virgin. When I think of Lincoln, I think it's near Nottingham and then I think of guns. But Lincoln itself sounds quite boring. Not in a mean way, some places are just a bit nothingy aren't they! Don't worry, I'm from Worcester. Worcester is painfully dull.

Tell me about your latest release, Have You Got Heart? Pretty happy with it?
HYGH is my third album, but it's the first one that I've done with a real producer so I'm very proud of it. It's the best thing I've ever made in my whole life. There are guitar solos, there are violins, there are trumpets, there are gang vocals, there are more guitar solos. You can download it for free here.

What's next for Luke? A cup of tea, a big think, but then what?
Right now, as in tonight, I'm going to carry on reading a C.S. Lewis book that I'm halfway through. And maybe watch a film. But music-wise, I'm writing new songs in January and February, then going to play in China and Russia in February and March. At the end of March I'm touring with Jose Vanders and Eat.Sleep.Attack in the UK, and then there's talk of some gigs in the US later on this year. Watch this space!

Who excites you musically at the moment? We're talking new artists here...
I played with a girl called Rosie Jones in Liverpool on tour last month and she was the best thing I've seen all year. Incredible. Her MySpace songs are old, but trust me, you'll hear good things from her this year. I'm also totally addicted to a Japanese band called Perfume who I first heard last month. They're not new, but I don't think anyone knows about them in the UK, especially not Lincoln, so I hope you enjoy them. Apart from that I'm not really sure.

How much value do you think can be placed in polls like BBC Sound Of 2010 and the like?
Maybe I'm cynical and bitter, but I think it's mostly just hype from big labels with big budgets. Or maybe I'm wrong.

[DOWNLOAD] You can download Luke's latest album for free here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Luke Leighfield on myspace here.
[FACEBOOK] More info on Luke's Lincoln show can be found here.

Live Fast, Die Young

2009-12-08T15:40:00.003Z

For all intensive purposes, 2010 is going to be a pretty Transgressive focused year. They're releasing the new Foals album, overseeing Mystery Jets move to Rough Trade, and also publishing Johnny Flynn's sophomore album due out in the middle of the year. For now though, they're just releasing a little taster EP to prove that he's not deviating too much from what made us all fall head over heels in adoration for him in the first place.

We've got the closing track from the Sweet William EP for you to download now, along with the whole EP itself streaming over on Spotify of course. Drum is a brilliant little piano led track, proving that Flynn is still as important to the English folk scene now as he was a few years ago.

[MP3] Johnny Flynn - Drum (Alt Link)
[BUY] Get a copy over at Puregroove
[SPOTIFY] Johnny Flynn - Sweet William EP
[MYSPACE] Visit Johnny on myspace here.

All That's Left For You Is Doubt

2009-12-08T04:14:00.001Z

As we hit mid-December the "future acts" hype machine is hitting breaking point, but I don't care. Lauded in the BBC Sound Of 2010 shortlist and with some stellar live shows already under their belt, Delphic are 100% ready to explode in the coming year. From what I've heard so far their debut album Acolyte is shaping up to be quite the killer disc, a perfect mixture of "high art aspiration and party spirit". How very, very Manchester.

[MP3] Delphic - Counterpoint
[YOUTUBE] Delphic - Doubt
[MYSPACE] Find more from Delphic on myspace.

Looking For The Golden Lie

2009-11-30T20:31:00.006Z

She'll likely be topping many Sound Of 2010 lists, but to us she's been well established since the beginning of this year, nevermind the next. Regardless, the follow-up to Mowgli's Road (her debut for 679/Atlantic) is finally here in the form of Hollywood. One of the first new Marina tracks to surface in a while, yet still not a million miles away from the groundwork layed on Obsessions, I Am Not A Robot or Mowgli's Road. Totally set for daytime radio, totally blitzing from start to finish, totally stuffed full of wit and charm. The video itself sees Marina writhing around with various American celebrity lookalikes, a much more accessible video than that for Mowgli's Road. Hollywood is taken from Marina's debut album, The Family Jewels, out 15th February 2010.

[YOUTUBE] Marina & The Diamonds - Hollywood
[MP3] Marina & The Diamonds - Obsessions (Pink Stallone RMX)

This Is What You Get

2009-11-17T13:11:00.002Z

Our friends over at Faux are giving away a pair of tickets to General Fiasco's show with The Enemy at Engine Shed, Lincoln tonight. Seeing as we're such lovely people, we thought we'd let you in on all the info. Head over to Faux now to be in with a chance of winning, but be quick, they're picking a winner at 5pm.

Meanwhile, while you wait nervously, why not check out General Fiasco's new app on the Apple App Store. It lets you stream bundles of their tracks and videos, follow their twitter and facebook feeds, as well as check out loads of photos of the band.

[MYSPACE] Check out General Fiasco on myspace.
[FAUX] Find the competition over on Faux.

We Are The Tourists In The Cafe

2009-11-03T00:44:00.003Z

Liam Haynes interviewed Local Natives. Their album, Gorilla Manor was released on 2/11/09.

How do you feel your performance at SXSW this year helped you? What are the negatives?
Because we played nine shows at the festival we were able to attain a lot of new exposure. Each show sort of built up on the last so that by the end there were a lot of new people interested in checking us out. I have to say there are really no negatives from the SXSW experience. We had a really amazing time and its helped us tremendously in getting our name out as a new band.

Does being a band in LA help or is it too much of a crowded scene?
I think it helps. There's already so much of a spotlight on a place like LA or NY that if you can stand out in a scene like this, you're already on a bigger platform.

Where do you see music blogs standing in the grand scheme of (musical) things?
Blogs have already become extremely influential on today's music culture and I see them playing an even larger role in the coming years. Maintaining personal relationship with blogs that we really like has been a huge asset to this band. It helps put our music into new ears.

If you were all someone from Seinfeld, who would you each be and why?
I asked everybody and we agreed that I (Kelcey, vocals & keys) would be Kramer, because I'm a bit of the odd-ball, crazy guy. We're all a bit nuts but I think I might be the nuttiest. I think Matt (drums) would be Jerry because he usually is the observer of it all. Taylor (vocals & guitar) is Elaine because he acts like a lady sometimes. Ryan (guitar & vocals) is George because he complains, and Andy (bass) is Newman because Matt doesn't like Andy (not really; I just needed an excuse to have Andy be Newman).

Which UK acts do you feel closest to musically? How has your reception been here so far?
The Zombies? Not really sure which current ones we do relate to at the moment, suppose I can leave that for the journalists. The reception has been overwhelming here.

[MP3] Local Natives - Camera Talk
[SPOTIFY] Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
[BUY] Grab their debut album from rough Trade.
[SESSION] Check out songs from their Daytrotter Session here.

Take Me To The Queen Of Hearts

2009-10-29T16:54:00.002Z

The fantastic Wolf Gang have already caught our attention with their brilliant debut earlier this year and now return with the devastatingly catchy The King & All Of His Men. The video is fantastic, a weird Alice In Wonderland style affair that is sure to propel the single to greater heights than it's predecessor. We've also been promised some fantastic remixes for this, including a sure-to-be-awesome Egyptian Hip Hop mix.

[MP3] Wolf Gang - The King & All Of His Men
[INTERVIEW] Check out an interview I did with Max from Wolf Gang over at Platform.
[MYSPACE] Check out more from Wolf Gang at their myspace.

Tales From The Malian Sahara

2009-10-28T14:11:00.002Z

Words by Theodora Wakeley. Tinariwen played Koko, London on 25/10/09.

"World music" is seemingly a dirty couple of words at my university campus judging by the sheer difficulty I had in persuading anyone to come with me to see Tinariwen at Koko. I ventured alone though on a wild London night (I like to think) and saw what could possibly be my favourite gig of the year so far in terms of atmosphere, uninhibited enjoyment, and pure organic music-making.

Tinariwen cannot be fully explained without their comprehensive back-story. However it is a long and complicated one so look up Andy Morgan’s brilliant biography for that. I will merely say they are a group of former African rebels, from the far-flung reaches of the Malian Sahara, who decided to portray their anguishes and the beauty of their desert home through the power of music. Despite the language barrier the emotion is truly felt as they sing songs from their latest album Companions, mixing it up with a traditional Touareg folk-song and ending on the truly stunning Cler Achel, the highest point on their defining album Aman Iman.

The most remarkable thing about these guys though is their stage presence. They dance constantly, interact with the audience, and I swear the performer on the left, all in white with only his eyes on show, is laughing and smiling the whole way through. The lead vocalist and guitarist Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, looking almost god-like, has to also be up there with the greatest rock front-men. He only arrives half-way through the set yet the cheers that greet him prove his stature.

Tinariwen are hardly undiscovered. They’ve been around for years and are extremely popular, yet a younger student generation has yet to embrace them. It’s not actually world music, its rock music of the highest quality.

[MYSPACE] Check out Tinariwen on myspace.
[WEB] Find out more about Tinariwen on their site.
[SPOTIFY] Tinariwen - Amassakoul

In Our House Made Of Paper

2009-10-28T12:30:00.003Z

Our adoration for the delicious Ellie Goulding is well documented, and it's clearly no coincidence she's finally back with her first proper single on the inimitable Neon Gold Records. Under The Sheets takes the soaring vocals and electronic backing showcased so well in previous demo Starry Eyed and combines them with a melody to die for. Ellie and her songwriting partner/producer Starsmith clearly have an ear for something special, the fantastic production and standout vocals combining into a hazy blast of sure-fire pop. They're currently out on tour supporting Little Boots, but took time out last night to perform Under The Sheets on Later Live... With Jools Holland. Link at the bottom of the post or catch it on iPlayer. The true visual representation of the song though comes from the dazzling video you see below. Multiple iterations of Ellie stomping through heartfelt line after line, smashing glitter covered drums and breaking hearts. Enjoy.

[MP3] Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets - Via Neon Gold
[YOUTUBE] Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets (Live on Later..)

I Was Applying Pressure

2009-10-27T13:55:00.002Z

Photo by Josh Wilson, words by Darryl Marsden. The XX played Bodega, Nottingham on 7/10/09.

London indie darlings The XX have had quite a year. After garnering glowing reviews of their self-titled debut released earlier this year the 4-piece decided to embark on their first ever UK headlining tour, culminating at a packed out Bodega Social. Once the crowd had gathered around the small stage there is one thing strikingly noticeable, the age of audience members. For every hipster in a plaid-shirt there is a middle aged man and wife with premium lagers and screwdrivers. Certainly not the type of crowd I had expected.

After technical difficulties with the drum machine The XX appeared all dressed in black, looking like some kind of odd gang. With only one album to date it was obvious where the material was going to come from, a glance at the setlist confirmed this. From the opening notes of first track and album opener Intro you could tell from the atmosphere in the room that people felt they were watching a band who are really going places. The guitar lines are beautifully crafted and sound magical against the beats produced by the drum machine. The vocals in Islands resonate chillingly and the hooks send tingles. Singles Crystalised and Basic Space get the best reception of the night. It is rare in a gig with such quiet music and few people that you get total silence between songs. There is normally some kind of chatter, but tonight there is nothing. This silence speaks more than any noise could do, it's exciting to see where The XX are going to go next. One thing is for sure, it’s not likely they are going to play venues this small for much longer.

[MP3] The XX - Basic Space (Sampha Remix)
[SPOTIFY] The XX - The XX

Dance To The Sound Of Sirens

2009-10-14T12:26:00.003Z

Image by James Arnold, words by Liam Haynes. Bloc Party played Engine Shed, Lincoln on 12/10/09.

To me, Bloc Party are both deliciously timeless and achingly current. Remaining exciting and taut while their post-punk revival brethren, from The Rakes through to Franz Ferdinand, rapidly descended into repetition and old tricks. Now, they've finally come to my doorstep in Lincoln, three albums behind them and mid-way through a month of touring.

But first, the support act. Grammatics have been stellar the last few times I've seen them, and this is no exception. While perhaps not being the perfect support act for Bloc Party's crowd, they showcase how vibrant the Leeds music scene is and their standout tracks such as Murderer and D.I.L.E.M.M.A are as brilliant in a large venue like Engine Shed as they are on record.

Predictably, Bloc Party blow the roof off Engine Shed. From classics such as Helicopter through to the controversial Mercury, they undeniably prove why they're still at the top of their game. Back in a venue of this size they seem perfectly at home, Silent Alarm era material sitting perfectly well alongside newer singles and album tracks. Alas the night would eventually be cut short by the sound of sirens, leaving Flux and who knows what else left to be played another day.

[MP3] Bloc Party - Call The Shots (Girls Aloud cover)
[MP3] Grammatics - Inkjet Lakes (Alt Link)
[MYSPACE] Visit Bloc Party or Grammatics on myspace.

Like Spinning Discs #3: Local Natives

2009-10-09T21:58:00.001Z

In this, the thrid edition of Like Spinning Discs, we got Darryl Marsden to have a quick chat with Local Natives while they were taking a break from their current run on the NME Radar Tour to ask them about their most treasured LPs.

If you could only take 5 LP's or EP's into a nuclear bunker to listen to as we all slowly blow each other up, which would you choose and why?

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
This is my favorite album of all time. I can remember listening to it for the first time driving home from the record shop. It was raining and I sat in the driveway letting it play all the way through. There's just something mystical about the recording, the live energy of the musicians, the improvisation the arrangements, and the plaintive and passionate vocal performances. I've listened to it innumerable times since high school and every time I do, I'm brought back to that time I first heard it. (Ryan Hahn)

The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
Like most people, I’d heard “Time of the Season” plenty of times growing up, mostly thanks to oldies radio stations. One day in high school I remember hearing it suddenly as if for the first time. The iconic bass line, the handclap “ahh”, the unique vocal arrangement, that ridiculously great organ solo – all of it struck me like some big epiphany. I was at the time going through that phase everyone has with the Beatles, obsessing over their entire catalog. But now here was this band, the Zombies, who just under my nose my whole life, had quietly created an album as brilliant as any by the Beatles; Odessey & Oracle The Zombies’ use of vocal harmony has had an enormous impact on our band’s sound. Theirs is dynamic and layered, beautiful and orchestral but never cheesy sounding. The Zombies broke up before the album was even released, and while in my mind it sits duly next to Sgt. Pepper’s, it saddens me that this masterpiece album will remain tragically underappreciated on a wider scale. (Ryan Hahn)

Andrew Bird- Armchair Apocrypha
This album totally killed me. Andrew Bird is talented enough to bring any aspiring musician immediately to tears. Armchair Apocrypha cemented my love for string arrangements and eccentricity in pop music. Soaring violin leads and Bird’s signature hummingbird fast warble of a whistle fill the gaps between his effortlessly flowing vocal melodies. If you ever see Andrew Bird perform live, you’ll notice that he almost never sings the same melody as what is on his record. He just sings, it would seem, whatever comes into his head at the moment. The remarkable thing is that each melody seems as elegant and wonderfully conceived as the next. That Bird may be the type of musical genius constrained by his ability to write too many good melodies is supported by rumors that he is fanatically fickle about the final version of his studio recordings. He reportedly recorded up to seven different versions of certain tracks while recording Armchair Apocrypha. Whatever his process, the result is that the record is full of enough amazing melodies that its kept me busy listening for a couple years now. (Taylor Rice)

Sufjan Stevens- Illinios
Sufjan’s orchestral composition, quirky story-teller lyrics, and fluttery vocals grabbed me immediately as something innovative and unique. I had listened to Michigan and the more stripped down Seven Swans, but I regard Illinois as the crown jewel of Sufjan’s recording efforts. What I love so much about the songwriting is Sufjan Stevens’ complex layering of improvised and thematic lines over a very simple structure. Illinois helped me determine that I view good songwriting as making a song simple and relatable also moving and unique. (Taylor Rice)

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
I was listening to KCRW in Los Angeles and this song played that floored me. The production was so diverse and the song had so many emotional layers; it really grabbed me. I waited for three more tracks until the song-set was over and he said the song was called "Poor Places" by Wilco. I looked it up online and saw it was off of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. After getting the album it took me a bit to really understand the genius and magic behind it all. The songs, the tones, the parts, everything is just so pleasing to the ear. The production is raw and natural, as true and honest as the words that are accompanying it. Melodies and song-structures have always come fairly easy to me, but I have a lot of trouble getting the right words together to say what I want. That's what got me the most about this album; I think YHF was the first album that I really invested an interest into what was being said. "Ashes Of American Flags" has one of the greatest lines I've ever heard: "All my lies are always wishes/ I know I would die if I could come back new". It just speaks volumes. A man so desperate to start again he would endure death to do it. It's as honest as it gets; these songs have no bull-shit whatsoever. I have to believe that's why the album did so well and why it is so perfect to me. You just don't find records like that everyday, and maybe that's why they rise to the surface and demand to be heard. (Kelcey Ayer)

[SPOTIFY] Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
[SPOTIFY] The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
[SPOTIFY] Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
[SPOTIFY] Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

To Write Love On Her Arms

2009-10-07T22:45:00.004Z

Image from Flickr.

You know that girl from Breakfast Club? The one who makes sandwiches with sugar? She'd love To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit organisation to help people who aren't 100% happy with things. I don't really understand you see, it's a chronic lack of empathy I think. However Annabelle Moore one of our writers really does which is why she's putting on a special acoustic night tonight to raise money for a pretty fantastic cause. There'll be a bundle of Lincoln College acts playing alongside the brilliant Elliot Morris, and it's only £3!

[FACEBOOK] View facebook event here.

In December Drinking Horchata

2009-10-06T13:06:00.003Z

Photo by Christianne Young, words by Darryl Marsden.

Horchata by Vampire Weekend is the first song to be heard from their upcoming second LP release Contra, due January 11th on XL. After a mysterious countdown on their website the resulting prize was this track, available for free download. Vampire Weekend have become synonymous with summer, but this track goes someway to showing they’ve changed. There is a wide array of instruments on show, so many you can’t even tell what is what a lot of the time, but it keeps with the tribal sound VW went for on their debut album.

Ezra Koenig’s vocals have an effect on them which gives them more of a chill to them than on previous songs, giving the track a cold yet chirpy atmosphere. The main hook, “In December/drinking horchata” sticks in your head like a migraine and it has the bounciness that lets you know this is a Vampire Weekend track. If the rest of Contra is like this, it could be the soundtrack of your winter.

[MP3] Vampire Weekend - Horchata
[WEB] More from Vampire Weekend here.

Emergency Contraception Blues

2009-09-30T11:40:00.002Z

Photo montage by Eleanor Doughty, words by Darryl Marsden.

After releasing their debut album, “I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose” in July of this year, Bombay Bicycle Club took on the festival circuit again this summer playing Reading and Leeds festivals for the third year running and are now embarking on a short UK run. Judging by the look of those in attendance tonight it’s a good thing most of the dates are 14+ otherwise it could have been a Flight of the Conchords empty gig style affair.

Entering the stage on the right they’re greeted to huge cheers and frontman Jack Steadman has a grin as wide as Christmas Day. People are clambering to view from the stairs, the boys and girls at the front are buzzing from the sip of their Dad’s Red Stripe they had before sending him off to the back of the room and all is set for a rock show.

BBC blast through the set which relies heavily on their first LP release but also takes songs from the old EPs for the die hard fans. For such young men they really must have studied their post punk because songs such as “Dust On The Ground” and “The Hill” sound more mature than the cheddar their mum puts in their sandwiches. They mix this older sound with a youthfulness and charm to create a sound which really is their own. Many younger bands look a little lost on the stage but BBC take to it with ease and have energy in abundance, which rubs off on the rowdy crowd down at the front, with a barrier even being knocked over at one point. The dynamics of “Lamplight” would not sound out of place on a Pixies record, a band that BBC will be supporting later this month in London. Driving basslines are a plenty, effects are used to the max and you can guarantee the hooks will be in the kids heads in registration tomorrow morning.

[MYSPACE] Visit BBC on myspace here.
[SPOTIFY] Listen to their debut album here.

Like Spinning Discs #2: Eight Legs

2009-09-25T13:50:00.002Z

In our 2nd edition of Like Spinning Discs, Darryl Marsden asks Jack Garside from Eight Legs to choose his 5 albums of choice. Eight Legs release new single I Understand on 5th October before playing a small UK tour.

If you could only take 5 LP's or EP's into a nuclear bunker to listen to as we all slowly blow each other up, which would you choose and why?

Nirvana - Nevermind
This goes without saying I guess, but this was my first taste of alternative music. Dave Grohl is one of my heroes and one of the reasons i started drumming.

Radiohead - OK Computer
This was the first and still is now one of the only albums i can give 10/10. It has stand out singles on it but you do it an injustice if you dont listen to it from start to finish. Electioneering is my favourite song of all time.

The Strokes - Is This It
The Strokes were for me the pioneers of 'indie music' of today. I was 14 when it came out and i was obsessed with it. I love the production on the album, Fab makes me hard.

The Libertines - Up The Bracket
I got introduced to them by Sams dad. I loved Horrorshow and when I was 15 Sam and I bunked off school to go down to their London Forum gigs. It was our first time in London and we got served at the bar and got really pissed. So i played the album over and over from then on.

Blink 182 - Enema Of The State
The fact that this record has sold over 15 million copies sets it aside from the crowd. Enema Of The State absolutly changed my life, it was produced by the late, great Jerry Finn and defined the sound of modern punk. It gave this band the platform to become one of the most successful bands in the world.

[VIDEO] Eight Legs - I Understand
[SPOTIFY] Nirvana - Nevermind
[SPOTIFY] Radiohead - OK Computer
[SPOTIFY] The Strokes - Is This It
[SPOTIFY] The Libertines - Up The Bracket

Electric Light Bulb Lies

2009-09-24T19:10:00.003Z

Image taken from Christiana & Tim's diaries.

Factory Kids are a pair of Glaswegians who formed in 2008. After a couple of low-key releases on small indie labels, they've just released their debut LP on the New Zealand based label Power Tool Records. The exclusive track they've sent over to us speaks volumes about the rest of the LP it is taken from; seamlessly blending The Vaselines guitar fuzz with Jesus & Mary Chain style drone to create a kind of depressive surf-pop. Glorious stuff that shows it's softer side on tracks such as She Said, an echo-ridden joy infused with deliciously airy vocals.

The pair have just let loose a fantastic little mixtape which you can download below, perfectly showcasing the different influences they meld together in their own material. Tracklisting here and cover here.

[EXCLUSIVE MP3] Factory Kids - Electric Light Bulb Lies (Alt Link)
[BUY] Get their debut album here.
[MIXTAPE] Get Factory Kids double-sided mixtape Virjualkum here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Factory Kids on myspace here.

I Don't Not Love You

2009-09-23T09:36:00.003Z

Flashguns are rapidly bursting out of the seams of the music industry, filling our ears with their fresh sounds and stonking drum beats. Here at Our Iron Lung that's obviously the kind of thing that sets our hearts pumping, so when we told Annabelle she was off to interview them it pretty much made her spaff everywhere.

Flashguns have been together since they met at school in West Sussex, but they insist they’re not a ‘school band’; “we’ve grown up a lot”, lead singer and guitarist Sam Felix Johnston tells me. “We started together about two years ago and started touring more seriously and taking each other more seriously at the beginning of our gap years”. The band’s gap year is now coming towards a close this September, so when asked what they planned to study at university, this was the response I was amusingly greeted with;

Sam: I’m doing Philosophy and so is Olly (Scanton, Flashguns’ bassist). Oli (Wright, Flashguns’ percussionist) is doing golf club technology.

Annabelle: Golf club technology? What’s that?

Sam: It’s a form of physics.

Oli: It’s all to do with erm, just general golf clubbing.

Sam: We are planning to go to university, but I think ultimately...

Olly: [interrupting] We’re planning to drop out.

Sam: Well no, not drop out, I think that’s the wrong word, I think we’re planning to...

Olly: [interrupting] leave.

AM: Do you not want to go?

Sam: [pause] No, not anymore. But the thing is I would go, I’d love to go if we didn’t have the band; it’s my passion it’s all I want to do. We’re going to go until we get signed and then we’ll drop out.

I suppose you have to give it to them on the unconventional thinking front. Wondering if they had much else planned for summer, Sam tells me that they’ve got quite a chilled summer: “We’re just trying to really prep up good stuff for next year; do some writing, rehearsing, maybe do some more demo recording. We’ve got some shows coming up, one in London and one for Artrocker in Manchester. We would have liked to have done a few more shows actually but we didn’t really get on the festival bandwagon in time".

The band is inspired by artists such as Nirvana, Biffy Clyro, Jimmi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. Sam also added: “I think we wouldn’t say we’re trying to emulate anyone. Every song we’ve ever listened to has somehow ended up in our tracks and we’re not of a genre and not trying to go along with any crowd. We were never influenced by one particular artist, so we’ve always made music that we like the sound of. That’s why it changes a lot and from one song to the next as the consistency's not really there, but I think that’s a good thing and keeps our music fresh as we have a lot of passion for it so we don’t feel like we have to write a song and feel compromised".

When asked which actors the band would want to play them in a film, the answers were quite alarming. It would seem that Oli would like to have a sex change and have Catherine Zeta Jones star as him. Even more disturbing, it seems that Olly would like to do a reverse wacko Jacko so he could be played by Denzel Washington. How very interesting. However, seeing as we were at Summer Sundae I thought it’d be fitting to ask the boys some summer themed questions.

AM: Okay. So would you rather go to a sandy or pebble beach?

Sam: Well pebble beaches are nice to go on, but if I wanna go surfing like say in Brighton then I’d rather be on a sandy beach. But ultimately I’m not a big fan of sand. Isn’t sand a weird word?

AM: I tell you what is a weird word: winkelmesser. It’s the German for protractor.

Sam: Hey, you know what? I saw a protractor outside our van earlier just randomly and wondered “What the hell is this doing here?”

AM: Maybe someone wanted to measure the angles of some triangles and do a bit of trig.

Sam: Good old trig.

AM: So would you rather go for a donkey ride or go to the fairground?

Sam: You know what, I’d love to go on a donkey ride. Actually, you should probably boycott the donkey ride as they’re really mean to them as they whip them and don’t treat them very well and all their hair comes off. Then I’d run away with the donkey as I’m quite good at horse riding and I’d save it.

AM: Ooh I have a pet hedgehog. Well, I had it for a day: I stole it from the woods. took it to the pub with me and then took it home on the bus and hid it in a box when I went to work.

Sam: They are quite sweet, I wouldn’t mind having a pet hedgehog. Did you feed it dog food?

AM: No, a lot of people I’ve talked to about it told me to do that, but I didn’t, I fed it chips as I went to Mc Donalds.

Sam: Did it have a name?

AM: I called it Bambi.

So there you have it kids, fuck that university place at UCL, have a sex change then gallop off into the sunset with Pedro the Skegness donkey. Your life will be pretty much sorted.

[MP3] Flashguns - I Don't Not Love You
[MYSPACE] Visit Flashguns on myspace here.

Gifts & Presents

2009-09-22T20:05:00.002Z

The Our Iron Lung writers have seen some fabulous bands over the summer. Some of them we admired from a distance, some of them we had a chat with in interviews we're yet to share. While we're all pretty must at the moment either enrolling in university courses or settling into 6th form, I thought I'd take a second to let you know about a couple of things we've got to give away.

Firstly, we've got a great little tote bag (like this) from the wonderful Jose Vanders to give away. Just drop us an email at ourironlung@gmail.com letting us know what records you can't wait to stuff in your brand new tote. You've got a week to email us, we'll let you know once we've chosen a winner.

Secondly we've got a very limited debut 7" release from superb Leeds band Sketches, who I caught supporting Grammatics and Pull Tiger Tail in York the other month. We'll have a full feature on Sketches in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime drop us an email at ourironlung@gmail.com and we'll pick a winner in a week.

All competitions are UK residents only, and we'll keep a crafty eye out for anyone trying to email in more than once, or anything else sneaky.

[MYSPACE] Visit Sketches on myspace.
[MYSPACE] Visit Jose Vanders on myspace.

Jose Vanders Is Nang

2009-09-04T15:07:00.000Z

Jose Vanders returns to Lincoln this coming Tuesday, nearly a year and a half after her last visit, to showcase her upcoming album material. We sent Annabelle and Eleanor down to Leicester a few weeks ago to catch up with Jose and see what she's got in store.

Who influences you musically and how much do you think your songs are similar to the artists/bands who influence you?
There are definitely elements of everything I listen to in my songs. My dad has probably been the biggest influence on me; he always used to played me Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Elton John, Simon and Garfunkel and Labi Siffre, as well as a lot of classical music. Also, Vanessa Carlton, Regina Spektor and Norah Jones, without these three ladies I definitely wouldn't be singing; I had no idea girls could get away with singing and playing piano at the same time!

Have any labels or producers wanted to sign and/or collaborate with you, if so whom and what has become of their interest?
I've been lucky enough to work with quite a few producers and songwriters, notably Futurecut, Blue May, Matty G and John Fortis which is great. John and I wrote the best ever pop song the other week it's so good. I also recorded in Abbey Road a couple of weeks ago which was insane! Oh my God it was amazing! That place reeks of money, and the nostalgia is incredible; they even had a fruit platter for the bands! I ate all the grapes and the apples, even though I think they were leftovers from the band before. Jeff Beck and Herbie Hancock were in the next room! Best Sunday evening of my life. As for labels, I've had interest from quite a few majors, but they all play the numbers game and it's rather pointless. I'm enjoying being unsigned, as naff as it sounds, travelling round in a Ford Fiesta full of friends and instruments is a pretty wonderful thing.

What's in the pipeline for the second half of this year and then 2010?
I am off to Bristol university next month to study English Literature, which I'm excited about. I plan to read lots, drink lots and meet lots of people, so hopefully this will leak into my music. Definitely gonna keep writing! I'll have so much more to write about, especially if I'm learning all the time! And maybe get some new found uni friends and start a rock band. That's definitely in the pipeline.

What type of animal do you think you are most like?
Well the twelve signs of the zodiac always hinted that I was a sheep. Apparently sheep aren't good with money, are disorganised, creative, well mannered, pessimistic and romantic which sounds exactly like me! I reckon a tiger though. I'm pretty selfish. and a fighter. Yeahhhh!

To what extent is your song Peter Pan influenced by the character/film?
Ahh that song was written with my friend Thom. I was hanging out in his house, he was playing guitar and there was the childrens book about Peter Pan lying on the floor, so I was just like ‘I'm gonna write a song about Peter Pan!' I don't think the song bears any relation to the story though, maybe it does on some weird level, not consciously though.

Are you looking forward to coming back to play in Lincoln?
SO MUCH. Haha I hope it's as good as last time. It's gonna be better, I can feel it!

What did you celebrate your 19th Birthday? Did it beat your 18th Birthday in Lincoln?
My 19th Birthday was a pile of crap. I went out in Maidstone, spent £1 buying a drink for my best friend, had a fight with my boyfriend, nearly kissed a guy with a ponytail and then went back to Dave's brother's house and woke up spooning Dave. Then I went straight to work on my actual Birthday and ate a lot of chocolate cake to make up for it. So no, it definitely didn't beat my 18th; that was the best weekend of my life!

If you were Superwoman for the day, what would you do and what powers would you have?
I'd probably be able to drive a flying minibus, and pile all my friends and family inside and fly to an island full of food, drink and music! It's a bit self-indulgent, and not very Superwoman like. I should really say something like save the world right?

Who's better, Barbie or Cindy?
Barbie, who else? I used to have so many Barbies, and the car! And the wardrobe, and a school and a shop. I literally saved up all my money for Barbies, and asked for Barbies every Christmas and Birthday. I was obsessed. It made me really sad when I went into a toystore the other day and there was this design your own electronic Barbie. You can't play with her and make her kiss a purple suited Ken can you? She's on a screen!

Who would you rather date and why: Harry Potter or Ron Weasley?
Totally Ron. I don't get the whole Harry thing. Daniel Radcliffe is not good looking at all. Not that Ron particularly is, but at least he's funny. Couldn't date anyone too serious.

And finally, which came first, the egg or the chicken?
Obviously the chicken. God made animals and put them on the ark right? I'm going out with a vicar's son. I know all about these things...

[FACEBOOK EVENT] Get more info on the show here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Jose on myspace here.

Like Spinning Discs #1: Liam Haynes

2009-08-21T11:49:00.005Z

Here's the first in a new weekly feature from Darryl Marsden, showing us which 5 albums musicians treasure and have made them who they are today. The albums may not be classics, they may not even be very good, but they will mean something to the person involved. Everyone has them and it's always a good thing to know what your favourite artists have loved through their life. In keeping with the Radiohead themed title of the blog, we've opted for the cringe/clap worthy Like Spinning Discs as a feature title. To get things rolling our editor Liam Haynes tells us about the 5 albums that have shaped him.

If you could only take 5 LP's or EP's into a nuclear bunker to listen to as we all slowly blow each other up, which would you choose and why?

Bob Dylan - Another Side Of
I stole/acquired this from my Dad when I first got a record player, but we'd always had Bob Dylan stuff floating around the house; lyric books and paintings, that kind of stuff. I believe this is a lot more visceral than his electric material and songs like Motorpsycho Nightmare or My Back Pages are true demonstrations of a man wielding words with devastating abandon.

Radiohead - OK Computer
When I got my first Radiohead album (Kid A) my Mum got it confused with Motorhead, kind of set the scene I guess. This album is an obvious classic but I don't want to shy away from it because it's so popular. It's an album I can come back to time and time again, continuing to find new nuances and moments in it each time I listen. Surely that's what a perfect album should do?

Voxtrot - Raised By Wolves EP
Another classic treasured little EP. Voxtrot were kind of early blog-hype stars, like a lightweight Pains Of Being Pure At Heart with a bit more Belle & Sebastian thrown in for good measure. I've still got three of their band t-shirts at the back of my closet ready to bust out once they're vintage. But seriously, this is another perfectly formed EP, fabulously structured and with one of the best songs ever, Start Of Something mid-way through it's an absolute gem.

Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
This is one of those completely timeless albums, instilled with magic and mystery and lyrical twists and quirks. Out of all B&S's albums, I think this is the one that I consistently go back to. From the storytelling of Judy & The Dream Of Horses to Like Dylan In The Movies, it's a perfect example of why this band have influenced so many who have come since.

Jeremy Warmsley - 5 Interesting Lies EP
I remember the first time I heard a song by this guy on Music For Robots, this old music blog I used to read religiously, and being completely blown away. This is his first EP which I think is a pretty perfect slice of his work; it arrived lovingly hand packaged from those folks at Transgressive Records up my home in some small town in Lincolnshire. I think I had the artwork poster on my door for about 2 years.

[SPOTIFY] Radiohead - OK Computer
[SPOTIFY] Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister (Live @ Barbican)

Delicious Wolds Magic

2009-08-12T19:09:00.002Z

Via Charliebirds on Flickr.

I'm going to keep this brief because I think that's all it needs to be. The first time I heard the debut EP by Lincolnshire native Tyas it blew me away. It reminded me of the first time I heard a demo by Jeremy Warmsley back in 2005 over at Music For Robots, a gently charming ramshackle concoction born out of a fierce creative drive. I personally think it's absolutely magical, and the track I'm sharing with you today isn't where it stops. The rest of the EP twists and turns fabulously; from an incredible Four Tet-lite cover of traditional song Summertime to to the spoken word intimacy of Porcelain Girl. Tyas is testament to the aching brilliance that can be achieved when a girl and a boy sit together on cold oak floorboards and slowly weave together something gloriously captivating.

[EXCLUSIVE MP3] Tyas - Janey Janey - (Alt Link)

Pizza And A Bottle Of Wine

2009-08-11T10:44:00.002Z

Sometimes all you need in a day is a song like this, a hazy lo-fi burst of Californian sunshine pop infused with an undeniable air of hopefulness. Couple that with the incredible video shot by Aaron Brown and you've set Lust For Life up as the sleeper beach party anthem of the season. From what we've heard of their album, that'll be something pretty damn special too.

[YOUTUBE] Girls - Lust For Life
[MP3] Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
[MYSPACE] Visit the band's myspace here.

Oslo In The Summertime

2009-08-10T13:33:00.003Z

Photo via Geltona on Flickr.

If you're already sick of Tango-toned mid-40's men and screeching Primark-skirted slags invading parks and other open spaces across the country now that summer's here, then you're in luck. Simply shove this incredible mix from our chum Seb Cox (Fat Poppadaddys, Das Moustache Klub) on your Zune, slap on some intense looking headphones, and prepare to be completely distracted. A seething and thoroughly enticing concoction of everything from Miike Snow to Micachu, Wolf Gang to We Have Band and all from one of Lincoln's most exciting DJ's.

1. Flairs - Whamma Gonna Do? (Bitchee Bitchee Ya Ya Remix)
2. Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business
3. We Have Band - You Came Out
4. Solid Gold - Bible Thumper
5. YACHT - Summer Song
6. Magic Wands - Black Magic (Crystal Fighters Remix)
7. Wolf Gang - Pieces Of You (Yes Giantess Remix)
8. Tiga - Overtime
9. Miike Snow - Animal
10. Beni - Maximus
11. The Phenomenal Handclap Band - 15-20
12. Phoenix - Lisztomania (Holy Ghost! Love Paris Remix)
13. Michachu & The Shapes - Calculator
14. Crocodiles - Neon Jesus
15. Of Montreal - Oslo in the Summertime

[MP3] Seb Cox's Summer Mix '09
[DAS MOUSTACHE] Check out the next DMK here.
[FAT POPPADADDYS] And get more info on Fat Poppadaddys here.

Where You End And I Begin

2009-08-07T17:21:00.002Z

As gentle as a moth slowly circling a light and as entrancing as it is entranced by that light, The XX once again conjure up a sparse and modern musical dreamscape. It's the Postal Service romancing Thom Yorke in the late summer sun, absolutely heavenly.

Via Pitchfork TV.

[MP3] The XX - Crystalised
[BUY] Grab the limited 12" edition of Basic Space here.

NME Tour 2009 @ Engine Shed, Lincoln

2009-07-28T00:46:00.004Z

Photos by Fred Thomas

Grab Your Lip Balm

2009-07-27T21:22:00.002Z

Image taken from the Bells EP artwork.

In startling proof that even the best of us can miss out on fantastic acts, new writer Annabelle Moore comes to paint a picture of The Go Away Birds; half of which is made up of Catherine Ireton who's vocal work we've previously praised in it's God Help The Girl form.

Describing The Go Away Birds’ music is not an easy task, so get your imagination ready and I shall conjure an image of it for your pretty little heads. Picture the sweet tones of a 50’s female jazz singer with a bright spotlight beaming down on her pretty frame. Yet instead of being sat playing a grand piano, in her hand she is clasping an acoustic guitar with someone in the shadows behind her playing a violin. Along with the guitar’s soft chords, female/male harmonies are present, making sure this is not another folk band you’re likely to forget in an instant.

The Go Away Birds are a duo made up of Michael John McCarthy and Catherine Ireton. They met in a chance encounter in a Glasgow studio whilst Ireton was recording with God Help The Girl, a Belle & Sebastian side project, and McCarthy was preparing Zoey Van Goey’s Scottish summer tour. As McCarthy’s house was just around the corner from the studio, they spent much time penning tracks whilst sipping on hot sugary cups of tea. The sugary tea must have secretly contained omega 3 (the stuff your Mum is always forcing you to take to boost your brain power) as the duo created so many tracks, they had too many to fit on their album. Therefore, they decided to stick two fingers up to conventionalism and release an EP for each season, probably for the next 8 or so years.

The pair are currently on their second EP, Sunday, which contains cute acoustic tracks perfect for brightening up your cold winter nights as you sit in your favourite comfy chair in front of a crackling log fire, sipping a steaming mug of cocoa. Download it below in preparation for the cold breeze of winter.

[DOWNLOAD] Get the band's Sunday EP for free here.
[MYSPACE] Hear some tracks over at their myspace.
[WEB] Find earlier EP's to download on their official site.

Sheffield Is His Church

2009-07-23T17:39:00.006Z

It sometimes feels like John McClure is more famous for bashing the BNP than being a remarkable live artist. In a bid to see if he still ticks the right box we sent Darryl Marsden along to review his homecoming show on the 18th July in Sheffield. James Arnold took the photos, gallery at the bottom of the post.

Now I’ve never been huge on The Reverend and his cronies but the energy that Jon McClure has on stage pretty much converted me. He bounds on stage telling the hometown crowd how much he loves them and the city and launches into new single Silence Is Talking. The horn hook goes down a treat with drinks being lobbed everywhere and girls edging to the back when it gets too rowdy. Kitted out in a denim shirt, McClure wouldn’t have looked out of place in a spaghetti western. It’s a testament to how energetic a front man he is when everyone has eyes on him as opposed to the fine young lady on keyboards. Fan favourites such as Heavyweight Champion of the World and The Machine are all present as well as a number of songs from latest album A French Kiss In The Chaos.

It was surprisingly about halfway through the set before The Reverend made any reference to politics, a resounding middle finger up to the BNP. Cliché of him it may be, but if musicians aren’t giving us some interest in politics who will. It’s a few songs after this when the band show their weakness by playing some slower songs, even an acoustic number. It’s obvious this isn’t what they’re good at and maybe if they cut some of these songs they would be a much more consistent live act.

With no planned encore The Reverend grabs an acoustic guitar and makes tracks outside for what has now become a part of his live shows. He perches himself upon a piece of raised grass and starts playing away as the majority of the crowd follow. The first couple of songs can’t be heard due to the natter and lighting up of cigarettes in the crowd. However, once it settles down and The Rev tells anyone who smokes Mayfair to send one his way (they oblige) he plays a cover of Bob Marley’s Them Belly Full and then invites everyone to join him in a sing along of The Beatles Revolution’. Everyone abides by him and tonight The Reverend shows that Sheffield is still his church.

[GALLERY] View a gallery of shots from the show here.
[BUY] Grab the bands latest album here.

I'm Still, I'm Still An Animal

2009-07-07T15:03:00.002Z

It seems we're expanding all over the place at the moment, and today we welcome Adam Hockley into our writers fold. You may know him from his position behind the decks at Lincoln's Ctrl Alt Delete night, but we know him as a friend from back in the Club Indiependance glory days.

You may be forgiven for assuming that Miike Snow is a solo project, however, you would be very much mistaken. The band who formed in Sweden back in 2007 consist of Downtown Records in-house producer Andrew Wyatt, joined by songwriting & production duo Bloodshy & Avant (Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg) whose credits include co-writing and producing Britney Spears 'Toxic' which won a grammy for Best Dance Record back in 2005.

Named after the controversial Japanese movie director and producer, Takashi Miike, who is famous for making extremely violent anime-style movies which are often oozing graphic sex, I didn't really know what to expect. This combined with the fact that other than the 3 A's [Abba, Aqua & A-Ha] who often define Nordic popular music, Sweden is primarily famous for it's death metal scene, with the term 'Gothenburg metal' being coined from the genres roots in the Swedish city (which is coincidently where Karlsson and Winnberg began their production careers). Luckily though, this is not the case. There is no 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' from Miike Snow. Right from the opening track and lead single, 'Animal', the album bursts into elaborately programmed Euro-Pop glory. Think more along the lines of Peter, Bjorn & John playing A-Ha covers, and you might be close. However, this image has put a few people I know off the album. Well, Fuck them. I like it. It's very rare that I enjoy a sparkly pop song, or any undeniably 'poppy' song for that matter- but in this case I have found an album full of them which I can't get enough of right now. They seem to hold onto artistic integrity with intelligent pop music, whilst producing a commercially acceptable album. I like that.

I still find myself struggling to decide where I would place this album if it were a season. I don't know why I do this, it is just my thing. At times I find myself driving along the winding country lanes around my home, windows down, Ray Bans on and the undeniably catchy, piano laden pop gem that is 'Silvia', blaring as the summer sun cut through the clear skies above. However other times, the icy artwork and heavily tinged, piano laden, Scandinavian melodies take me back to Winter. I'm sitting infront of the fire with my favorite Icelandic knitwear on, and a bottle of port warming on the hearth whilst the less cheesy, less europop, 'Sans Soleil' sets a much more relaxed mood.

As much as I love this album, It is however, admittedly unlikely to be replacing any of the established favorites in music collections around the world just yet. I predict we will have to wait for a follow-up before Miike Snow are propelled into the limelight, unless of course, one of the almost inevitable flood of remixes that will follow, forge them as the next La Roux- being catapulted to fame as the result of an incredibly simple and unarguably effective remix.

[MYSPACE] Check out Miike Snow on myspace.
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Miike Snow's debut album on Spotify.

Perfection As A Hipster

2009-06-22T13:59:00.005Z

Stuart Murdoch from Belle & Sebastian is a pretty busy fellow. Between releasing some of the best twee-pop of the last decade, he's also working on a musical project known as God Help The Girl. While it is eventually hoped to emerge as a fully blown musical screenplay, so far it is represented by stand-alone album God Help The Girl. Performed by a collective of the same name and fronted by various girls found through a "talent search" style process by Murdoch, the album takes a couple of reworked B&S originals and places them alongside fresh material. Drawing it's influences from "sixties’ girl groups, eighties’ indie and, most of all, classic pop records" it as an album that takes the sound of earlier Belle & Sebastian material and twists it, injecting it with new life and soul through it's distinct narrative. Judging by Stuart Murdoch's fantastic choice of art direction on the album and singles, we can only hope that his screenplay vision eventually comes to fruition. For now you can listen to the LP on Spotify or purchase from next Monday.

Elsewhere on the internet today is a lovely new song from Noah & The Whale's forthcoming sophomore LP, as well as the delicious new jam from Air France over at our friends Neon Gold.

[MP3] God Help The Girl - Funny Little Frog
[SPOTIFY] Listen to the full album here on Spotify.
[WEBSITE] Check out GHTG's site for some fantastic video interviews.
[READ] The album is reviewed by Marc Hogan over at Pitchfork.

Just Keep Talking

2009-06-11T11:44:00.004Z

It's becoming rather well known that we've got a habit of falling completely in love with labels over here at Our Iron Lung. First it was Transgressive, now it's Neon Gold. Their solid gold hit parade has been relentless; from Passion Pit through Marina & The Diamonds to Yes Giantess, it's an unrelenting pedigree.

Next out of the stable is this incredible debut from Wolf Gang. We were lucky enough to grab a listen to this a few months ago and were suitably blown away. Their performance alongside Yes Giantess at Great Escape was a incendiary highlight, as was their show at Dot To Dot in Nottingham. This doesn't grab you by the balls from the first note in as much as Neon Gold's other stuff, it's a slow builder of a song. But my god, by the time it explodes in the chorus it's a fully blown singalong gem. We were blasting this out on the way down to Dot To Dot back at the end of May, windows down and shades on, reveling in its luxurious aural folds. Golden.

Via the Neon Gold Beat Company.

[MP3] Wolf Gang - Pieces Of You - (Alt Link)
[MYSPACE] Check out Wolf Gang on myspace.
[PRE-ORDER] Grab their debut exclusively from Puregroove.

You Can Dance, So Just Show Them

2009-06-10T13:59:00.003Z

We Have Band dropped some brilliant tunes at the Post War Years show we went to last week at The Lexington. They're following up their superb debut single Oh! released late last year on Kitsune with the equally infectious You Came Out. The video for the new single has been created by Wieden + Kennedy who are responsible for all those classic Honda ads, as well as the less-than-effective Nokia Comes With Music campaign. It's clear that once you let them play around though they come up with some insane stuff. Watch it. Fall in love. Paint your face.

[MYSPACE] Visit We Have Band on myspace.
[PRE-ORDER] Grab the single from Puregroove.

I'm Not Calling You A Liar

2009-06-09T13:26:00.007Z

The hype has hit the roof and Florence Welch has emerged as the perfect female antibody to La Roux or Little Boots 80's electro-pop revival. We grabbed a quick first listen to her debut album Lungs earlier and thought you might like to know what Florence has in store come July 6th.

SIDE A: Dog Days Are Over starts off as a frighteningly simple guitar line with Florence's vocals defining themselves early on before booming drums come crashing down into the mix. Endorphin inducing stuff. Following smoothly in, our love for current single Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) is well documented. In an album context it fits perfectly, an early showcase of Florence's potential for storming radio-friendly tunes. "I'm not calling you a liar, just don't lie to me, I'm not calling you a thief just don't steal from me" sings Florence in typical velveteen tones at the opening of Lung's first non-single track I'm Not Calling You A Liar. Flanked by simple piano and harp, it's a slower burning track than the previous two, but not quite carried enough by Welch's voice to justify its place on the album. Howl follows with dry drums underneath a bridge desperately panted past Florence's lips. Again, her voice reaching heights that, while impressive, somehow feel predictable. Back into familiar territory Kiss With A Fist brings memories of summer 2008 rushing back, it's newly produced iteration wallowing gloriously in frantic guitar and simpler percussion. Girl With One Eye showcases previously unheard facets of Florence's voice due to it's sparse nature, deliciously primitive.

SIDE B: One of the more interesting beats on the album suitably introduces previously unheard track Drumming, a fantastically off kilter number, brimming with energy. Another non-single track but not the worst for it, Between Two Lungs follows the now familiar template of leaving space between the instrumentation for Florence's voice to soar, carrying suitably ethereal and dreamy vocal lines high in the mix. Cosmic Love is more akin to her current single than the rest of the album, borrowing even more heavily from Bat For Lashes than the rest of the album; cascading drums building up to an orgasmic ending framed by sounds of fireworks and gentle harp scales. From the highpoint of Cosmic Love, My Boy Builds Coffins starts with a driving bassline intertwined effortlessly with some afro-pop guitar parts, sorely lacking in strong chorus though. Hurricane Drunk is somehow instantly forgettable, a worrying lapse in an otherwise constant level of songwriting throughout the album. Building slowly over plucked violins, Blinding has a refreshingly less defined structure compared to other tracks on the album and is perhaps the most "experimental" track on the album.

With a sharp intake of breath it is over; 12 tracks of partially delicate, partially storming pop. While not quite living up to the promise shown in her first few singles, Florence Welch has crafted an album of undeniably bright sunshine pop laced through with enduring charm.

[PREVIOUSLY] Read our interview with Florence here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Florence & The Machine on myspace.
[PRE-ORDER] Pre-order Lungs from Amazon.

The Sky Has Yet To Fall Down

2009-06-04T14:02:00.004Z

Post War Years play surprisingly digestible math rock which we've been fans of since about 2005, seriously. They played an album launch at Lexington in London on Tuesday night, and we went along to take it in. Sporting some incredibly floppy hair, they move around the stage with overwhelming energy, smiles all round. Compared to the production values on their debut album, they come across surprisingly well live. Clear synths slicing through angular guitar and strong drums, layered with impassioned vocals and distinctive basslines. Add to their great live show the fact that Lexington is such a fantastic venue to spend the evening in, and you're on to a winning combination.

[MP3] Post War Years - Whole World On It's Head - (Alt Link)
[INTERVIEW] Read my interview with the band at Platform.
[SPOTIFY] Stream their debut album on Spotify.
[MYSPACE] Visit Post War Years on myspace.

Next Thing We're Touching

2009-06-01T16:56:00.002Z

Photo by Lucy Bridger.

James Jacob otherwise known as Jakwob, is a Lincoln/Leicester based musician and producer. As well as dropping some incredible original material, he's been garnering heaps of attention for his work on stunning remixes for the likes of Frankmusik, Thomas Jules, and Lilly Allen. We've got a taste of his (arguably) finest output to date to download in the form of his freshly unveiled take on Ellie Goulding's future smash pop hit Starry Eyed. Jakwob takes Ellie's ethereal vocals and tumbles them together with some heavy bass and glitches, coming together in an incredible synergy of heaven and deep resonant hell. Boom!

[EXCLUSIVE MP3] Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed (Jakwob Remix)
[BUY] Grab Jakwob's remix of Get Close To Me by Thomas Jules at iTunes.
[MYSPACE] Hear more from Jakwob on his myspace.
[BLOG] Check out Jakwob's blog here.
[TWITTER] Follow Jakwob on twitter

It's Called Seizing The Day

2009-05-23T10:43:00.006Z

Morning Star is the brainchild of Jesse Vernon who is also involved in the glorious This Is The Kit alongside partner Kate. From his base in Paris, Jesse writes fantastic little gems of songs, so far rather overlooked this side of the channel. Maybe changing all that, Longest Way Round is the first single taken from his forthcoming album on Microbe Records. Put simply, it's a fantastic example of a true summer song. A devastating mix of laid back vocal lines and hedonistic guitar, twisting and turning together in a perfect balance of energy and lethargy. Although the album contains even more gems, this is the one that takes us by the neck and throws us outside into the sun. This is the euphoria of those first long weekends of sun, late night dancing with late night wine.

Longest Way Round is released by Microbe Records on 15th June. The accompanying album, A Sign For The Stranger, follows in August. You can also head over to Daily Growl to hear some superb tracks from This Is The Kit.

[EXCLUSIVE MP3] Morning Star - Longest Way Round - (Alt Link)
[MYSPACE] visit Morning Star on myspace.
[TWITTER] Follow Morning Star on twitter.

Who Is The Love And Who Is The Knife

2009-05-21T01:53:00.006Z

Our adoration for Florence & The Machine is well known, her shows are intense affairs and her recorded output to date has been nothing short of solid gold. The video for her forthcoming single has now dropped, and what an incredible affair it is. Taken from the A Lot of Love A Lot of Blood EP out on 9/6/09, Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) is an orchestral strike to the heart of pop, all shimmering strings and wrenching crescendos. Florence's vocals soar over the top of the mix as on her previous singles, but this time it's Paul Epworth giving them those production wings, and my god does it show. The vocals themselves are pretty vague, something about sacrificing a rabbit, but does it really matter? Welch succeeds by coming across as the weird girl that probably ate worms at nursery, cut her own hair at primary, and wrote poems on herself in college. Hopefully her album will be stuffed full of more superb material like this and we can all look forward to a slightly off-kilter pop masterpiece.

[MP4] Florence & The Machine - Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
[YOUTUBE] Or just watch the video on youtube.
[MYSPACE] Visit Florence on myspace.

I Just Wanna Get With You

2009-05-11T14:07:00.005Z

Electro-pop seems to encompass a huge range of songs at the moment, everything from Lady Gaga to Little Boots, La Roux to Friendly Fires. Fenech Soler inevitably slot into the same convenient genre, synth heavy foot-stompers with deftly crafted vocal lines. This is pop for girls that dance like Debbie Harry without realising who she is; for boys that will never know their glitter make-up makes them look a little like Bowie. Yet it is also acute enough to be lapped up by the Vice reading hipster brigade.

The Cult Of Romance is a stirring mass of sharp synths, infectious and aggressive guitar squeals, all mixed together with tense vocals. It's an electro orgy, throw it all in the mix and hope no one feels bad in the morning, yet Fenech Soler have crafted something more than the sum of it's parts. They've managed to distil the best parts of the electro renaissance and shaped them into what is basically, a killer tune. With more material of this calibre behind them, this could well be their breakthrough year. B-side Airbrushed is a dirtier beast, a pulsing aggravated electronic scream dripping in airy vocals. A suitable flip side, but not a touch on the pop sensibilities of the single itself. Unfortunately we don't have clearance to give you any downloads from Fenech Soler, but feel free to head over to their myspace and have a listen.

[MYSPACE] Visit Fenech Soler on myspace.
[BUY] Grab the single from iTunes here.

Maybe You're Better Off This Way

2009-05-04T09:57:00.002Z

Back in the heady summer of 2006, I vaguely remember being assailed by a dischorded band, clad in the darkest skinny jeans and with hair as rigid as it was dyed. This band was The Horrors, and I didn't care for them. I loathed their style-over-substance approach, their bravado and arrogance, their effortless art-school vibes and “I Am A Horror” branding of every other bright young thing I set eyes upon. Of course now I count these along my own prized attributes, shamelessly backtracking in my own mind, but refusing to admit that maybe The Horrors were right. In my defence, the album that they released back then was critically regarded as a fad. Good fun, but not much mileage. As quickly as they had risen that screaming apparition sunk back into the streets of Shoreditch, ready for guest parts in Nathan Barley and a last gasp appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

Roll around to early 2009 and shoegaze is the new vogue. Glasvegas' influence not withstanding, countless new acts are breaking through with a dark outlook and tote-bag full of eighties new-wave 12” records. From the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart to White Lies, this was the spring of our discontent. Never before has the dark shadow of Echo & The Bunnymen, XTC, or Joy Division been so influential. Against this backdrop, with little fanfare, The Horrors unleashed their lead single from their sophomore album Primary Colours on an unsuspecting audience. Sea Within A Sea completely abandons the aimless exhibitionism of their debut and instead toys with carefully layered analogue synths, steadily brooding guitar effects and deep sombre echoes. Gone is the crashing yelp of lead singer Faris Badwan, instead replaced with a steady and calculated supportive tone. Instead of being style-over-substance, this is carefully constructed genius.

Produced under the watchful eye of Portishead's Geoff Barrow the rest of the album, of which Sea Within A Sea is actually the final track, fails to let down the momentum and promise of it's lead single. From the deliciously macabre first minute and a half of album opener Mirrors Image, albeit a slow pulsating brand of macabre eventually giving way to a brilliantly simple guitar line and crashing drum explosion, this is an album that is constantly simmering on all fronts with dark energy. The production certainly carries the expanded vision of the albums creators, giving the nuances throughout each song a certain lasting quality. For me, the finest moment of Primary Colours is it's third track, Who Can Say. Borrowing heavily from Warsaw by Joy Division, it becomes devoured by a soaring ethereal guitar line before crunching back to earth with a stunning spoken-word interjection.

Primary Colours is a dark and sinister beast, but at it's heart beats a torrid rhythm and message. This is Hitchcock directing Romeo & Juliet, Ian Curtis directing Lolita. Most importantly however it is hope in dark corners. It is home found in a Strange House.

[MP3] The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
[VIDEO] Watch the video for new single Who Can Say.
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Primary Colours on Spotify.
[BUY] Buy the album physically or digitally.
[WEBSITE] Visit The Horrors new website.

Among The Dust & The Microfiche

2009-05-01T20:40:00.005Z

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart formed in Brooklyn in 2007, part of it's ever fertile pop scene. But don't let that Brooklyn reference put you off, Pains Of write gorgeous drowsy indie pop that could be as at home in the hazy streets of northern England as in NY's hippest borough. To me, Pains Of seem to draw together the timeless romanticism of Belle & Sebastian in their lyrics, with the shoegaze hum of My Bloody Valentine. Put simply, you'll absolutely fall in love with their delicious pop sensibilities and delicate imagery.

The band return to the UK in May to perform at Great Escape and Dot To Dot, as well as on a small national tour, dates on their myspace. To support that tour they release the dangerously infectious Young Adult Friction on May 18th, which we've got for you to download free courtesy of Force Field PR. Also embedded below is the charming little video, perfect.

[MP3] The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
[BUY] Buy their debut album from Pure Groove.
[MYSPACE] Visit the band on myspace.

Soft As Velvet

2009-04-22T16:38:00.005Z

The Big Pink have been getting quite a bit of buzz for a while now. After an attention grabbing tour with Florence & The Machine and The XX (interview & feature coming soon), they've finally unleashed their superb debut on us in the form of the deliciously post-modern and thoroughly brilliant Velvet on 4AD. We've got the Gang Gang Dance remix of it for you to download, courtesy of the band. Meanwhile you can check out the original, it's superb video, as well as a couple of other tracks over at their brand new site.

Via Gorilla Vs Bear.

[MP3] The Big Pink - Velvet (Gang Gang Dance Remix)
[BUY] Pick up the 7" of Velvet by The Big Pink at 4AD's site.
[WEB] Hear more from The Big Pink at their website.

INTERVIEW: Grammatics by Cheryl Burns

2009-04-21T10:17:00.003Z

We sent Chez along to see Grammatics support Rollo Tomassi in Leicester last week. Preceding her live review, here's a great little interview with drummer Dominic Ord.

Cheryl Burns - So firstly, how did you all meet?
Grammatics (Dominic Ord) - Dom and Owen met at music college. I knew Owen through his previous band and Emilia answered an advert when our original cellist left the band to pursue her teaching career.

CB - Who are your biggest influences as a band?
G - Blur, Suede, Radiohead, Cursive, Bjork and Elliott Smith.

CB - What are your thoughts on the current UK music scene?
G - It’s healthy in places and unhealthy in others. The metamorphosis of the music industry is having some interesting effects – it’s possible to go number 1 for a week then disappear off the face of the earth, while great bands are emerging from the underground all the time or continuing to survive in the underground without any of the bullshit that goes with ‘a career in music’.

There are plenty of favourable UK bands around – Wild Beasts, Rolo Tomassi, Pulled Apart By Horses, These New Puritans, Chrome Hoof, Selfish Cunt to name but a few… even bands who really broke through like Foals have maintained their integrity and not disappeared into their own egos. I think your opinion of how healthy any music scene is can depend on how narrow/open minded you are in what you listen to.

CB - Are you all nervous about the upcoming Bloc Party tour and how did it come about?
G - We are completely thrilled about it. There will be nerves in the lead up, as ever, but we’ve played big stages with big bands before and I think it will be the most fun we have on tour to date. Apparently the band themselves liked us and invited us to do it, which is very flattering. We were supposed to do some shows with them in January but that didn’t come off for one reason or another, so we were amazed to land such a big tour with them.

CB - Do you have any favourite songs to perform?
G - Relentless Fours has always been fun. We’re partial to a bit of onstage destruction. We have just started playing Swan Song live and I really enjoy losing it in the end section. I also really enjoy the bassline in Inkjet Lakes. I think we each have particular favourites to play but when you know you have a cohesive setlist the whole show is enjoyable.

CB - What is your favourite film soundtrack and why?
G - The There Will Be Blood soundtrack by Jonny Greenwood. I got into it just as I was starting to delve into classical music and it served as a really good introduction to stuff I now really like such as Krzyzstof Penderecki and Olivier Messiaen.

CB - If you could create a super-band, who would you have in it?
G - Jonny Greenwood doing whatever he wanted. Arthur Russell singing, maybe a bit of the World of Echo style cello. Whoever was Serge Gainsbourg’s rhythm section when he recorded ‘Requiem pour un con’. That would be sweet. They would probably sound horribly dour but really groovy. Excellent.

CB - And finally, if you had to recommend a book, film and CD to anybody, what would they be?
G - Fiction, I’d recommend The Late Hector Kipling by David Thewlis. Non-fiction I would recommend The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross which I’m reading at the moment. It’s a history of twentieth century classical music and utterly fascinating. I really like the film Paris, Texas directed by Wim Wenders - it’s really beautifully shot and wonderfully odd. I love the feel of late 50’s Paris in the film ‘A bout de soufflé’ (“Breathless”) by Jean-luc Godard.

[DOWNLOAD] Grab a download of New Franchise here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Grammatics on myspace
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Grammatics debut album on Spotify now.
[BUY] Purchase Grammatics debut album in physical or digital formats.

This Is No Modern Romance

2009-04-18T10:09:00.008Z

The NME has a habit of lumping music into categories with wilful abandon. Take White Lies for instance; it isn't okay to just say that they're taking parts of Joy Division, Echo & The Bunnymen, XTC, etc and mixing them together with pop sensibilities, instead it needs to be seen as part of a new scene. In this case, the painfully obvious "nu-gloom". Lumped into that are today's fresh act, R O M A N C E (yes, written like that). While drawing similarities with White Lies, they are a lot darker. A heavier sound, more feedback, more aggression. Having recently graced the cover of Dazed & Confused Japan, they've clearly got the press mill going already, despite only forming in November of last year.

The band are about to kick off a UK tour alongside Ulterior and White Rose Movement, tickets available from the link below. Before that tour however is the release of their debut EP on 24th April, available through their myspace. They've given us a track from that EP to download, the superb Picture Frame. Enjoy!

[MP3] R O M A N C E - Picture Frame - (Alt Link)
[MYSPACE] Visit R O M A N C E on myspace.
[FACEBOOK] Or become a fan of R O M A N C E on facebook.
[TICKETS] Get tickets for R O M A N C E's tour with White Rose Movement and Ulterior here.

Hit Me With Lightning

2009-04-16T16:34:00.004Z

Photo by Lucy Bridger

Ellie Goulding is from Wales, not that you'd tell based on the incredible tracks she's been producing so far. Working with producers Frankmusik and Starsmith, she's produced a veritable barrage of future electro-pop smashes. What sets Ellie apart from the crowd however is the ease with which her acoustic work mixes with the heavy-handed production layered over the top. Instead of feeling disjointed, they are in perfect synergy, coming together to form a refreshing whole.

I've held off writing about Ellie before because her best track so far, the superb Starry Eyed, has been kept closely under wraps. Now that Ellie & Starsmith have unleashed it the hype can really start to build. With a debut 7" rumoured in June/July on Neon Gold Records, these are going to be slick jams for summer. Enjoy!

[STREAM] Stream Starry Eyed at producer Starsmith's blog.
[MP3] Ellie Goulding - Guns & Horses - (Alt Link)
[MP3] Ellie Goulding - Black & Gold - (Alt Link)
[REMIX] Hear a sample of the Jakwob remix of Starry Eyed here.
[MYSPACE] Hear more from Ellie on her myspace.
[TWITTER] Follow Starsmith and Ellie on Twitter.

I Will Turn Your Tide

2009-04-15T23:48:00.004Z

Photo by Fred Thomas.

Quite a while ago we got the chance to sit down with Rab Allen from Glasvegas as they whizzed through Lincoln on the NME Tour. We've already gone on about White Lies, got Florence & The Machine's view on Barak Obama, and posted a gorgeous cover of a Friendly Fires song, so we figured it was time to give Glasvegas some attention.

Our Iron Lung - How's the Tour going?
Glasvegas (Rab Allen) - "Its kind of strange to be with three other bands (White Lies, Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires) on tour, were used to it just being us. But yea its going good. Everyone's different. White Lies seem to go to bed at like 10.00pm every night, where as Florence & Tthe Machine I don't think have actually gone to bed since the tour started".

Before the end of 2008 the band did that rarest of things, recorded a Christmas album. In Transylvanian church of all places!

OIL - How was that recording?
G - "That was a crazy time for us We'd just come off the back of a tour. We were really tired and drinking loads, so to go and work like twelve hours a day in a fucking castle was the strangest experience. At the end of it we all just disbanded for a few days after some drinking sessions, I think we lost somebody out there as well, but it's OK we found him eventually".

OIL - With summer rearing its sunny head just around the corner, do you guys have any plans?
G - Hopefully loads of festivals, don't think we'll be doing any more tours around then. I think Reading/Leeds, V Festival, Glastonbury, Tea in the Park, Benacasim and a few in America, should be fun, pretty busy".

OIL - Speaking of America, how are things going over there?
G - "It's going good, I suppose. It's hard to judge it really. We've sold double over there what we were supposed to. So that's good. The only real criticism that we seem to get is that we don't play long enough or do encores, but that's about it".

To most, Glasvegas will seem to have risen relatively quickly to their position in the public consciousness, but how did Rab feel about this?

B - How have you dealt with finding mainstream success quite quickly?
G - "People think we've only just come about because of everything that we've just done. But we've been a band for years. It came all of a sudden and broke quite quickly for us really. It wasn't until we signed that things really started taking off for us. It when we first played Reading/Leeds that it changed as well, we were on TV and people started to come and watch us more and more. After that things just changed for us".

B - How has the involvement of NME helped with the band?
G - "Its felt quite natural to be honest, its just been the right time when they've done things for us. It was just the right time for the band. The NME cover that we did came out at the same time as when 'Geraldine' got released so obviously it helped a lot with that, it gave us a lot more publicity. Just felt right at the time really".

B - You've done some rather interesting covers recently, how did they come about?
G - "It's just one of those things, most bands seem to do them anyway. They were really on the spot things actually that we felt like doing. Most of them were just recorded and finished in a day as well, that's how spontaneous they were. The Nirvana cover came out well, we were really impressed with the vocals on that".

B - You've been described in the Guardian Newspaper as “the sound of broken Britain”, what do you make of that?
G - "I don't even know what that means to be honest. Lots of people are gonna write different things about us because it's their opinion. It's not our opinion though. I just think we make really good pop music"

Thanks to Matthew Bryard for transcribing this up. Original interview by Our Iron Lung with many thanks to Leslie @ Charm Factory.

[MP3] Glasvegas - Geraldine - (Alt Link) - Thanks RCRDLBL.
[WEBSITE] Check out Glasvegas online here.
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Glasvegas' debut LP on Spotify now.
[BUY] Grab the album for yourself either digitally or physically.

Mother Tells Me I Need Some Structure

2009-04-15T14:56:00.005Z

Okay, so at the moment there's a huge overload of female artists in the "about to make it massive" pages of every publication in the land. From La Roux to Little Boots, Florence to Marina, this heaving mess of oestrogen is rapidly reaching saturation point. However thanks to a tip off from Carl over at Illegal Tender, here to save you from all that with a genuine skill at writing melodies that "stick in your brain like porridge to the back of a spoon" is new kid on the block Dimbleby & Capper.

The demos on her myspace are constantly changing, but the track for you to download here is one of our favourites. Opening with some sinister hollow background beats and a simple "take me away from here" vocal line, it's not long before the chorus drops in backed with heavier bedroom production beats. And it's that chorus that hooks into your head, keeping the beats going as the second verse comes in, heavier than the first. Over on her myspace, Dimbleby & Capper (one person, it's worth pointing out) there are even more treats to be had, the strange collage of sounds on offer in Kissed Me being a highlight. Fantastic stuff to keep an eye on, surely a 7" deal must be in the works somewhere?

[MP3] Dimbleby & Capper - Structure - (Alt Link) - MP3 Source
[MYSPACE] Listen to more Dimbleby & Capper tracks at her myspace.
[TWITTER] Follow Dimbleby & Capper on twitter.

Absent As The Dust Begins To Settle

2009-04-09T18:58:00.003Z

Early in 2008 I wrote a small piece for Illegal Tender on a Bradford based singer/songwriter called Laura Groves. Fast forward a year and Laura is now operating under the Blue Roses moniker, making the same enchantingly delicate songs that first caught my attention. Her debut album is about to be released (27/04/2009) on XL Recordings following a fabulous 7" release in early March and she's also lined up to play some festivals this summer, including Bestival.

Blue Roses' album is, in the words of Laura, "to be found, kept and cherished; it is to be absent as the dust begins to settle, and longed for as ambience resumes". Upon listening, it feels like a discovery to be enjoyed and gently shared. These are soft and pensive tales told from behind a rain-strewn window pane; transcending our current appetite for instant musical gratification. Having listened to the album heavily this weekend, I feel attached to it in a way that not many records can manage. I want to own this physically, treasure it while awaiting the perfect moment for it's gentle finger-picked guitar and caressing vocals to drift towards me. Warm winter fires and red wine, slowly thumbing through the Sunday papers; hazy summer days in green fields; or gently kicking the first auburn leaves of Autumn.

I strongly recommend listening to the full album on Spotify or by pre-ordering from Puregroove, but if not we have the lead single from the album for you to download. Check out Blue Roses' website for more information and to sign-up to her mailing list.

[MP3] Blue Roses - Doubtful Comforts
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Blue Roses' debut album here.
[WEBSITE] Visit Blue Roses' site here.
[BUY] Pre-order Blue Roses's album from Puregroove.
[TWITTER] Follow Laura from Blue Roses on Twitter.

Wot No Spotify

2009-04-08T22:58:00.005Z

We're not going to write a habit of writing about things other than actual music, but for this, we think you'll appreciate the exception.

You might have noticed that a lot of our recent posts have been including links to this thing called Spotify, or mentioning it at least. Well, that's because it's the most exciting thing to happen to the internet + music since Hype Machine or Last.FM. Trust us, this changes everything. I can't remember where I first heard about Spotify, sometime as January was slowly limping along, but within a few hours I'd sent excited texts to as many people as I thought would listen and signed up a handful of friends. Needless to say they all had the same gradual feeling of epiphany as me upon realising just how big this thing was. And then they made their parents sign-up. Dad's became lost in Meat Loaf's back catalogue, Mum's enjoyed every last song from U2's latest album a week before everyone else. And together, we were hooked.

Put simply, Spotify is all the music in the world at your fingertips. It's a bit like iTunes, but if the 30-second previews weren't just previews. And it's not a half baked collection of "all the music in the world", it really is all there. Well, apart from The Beatles obviously... And some American indie label stuff such as Band Of Horses. Plus, it just keeps growing. My twitter regularly informs me that Spotify "just added another 5,000 tracks to the library", alongside weekly releases being added even before the shops are open or the post has arrived. You simply sign-up for a Spotify account (free, with the option to upgrade to premuim) and then download the small programme for your laptop. Fire it up, sign-in, and prepare to lost yourself. You'll hear a short 30-second advert every 7 to 10 songs or so, mostly just cute little messages from a Swedish girl appreciating how much everyone is enjoying the service. Or Iggy Pop.

[SIGN-UP] Get started on Spotify here.
[DOWNLOAD] And grab the download here.
[PLAYLIST] Add the Our Iron Lung playlist to your Spotify.

I Heard About Your Band

2009-04-07T22:44:00.003Z

Firstly, we're very happy to have another new writer on board, the wonderfully named Butler Hasson (codename, obviously). She's based in London and is closely involved with loads of exciting things happening at the moment, including the Camden Crawl. She'll be contributing all kinds of stuff, from live reviews through to introducing us to the capital's hottest acts. Hopefully we'll be bringing you her slant on the live show of heartbreakingly fragile Polly Scattergood early next week. Hold on tight, it's getting pretty exciting from here on in. And now for something closer to home...

It's a sadly rare occasion when a truly exciting band visits Lincoln, and all too often it's courtesy of the Engine Shed. Not that it's a bad venue, it's just nice to have variation. Saturday however, is different. Brakes, that wonderful mixture of musicians from Electric Soft Parade and British Sea Power, drop by the recently mobile Bivouac on the first date of a national tour supporting their new album Touchdown. Eamon from the band describes their new effort as "the fucking zenith of civilisation, it will make your jaw drop further than the Dow Jones in 2008". Support comes from the fabulous Voluntary Butler Scheme (you'll recognise their stand-out track Tabasco Sole from somewhere), Joe Actually, and the Mark 9's. So just to recap, that's two superb out of town bands, and two superb local bands. You'd be a fool to miss it. Ticket link is below, £8 delivered or £7 on the door.

[SPOTIFY] Listen to Brakes on Spotify.
[MYSPACE] Visit Brakes on myspace here.
[TICKETS] Get tickets direct from Bivouac here.
[BUY] Pre-order Touchdown from Fat Cat Records here.

One Day We're Going To Live In Paris

2009-04-06T21:31:00.003Z

It's rare to stumble across something so haunting, so incredibly poignant and fragile as the voice of Catherine A.D. I've been aware of her for quite a while, but never really took the time to listen properly to her. I don't want to lump her into a scene, but she has a similar fragility in her voice as Polly Scattergood, who was one of the standout acts of Latitude Festival '08. Music Week called her "ethereal, brooding and untameabley crucial listening", I just call her the dangerous shadow of female alt-folk. Apparently her new video will feature the ritual burning of the possessions of various contributors ex-boyfriends. Edgy. This cover just proves how far it's possible to move the already much-lauded material of Friendly Fires, demonstrated aptly enough by Au Revoir Simone's cover of Paris (listen on Spotify). The familiar electro sheen replaced with heartbreak violins and a sinister hollow drumbeat, gradually working up into a shearing & shifting mass of ramshackle anti-pop. Special stuff indeed.

Totally recommend checking out thesixtyone for more fantastic music. It integrates great into Facebook, has a really nice feel to it, and might just develop into something really really exciting. Plus, everything is free to download.

[MP3] Catherine A.D. - Paris (En Seine Mix) - (Alt Link)
[BUY] Buy Catherine's debut EP in physical or digital form.
[TWITTER] Follow Catherine A.D. on Twitter.
[MYSPACE] Visit Catherine A.D. on myspace here

2009-04-05T22:55:00.002Z

Late on a Sunday night.. What better time for a glance over the second Ox Eagle Lion Man EP courtesy of Cheryl?

Does anybody remember the much-loved London based band ‘Les Incompetents’? Well, born out of the ashes of their abrupt break up in 2006 came Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man, consisting of two previous members Fredrick Blood-Royale and Jareth, who were joined by Tommy Gunnzs on bass and Edward Quarmby as drummer (that is, after Bono Must Die front man turned drummer Tobi O’kandi left the band). However, their haunting experimental sounds are fields away from the raucous fun filled noise made previously by Les Inc.

According to Blood-Royale, their name is taken from the Book of Revelations, in which four angels take the form of an ox, eagle lion and a man in order to avoid an apocalypse. Deciding against the traditional route of making a full length album, OELM are planning a collection of EPs, their first, ‘Opus I: The Lay Of The Land; The Turn Of The Tide’ getting rave reviews which paved the way for their latest offering in the form of ‘Opus II: Obscured By A Setting Sun’, both released by Transgressive Records. Opus II is roughly 30 minutes worth of apocalyptic rock with frenzied guitars and Blood-Royale’s deep growl chanting out dark lyrics about everything from religion to humanity. Stand out tracks include single ‘Thy Will Be Done’; fast and dramatic it is the most memorable track on the album. Blood-Royale’s menacing voice bellows out the opening lyrics “Where is my free will? Am I just destiny fulfilled?” indicating the power behind this commandeering song, with intense drumming and frantic guitar work to boot. Yet the next track ‘Providence’ is the polar opposite, beautiful in places it manages to convey their softer side, at least for a while. OELM have shown their brilliance with this EP, it takes you through a route of sinister twists and turns and does leave you wondering what they will come up with next.

We've got the third track from Opus II for you to download, as well as the usual links to Spotify and places to purchase both EP's. OELM currently have no dates booked but are set to play The Great Escape festival in Brighton in early May.

[MP3] Ox Eagle Lion Man - Thy Will Be Done - (Alt Link)
[BUY] Buy OELM's releases direct from Transgressive here.
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Opus II on Spotify here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Ox Eagle Lion Man on myspace here.

2009-04-04T14:30:00.004Z

It's a given fact that any girl who idolises the characters in Me Without You, flicks off to 'Grace' by Jeff Buckley and puts Radiohead on when she has boys round, probably wants to be Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Back in 2003 the band were at the front of American art-rock with attitude, stinging egos and ears with their first LP Fever To Tell. One of the stand out tracks from that debut, 'Maps', went on to influence the sound of their second LP, Show Your Bones. It's slower tone and more delicate nature was a step away from the altogether rawer and aggressive sound of their debut. It was well received however, spawning the incredible indie-love anthem 'Cheated Hearts'.

Their latest effort, It's Blitz, exadurates some of the production nuances that were evident in their two previous albums. From the buzzing beat of album opener 'Zero' to the electro-pop stylings of 'Dragon Queen', there is a layer of production magic spread thinly over the whole affair thanks to TV On The Radio's David Sitek (also responsible for production on Foals debut LP). Having said that, it does have it's simpler moments, the slow pounding piano of 'Runaway' being the strongest example. It's Blitz is a Sunday album; hungover and tired but happy with the world. Fever To Tell was an album to lavish yourself with eyeliner and wine to before speeding into the city and it's dark corners. This is the morning after the night before, slipping in and out of sleep with face pressed tight into pillow. A gorgeous lament to modern romance.

It's Blitz! is released on Fiction Records on April 6th 2009. Here's standout album track Runaway for you to download.

[MP3] Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Runaway - (Alt Link)
[BUY] Buy a physical or digital copy of It's Blitz.
[SPOTIFY] Listen to It's Blitz on Spotify now.
[MYSPACE] Visit Yeah Yeah Yeahs on myspace here.

2009-04-03T13:40:00.007Z

Giantess make pretty party-worthy jams. They're like the tequila-fuelled love-child of Iglu & Hartly and Hockey, with a raging doubt that Passion Pit might actually be the father. They've practically swallowed a Lego kit of synths and beats before spewing it up again with a scream of intent. Sensible songs these are not, but they are very fun. The same sort of fun as ending up getting it on in the bathroom at a houseparty; edgy and immense at the time but with a distinct bitter taste of regret in the morning.

Giantess balance a thin line between loveable and irritating, they're not perfect in any form. But for those brief three minutes of losing yourself in a mess of limbs and sweat, it's totally worth it. Much like houseparty fucks. We've got two tracks here, both courtesy of the impeccable tastes over at Neon Gold. Enjoy!

EDIT// Giantess have just confirmed their debut release on Neon Gold, pre-order link below. You can also head over to the Neon Gold blog to grab a fresh remix of Tuff N Stuff!

[MP3] Giantesss - You Were Young - (Alt Link)
[MP3] Giantesss - Tuff'n Stuff - (Alt Link)
[BUY] Pre-order Giantess debut 7" on Neon Gold here.
[MYSPACE] Find Giantesss on myspace here.

2009-04-02T18:06:00.005Z

Named after a river in their native Texas, Bosque Brown write amazing, etheral folk songs. Backed by a full band on this their second album, Baby, from which we've got the second track to download. They've got a sound that's hard to pin down, wavering between fantastic vocal harmonies and cascading melifluous instrumentation. Baby was released in early March just before a string of well received SXSW shows, garnering attention from music blogs on both sides of the atlantic. With the press currently focused on Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Animal Collective; it's hard to see Bosque Brown not receiving more mainstream press in the UK. For now, just enjoy this taster and then head over to their myspace or site for more.

[MP3] Bosque Brown - Went Walking - Thanks to Force Field PR!
[SPOTIFY] Listen to Baby by Bosque Brown on Spotify.
[WEB] Check Bosque Brown out at her site here.
[MYSPACE] Or on myspace here.

2009-04-01T22:50:00.003Z

We're back from a break, ready to bring you smashing new reviews, interviews and features every day from here on in. April Fools, we are not. And so we begin with a review of The Rakes latest effort, Klang!

I never quite got caught up in the buzz surrounding The Rakes back in the heady days of 2004/2005, or indulged too heavily in their debut Capture/Release. However, the superb 'World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect' has been slowly lodging itself into my head over the past few months, alongside the rest of their fantastic sophomore album, Ten New Messages. Which is lucky really, seeing as their third effort takes that more sophisticated and produced sound of their second album as it's base, as opposed to the Paul Epworth produced tangle of their debut.

The Rakes are one of those bands that seem to revel in the day to day of life in a modern city. From 'The Loneliness Of The Outdoor Smoker' to 'Light From Your Mac' (“we can spoon or something, just don't show me the fucking futon”), Klang is an album drenched and dripping in the experiences and eloquence of night after night stumbling down brightly lit streets at darkly lit hours. Each track has a fantastic pounding energy behind it, a driving force of hollow drums and angular guitars dragging lead singer Alan Donohoe's vocal contributions along relentlessly. For me, Klang is the most refined example of The Rakes art-punk sound. An irresistable taste of smoke and haze; the soundtrack to casually calculated living.

[MP3]The Rakes - The Loneliness Of The Outdoor Smoker - (Alt Link)
[DOWNLOAD] Get more free downloads at RCRDLBL.
[BUY] Buy Klang from HMV or 7 Digital.
[MYSPACE] Check out The Rakes on myspace here.

2009-03-06T17:20:00.006Z

You might have heard the buzz about Mongrel giving their debut album away free with The Independent (a fine newspaper, and mine of choice) this past Saturday. The band is the latest outfit from outspoken and rather tall Sheffield legend John McClure who's previously voiced his poetic lyrics over past outfits Judan Suki, 1984, and most recently, Reverend & The Makers. When I interviewed him at the Lincoln stop on his last tour I was struck by his immense sense of conviction and an all encompassing desire to sort almost all the wrongs in the world. Sometimes overwhelming, always engaging.

Mongrel sees him joining forces with ex-Arctic Monkeys bassist Andy Nicholson as well as Matt Helders, Drew McConnell from Babyshambles, and Joe Moskow from Reverend & The Makers. The album is scattered with verses from (what i'm informed) are some of the country's best emerging MC's. Now, as an album it's a bit of a mixed bag. There's a healthy dose of hit, but an equally weighty amount of miss. Sometimes, such as on album opener Barcode, the song seems drowned by the attempt to integrate an MC verse, where as on other tracks it works perfectly well. A defining album it's not, but an intriguing effort it certainly is. Less of an obvious platform for John's lyrics as his previous outfit, but still putting them across with a weighty punch thanks to the Arctic Monkeys rhythm section. Interesting, intriguing, but in no way a perfect effort.

[MP3] Mongrel - Chosen Ones - Thanks Last.FM
[MYSPACE] Visit Mongrel on myspace here.
[BUY] Get hold of Mongrel's debut album here from 23/3/09.

2009-02-18T19:56:00.007Z

Apologies for the break in posts, been sorting lots of stuff out behind the scenes. Am now including alternative links for MP3's (hosted on yousendit) to include the blog in search results on Elbo.ws and Hypem, something overlooked previously. Got some fabulous content lined up, stay on board!

Micachu writes complicated but loveable songs about objects and objections. There's a fabulous depth in her tracks, performed/recorded with her backing group The Shapes, that gives her soon-to-arrive debut album Jigsaw tonnes of different facets over multiple listens. Rather super stuff! She lies in a strange middle ground between novelty and seriousness, her songs somehow skipping and stumbling along in a mesh of jarring chords and strange rhythm. Micachu studies composition in London which shines through in this deceptive complexity hidden in her songs. I've posted a fabulous remix of Metronomy's breakthrough single, Radio Ladio, as well as a stream of Micachu's debut single, Golden Phone.

[MP3] Metronomy - Radio Ladio (Micachu Remix)
[YOUTUBE] Watch Micachu play in a Brooklyn warehouse here.
[BUY] Pre-order Micachu's debut here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Micachu on myspace here.

2009-02-13T19:34:00.005Z

First off I want to introduce La Roux, she's a female synth-pop star from East London, real name Elly Jackson, and takes her name from the French for “red haired one”, in reference to her distinctive hairstyle. La Roux writes heartbreaking, insecure electronic waterfalls of pop songs. She takes angst and bitterness and channels them into something to play while you put your dancing shoes on, ready to get your own heart broken in a dingy club. “You're the upsetter, stroking my hand; what's my position?, I don't understand; am I your possession?, am I in demand?; oh when you turn to me, I'm in the quicksand”. Alongside another hotly tipped synth-pop female, Little Boots, she's set to take 2009 by storm. After dropping her debut single on the tastemaking Kitsune label she's all set to get things pumped up around Easter with her debut LP on Polydor, fresh from coming 5th in the BBC's 'Sound Of 2009' poll.

Next, a competition... We wrote about Esser a while ago, and Transgressive Records have sent some fabulous rare goodies our way to pass on to you! We're giving away a 12" of Esser's last single, Satisfied (featuring remixes from Toddla T and Mad Professor) as well as a couple of membership cards for Esser's fanclub and a bunch of stickers of the fellow himself with which you can plaster your surrounding area. To win this lovely bundle of goodies, just drop us an email telling us what your favourite OTHER Transgressive release is! You've got a few days to get those emails in and then we'll pick a winner at random.

[MP3] La Roux - Fascination
[YOUTUBE] La Roux - In For The Kill
[MIXTAPE] Esser - Midnight Moonstomp Mixtape
[BUY] Pre-order In For The Kill by La Roux here.
[MYSPACE] Visit La Roux on myspace here.

2009-02-10T14:25:00.003Z

As Fred & Liam get ready to bring you some fabulous photos and interviews from the NME Tour, here's Chez to fill us in on the latest release from wild boy Eugene McGuinness!

If Eugene McGuinness has passed you by without you taking a second glance, it’s time you started to pay the 22 year old Irish/Londoner some well deserved attention. With two releases under his belt, you have no excuse but to search them out. McGuinness uses his talent with words to his advantage, creating fascinating scenarios, occasionally influenced by the backdrop of past experiences, and then adding a dash of the unbelievable and his witty humour which makes you turn the volume to maximum - to the dismay of your neighbours - just to hear his vocal gymnastics pound out the playful words.

His first efforts come in the form of a short 30 minute EP; ‘The Early Learning’s Of Eugene McGuinness’, sweet and instantly enjoyable, however his second offering, the self-titled debut album, is certainly a step forward. Expanding his entourage by taking a band into the studio, it gives the album a much deeper sound, with an array of extra instruments added. There is a complementary mix of songs presented, from slow and romanticised melodies to fast-paced energetic pop fun all within the space of around 40 minutes. Highlights come in the form of ‘Fonz’, the soon to be single containing, without a doubt, the most memorable lyrics on the album, "We said farewell and we synchronized our watches/ Arranged for the meeting of our crotches", a delightful and highly infectious pop masterpiece; and ‘Those Old Black And White Movies Were True’ an astoundingly beautiful piece of music, with McGuinness’ soft crooning voice rising and falling over the words. So if there is one thing you guys should do this week its give this genre-hopping newcomer a listen.

He will be supporting The Rumble Strips on their forthcoming tour in late March/April, and new single Fonz will be released on 23rd February on Domino Records.

[MP3] Eugene McGuinness - Monsters Under The Bed
[YOUTUBE] Watch the video to Fonz here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Eugene on myspace here.
[BUY] Pre-order Fonz here.

2009-02-08T16:08:00.003Z

We never quite got caught up in the buzz surrounding The Rakes back in the heady days of 2004/2005, or indulged too heavily in their debut Capture/Release. However, the superb World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect has been slowly lodging itself into our heads over the past few months, alongside the rest of their fantastic sophomore album, Ten New Messages. Which brings us round to today and our discovery of the intriguing concept of Twestival, a kind of twitter-based music collective. I think... Anyway, the important part is that they're got a superb list of artists contributing tracks to download or stream over at Twestival.FM, one of which is this super new jam from The Rakes! You might have read about Twestival over at NME.com where they point out one of the most important parts of the project, it's commitment to secure donations to Charity: Water as a way of thanks for all the free music. The charity is "a non-profit [organisation] bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations", something we can't find much fault with. So enjoy the track we've grabbed for you, then head over to the Twestival site and spoil yourself. Go on, it's Sunday... Plus, you're no-one if you're not on Twitter.

[MP3] The Rakes - The Light From Your Mac
[TWESTIVAL] Go to Twestival.com for more info.
[DOWNLOAD] Get more exclusive tracks here.

2009-02-06T13:39:00.004Z

Bloc Party @ Wolverhampton Civic, 1/2/09. Photo by James Arnold.

Attention! Unbelievers. Fashion victims. Opportunists. Bloc Party are set to play the Engine Shed, Lincoln on October 12th. I was lucky enough to see them this weekend just gone live in Wolverhampton, a stunning reminder of why they're still as important as they were all the way back in 2004/2005. The material from Silent Alarm sitting perfectly alongside the gradual progression past A Weekend In The City to Intimacy. Their Engine Shed show is part of a month long tour coined Bloctober, a name we're still not quite sure on. Still, plenty of opportunities to see band in smaller venues again!

We've got a couple of tracks for you here, both favourites of ours. The first is an early leaked demo of Hunting For Witches from A Weekend In The City. Still featuring the trademark guitar and drum parts, but with some intriguingly different lyrics and a couple of other variations. The second is an early Bloc Party song that was re-recorded in the Silent Alarm sessions with Paul Epworth but ended up being relegated to b-side status. The previous version is available on the band's self titled debut EP, but this recording is far superior. A lost Bloc Party gem if ever there was one! I've also linked to a superb session the band recently did for KCRW's classic 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' show, showcasing a selection of tracks from Intimacy. Video and audio available.

[MP3] Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches (Demo)
[MP3] Bloc Party - The Marshals Are Dead (Paul Epworth Version)
[STREAM] Listen to Bloc Party on KCRW (29/1/09) here.
[PHOTOS] More photos from Wolverhampton Civic here.
[BUY] Buy Bloc Party material here.
[TICKETS] Buy tickets to Bloc Party @ Engine Shed, Lincoln here.
[WEB] Visit Bloc Party online here.

2009-02-04T19:36:00.002Z

See, the tricky one here is there's not really much to say about Pete Doherty himself. Tabloid villain, one of the driving forces behind the English music scene's reaction to The Strokes, addict, songwriter. He's a man so buried beneath stories of artistry and debauchery that it's seemingly impossible to comment on the real man himself. Our Iron Lung was invited to a premier of "24 Hours With Pete Doherty", an MTV documentary on the man himself, but yet another in a long line of various delves into Pete's life. We declined, but we hear it's pretty super.

Now then, Pete Doherty is set to play the Engine Shed on Tuesday 17th of March in support of his forthcoming solo album, "Grace/Wasteland". A rather swell title if ever there was one. We've been lucky enough to get hold of some songs from Pete's new album, courtesy of the folks over at Clash Magazine. Two gorgeous numbers in Lady Don't Fall Backwards and Broken Love Story, very similar to the softer parts of each Babyshambles album, further detached from his work with The Libertines. The real gem however is Last Of The English Roses, a superb clanging-drum driven rabble rouser of a tune. The Gorillaz-reminiscent intro dropping into strummed guitar and some wrenchingly impassioned lyrics. If the rest of the album manages to strike a balance between the flavour of these three tracks, we're in for a treat indeed. Pete's best output since The Libertines split? Almost certainly.

[MP3] Pete Doherty - Last Of The English Roses
[MP3] Pete Doherty - Lady Don't Fall Backwards
[MP3] Pete Doherty - Broken Love Story
[TICKETS] Buy tickets for Pete Doherty @ Engine Shed here.

2009-01-24T15:57:00.002Z

While I dance around the living room to Hot Chip covering Joy Division, planning my trip to Bloc Party, Jeremy Warmsley, and La Roux shows next week, I'll leave you in the capable hands of Chez, introducing Errors!

The Glaswegian quartet Errors really did take their time releasing their debut album, 'It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever’ (June 2008), but I figure we can let them off, as it really was worth the wait. The band originally formed in 2004 with Simon Ward, Stephen Livingstone and Greg Paterson as members. Then, following the release of their EP ‘How Clean Is Your Acid House?’ in 2006, they invited James Hamilton to join ranks. However, they hadn’t left us completely in the dark those past years, with their first EP ‘How clean…?’ and a couple of 7” limited vinyl’s to whet our appetites.

Their debut LP presents an innovative catalogue of songs, each unique, but to those of you familiar with their previous offerings, still hold a recognizable sound. With their new take on experimental electro-pop, they then go on to mash genres with hints of post rock seeping in to the occasional track, ‘Still Game’ being the obvious example of this. They are also comparable in places to 65daysofstatic and Youthmovies. Tracks like ‘Pump’, a 7 minute house influenced dance floor phenomenon, and highly infectious electro gem ‘Dance Music’, are instant favourites. London based musician George Pringle makes a guest appearance on ‘Cutlery Drawer’ uttering sultry monotone lyrics, the only track on the album to feature vocals. From start to finish Errors will invade your mind and not for one second will you regret it.

However it appears we aren’t the only people to recognise their gift as they have previously toured with both Underworld and 65DOS, and are also signed to Mogwai’s very own Rock Action label showing they are a force to be reckoned with. I have been lucky enough to witness their live shows and the atmosphere the band emanates from the stage is inspiring. Standing in the crowd you watch in pure adoration as they use a fusion of just guitars, drums and keyboards, and the occasional laptop, to produce heavy acid sounds and complex synthesized beats underpinned with traditional guitar arrangements alongside.

Soon to be embarking on a short tour around the UK and then bagging themselves a support slot on Mogwai’s European tour in January, if you have the chance to see these guys live, embrace it with open arms.

[MP3] Errors - Cutlery Drawer
[BUY] Buy Errors debut LP here.
[MYSPACE] Visit Errors on myspace here.
[WEB] Or take a look at their website here.

2009-01-20T21:01:00.003Z

I caught up with Florence Welch, songwriter and frontwoman of Florence & The Machine, back in November for a quick chat after her show at Nottingham Bodega. The main article is in the forthcoming issue of Bullet, but I thought I'd share some of her thoughts on today's main news with you, Barack Obama...

Turns out Flo is rather excited about America's latest president, "I mean what I'm really excited about is Barack Obama becoming president of the fucking United States! He's just the most amazing, gorgeous man, and America has elected him!". Echoing the words of many interviewed in the run up to his inauguration today, Florence goes on to profess that "we're living in glorious, magical times where anything can happen if you wish it. Do you know what I mean?". She goes on, "sometimes that's how I feel about all of this happening. If you wish for something enough, you long for it, and you think there's no hope, but then you'll sign a record deal!". Quite, I'm sure that's precisely how it felt to Obama.

Looking back to November, Florence was pretty full of energy, completely overexcited like a child in a sweetshop. Not that all this hope and dreaming means she wants to be compared to the man himself, quite the opposite. "We're going through this period of doom and gloom, depression, but there's still hope in like the world. But you know, lets not compare me to Obama! This man is a shining hope for the world and I just write these silly little songs about things". Rather good silly little songs though, right Flo? "I hope he cried when he found out he won! I mean I wept after my first gig, and after my first headline gig. He just seems like a man with so much emotion!". Here's a collective raised glass to Obama, now run along and buy some Ojamas...

I've posted a recording of Florence's cover of Beirut's 'Postcards From Italy', a superb summer track, debuting in it's original form on Beirut's debut album Gulag Orkestar. You can catch Florence & The Machine playing the NME Awards Tour this coming Jan/Feb with Glasvegas, White Lies, and Friendly Fires. The tour hits Lincoln on the 10th of February, tickets from all the usual outlets.

[MP3] Florence & The Machine - Postcards From Italy (Beirut cover)
[MYSPACE] Visit Florence on myspace here.

2009-01-19T17:04:00.003Z

First things first, there's nothing incredibly innovative about White Lies. Don't take that as an immediate criticism, it's just an observation. They borrow extremely heavily from Echo & The Bunnymen and Joy Division, as well as more recent acts such as Editors and Interpol. While lead singer Harry McVeigh's voice has a similar tone and rhythm to Ian Curtis, it also has it's own distinct flavour. In a similar way the places where they come across as most re-treading familiar ground they never quite flounder into plagiarism. Even on 'A Place To Hide', where they most resemble Editors recent material, the lyrical tone and darker production sets them apart. Taking influence from established and well respected acts such as E&TBM and Joy Division isn't a bad thing, and on 'To Lose My Life...' it seems to have paid off well.

'To Lose My Life' isn't a first date album, you're not going to fuck to it, you're probably not going to dance to it, you certainly won't drive to the beach in the summer to it's brooding tones. It's a winter album, an album to put on softly while you watch the rain running down the window pane in your old family house, an album to lie across the backseat and stare out at the motorway lights passing overhead to. It's an escape, a small world of melancholy and regret that you feel a part of for 45 minutes, before snapping back out into the hustle and bustle of your life. “Just give me a second darling to clear my head, just put down those scissors baby on this single bed. The sand in the hourglass is running low, I came through thunder, the cold wind, the rain, and the snow to find you awake by your windowsill. A sight for sore eyes and a view to kill”. It's certainly a lyrically a million miles away from Editors, even from Interpol. They're not going to set the world alight, and they sometimes let themselves down (“our lost love buried beneath the mud” anyone?), but McVeigh's words certainly serve to carry 'To Lose My Life...' along exceptionally well.

As an album 'To Lose My Life...' is structured impeccably, from the dark opening lines of 'Death' to the single-material of 'A Place To Hide', 'E.S.T.', and 'Farewell To The Fairground'. There's no clear filler tracks, nothing to break the flow, just a perfect undulation and slight change of feel from track to track. White Lies have come forward incredibly strongly over the last year, and this album isn't a disappointment. From this base, it'll be interesting to see where they take their sound next, but for now this is a worthy reflection of a band suitably entwined in the past yet justifying their existence in the present.

"To Lose My Life..." is out from today (19/1/2009) on Fiction. White Lies play the NME Awards Tour with Glasvegas, Friendly Fires, and Florence & The Machine; hitting Engine Shed, Lincoln on 10th February. Buy tickets online here.

[YOUTUBE] White Lies - To Lose My Life
[MOV] White Lies - Death
[MYSPACE] Visit White Lies on myspace.
[LABEL] Find out more about Fiction Records.

2008-11-19T16:52:00.005Z

Photo by Elisha Smith-Leverock.

I'll cut straight to the chase, Esser is the best thing to happen to pop music this side of the summer. Period. Formed from the ashes of the much-beloved Ladyfuzz, Ben Esser makes the kind of songs that should be soundtracking debauched 6th form parties the country over. Not that we'd like to comment much on the teen pregnancy rate if that happened. It's groovy stuff you see, fantastic electronic jams infused with this mixture of fucked-up calypso and stressed-out samples. With his debut single dropping on taste-making label Merok, he's now signed to home of previous outfit Ladyfuzz, Transgressive Records. We've got a slew of mp3's at the bottom of this post, hit them up.

Which brings us round to the second point of this post, MODA. Esser's latest single, Satisfied, has been remixed by the superb Toddla T who's already messed up beats for Little Boots, who some of you might have seen with Simian Mobile Disco @ Engine Shed back in September. I caught her DJ'ing at Offset Festival this summer and was suitably blown away. Seeing how on the ball MODA seem to consistently be, I wasn't that suprised when I realised that Toddla T is dropping over to Lincoln this Friday (21/11/08) for MODA @ Cell (flier). If you haven't been owned by MODA yet, there is no better time than now. In my opinion the smaller MODA parties at Cell always topped the larger bashes at Engine Shed, and with such an of-the-moment DJ dropping the beats, what's your excuse? As before, we've got that Toddla T remix of Satisfied, as well as a mix of Meddle by Little Boots. Get messy.

[MP3] Esser - I Love You, thanks to Bang On PR!
[MP3] Esser - Satisfied (Toddla T & Ross Orton remix)
[MP3] Esser - Satisfied (Bonus Remix). Know who sings on this? Drop us a line.
[MP3] Little Boots - Meddle (Toddla T remix)
[BUY] Buy Esser's debut release as a t-shirt here and new single Satisfied here.
[MYSPACE] Catch Esser on myspace here and MODA over here.
[FACEBOOK] Join Esser on facebook here and MODA here.
[WEB] Visit MODA online here and Esser here.

2008-11-04T19:07:00.007Z

Those of you smart enough to notice some small changes on our facebook group might already know that we've recently piled on a heap of new writers and photographers. First out of the blocks is the criminally astute Cheryl Burns, our ear to the ground in Leicester, with an introduction to what may well become your new love, Gossamer Albatross! Of course if you want to write for Our Iron Lung or take gorgeous pictures for the site, just drop us an email.

If, like me, you’re getting fed up with the same old indie streaming through your radio, Gossamer Albatross are certainly a breath of fresh air. Named after the infamous human powered, channel-crossing, aircraft (I presume), the band is hugely influenced by Final Fantasy and sound similar to an upbeat Horse Feathers. These four teenagers hailing from Hereford – three of which are classically trained – perform some of the most refreshing and original sounds around.

Regardless of their age (the oldest member being only 19) they show extreme promise with their exquisitely composed melodies. Lyrically, lead singer/ song writer Lewis Gordon crafts stories and images of emotions and experiences far beyond his tender age. The mixture of folk-pop and his unique distinctive voice are like a match made in heaven. The best proof of this comes from their self-titled 5 track EP - which contains gems like ‘Whispered Thoughts’, the most instrumentally adventurous of the tracks, and ‘Raging Bulls’, showing off Gordon’s exceptional vocal flair. It's all brought to you by the lovely Monosound Recordings. With their next single ‘The Ground Will Take Us Down’ being produced by Jeremy Warmsley, Gossamer Albatross seem to be one to watch...

[MP3] Gossamer Albatross - Raging Bulls
[MYSPACE] Visit Gossamer Albatross on myspace.
[LABEL] Find out more about Monosound Recordings at their myspace.

2008-11-04T03:17:00.003Z

Photo by Adam Rhoades, taken live @ Coffee Aroma. And now, I'll pass you over to Joe Mac!

As someone who plays the guitar and gigs around a fair bit, I am very used to people who come up to me before or after my set with tales of awesome guitarists; men who can play one-hundred-notes-per-minute, or make their guitar sound like a 10 piece band, or have the ability to cook their dinner whilst bashing out a solo. Although I nod enthusiastically, I won’t pretend that I don’t find these tales of mythical, mega-fingered beings incredibly tedious, and a little insulting. Imagine if you’d just scored a match-winning hat-trick in the FA Cup Final (I know, it’s a rubbish comparison), but you leave the pitch only to be regaled with tales of other people who scored 4 goals in the same situation.

However, for the 18 year old Elliott Morris, who hails from Lincoln, I have to make an exception. I won’t insult your intelligence by waxing lyrical about his superhuman abilities on the guitar because that would be annoying. I’m simply going to tell you that he’s rather good. Rather Jaw-droppingly good. Without veering off into the realms of hyper-bole, when Elliott plays, heads turn and people start pinching themselves. As grumpy as I sounded in my lengthy introduction, I believe in credit where it’s due, and the young Mr Morris definitely deserves it.

The most obvious comparison in his style of playing is Newton Faulkner. Yes, using three fancy pick-ups, he can create a big-sounding drum beat by tapping the body of the guitar, whilst simultaneously playing the strings with much precision and grooviness. That’s his style in a nutshell but, having shared quite few gigs with Elliott, I can happily say there’s much more to him; he is not a one-trick pony. The Faulkner comparisons end abruptly, as Lincoln’s own tappy-troubadour arguably possesses better clothes, hair (ginger hippy, anyone?) and, most importantly, songs. When you’ve got over watching the blizzard of hands, it’s impossible to miss the fantastic hit-potential of clever, emotive songs like `Half a Guy` and `Alone in the Dark`. I always chuckle with the line, “I get my order in the wrong words.” He never resorts to just showing off that unique playing style, unless it fits into the song.

Also, the great thing about Elliott is that he’s genuinely friendly. The ability to make a whole crowd swoon might go to many a lesser performer’s head, but Elliot is yet to be tainted by success, groupies or hard drugs. Here’s humbly tipping my guitarist’s cap in recommending that you check Elliott Morris out as quickly as possible. Then, in years to come, when I’m a wrinkly veteran of Kind open mic nights, you can start to tell me one of those stories about legendary guitarists, and I can say “I know, I told you, you fool".

[MP3] Elliott Morris - All I Am
[MYSPACE] Visit Elliott Morris on myspace.
[BUY] Buy Elliott's most recent EP now from his myspace.

2008-10-20T11:36:00.003Z

Now we realise that there's been a lot of talk about this guy for, well, forever now. We're pretty late on the ball, but not as late as if we tried to start telling you about Iglu & Hartly or MGMT. We just forgot to mention those when we first fell in love. Esau Mwamwaya has been featured in everything from NME Radar to Stool Pigeon, and a seemingly weekly guest spot on Gorilla Vs Bear, which we can't complain about too much seeing as that's where we first picked up on his brilliance.

Esau, along with producers Radioclit (responsible for production on Bonde Do Roll's debut record) has crafted one of the most exciting, inspirational, and downright listenable albums of the year. Featuring collaborations with Vampire Weekend, The Ruby Suns, M.I.A., and Santogold, it's tracklisting reads like a who's-who of this years hot artists. From the fabulous (and it's hard to pick one out of the many) reworking of M.I.A.'s Paper Planes, to the classical tinged vibes of Kada Manja, the album is a intriguing and pleasing journey through multiple beats and fusions. If you love any of the contributing artists, you'll love this. And just to top things off, most of it is sung in Malawian. Which coincidentaly, is where Esau hails from. It's as if Ladysmith Black Mambazo had produced the Vampire Weekend record, or as if Santogold gone less beat-hop and more afro-beat. Grab the mp3's below, keep an eye on the myspace for the free download album on November 1st, and prepare to hammer this all winter long. Lush.

[MP3] Esau Mwamwaya - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
[MP3] Esau Mwamwaya - Kada Manja (Classical)
[MYSPACE] Visit Esau Mwamwaya on myspace, album for free download on November 1st.

2008-10-12T20:48:00.004Z

So the rather splendid, rather hyped Holy Fuck have released a split 12" with Foals on the equally splendid Young Turks label, home to said band. Being the super fellows that they are, Mr and Mrs Young Turk have let nice high quality digital downloads of each slice of the twelve inch cake available for download on their blog. It's pretty vocal-light reinvention of the now classic breakthrough single from the Oxford angle-rockers, but a completely awesome track in it's own right. What better way to celebrate Foals's immense return to the Engine Shed than with a fitting tribute to them? Which leads me round to... How many people saw Foals play at the Bivouac? A nice mention from Yannis on Friday night, but rumour has it a paltry twelve people attended their debut visit to Cathedral City. Shocking. Let's hope that when The Kabeedies return to the Engine Shed after going to the stratosphere and back, similar notoriety is attached to their first visit to the city! How could it not be...

[MP3] Holy Fuck - Balloons - Buy here.

2008-09-30T10:37:00.003Z

Quite a while back, the superb Joe Mac wrote this review of the then freshly released self-titled Santogold album. Now recently recovered from a mess of emails, it's here for you to read and digest. Enjoy!

If you’re fickle like myself, and tend to judge books (and CDs) by their covers then Santogold’s eponymous debut album is very much for you. Like a magpie, I was greatly attracted to it by the shiny cover, on which the striking Santogold looks like she’s sicking up glitter everywhere. Lovely! Like me, you might also have been drawn in by the sticker with NME’s quote `the Queen of Pop in 2008` or the general hype and rave reviews she’s been receiving. I wanted to know if the acclaim was justified.
Santogold (real name, Santi White) definitely has the look. She brings two robot-babe dancers to aid her in her performance. She wears the right clothes and knows the right people (Spank Rock, M.I.A, and Switch have all been involved on the album.) When she’s not busy networking, the former A & R rep./punk band frontwoman is penning innovative pop, gigging it and polishing her trainers (probably). This album is the fruit of her labour and it seems to reflect the variety of influences and experiences Santi has absorbed. Her distinctive, smooth-as-cream voice on tracks like `Lights Out` is reminiscent of Blondie in her `Eat To The Beat` prime. `Your Voice` (available as a free download here) is a sublime exercise in reggae-tinged relaxation.

Still, Santogold is not above getting gritty, as is perhaps best demonstrated on her best known track, `L.E.S. Artistes`, which was one of the tracks of last year. A highlight of the album, it’s one of those tunes that will require a lobotomy should you wish to extract it from your head (you won’t.) `Unstoppable` is an intergalactic funk fugitive, resplendent with bleeps and the sound of an old modem connecting to the internet (why has this previously irritating noise become so ubiquitous in dance/hip hop/electro?!) Apparently, Santi White lives on the same street as futuro-pioneer, M.I.A. and you can imagine them chilling out to this album in their oxygen tents (or whatever it is futuristic people do.)

So, does Santogold bring anything new to the crowded platter of pop? Well, not really. In a recent interview, Santi admitted a love of 80’s music; "I felt that a lot of pop music from the ‘80s had a depth to it, and I hope to bring back some more good pop songs.” She has succeeded, as we’ll probably all get sick of `Creator` and `Les Artistes` after repeat viewings of Loreal’s hair adverts or nights out clubbing. Like the best ‘80s pop, this is a brilliantly produced, slick effort with an emphasis on simple melodies and hooks. While there are plenty more bombastic, revolutionary and futuristic pop albums out there, (think Muse’s Supermassive Blackhole or MIA’s Kala) this is worth a listen, but if you’re expecting to be blown away by originality you’ll be slightly disappointed.

[MP3] Santogold - Your Voice - Buy album here
[MYSPACE] Find Santogold on myspace here

2008-05-26T14:44:00.002Z

You may have heard the story surrounding this album; troubled artist, Justin Vernon retreats to his father’s log cabin in the Wisconsin woods, where for three months he lives alone, hunting deer and recording songs under the name `Bon Iver` (bad-French for `Good Winter`). A bit like that Sean Penn film, `Into The Wild` then, except we get a great album at the end of the ordeal. It’s an interesting story, and one that the music industry has lapped up eagerly. In the space of two days, I went from not knowing who Justin Vernon was, to being bombarded by acclaim from BBC 6 Music, Later… with Jools Holland, The Observer and MOJO.

So, apart from the cinematic tale of the lonesome grizzly-man imposing self-exile on himself and living with the animals, why all the hype about Bon Iver? Well, to start, there’s Justin Vernon’s voice. It’s haunting in the same way as Jose Gonzalez or Ian Curtis, but elevated to an eerie falsetto. Sometimes he multi-tracks his voice like a choir, a technique which is most effective on `Lump Sum`. You can almost feel the loneliness of being in a derelict log-cabin in the middle of the woods, with only the sound of your own voice as comfort. However, the album is as uplifting as it is depressing. Vernon is gifted the same talent for restrained melancholy that the late Nick Drake.

The 9 songs of `For Emma, Forever Ago` sound at once modern and dated, as though they could have been written 100 years ago. Though Vernon’s poetic lyrics are always abstract, like ripples on lakes of sadness, they never seem gushingly emotive. There are no melodramatic overstatements on show here. Some of the harshness of his wilderness experience seeps through in the foot-stomping `Skinny Love` with imagery of “blood seeping down the sink” and “breaking at the britches”. Vernon says that his hazy lyrical style has been inspired by the Midwestern songwriters John Prine and Richard Buckner, though his style remains alluringly unique.

Even down to the obtrusive snow of the gloomy album cover, these songs have a touch of creepiness and isolation about them, that could be easily mistaken for `dull` or `depressing`. On closer inspection, they are anything but. Listening, one can imagine Vernon living nearby the Blair witch in a ghostly forest. However true the story of this album is, it is a strikingly original one and Vernon has succeeded in conveying a heart-breakingly raw set of songs that go against the current musical landscape. Whenever you feel like things are getting on top of you, shut yourself in the garden shed with this album and enjoy the solitude.

- Joe Mac

[MP3] Bon Iver - Skinny Love - Buy the album here
[VIDEO] Bon Iver - Skinny Love (Live on Later...)
[MYSPACE] Bon Iver on myspace

2008-05-12T17:25:00.002Z

I've generally avoided writing about I Was A Cub Scout, mainly because they're such an obvious choice for a Lincoln focused music blog. But when this little gem dropped into my inbox this afternoon, I couldn't contain my excitement.

It's a gorgeously bouncy cover of the classic Cure track, prefect for long lazy summer days. Harnessing the same semi-frantic power-pop drumming as their debut album and layering Todd's ever-distinct vocals over the top, IWACS have managed to create something fun and playful, yet ever their own. Totally delicious.

[MP3] I Was A Cub Scout - Close To Me - Buy debut album here.

2008-03-13T14:20:00.006Z

As summer draws closer, the nights grow shorter and hotter, and Lincoln wakes from its winter slumber; here's another fabulous update from Joe Mac on everyones new favorite band, MGMT.

Hailing from as far away as Connecticut, MGMT are an exotic prospect. The band, made up of Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, recently performed their single `Time to Pretend` on the David Letterman Show whilst dressed in space-age capes, and would probably like you to believe that they come from the Milky Way. An unofficial website describes their sound as “an enigmatic and prophetic collection of hallucinatory sounds and hook-riddled pop tones for the new millennium.” Though this may sound baffling and extravagant, it’s not all that far from the truth. It’s clear, after listening to just a few of their tracks, that MGMT share a similar aura of mysticism to that which made Klaxons so appealing to many.

Weekend Wars boasts an intro full of lyrics recalling “quivering beasts” and “evil ashore”, sung by … in an awesome David Bowie style. Grandeur suits MGMT very well, as echoes ring through the glam-rock swathes of melody. Imagine Rocky Horror set in a school yard, and you’re not far off. The song cries “epic” and is definitely a highlight.

It’s clear that the group have really put a lot of thought into their music, and this is a good thing, though sometimes they risk sounding a bit too cold and calculated. That’s not to say that there’s oodles of fun to be had in songs like Electric Feel, which comes on strong like the Bee-Gees underwater. “Enjoy yourself, take only what you need from it” they sing on Kids. Perhaps they’re right and you should just try and lose yourself in the preposterous synthesiser and the skittering sound of SNES melodies and Casio-inspired rhythms. It’s like if the Scissor Sisters got maudlin and turned themselves into a computer game. MGMT make technicolour music, grounded in post-apocalyptic flights of fancy. If that’s your bag, then check them out.

Debut full length album, `Oracular Spectacular`, is out now on Columbia Records, and they are currently touring the US with Yeasayer.

[MP3] MGMT - Weekend Wars - Buy here.
[VIDEO] MGMT - Time To Pretend (high resolution version)
[MYSPACE] MGMT on myspace.
[WEBSITE] Retina-burning MGMT website.

2008-01-14T19:47:00.000Z

In a similar kind of way to announcing we're pregnant, but with 9 months skipped, we now have a new contributor! The fabulous, somehow overlooked on these pages, Joe Mac! He'll be reviewing gigs in Lincoln, letting us know about artists he's in to at the moment, as well as reviewing local releases! So with out further ado, over to Mr Mac...

Fuck Buttons, made up of Benjamin John Power (what a name!) and Andrew Hung are currently touring the US and Canada until May, so might just jump out of the woodwork and surprise you with a UK tour just when you’re getting bored of spring. Apparently they used go to the pub with Foals, and cite their influences as “the loud and the free.”

The track, 'Sweet Love For Planet Earth', starts off with a twinkly keyboard bit that manages to sound epic without blasting your eardrums. But blasted they will be when, one minute in, a booming synth comes in, sounding like the Death Star if it had a ringtone. `Sweet Love For Planet Earth` sounds like a rocket accelerating into orbit, and when they distorted vocals kick in after a few minutes it’s like the band have encountered aliens. I am, of course speaking nonsense here, but basically, it’s an enchanting track for a band with so blunt a name, that kept me hypnotised for the entire 10 minutes. Give it a go when you’ve just finished a big, boring piece of work early in the morning and you have a pair of decent headphones handy.

Another kickass new song/band/dude has to be Jonjo Feather. He looks a bit like the Hessian from Sleepy Hollow if he was into 50s rock ‘n’ roll crooners and polka dots. Anyway, looks aside, the man has some fine tunes that chug along with warm, fuzzy guitar and jingly tambourine cymbals. You have to start off with 'I Suppose', it comes across as a brooding, sinister-sexy first date song. The breathy singing is menacing and nonchalant at the same time. A very cool song well worth checking out.

[MYSPACE] Fuck Buttons on myspace.
[MYSPACE] Jonjo Feather on myspace.

2007-12-11T20:52:00.000Z

The Idlers have come on leaps and bounds within the Lincoln scene, taking themselves from fresh University upstarts to steadfast flag-fliers within the space of two years. This release aims to cement the whirlwind guitar sound that The Idlers have developed, taking it from a live performance to a double A-sided reality. The two songs, 'Momentum' and 'Silhouettes' could practically merge in to each other, feeling, as all good double A-sides should, like two parts of the same idea. With guitars that drive with a charming shyness, forever hiding behind each other, yet always punching back from behind the rhythm section, this release is the strongest yet from the band. It takes over a territory left behind by old Lincoln bands such as Rotary Ten or One Word Poem, changing the markers and lines, but keeping the same eagerness and ambition. "I've heard that this is the time, and this is the place" sings Joe, with an earnest and energy transcending their sometimes yearning live show. For The Idlers, it is right here, on the edge of something massive, that really is their time and place.

[MYSPACE] The Idlers on myspace.
[WEBSITE] Visit The Idlers website here.
[BUY] Buy from the band direct here.

2007-11-22T19:58:00.000Z

Just a quick one to fill you in on some events in Lincoln which have been anounced in the last few weeks. Some of these are old news, some of these aren't, but there are some great MP3's by most of the bands mentioned at the bottom of the page.

Firstly, Charlotte from The Subways is playing a DJ set @ Sakura this coming Tuesday 27th November. Tickets are £4 advance from Kind bar, or £5 on the door. Exciting stuff, but shame its not the full band.

Erol Alkan is making a much anticipated trip to Lincoln on Friday 30th of November to play Audiojak at the Cell. Doors are from 9pm, £6 entry. This is going to be heaving, make sure you get their early. Erol is one of the most prestigious movers in the british electro indie scene, remixing everyone from the likes of Bloc Party to Klaxons. Famed for his live show, a complete and utter must-see!

Club Indiependance makes another big-hitting appearance at the Cell in mid-December for its Christmas Party with a headline slot from NME-darlings Blood Red Shoes, a drums/guitar combo from Brighton who have previously toured with Pull Tiget Tail and the Rumble Strips. Keep an eye on the Club Indiependance myspace for more information, and find a fabouls remix of their debut single at the end of the post.

In February the Engine Shed plays host to Lincoln's very first NME Tour date, with scenster darlings The Cribs, along with support from Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong, Does It Offend You Yeah?, and The Ting Tings. A fabulous collection of band names if ever there was one! There's an mp3 from JL&TJJJ below, while tickets are available now from the Engine Shed box office and at all the usual online sources.

Lastly, the Drill Hall returns to the live music fold with a revitalised incarnation of its Pioneer Club, now under the guise of 'Now we are: lincoln'. This night is now promoted by local indie lads Andy and Luke, both veteran DJ's or band members. Their opening night is on Saturday 2nd February when they play host to the fabulous King Creosote. You can find a gorgeous song by him below, along with material from the other artists mentioned above.

[MP3] Blood Red Shoes - It's Getting Boring By The Sea (Blamma Blamma Remix)
[MP3] Joe Lean & TJJJ - Lucio Starts Fires
[MP3] King Creosote - Admiral

2007-11-19T23:15:00.001Z

Its the beginning of the week, you want something to awaken you, jump you out of your seat in the cold run up to the Christmas holidays. How about a glut of spine tingling remixes?

- Foals - Hummer (Passions Remix) - Buy here.
First up is a remix of the now classic post-Klaxons party anthem, Hummer by Foals. Emerging this year as possibly one of the most exciting party bands to come to the surface since Skins forever engrained the Soulwax edit of 'Standing In The Way Of Control' on our brains as the only party song the cocaine loving over-16 will ever need. This is classic Foals, keeping all the beats and main vocal lines of the original, but infusing them with a floor killing cowbell line and a million-and-one French knob twists. Its a paint by numbers re-edit of something its hard to mess with without losing the integral appeal. While I'd love to hear something like a Diplo remix of this, it seems this is the best thats going to drop so far.

- Calvin Harris - Merrymaking (Kissy Sellout Remix) - Buy here.
Starting out with some Kate Nash style piano chords and scales, this soon descends into a bassy, flicky synth driven stomper. Keeping pretty light on the typical strong dance beats, it relies on reforming the already dancey riffs and synth lines while layering them over each other in increasingly affected ways, fabulous stuff. In a similar way to the Foals remix above, it manages to keep the original format of the song while sexing it up significantly. Fresh but sub-par take on an already incredible song by one of the most exciting remixers going at the moment.

- Bloc Party - Flux (Goodbooks Magnetism Remix) - Buy here.
This was given away free with last weeks copy of NME in the UK, along with remixes by JFK and Punks Jump Up, but for those of you who don't buy NME, or live out of the UK, here it is again. Its a cracking take on a song that isn't too perfect in its original incarnation. This remix adds some much needed structure to the song, breaking it up a bit, giving it some build and slowdown, seperating the choruses and verses out, all while wrapping it in this fantastic ramshackle electro sheen. Fabulous stuff!

- Ladyfuzz - Oh Marie (Jeremy Warmsley Gospel Truth Edition) - Buy here.
A predictably fantastic remix of the standout single from the only album by the now defunct Ladyfuzz. Once signed to Transgressive Records, putting on one of the best live shows I've seen in years didn't seem to keep this band alive and well. I can't seem to find why Ladyfuzz split, but it was news to me today. Shame. On this, Jeremy takes the vocals from the track, and in a similar way to his Mystery Jets remix, layers them over some soft bedroom-electro and ghostly sounds. Its like sticking Liz from Ladyfuzz in an antiques shop alone, adding some ghostly kids in to the mix, stiring it all around, and then recording the results. Fabulous stuff.

[MP3] Foals - Hummer (Passions Remix) - Buy here.
[MP3] Calvin Harris - Merrymaking (Kissy Sellout Remix) - Buy here.
[MP3] Bloc Party - Flux (Goodbooks Magnetism Remix) - Buy here
[MP3] Ladyfuzz - Oh Marie (Jeremy Warmsley Gospel Truth Edition) - Buy here.

2007-11-13T16:42:00.001Z

Although at times it feels like this might turn in to a Jeremy Warmsley blog, we're not completely obsessed. However, its time time to swing back round to the guy, seeing as he's currently recording new material and debuting it on the road with artists such as I'm From Barcelona and Maps. We made it along to one of these shows in Nottingham back in September, thanks a lot to Jeremy for sorting us out on that front, and recorded 3 of the new songs he was debuting. He played an acoustic set, mainly because he wanted to debut new songs on this tour, and not be constrained by only playing songs he'd devised full band parts for. I think at least half of the material in his short 30-minute set was new, sitting really well alongside the acoustic performances of his old material. I'm going to post the three videos, you can find mp3's of the recordings at the bottom of the post, along with a couple of other bonus Jeremy Warmsley tracks. If you like his stuff, make sure you pick up a copy of either his debut album 'Art Of Fiction', or one of his early EP's, all available on Transgressive Records.

Untitled - http://www.youtube.com/?v=35erbdTPmlE
Tip-tapping piano, quite similar to tracks on Art Of Fiction. The piano skips around the melody nicely, playing off each word in the verses before matching back in to time for the chorus. "You saw me dancing with the enemy, dancing with sympathy, some kind of guarantee, I danced with the enemy".

Untitled 2 - http://www.youtube.com/?v=XMTFgHSAZrY
Guitar strumming, stop-start rhythm, very different from anything on Art Of Fiction. "You make me lose my cool, and all the things I thought defined my sense of myself; you make me lose my cool, and you, you come at last, now tell me what to do; my shadow is alive and my composure is gone, I've lost all sense of myself". A chorus delivered with wrenching earnest, soaring painfully as the guitar builds and supports the desperation in the lyrics.

Crane Flies - http://www.youtube.com/?v=NzZ6V1zd5WY
After a gorgeous 3 minute piano led description of crane flies circling over lovers heads as they tell each other their secrets, this erupts into cascading piano keys and sudden bursts of energy and brutality. Absolutely incredible live as it builds up to the soaring crescendo of an end.

[BUY] Buy Jeremy Warmsley's records direct from Transgressive here.
[LIVE MP3] Jeremy Warmsley - Untitled
[LIVE MP3] Jeremy Warmsley - Untitled 2
[LIVE MP3] Jeremy Warmsley - Crane Flies
[BONUS MP3] Jeremy Warmsley - After The Fact
[BONUS MP3] Mystery Jets - On My Feet (Jeremy Warmsley Mendicant Mix)

2007-11-11T17:43:00.001Z

At long last, here's the fabulous new video for Our Iron Lung favorites, Lincoln's very own I Need To Discover. Having supported bands such as Goodbooks and Louie at Club Indiependance, as well as Bono Must Die and Late Of The Pier at House Of Jealous Lovers, I Need To Discover have their debut single 'Mix And Match' out later this month on Square Peg Round Hole Records. Its already been featured in Artrocker, Sandman, and Bullet, and the video is to be on MTV2 by mid-week. I Need To Discover have several single launch parties planned to celebrate the release on 26th November, including Lincoln on the 28th, and London on the 1st December, make sure you get along to those. For now, I'll leave you with the video and an old demo MP3 to keep you happy until the 26th.

[MP3] I Need To Discover - Trainwreck - Buy from HMV on 26th November.
[VIDEO] I Need To Discover - Mix & Match
[MYSPACE] I Need To Discover

EDIT:// The physical release of Mix & Match has been put back to the 10th of December, iTunes to 3rd December. Keep an eye on the I Need To Discover myspace for more info and pre-order links.

2007-11-09T18:38:00.001Z

So, its been pretty quiet around here recently, since the heat and squalor of the summer. However, lots has changed since then. Our Iron Lung now has DJ sets at Club Indiependance at the Cell in Lincoln every Wednesday, showcasing the best in fresh indie and electro. We like playing local bands, they like hearing their songs being played. We also help book bands for Club Indiependance, as well as another night in Spilsby, allowing us to book live slots for Our Iron Lung's favorite local artists such as Aurora Stripe and I Need To Discover. On another note, I (Liam) now write for the Lincoln SU magazine Bullet, as well as Sandman Magazine, distributed free in Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, York and Hull (25,000 copies a month!). Its all go in this world. This post is going to be pretty packed full of media, so lets begin.

Firstly, this time last weekend I was down in Skegness watching Pigeon Detectives. Unfortunately no local support bands, but still a pretty stunning show, you can see a video I took embedded below.

Next up is this Wednesday night just gone at Club Indiependance, where we had great sets from Joe Mac, Dirty Backbeats, Rosalita, and The Displacements. There'll be a full review in both the new issue of Bullet, out the end of November, and the December issue of Sandman. For now, you can see some fabulous pictures from the night on Scott Murray's flickr page here and download some mp3's by each of the bands at the bottom of the page.

Finally, I've been playing the new Young Knives single Terra Firma to death at Club Indiependance, and as some kind of weird reward from Transgressive Records, have been showered with heaps of Young Knives badge sets and Terra Firma posters/fliers. Seeing as these are currently cluttering up my otherwise gorgeous room, I figured I should get rid of them, so... A free bundle of Young Knives goodies and possibly some other extra stuff to the first five people to drop me an email (address is in the sidebar) with the subject "Fake Rabbit Real Snake".

[YOUTUBE] Pigeon Detectives - You Know I Love You (Live @ Skegness)
[MP3] The Displacements - Frontline Hearts - Buy here.
[MP3] Dirty Backbeats - The Bop - Visit the myspace here.

2007-08-27T01:41:00.000Z

While Our Iron Lung was on holiday over the summer, we met up with Jeremy Warmsley at Summer Sundae in Leicester to have a little chat before he dashed back down to London, discovering a love for Gary Barlow, some capers with someone else's drumkit, and a strange tale about a blue tunnel...

- Jeremy, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. How did you feel your show went today?

Yeah, it was good. I was really car sick on the way up, but as soon as I got on stage I was like, "whoosh!" here we are. It was a bit wierd as we walked on stage there were like these signs or projections behind us with like, 'Night Of The Living Horror' or 'Zombie Death' written on them. Very wierd.

- Cool. Are you hanging around today to see some more bands?

No, we can't actually. We've got to dash back to London because some of the guys in the group have other commitments. Spiritualized tommorow night would be one of the things I'd stick around for, definetly.

- Bad luck then... Ok, you've got a new album coming out soon, how's that going?

Soonish... Yeah, its going really well. Just got a bit of singing left to do. I played some new stuff today which was nice.

- Is the new material taking any paticular direction?

Um, yeah, actually. Its more extreme! The pop bits are more pop, the wierd bits are wierder, and so on. Its kind of more of the same.

- So is it good to be getting back into the studio then?

Of course, its great. I mean like, my thing in the studio is to dictate things myself as much as possible. To be able to set things down. Not have a situation impossed on me, actually go in there and do things that I want to do, and I'm able to that in more exciting ways than ever before.

- Ah, because you used to record in a bedroom/DIY kind of way didn't you?

Yeah, I still do some stuff in the bedroom, well, my house. We actually did the drums for this album in a very nice studio where there was this drumkit set up which actually belongs to quite a famous band, which we used. I don't think I should really say who though, they might be angry.

- What about featuring other artists on this album? Of course you had Emmy The Great singing on your first album, and numerous other guest vocalists on your EP's...

Thats right but this album I'm trying to concentrate more on my own. Getting my own stuff together, and then hopefully next time I can go for some collaborations! I mean, all of the people who play with me live are on the record, plus we've got another drummer called Andy Betts. There's a band called Three Trapped Tigers and three of the four musicians from that band are on my new record. Amazing musicians! Its wierd, this album is a lot more... I don't know. The last album I sort of planned out all the songs in my head, sorted them all out as demos before I started recording properly in the studio.

- Yeah, your last album was very split in half... The first half more, 3 and a half minute pop songs, and then longer more experimental material in the second half of the album.

Well, hopefully I'll be doing something similar again. 45 minutes is a long time to be doing just one thing. I want to mess around with ideas and maybe experiment as well. I prefer to think of an album as, like you said, two EP's stuck together. Its like an album tries to be a 40 minute statement, where as, surely there's nothing wrong with a 20 minute statement if you make it concise. And if you can be concise twice then stick them together it has the same effect.

- As far as having the freedom to record the album you want, something progressive, taking it in the direction that you want to, do you find its helpful being on Transgressive Records?

Yeah, I mean the only imposition they set on me is to do what I want to do. I mean, I have friends in bands on other labels, and they'll talk about how they need to change the lyrics in one song, or put strings on another, things like that. So, I don't think I could work with those constraints.

- What about the label you put your debut release out on, Excercise1?

Well, that really was just a bedroom recording! It was a very early version of I Believe In The Way You Move, with a couple of b-sides, both of which are on the Art Of Fiction actually. They only ever put out about 300 copies though, so... I think the video is on Youtube somewhere.

- As far as Transgressive goes, they've got quite a few similar artists to you...

You think so?

- Yeah, I mean, Larrikin Love for instance. Did you sing on their album?

Um, no. But Jamie T did, and Mechanical Bride, who is signed to Transgressive.

- Ah, thanks for that. But would you say that you have a similar sound to Transgressive or ex-Transgressive bands such as Larrikin Love, Mystery Jets, and so on..?

I think the thing with a lot of the Transgressive bands is that... No, wait. I'm not really sure, I think its something you'll have to ask the guys who run the label, Tim and Toby.

- Whats your first memory of listening to music? The first time it made you sit up and think?

I think, possibly when I was about 8, I remember listening to Handel's 'Messiah'. I mean I'm not in to classical music in a big way, but I remember listening to it with my eyes closed laid on my bed. Its not the most exciting piece of music and I think I half drifted off, having this wierd dream that I was swimming through this strange blue tunnel thing. This was all, maybe 5 years before I got in to any other type of music, so...

- Thats a nice story! What about when you first started writing? What made you want to start creating your own music?

You know what, like a lot of people I didn't really think about it at the time. I just started learning guitar, learning some chords. Then making my own songs, seeing if I could fit words to what I was playing. There was never some burning message or desire inside of me that I had to unleash on the world, it was more some kind of like, oh, I'm going to write some songs!

- Ok, so you've toured with quite a lot of bands now. After all, you've been touring as Jeremy Warmsley for, what, two years now? Which one of them was the most, I don't know, fun?

Mystery Jets, for sure! They're all such great lads. I only did three dates with them, it was meant to be this serene acoustic thing. We did like an art gallery gig and all these other lovely weird venues... Penzance, Exeter, the west country I think it was... I mean, my partying days are over, but it was just a lot of fun!

- So on the other hand, what artist was most inspiring to tour with, musically?

Well, the Mystery Jets again, obviously. REgina Spektor was a real inspiration night after night. I did a show with Daniel Johnston which was a real eye opener, he's someone who can really perform.

- Awsome! Lastly, if you could be in any boyband which boyband would you want to be in?

Take That, definetly! I was reading all about, whats the guy... Gary Barlow! I was reading his autobiography in a service station and he was a prodigy on the organ! Seriously, he was playing in working mens clubs at 11! Thats definetly something to aspire to!

- Great, thanks a lot Jeremy!

No worries!

Thanks a lot to Jeremy for talking to us, and to Hannah and Jenny for holding important things while I was chatting.

2007-08-02T14:31:00.001Z

Dark Sparks's mission statement invites us to hold on to them, through nights of beating drums and hearts, the world that can pass you buy when you're just sitting still. Their music, and the forthcoming double A-sides of Blood Petrol Fire and Bullet In The Eye, reflect this energy and desperate yearning for substance in an otherwise watercolour world. Blood Petrol Fire's pounding drums and sparky, jumpy guitar, soon covered in an abrasive rendition of the tracks title refrain, set out the tone for this and the following track. As singer Leigh Greenwood dives in and out of verses and chorus, his voice complimenting the relentlessly driving guitar perfectly. Its only for a couple of bridges part way through the song that the full-on sound experienced so far lets up, breaking down in to a more melodic strummed line or two. If Dark Sparks let up in quality anywhere, it’s in their sustained aggressiveness, particularly showcased on these two tracks. It’s great to have pounding drums and guitars, but coupled with Leigh's vocals, it can lead to Dark Sparks material being slightly too intense. There is a thin line to tread here between energy and cacophony.

Listen to Blood Petrol Fire on Dark Sparks' myspace, download the flip-side, Bullet In The Eye below, and buy both tracks as well as others, at the link below.

[MYSPACE] www.myspace.com/ilovedarksparks
[MP3] Dark Sparks - Bullet In The Eye
[BUY] Buy from Indie Store.

2007-07-31T19:30:00.000Z

Alright, its got quiet again, regretably. But i've been horribly busy, up and down to London, travelling across the county for party after gig after party. So, armed with a new bag, big enough for my laptop, and some incredible music twisting around my head, I'm back with energy.

Firstly, I'd love to share a track I discovered the other night when the new album from ex-Concretes front woman Victoria Bergsman finally landed in my CD player. Its a slow beating romance of a song, gently luring you in to a hazy and warm world, with Victoria's trademark lush vocals drapping over the track like a comfortingly soft woolen blanket. Truly incredible stuff, which the rest of the album doesn't fail to live up to. A gorgeous break from the hussle and bustle of the last few weeks. "We rarely speak, but I think of you a lot".

Taken By Trees - Julia

Secondly, I have a very short song by Jeremy Warmsley, taken from a compilation album of songs, all under a minute long. Its called The Boy Who Cried Love, and its lovely. A short description for a short song!

Jeremy Warmsley - The Boy Who Cried Love

Lastly, I have a fantastic song by a guy called Loyal Trooper. This is a demo version of a single which is being released through This Is Fake DIY later in the summer. Its a spoken word song, in the style of Jamie T I guess. All full of punchy beats and cherrfully strummed guitars. Energetic enjoyable stuff for a (hopefully) sunny summer day.

Loyal Trooper - Nothing To Say

And there we have it, a few nice songs to enjoy. Its getting dark, so I'm going to walk home and listen to Belle & Sebastian. Ah, its a good life...

2007-07-05T09:08:00.000Z

Few bands have inspired in as widespread a manner as Joy Division. From musical influences, to image and style, Joy Division's affect on modern music is undeniable. Komakino have one of the more obvious influence traits, they are named after a Joy Division song... But unsurprisingly, they are perfect capable of holding their own ground. As I travelled to see them in Spilsby last weekend at new night, White Hart Indie, I imagined an Editors-esque barrage of mournful yet energetic vocals, mechanical bass lines, sparse affected guitar. But before Komakino took to the stage I was treated to two support bands, and subjected to one more.

Aurora Stripe took to the stage first, diving into their trademark infectious brand of indie-pop. Fronted by energetic front woman Anna, they play a lo-fi selection of lovable indie gems, as if Hot Puppies stopped reflecting so hard, and began dancing like no one was watching. Barefoot and breathless, its Anna that really carries Aurora Stripe in a live setting, prancing around the stage backed by a dedicated group of backing dancers, giving every piece of energy to the songs that she sings. Impressive stuff to start the evening with.

As the cider began to sink in, so did the rot. Dazed Dakotas took to the stage, and immediately took away any finesse or charm that Aurora Stripe had brought to the proceedings. Swaggering around in an uncharismatic blur of ill-fitting clothes, faux-indie attitudes, beer swilling "charm". What could possibly be seen as a return to "rock and roll" or the more basic values of playing live, came across as a desperate attempt to inject some kind of attitude or feeling, however fake, into songs that were otherwise, lifeless.

Things soon picked up though, as Dark Sparks took to the stage in a burst of feedback and distortion. Slowly, from this mass of noise emerged the crisp sound of well crafted song after song. Lurching forward at a mechanical pace, held together by skillful guitar work and captivating vocal lines, they immediately swept away the hangover left by Dazed Dakotas. As forthcoming single Into The Dark burst forth from the stage, it felt like a special moment was dawning over the night. Suddenly people were dancing, reaching out over the monitors to the twitching singer and equally electrifying guitarist and bassist. Dancing with vigour and energy to the relentless pulse of forward thinking yet palatable music. Its as if Interpol stopped growing moustaches and started writing songs that made your feet move for dancing's sake, not for movements sake. As if Franz Ferdinand had grown up slower, and at some point merged with Tiny Dancers. A video is below of Into The Dark, while at the bottom of the post are links to more videos. 2 Dark Sparks songs are available to download on their myspace.

Eventually Komakino took to the stage, immediately dancing into the crowd, jerking and stomping amongst the youthful faces in the front few rows. Both the guitarist and singer spent the rest of the first few songs constantly ebbing and flowing across the stage in a relentless barrage of energy and rhythm. Sounding like Ian Curtis if he'd lived through the torture of "new-rave", lead singer Ryan led each song with punch after punch of angst and anger, driven forward in his task by pounding drums, framed by angular guitar and basslines. Unfortunately, I had to leave mid-way through the set, but I'm told it turned into even more of a blinder, with a stage invasion completing the spectacle that was that dark Friday night in the depths of the county.

[YOUTUBE] Dark Sparks - Live @ Spilsby
[MP3] Komakino - Say Something Else
[MP3] Komakino - Sick To Death Disco

2007-06-28T10:59:00.000Z

Well, unfortunately its been getting a bit empty around here recently. Still, lots of stuff to catch up on... So lets dive right in yeah?

Kate Nash has emerged from London in a flurry of haircuts, accents, and downright good tunes. In my opinion at least... But Kate Nash seems to divide people like marmite, you either love her or hate her. You'll either love the way her voice twangs out slices of lyrics in a faux-London accent, or you'll hate it for being so fake and pretentious. You'll either love her lyrics for being honest and down to earth, or you'll completely resent her for talking about how many lemons she can eat, or how irritating it is when birds shit on your head. Divisive stuff! What can't be doubted is the energy that Nash has emerged from London with and the subsequent nationwide following that she has picked up. With her second single "Foundations" dropping this week and looking set to crash in to the Top 10, it seems that despite any pretence, Kate Nash is going to be around for the summer singalongs at least. I'm going to let you listen to the fabulous Metronomy remix of Nash's second single, "Foundations", as well as the b-side to her debut single, "Birds". Although normally Metronomy leaves vocals pretty much intact in his remixes, on this track he both adds his own vocals, and chops Nash's about a little bit. Layering the end result over some 100% palatable electric toast. Birds is a charming acoustic tale of love on a London Underground train, pretty damn gorgeous.

Secondly, I wanted to let you know about a few things happening over the next few days. Firstly, White Hart Indie has its launch night in Spilsby on Friday. 100 limited places with doors from 7:30, to see Komakino, Aurora Stripe, and Dazed Dakotas. Worth getting in on this one I think, as the following month they bring the Holloways-supporting Six Nation State to the sleepy roads of Spilsby. Also on Friday night, Starter are featured on Radio Lincolnshire playing some live tracks from 7 till 9pm. The Bivouac presents its usual mix of bands, with a slightly less enticing line-up than last weeks selection. This week £5 gets you in to see Joseph, Last Chance To Dance, and Tiger Warsaw. Also, Our Iron Lung favorite I Need To Discover plays at the Travellers Rest, replacing a previously scheduled slot from his old band, I My Bike. Saturday sees usual culprits RaW put on another healthy selection of bands in the heart of student land.

[MP3] Kate Nash - Foundations (Metronomy Edit) - Buy here.
[MP3] Kate Nash - Birds - Buy here.

2007-06-18T14:19:00.001Z

So, I was down in Nottingham on Saturday night to see the much-hyped Hadouken. In fairness, I am rather fond of their debut single, 'That Boy That Girl', and in paticular its low budget video, shown below. As their second single, 'Liquid Lives', continues to grow on me, I had an open mind, expecting a full on barrage of "fluokids" and "nu-rave" alongside some relentlessly pounding basslines, synth injections, and vocal shouts. Ah, how wrong I was... After giving away 3 of the 4 free tickets I'd been sent to poor ticketless fans outside, and then pressing the damp stamp mark on my wrist against some other hands, to ensure free entry for even more people, I made my way in to the venue... Rescue Rooms is a pretty fab place, in all honesty. One of the best small venues I've been to. Narrow, yet inclusive, with a good cheap bar, etc... As I entered, Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst In To Flames were just wrapping up their support slot, which, judging from the last couple of songs, was a pretty blinding mix of imaginative drumming, melodic yet angerful vocals, and the inevitable synths... Certainly music with more depth than what was about to asail me.

Hadouken took to the stage in a audio flury of shouts and whistles from the eager fans in the front row and burst straight into a vocal assault on my eardrums, backed up by some horribly out of sync synth and guitar. As I endured the first few songs (including upcoming single Liquid Lives) I struggled to understand the appeal behind a band so chaotic and uncharismatic, so lacking in instrumental skill, yet boasting widespread support from the musical press. Can it all really come down to the NME and its grip on "popular" music? As a pretty short set drew to a close, and I was buffeted by the hordes of bouncing teenagers pressed against the barriers, singing 'That Boy That Girl' back word for word at the baseball capped lead singer, I began to realise that maybe, I was missing the point. Maybe Hadouken aren't about instrumental flashes of genius, or any paticular lyrical observations. Maybe "the kids" like them because of the raw energy evident in their admitedly infectious live show which I had just witnessed. Whichever way my opinion falls on their live act, Hadouken are a band that can, on record, capture that energy of 200 teenagers jumping around in a room for no reason in paticular. They write words that are easy to shout at the top of your voice. And surely, these are all the things that you want in a good party song? To me, Hadouken are just fun, like some kind of in-joke that turned out to actually exist.

Thanks to the kind Our Iron Lung reader who gave a me a lift home... Here's the 'That Boy That Girl' video for everyones enjoyment...

[MP3] Hadouken - That Boy That Girl - Buy here.
[MP3] Bloc Party - The Prayer (Hadouken Remix)
[MOV] Hadouken - That Boy That Girl

2007-06-13T14:57:00.000Z

Well, I'm writing this little piece from my new "summer house" overlooking West Common. Pretty gorgeous it is too, although the room I managed to find is rather, well, small. Also lacking in Internet access at the moment too, so I think I'll be dashing down to the library fairly often. Got all my CD's stacked up along the back of my desk though, which is nice. Going across a row, I encounter "Air - Moon Safari", "Four Tet - Pause", "Leftfield - Rhythm and Stealth", "Sleeper - Smart", and finally "Various Artists - Is It Rolling Bob? A Reggae Tribute To Bob Dylan". Ah, good times... Moving away from me though, and on to the past weekend's fun and frolics. I'm going to talk about each gig I saw this weekend, which was a pretty wide range of stuff.

Thursday night saw the return to Lincoln, for only the second time, of the House Of Jealous Lovers night at So:Luxe. Its no secret that I'd been looking forward to seeing Bono Must Die, but I was also interested to see one of the first performances from I Need To Discover, the follow-on project from ex-I My Bike frontman Colin Barstow. Having spent most of the afternoon and evening running around handing out fliers in town, putting up posters, and generally lending a hand, it was with great expectation that I finally grabbed a drink and settled down to watch him perform. Happily, he failed to disappoint, playing very strongly and confidently to a pretty heaving room, blasting out tune after tune of guitar and synth dual audio attacks. Certainly talking to people afterwards they were incredibly impressed with his set, and in particular his energy, particularly in his voice. I've got a whole post on I Need To Discover which I'll put up later in the week. Bono Must Die took to the stage after a short changeover, and immediately urged everyone to move forward to the very front of the band and generally "get in to it". They played the crowd fantastically, baiting them, urging them on, and generally involving them fantastically. The music was, slightly rough around the edges at times, but I guess part of that is the style. Gritty. Lead singer Toby's constant adventures into the crowd and his relentless energy led the rest of the 4-piece in an at times ramshackle trip around the nightlife and associated quirks of 21st Century "Generation-X" London. A small scale stage invasion followed the typically synth-led cover of 'Sexyback' by Justin Timberlake, as the band launched into signature tune 'Trafalgar, a tale of a boy called Ping and his painfully "scene" band. In the words of the song, "idolising Peter, never got much sweeter", an illusion to the trend of London bands, and indeed national bands, to try and copy the style of the ex-Libertine Pete Doherty, normally with horrifically embarrassing results (The View). So, a pretty solid show from a band who leap from a mass of dirty synth to assault your senses, brashly and rudely. Congratulations to HOJL for pulling off such an interesting and fresh night, I eagerly await their continued contributions to what is rapidly becoming a far more varied Lincoln live scene.

Friday night and a trip down to Skegness to see Lincoln's Live Riot and Skegness' own Djune. Still recovering from the freshness and energy of Thursday night, the calm setting of Whisky A Go Go, slightly swarmed in eager 6th formers, was a nice change. Live Riot kicked things of with their vaguely Twang-like brand of swagger-indie. An impressive attempt to fuse the arrogance and swagger of Oasis and the pure grime of a small town "pub" band, resulting in something altogether more marketable and listenable. They put on a pretty energetic performance, adapting well to what seemed a pretty calm and "too cool to dance" crowd. Definitely something to watch out for in a slightly different venue or situation. Djune followed after about 30 minutes, launching into a set of guitar-driven indie-pop. If their sound was a sandwich, it would be Egg And Cress. Nice and tasty, and perfect for lunchtime or a sunny day. A balance between soft comfort, and a desperate attempt at some kind of crunch. Although they seem to have the energy in them somewhere, and have a fantastic management team behind them, they seem to be lacking that spark, even in the new songs that they debuted, to really take them as far forward as they could deserve to go.

Saturday night saw a return to Lincoln and its familiar RaW night at the Mezz Bar. This particular week, I had been invited to put a few tunes on between bands, which I duly obliged with, albeit with a slight amount of apprehension at the mass of switches and knobs in front of me. The night opened with a nice acoustic set from Days Before Television who ran through a collection of covers and original material, before making way for Winterlong. The Mansfield based four-piece managed to scream and sweat their way into some kind of Beechams aided hole, while mashing a pretty traditional lineup of guitar, bass, and drums into something that felt like it was trying to cover far too many bases at once. Maybe some focus next time to compliment the energy and songwriting potential? Lincoln's Park Bench Theory took to the stage next, launching into a pleasing mix of old and new material. The have a sound that bridges the gap between traditional indie-rock and a more blues/bass driven sound, perhaps reminiscent of The Strokes or The Vines. I can't help but feel that they found it hard to pull of a performance in a venue such as the Mezz Bar, being perhaps more suited to the sweaty foot-stomping atmosphere of venues such as the Bivouac. The night concluded with an impressive set from a pair of local chaps, TV Kicks. They engaged well with the crowd while creating an impressive array of hooks and rhythms with their guitar/drums setup. What could have been a very flat sound was boosted by the constant communication between drummer and guitarist, and the tightness of their show. So, a nice collection of bands, albeit all of a pretty traditional style and feel.

So a pretty busy weekend really! I'll leave you with some MP3's by a few of the bands mentioned, as well as a link to images from a couple of the nights. Lastly, thanks to everyone who's helping spread the word about Our Iron Lung, it's great to feel that people are behind supporting and encouraging a local music scene, and its connections nationally, by being eager about different ideas and ways of expressing that "scene". This is OUR Iron Lung, not MY Iron Lung. Drop me an email or a message. Tell me what you like. Tell me what gig I should be at. Tell me who I should be listening to. Etc.

[MP3] Bono Must Die - Trafalgar
[MP3] I Need To Discover - Wolves (Final Sexy Edit)
[PHOTOS] House Of Jealous Lovers @ So:Luxe, Lincoln - 7/6/07

2007-06-07T12:33:00.000Z

This weekend is a slightly quieter one than the last few we've had here in Lincoln, and seeing as I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment, this will be a rather swift rundown of the weekend's entertainment... There is a shorthand detailing of whats going on this weekend at the end of the post, as well as MySpace links for all the bands mentioned.

Firsty, for those who fancy an early start to the weekend, there are two wonderful gigs going on tonight, both really contrasting, both done in completely different ways. Refreshing to see... At 7 till 10, the Engine Shed plays host to Lincolnshire's own I Was A Cub Scout, with support from Rotary Ten. Its a 16+ gig, but as IWACS pointed out, thats pretty much "anyone gets in as long as you don't look 12". Its really great to see two "pet" bands of the city, as it were, playing together in a venue as daunting as the Engine Shed. Good luck to all involved! Also tonight, House Of Jealous Lovers returns to So:Luxe for only the second time, dragging another two bands up from London, and hoisting in support from Local lad Colin Barstow, or as he's better known, I Need To Discover. He'll be supporting the dirty, beat-ridden atmosphere of Bono Must Die, and the slightly more traditional tones of The Be Be See. Possibly the best two band names ever to be on the same bill? For £5, that all kicks of at 9, with bands playing from 10, interspersed with DJ sets from S!O!S! and Be Safe Be Scene. Here is the flier front and back.

Friday sees the Bivouac put on its usual splash of teenage enthusiasm. Kicking off at 8, High Society, Try My Shoes, and Kensal Rise all take to the stage. High Society come across from Birmingham, and seem the kind of band to appeal to fans of, say, The Horrors, The Libertines, The View, and The Vines. Fasionably tight yet ramshackle tunes blasted out with a typical indie-kid snarl. Worth making an effort to get to. There is also another smattering of bands playing at the Travellers Rest; Deaf Havana, Never So True, The Brownies and Rig Up Explosive. Unfortunately, I havn't had the time to listen to any of them so far. But feel free to have an explore yourself!

Saturday's lone regular provider of live music, RaW, comes back week in week out with rutheless energy, and this week is no exception. TV Kicks are headlining, with support from Lincoln-based Park Bench Theory. Park Bench Theory in paticular seem worth getting down to see. Promising, relaxed, lazy, bass-driven indie-rock with a strong vocalist. And there you have it, hope to see you around at some of those!

Thursday 7th - 7pm - Engine Shed, Lincoln - I Was A Cubscout w/ Rotary Ten - £7
Thursday 7th - 9pm - So:Luxe, Lincoln - Bono Must Die w/ The Be Be See - £5
Friday 8th - 8pm - Bivouac, Lincoln - High Society w/Try My Shoes - £5
Saturday 9th - 7:30pm - Mezz Bar, Pavillions Student Village, Lincoln - TV Kicks w/ Park Bench Theory - FREE

2007-06-06T21:27:00.000Z

Well, what a weekend that was! Musically and generally. Friday was pretty old school house party, while Saturday afternoon was spent sipping Pimms & Lemonade in the gorgeous sun, with the new Dizzee Rascal album playing out faintly in the background. Perfect. Well, maybe swap Dizzee for Belle And Sebastien...So, on to business.

So, Saturday night saw The Pioneer Club ft. Shnifty descend on Drill Hall, Lincoln, for the first Pioneer Club night on A) a Saturday, and b) organised by the guys at Shnifty. After a pretty chaotic start behind the scenes, the first band rolled out pretty much on time, Lincoln's very own Ice Cream Social, pictured above live on the night (for all the photos, click here or the link at the bottom of the post). They played a pretty solid set, hovering a nice line between the electro/bass gush of noise that was to be headliners The Whip, and the more toned down electro tones of say, Hot Chip or Crystal Castles. The band launched their debut EP on the night, a track from which is available for download at the end of this post. I strongly suggest you buy a copy yourself though, its a pretty solid 3-track debut that shows great potential, both locally and, perhaps, nationally. Contact the guys through their Myspace for a copy.

So, this energetic, imaginative, and well constructed start to the night was followed by the slightly less "nu-rave" Silicon Kid. A band that, to be honest, didn't really fit with the tone of the evening. They played a set full of riff driven indie. Very digestible, but compared to the leaps and bounds of Ice Cream Social, and sets that were about to hit us from Devil's Gun and The Whip, they seemed wrongly suited to the evening. All credit to the guys for putting on a good show though! Great stuff to soundtrack a drive in a nice car, just not so great for dancing. A shame really because, in the right situation, they could have made a much more positive impression. I really hope to see them back up here sometime soon in a slightly different situation (are you listening Steve Hawkins?).

Devil's Gun however managed to "whip" the crowd back up into a frenzy with their hard to pigeon hole "ethnic-indie-dance". I suggest you head over to their Myspace for a proper listen, and categorise for yourself. However, regardless of the sound, Devil's Gun strongest point on the night was their ability to get the crowd going. In a venue as restrictive to wild crowds as The Drill Hall, this is no mean feat. The Drill Hall's layout, its wide stage, its depth, its pure size, means that its very rarely that bands get the folks at the front jumping around, as well as people all over the rest of the room tapping their feet and doing a little bit of a jive... Which is exactly what Devils Gun managed to do! Some fantastic work from the two fronts people, both the female backing vocalist and the afro-totting frontman/rapper, made this a fantastically enjoyable performance! For maybe 30 minutes, it felt as if the whole of the Drill Hall had suddenly morphed into a ridiculously cool house party. I can compare the atmosphere closest to that of seeing CSS live in Nottingham back in February. Here's a video from the gig, only short, and not taken by me.

So, finally, running maybe half an hour late, and with next to no soundcheck, The Whip took to the stage. Missing a bassist, they launched into synth'n'drum driven tune after tune. The drummer took centre of the stage, flanked on either side by the guitarist/vocalist, and the synth player. Following the energy of Devil's Gun, at times The Whip felt slightly short of the mark. It took a few songs to adjust to the more subtle, more mechanical, more electronic style of The Whip's music. However, they did pack a serious punch, just, maybe in slightly the wrong environment. You couldn't help but feel that they were more suited to smaller, more club-like venues. Still, all in all a pretty good gig. Certainly a solid lineup, and good performances from all bands. Nice turnout too, so good work to all involved! I'll leave you with a video of Divebomb that I took from the barrier/stage, as well as a fantastic MP3 of the Crystal Castles remix of Divebomb. Don't forget to make it down to House Of Jealous Lovers @ So:Luxe tomorrow night for Bono Must Die, The Be Be See, and I Need To Discover (flier front and back).

[MP3] Ice Cream Social - Spectrum Analyser
[MP3] The Whip - Divebomb (Crystal Castles Remix) - Buy here and on Kitsune Maison Vol.4 here.
[PHOTOS] Pioneer Club @ Drill Hall, Lincoln - 2/6/07

2007-05-29T22:24:00.000Z

So, rumours on the net are that there are "issues" with the Wombats gig on Friday the 1st. People say that the singer has an illness. That the band have an illness. Its all a bit unexplained, and nothing definite has been stated. I've been in contact with Steve Hawkins, the Bivouac's booking agent/manager, and as soon as anything is confirmed, he'll give the word. So far that hasn't happened, so keep your hopes high! I for one am looking forward to Friday night incredibly.

So, to tide your anxious ears over until the event that will/wont be Friday night, here is a gorgeous remix I recently stumbled across. As some of you will know, I headed down to the NME Tour at Nottingham on Saturday night, unfortunately missing an (apparently) cracking night at RaW. One of the highlights of the night for me was finally seeing The Little Ones live, after what seems like far too long of admiring their work from a distance. This song, "Lovers Who Uncover", is a past single from the UK. However, this Crystal Castles remix takes the already seminal catchy tune and infectious chorus created by Little Ones and warps it in to something altogether more nasty. A dirty, electro squelch of sound. A mess of 8-bit bleeps and effects, held together by a hypnotic bassline and a reasonably intact chorus vocal. Possibly one of the most catchy Crystal Castles remixes I've heard. This slice, along with others by the likes of Uffie and GoodBooks, shows why Crystal Castles are such an exciting force in the post-nu-rave comedown.

[MP3] The Little Ones - Lovers Who Uncover (Crystal Castles Remix) - Buy (minus this remix) here.

[BONUS MP3] Uffie - Make It Hott (Crystal Castles Remix) (thanks to We Were Rockstars).

2007-05-26T14:20:00.000Z

Just about to dash out to see the NME New Music Tour in Nottingham. Starring Rumble Strips, Pull Tiger Tail, Blood Red Shoes, and Little Ones. Really looking forward to seeing Pull Tiger Tail, they were great fun when they played the Biv at the end of last year. I'll get some nice photos/videos and post some MP3's up tomorrow.

For people staying in Lincoln for the night, One Big Wellington Boot has OvO from Milan playing, with support from, amoung others, I My Bike. Definetly worth getting along to that I'd say. On the other hand, RaW (having now moved to the Mezz bar in Pavillions) have Starter playing what I think is the last RaW of this year. So plenty to get up to.

And to pass the time, I thought you might find this ammusing... Courtesy of I Am Fuel, You Are Fire.

2007-05-25T02:08:00.000Z

Visuals time... Slices of colour to light up your day. A few rather fun videos to share. French today! Continental films, we all love them...

Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
Justice's track is clearly headed for the same status as "We Are Your Friends", and the video is as fun, if not more fun, than the video for that single. Every single one of the T-shirts featured is totally cool. I know I'd wear them all. One for each day of the year.

Teki Latex - Le Matins de Paris ft. Lio
The following track is taken from a forthcoming album by french artist Teki Latex. He seems like an ammusing soul, creating tunes instilled with summery fun, yet enough of an electric groove to make your toes tap 100%. This song itself is a totally addictive pop-blast, losing none of its charm and laughter in the language barrier. This video made me giggle the whole way through. Its second after second of multi-coloured fun and frolics. Cheery. Like.

2007-05-23T19:13:00.000Z

So, in the next few weeks Lincoln see's a whole host of incredible bands descending at its doors! You owe it to yourself to make it to as many of these as you can...

- Friday 25th May - Fury Of The Headteachers w/ Rotary Ten @ Bivouac

- Friday 1st June - The Wombats w/ Aurora Stripe @ Bivouac

- Saturday 2nd June - The Whip w/ Ice Cream Social @ Pioneer Club, Drill Hall

- Thursday 7th June - Bono Must Die w/The Be Be See & I My Bike @ House Of Jealous Lovers, SoLuxe

All 100% worth your time. You should take my word for it, but i'll explain why anyway. Fury Of The Headteachers play like Bloc Party if they'd pursued deeper punk routes. They drag Interpol-style basslines kicking and screaming into a sweaty mess. The Wombats are catchy, jingle-jangle indie songs from Liverpool, but sound more akin to The Strokes, if The Strokes had a wicked sense of humour. The Whip are releasing song on Kitsune Maison, one of France's most progressive labels, which has released dancefloor-killing remixes of Bloc Party, Klaxons, and Digitalism. They tear the floor and air into tiny pieces, lace it with synths, and throw it back at your ears as an electronic mess. Bono Must Die are a wiser, less child friendly Hadouken. Taking all the best elements of gritty indie dancefloors and laceing it with killer basslines and spat-out vocals. Also, they have one of the best band names ever.

So, persuaded? You should be, but if all those MySpace links and pretty pictures and wise recomendations aren't enough, here is a collection of MP3's for your listening pleasure. I'll see you around. Yeah?

[MP3] Bono Must Die - Saving Betty Picture Face
[MP3] Fury Of The Headteachers - Farewell Comrade
[MP3] Rotary Ten - Idols of Our Own Design
[MP3] The Whip - Trash
[MP3] The Wombats - Metro Song

2007-05-23T13:30:00.000Z

Tiny Dancers @ Bivouac, Lincoln, 20th May 2007

Awesome gig this one. Support came from The Silver Lakes, Street 45th, and Great British Smile. GBS played a 6 song set, which although well formed and executed, didn't really feel in keeping with what was to follow. Their songs ran along at a constant pace, each one echoing the one before. Sometimes, sparks of energy would come through the music, the intro to one song in particular caught my ear, but they never built on this promise. Still, the fact that the promise is their in the first place is good. An honerable mention to their drummer though, who threw himself energetically into every song! Possibly a band to look out for once they have developed their ideas further.

Tiny Dancers put on a stunning show from the beginning, unleashing coloured balloons into the eager indie-bopper arms that were becoming energised by their shiny melodies. Frontman David Kay puts on an energetic show, which you can see yourself in the video below. He both "fronts" the band, in a heavily extroverted way, physically rather than vocally, while still allowing the other band members to shine through. Their songs themselves are reminiscant of Elton John had he written with the Spinto Band. Addictive, catchy, shiny, jangly, ramshackle jewels of charming pop music. Not twee, just full of summer energy and flair. Totally glad that I made it to this gig in the end, I recommend that you all do the same. They're touring for the next few weeks all over the UK, so no excuse to not catch them.

[MP3] Tiny Dancers - I Will Wait For You - Buy here and here, pre-order debut album here.

2007-02-15T17:46:00.000Z

- Music Is My Hot Hot Sex
Well, bit of a stunner of a weekend that one... CSS at Rescue Rooms on Saturday was absolutely incredible. So much energy, a really fun vibe, an absolute joy to watch. Up there as my top live performance of the year so far, and now really looking forward to seeing them again at the NME Indie Rave Tour in Sheffield on Sunday. I'll just post an mp3 of CSS covering Teenage Kicks by Undertones. Classic.

CSS - Teenage Kicks (Undertones cover) - Buy album here.

2007-02-10T16:10:00.000Z

This Is The Lincoln Way
Apparantly. Absolutely super fun last night at Kaiser Chiefs in Doncaster. Few too many chants of "YORKSHIRE!" for my liking, but still, great show, great fun. Can't argue that Kaiser Chiefs don't put on a good show. Posting a short clip taken from the balcony during "This Is The Modern Way".

- Meanwhile back at home...
Got some nice mentions on Siren FM for the Troubles (post-Hope Of The States breakup band) gig at the Bivoac on Saturday the 17th. £5 in, cracking night of moody, seamless, expansive, instrument driven joy. Can't wait myself. And definetly something worth getting to as far as Lincoln is concerned. Better than a fair few things the Engine Shed has to offer this Semester.

[MP3] Hope Of The States - George Washington - Buy here and here

Dashing off to CSS at Rescue Rooms in Nottingham now, have a good weekend everyone...

2007-02-08T14:02:00.000Z

Woah, its a bit new around here. But no time like the present. Might as well dive in at the deep end...

- A Weekend In England
Bloc Party released their sophomore album "A Weekend In The City" this week, which looks likely to beat off stiff competition, and debut at the #1 spot in the UK. Its a glorious affair, continuing Bloc Party's stylish ambition, while retaining their notoriously spikey riffs and mechanical drumbeats. The album was first debuted through a "club tour" for fans early in the year. One of the songs debuted on that tour was Blue Moon, which can be seen in its original form below. This was seemingly developed further during the recording process, into what is now known as England. This is taken from the Japanese Edition of AWITC and is also available on The Prayer 7" as a b-side. I think its one of the more standout b-sides produced for The Prayer, and certainly a song that i eagerly awaited following the fanclub tour.

Bloc Party - England - Buy here and here

- Meanwhile, at home...
While most of the "cool kids" will probably stay in watching Skins tonight, there is, actually, plenty to do... Its Jam (indie night) at the Cell, and Siren Sessions is on to get you in the mood for a night out. Top notch music, give it a listen... They've got Lincoln's The Idlers in session tonight. Superb band already making a massive impression on the Lincoln scene. Larrikin Love play Nottingham Trent Uni tonight, which should be a fun time. Larrikin are abolutely awsome live. And i guess a few lucky people will be heading across to Doncaster for Kaiser Chiefs tommoro night, and likewise to Nottingham for CSS, and Bloc Party over the weekend.

Siren Sessions (6-7pm, The Idlers in session)
Skins (10pm E4)