The Best of February

tUnE-yArDs

It seems like barely four weeks ago we published The Best of January and that’s because it was – February is only four weeks long. We like to keep it simple, at the bottom of this article is a condensed musical version of what we’ve been talking about last month. That means there are singles from Field Music, Gorillaz, Two Door Cinema Club, Efterklang and Tunng. Tracks from the albums by Midlake, The Archie Bronson Outfit, Pantha Du Prince (with help from Panda Bear) and Hot Chip.

We also saw Shearwater, New Young Pony Club and tUnE-yArDs live as well as taking a second look at Arctic Monkeys. Cate Le Bon waxed lyrical on Syd Barrett’s second solo album (Barrett) and we reviewed her first. Looking back we celebrated Chemical Underground past and present and caught up with members of the long-split-up and much-celebrated Life Without Buildings.

Here it is: Muso’s Guide – February 2010

Cate Le Bon – Me Oh My

Cate le Bon - Me Oh My

With her vampish bowl-haircut and blackened eyelids, Welsh chanteuse Cate Le Bon could pass as the third member of Telepathe. Only sonically, she’s opted to eschew layers of stroke-of-midnight hypnotics for simple, stark compositions, taking the listener to intimate places and keeping firm hold of those achingly hipster credentials.

And who knew things were getting so morbid over the border these days? Me Oh My, Le Bon’s witching (half) hour, was recorded for mentor and Super Furry Animal Gruff Rhys’ Irony Bored label after she appeared on his Neon Neon side-project album, Stainless Style. But whereas the sleazy electro glide of the track in question, ‘I Lust U’, didn’t allow for the eccentricities of her Nico-imbued vocal or her urge to write about death and darkness, the fact she initially wanted to call this debut ‘Pet Deaths’ speaks volumes about what fascinates her most. … Continue Reading

New Young Pony Club – The Optimist

New Young Pony Club - The Optimist

I remember seeing New Young Pony Club whilst I was at university a few years ago when they were touring with the NME on the same bill as CSS and the Klaxons.  I was swept up on the nu-rave bandwagon and really liked their original, edgy sound. But then they sort of disappeared.

With only a hazy memory of their previous work (mainly ‘Ice Cream’), I was expecting more of the same; plinky-plonky ’80s electro, nu-rave pop – and their new album The Optimist delivers, but on a larger scale. … Continue Reading

Next event: Muso’s Guide and Broken Glass present… Beyond The Curve

Together with the critically-acclaimed theatre company Broken Glass, we are bringing an all-day programme to The Camden Head (100 Camden High Street) on Sunday 4 April from 3pm, showcasing award-winning poetry, cutting-edge theatre, short film, found-sound DJing, dark theatre cabaret and acclaimed folk-noir.

The day’s hand-picked programme represents the shared ambition to bridge the gap between different types of performance and open up new audiences to an array of diverse talent.

It’s all at The Camden Head, Sunday April 4, from 3pm – late, and Beyond The Curve tickets can be bought from We Got Tickets for £8, or £6 if you’re quick enough. Here’s that link again: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/74842 … Continue Reading

Islet, London Lexington

Islet - image from thisislet.com (the unofficial fansite)

March 5, 2010

I could prepare for writing this review by trawling endlessly, needlessly for track names, photos, and an overview of what the selected few hacks who’ve written about Islet have to say. I did, in fact, and it turns out that more’s been written about their decision – be it because of a lack of recorded material or otherwise – to shun the internet. They have no MySpace, sure, but the fact is that an image-search reveals their appearance, a look at their Last.fm or Songkick page (subject to gig promoters’ efficiency) tells of their upcoming tour-dates and press, just like this, is still filtering through. They’re proof that hometown-phenomena still happen. … Continue Reading

Screaming Maldini – Kookaburra Sings

Screaming Maldini - Kookaburra Sings

Imagine Scouting For Girls built a time machine that took them back to around 1984.  Once there, they stole The Smiths’ youthful spirits and creativity, then returned via 1992, where they had a tutorial in time signatures from Dream Theater and a magic lesson from Paul Daniels.  Are you still with me?  If so, then you have a good idea of what to expect from Screaming Maldini’s ‘Kookaburra Sings’. … Continue Reading

Trouble Books – Gathered Tones

Trouble Books - Gathered Tones

There is undoubtedly something magical about a great lost album. Even when you discount the dirty pleasure of indie snobbery, there is still something warming about a really special piece of music which you share with a small number of similarly enlightened souls. Ohio band Trouble Books’ last effort, The United Colors of Trouble Books was a thing of almost impossible beauty which fell squarely into that category, missed as it was by many. Given the delicate, unhurried nature of their sound, it is perhaps fitting that the acclaim for the band is starting to swell ever so gradually, including a recent spot in The Guardian’s New Band of the Day column, meaning their fanbase is starting very slowly to expand. … Continue Reading

Lisbon’s Youthless cover Wild Beasts for Portugalia

Youthless

Muso’s Guide favourites Youthless are getting a name for themselves over in their home country of Portugal, with radio DJ Henrique Amarro inviting them in for four days on his show, Portugali, to do a series of acoustic covers of some of their favourite songs.

You can hear them from March 8 – 11 at 3pm on Antena 3 and on the station’s podcast after those dates. They’ve also covered The XX’s ‘Islands’, to be aired later in March. Not only is their employment of a synth killer, but their music taste appears to be similar. … Continue Reading

Field Music, London Scala

Field Music

March 3, 2010

Field Music are avant-pop doyens. That sure sounds pretentious but it’s shorthand for “Field Music should be selling out the Royal Festival Hall but audiences’ attention-spans just aren’t big enough to let that happen”. They sell out the Scala no sweat, which marks the well-deserved success of their comeback record Field Music (Measure), but tonight – while a great platform for their instrument-swapping skills, astounding musicianship and general loveliness – lacks magic. … Continue Reading

Los Campesinos! get bigger, play Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Los Campesinos!

How exciting, that Los Campesinos! are now big enough to play Shepherd’s Bush Empire. How brilliant.

And how great that it’s going to be happening! Tickets go on sale Monday 8th March at 9am, hot on the heels of their sold-out Koko show very recently. … Continue Reading