Animal Collective - Kentish Town Forum

Animal Collective are a band well known for intense live performances featuring anything from crazy visuals, playing unreleased material and complely changing known songs. This had everything and more. Their support came from Dent May, a man I have talked about a lot over the last few months and I was excited to see what he would have to offer live, coming on without any of his backing band it was literally Dent May with his ukulele and a guy with maracas. I feel he was let down by the sound quite a lot but apart from that the set was great and in a smaller venue his music would work really well.
With a huge inflatable ball hanging from the centre of the stage and trippy patterns projected onto it, a setlist showcasing some of their best material from the last few years and sounding louder than a Mogwai concert this was always going to be a special gig. Opening with one of the highlights from Merriweather Post Pavillion, 'Lion In A Coma' through a haze of dry ice and lights their relentless, immense sound barely stopped until the encore. Playing the Forum is no easy feat for any band and to sell it out means big things and for a band which are undefiable in terms of genre this is really big. In fact I didn't realize how big until the day of the gig where I walked into a number of shops all playing a selection of tracks from the hugely successful Merriweather Post Pavilion and there are also adverts on the underground. At times their set was reasonably self indulgant, making four minute pop songs such as 'Peacebone' into almost twenty minute atmospheric soundscapes which shows that they are in no way phased by the sudden jump in venue size and continue to do exactly what they want. The sound did get annoying at point as the bass seemed to drown out almost everything else going on but on the whole Animal Collective put on an amazing show, its like a statement of intent by a band full of surprises.

Middle Boop Volume Three

The Middle Boop volume three is here.
Featuring contributions from amazing designers such as
Brand Nu
Sawdust
Sopp Collective
Wax Museum
and Wizards Hat
with reviews of
Animal Collective
Mogwai
Kieran Hebden
Dent May and many many others
this one is not to be missed.
If you would like a copy give me a shout.
gordon@middleboop.com

Casiokids

Norway has given us lots of things throughout the years; Death Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal……….Christmas Trees but now they are giving us some electro-indie pop in the form of Moshi-Moshi records signing, Casiokids.
They will touring throughout the UK throughout May this year so be sure to catch them if you’ve been looking for someone with the slightly dark intensity of Crystal Castles but with the pop hooks and melodies of Hot Chip.
Earlier on this month saw them release their second single on Moshi Moshi, it was a double A side of tracks ‘Fot I Hose’ and ‘Verdens Storste Land’ (check out the video for ‘Fot I Hose’ it’s strange but kinda funny).
The big attraction to this band is not only their keen sense of writing good pop hooks but it’s also the fact that, when they do, they sing in their native Norwegian language (too many foreign bands sing in English, I think) and that they can swap from making grooving, slightly odd and twisted electro-indie to being slightly melancholic and still maintain their pop sensibilities and have us all joining their Scandinavian groove train. You’ll be dancing to them in no time!
Check Out: Fot I Hose, Togens Hule, Gront Lys I Alle Ledd
(Picture by Vinciane Verguethen)

Gliss - Devotion Implosion

Los Angeles three-piece Gliss are about to release their latest album ‘Devotion Implosion’ which will once again have them bringing their fuzzy, shoegazing guitars, heavy drums and spaced out vocals to our ears.
This album will draw obvious comparisons to Psychocandy by Jesus and Mary Chain but after some further listening will reveal some other elements from BRMC to the Pixies.
First single ‘Anybody Inside’ thunders out the speakers with thumping and fuzzed up bass lines and even fuzzier guitars that would make BRMC very jealous. The main concern I have with the album is despite it being a good album it reminds me too much of other bands. You’ll be listening to a track and it will remind of something else you’ve heard before on a different album by a band in the same genre so you’ll stop the album but on the alternative instead. Like I said it is a good album but it’s just not unique and stand out enough for it to stay in your head.
Check out: Anybody Inside, Morning Light

knife fever!

So she is the lead singer of Swedish electro skits The Knife; Karin Dreijer Andersson aka Fever Ray has her new solo project. Its like The Knife but its more alive, more warm, more accessible and inevitability more of herself. If you want to get into euro folk electro this would be a good way to start. Its like a more popish entrance into a skittish dark world:

Recomended listening:
Fever Ray - When I Grow Up
The Knife - Silent Shout
Jenny Wilson - Hardships
Jeniferever - Spring Tides(see below)

Its funny cos its true

Girls on the internet make me laugh!
http://styleslut.blogspot.com/2009/03/msg-to-industry-stop-saying-hey-hows.html
Good on yah Sluts!

You've got Fake Problems!

So fake problems are a cool band, blueys, folking, punk have a listen:
http://daytrotter.com/article/1637/fake-problems-daytrotter-session
And they are playing with dead man Frank turner soonish.
But what a great idea the old daytrotter site is. Its really good to see a site completley branding all its content in its own specialised way. Can't say im the biggest fan of the illustrations but the combination of music session tracks and the illustrations on this site is really fucking great. And do have a hunt round on there they've got old mb favourites like Fleet Foxes, Trail of Dead & Bon Iver and thats just to name a few!

Lakai x UNKLE x Spike Jones=

loads of skateboarders falling over in slow motion with stuff blowing up all around them and its all with the added bonus of havng some unkle song for the soundtrack. Since he pised off Shadow all his albums sounds the same, i cant tell the difference any more. Plus the ending... the ending! Would of been alright without the ending, IM AMERICAN LETS BLOW SOME SHIT UP... YEAH!YEAH!

YEAH! Go watch girl 'yeah right!' if you want some skateboarding special effects!

MWM - Coincidence World at Concrete Hermit

Concrete Hermit has been playing host to an exhibition by the wonderful Matt W. Moore, the man known for creating his own style known as 'Vector Funk.' showcasing huge vector prints, hand rendered paper collages and illustrations using spray paint and ink, this exhibition is a mere taste of the intensity and diversity of his work.

The show runs until May the 2nd at the brilliant Concrete Hermit. It needs to be seen.

Oh and I managed to get in one of the photos from his opening night check above.

Clark - Growls Garden

Mr Clark you have done it again! this is great. The Title track has become one of my favorite Clark songs already, starting off as quite an atmospheric electro and building up to a really dirty, distorted beat that sets the tone for the whole ep, also featuring the mans voice, albeit mixed under layers and layers of gritty electro. I am a little biased as most of these songs were showcased at his set at Bloc festival last week, which was one of the best sets I have ever seen someone play and listening to it again really brings it all back.
Growls Garden has to be played loud to really appreciate how good it is, each of the six songs flow well into each other and all have something different to offer. Dark, dirty, heavy layers of synths, effects and this is his most upbeat release, I can't stop listening to it. Brilliant.

Jeniferever - Spring Tides

Prog Rockers Jeniferever formed in 1996 but still have not received the press that they deserve. 'Spring Tides' is very distinctive of their Swedish heritage, think Katatonia, Opeth, etc with aural landscapes of slow paced melodies building to orchestral like climaxes, there is a lot of passion behind their music, its a very serious album, perhaps too serious. Stand out tracks such as 'Concrete and Glass' and 'Ox-Eye' showcase the intensity of their music with heavily delayed synths and guiitars and Kristofer Jonson's soft, almost Robert Smith esq vocals. My only problem is it feels a little over produced at times, which, I guess goes with the territory of Swedish Prog but I would fully recommend this to any budding Prog fan looking for something new.

Woodpigeon - Tresury Library Canada

The opener 'Knock Knock' is such a beautiful way to ease the listener into the wonderful world of Woodpigeon, with such a display of intimacy, strings, vocals and delayed guitar flow into one another delicately and this is only the beginning there are some wonderful tracks blending together atmospheric pop, alt country with exceptional production. There is a lot to get through with 14 tracks all roughly four minutes or over but once you get through that barrier and start to break it down you realize that this really is a delightful album.
Perfect for a sunny spring afternoon.

Bloc Photos

Here are some photos from Aphex Twin and Skream and Benga at Bloc Festival.
Credits for Aphex Twin go to www.watchlooksee.com
Skream and Benga credits go to Richard Nolan-Neylan
and Matt Smith

Free Themselves mixtape

Ten years after the release of their seminal debut, six years since their last LP, Themselves return in 2009 with not one, but two full-length albums. The first is theFREEhoudini: one part aggressive rap mixtape, one part posse reunion record that wrangles all seven original members of the Anticon collective-and several distinguished guests-to reaffirm the crew's uncontestable place in hip-hop history.
This free mixtape comprises of collaborations with such awesome artists as Busdriver, Aesop Rock, Buck 65 and Why?
Scattered throughout theFREEhoudini are songs that find Themselves unadorned, executing a range of styles that both pay tribute to and threaten to overtake their favorite mistress, hip-hop. On the opener, Doseone offers two things to any rapper who'd test him: his actual home address, and the growled cocksure promise, "I will wolf you."
This is a definately a goodun.

http://www.anticon.com/thefreehoudini/

Middle Boop hit Bloc

Wow! What a weekend. Being an avid All Tomorrows Parties goer I had an idea of what to expect with a festival at Butlins but the Bloc people did it completely different. For a start, at ATP there are just three stages, two indoors and one in a sort of Millenium Dome style building, where the bigger bands play and the sound is never as good. With Bloc there were five, converting two of the bars into stages and the main stage was the biggest stage indoors, which meant not only was the sound a lot better but you got to see people like Aphex Twin and Jamie Lidell in a much more intimate environment and there was always something going on.
Bloc was a great excuse for me to really explore some new genre's such as Dubstep and Techno and I found some absolute gems in both genres. Now to the music, my first real taste of Dubstep was Appleblim who rocked, adding a lot of style and flair to his sound and even though it was early days he really got the crowd into it. Friday's highlights were DJ Qbert on the Centre Stage who wowed the crowd with the fastest mixing and knob twiddling I have ever seen, Plastician, the Croydon based Dubstepper who played out an amazing set and really got the crowd going. My favorite on Friday had to be new Warp signing Hudson Mohawke playing loud, danceable, glitchy beats which the crowd seemed to go both ways with but I loved, especially when he threw a record into the crowd and it hit my friend square in the forehead. Saturday had so many amazing people i'm not sure where to start. Jamie Lidell was the first person to really get people moving, playing an awesome set messing about with his vocals and jumping about the stage, proving that even though he has just supported Elton John he can still get down with the kids. Two of the main highlights of the whole weekend though had to be Clark who played one of the best DJ sets I have ever seen! loud, fast and better than I could have ever imagined. Then on to the star of the festival mr Aphex Twin, playing with German sound artist Hecker he played a set like no other. It really was a set to remember, playing tiny snippets of his songs before unleashing hell with two hours of agressive glitcy house esq electronica plus a brilliant light show involving lasers, lights and screens. The talk of the weekend for all the proper music nerds (like myself) was that mr Twin has finally cut his hair! Sunday's highlights were marked by the best Dubstep gig I have ever seen courtesy of Skream and Benga and the finale from Detroit electro legend Carl Craig. All in all a fantastic weekend to which I am still feeling the effects. Butlins will never be the same again.

Boop's done Bloc!

Bloc is an odd festival. Once you get over the fact that you’re seeing some of the most respected, experimental and strange artists in electronic and that your seeing them at Butlins you then have to get used to the odd mix of people there. At Bloc you’ll be walking round with Hoxton Heroes, Indie Cindys, Dubsteppers, Junglists, old-skool ravers and people you’ve spent the last 20 years living their lives through the 4 letters M-D-M-A.
Highlight of the weekend has to go to Aphex Twin who put an amazing set with fellow electronic music loving Hecker. I was nervous about seeing him live because his set could have gone either way being ambient or glitchy, beat heavy electronica, luckily it was the latter. Opening their set with a computerised message appearing on the screen expressing his disdain for the audience, apparently is cool to hate your audience, then shuffle on stage minus his trade mark long hair and then lead the audience through his warped electronic world, it was all fantastic (well, except the hating me bit but I’ll forgive him). Dropping in not only his own works during his set but also tracks from other artists, my favourite was Frequency by Altern8 which he added his own Aphex Twin twist to.
Other highlights of the weekend included Detroit techno guru Carl Craig whose set blasted through the speakers with some of the finest Detroit techno and electro there is that had everyone there reaching for the lasers.
Dubstep superstars Skream and Benga provided everyone the opportunity for everyone to hear what Dubstep is all about with an amazing back to back DJ set, I would definitely say that they were probably the best DJ’s of the weekend.
Other special mentions of the weekend has to go to Brooklyn based duo Metro Area for their funky electro set that even I couldn’t resist moving my feet to. Ed Banger records head honcho Busy P (Pedro Winter) played through some of the labels finest selections and all mixed in with the hottest electro and hip-hop from around the world.
For all you Booper’s who like a boogie to some indie, electro and indie-electro then Isa GT is a name to check out and catch her spinning her musical goodness in a club near you.

top o the morning to yah!

Boop does Bloc!

Hey there Boop fans as you can probably guess by the title of this message us at the Boop are all off to the Bloc festival this week to bring you the low--down on what's happening in the world of electronic music.

Acts this year include Future Sound of London, Beardyman, Modeselektor, Benga, Skream, Busy P, Clark, Tim Exile, Hudson Mohawke and APHEX TWIN!!! plus many more.
As you can tell we're all pretty excited here.

Check the blog next week for a special Bloc festival review

See you on the other side of weekend

Middleboop loves you
xxxxxxxxx

Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Old Money

Solo albums are always a tricky thing to get right. A lot of people try and fail miserably. (Billy Corgan, James Dean Bradfield, the list goes on.) This album is very much on the same lines as the Mars Volta. A hell of a lot of very technical guitar licks, huge solos, interesting time signatures, you get the idea. This is a great album, possibly his most accessible non Volta recording and is certainly for any fan of Mars Volta or At The Drive In. Loosely based on the concept of Exploitative industrialists and, well, their old money there are ten tracks ranging from Prog to Funk, with a heap of Psychedelic thrown in for good measure. It is lacking the amazing vocals of mr Cedric Blixer but on the whole this is a very good album that is packed full of surprises.

Tron..... 2

Fooking hell...
The Tron sequel, which is penciled in for a 2011 release!!!
Not only that but Daft Punk are going to do the soundtrack!!!

Strike the pose!

I’ve just finished watching the music video for Use Somebody by the Kings of Leon and my heart is filled with sadness at the fall of another victim of the ‘thousand yard stare’, oh Caleb, Caleb, Caleb and I thought you were cool. This look has taken many pop stars years to perfect after a strict regime of ‘How to conjure up fake emotions with stupid looks’ classes that have been forced upon them by Simon Cowell (I’m just guessing).
I’m going to keep this short, I despise when bands turn into models, they are not models they’re musicians so they should be musicians. I understand if they just so happen to be an attractive man/women in a band then fine, we can all admire them shaking they money-maker on stage not in the spring catalogue of Topshop.
Of course, bands have done this for many years, what’s the difference between this and using their music to advertise whatever product some drug company has created to solve our little lives? None, really, it’s all part of the business of music but that’s not what annoys me. I understand music is a business and I’ve made my peace with that. It’s just the greed of bands wanting to be a musician/actor/model/writer/philosopher/ poet/vodka dispenser etc it just gets tiresome the fact that these people trying to do this tend to be Jack of all trades and master of nothing, that’s right Caleb as a vodka dispenser you are below average.
There are, of course, excepts to this PJ Harvey is a very good sculptor but this is an extra curricular activity but she’s good at it and it wasn’t an after-thought from suddenly becoming famous.
The message is simple: having a hobby is good but it’s not a career, just because you’ve appeared on the cover of a few music magazines doesn’t make you a model.

Abnormal Behavior Child

This is some of the best video production I've seen in a good while. Coming from a back ground where both myself and gordo where taught the basics of 3D modeling and video production/editing It really puts it in perspective how fucking long these guys spent on these projects. With the combination of video and interaction you can become lost in the amount of projects they have on offer. But please make sure you do have a good hunt around on this site because it is an archive full of their best videos and projects, and some are really very simple but their post production and editing just gives them a really cool, tech, modern, urban decay almost aphex twin(clique i know) kind of look to it. But if you are like me and are fairly bored of the internet please spend some time here because it does remind you of how much more the internet has to offer then facebook, myspazz etc
It really is as easy as ABC...

Its time to Liberate the print!

Great Tee
Buy this:

Great Acting
Watch This:


Not great music but video is worth a watch:

FREE PUMA MIXTAPE

CHECK THE LIBERATION!

LDN.50

I havent herd from the London Police for a while, but it seems they are still keeping busy just getting back from a tour of New Zeeland with none other then flying fort ress. Check their site for some new shopping bits n bobs but expect more to come from these guys in the coming months!

All The Saints - Live Session

For a three piece these guys create an atmosphere that Isis would be proud to call their own. Here is a live session recorded for Minnesota Public Radio.
Its pretty good.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/04/all_the_saints/

Hudson Mohawke - Polyfolk Dance

I was very excited to lay my hands on one of Warp Records latest endeavors and I was right to be so. Hudson Mohawke's debut ep combines some frantic cut up samples, soul melodies mixed in some of the heaviest beats I have heard this year. The 22 year old Glaswegian's music contains the technicalities of any of the finest people I would care to namecheck, Mr Aphex Twin, Clark, etc but every track is happy and amazingly danceable and played loud it is incredible. Each track has a certain charm about it that you really don't find with a lot of artists in his genre (If he has one.)
Hudson Mohawke is playing Bloc festival next week and I will certainly be watching in awe.

Good evening gentle Boop reader I’m sure by now you’ve all got your tickets for this year’s Field Day festival…………don’t you? If you haven’t then maybe this can persuade you with the latest announcements of amazing acts.
The latest act to be announced is the Eel Pie Island indie stars, and friends of DJ/producer Erol Alkan, Mystery Jets!
Still not sure then how about this list of other announcements

Aeroplane
Fake Blood
First Aid Kit
S.C.U.M.
Toumani Diabate

Plus more acts to be announced

Tickets are £29.50 + booking fee. Tickets available from Seetickets, Ticketweb , Ticket Line, Rough Trade East, Amersham Arms, The Lock Tavern and Gigantic.
Field Day takes place on August 1st at Victoria Park, Hackney, E9.

We’ll see you there!

Sky Larkin - The Golden Spike

Debut album by Leeds trio Sky Larkin is finally here and it’s about time too. From the first track you get the feeling that this is an album of alternative-indie gems. First single from the album, Fossil, I, is also the album opener with its Hounds of Love Futurehead’s style chorus only it’s not as annoying as the Futureheads howling. They do have an annoying habit, however, but it’s a habit of writing some fine guitar music with some keyboards thrown in for good measure.
The songs on the album rarely break the 3 minute mark, some are only are whisker over 2 minutes filled with heavy drums and distorted, bursting guitars with catchy lyrics and sing-a-long melodies, just look at the song Matador its just impossible not to sing to it, it’ll take some practice you’ll learn not to sing it in the High Street. This will certainly be a contender for the Middleboop albums of 2009.

If you like this try Land of Talk – Some Are Lakes

Women, The Lexington 03/03/09

This is a gig I had been looking forward to for a long time. Since raving about their self titled album and watching their live set at the Cake Shop in New York ( see earlier blog) I had a feeling this would not dissapoint. I was right. The Lexington was absolutely rammed. Completely sold out and it felt like it. The first band on were Thee Fair Ohs, playing short, heavy, punk. I really liked them and was not expecting to see anything so heavy as were the rest of the crowd as noted by the lead singer "This is normally the part where people circle pit. But you're not gonna do that are you?" The second support slot was from Wavves, fresh out of that Lo-Fi, Californian movement thats keeping everyone on their toes at the moment. Wavves is made up of 22 year old Nathan Williams and drummer Ryan Ulsh. This is the first time they have been over here and they have sold out every date on tour, which shows you the levels of anticipation surrounding the duo. Their sound is simple and honest, with Williams angsty lyrics, combining loud, fuzzed up guitars with heavy drums. They already have a great stage presence, interacting with the crowd with a comic timing and with some awesome music I reckon we will be hearing a lot more from these guys.
Women came on stage a little later than planned due to the drummer losing his stick bag, but with a makeshift made out of socks and gaffa tape, there was no stopping them. The songs sounded brilliant live, each track blending into each other fluently with a few different takes on tracks from their debut self titled which made things interesting. Every track played with such intensity, ranging from atmospheric, almost shoegaze to indie, but indie when it was actually indie. They were full of surprises which made for an awesome show. My only niggle was that I wanted to hear more.

Crippled Black Phoenix - 200 Tons of Bad Luck

Yes! It has been a while since I have heard a band that has such awesome guitar licks and anthemic epic rock choruses that just make you want to nod your head along to. There are a hell of a lot of bands out there attempting to make music not even half as good as Crippled Black Phoenix. They have taken the much overplayed genre of progressive rock and have produced an album that really does bridge a huge gap between them and other contemporary bands in their genre. They are a super group of sorts. Formed by ex Electric Wizard drummer Julian Greaves and Mogwai bassist Dominic Aitchinson, along with a whole heap of other musicians and signed to Invada Records (run by Geoff Barrow) There are a lot of big names checked before even listening.
It is a long album featuring twelve tracks mostly ranging over five minutes long. Sounding somewhere in between an angry Pink Floyd and a very British Tool, if they played around with old synths, there is definitely a calling for new bands in this genre and Crippled Black Phoenix will undoubtedly be at the forefront of this.

The highlight is the breathtaking 18 minute long 'Time Of Ye Life/Born For Nothing/Paranoid Arm Of Narcoleptic Empire' The title is a mouthful as is the song. Starting with a quote from Evil Knievel and building up with layers and layers of instruments only for the song to change complete direction 10 minutes through to take on a much darker and Proggy feel, expect drum, guitar and synth solos and a hell of a lot of key changes.

200 Tons Of Bad Luck is out on the 14th of April. It is well worth a listen.

School of Seven Bells at the Cargo

Psychedelic-indie super-group (ok maybe not a super-group but still pretty damn good) School of Seven Bells are over in the UK touring off their debut album Alpinisms and earlier on in the week they played the Cargo in London’s East End.
The venue perfectly captured their style of music, chilled out but ready to surprise you at any moment. The live show had former Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis semi-head banging and filling the room with cosmic guitar music, with so much reverb and delay on it that what your hearing in the crowd is something he played 5 minutes before. While that’s happening twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza harmoniously fill our ears with their sweet vocals. There are few criticisms that can be made about the show and even then they are superficial criticisms. This is a band to catch live soon, you won’t regret it.