The Cocknbullkid - Clean Apart

Anita Blay a.k.a. Thecocknbullkid. Has released a new song off of the imminently released US only E.P out in August entitled Clean Apart.
Have a listen

http://www.radarmaker.co.uk/get/thecocknbullkid/thecocknbullkid_cleanapart.mp3

We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls

My first reaction after hearing These Four Walls was that it grabs you by the balls nice and early, in fact the first song 'It's Thunder and It's Lightening' takes all of two minutes to get your attention, with a loud, echoey, pop hooked chorus which was more than enough to entice me. After that 'These Four Walls' takes a more mellow approach with a lot more ambiance and more focus on single guitar lines and the (very Scottish) vocals, there are also a few numbers that seem to mix their melodramatic sound with upbeat indie, 'Moving Clocks Run Slow' for instance which, judging by the standard of some of the other songs probably shouldn't be on the album.
We Were Promised Jetpacks have a certain charm about them that have really caught my attention, they have a lot of potential and when they get noisy it sounds brilliant I just wish they had a few more tracks that showcase what they certainly can achieve.

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

Bibio's first album after signing with Warp really surprised me. It has a real 1960's psychedelic feel to it, when the first couple of tracks play, with the jangly guitars, echoey vocals and general stripped down feel you start to wonder how on earth Stephen Wilkinson (Bibio) is known for being deeply involved with electronica but as the album develops you find some really intricate production techniques and that jangly, stripped down guitar is really electronically modified which starts to give more of an idea of what Bibio is all about. The whole album has a really happy nostalgic feel to it, with tracks such as the wonderfully melodic 'Lovers' Carvings' flowing much more into the realms of straight up folk than any genre that would even go near a synthesizer and this flows throughout the album showing diversity and an obvious love and appreciation for many different genres. Ambivalence Avenue is such a step away from any of Warp's recent releases such as the tech, dance heavy Hudson Mohawke and Tim Exile and has very quickly become an album I can't stop listening to, I love the mixture of electronica and folk, it sounds great and the album also features artwork from one of my favourite designers, mr David Foldvari,
Good stuff.

Dan Deacon - ULU, London

Dan Deacon is a man well known for his energetic, crazy and very unique live shows, this was certainly no exception. For a start Deacon has been touring with his sixteen piece 'Wham City' ensemble and as they bounded onto stage it was crazy I just didn't know where to look, there were people creating sounds from all corners of the stage from various types of instruments, a couple of drummers knocking the hell out of their kit and, of course Deacon himself messing around with his huge mass of synths, pedals, keyboards and god only knows what whilst big luminous skulls, flashing traffic lights and amazing visuals are going on around. The crowd instantly warmed to the vast amount of tracks from his latest album Bromst, in fact from the first track in the packed crowd were going absolutely nuts and this was before Deacon's crowd participation (between songs such as getting everyone in the crowd to place their hands on the heads of someone in front of them and start chanting, or getting the crowd to make a massive circle in the pit and asking two members of the audience to dance in the circle and the rest of the crowd to mimic their actions) made for a really fun atmosphere and made it an even more special occasion.
It had to be a sell out, there were people rammed into every corner trying to get a glimpse of this magnificent showcase, this gig was a sign of a band who are looking at bigger and better things. The highlights were the three longplayers from Bromst, 'Snookered,' 'Of the Mountains,' and 'Surprise Stefani' which sounded out of this world with the ensemble backing Deacon up. It was the last date on what sounded like a very long and tiring tour but that just did not show by the time they hit the stage. I had heard promising things about Deacons live shows and was really impressed.
Middle Boop also did a limited edition print to go with the gig, there are still a few left, if anyone would like one just give me a shout.

Help Middle Boop

Middle Boop have just entered a piece for the latest Don't Panic competition.
If you like the piece it would be amazing if you could vote for it,

http://www.dontpaniconline.com/designbrief/client/glaceauvitaminwater

Middle Boop interview

Gordon Reid of Middle Boop was interviewed for July's edition of Computer Arts about the zine scene and Middle Boop, the magazine features a huge articles with Non Format and a whole host of other designers. All good.

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

I don't want to get too carried away but after giving Bitte Orca a few listens now I can quite happily declare main songwriter and producer Dave Longstreth nothing short of genius.
You only have to listen to the oddly intricate and guitar work and crazy time signatures of tracks like 'Temecula Sunrise' to see what I mean. The crazy sounds produced by the band can be as oddball as they are charming which can make Bitte Orca a little awkward to take it all in on first listen but also makes it intriguing and fascinating. When quizzed about the album Longstreth has spoken about the possibilities of writing a Sixties-style pop song with grunge dynamics, plus sub bass, it's comments like this which, after listening to the album you kind of get a grasp of the people you are dealing with.
'Stillness Is The Move' is five minutes of pure musical greatness, kicking off with a head noddingly groovy bass and some great vocals from other members, Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian, finishing with an almost Sigur Ros style orchestrated part. In short Bitte Orca is a brilliant album full of surprises every step of the way created by a very gifted band and will have people listening in awe at the magnificent sounds presented to them.

The Strange Boys tour

Austin, TX's The Strange Boys have just launched their Summer tour taking them all over the world, starting in their hometown and finishing in the Brecon Beacons for the Green Man festival in August. Their music is a mix of proper garage rock fused with kind of 1950's swing. They have a really interesting sound which you should all swot up on before they get to a town near you.

http://www.forcefieldpr.com/strangeboysheardyouwanna.mp3

Ganglians - Lost Words

To accompany their new album 'Monster Head Room' Sacramento's 'Ganglians' have released their first single Lost Words. Released through the label Woodsist, which has already had a pretty major year bringing the likes of Crystal Stilts, Wavves, Vivian Girls into the limelight so it goes without saying Ganglians are well worth checking out.
http://www.forcefieldpr.com/ganglianslostwords.mp3

Three Trapped Tigers - 7

London experimental noise trio Three Trapped Tigers are the latest addition to the all new 'Too Pure Singles Club' this month.
Too Pure are responsible for bringing the likes of PJ Harvey, Mclusky and Stereolab into the public eye. Already making a serious name for themselves with their intense live shows and crazy beats to make the likes of Battles feel a little self conscious, Three Trapped Tigers are releasing a limited run of 500 numbered copies through Too Pure. The single 7 is another sterling example of just why these guys are starting to make a name for themselves, with another ep to follow, watch out for Three Trapped Tigers, 2009 could very well be a big year for them.

Codes In The Clouds - Paper Canyon

Codes In The Clouds, a band who (if you look in the right places) have been on the underground of the underground scene for quite a while but this looks set to change with their debut album 'Paper Canyon.' Although blatantly heavily influenced by Explosions in the Sky (even their name sounds similar) Codes in the Clouds do bring something a little different to the table. For a start I haven't heard an English band this intriguing for quite a while.
With hoards and hoards of indie electro wannabes clogging London's bars every night hearing music as brilliant as this despite their obvious parallels is extremely refreshing and I am still surprised how few bands are attempting this sort of music.
For a debut album, Code in the Clouds have outdone themselves, Paper Canyon flows in and out of heavy drums, distorted basslines and echoed, delayed guitars, the opener 'Fractures' sums them up extremely well, five minutes of melodramatic instrumental rock that gets better with every listen. Of course it wouldn't be a proper 'Post Rock' album without at least one song over the nine minute mark, their final two 'You Are Not What You Think You Are' and 'The Distance Between Us' both fill up nearly ten mins and both barely waste a second, emotional build ups to chaotic epic finishes.
There is a huge amount of potential in these guys and with such a great debut, already getting great feedback, Code in the Clouds could well go far.

Kinky down under

Quality website, from one of the Auzys leading design studios!
http://www.dikstudio.net/

Interactive Cold War!

Could this be the next level for music videos?
To promote their new single, “Ive Seen Enough”, Cold War Kids have got all interactive on your ass! The video directed by Sam Jones has been designed specifically to be presented in parallel parts online and then played around with till your hearts content!
Have a blast:
http://www.mtvmusic.com/artist/coldwarkids.jhtml

The Soundscapes - Freestyle Family

There is a lot of history behind The Soundscapes, the band comprising of brothers Rodrigo and Raphael Carvalho spent their youth living in Brazil listening to Pavement, Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen records, having formed their first band at the age of 14 and moved around the world, they moved to Brooklyn in 2003 and spent three years absorbing their surroundings before creating The Soundscapes. The result is an album full of lo-fi, atmospheric indie with huge happy slices of pop thrown in.
It's one of those albums that I take great pleasure in reviewing as I could talk about it all day. I love their sound, happy pop hooks yet there is so much of depth to it, melodic, reverbed guitars, mixed with domineering drums and the sort of lo fi recording that may well win them over a large fanbase. Freestyle Family will be a staple summer album for me. I love the fact that their is only two of them but when listening there really shouldn't be and I love the passion that these guys obviously have about the music and that does really transpose well into their own music.

Health - Die Slow

Health are a band you will be hearing a lot more from in the future there is no doubt about that. coming straight from the L.A scene that has brought the likes of No Age and Abe Vigoda into the limelight, Health bring something very different to the table, after a show stopping performance at All Tomorrows Parties where the general consensus around the festival were that they were the band of the weekend and tours supporting the likes on Nine Inch Nails and tours planned with Deerhunter they are going the right way about things. Their latest single, Die Slow is a 3 minute example of what they are all about. Heavy, groovy, No Wave sounds mixed in with their more electro side producing an awesome track and being a little more accessible than some of their others, a good one to start on for any prospective fan.

The Phantom Band - The Howling

The mighty Phantom Band have just released The Howling, if anyone is yet to hear this very unique band, The Howling would be a good place to start. It comes in at 4 mins 38, but the full album version is over 6 mins and well worth the listen. There are a lot of bands you could vaguely link them to but you really need to hear them for yourself. The Howling is a stand out track from a brilliant album.

Sonic Youth - The Eternal

To put it bluntly, I love Sonic Youth and have done for a long time, I fell in love about the fifth time I heard Dirty (the first few times my ears had never been put through such a torment of reverb, distortion and pure brilliance.) Since then my horizons have broadened greatly but I have always been amazed by the Sonic Youth's releases.
None more so than 2002's Murray Street, which, although I'm sure many would have a different view I feel is one of their greatest albums. The Eternal is as good as Murray Street. So good in fact that when I first gave it a listen I was driving and had to pull over to write this review as I was instantly taken aback by it.

From the first few chords of opener 'Secret Trickster' you get the feeling that this is going to be a no holds barred onslaught, with a 2:10 homage to painter Vves Klien that feels straight out of the 1970's New York punk rock scene.

The album is certainly not all heavy, tracks like 'Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)' and 'Antenna' showcase a more progressive, spacey rock side, in fact The Eternal seems to mix each of their eras into one album, from the lo fi, punk sounds of their first era (Secret Trickster, Calming The Snake,) to their infamous forward thinking song structures of the 90's (Poison Arrow, Malibu Gas Station,) to their more refined sound explorations (Antenna, Walkin Blue.)

This is their first album away from old label Geffen and since signing with Matador they decided to take a different route with the recording process, opting to record two or three tracks one weekend and record the next, bringing in ex Pavement bassist Ibold along for the ride.

The Eternal is a beautiful yet chaotic album and simply must be heard by any Sonic Youth fan. If you are not a fan a: Why not? and b: This will be a great insight into one of the most influential contemporary bands probably of all time.

Andy Miller commision

Boop contributor and awesome illustrator Andy Miller has recently produced an ad campaign for Barclays commisioned through YCN. Check it.

Future Of The Left - ULU, London

Fresh on the heels of ATP I decided to go and see one of my finds of the weekend again. Playing at a students union I was expecting cheap beer and rubbish sound quality. There was neither.
First on were Pulled Apart By Horses whose cocky and energetic live show couldn't disguise the fact that their music was below par.
Future Of The Left took to the stage with the first song from their upcoming album 'Travels With Myself and Another' which set the tone for the evening, sending half of the crowd into a huge mosh pit. The new songs went down a treat and even though most of the crowd hadn't heard a lot of them they loved it. The old favourites such as 'Small Bones, Small Bodies' and 'Manchasm' were really impressive and their stage presence was just something you need to see. By the time 'You Need Satan More Than He Needs You' was played I was to be found dancing like an idiot right in the middle of the pit. They ended the gig by completely dismantling the drum kit whilst the drummer was still trying to play. Future Of The Left put on a great show, I could literally watch these guys every night, very cool.

De Rosa - Prevention

De Rosa are another fine addition to the heaving amount of talent coming from Scotland at the moment. Two years in the making 'Prevention' will hopefully bring the success that their last album gained them.
Their sound moves from ambient post rock to folk (I guess you could call them post folk) always with their delightful brand of heartfelt, poetic lyrics and very Scottish vocals. Subtle electronic beats and well used piano are at the forefront leaving guitars to blend in with the rest of the ambiance. The music is all very serious, with wonderfully bleak lyrics such as the opening line to 'Under The Stairs,' 'there's blood in my mouth this evening' there's piss in the snow tonight,' you get the idea pretty early on that they won't lighten up.
This is a great album and well worth the wait, although it's not what I would call summer music, more a late night driving album.

The Soundcarriers - Harmonium

Psychedelic, Quirky, Classic American Rock…are just a few of the words that makes a music reviewers heart sink when reading the latest press release of ‘Next Big Thing.’ Unfortunately for the Nottingham based band, The Soundcarriers, Psychedelic was used in their press release for their album, Harmonium.

The album lasts an epic 16 tracks, equating to a very long 64 minutes and 59 seconds, using what the band described as an ‘Arsenal’ of instruments from Harps to Recorders to create a record with warmth and depth. This begins to become rather tiresome after track 5, with ‘warm depth’ turning into self-indulged drones leading from one track to the other, making the album quite draining to listen to. Leaving you with a ‘When is it going to end!?’ feeling that I felt watching the last Lord of the Rings film.

Sleepy Sun - Embrace

With the likes of Passion Pit and the new sound of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album taking American indie music into the pop/synth mainstream, the San Francisco based Sleepy Sun, is a breath of fresh unconventional air.

Wearing their Black Sabbath and Creedence Clearwater Revival influences very much on their sleeves the group take you through the more excepted psychedelic rock n’ roll clichés to produce an album filled with dark guitar solo highs and eerie duet vocal lows, something that the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club began in the late 90s.

With reviews of their intense and colourful live shows being positive ones, I get the feeling this band will be a force to be reckoned with on the stage. As well as being somewhat different for their contemporary’s means this is a band that should and will stand out from the pack.

Isis - Wavering Radiant

Isis are a band I have been listening to for a good few years now, in fact they are probably one of my favourite bands. Their genre is hard to pinpoint as every album they release changes dramatically, you can certainly tell it's an Isis album but when you delve into any of their back catalogue there are so many subtle differences. I was really disappointed with their last effort, 'In The Absence of Truth.' I felt the vocals were appalling and the production was poor and I never really warmed to it, so I was apprehensive to say the least when I received 'Wavering Radiant.' Thankfully Wavering Radiant has re-kindled my love for Isis, with producer Joe Barresi donning the helm, the creases from the last album have been ironed out, the tension throughout the album builds, with every song more with the use of intricate melodies adding refreshing new textures to their sound, there is also the addition of Bryant Clifford Meyer making more use of keyboards adding a subtle depth to the sound that adds so much of a difference, '20 Minutes / 40 Years' is already one of my favourite Isis songs, starting off with teeth shattering screams and the most groovy, murky riff blending into an awesome solo. With all of this 'Wavering Radiant is still as brutal and sludgy as any Isis album to date and as ever will certainly not be all taken in with the first listen.

Alex Metric - Head Straight ep

In this, Alex Metric's fourth ep he continues to explore the ground of making great fun electro pop without getting too self indulgent. This four track sampler to go with his highly anticipated album has some great highlights. The single Head Straight is actually pretty weak, its very non offensive pop, which I guess is what he is all about but it doesn't really anything for me. Metric has some real talent and that is shown a lot more in track two, 'What Now' where he ditches the poor vocals and concentrates more on the electro. This sounds so much better, the same with track three 'Shirley, You Can't Be Serious,' it is much more loud, aggressive and is well worth a listen.

Terry Lynn

Terry Lynn is being dubbed as the original MIA and after listening to her you can see why, hailing from Kingston Jamaica, her aggressive mix of dub and reggae makes for a really interesting sound,
check out the remix entitled the Angrier mix, underneath of her song 'Kingston Logic' to get a feel of what she's all about.

http://www.phreemusic.com/xKINGSTONLOGIC_ANGRIER_MIX.mp3

The Wave Pictures - If You Leave It Alone

One thing that amazed me after hearing 'If You Leave It Alone' was that how many albums they had before this. These guys have a back catalogue spanning over a decade, they have also been relentlessly gigging for that long and their years of hard work is certainly starting to pay off. 'If You Leave It Alone' is full of their usual blend of quirky, warming acoustic pop. This offering feels a lot more minimal then their last few releases but that works well, giving the album a very raw edge. Being so stripped down adds to their appeal and means that it focuses more on David Tattersall's very witty lyrics, with lines such as 'I wrote my name on a banana peel, there should always be a meal with my name on it.' Wave Pictures are still one of Britain's hidden gems but hopefully 'If You Leave It Alone' will gain them a lot more deserved coverage.
'Bye Bye Bubble Belly' is a highlight, more upbeat then a few tracks and has a real charm to it.

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles

There seems to be a fashion with bands at the moment with either having the word crystal in your name (Crystal castles, Crystal Skulls, Crystal Stilts etc) or something to do with a deer (Deerhunter, Deer Tick, etc) Crystal Antlers have gone for both of those, but don't assume for a second that these guys are jumping on any trend. Their music on the surface is an exhausting mix of feedback, organs and but once you get through that barrier there is an amazing amount of melody, brilliant key changes that send songs in a complete direction from how they started and influences ranging from 60's psychedelia to free form jazz, etc. Each song interlaces nicely into one another. You can' hear the lyrics through the noise but that just adds to the charm and appeal of Crystal Antlers.
This is definitely a band we will be hearing more from.

Health - Health // Disco

Health are one of those bands where it feels like the right time and place. Their usual sound is extremely loud and chaotic and harks back to bands that seem to be back in favor such as Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine. They also come from that L.A. Scene that is grabbing a lot of attention, being lumped in with bands like No Age and Abe Vigoda is certainly no bad thing at the moment. But Health push the boundaries further than the aggressive, energetic take shoegaze that they are known for, take 'Health // Disco' for example, is a whole remix album comprising of remixes of most songs from their debut album. This is a bold move for any band let alone one that is so new to the scene, but it has paid off because not only are there some great songs on the album, it has opened Health up to a whole new market. Featuring remixes by people such as Crystal Castles, Acid Girls, Pink Skull and Curses! each track has a very unique feel to it and feels more electro and dance than anything you would expect which I never thought would be possible. Highlights are the Pictureplane remix of Lost Time and the Nactrax remix of 'Heaven.'
This is a great listen for any fan of electro, dance or shoegaze (something I never thought I would be writing.)

ATP vs The Fans: The Fans Strike Back

All Tomorrow’s Parties has been known for many years its random collection of musical acts and this year was no exception. The first weekend of ATP saw the return of the fans getting to vote for whoever they wanted to play, this making up half the line-up and the other curated by the folks at ATP themselves.It was because of this half voting, half curated system that gave us quite a random selection of acts from stoner doom metal to synth-pop to folk and plenty more in between.

Friday had LA noise rockers HEALTH deafen the audience with tracks from their debut album whilst they thrash around on stage to the tune of artfully crafted noise built from synths, guitars, distortion and tribal sounding drums (which by the way did get a thorough beating) definitely one the best of the weekend if not the best. Don’t forget to check their new album Get Color later in the year!
Headliners on the first night had cult 80’s art-rockers Devo back wearing their trademark jumpsuit and Bill and Ben-esque headwear. Armed with a box full of quirky rock songs the middle-aged flower pot men gave the people what they wanted, a damn good rock show! The band played through 90 minutes of all their hits including Secret Agent Man, Satisfaction, Freedom of Choice and Whip It, all guaranteed to make you dance like your back in the 80’s.
Later on that night had hip-hop legends Anti-pop Consortium take to the stage to see if they could stand each other for long enough to complete their set and it turns out they can…..just. After some stage storm offs, on-stage rap battles and instrumental improvs they proved why they are so highly regarded. Despite being the only hip-hop artist on the bill that weekend they defended their corner and won over some new fans in the process.
After the first night of drinking, debauchery and tomfoolery it was time to have a relaxing start to Saturday, enter the Cave Singers. The Seattle trio opened the main stage and filled the vast space of Butlins indoor pavilion with their brand of folk music which sounds like it belongs back in 60’s which seems like an odd departure from former Pretty Girls Make Graves guitarist (now Cave Singers guitarist) Derek Fudesco. Beautiful, calming, charming and if it can fill Butlins it can fill your ears and heart.
Later on that day saw the first of two Don’t Look Back gigs that weekend, this one coming from influential indie-minimalists Young Marble Giants performing their first, last and only album Colossal Youth. Seeing them live is like stepping back in time as it was exactly like how it was on the record, but then again how hard can it be messing up they supremely minimalist sound. It apparently wasn’t hard messing up the sound but it hard keeping everything in tune as they had to stop after every song to tune up again. However, that was a minor inconvenience for getting to hear Alison Stratton fragile voice sing you off to a far off beautiful place.
Grizzly Bear swooned the crowd on the main stage with their smooth mix of alt-indie-country style music which featured guest appearance by Nico Muhly (who also played earlier on that day) and sublime cover of Carol King’s ‘He Hit Me (And it Felt Like a Kiss).
New York guitar mistress Marnie Stern finger tapped her way through her rather raunchy set. Despite having some technical difficulties at the end the crowd were kept entertained by the bass player’s anecdotes of the life of Marnie. As far as jaunty guitar rock goes she is fine example of it definitely a girl to check out live in your area.

The final day of this three day tomfoolery has come to bring us some more mixing of the genres featuring goth-rock, indie-disco, pop-punk, shoe-gazing and much more.
Welsh rockers Future of the Left ripped into the crowd with quirky songs and with their jibes at bearded, checked shirt wearing crowd members, I did feel sorry for the guy in the multi coloured hoodie who got it quite badly but that’s what you get for an sartorial mistakes at their gigs but I digress. They were another highlight from the weekend playing tracks from their upcoming album and plenty from their debut album ‘Curses’ my personal highlight of the set was the simple riff greatness of ‘Small Bones Small Bodies’ and watching bass player Kelson Mathias crowd surfing despite not really being enough people but you have admire that kind of determination.
Later on we had the disappointment of having experimental rock band Parts and Labor performing on the main stage and despite having produced one of the finest album in recent times they just can’t seem to pull it off live. Just thinking about makes me sad so I’m going to stop writing about them now. Disappointing.
Cosmic indie legends Spiritualized took the headline slot on the main stage to complete the line up on that stage for the weekend. Opening with their version of the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ set the tone for the rest of the set. Watching them felt like a spiritual experience but that could be due to them having gospel singers as backing vocalists. Packing the set with songs from the critically acclaimed ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We’re Floating in Space’ and plenty more from the back catalogue they really delved into all their past albums to show the crowd what they’re made of spaced out, cosmic, shogazing, indie wonder. Beautiful.
Grunge veterans The Jesus Lizard showed the kids how its done as singer David Yow whipped his top off and snaked round the stage (almost like a lizard, coincidence?) and his voice cracking slightly on some of the songs but they could be down to overdoing on they performance the previous night. Playing tracks from all their albums to give everyone the benefit of their experience and proving the older bands can still keep up the youth of today and show them a thing or two!
Final act of the weekend we had stoner rock pioneers Sleep who reformed just the festival for a one off never to be repeated show of the cult album Holy Mountain and selections from the epic Dopesmoker. They might not have been the happiest of bands that weekend but they certainly were the loudest I had to retreat to the bathroom to stuff my ears with tissue paper to make it bearable. Proving themselves as being the legends they are they put on one of the best shows of the weekend with crunching, distorted guitars and bass and pounding drums, watching them was like being kicked the face by Satan himself. Dark, moody, evil but consistently brilliant and showing why they are the legends they are and why Holy Mountain has lasted this long and is still influencing bands today.
Leaving ATP always fills you sadness but you can always take comfort in knowing that it won’t be long until the next one at Christmas curated by noise rock band My Bloody Valentine. See you at Christmas.

Middle Boop on Behance

Middle Boop is finally on the Behance network. Check out the profile for some awesome work.

Middle Boop on Behance and Yay! Everyday

The limited edition print created for the Au gig a few weeks ago has been featured on the awesome Yay!Everday website. Check it out.

http://yayeveryday.com/

All Tomorrows Parties 2 - The Breeders

As usual, we at Middle Boop are going ATP mad. Here is the second review in as many weeks for The Breeders atp.

My unwavering adulation for atp had taken a bit of a stutter in the past few months. First off the tickets for atp NY went on sale before even the curator was announced and then the poster for atp vs the fans part two was unleashed. I still have nightmares about the awfulness of the design concept for that title and artwork. A Star Wars reference? Had I really underestimated the artistic sensibilities of the average atpendee so? On top of my fears that the festival bigwigs had gone a bit off-message, when I arrived at Minehead for the Breeders-curated weekend there was a noticeable chunk of me that couldn’t help thinking I’d picked the wrong weekend, and I whinged to myself about not getting to see M83 or the Retribution Gospel Choir. Or Casiotone or Beirut or Future of the Left. And our four person chalet only had three plates. As the festival started the perennial criticism of Minehead not being as good as Camber reared its head when Giant Sand and then Throwing Muses were lost and drowned by the shit, shit, shit Pavilion stage. And the Centre stage stank of hot dogs. Fetid, fetid hot dogs.

It was seven forty-five on the Friday evening and I was beginning to feel like any fun to be had over the weekend was going to be in spite of atp rather than because of it. Of course I was wrong and it took Yann Tiersen to show me for why. The beauty of atp is the treasure hunting, the panning for gold. I had never heard of Yann Tiersen before but halfway through the set I was ready to quit my job and follow him around the World. The six person harmonies, theremin and fiddle lushness was marred only by the knowledge that they wouldn’t sound this good on record, and that to recreate the experience I would have to kidnap the whole band. A plan I seriously considered implementing.

So I was back on track. Bon Iver proved that it wasn’t the Pavilion Stage’s fault that Giant Sand were boring or that the Throwing Muses’ back catalogue is so samey by filling the space admirably, with a much more involved live sound than I was expecting.

Saturday’s highlights were Shellac, whose nine-hour rendition of End of Radio was phenomenal, and Tricky. Yes, Tricky. Possibly as a result of skewed expectations, Tricky felt surprisingly relevant to a 2009 audience. He performed with a fluid, shirtless and snake-hipped-bordering-on-scoliotic devotion to his craft that I couldn’t help wondering why he has fallen so far out of fashion. The Breeders headlined the Saturday night, opening with No Aloha which had been stuck in my head since the day I’d paid for my ticket. Kim and Kelley looked a good yard mummsier than the last time I saw them play together (at atp a full seven years earlier), and that was no bad thing. They looked like a band doing something they love, who had outgrown any affectations that may come from playing in a rock band. Being, as it is, the perfectest indie pop song of all time, Cannonball can’t quite live up to its own legend when played live. That didn’t matter though as the Deal sisters had more than enough other gems to cement together a great set in front of the sort of appreciative audience that any atp curator can expect to receive.

On Sunday Melt Banana served as my own personal cobweb extractor, Kimya Dawson twee’d herself inside out and the Foals held my attention. The last act of the festival was my second big discovery of the weekend. tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus) was, infernal capitalisation to one side, a looping, drumming, ukulele-ing, yodelhouse of a one-woman show whom it was impossible not to believe when she told the audience that she was having the best show of her life, and the audience, clearly all loved her nearly as much as I did.

Written by

Philip Sharman

Jing Zhang

Jing Zhang is a Chinese designer now based in London. She creates some absolutely stunning work, here is a mere sample.

Find her whole portfolio here
http://www.mazakii.com

Great bit of typography

Saw this poster and thought it was awesome.

Future Of The Left - Travels With Myself And Another

Britain has not produced a decent rock band for far too long now, there is certainly a gap in the market and Future of The Left fill that gap very well. 'Travels With Myself And Another,' is 33 minutes of fuzzed up bass lines, distorted guitars and heavy drums.
Lyrically its all very tongue in cheek, each track is cleverly written, lyrics like 'you let your manatee down and then you drowned,' show these guys have an awesome sense of humour. In fact live they are hilarious.
Their sound is an evolution of just what can be achieved with a guitar, bass and drums, with each track brutal yet hinting at something much more.
The stand out track is 'You Need Satan More Than He Needs You' changing the guitar for a distorted synth, creating a song I haven't stopped listening to since I got the album, with some more brilliant lyrics thrown in such as
'yeah sure Satan rules, but that doesn't mean I can't be practical,'
It is very apparent after listening to 'Travels With Myself And Another' that Britain needs a band like Future of The Left.

Passion Pit - Manners

Boston based Passion Pit are contenders for top spot on a lot of people's summer album lists this year, much in the same way as MGMT was last year. Just looking at their gig listings will give you some idea of the amount of growth Passion Pit are already going through, playing small clubs like Heaven the first time round in England and then already booked in for a headline show at Koko in October, quite a big step. Their cheery, dreamy take on electro pop will be enough to make any hardened music nerd get up and dance. With an album full of gems, like the singles Sleepyhead and The Reeling, that are sure to be staple listening in indie clubs throughout the country, Passion Pit are certainly a name you will be hearing more and more, which is not a bad thing because these guys are really cool.

Sawdust - New work

Awesome designers Sawdust have just created the cover for Novum, a highly respected German design magazine and it looks awesome.

Bakers Dozen

Bakers Dozen is an online shop that asked 13 artists from around the world to create an object in editions limited to 13 for the shop to sell. Cool idea, contributions come from Gemma Correll, Sian Keegan, Amy Borell, etc.

bakersdozen.bigcartel.com

Sleepy Sun ATP Showcase - The Luminaire

What better way to get over the post ATP blues then go to an ATP showcase gig? After missing Sleepy Sun at the festival I was keen to check them out, especially after hearing great things from people who had seen them that weekend. The Luminaire, the perfect venue for showcasing some amazing acts. First up was Alexander Tucker, a man who certainly lived up to the hype. Creating sounds that just haven't been made by anyone else using an acoustic guitar, hooking it up to a ridiculous amount of pedals creating some pretty unique music. The crowd were mostly sitting down which I found a bit surreal but it worked quite well with his sound. On to the headliners of the night, Sleepy Sun, opening with the brilliant track 'Sleepy Son' it was always going to be a good gig. Sleepy Sun's spacey, bluesy rock is certainly not a new sound but their music was played to perfection and executed so well the whole gig was a bit of a blur and to be fair there hasn't been a band playing music like this so well for a very long time. The venue was a little undersold, probably because it was literally the day after the festival so I should imagine most people (including myself) were completely worn out. It was a really cool gig and their encore, the best cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' you will ever hear went down a treat. The highlight was the guitarist propping up a copy of Middle Boop volume three on his amp and keeping it there for the entirety of the show. Good work.

All Tomorrows Parties Vs The Fans 2009

Middle Boop's favourite festival has outdone itself yet again. The weekend featured some of the best music you will ever hear. The lineup was as diverse as ever with a crazy mix of some of the heaviest bands you will ever hear to shoegazey electronica and folk. The weekend started on an absolute high with Health being the first band I saw and boy, did they set the bar. Having only heard their remix album I was expecting extreme indie electro but what we got was one of the most frantic, loud and aggressive sets I have ever seen. Imagine Sonic Youth turning it up and necking a pack of Red Bull, the general consensus was that they were the band of the day, if not one of the weekend. They have to be seen to be believed. Next up was M83, probably the best way to get over the craziness of Health, playing a great set of atmospheric pop showing what indeed the fuss has been all about. The headliners on the Friday were Devo, who crammed their set full of all of the classics dancing around the stage proving they have definitely still got it. Friday drew to a close with two of the most minimal, heavy and atmospheric bands possibly ever, Jesu and Fuck Buttons. Jesu, a band I have literally been waiting around five years to see live did not disappoint, tacky backgrounds aside the noise those two made was astonishing and the same with Fuck Buttons, drawing one of the biggest crowds of the night, and deservedly so, playing most of their debut album 'Street Horrsing' and messing about with a few of the classics they showcased exactly why ATP signed them up. Saturday saw host to some exceptional talent, Sian Alice Group, mixing in bits of free jazz, modern classical and soul amazed me, as well as the wonderful Grizzly Bear and Cave Singers who both played charming, happy, brilliantly executed folk. This also provided a respite before the almighty Jesus Lizard. Back after a ten year hiatus, within 30 seconds of the opening number lead singer David Yow had ripped his shirt off and dived into the crowd, by the end of the song he had managed to crawl his way to the back of the venue he is an absolute nutter, both sets they played were genius. An amazing return to form. Sunday saw a few fairly uninspiring sets from Parts and Labor who probably shouldn't have played the main stage, musically they are pretty cool but their live sound was awful. I was also a little disappointed with Killing Joke, playing to a small crowd of extreme fans and a few onlookers. Their performances were entirely overshadowed by Future of The Left whose ironic brand of heavy, fast rock was surprisingly refreshing, they were also hilarious to watch, ripping into various people in the crowd, it was great to watch. Now on to the last two bands of the weekend. School of Seven Bells and This Will Destroy You. School of Seven Bells up first played one of the most emotional and breathtaking gigs I have seen since Sigur Ros. I get the feeling they will be having a big year. This Will Destroy You, a band I knew nothing about closed ATP with a band, playing the smallest stage they stunned the packed crowd playing Explosions In The Sky esq post rock, before they came on I wondered why they had been put on last but as soon as the first song had ended I knew why. Epic. ATP is without a doubt the best festival that exists, long may it continue.

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