Sheffield Music Scene / Kalenko

I'm sure you've all read the latest issue of Sheffield Music Scene but for those of you who haven't Kalenko are on the "double" cover along with White Cricus Fever and there's a interesting interview with them. Kalenko are recording in February and then there should be an new EP out soon. Exciting stuff.

Other features in the new edition include end of year lists from the regular writers and as always demo, album and live reviews. I'll be picking out some items that have caught my eye as and when I get chance.

3WTM's EP of the Year

As always with the blog, I comment on music as it comes to my attention, it doesn't matter whether it was recorded 5 minutes ago or 5 years ago, if I'm playing it now then I talk about it. What's Wrong With The Mainstream's EP of the Year only came to my attention this year but I believe it was released last year. Who cares.

We get quite a lot of EPs sent to the 3WTM inbox and there certainly has been competition for this accolade. However, this EP has three tracks that are so good that if they were on a ten track album you'd pick these as the singles. I believe The Twang's earlier EP had Wide Awake and Either Way on, I just hope this EP can lead on to the same success as The Twang's did.

You, dear regular reader, are totally aware of this band as we have mentioned Kalenko on here many times BUT I've saved the best for this post. 12 (Twelve) is the track that got me in to them and originally all I had to post was a cover of the track, now I have the original version. Enjoy and get in touch with Kalenko and get hold of their EP, there is still one track off it I haven't posted.

MP3: 12 (Twelve) - Kalenko

What's Wrong With The Mainstream November '09 Playist

Ah the last playlist of the year as December always gets devoted to best lists and Christmas tunes. This months playlist really came together in the final days as people start to post their end of year lists early. We've also got tracks from Sheffield Music Scene's birthday compilation give away, if you've not checked out this magazine you really should. As far as I can work out it's a not for profit online publication that is put together by music fans giving up their time to do the reviews and design work for free.

Anyway back to this months playlist. First up we've got Kalenko's latest release, recorded recently and this is the first mix they have made available. If you've read this blog before you're probably aware of my love of Kalenko's work and I will have another track for you next month so stay tuned...

MP3: Berliner Pt2 - Kalenko

Tramlines '09 - Kalenko

How excited am I that I can finally see this band live? Immensely, that's how much. I usually don't like to hype up bands as when I hear a song as soon as I like it I post about it so I haven't had time to decide how good the band or the song is. However some tracks just come along that exude quality, for an unsigned band the production and quality of the tracks on their Myspace is just amazing. I'm not sure why they haven't been signed but surely it won't be long. Not long until the gig now...

Mp3: Damski - Kalenko

Damski - Kalenko

I'm really excited to bring you this track from unsigned band Kalenko. Some of you may remember me mentioning this song when I was describing them as sounding like Interpol. I don't think any of you can deny that when you hear this track. Perhaps Killer, the first song they ever recorded, that I posted before sounded more like Idlewild but this is certainly a step forward.

Usually when you try to create a sound already out there you fall short, it's not quite as good as the originally creator. Not the case with this track, I think you could easily see this sitting on one of Interpol's albums, it certainly wouldn't be looked down upon by the other songs. Whether Kalenko sound too similar to get signed is another question. I certainly wouldn't mind buying one of their records. With some studio time booked in July and then a new EP being recorded in October, that moment might not be far away.

As usual comments always welcome...

MP3: Damski - Kalenko

New Band - Kalenko

I've been working my way through Sheffield Music Scene's blog and the free compilations it offers of local Sheffield bands. I have them playing in the background as I get on with my work and this band really stood out. It was a remix of one of their tracks and, while the remix isn't that great, the vocals really stood out. Sounding like a mix between Editors and Interpol, the vocals really made me sit up and listen.

A quick hop across to their Myspace and sure enough they have a great sound. Fed up with all the Arctic Monkeys wannabes in Sheffield they wanted to create a new sound, I'm not sure they've quite achieved that but sitting in the company of Editors and Interpol can't be bad and they certainly stood out from the other Sheffield bands on the compilation.

To be fair they do have an advantage on this front, they're not actually from Sheffield, they're just going to University there at the moment. In fact they had their last week of university last week before their gig at Plug on Saturday. Sadly living in Bristol I couldn't make it and my friends in Sheffield were unable to either. So you'll have to make do with "Killer" quite an old track of theirs and the remix which got me interested in the first place. I definitely recommend heading to their Myspace where their real talents are in shown in their full glory. Especially the Interpol sounding Damski.

MP3: Killer - Kalenko

MP3: Twelve (Decay Ends A Decade/NIGHTpheonix remix) - Kalenko