One of my most adored new bands of 2014 these guys just need to be going places this year. They made my top 10 gigs of 2014 as well as one of my favourite tracks in the year too. It’s only right they’re listed here. Such high hopes for them. Palace are an alternative blues/rock band from London combining laid back guitars with brooding vocals.
Posts Tagged ‘London’
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Maverick genius, Robert ‘Hacker’ Jessett and honeyed singer Anne Gilpin, Morton Valence is a five-piece London-based rock band that loosely pitches its music as ‘urban country.’ Left is Valence’s third album – all put out on its own marvellously titled Bastard Recordings label – and maintains the free spirited inventiveness it is rightly renowned for. With typical understatement, the band itself describes the album as ‘a bunch of recordings that had literally been left languishing in Morton Valence’s archives which we felt deserved to see the light of day.’ It is actually a surprisingly cohesive collection and worthy of a place in your collection
MORTON VALENCE – ” The Day I Went To Bed For 10 Years “
Posted: December 20, 2014 in MUSICTags: Left, London, Morton Valence
Fronted by maverick genius, Robert ‘Hacker’ Jessett and honeyed singer Anne Gilpin, Morton Valence is a five-piece London-based rock band that loosely pitches its music as ‘urban country.’ “Left” is Valence’s third album – all put out on its own marvellously titled Bastard Recordings label – and maintains the free spirited inventiveness it is rightly renowned for. With typical understatement, the band itself describes the album as ‘a bunch of recordings that had literally been left languishing in Morton Valence’s archives which we felt deserved to see the light of day.’ It is actually a surprisingly cohesive collection and worthy of a place in your collection. The opening track is the startling “The Day I Went To Bed For 10 Years.”
‘Yesterdays’ encapsulates this perfectly; it is after all, all about looking back at past days when ‘local lovers were drifting through’ and ‘dawning laughter’ was everywhere. The chorus is also just as infectious as on his previous tracks, as are the chorus-flecked guitars and hastily delivered lines about living it up in the city. Basically, everything shimmers with the sense of good times gone by; but on the strength of ‘Yesterdays’, more good times are sure to be on their way for Only Real.
From his chilled out wardrobe of t-shirts, backwards caps and shorts (on a warm day) to his laid back demeanour, Niall Galvin, better known as Only Real, could be mistaken for any other kid who just hangs with his friends at the skate park.
However there is more to this 21-year-old West Londoner. Influenced by a plethora of musical styles, Only Real takes all he’s heard, learned and experienced to make music that’s fuzzy yet fluid. His debut single, ‘Backseat Kissers’, which is out now is a retro and lo-fi melodic journey that will leave you without a care in the world.
REVERE – ” A Road From A Flood “
Posted: December 18, 2014 in MUSICTags: Hey Selim, London, Revere, Rock
REVERE is a seven-piece band combining orchestral instruments with rock staples that broke through in 2010 with a self-released debut album, ” Hey! Selim “, a record packed with epic tunes including the astonishing “The Escape Artist.”
After some changes in line-up the London-based band followed up this spring with the U.K. release of “My Mirror/Your Target”. The album sidesteps close comparison with its forerunner by focusing on shorter songs, many with a rockier edge to them, and allowing more space between instruments rather than building walls of sound, evidenced by the majestic balladry of “A Road From The Flood.”
ALEX VARGAS – ” Solid Ground “
Posted: December 14, 2014 in MUSICTags: Alex Vargas, Howl, London, singer songwriter, Solid Ground
A new heart breaker in town and his name is Alex Vargas even though he sounds quite American when he’s singing he is in fact originally from Denmark. Some of you may even remember Vargas’ previous Xenomania produced band Vagabond, but let’s not get distracted by the past because his debut EP “Solid Ground“.
Title track “Solid Ground” is the kind of sound you wish Nick Jonas could make, it’s handsome and soulful.
Missing from the EP is Vargas’ best song “Howl” but you can watch a very good acoustic version of it below.
Building from a whisper to a roar and then unbuilding back again, “Hush” by Hawk challenges everything you think you knew about the classic ’90s shoegaze sound. HAWK are a London-based noir alt. rock fourpiece.
They have been described as everything from noir-rock to alternative-folk. Based in London, Julie, Matt, Chris, and Sam hail from various corners of the UK and Ireland. Their sound was described by Subba Cultcha as a “fusion of ambience and power” fronted by a “soaring, crackling vocal”. Irish-born lead singer Julie Hawk initially embarked on a solo folk career, and began collaborating with Matt in 2012. After a year on the acoustic circuit, the pair gained support from the likes of Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson. The fledgling duo then joined Sam and Chris to form the band you hear now, adding a new abrasive edge to their sound while retaining the delicacy of their acoustic roots combining post-punk and folk in a spine-tingling brew that’ll take pot shots at your emotional wellbeing”
Hush is released 8th December.
PRIMITIVE PARTS – ” The Bench “
Posted: December 4, 2014 in MUSICTags: London, Post Punk, Primitive Parts
Primitive Parts are a South London trio comprised of members from a host of other bands .
Lindsay Corstorphine has been electrifying our stereo with the likes of Cold Pumas, Monotony and Sauna Youth, while Kevin Hendrick and Robin Christian also ply their trade with Male Bonding.
Together as Primitive Parts, however, they have given us ‘The Bench’, which is taken from their latest double a-side, released last week.The melody conjures strong memories of Buzzcocks’ ‘Something ‘s Gone Wrong Again’, and there is the same cocktail of pop hooks and abrasive production that made the Mancunian heroes such an enthralling experience. The track is a spiky piece of punk-rock that balances its rawness and catchy groove in a way that allures the ear from the off.
ANNIE EVE – ” Southern “
Posted: December 2, 2014 in MUSICTags: Annie Eve, London, singer songwriter
21 year old Annie Eve from North London Describes her story as “Girl picks up guitar, gets on stage a couple of hundred times, the rest is history!” Delicately and respectfully blending the mystical magic of Bon Iver with the raw sensibilities of the likes of Cobain and Regina Spektor, Annie Eve pours sugar and bitter spice into her angelic compositions with disturbing ease and sincerity.
Annie’s unusual grasp of language and awkward perspective bleeds into her lyrics and fuels an enchanting and haunting style of music. Deriving her influences from tormented poets to her own experiences, Annie Eve blends her sense of the raw and the irrational to create original and evocative songs.
SLAVES – ” Where’s Your Car Debbie “
Posted: December 1, 2014 in MUSICTags: Kent, London, Punk, Slaves, The Hunter
Slaves a two-piece. Garage band from London, Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent: one shouts and bangs the drums standing up, the other plays great, fat metal riffs from his guitar. They look like two overgrown truants from the rough part of town, but if you shut your eyes this is what the Black Keys might have sounded like had they been raised on Shane Meadows films – wry, suburban disaffection, like Sleaford Mods but with less swearing;
Slaves have been making a nasty racket around London town for a while now, but they’re finally shouting loud enough for people’s ignorant ears to prick up. As a duo, they manage to carry the might of bands like Death From Above 1979 and Winnebago Deal, exuding enough fuzz to fry brain cells. Also, as there’s only two of them, it’s easy enough to remember their names. After hearing the lairy, arrogant charms of Ceasefire, you’d be forgiven for thinking Slaves are bunch of snarling, Camden-dwelling cider-punks. So when I was met by two smartly-dressed, quietly pleasant lads from Kent, I felt confused and slightly relieved. They mix ‘77 style British punk with harsh bluesy garage riffs, as infectious as they are confrontational. They’ve just finished a on a 10-date UK tour with Drenge, Blew everyone away at Y Not festival with an awesome set and are about to tour with the NME Awards tour with Amazing Snakeheads Fat White Family
The Fat Angel Sings 