Muso’s Guide’s Festival Season: June Previews – No Direction Home, Field Day, Nova and more…

We’ve asked some of our writers to preview a few of this year’s festivals that they’re most looking forward to; to offer some idea of what the event is about, and to pick out a few bands and artists that they’re most excited about seeing perform. In this installment, we take a look at the End of the Road affiliated No Direction Home; the newly revamped Field Day and its sibling event The Apple Cart Festival; the inaugural Nova Festival, and Somerset’s Sunrise Celebration. … Continue Reading

Video: Little Boots – ‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’

Little Boots - Every Night I Say A Prayer

Earlier this week, a few of our writers gave their views on the new Little Boots single and the result was mixed – to our (editorial – ha) ears, ‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ sounds like one of the year’s better singles – we This Is My Jam’d it yesterday, if that means anything to  you.

‘Every Night I Say A Prayer’ now has a video and, well, if you heard a fair amount of late ’80s/early ’90s Madonna in the song, prepare to see a lot more of Madge’s influence in the video. And to be honest, if Madonna’s going to insist on being so shit at the moment, then Victoria might as well step in and show her how it’s really done. Belly tops, voguing and lyrca below: … Continue Reading

New writers wanted – features, albums, gigs

Hello there. Here at Muso’s Guide we’ve always tried to focus on quality music writing, avoiding the temptation to publish every new track/video/album cover/press shot/hate email that finds its way to our inbox, and remaining – new Robyn albums aside – suspicious of ‘hype’. We publish daily album reviews, plus regular gig reviews, photo sets, features and single roundtables in our ‘Now Playing’ column; we cover pop, rock, ‘indie’, electronica, dance, hiphop and everything in between, and we’re proud of what we do.

We currently have a fantastic team of writers and editors who contribute to and run Muso’s Guide, driven by their passion for music and writing, and we’re looking for people to join us. If you’re interested in contributing, we’ve got a number of ways you can get involved. First off, we’re particularly interested in hearing from budding features writers – we’re looking for people to take on interviews with artists, or writers keen to pitch ideas for a regular column, or just someone who’s looking for a forum where they can reflect, intelligently and thoughtfully, on some of the issues flying around in the pop music landscape. We’re also always looking for new album and gig reviewers – come and join us if you’re interested in getting involved in this side of things too. … Continue Reading

Listen to the new Death Grips album now

Death Grips - The Money Store

Ex-Military, Death Grips‘ debut album, found a fair amount of underground acclaim last year, and the hiphop group have already completed a follow-up - The Money Store is being released in a week but it’s available to stream (with around half of its tracks available for download) right now. We’ve got the stream embedded below – from an initial listen, it sounds like Death Grips have retained the ferocious energy and paranoid beats of Ex-Military on The Money Store, while expanding their sound in new directions – the ‘Push It’-esque rhythms of ‘I’ve Seen Footage’ being a case in point. … Continue Reading

The Invisible return with ‘Protection’ ahead of a new album

The Invisible - Rispah

The Invisible‘s self-titled debut album was one of 2009′s slow-burners that almost saw them scoop the Mercury Music Prize that year – and now, having collaborated with everyone from Micachu, Jessie Ware and Polar Bear, the trio are on the verge of returning with their second album, Rispah. Below, you can find a typically rich, patient first taste of album in the form of ‘Protection’, while the full LP is coming in the UK and Europe on June 11 on the brilliant Ninja Tune label.

In the words of the band’s Dave Okumu, Rispah is a “love letter to grief”, deeply influenced by the death of his mother during the recording process. Okumu says, ”I couldn’t engage with music for a long period. The moment it returned to me was at my mum’s funeral, which lasted several days. One evening, during the wake, my grandmother Zilpa, my mother’s mum, arrived at our home accompanied by a group of women singing traditional spirituals. They approached my mother’s body and sang over it, dancing around her coffin. It was the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. They transformed the atmosphere with sound and the spirit they brought to it. They were celebrating life and death, grief and hope, all things. This act was allowing everyone present to express themselves. It served as the most potent reminder of everything I believe about music. It’s there for everybody, it’s inclusive and transformative. I’m so glad these voices are stitched through our record.” Listen to and download ‘Protection’ below. … Continue Reading

Hear new Hot Chip song ‘Flutes’ now

Hot Chip

Hot Chip are gearing up to release In Our Heads on Domino – their first new album since 2010′s excellent One Life Stand. Today, we got the first taste of their new material – ‘Flutes’ has appeared on Youtube with a video that might make you feel a little bit dizzy. ‘Flutes’ is something of a departure from the more immediate pop of One Life Stand - it builds slowly and shifts between sections, more like a dance track than a pop song, while still brimming with positivity. Most importantly, it makes us want to hear more - In Our Heads is out in June.

In a way, it feels like Hot Chip haven’t been away – Joe Goddard’s Gabriel EP contained one of last year’s best songs in its title track, while Goddard was also partly responsible for the rather fine 2 Bears LP from earlier this year. It’s good to have Hot Chip back though – listen to ‘Flutes’ below.

… Continue Reading

Video: Usher – ‘Climax’

Usher - Climax

A little while ago, a new Usher song leaked – ‘Climax’ is a collaboration with Diplo and features arrangements from Nico Muhly. It’s a beautiful, R&B ballad with electronic flourishes and bodes well for new Usher material – a full album is yet to be announced. Earlier today, the video for ‘Climax’ premiered over on Vevo – it’s wonderfully shot, a little enigmatic and features a fair amount of Usher emoting at the camera and looking serious in his car. Watch it below. … Continue Reading

Listen to a new Beach House song, ‘Myth’

Beach House

News of a new Beach House album is always welcome round our gaff – a couple of weeks ago, a possible leaked album tracklist (never properly confirmed by the band) and album title (Bloom) suggested that something was on the way from the duo behind one of 2010′s best albums, Teen Dream.

Now, a new song has emerged – it’s called ‘Myth’ and will feature on Beach House’s new record, which is indeed called Bloom and might be coming out in May. ‘Myth’ unfurls slowly and steadily, gradually expanding with a sonic richness that coloured the best moments on Teen Dream. While still remaining recognisably Beach House, it’s an exciting hint at what’s to come. Give it a listen or two below. … Continue Reading

Hear new music from Kendrick Lamar, ‘Cartoon And Cereal’

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar is one of several rappers to have emerged in a post-Drake hiphop landscape – last year’s Section.80 mixtape/sort-of-debut was introspective, thoughtful and largely very good – standouts like ‘ADHD’ and ‘HiiiPower’ ranked among the best hiphop of 2011.

Lamar is currently working on his debut album proper and it’s one of our most anticipated releases of the year. A couple of days ago, the first new material from Kendrick in 2012 emerged – ‘Cartoon and Cereal’ builds on his lyrical themes from Section.80 while also including an almost-song-stealing guestspot from Gunplay and warped, stretched-out production from THC. Listen below. … Continue Reading

Video: Jessie Ware – Running

Jessie Ware

We’ve had our eye on Jessie Ware for a while now – she made a number of guest appearances in interesting places last year, featuring on a number of tracks by SBTRKT, while also putting in a stunning vocal on the standout track on Joker’s debut album, ‘The Vision (Let Me Breathe)’ – her appearance during Joker’s Boiler Room set will testify that she has an impressive voice.

‘Running’, her second solo single after last year’s ‘Strangest Feeling’, is an altogether more subtle affair, a bit like a downtempo Madonna number with hints of R&B and soul. The other Jessie wishes she was this classy. Ware is currently working on their debut album with Dave Okumu of The Invisible (hooray!) – it’s due in the summer. Till then, watch the video for ‘Running’ below. … Continue Reading