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The 405 News In Brief (Wednesday 17th March)

hello@thefourohfive.com — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:24:36 +0000

Today's 'News In Brief' is sponsored by caffeine.

Here's the official trailer for American: The Bill Hicks Story, the real life story of the best comedian EVER, which hits UK cinemas May 2010.

Nina Nastasia will release her new single, 'Cry, Cry, Baby', on 10th May. It's taken from Outlaster, her first album release in three years (Out 7th June 2010).

I LIKE TRAINS have announced their first show of 2010. They'll be airing new songs at a Haiti Fundraising event at The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds on April 17th. The event also features Middleman and Micky P Kerr amongst a 12 band full entertainment package.

The line-up:

I Like Trains
Middleman
Micky P Kerr
Secret Circuits
Alt Track
Machine Guns and Leather Jackets
Stella Frays
We Say No
X Ray Cat
Last Temple Orchestra
Gary C

Doors open at 1pm and tickets are £6 plus booking fee, available by clicking here!

Jónsi and Heaven 17 have joined the Bestival line-up!

For more info, click here!

Introducing #45 Trapped In Kansas

hello@thefourohfive.com — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:27:15 +0000

The Scottish amongst us will probably have a fair idea of what Trapped In Kansas are all about. They've played all over that fine country, from coast to coast, festival after festival. For people that may not have heard of them though, this will hopefully be good starting point.

Formed back in 2008, Trapped In Kansas are holding up the American Football side of things with aplomb. The other side of the coin is their 'Mathy' quality which is reminiscent of This Town Needs Guns.

MP3: Trapped In Kansas - Carpathia

After listening through their songs on Myspace, it became pretty obvious that these guys know how to write a good song, which is something both Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson have picked up on. Their first CD came out in April, and was a split EP with ‘The Darien Venture’. The EP was limited to 300 copies and has gone on to sell out. Which is no surprise to me.

Have a listen to the song above and find out for yourself.

To visit the band, click here!

'iamamiwhoami' Video Mystery Solved?

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:50:53 +0000

For those who have been following the iamamiwhoami viral video campaign, or at least have raised a brow with intrigue and curiosity, you may be somewhat relieved to know that it may be drawing to a finale. For those of you who are out of the loop, let me quickly summarise. Over the past few months, an elusive character had been uploading these dark, ethereal, lavish and tantalizing viral videos to YouTube and spreading them around the blogosphere like a cold.

Here's the videos in the order that they were uploaded:

Ok, so all of these videos share roughly the same visual and musical styles, now we're given the sixth video, which is a step in a whole other direction:

Nice, eh? Anyone who isn't still insisting "omg it IS Xtina!!11!" is now pointing a finger at Swedish singer Jonna Lee (nope, I haven't heard of her either) and upon visiting her MySpace page you can see why. Though a bit of a different kettle of musical fish, you can't argue with the striking similarities in their looks. Also on Jonna's Twitter this image has been discovered - look familiar?

I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty much ambivalent about who this is, but enjoying musing upon the little snippets of beautifully shot videos with pleasant soundtracks. I'm hoping the case isn't finally closed, because a) it's a little underwhelming and b) the videos are interesting. If anyone has any thoughts on it comment below!

Mix/Cover/Live #159

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:53:43 +0000

Today's Mix/Cover/Live is NOT sponsored by Beyonce. Or Lady GaGa. It does however include songs by Passion Pit, Sun Kil Moon, MGMT & James Yuill.

MP3: Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Cassette Club Remix)
http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams

MP3: Sun Kil Moon – Convenient Parking (Modest Mouse)
http://www.sunkilmoon.com/

MP3: MGMT - Electric Feel (Live)
http://www.myspace.com/mgmt

MP3: James Yuill - Give You Away
http://www.myspace.com/jamesyuill

Tour Diary: Our Lost Infantry

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:09:17 +0000

Our Lost Infantry are a four-piece from Aldershot specialising in ‘complicated pop’. In late February, they embarked on their first national tour. Having announced the release of single ‘The Arsonist’ on WET Records in the Summer, there was a positive atmosphere with the band telling the local press: “We've got in the habit of playing every show like it's our last, so expect four men sweating, shouting and jumping.”

Introductions first:
Thom – voice/frets/convoluted ideas
Matt – black ‘n’ whites/voice/arcane knowledge
Tom – low notes/voice/car fancying
Parkin – drums/voice/Chinese windom

London, 25 February

The first night of the tour took place in the grand surroundings of the Bush Hall in London, supporting the sublime A Genuine Freakshow. The venue was full, the audience attentive and every band fitted perfectly, something of a rare occurrence for bands at this level. The Gadsdens were enjoyable and Bright Spark Destroyer especially impressive considering it was their first gig. OLI received a message on the night asking if they would like to be the featured unsigned band on Steve Lamacq’s 6Music show on Friday. Erm, yes. Lamacq has been a big supporter and it was decided new song ‘Spectacle Of The Scaffold’ would be played. Everyone headed home after A Genuine Freakshow finished for a comfortable night’s sleep before heading to Blackburn early next morning.

Blackburn, 26 February

Leaving at midday, the five of us packed in to the surprisingly spacious people carrier and headed for Lancashire. After five minutes, Parkin piped up: “I may need a wee in 25 minutes”. All forms of toilet humour would become a regular occurrence. With a soundtrack of Idlewild, Los Campesinos! and Sky Larkin, backed up by an iPhone pub quiz, we headed on the four hour journey with a brief stop at a services somewhere in the Midlands. This ended with Matt buying a £1 cup of tea - “the hot water equivalent of being raped”. Arriving in good time, Thom had to leave soundcheck to speak to Lamacq out in the cold streets of Blackburn. The interview was well-received and the new song even more so. Heading to O’Neills for Rugby and dinner and then back, OLI played to an enthusiastic crowd. As soon as Thom came offstage some girls told him he looked like Caleb from Kings Of Leon. Is this a compliment?

Heading to the hotel, our attempt at sneaking five people in to a four-person room did not succeed, but the man on reception told us “just for tonight” it was fine. And then the main conundrum faced by all touring bands – who sleeps where? It was quickly decided that, as I was on the floor for last year’s trip to Copenhagen. I would get a bed and soon fell in to place Parkin would be on the floor. The best place for drummers. But he did have a sofa ledge to cling to. He crashed to the floor around 3am and I ended up in an extremely close face-to-face situation with Tom. A scary, strange experience. In bed by 1am, clearly Our Lost Infantry know how to live the rock star life.

Accrington, 27 February

Having decided we didn’t want to waste a day up north, we headed to the hilariously-named Oswaldtwistle Mills – “a shopping centre with character”. It was a glorified garden centre. We quickly decided to hit the Trafford Centre in Manchester instead, only 40 minutes away from Accrington. We finally had breakfast at midday, Harry Ramsden’s for three of us, pizza for Thom and noodles for Tom. Unsurprisingly an hour later we needed a health-fix so went on a desperate Pret fruit-binge. The England v Ireland rugby game was watched and we headed out for the gig. This was not anticipating an epic fail on leaving the car park being stuck in gridlock for 45 minutes. People honking and trying to cut in did not help matters and we eventually got out, stopped at the nearest services and Parkin, Matt and Tom bought Thom a present – a Mr Happy costume.

Once we arrived at the venue, we realised The Attic was more than a name - narrow doorways and pushing instruments up three flights of stairs is always a good way of removing tour fatigue. Dinner was at an Indian up the road, one that Tom described: “the best curry I’ve ever had.” The gig was entertaining despite commercial dance music being played loudly in the club underneath and OLI shed all their inhibitions in the closing section of ‘Scissorfight’. Three members were so in to it that they woke up on Sunday morning nursing injuries.

Leeds, 28 February

Waking up and leaving the hotel around 11am, missing McDonalds breakfast by 30 minutes, we headed to Leeds, possibly the city we were most excited about on the Northern leg. We arrived in the city and first thing was first – Poundland challenge. Among the purchases were a Converse plant pot, neon handwarmers and a miniature skateboard. Meeting with friends for pub food and football, we had to head to the venue, The Northern Monkey, early and got a little lost in the myriad of the Leeds’ one-way system. It was all fine however, and bringing our big box of tour sweets won a lot of friends in the other bands. They even applauded ‘Spectacle Of The Scaffold’ after soundcheck. Meeting up with Ed Waring from Hope&Social, who was producing the single, we realised he was full of boundless enthusiasm and clearly the nicest man ever. The busiest and best gig of the Northern three, the band were becoming more confident and visually the individual characters started to shine through onstage. We then headed back on the long drive home for a night off before a week of Southern shows. We had to get back as Thom had work first thing Monday morning!

Bracknell, 2 March

Due to previous commitments, I couldn’t make this date of the tour, so here’s Parkin’s write-up:
Arrived at the venue and loaded our gear in. Nice venue, an old converted beer cellar with one of the lowest ceilings I have seen. Tom had come straight from work and so ran off to get changed. Waiting for soundcheck we sat in a circle and talked/played games to kill time, please see attached diagram:

We eventually completed the soundcheck and headed upstairs for some food. Matt had beers in his bag so I poured a can into a glass and straight away a fat miserable wench in leggings demanded I drink it outside. Great. We scoffed our food and took our drinks back down to the cellar.
The venue was full, a young and excited audience. I enjoyed the other bands, and spent most of my evening looking at a stunning girl by the sound booth. She occasionally glanced back at me, but it was more a look of fear. Our set went brilliantly both a great sound and energy. We put everything into it and really enjoyed it. Sweaty and tired we packed up our gear into the van and drove to bed. The end.

London, 4 March

A rare gig where half the band (Thom and Matt) performed an acoustic set in the George and Vulture in Shoreditch. Playing loud songs quietly, they dealt with the good-natured banter well. A couple of old songs were aired for the first time in a long while including ‘Lights In The Sky’ but here’s a video of new song ‘Scarlet’:

Southampton, 5 March

Sore throats, sprained ankles and stolen bankcards contributed to a stressful start to the night. A read of NME articles on the toilet wall in Hamptons and the ‘Where The Wild Things’ canvas along with itBox games helped regain some gusto. Although Parkin seemed more interested in the ‘erotic spot the difference’games machine. Hamptons is a very cool venue, and some of the old vinyl sleeves on the walls have been graffitied in interesting ways. A 45-minute headline set, the band aired a new song (provisionally named after me) and the backing vocals were particularly clear. Lots of interaction with the crowd, including a couple of drunk men dancing and attempting to ‘out’ me and Matt. We’re not. Yet again, ‘The Arsonist’ gained a singalong from punters halfway through hearing it for the first time and Parkin seemed to enjoy fiddline with the curtain blinds he was in front of and strangely had a passer-by watching the back of him play drums for one song.

Aldershot, 6 March

An exciting support slot to Frightened Rabbit, in the week their album ‘The Winter Of Mixed Drinks’ was released. OLI opened the night to a sold-out crowd and although the set was maybe a little rushed, the band were on great form with Thom especially making use of the bigger stage and putting on an energetic display of passion and commitment. Some young girls in the crowd recognised him as he used to teach them – must have been different to see your teacher rocking a stage out of his day job. A hometown show, the band had recommended the 3 golden rules of Aldershot to Frightened Rabbit via Twitter (1. Do not talk about Aldershot, 2. Tiffany’s caters for the discerning gentleman and 3. Do not consume in excess of 10 kilos of chocolate as it will kill you), and these were relayed on stage by Frabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. The Scots also continuously thanked both OLI and their own tour support Airship for making a fantastic gig. OLI were buzzing and had won over another home crowd.

Guildford, 7 March

The final night of the tour was another local show, supporting reformed 1980s Irish band Power Of Dreams, who specialise in three-minute indie-pop songs with a punk edge. It didn’t appear that some of the POD fans appreciated loud, post-rock songs with complex endings and OLI seemed to upset a vocal minority. With two songs to go, a voice from the shadows piped up: “Thank you, goodnight” and when Thom introduced the last song, the same voice shouted “Yes!”. Not the way any band wants to finish their tour but luckily Matt took it in good heart, “you’re too kind Guildford, too kind”. OLI channelled this heckling in to an especially noisy and distorted ending of ‘Scissorfight’, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Thom scream as loud. It worked a treat as the majority of the venue gave them an astounding ovation.

That was it, nine gigs, eight towns and eleven days that went by in a whirlwind but no sign of letting up for OLI - two days after the Guildford show they headed back up the M1 to The Crypt in Leeds to record WET002 – ‘The Arsonist’, due out in June.

Visit OLI online at http://www.myspace.com/whereisourlostinfantry

My Last Five Girlfriends

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:43:54 +0000

Director: Julian Kemp
Release Date: 19/03/10

Meet Duncan, a man not so much saved by love as thoroughly destroyed by it. My Last Five Girlfriends opens with Duncan (Brendan Patricks) swigging vodka and scribbling a suicide note, in which he squarely pins the blame for his demise on the eponymous ladies, and what they have collectively done to him.

Based on Alain de Botton’s Essays in Love, the film is a stylised and highly self-conscious tour around Duncan’s love life, visually realised as a rather low-budget theme park. There’s some stop motion animation, rather manic montage, plenty of freeze frames, and more ironic meanderings than you could shake a broken heart at. This is a clever film, and whizzes through a series of engaging dilemmas with a lightness of touch: can you love two people at once? Is the elusive ‘spark’ important? Can you work at love? And does it really matter if you don’t like their shoes?

But the film’s flaws are, sadly, all too noticeable as it progresses. Perhaps the key are the “essays” it’s based on: this is not a cohesive, three dimensional narrative. And five girlfriends is a lot to handle, resulting in the feeling that they are merely vehicles for another quirky philosophical question that’s barely fleshed out before you’re steered to the next one. This is the particularly the case with poor Olive, who’s on screen just long enough for our hero to wonder about the different personalities he tries on in order to impress her. All this conspires to make things feel a little gimmicky, and when Duncan is finally heartbroken, it’s hard to take seriously. One of the film’s most engaging moments comes when Gemma (girlfriend No. 5, played by the charming Naomie Harris) reads a letter to Duncan explaining why she has left him. Suddenly, love is rendered a living, breathing thing between two people rather than a series of pithy, aloof observations.

This is an unusual and fairly diverting film, and worth the watch for its clever insights and flashes of wit. Just don’t expect to be swept off your feet.

Shambles Miller - Shambles Vs. The Dragonwizard

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:29:04 +0000

Label: Self-release
Official MySpace

It’s difficult to name albums for the most part. Your title has to make a point, sometimes about the album, or at least be a memorable line from a song. So what to expect from something called Shambles Vs. The Dragonwizard? Well, it’s a fitting collection of songs about insurmountable tasks like forgetting your phobias and stories about robots from Scottish brogue singing artist Shambles Miller. While it’s just fair, his demo at least makes an impression.

There’s something about Miller’s voice that reminds me of Jonathan Coulton, or maybe it’s the acoustic guitar, beard, glasses, and songs about things like robots and being afraid of being afraid. When he tries to be at least semi-serious, like on ‘Nothing Unfolding’ or ‘My Best Friend Is An Outsider,’ it usually ends up sounding a bit like angry café performances – songs about girls gone by or about how you feel alienated. In fact the most enjoyable moment is the story song ‘Robots.’ “Robots are there to feel this way,” turns into, “We have a kind of synergy – you took all my energy.” Evolving from a silly robot rumination into one about feelings is a fitting transition, and as a result the song comes off as the least forced thing. On the other hand, the almost five minute ‘Nothing Unfolding’ is just plain lugubrious. The sappy couplets like old/cold, older/bolder, and the like sound stale and hackneyed in what could otherwise be a powerful ‘Oh Comely’ moment if done well.

It’s that old thing again: I’ll wait for the full length and see what happens. For now, I’ll keep a small tab on Shambles, mainly because I think that it’s a perfectly well executed average.

Label: Self-release
Official MySpace

It’s that old thing again: I’ll wait for the full length and see what happens. For now, I’ll keep a small tab on Shambles, mainly because I think that it’s a perfectly well executed average.

Lightspeed Champion - Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:23:17 +0000

Label: Domino Records
Release Date: 1/02/10
Website: Official Website

Lightspeed Champion is the stage name of solo artist Dev Hynes, hairy hat-promoting former singer for the Test Icicles. His acclaimed debut album was released in January 2008, and Dev made it onto the NME Cool List for two years in a row, a feat saved only for those with unusual hairstyles (or hats) or ridiculous band names.

‘Dead Head Blues’ begins his new album, Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You, starting softly with a repeated guitar note and then a piano-accompanied first verse. Melancholic and maybe a little clichéd, it builds, Dev Hynes’ memorable voice moaning lyrics about premonitions and feelings. From time to time, more instruments join to pad the song out, and the rhythm picks up a little. Then, it goes on a bit too long, a bit too sweetly. For me, the first track is a summary of the whole album.

Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You has its good moments. ‘Marlene’, all jaunty percussion and film-score instrumental licks, is one of the catchiest tracks on the album, though it is ruined by the strained emotional chorus, which Dev Hynes doesn’t have the voice for. Deliberately nursery-rhyme-esque ‘The Big Guns of Highsmith’ has echoes of prog rock: it is almost like a track from a rock opera, which probably makes it an acquired taste. Those tracks are both highs though, along with edgy ‘I Don’t Want To Wake Up Alone’, and the quirkily tender ‘Smooth Day (At The Library)’.

However, the whole album has an air of ‘trying too hard’ about it; the songs often overuse instrumentation, so every instrument is made bland by its proximity to so many others, and the fact it is playing simple, predictable riffs and chords. There are lots of successful musical moments on the album, but they tend to lifelessly float into boring conclusions. A perfect example of this is in ‘Middle of the Dark’, a decent track that at 2:20 loses its energy and turns into a dull rock ballad.

I wasn’t particularly grabbed by this album. A niche market is, I am sure, the target for Lightspeed Champion: Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You is eccentric and unusual (even if it definitely trying to be), and it sparkles in places to make up for being lacklustre in others. Dev Hynes has an original voice and definitely has some good ideas: this album probably doesn’t showcase them to their best advantage, though it is worth a listen.

Paint a Vulgar Picture – by Various Authors

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:17:08 +0000

Publisher: Serpent’s Tail
Price: RRP - £8.99

This is a short story collection where each of the stories takes the title of a Smith’s song, and the 24 writers who contributed to its creation make a lot of different stories with these diverse starting points.

In ‘This Charming Man’ acclaimed novelist Mike Gayle takes a look at a successful novelist who based his story on his friends, and who will base the sequel on his friend’s reactions, in turn paying tribute to Morrisey’s own song ‘We hate it when out Friends become successful’.

Other stories take more a tangent, such as in James Flint’s ‘Shoplifters of the world Unite’ looks at the story of a young boy keeping guard over a trapped Armadillo, so that he can impress his friends.

The spectre of new technology raises its head in ‘Heaven knows I am miserable now’ where a naked rendition of the song is shown across the world on the internet. Helen Walsh’s story ‘There is a Light that never goes out’ looks at the plight of a young girl mistaken for a boy, while Jeremy Sheldon’s ‘Nowhere Fast’ looks at the life of a late thirties Headmaster trying to make sense of the younger generation.

The quality of writing in this collection is of a uniformly high standard, and although not every story will be to everyone’s taste, there will be something here for most readers, regardless of whether or not they are fans of The Smiths.

The 405 News In Brief (Tuesday 16th March)

hello@thefourohfive.com — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:05:29 +0000

Today's 'News In Brief' is sponsored by being far away.

The awesome Sia has announced details of a new single and album. The single 'Clap Your Hands' (31st May 2010) is taken from the album We Are Born (7th June 2010).

UK live date:
Camden Roundhouse - 27th May

Atari Teenage Riot have announced a reunion show for May! They'll also be releasing a new single, called 'Activate'.

May 12th 2010 @ The Electric Ballroom, London

Japandroids have announced a reissue compilation: 'No Singles' taken from out-of print EPs. They're set to tour this May.

They'll be re-releasing their two out-of-print EPs as a reissue compilation through Polyvinyl Records on May 11th. Entitled 'No Singles', the ten tracks have been remastered by John Golden (Melvins, Nirvana) and will be available on gatefold 180 gram vinyl, CD - both of which will include a 32 page booklet - and digital download. The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Darkness on the Edge of Gastown, 2. No Allegiance to the Queen, 3. Sexual Aerosol, 4. Lovers/Strangers, 5. Lucifer's Symphony, 6. Couture Suicide, 7. Avant Sleepwalk, 8. Coma Complacency, 9. To Hell with Good Intentions, 10. Press Corps

Additionally Japandroids will be releasing a five-part series of 7" singles throughout 2010 on Polyvinyl Records. Each limited edition 7" will feature a previously unreleased track from the 'Post Nothing' sessions alongside a cover.

First up, released on April 12th is 'Art Czars', the clear coloured vinyl will also feature 'Racer-X' - a Big Black cover and live favourite. You can preorder it here plus it will also be available for digital download:

http://www.polyvinylrecords.com/store/index.php?id=1002

May 2010 dates:

Thursday 13th May - Saturday 15th May - The Great Escape, Brighton
Monday 17th May - DiScover @ The Harley, Sheffield
Tuesday 18th May - Jericho, Oxford
Wednesday 19th May - Joiners, Southampton
Thursday 20th May - The Garage, London

To celebrate the release of the new Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and The Cairo Gang album, The Wonder Show of the World, 150 Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy bottle stoppers have been commissioned and are now available to pre-order exclusively through Domino Mart. Each bottle stopper was individually hand carved by the artist Scott Millar, so each one will be completely unique. Anyone ordering the bottle stopper from the mart will be sent an email to download the tracks on the release date, 29th March 2010.

To pre-order your bottle stopper and album download please head to:
http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/albums/12-03-10/the-wonder-show-of-the-world-special-edition-wine-stopper/

Anthony from God Don't Like It have announced some additions to his 'Summer of Tamesis Dock' shows + more!

On June 2nd they'll be hosting the debut show and album launch from Wilkommen Collective’s very own The Climbers! You can buy tickets to the show by clicking here!

Here's a free MiniMix download from JBAG of the new Kitsuné Maison 9 - "The Petit Bateau edition or The Cotton Issue" -

Click here to downlaod the mixtape!

01. Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work (The Twelves remix)
02. Holy Ghost! - Say My Name
03. Hurts - Wonderful Life (Arthur Baker remix Kitsuné edit)
04. Gamble & Burke - Let’s Go Together
06. Jupiter - Vox Populi (Lifelike treatment)
07. Feldberg - Dreamin'
08. Washed Out - Belong
09. Your Nature - Forward Motion
10. Jamaica - Short And Entertaining
11. Silver Columns - Brow Beaten
12. Logo - La Vie Moderne
13. Yuksek - Supermenz (We’re Not)

The 9th installment comes on April 26th: