Playlist: Label Love

Words: Saam Das

You'll have heard the news of the destruction of the Sony DADC distribution centre in Enfield by now - we wanted to help support the independent music labels who have lost most of their stock as a result of the rioters in London. (Independent DVD companies have also been affected - see how you can help here.) Below is a 30 minute playlist covering some of our recommendations of tracks/albums that you can purchase to support the labels.

Festival Review: Field Day 2010

Words: Saam Das

Field Day, London (31 July 2010)

There's always been a love/hate relationship with Field Day - love the bands, hate the weather; love the location, hate the organisation; and so on. But to be fair to the organisers this year, I think Field Day 2010 went well.

Things didn't start so well on the day. I did my typical miss-the-early-bands-because-I-like-sleeping-in, which meant managing to catch The Kissaway Trail was going to be touch-and-go. Inevitably, when I made it to Victoria Park, I had to spend ages queueing to collect a ticket that I'd bought online the day before. So I missed the band. I really might as well as have bought the ticket there. The queue was certainly shorter for that.

That wasn't the only bad thing - stage times weren't published online till the morning of the event, it was £4 for a can of unexpectedly horrible San Miguel, it was hard to tell where some of the stages were and which ones were which, and worst of all, THE PEOPLE. Too many twats. However, I don't want to moan too much. There there were plenty of highlights - the bands, the weather, not having to queue to go for a wee, getting home within half an hour of the festival finishing and so on.

Anyway, so this doesn't go on and on and on and on any longer, I've decided to give you the York Notes of my Field Day 2010 experience. In somewhat chronological order. Enjoy.

These New Puritans remix

Having tipped These New Puritans for success in 2007 in my Bands I Want To Namedrop etc feature (a little before the times seemingly) then acquiring the fantastic 'Navigate Navigate' for my last podcast [#5], I'm bringing more love to These New Puritans. Albeit in a different form than usual.

Tim Goldsworthy of DFA records fame has given 'Navigate Navigate' (the 15 minute Dior fashion show accompaniment) a tweak under his remixing guise of The Loving Hand. He strips the song down to its basics before adding his own throbbing bassline and an eclectic range of sounds. It doesn't quite match the original but then again, the bar was set pretty high wasn't it?

Considering I also put up the demo of 'Elvis' recently but never pointed you toward the pretty b-ace-ic ("basic" to those without the eye for hilarious word play) video, you can have that too:


And because I'd quite like to go to bed now, read an excerpt from the press release:
"The epic “Navigate, Navigate” highlights the artistic ambition and raw talent of the young band whose rich and disparate influences range from the sound of early 80’s industrial music to numerology, from This Heat to Dubsteb, and from J. Dilla to the films of David Lynch. The track begins with an unassuming sound collage of ambient electronics and feedback drones, which quickly fade out to make way for an urgent drum beat accompanied by brash guitar stabs and Jack’s dislocated vocal musings. Over the course of 15 minutes the track is an ever-mutating blur of layered vocal chants, taut rhythms and subtle details. A track of such stature had to be given an entire side on this, the band’s debut North American 12” release.

On the flip side is a club ready remix by Tim Goldsworthy under The Loving Hand moniker. Tim Goldworthy is part of the heralded DFA production team who have worked with and remixed artists such as The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and more."

So this remix will be joined by the original on a limited edition 12", some of which will be given away from beatpyramid.com [link]. The band are also hitting SXSW and will be Antone's on March 12th as part of the Domino Records showcase, with people like Simian Mobile Disco, Lightspeed Champion and The Kills in tow. Sounds like a good un.

These New Puritans - Navigate Navigate (The Loving Hand Remix by Tim Goldsworthy) [Yourfilehost download link]

2007 Features Review

Happy new year to everyone! And in particular, to my long term readers. It's been a pretty decent year in the world of Keep Hope Inside, particular on the podcast side of life. 2008 will hopefully bring more podcasts, posts and readers to this blog.



Lightspeed Champion - Happy New Year (ABBA Cover) [Yourfilehost d/l link]//[Sendspace]

For little or no reason, I'm going to look back at my two main features of 2007 - Bands I Want To Namedrop Because They Will Become Big In 2007 and You! Me! Blogging!. I also did a bit of a retrospective on a 2006 new bands feature by The Fly but there's not much to analyse there and it was a bit too mathsy anyway.

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So the first feature, complete with tongue-in-cheek title, was a look into bands who I thought would do well in 2007. Apparently, I'm not great at judging potential success! But I feel all the bands I mentioned were worthy of some semblance of mainstream success.

[BIWTNBTWBBI2007 Part One]
In a short epilogue at the bottom of the first part of my BIWTNBTWBBI2007 (yes, I regret the title now) feature, I mentioned that 2007 could be the year of the solo artist, noting the likely success of Kate Nash, Mika and Jamie T. So at least I got something vaguely right! My actual tips haven't done much yet. Dananananaykroyd had a bit of a passive year (although an EP is due out early this year) and similarly, Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man only released a single on Transgressive but have another EP on the way. Frank Turner's debut solo album was a modest success and let's hope the new album due out in March 2008 elevates his profile. Laura Marling's debut album will be released soon, on Virgin Records, so with the right push she'll do well.

[Part Deux]
In part two, I realised I should have told people I was aiming for slightly leftfield choices as tips so that I didn't look ridiculously inept come judgement day (i.e today). So now I only look a little inept. Although I'm glad I said Klaxons were an obvious choice, considering their resulting success.

I did a little better with this selection than in Part One. Bombay Bicycle Club released two EPs and racked up much MySpace playage. Hadouken! signed to major label Atlantic Records and have had mainstream radio support but like Pull Tiger Tail (who supported Razorlight on their arena tour), they could have had much more success. Jack Penate was my saviour - the one true success story of this feature, with fantastic debut album sales, sold out tours, the whole shebang.

[Part Three]
A bit of a mixed bunch here. Neither Pull In Emergency or goFASTER>> made much of a breakthrough but they quietly went about their business. Expect more in the future. These New Puritans managed to get a record deal with Domino and with their debut album dropping very soon, success could be just around the corner. Foals are in similar position, with a steadily building fanbase and an album out in March.

Jack Penate - 1-2-3-4 (Feist Cover) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
These New Puritans - Elvis (Demo) [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]
Laura Marling - My Manic And I [Yourfilehost]//[Sendspace]

All in all, I was probably a year too early with most of my predictions, barring Jack Penate. Oh and Pull In Emergency. But that's only because I don't think they've even done their GCSEs yet. 2008 should be a favourable year for many of these artists anyway. Now the real question is whether I should do a new bands feature for 2008....

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You! Me! Blogging! was my attempt to "give back" to the blogging community, trying to make new British blogs accessible to a wider readership. At the same time, I was obviously hoping some of the featured blogs' readers would take an interest in Keep Hope Inside! Not all the blogs have been updating a great deal since then but you can check each of them out if you go to the individual links (e.g Y!M!B! Part One).


[Y!M!B! Part One]
The gents at Transparent have not only forged on with their clubnight but have done remarkably well in noting the big things from across the pond (Black Kids, MGMT, Vampire Weekend etc). There's a lot more writing on A Space For Music Liberation (which makes me glad) while still retaining much mp3 postage. The Deku Tree ground to a halt somewhat but will apparently be back soon, bigger and better.

[Part Two]
Beneath The Dutts and i want to hear what you've got to say have sadly taken a turn for the worse after some early promise. Jamila's Fucking Dance remains as healthy as ever however and even has a lovely new banner.

[Part Three]
Spot The Monster pulled off an mp3 advent calendar in December, which is really good going. I'm far too lazy for such things. While Ugly Writing remains in limbo, John from The Pop Register is still knocking out posts despite moving to Oregon.

[Part Four]
Bloodshed In The Woodshed and A Disgusting Blemish have been rather quiet of late but Shattered Satellite are doing pretty well for themselves (if you ignore the clichéd NME hating).

With only half the blogs from You! Me! Blogging! still going, I'm reasonably proud that this blog's over 18 months old. I sincerely hope that some of you find the time to read some of the above blogs because a few of them are really at the forefront of fresh, new music. In fact, I'm going to add some of this lot to my links. So click away on the right of your computer screen. And after all that, I feel like I really need to make my blog look prettier!

Bands I Want To Namedrop etc (final part!)

*Pull In Emergency
It’s unlikely they’ll become particularly huge this year but with average age of about 13, Pull In Emergency have much to look forward to. A single is due out on Mute Records soon and they’ve appeared on BBC’s Culture Show and in The Guardian recently. Jangly pop akin to The Smiths with Libertines-esque energy and remarkably mature vocals, Pull In Emergency write songs about getting lost on the London Underground and dumping your partner. Awesome!

Pull In Emergency - Bendy


*goFASTER>>
A single due out on This Is Fake DIY in March and gigs all over the place in the near future – it can’t be too long before a major label snaps them up and peddles them as the new Futureheads or something. But no matter for this is quirky, addictive pop along the lines of fellow scousers and generally amazing bands Hot Club de Paris and The Wombats. Plus they have silly song titles, witty lyrics and a genius Guess Who? theme going on!



goFASTER>> - True Love Is Hard To Find (Like An NHS Dentist)


*Foals
Recently signed to taste makers Transgressive Records (Battle, Ladyfuzz etc), they generate an amazing racket somewhere in between The Rapture and ¡Forward, Russia! The aural experience becomes all the more pleasurable when witnessing their pulsating live performance. A mean touring schedule this Spring takes them to SXSW as well as supporting labelmates The Young Knives. A warning for those who will be seeing Foals soon – they have an insane following, beware the moshpits. Or embrace them. This Foals track is a bit of an oldie, check out the newer stuff on their MySpace.

Foals - Look At The Furrows On My Brow


*These New Puritans
Like the fact that drummer George Barnett was named no.47 in the NME Cool List 2006 and their supposed use of Nazi symbolism (see Playlouder interview), I’m not entirely sure what to say about this lot. It’s post-punk but it’s so much more than post-punk at the same time – it’s pulsating, it’s space-age, it’s…just listen for yourselves. With a sold out EP already under their belts and considering fellow Southenders The Horrors managed it (somehow), it could be very possible that they enter the mainstream consciousness this year despite their obvious rawness.

These New Puritans - C.16th
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So that's my top twelve for 2007, we'll have to wait a while to see whether any of them can truly make it big this year but hopefully it'll be worth the wait.

p.s here's some Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man for those who missed it:
Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man - A Matter Of Timing