My offshoot Pic ‘n’ Mixx is putting on its biggest show to date!

Tuesday 10 August, Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
Pic ‘n’ Mixx presents… Lucky Soul + The School + The Lodger with How Does It Feel To Be Loved + Pocketbooks DJs
Tickets (£9): http://www.wegottickets.com/event/86890

After a storming DJ set at Indietracks Festival over the weekend (review coming soon), it’s now time to formally announce this amazing show – I’ve been trying to put on Lucky Soul for ages! It’s a welcome return to the Pic ‘n’ Mixx stage for The School, and a new ‘n’ shiny ‘yo’ for The Lodger. And I’ve got Ian from How Does It Feel To Be Loved (one of the best nights in London, I’ll have you know) playing tunes between the bands, and Dan from Pocketbooks spinning some stuff after the headliners. Woo yeah!

LUCKY SOUL http://www.myspace.com/luckysoulluckysoul
In an alternate universe where Cowellism doesn’t rule (and ruin) everything it surveys, that bubble is already planet-sized and Lucky Soul are already huge. With A Coming Of Age, these pop dreamers have made the record which deserves to make that a reality.

THE SCHOOL http://www.myspace.com/theschoolband
For years, fans of the best pop have waited anxiously for that group that was going to occupy the space between The Pipettes and Belle & Sebastian, heirs of the best pop from the sixties, and the best Scottish pop.  In The School, they’ll find more gems than a jewellery store – and even Molly Ringwald’s a fan!

THE LODGER http://www.myspace.com/thelodgerleeds
Beginning in a Leeds bedsit in 2004 as Ben Siddall’s solo project, The Lodger are now three albums and tour of the UK, Europe, Japan and the USA into their career. Here’s the song I put on every mix CD I make, ever…

With HDIF and Pocketbooks DJs ‘til 1am

Yeah!

The Tender Trap - Dansette Dansette

Despite it sharing little with the similarly-named Antipodean one-trick ponies, those of a sweet disposition could do worse than to check out this summery, sixties girl group-tinged comeback album from the newly reformed and expanded Tender Trap, led by much-travelled jangly mainstay Amelia Fletcher. Dansette Dansette is the third album from Fletcher’s fourth project (following Talulah Gosh, Heavenly and Marine Research), with her long-term partner Rob Pursey still in tow.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the album is hardly a departure from the summery, sugary, three-chord melodies her CV would suggest, and as with many twee-pop acts of this nature, there’s barely a modicum of grit in the whole thing, or indeed anything (barring some quite polished production) to suggest that the past 24 years ever happened.

The problem with reviewing an album like this is that the things a reviewer may usually look for in a successful album include elements of inventiveness and great leaps of ambition. While even mainstream pop music can borrow leftfield ideas and incorporate them into something universal, sixties-tinged jangly twee-pop’s trademark characteristics are so very basic by their very definition (a crucial part of its initial appeal was its shambolic simplicity) that if it tried anything modern it wouldn’t be sixties-tinged, jangly twee-pop anymore, thus alienating fans of sixties-tinged, jangly twee-pop.

So a wealth of C86 cliches are here – well-worn chord sequences, doo-wop harmonies, massive feyness, melodies that are now so familiar they must now be in the public domain, major keys, ‘Be My Baby’ drum patterns, paint-by-numbers arrangements, forced (and now middle-aged) childlike innocence, and non-infectious contentment.

‘Do You Want A Boyfriend?’ and the soulful title-track highlight open the album in a typically timeless fashion, the former obviously very adolescent in it’s subject matter, with tongues firmly in cheek, incorporating some saucy call-and-response vocals (‘Does he have to please you? Gynaecologically‘). The expanded line-up, while abandoning the electronic sheen that had been prominent on the earlier Tender Trap albums, allows for some colourful three-part harmonies, and Fletcher is still in possession of fitting honey-toned vocal chords.

The stripped-down Spectorisms of ‘Capitol L’ however, embody the failings of this work in microcosm – instantly memorable, but indistinguishable from a bottomless pit of musical landmarks that have preceded it. ’2 to the N’ is a rawer affair, Jesus and Mary Chain power chords driving a speedier change of tack, but like the majority of the album, is largely formulaic and unfullfilling, and too aligned to a now-ancient era. ‘Stop and rewind/ Go back in time‘, instructs closer ‘Suddenly’. If only she had ignored her own advice.

‘Dansette Dansette’ isn’t a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, and music isn’t even Fletcher’s main line of work anymore. It’s just that hearing this kind of music estranged from the DIY ideals that fuelled its ascent but with obviously better production values, throws the necessity of this record into question. The juxtaposition of glamourous, sunkissed pop melodies with humdrum lyricism and lo-fi aesthetics was once an exciting movement but 25 years of bastardised indie later, it seems as generic as ever.

Pic 'n' Mixx - May 29 at the Buffalo Bar

In a two-part news special coming from hubs directly related to moi, I am pleased to confirm – and remind you? – that indiepop and mix CD spectacular Pic ‘n’ Mixx is returning to London’s Buffalo Bar on May 29 with a stonking line-up of Pocketbooks, Cola Jet Set, Foxes! and The Cavalcade.

Here is where you subscribe (buy tickets), for a grand total of just £6: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/75482

Following last October’s sold-out indiepop spectacular, the night is returning to the Buffalo Bar with an ace line-up and more mix CDs for a bunch of excited spectators.

TICKETS (£6)! http://www.wegottickets.com/event/75482

***THE PREMISE***
Make a mix CD, drop it into the box on the door, get one made by someone else on the way out. We’ve got some made by your favourite (as-yet-unannounced) indiepop celebs too…

***THE BANDS***

- POCKETBOOKS
http://www.myspace.com/pocketbooks
Pocketbooks are a pop band from London, combining melodic boy/girl harmonies, spiralling guitars and delicate piano lines. Expect a sprinkling of dazzling ’60s soul alongside some sparkling indiepop charm!

- COLA JET SET
http://www.myspace.com/colajetset
Cola Jet Set are an endearing Elefant Records band all the way from Barcelona with sun-filled Spanish female voices buzzing with a love for bubblegum pop, mod and surf-pop. In Spanish!

- FOXES!
http://www.myspace.com/foxesfoxesfoxes
Brighton’s Foxes! (look at the grammatical excitement) parade a special brand of toy-town pop with intelligent lyrics and unusual Moogy twists and turns.

- THE CAVALCADE
http://www.myspace.com/thecavalcadeuk
The Cavalcade are a three piece indie pop band from the rainswept town of Preston making haunting indiepop with a hushed, Housemartins-style breeze.

***THE DANCING***
Post-bands (and ’til late), DJs’ll be spinning stuff like The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Heavenly, Los Campesinos!, Blueboy, The Smiths and The Pastels.

She & Him - Volume Two

Much has been made of the unlikeliness of the pairing of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Around the release of She & Him’s debut effort two years ago, references to the improbable juxtaposition between the fantasy object of choice for indie boys the world over and the folk troubadour became pretty tiresome in the end. Thankfully, Volume One became one of those depressingly rare records where the music spoke louder than the backstory which accompanied it, and it was received well on its own merits as a record of charming, sun-kissed pop.

Volume Two, you won’t be surprised to learn, is no great departure from that template. It sees Ward and Deschanel serve up another set of refined, summery morsels. Ward’s instrumentation and Deschanel’s distinctively lovelorn delivery combine to produce a shimmering combination of country, folk and classic 60s girl-band pop. The point at which the two became a ‘proper band’ is unclear, but at no point does this album fall into self-conscious collaboration hell. Instead, the chemistry between the two means it always makes perfect sense.

Clearly, if you’re not a fan of the Deschanel’s out and out tweeness, then this record is not going to change your mind. Those who find her in any way annoying are advised to stay away, because they will inevitably be infuriated by her vocal characteristics and simplistic lyrical style. Indeed, even the most well-intentioned of listeners could find the whole thing a bit cloying, because at times it feels like you’re trying to swim through a sea of the gloopiest honey. But, if you’re taking the album at face value, as nothing more sinister than a dreamy, breezy little pop record, then it can be placed alongside other dainty popstrels like Camera Obscura in terms of quality.

Things start off at a fairly languorous pace with ‘Thieves’ on which a particularly heartbroken-sounding Deschanel pines that “A love like ours is terrible news”. From this point onwards, the album drifts along in placid fashion, from the bobbing refrain of ‘In the Sun’ to the naggingly catchy piano-led ‘Don’t Look Back’. The most saccharine moment on Volume Two, and probably the song which Zooey-haters will hold up as an example of her evil powers, is ‘Home’. It feels briefly like a rare thundercloud is threatening to break the muggy air of the album, until the chorus kicks in, the sun bursts through and the song becomes a sultry exercise in girliness which sees her repeatedly cooing, “It doesn’t get better than home, now, does it?”.  The elements of the record that prove to be most impressive are those where the classical pop influences are at their most obvious. ‘Over It Over Again’, in particular, is all layered backing vocals and rickety piano and guitar, and the result conjures up the same intangible wide-eyed splendour which characterised the best Spector recordings.

Volume Two is a well-timed release, poised perfectly to capitalise on the occasional (okay, rare) bouts of sun we get in this country at this time of year. It is a beautifully-realised progression from classic records of bygone days, which benefits from the painstaking care which has clearly gone into its production. Its unrelenting sweetness will probably prove to be divisive, but it would take a hard heart not to succumb to its charm.

Indietracks

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have been announced as the headliners of this year’s Indietracks festival, taking place on 23-25 July 2010 in the grounds of a picturesque 1950s steam railway in Derbyshire.

Weekend tickets are now available at an early bird discount price of £55, and day tickets are available for £30. This price is available until Friday 7 May. After this date, weekend tickets will be £60 and day tickets £32.50.

Also appearing at the festival, which is held at the Midland Railway in Ripley, Derbyshire, will be John Peel favourites Ballboy, UK chart-toppers White Town (of ‘Your Woman’ fame), and this year’s two new indiepop sensations Standard Fare and Allo Darlin’.

Over 50 indiepop bands from across the globe will be playing across four stages: the outdoor stage; the indoor stage, the church and on the steam trains themselves. The festival will also host a range of craft workshops and a selection of discos after the bands finish.

For tickets, just visit www.instantticketseller.com/midlandrailwaycentre.

For a reminder of just why Indietracks is the best festival in existence, check out this two-part special on last year’s: Saturday, Sunday.

And here is the amazing full line-up:
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Allo Darlin’, Ballboy, Be Like Pablo, Betty and The Werewolves, Boy Genius, Burning Hearts, The Blanche Hudson Weekend, The Callas, The Cannanes, Cineplexx, David Tattersall (The Wave Pictures), The Felt Tips, Foxes!, Internet Forever, The Give It Ups, The Hillfields, The Just Joans, La La Love You, Lime Chalks, Linda Guilala, The Loves, Mexican Kids at Home, The Middle Ones, The Millipedes, MJ Hibbett & the Validators, Paisley and Charlie, Pale Sunday, Onward Chariots, Sarandon, Secret Shine, Shrag, Springfactory, The Smittens, The Specific Heats, Standard Fare, Stars In Coma, Stars of Aviation, The Sunny Street, This Many Boyfriends, Urbantramper, White Town, Winston Echo, Yokoko.

Can’t wait!

Bodebrixen

How much good news can a person take in just a few small hours? Might as well push the boundaries a little bit, or at least that’s our outlook. We’ve got Bodebrixen, The Grave Architects and Our Lost Infantry on the bill for this night and you’d be a mega-idiot to miss it.

It’s happening at The Lexington on Sunday January 31st, and tickets are available from this link: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/68997

BODEBRIXEN
Indiepoppers Bodebrixen are here all the way from Denmark, with their self-professed “happy pop” set to induce an instinctive singalong-type reaction. Magical.
http://www.myspace.com/bodebrixen

THE GRAVE ARCHITECTS
Blackly humorous, Pavement-kooky and with the occasional tendency to break into an entertainingly contrary rap, we’ve asked this wonderful lot back again because we think they’re so very brilliant.
http://www.myspace.com/thegravearchitects

OUR LOST INFANTRY
Spirited, twinkly uplifting stuff that’s been known to induce an air-punch and slots supporting Frightened Rabbit, Johnny Foreigner and Sky Larkin.
http://www.myspace.com/whereisourlostinfantry

TPOBPAH

December 2nd 2009

It’s been a hell of a year for New Yorkers The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. They’ve triumphantly ridden a wave of blog-driven hype for the whole of 2009, picking up a legion of plaudits for their effortlessly wonderful debut album which has culminated in a top 10 place in our very own albums of the year poll. I had them far higher than 8th in my own personal list, but hey, such is democracy…

Tonight’s trip to Newcastle’s O2 Academy 2 sees them hauling in a respectably sized crowd of skinny check-shirted types. At first, it seems they are going to struggle to live up to our (admittedly colossal) expectations, as the songs commence in a worryingly anaemic manner. ‘This Love is Fucking Right!’, one of the most buoyant, gleeful moments on the record raises the curtain in fairly underwhelming fashion, as it is tossed out almost indifferently. It gives us serious cause to worry that Newcastle’s first experience of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will be a disappointing one.

However, after a couple of songs, the band visibly begin to relax and settle into their stride. As they do so, the volume seems to pick up, the drumming seems sharper and more urgent, and their distinctive wash of sound fills the room. It all culminates fittingly in the sky-scraping ‘Gentle Sons’, a microcosm for the whole set which starts off with a powerful ‘Be My Baby’ drumbeat and gradually builds into a tumult of almost My Bloody Valentine-esque proportions.

In spite of the obvious progression in the quality of the performance, sadly the Academy remains absolutely devoid of atmosphere. Maybe it’s down to the less than top-quality sound which obscures the vocals even more than is probably intended, or whether the crowd are just having a bit of an off-night, it’s hard to say. However, it doesn’t make the band’s job any easier, nor does it reflect on their efforts to engage us with their songs and occasional smattering of likeably awkward between-song chatter.

One other slight gripe is that it is clear that the newer songs are the ones which inspire the most enthusiasm in the band. In particular, the tracks aired from their gorgeous new ‘Higher Than the Stars EP’ seem to be delivered with the most fervour, as does the apparently nameless new song (very much in the vein of their previous work, by the way, and no worse off for it). It seems that perhaps they’ve now reached that stage which all bands will eventually reach after having toured the living shit out of their debut for God knows how many months. No matter how good the songs, their jadedness in playing them night after night after night begins to show. Tonight is only a minor example of this, and we still leave with our faith in The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart firmly in tact, but perhaps now is the time for them to go to ground and commence the daunting task of following up this year’s breathtaking recorded output.

'Allo Darlin'

There’s a special place in every girl’s heart for twee pop. The Cardigans doing ‘Carnival’, Belle and Sebastian doing, well, any of their songs – it’s enough to make any red-blooded chick wear Hello Kitty slides in their fringe, get a uke and wear their boyfriend’s ratty brown cardigan.

Incidentally, making this sort of music have ‘Allo Darlin’ veer the same way – kooky, uke-y, and, on ‘The Polaroid Song’, very Lenka.

Elizabeth and Bill are from Australia, Mike and Paul are from Kent, but they’ve come together here in the UK to make the sort of fey indie pop that we should all demand more of. ‘The Polaroid Song’ is an upbeat, uptempo pop classic with its feet firmly in the past, telling tales of camera film of old.

The backing vocals add a richness to Elizabeth’s sweet vocal, and the whole thing is the aural equivalent of a hot chocolate packed with marshmallows – sweet, comforting and repeated consumption is never enough.

What would have been, in days of yore, the ‘B-side’ is the seasonally appropriate ‘Would You Please Spend New Year’s Eve With Me?’.

Steeped in some of that lovely ukelele tunefulness, Elizabeth’s breathy voice is both sweet and sultry, as she suggests we “hide in my bedroom and watch cartoons all night”. There’s a special place in every girl’s heart for that, too.

Pic 'n' Mixx

Confession, confession: this night is something of a Muso’s Guide offshoot. But hey ho, what better excuse than that to shout about it and tell you a little bit more?

Pic ‘n’ Mixx is launching at the Buffalo Bar on Upper Street, London (nearest tube: Highbury and Islington) on Friday 30 October at 8pm. There’re five bands playing and there’s DJing after all that’s done ’til 4am. There’ll be stuff like Heavenly, Pavement, The Smiths, Los Campesinos! to keep you on your toes.

And what’s more, you can win CDs made by Frightened Rabbit, Internet Forever, Lucky Soul, Amelia Fletcher, The Clientele, Pocketbooks, Xfm’s John Kennedy, Everett True, Luis from Elefant Records and a selection of other taste-making know-it-alls if you contribute one of your own on the way in.

They’ll know who you are if you don’t, we hear: if you’ve been lazy, you’ll be issued with a sadface stamp at the door. If you’ve been clever, you’ll get a happyface stamp on your hand.

You can buy tickets in advance from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/59398 for a bargainous £5, saving yourself one precious pound on door-price.

And the bands, we believe, read a bit like this:

THE LOVELY EGGS

Married Lancashire couple David and Holly, a.k.a. The Lovely Eggs, headline the night. Everett True said this about them: “It’s like listening to The Vaselines being interpreted by The Bobby McGee’s interpreting Moldy Peaches while severely under the influence of snakebite. It’s like being exposed to five generations of art students pretending they’re still seven years old and that’s it’s still really amusing to say ‘poo’. It’s like a musical enema. It’s like hearing Richard Brautigan being interpreted by the web 2.0 generation whose only exposure to TV is Arctic Boosh and that stupid wee intro with the lo-res birds that used to introduce Big Brother.”

They describe themselves as “mainly influenced by the ecstasy of the modern mind and all its trappings, and also fans of The Velvet Underground, Red Crayola, Sonic Youth, Jonathan Richman, Bikini Kill, Pavement, Moldy Peaches, The Beach Boys, The Fall, Serge Gainsbourg, Can, Neu…”

Others say these lovely things:

“Unhinged in the best possible way” – Drowned in Sound

“Immensely fun addictive” – Hecklerspray

“eggxcellent” - Artrocker

THE SCHOOL

Playing giddy indiepop and coming down all the way from Cardiff, The School were signed to legendary Spanish label Elefant Records after playing only 4 shows. They’ve been recording their debut album with Ian Catt (Saint Etienne/Stars/The Field Mice/Shampoo) and getting a fantastic reception along the way whenever they play.

They sound like bits of Belle & Sebastian, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Camera Obscura, Little My, The Beach Boys, Lucky Soul, The Beatles and 60s girl groups.

“a swaying, winsome tune with some of the Phil Spector lushness of Lucky Soul, the Belle & Sebastian-style modesty of Camera Obscura, and the airy, girl-group vocals of both” - Pitchfork

“On bubblegum pink vinyl, the sixties-saturated sound of The School is indiepop par excellence. ‘All I Wanna Do’ conjures up the aching hearts of Mary Weiss and the Ganser sisters as Liz Hunt’s little-girl-lost voice pours on the passion to describe an angelic innocent’s first big crush. ‘Valentine’ is like a pixie-booted Eurovision entry with a stomping piano-led tune that’s swept aloft by heavenly strings. Douze points pour Le Pays de Galles: c’est magnifique!” - SoundsXP

“The joint best Welsh pop band EVER” - Adam Walton, Radio Wales

MJ HIBBETT (solo set)

He reminds me of Half Man Half Biscuit, while others have said he’s “a middle aged man on a ukulele” and “a lot of fun, all geeky references and wry humour”. Super-current, super-sharp and massive fun all round, listen to snippet of genius ‘My Boss Was In An Indie Band Once’ before you die or lead a lesser life.

“It’s impossible not to raise a smile at the delightful absurdities and lyrical observations of indie-pop “poet laureate” Mark Hibbett” - Rock ‘n’ Reel

“MJ Hibbett has shown his work to occupy something between a memoir and a column — or a blog — of general observations, a product of his own upbringing, musical and otherwise, in a different time. It’s these kinds of tensions and observations that make Hibbett’s work more than just “indie pop” as such — if anything, it puts him in line with some of the best hip-hop MCs out there” - allmusic.com

THE GRAVE ARCHITECTS

Signed to the beautiful Fortuna POP! label, Grave Architects have “the offbeat humour of a Jonathan Richman, the kookiness of early Pavement, the tunefulness of Loaded era Velvets, yet very English and eccentric.” Wowzers.

“Folk-hop, like Eels doing Morrissey doing ‘Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus” – NME

“mixing multifaceted pace and style, tempo bending and fuck off guitars with audacious interactive rap” - Gigwise

THE PERYLS

The Peryls trade in a brand of creaky, sinister pop – dark, lyrical and enchanting. Drawn out from hiding by a need to share their curious findings with the outside world, the Peryls bring you tales of deranged doctors, dancing bears and doomed experiments…

“creaky, sinister pop…dark, lyrical and enchanting” – Evening Standard

“alt-folk at its folking best!” – SoundsXP

Did we really just copy and paste our own PR? Arguably, yes. See you there!

Girls

October 15th 2009

Tonight’s opening act Swanton Bombs are a highly impressive two piece who, in an alternate reality, would be enjoying the success of fun-but-essentially-talentless acts like Wavves. The room may have been pretty desolate so early in the evening, but the Bombs remained engaging with the perfect blend of ferocious drums, impressively proficient guitar chops and big vocal hooks. Song structures were interesting and the two band members had enough technical musical ability to enable themselves to rock out harder than lots of bands with fuller instrumentation. The riffs and beats pounded hard right up until the final song (presumably entitled ‘Get Your Tanks Off My Lawn’) which took an impressive and welcome slide to the almost soulful allowing the band to flex its impressive musical muscle a little more.

Luckily for Girls, the place filled out a lot more before they hit the stage and a crowd of fans swarmed around the stage as they opened the set with the first, punchy chords of ‘Laura’. One of the shakier aspects of the band’s debut album was the occasional appearance of trite, blog-entry type lyrics with this particular track being a prime offender. However, when you see Owens right there in front of you – singing it like he means it – lines like “you’ve been a bitch, I’ve been an ass” become a lot less rubbish. Indeed, when it comes to lyrics, most live or die on the singer’s strength of the conviction and it’s Owens’ sincere delivery which allow Girls to use choruses like “lay in the park/smoke in the dark/summertime – soak up the sunshine with you” and have them seem endearing and nostalgic rather than naff.

Indeed, Girls could be said to be a band of simple pleasures because just as the lyrics are so twee, plain and direct, so are their hooks. Almost all the hooks, chord progressions and choruses on offer feel like they’ve been swiped straight from that vast bank of popular culture – all massively familiar but impossible to precisely pin down and, hence, are hugely effective. On the occasions, however, when you identify where Girls have unwittingly lifted a particular hook (for example: Status Quo; Brian Wilson; a song from earlier in their own set) then you get a glimpse at the man behind the curtain, the magic is lost and the emperor is left with no clothes.  By and large, however, Girls do a stunning job of riding that gorgeous wave of creating vocal melodies which are instantly familiar but simultaneously completely fresh (kudos also go to the drummer and second guitarist for brilliantly recreating the album’s intricate three part harmony sections).

Album (the band’s imaginatively titled debut album) spends its running time careering wildly between different production values, musical aesthetics and instrumentations. As a live entity, however, Girls have a much more concise and focussed musical identity where the only diversity of texture is the on-or-off of an overdrive pedal. This works in the band’s favour, as it allows the songs’ primary focus to be the songs themselves rather than the production gimmicks of their album counterparts. Essentially, then, what Girls achieved was quite a rare thing: an hour of very solid, mid-tempo guitar based rock songs invoking the nostalgic and familiar whilst remaining exciting and engaging. My recommendation would be to see them soon –  throughout the set, Owens was taking hefty swigs of what I first thought was red wine but turned out to be a bottle of Jameson. How he managed to stay lucid enough to play guitar is anyone’s guess; how much longer he can stay lucid in the long run is just as open to speculation. I’m interested (and slightly concerned) to think about whether or not Owen’s drowning in a sea of booze will result in an even better sophomore album, or no album at all.