Saint Etienne return with new single ‘Tonight’

Saint Etienne

It’s been seven years since their last album, and Saint Etienne have announced their return – the band have made a new single, ‘Tonight’, available to download. You can stream the song below.

The new album is as yet untitled, but the single definitely sounds promising – built on a bed of strings and electronica with an, as usual, irresistible pop hook, it sounds like the melancholic/euphoric pop we’re currently missing from the likes of Robyn and Girls Aloud (it’s produced by Xenomania’s Tim Powell and mixed by Richard X). Welcome back Saint Etienne. … Continue Reading

Wiley – Evolve Or Be Extinct

Wiley - Evolve Or Be Extinct

By Greg Salter

Halfway through Evolve Or Be Extinct’s title track, we get Wiley, sounding as relaxed and as confident as ever, pretty much setting out his what’s driving his new material: “You say you don’t like me. So what?/I’m not a show off but when I’m about it’s a roadblock/Stop thinking of old songs/Move on – go change your old top”. Evolve Or Be Extinct is his statement for his longevity – arguably one of grime’s most influential figures, he’s 32 now and knows that while he can stay true to his grime roots, he also needs to justify his continued existence in a UK scene where the kids are continually coming up from behind. … Continue Reading

Video: Perfume Genius – ‘Hood’

Perfume Genius

We’ve been listening to the new Perfume Genius album, Put Your Back N 2 It, for the last few days and it is stunning, even better than 2010′s heavily praised Learning. ‘Hood’ has already become something of a standout for us, so it’s great to see that Mike Hadreas has released a video for the song – and the first proper Perfume Genius video at that.

The video undercuts the lyrics of the song with a bit of humour – there’s Hadreas in a string vest and some make up alongside gay porn star Arpad Miklos. It’s short, sweet and you can watch it below. … Continue Reading

BRIT awards 2012 nominations are in…

BRIT awards 2012

The nominations for the 2012 BRIT awards were announced today at a fancy do at the Savoy in that London. It was already announced that Ed Sheeran and Jessie J were going to dominate – he’s picked up 4 nominations, she’s got 3, while Emeli Sande has already claimed the Critics Choice Award. Blur will perform on the night and receive the outstanding contribution to music award, so well done them. Bon Iver gets a couple of nods, James Blake and Anna Calvi get one each, and the best international female category is all sorts of amazing.

We’ve got the full list of nominations for you below. Voila: … Continue Reading

New Nicolas Jaar, ‘With Just One Glance’

Nicolas Jaar

Nicolas Jaar‘s debut LP Space Is Only Noise was one of 2011′s most loved albums – it made our own top 10 of the year – and the new material that has been slowly emerging since that album’s release (nearly a year ago now) suggests there’s much more to look forward to. At the tail end of last year we got the quietly impressive ‘Don’t Break My Love’/'Why Didn’t You Save Me’ single and recently another new track – the jazz inflected minimalism of ‘With Just One Glance’ – has made its way onto the blogs. Mildly interesting fact to mull over while you listen to it below: the singer is the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. … Continue Reading

Hear the new single by Amateur Best (formerly Primary 1), ‘Be Happy’

Amateur Best - Be Happy

A couple of years ago now, Joe Flory was gaining a fair amount of attention as Primary 1 – there was a bit of buzz, a rather good single with Nina Persson of The Cardigans called ‘The Blues’ and rumblings of an album, until… well, not very much. Flory did put out an LP as Primary 1 last year, but it was a digital-only release that seemed more like a desk-clearing exercise rather than a definitive artistic statement.

Flory has now re-emerged as Amateur Best, and it’s already looking like being an altogether more focused affair – his Amatuer Best guise is going to tell the story of James Best, a “sometime London DJ, latent alcoholic and lifelong amateur” through songs and also a comic book, which will accompany the Amateur Best releases. The first single is ‘Be Happy’, due out on 7″ on Double Denim Records on February 13. You can hear it below. … Continue Reading

Listen to a new Xiu Xiu track, ‘Hi’

Xiu Xiu - Always

Xiu Xiu have been making music that manages to be earnest, melodic, poppy, strange and harrowing at once (often all in the space of one song) for ten years now. Ten years! Today, the band announced the next album (their eighth in all) will be called Always – it will commemorate the relationship between the band and their intensely devoted fanbase, intended to encapsulate “the mutual camaraderie with and deep dedication to each person who has internalized Xiu Xiu’s work, tattooed its name on their skin or soul, and throughout the past 10 years made the band a part of their lives”.

In the meantime, the band have made the album’s first single ‘Hi’ available to stream – have a listen below. Longtime fans hoping that Always will find Xiu Xiu tackling their usual subject matter will be pleased to hear that the tracklist includes songs such as ‘Chimney’s Afire (Mickensian Suicide)’ and ‘I Luv Abortion’. … Continue Reading

Video: Dot Rotten – ‘Are You Not Entertained’

Dot Rotten

Dot Rotten found himself on the BBC Sound Of 2012 the other week – while he didn’t make the top 5, it was still a fairly big achievement for a grime MC, even in a post-Dizzee and Wiley world. In interviews, he seems refreshingly unconcerned with what his underground peers are going to make of his move overground – and the sheer number of mixtapes he released between 2008 and last year is testament to the work he’s been putting in. He’s just released the video for new single ‘Are You Not Entertained’ and its neither a retreat to his roots nor a Tinie Tempah style crossover – plenty of grime MCs have got lost in the space between the underground and the mainstream, and it’ll be interesting to hear where Dot Rotten’s album lands between those two worlds. … Continue Reading

Listen to Friendly Fires’ Pala remixes now

Friendly Fires - Pala

In December, our writers voted Friendly Fires‘ second album Pala into our top 10 albums of the year, and the band have just released a deluxe edition of the record, featuring a selection of extra remixes. The remixes come from Tensnake, Tiga, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Benoit & Sergio, Tim Green, as well as Carl Craig, who contributes an alternate take on ‘Hurting’ that’ll also get a release on limited edition vinyl in February. We’ve got the tracklist of the extra remixes, and you can listen to them below.

1. Hurting (Carl Craig Extended Edit)
2. Hurting (Tensnake Remix)
3. Blue Cassette (Tiga Remix)
4. Hawaiian Air (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
5. Hurting (Benoit & Sergio Remix)
6. Live Those Days Tonight (Tim Green Remix) … Continue Reading

Hear new material from The-Dream, ‘Roc’

The-Dream - Roc

A few hours ago, R&B genius The-Dream posted a brand new track to his Radio Killa Records site – ‘Roc’ is available to stream there now and is, hopefully, the first taste of his long-delayed The Love IV: Diary Of A Mad Man. It’s his first new material since he released  a free album under his own name last year – the strong 1977. Head over to the The-Dream’s site to hear the song now.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Tim Westwood, he revealed that he’s made around $15 million from writing Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ so far. He also revealed (jokingly, we think) his motivations behind songwriting: “I’m just trying to pay the bills, man. I got child support bills, I got old wives’ bills, I got new wives’ bills. I’m working on my third wife, so I gotta pay those bills.” Fair enough.