Film Review: Arthur Christmas (2011)

'Arthur Christmas' (UK Release: 11 Nov '11) // Words: Saam Das

I always find it concerning that the festive period begins so early. Case in point, Aardman's latest animated adventure 'Arthur Christmas' coming out approximately six weeks before its holiday namesake. Nonetheless, 'Arthur Christmas' duly carries outs its duties in evoking the "spirit of Christmas" and is likely to become a seasonal favourite for years to come.

Album Review: Calexico - Selections From Road Atlas 1998-2011

Calexico - 'Selections From Road Atlas 1998-2011' (UK Release: 21 Nov '11) // Words: Simon Opie

Calexico have been playing since the mid-nineties and their two founding members Joey Burns and John Convertino – both multi-instrumentalists - have pursued a distinctive and singular musical vision from the beginning. Over the year, they have produced a series of tour-only CDs displaying their lighter side and these eight CDs have now been released as a limited edition vinyl only box set (and this ‘highlights of’ CD on general release), 'Selections From Road Atlas 1998-2011'.

Small Screen: 'Mama Drama' And The Future Of Low-Brow Reality TV

Guest blog by Alison Potter.

Just as one tyranny falls, another more evil regime rises up to take its place. With the painfully slow demise of 'Big Brother' (surely Channel 5 will give up after viewing figures falling to an all-time low of 1.26 million?!), Saturday nights are now ruled by the reality triumvirate of 'I’m A Celebrity', 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'The X Factor', which each attract approximately 10 million viewers.

Surfacing: Swiss Lips [New Band]

Words: Saam Das

Ten Bears, nine bears, eight, seven etc. Now only two bears are left, who have begun a new band called Swiss Lips, esteemed purveyors of party-pop. "Party-pop" probably doesn't sound that enticing but I assure you, it's a lot like that first time you got on a bouncy castle - i.e bloody brilliant. Listen to a couple of tracks from Manchester's newest bestest band (...till next week at least...) below.

Download: Letters - Flash! Lights [New Track]

Words: Saam Das

It's not unusual that we forget to write about stuff we really like. It's the dread "blogger's backlog". It's also not unusual to be loved by anyone. Scottish five piece Letters should be loved by plenty though. Listen to their "new" track 'Flash! Lights!' below, which actually appeared a few months back. But consider this a reminder...

Surfacing: Red Kite

Words: Saam Das

Roughly four and half years ago, Daniel Fisher decided to leave The Cooper Temple Clause. The band dissolved soon after. Fisher has now returned to the music scene (along with four buddies) with a new project, Red Kite. The project also features Pure Reason Revolution drummer Paul Glover and someone called Peanut, who I assume isn't the same bloke from the Kaiser Chiefs. Or an actual peanut. Anyway, splendid debut single 'Montreal' comes out next month and you can hear it below.

Listen: STRANGERS - Promises [EP Preview]

Words: Saam Das

We never really got into The Departure, the Northampton band that made a brief splash in the indie world in the mid-noughties. Frontman David Maddox-Jones went on to form the short-lived NewIslands (who I wrote nice things about in March 2010) before founding to a new electro-pop project, [STRANGERS]. They're onto EP #3, which you can listen to below, including my highlight of the release, 'Promises'.

Surfacing: Troumaca

Words: Saam Das

There's a number of exciting Birmingham bands emerging at the moment and Troumaca are one of those, along with the likes of Peace and Swim Deep. Troumaca recently announced their debut release of sorts, 'The Gems', a three-track EP that will be freely downloadable from December 12th. The EP showcases their mix of influences ranging from dub and soul, each with an appropriately tropical tinge - naming themselves after the Caribbean island of Troumaca.

Playlist: A Beginner's Guide To Los Campesinos!

Words: Saam Das

The first interview we ever did was in August 2006 with a band called Los Campesinos!. At the time, they were becoming arguably the UK's first blog hyped band. Thankfully, they're still going strong today and their newest album 'Hello Sadness' came out on Monday. To celebrate, I thought I'd take you through a potted history/chronological "greatest hits" of the band thus far...

Surfacing: YADi

Words: Saam Das

Sometime late last year we came across Hannah Yadi and had expected her to complete a Marina & The Diamonds-esque journey of blog buzz to well received debut album by now. It's not quite happened but she's just unveiled a new YADi track, a free download of 'Sahara Heart', continuing her electro-pop odyssey.

Listen: Jonsi - Gathering Stories [Soundtrack Preview]

Words: Saam Das

'Inni', a live album/DVD, recently spouted from the Sigur Ros archives but it is the recent activity of their frontman, Jonsi which is piquing my interest at the moment. Unsurprisingly so, considering we made his debut album, 'Go', the FG Album Of The Year for 2010. Hear 'Gathering Stories' from his soundtrack to Cameron Crowe's latest feature film, 'We Bought A Zoo' below. Co-written by the director himself, no less.

Watch: To Kill A King - My Crooked Saint EP [Short Film]

Words: Saam Das

Writing about the new BASTILLE EP yesterday reminded me about To Kill A King's latest EP. The bands have shared roots having studied at Leeds University and had I not perused To Kill A King's Soundcloud page last September, I may never have discovered BASTILLE. I wrote about To Kill A King not long after and they signed with EMI earlier this year. The 'My Crooked Saint' EP came out recently - accompanied by a 20 minute short film, which you can watch below.

Listen: BASTILLE - Laura Palmer (Acoustic Version) [EP Preview]

Words: Saam Das

A couple of weeks ago, we were the first people to post a cover of the City High classic 'What Would You Do?' by BASTILLE. It subsequently went to the top of the Hype Machine's most popular chart, which was a pleasant surprise. BASTILLE's latest EP came out today and seeing as you can no longer get the iTunes exclusive track that came with the pre-order, we wanted to share the acoustic version of 'Laura Palmer', which you can stream below.

BBC iPlayer: Pearl Jam Twenty (2011)

Words: Saam Das

SYNOPSIS: "Portrait of the rock band Pearl Jam by renowned director Cameron Crowe, cut from over 1,200 hours of rare and unseen footage, live performances and recent interviews." (bbc.co.uk)

Download: Glyphs - Small Sounds EP

Words: Saam Das

I wrote about Brixton duo Glyphs and their debut EP back in March. They've returned with another EP, five tracks of free electronic music await below. As with the debut effort, it's a mix of styles - taking on dubstep, electronica and so forth. It's actually ended up being a lot like Seal meets chillwave. A bizarre but compelling final result.

Surfacing: Olympians

Words: Saam Das

I am a fan of the Olympics. In fact, if anyone reading this is involved in London 2012 and wants to pay me to also be involved, you will be my hero. I am also a fan of Norwich quartet Olympians. Even though they sent me an email a while back with attachments. I hate attachments. (Does anyone actually read our contact page?) Regardless, I am quite enamoured with their pleasing math-folk sounds.

Remixed: The Drums - How It Ended (Duologue Remix) [Premiere]

Remixed is a column that will highlight remixes we actually think are worthy of praise, be they old or new. Because most remixes are rubbish. // Words: Saam Das

Duologue already have past form on producing not-diabolically-crap remixes, with their excellent recent Givers remix. Their newest slice of brilliance twists the latest single from The Drums into a wide-eyed, hot electronic mess. We're premièring the track and you can download it for free below. Prepare to be razzle-dazzled.

Live Review: The Chapman Family @ Independent

The Chapman Family at SUMO Sunderland, Independent (4 Nov '11) // Words: Emily Solan

The newest clubnight to hit Sunderland, SUMO bought all guns ablazing by treating clubgoers to not one but two live bands on Friday night - headlined by The Chapman Family. That terrible concept of pre-drinking that my flatmate insisted upon meant that I missed all but one song by Liars Lie!, but what I heard I did like. And considering that the city of Sunderland is pretty much chav central, there was a decent turn out.

Surfacing: Faded Gold

Words: Saam Das

That name sounds familiar doesn't it? I've felt almost compelled to write something on nomenclature alone. Luckily the music's good too. Faded Gold is the guise of Stefanie Chew, bringing her quietly majestic electronica from Liverpool, by way of Montreal. Download some of her hazy, ethereal efforts below.

Playlist: Bonfire Night Special

Words: Simon Opie

It’s time to celebrate the failure of Guy Fawkes to eradicate all the MPs in seventeenth century England. These days maybe we’d all celebrate a rather different outcome but more importantly, it’s also time to check in again on what are the best albums of 2011 so far. This playlist showcases albums that will certainly make my ‘Best of 2011’ listing. Listen to all the tracks below.

Singles: October 2011

Words: Saam Das

I've listened to at least 100 tracks to compile this list of my top ten singles of October. I could have saved myself the bother and simply declared Lana Del Rey the winner for her widely acclaimed 'Video Games' single. Except we were emailed about her last May and didn't think she was particularly amazing. And still don't. Yet. So instead check out ten other artists who we think are more worthy of your time below.

Album Review: Summer Camp - Welcome To Condale

Summer Camp - 'Welcome To Condale' (UK Release: 31 Oct '11) // Words: Emily Solan

Welcome to Condale, the imagined surroundings of this long-awaited debut release from one of the years greatest prospects, Summer Camp. Encapsulating every emotion that teenagers encounter in life, Elizabeth Sankey and Jeremy Warmsley have packaged love, loss and heartbreak into an audio delight that could soundtrack any 80s Bratpack movie.

Theatre Review: Backbeat (2011)

'Backbeat' (Duke Of York's Theatre) // Words: Gabriella Shimeld-Fenn

Adapted from a 1994 film of the same name, 'Backbeat' chronicles the early days of The Beatles during their period as a 1950’s covers band in the seedy clubs of Hamburg. As well as a fascinating insight into their evolution into the biggest band the world has ever know, it also charts the tragic story of the original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, who dropped out of the band to pursue a life of art, but died of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 21.

BBC iPlayer: Upside Down - The Creation Records Story (2011)

Words: Saam Das

SYNOPSIS: "Documentary chronicling the highs and lows of the UK's most inspired and dissolute independent record label - Creation Records, founded by the maverick Glaswegian, Alan McGee." (bbc.co.uk)

Month In Reviews: October 2011

It's been a terribly busy month at the London Film Festival but we've managed to collect a few album and film reviews on the way. We've also been put forward in this year's Record Of The Day Awards longlist for Best Blog - your vote would be much appreciated to see if we can make it onto the shortlist. Vote away here and read our reviews below.

Film Review: We Need To Talk About Kevin [London Film Festival 2011]

'We Need To Talk About Kevin' (UK Release: 21 Oct '11) // Words: Saam Das

Scottish director Lynn Ramsey went through the mill in attempting to produce a screen adaptation of 'The Lovely Bones' (later completed by Peter Jackson to a mostly negative reception) so she must have had an immense belief in Lionel Shriver's novel, 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'. Thankfully, for Ramsey, her stark exploration into failed motherhood and nature versus nurture has been extremely well received.

Surfacing: ROSTAM

Words: Saam Das

Rostam Batmanglij might not be a name familiar to some of you. On the other hand, you might be like "hey, that's guy out of that Vampire Weekend lot". And you'd be right. He seems to be perpetually busy making music either in that band or his other band Discovery or as a "Converse All Star" or producing others. He's unveiled a couple of his own tracks lately, which you can listen to below.

BBC iPlayer: Half Nelson (2006)

Words: Saam Das

SYNOPSIS: "Drama about the unlikely alliance that forms between a drug-addicted New York school teacher (Ryan Gosling) and one of his students after she inadvertently discovers his secret." (bbc.co.uk)

Album Review: Matthew Herbert - One Pig

Matthew Herbert - 'One Pig' (UK Release: 17 Oct '11) // Words: Simon Opie

On the face of it an album documenting the lifecycle of an anonymous pig created from field recordings doesn’t sound like a compelling prospect. But I’ve been addicted to the music of Matthew Herbert ever since I saw him make a song by sampling his own consumption of a cheese sandwich live at the Big Chill Festival. Following 2010’s relatively accessible 'One One' and 'One Club' releases, 'One Pig' is an intense listening experience.