What's Been Going On At Daytrotter?

While I've not been posting quite a few interesting bands have performed for the excellent Daytrotter sessions. Temper Trap (above), Josh Ritter and a new session by Local Natives to name just a few. Drop by, I'm sure a band you like will have performed for them. They're charging for some tracks now (who can blame them) but a lot are still free.

Coming Up In Bristol...

Ever since I moved to Bristol from Reading I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of gigs in the area. Working in storage in Bristol I look forward to my evenings and weekends! The 9s record company Atomic Records got in touch to let me know they will be playing in Bristol on the 4th. Not only that but they have a single out called Empire Strikes Back. A sure fire way to make me check them out. I think American rock with a slight EMO twist might give you an idea of how they sound but you can check them out for yourselves by visiting their bandcamp site where you can download some tracks for free as well as buy the Star Wars named single.

Who else? Only La Folie! Yes the Sheffield band who have featured on here before are performing at The Cooler on the 3rd June. Thanks to Rob of Call The Doctor for the tip off and a hand in bringing them down to this neck of the woods. Anyone fancy going to the gig with me?

It's Hot Hot Heat outside and on my iTunes

Bandages Bandages Bandages, Hot Hot Heat just can't help repeating themselves and their punk-pop (as RCRD LBL describe it) has always been catchy because of it. It's been a while since I've listened to them and the track they are giving away through RCRD LBL surprised me as it was less pop and had more stature. Check it out and see what you think.

It's our birthday

The blog is two years old today, don't worry it's not the end. I've now got broadband and 637 unread emails waiting for my attention. what I did notice pop in to my inbox was the news that Call The Doctor are giving their single away. It was played on 6 Music (see my last post) and the Bristol based band were unsigned band of the day. Head on over to their MySpace to gather up that free tune. Normal service will return soon, I promise.

Call The Doctor - Radio 6 Music Unsigned Band of the Day!

Bristol based band Call The Doctor have certainly been busy while I have been neglecting my blogging duties. Not only have they signed a distribution deal with Glasstone Records but today they have also managed to land themselves the title of BBC Radio 6 Music's unsigned band of the day. So it looks like guitarist Rob Hallworth's hard work promoting them is starting to pay off. If you managed to catch For Your Leisure getting some air play today you will be pleased to know it will be released as a free download. Not only that but they are touring, stopping off in Bristol, Bath, Frome, Coventry, Nuneaton, Chelmsford and Brixton.

Click here to view our previous posts on Call The Doctor

I've Been Cheating On You

It's true, I've been cheating on you. I've not given you the attention you deserve and in the meantime I've been off with someone else. So if you want to watch on like a gooseberry while I perform what I normally do with you perhaps you should read http://www.sheffieldmusicscene.info/

Sorry

Hello,

Sorry I've not been around recently. For those of you still popping by, thank you. I'm in the process of moving house and when we've moved I'm hoping normal service will resume. In the meantime here's a link to a small playlist to keep you entertained for a while. I've done it as a zip file so that I could post some more mainstream tracks that I wouldn't get away with normally.

Hope you like it,

JAL

https://www.yousendit.com/download/THE1anZ2YWIwVWswTVE9PQ

Who Is MGMT

That's not a question, it's where you should be heading. www.whoismgmt.com Head there now and pick up their new track. I heard the last 10 seconds of it on Zane Lowe's radio show last night and I thought "I like it". I then listened to the feedback and everyone didn't seem to get along with it. I can now hear from the start why people didn't take to it quite as instantly as me. It gets stronger as the track goes along but it took me a long time to 'get' their first album so I'm expecting this track to grow too. Go and grab it now, I'm not sure how long it will be up there for.

The Sunshine Underground - Nobody's Coming To Save You :Album Review

If you don't already know, I'm a massive fan of The Sunshine Underground's debut album Raise The Alarm. Somehow I missed all the hype surrounding the album's release and discovered it's (and the band's) greatness without all the hype clouding my ability to enjoy the record.

Four years on and finally we get chance to sample the Leeds band's new offering. If I had not heard the albums before I would tell you that this is their debut and Raise The Alarm is their second album. Nobody's Coming To Save You seems to be the album with twenty years worth of influences squeezed inside it. The Rapture, The Charlatans, Shed Seven, Happy Mondays, even Coldplay, OK maybe just 'Yellow', but even so the sound is back towards mainstream 90's indie rock. There's no problem with that and a lot of the time it works, Craig Wellington's got the vocals to carry it off and there are certainly more than just a few highlights on the album.

So what's the album like? It feels at times that there's a lot of blood, sweat and tears gone in to the album. There's more than that, there's real talent there but for some reason it hasn't quite clicked the same. The dancing beats don't meet the anthemic vocals at the same time and the energy is lost. That doesn't make it a bad album, in fact I've not listened to anything else in my car since it arrived. Lots of tracks stand out like 'Coming To Save You', 'We've Always Been Your Friends', 'In Your Arms', 'A Warning Sign' and 'The Messiah'. The question is how long will they stay on my iPod and will they reach my most played?

Not long enough and probably not.

Enjoy this alternative version of We've Always Been You're Friends kindly given the OK to post by their record label.

MP3: We've Always Been Your Friends (Alt Version) - The Sunshine Underground

Beat The Devil's Tattoo - BRMC

For some reason I've been given the OK to post BRMC's latest single and I certainly wouldn't pass up that opportunity. They've got a new album out 9th March and a massive worldwide tour at the end of Feb. As you can probably tel by the lack of posts recently I've not had chance to get near my iTunes recently and so I've only listened to this track once. Sooooo it's down to you lot to leave comments and educate those that follow. Take it away...

MP3: Beat The Devil's Tattoo - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC)

P.S. I have however had plenty of time to listen to The Sunshine Underground's new album as the CD dropped through my letterbox the other day. So hopefully I will have a review of that for you in the not so distant future.