beatrixtapes

[beatrixtapes]

Arcade Fire

A few years ago, I threw a strop. I failed to get tickets to see Arcade Fire at Hyde Park. The show had sold out. I went home and sulked about missing out on one of my all timers. 

Fast forward a few years; I've now seen them twice. When a bunch of ultra cheap tickets for the Arcade Fire show last week magically fell into my lap, it felt too good to be true. 

Whilst I hot-stepped to Marble Arch from a deliciously celebratory session at the pub, it still felt too good to be true. And it was perhaps that rather magical buzz in the air that made their 2014 Hyde Park set such a roaring success. 

The band were hot off their Glastonbury set. The sunshine beat down and London was smug and happy. 

Both Primavera and Glastonbury sets focused on the cacophony of Reflektor. But at Hyde Park, they went far back and took the adoring crowd on a long and loving journey of the last decade. From Funeral, to Neon Bible and right back into Reflektor; Hyde Park sang loud and proud. 

Be it the heady sunshine the copious amounts of cider or Arcade Fire living up to the accusation of being the "best live band in the world" (not my accolade, regrettably), I (and thousands more) fell away into the balmy London night, arm in arm singing the chorus of Wake Up. 

Best. Gig. Ever. I kid you not. Even if I had paid more than three quid for my ticket.

#arcade fire #reflketor #british summer time #hyde park

[beatrixtapes]

Shelter Song by Temples

It's like a time capsule from the 60s. Glorious and makes me want summer here. Like now. 

#temples

[beatrixtapes]

Bombay Bicycle Club

Yes, they're back, older and seemingly wiser. Here's a band who I would have said I shared my formative years with. But technically I can't as they are about three years younger than me. In any case, as much as they have flitted around trying to figure out identity and life, I feel I have. And with their latest album, So Long, See You Tomorrow, they seem to have come to some form of conclusion (even if it is a momentary one). 

It's one that draws influence from a range of places. From the geographical: Bollywood and South America, to the sentimental (after all, soulful ballads are one they've always been good at). Although the latter is still as enjoyable as some of the material off Flaws, it's in the more up-tempo tracks that BBC really find their feet. 

At times, they channel the likes of Yeasayer and Animal Collective with jaunty and jungly overtones. But they manage to steer it this side of pop that keeps it accessible. Dare I say, it's got shades of Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto and Friendly Fires in there. That probably explains why they've also managed to clinch their first No.1 spot in the charts with it. 

But this made me ponder: how do bands such as BBC navigate through the 'sound du jour'? The band's back catalogue is arguably testament to how they've done this: instances where they have flitted from emo-folk to math rock (to varying degrees of success, at that).

And it also made me think, of course a band's musical identity is inevitably drawn and influenced by what they themselves listen to. But when does it go from simply being an imitation to being their own? Although BBC's influences are evident, I feel like they've also at last, figured out their own. And this comes through loud and clear in certain tracks: like in Whenever, Wherever, they create a ballad that's psychadelic but anthemic at the same time. Which is a feat: it's not easy to bridge a vast expanse of music from abstract to pop. Either way, it's a great record that's going to give concert goers plenty of reason to dance along to. 

Here are my two favourites. And that's been a hard choice as I like quite a lot of it. 

Eyes Off You (recorded at Maida Vale studios)

Overdone

#bombay bicycle club #so long see you tomorrow

[beatrixtapes]

http://thelastskeptik.com The Last Skeptik - Waffle SBTRKT - Look At Stars (MachineDrum Remix) Chairlift - Sidewalk Safari (Sampha Remix) SBTRKT - Never Never featuring Sampha Jessie Ware and Sampha - Valentine Sampha - Beneath The Tree Drake - The Motion featuring Sampha Sampha - Without Sampha - Rainstars Lil Silva - On Your Own featuring Sampha SBTRKT - Hold On featuring Sampha Sampha - Evening Glow Sampha - Indecision Sampha - Indecision (The Last Skeptik Remix) Sampha - Break Off SBTRKT - Living Like I Do featuring Sampha Sampha and Koreless - Let It Go Sampha - Can't Get Close Sampha - Hesitant Oath Sampha - Demons Sampha - Too Much Drake - Too Much featuring Sampha H.A.S - Wonderland featuring Sampha Jessie Ware - What You Won't Do For Love

#SoundCloud #Noisey #Hip Hop

[beatrixtapes]

The War On Drugs

This isn't a particularly new discovery, but one that I've neglected to document. The War On Drugs is a band that's been in the back pocket for a while. Kurt Vile is one of the pair, and although his slow-paced jangles are enjoyable, when he's part of The War On Drugs, the product is a lot more melodic. Best Night is a favourite off their 2011 album, Slave Ambient. But the new material is promising, if the first single Red Eyes is anything to by.

[beatrixtapes]

Come Save Me by Jagwar Ma

Snap, oh so totally adorbs.

#jagwar ma

[beatrixtapes]

Angel Olsen

I thought it was time to quit my 6 month hiatus from writing. Well, actually, I've been thinking that thought for a while now but it seems I never got round to doing much about it. So, here goes. I think 2014 is going to be a good year for music. I've actually made an effort to buy tickets to a festival I want to go to (Primavera) to see a band I've desperately wanted to see for as long as I can remember (Arcade Fire). Yes, at last. 

I digress. In that age-old tradition of sharing music I'm listening to, enter forth Angel Olsen. I can't place exactly where I stumbled across her raggedly, dulcet tones but I'm totally hooked. I haven't heard something to this vein in a while. Well I lie. Her sound sort of channels Zoey Deschanel in She & Him but brings a sense of grittiness and melancholy that Deshanel's saccharine falls short of. 

It transpires, Angel Olsen has been around for a while. The back catalogue is good but I feel it's in the upcoming album, Burn Your Fire For No Witness that she's going to ring true. She channels a bit of a Roy Orbison, gawky grassiness and a sense of being worldly wise. And it's got some cool, slacker vibes a la Stephen Malkmus, that I haven't seen in a long while. 

Try this one for size, it's called Hi-Five. 

And scoot on over to NPR here for her very own Tiny Desk Concert. 

As always, if you like what you hear, show your support. She's touring over North America and Europe soon; including a gig at Dingwalls in London in March. Check out dates here. 

#angel olsen

[beatrixtapes]

Bombay Bicycle Club

I'm throwing my own rulebook out the window so I can make this post. I've been a bit slack with the new music absorption as of late and have been delving back into years of albums past. 

I've seen BBC a fair few times, when they headline Brixton Academy in 2011 and when they supported Blur at Hyde Park's Olympics Closing Ceremony show. They fall into the succesful genre of indie bands that broke the mainstream fold: Maccabees, Noah and the Whale etc etc. 

But you know what, there's a tinge of dark introspection in their music that hold me in a way others fail. And no, that's got nothing to do with the fact that the very talented drummer, Suren is Sri Lankan (represent!).

Although 2012's A Different Kind of Fix is a brilliant record that seals their fate as a great band, it's their older material that I keep going back to. 

Flaws is one of the most magical tracks I've heard. The Lucy Rose backed vocals make it all the more ethereal. 

[beatrixtapes]

Quadron

I can't believe I've been so abysmally neglectful of my dear beatrixtapes. I'm only ten days short a 4 month hiatus from blogging. A lot of new music has come and been and no words written or record kept. 

Highlights from the last few months have been a rather delayed introduction to Ben Howard and of course the expected joy at Daft Punk. And most recently, the moderate love for the new Jay-Z and guilty pleasure but sheer delight in the Robin Thicke/ Pharell combo. 

However, I am here to write about Quadron. A band that takes me back to my first job post-graduation. Stuck in a dusty office in Soho, one of the few things a former colleague and I could agree on was the shared enjoyment for this retro-inspired, Danish collective. 

If I'm completely honest, I'm (pleasantly) surprised they've made it this far. Their latest endeavour, Avalanche, could even be a breakthrough into the fold. After all, it has hip hop whizz, Kendrick Lamar contributing to a most excellent duet. 

And what I am particulary happy to see and hear is that they've stuck to a signature sound. One which is stripped back, soulful and quietly intriguing. 

There are quite a few off Avalanche that I dig...but these are especially good. 

[beatrixtapes]

Phoenix

Writing this post is making me feel very glum. I've got serious envy for all those smug ones who got their grubby paws on Glastonbury tickets this year. To be fair, I didn't try very hard. Having done Glasto a couple of times already, and being tested with the Serious Mud Trial of Green Man last year, I decided to be a festival diva this year. 

However, the diva in me can't get away from the memory of THAT feeling, You know, that feeling you get, when you've got a stupid grin on your face, a wimpy ray of sunshine beats down on you, a cider sloshing around in your hand and Phoenix on stage busting out Lisztomania [pictured above]. And you're happy. THAT feeling is what makes it all worth it. 

With the new Phoenix album, I've got memories of that feeling flooding back. Bankrupt has got those glittering chords and crescendoes that the French are so good at (here's looking at you Daft Punk, M83 and Justice). It's feel good to the hilt and I plan to be dancing around to this all summer and then some. 

SOS in Bel Air channels a [lonely] Julian Casablancas side project whilst Entertainment has got kitsch Tokyo motifs written all over it. 

Here they are on Jimmy Kimmel. They play my favourite, Chloroform, at the end of the set.

[beatrixtapes]

Savages

Earlier this year, with much regret, I relinquished tickets to see Savages on their NME tour at the Electric Ballroom. My desperate FOMO led me to follow the gig on Twitter and I was gutted to have missed out. 

Their sound is inky black post-punk. Female angst flies around with heady abandon. When I first uncovered Savages, I presumed it was an undiscovered Siouxsie and the Banshees B-side.by. Lo and behold, they are from London and they only formed in 2011.

Now here is what girl bands ought to be made of. 

[beatrixtapes]

Adam Green and Binki Shapiro

It's been a while since a girl/boy duo has captured my imagination. Adam Green and Binki Shapiro suffer the luck of heritage. Green hails from Moldy Peaches (of Juno fame in case you're wondering) and Shapiro from Little Joy - two bands that I have known and loved for their sunshine-drenched melodies and jangled whimsy. So, only good things could happen when two of their members join forces.

Here's another album that harks back to the vein of 60s love songs, shot in hazy technicolour. It's stuff Urban Outfitters catalogues are made of. But the magic lies in the subject matter. Yes, it's mostly about love but it's about the complicated kind. Case in point is If You Want Me To which explores the complex and Lolita-like territory of The Older Man. Adam Green's banal influence is clear - sardonic-ism set into pretty melodies. 

In the style of dynamic duos before them, these two enfants-noir/ hipster pin-ups create a delicious record that I'm gleefully devouring. They play Village Underground on 9 April (tickets here) and if my Barcelona plans fly, I hope to catch them at Primavera in May. Glorious. 

Here are two excellent videos that will most certainly float your boat. 

[beatrixtapes]

Cold Mailman - My Recurring Dream

The ambitious video for this Oslo-based band's new single perfectly captures the feeling and nature of a recurring dream: beautiful, frightening, and mysterious. My favourite video of the year thus far, and the song is easy on the ears as well...

[beatrixtapes]

Flume

I can't keep up with all the excellent recommendations that keep flying my way these days. And they all seem to be appearing from Australia-way. I blogged about Chet Faker a few months ago, and interestingly enough, he collaborates with my newest band crush: Flume. 

It's glitchy electronica that channels a lot of Depeche Mode, New Order and minimal. But it's got that wonderful 2-step beat that the likes of Hudson Mohawke pioneered some years ago. It's a gorgeously layered production and comes with some strong collaborations from T-Shirt, Alex Ward and more. 

The brilliance of Flume lies in his versatility: it's as well-suited for Sunday afternoon introspection as it is for gearing up for an evening out on the tiles.

Here is his rad self on Soundcloud. 

[beatrixtapes]

Hiatus Kaiyote

Two friends whose music taste I respect and admire (here's looking at you Wish and Jack) told me about Hiatus Kaiyote on the same day. On first glance, they seemed to veer a little too close to the concept soul and funk band. Don't get me wrong, I'm big on the originals but I find many of the modern-day translations a tad  samey. Ones like Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings stand out, but I find those are few and far between. 

Hiatus Kaiyote, however, are certainly one of those few. They approach this genre from an unusual angle. The happy product is one that is an intriguing amalgamation of nu-jazz, soul and electronica. All that, packed with punch and spirited flare. The album is unexpectedly enchanting and has a certain depth to it. The artful instrumentation is slick and stylish but is juxtaposed against Nai Palm's spiky and soulful vocals. 

The above clip is my personal favourite from the album, Tawk Tomahawk. It's an acoustic version, sung by the enigmatic Nai Palm with a bird atop her head.

Find out more about them at hiatuskaiyote.com or listen to the album on Spotify below...

#hiatus kaiyote #nu-jazz #soul #electronica #melbourne #naim palm

[beatrixtapes]

I'm generally a purist and suspicious of remixes. But once in a while, a good one comes along and I'm put back in my box. The clever chaps at Le Tourne Disque have a consistently good collection of remixes on their blog, and this Bon Iver one is the one that got me hooked. Much of the mixes hosted on their site are stylishly made. And as a branding-geek, it's a good-looking blog too! If you like what you hear, explore more here 

#bon iver #le tourne disque #electronic

[beatrixtapes]

Tashaki Miyaki

       I've written about Tashaki Miyaki's fabulously languid Best Friend single on previous occasion but I haven't been able to do much justice to the self titled, debut album. And I've only just discovered this sweet little covers album (aptly titled Under Cover) that's filled with whimsy.

I think TT previously posted that Beach House would be best appreciated from atop a cloud. That very same adage ought to apply to Tashaki Miyaki. If only because I listened to it whilst floating over the Indian Ocean on a flight home (I suppose that's the closest I could get to actually dangling off a cloud). A sleepy orange hued horizon fleeced with plump cumulus nimbus (pictured above) made for a fitting background to the slow drawl and throaty guitars.

My favourite track on the EP is still Best Friend whilst the rest of it stays shrouded in enchanting nonchalance. And as for the Under Cover album, the Everly Brothers cover of All I have to do is dream is a gem while the Troggs cover, I Want You has some bad ass punk vibes (a la lo-fi of course). And guess what, there's even a cover of Roxette's seminal It Must've Been Love, ooh yeah.

Some might think that the Tashaki Miyaki sound is much like a lot out there but there's certain spark to it that has me hooked. Anyway, it doesn't really matter as their music provides for a wonderful backdrop for other things. Like long drives, thoughts and sunsets at 35,000 feet.

Stream or download Under Cover here:

under cover by tashaki miyaki

and I'm going to re-post Best Friend here for good measure:

and finally, in the off-chance that anyone reading this lives in LA - go see them on Friday!

PS, happy 2013 x

#tashaki miyaki #lo-fi #chillwave #shoegaze #dream pop