Championes

If you're in any way a football fan, then you probably know who the winner of the 2008 UEFA Champions League is by now. I, on the other hand, will be locked in my room desperately trying to cram for my final exam. A mood possibly summed up best by Calvin & Hobbes:

This post is actually more about the birth of my new blog, [Armchair Sports Fan], which is somewhat obviously sport related. It continues my track record for crappy blog names - I wanted to call it Smells Like Team Spirit but that was taken. Curses. Anyway, it will be debuting on the 24th, also the second anniversary of Keep Hope Inside (heralded by "exciting" celebratory posts). And they say men can't multi-task. Pfft.

Over at Armchair Sports Fan, I'll be discussing topical sporting issues (stuff like EURO2008, the Beijing Olympics, F1 and England generally being rubbish at every sport going) as well as some other entertaining stuff I don't mention on here. It'll be good. Hopefully. Don't worry, this blog remains numero uno in my blog priorities.

Back to the football, I am incredibly thankful that Zenit St Petersburg foiled Rangers attempt at the "unprecedented" quadruple. You don't expect to see anti-football throughout a tournament and class prevailed in the end. Likewise, Chelsea hopefully haven't won the Champions League. Although Avram Grant deserves one title this season. But he's probably getting sacked anyway....

Northern band DARTZ showed their support for the Russians (no, not Chelski) by making their ace single 'St Petersburg' a free download on their MySpace. Read what I had to say about DARTZ (back when they still had an exclaimation mark) in October 2006 [here].

DARTZ - ST PETERSBURG
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Last chance reminder to download my third podcast, featuring Johnny Foreigner, a Joy Division cover and all sorts of fun. Listen/download [here] before it disappears tomorrow. A new podcast may appear in the next few days too if there's a lull in post-exam celebrations.

White Lies

Hotly tipped London trio (or quartet, when performing live) White Lies recently entered the famed BBC Maida Vale Studio for a live BBC Radio 1 session, complete with banter avec Zane "The Human Microphone" Lowe.

Having completed their NME New Noise Tour with Crystal Castles, Friendly Fires and Team Waterpolo, they now head into festival season. As their previous incarnation Fear Of Flying never played any particularly big festivals (to my knowledge), it's quite amazing that within the first year of White Lies, they will be playing at the likes of Lollapalooza and Fuji Rock Festival. But I guess listening to the music reverses that thought, with their eighties influenced MASSIVE sound almost geared towards headlining arenas.


To be honest, this post is more a vehicle for a recent interview I did with Jack from White Lies, discussing their hype and a possible backlash, their debut record and signing to a major label. Read the interview [here] for all the goss.

WHITE LIES - UNFINISHED BUSINESS (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)
WHITE LIES - DEATH (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)
WHITE LIES - FROM THE STARS (BBC RADIO 1 SESSION)

White Lies recently released their debut release, 'Unfinished Business' on 7". If you're lucky, you might find one. But anyway, you can pick up a digital copy of the title track for free [here].

Timbaland + Ebony Bones?

This morning, a little nugget dropped in my inbox purporting to be a new collaboration between Ebony Bones and Timbaland. By the time I actually woke up (lie-ins are compulsory post-exam), I was surprised to see the internet hasn't caught on to it. Which is a suspicious sign. Then again, the last anon tip I received about Estelle being somewhat of a musical thief came through [Read here]. Timbaland's appreciation of Miss Bones is well known but....

I'm sure everyone knows who Timbaland is by now but Ebony Bones may have passed you by. She's a former soap star, combining a distinctive sense of style (almost like she superglued herself then dived into the nearest charity shop) with an assorted range of sounds. For a more indepth look, read my recent KHI feature [here]

As for the track, entitled 'When It Rains', can I call bullshit right here? No. I am a massive cynic/sceptic (science is my area of study after all) but it seems pretty authentic. It certainly has the characteristic Ebony Bones-and-her-gang vocals, so at least one box is ticked. I can't be so sure production-wise but it's more than feasible that these beats are Timbaland's. 'When It Rains' has a funky brass-esque vibe throughout, countered by spooky backing vocals. For some reason, it feels almost like Ebony Bones meets Outkast. There's killer hit single potential here but I'm not convinced. File under "good, not great".

However, I am relatively convinced it is a legit Timbaland demo. And even if it isn't, thanks for sending the track to me Mr/Mrs Run Exhibition. I will be pretty taken aback if it emerges that this isn't even an Ebony Bones track but I guess stranger things have happened. Have a listen and decide for yourselves.

TIMBALAND & EBONY BONES - WHEN IT RAINS

I will update the post if I find out it's not a Timbaland produced track so maybe check back in a few days. Or maybe one of you has the actual info? I should be so lucky. In the meantime, check out my third podcast which is 51 weeks old now and about to expire. Featuring Johnny Foreigner, Miracle Fortress, Lavender Diamond etc [here].

Late Of The Pier vs Neon Plastix

Castle Donington's Late Of The Pier are giving debut single 'Space & The Woods' a proper release now they're on Parlophone, as a double A-side with 'Focker'. Watch the respective vids for each track in the embeds below. In "celebration" of the new single, they are also giving away a snazzy Patrick Plastix remix for free. Paddy appears to be a member of Doncaster's finest (almost by default) Neon Plastix.

While Late Of The Pier are a well trodden path here on Keep Hope Inside (my first post on them was in September 2006 [read here] - the first mp3 blog on their case), I haven't mentioned Neon Plastix. But just a quick word about Late Of The Pier, having their album produced by Erol Alkan has benefited them in one sense (his name attracts attention, much like Paul Epworth did a couple of years ago) but now some are attributing the LOTP sound to Mr Alkan. Going back to the demos from 2006, I think we can safely say that isn't the case.

Neon Plastix suffer no such worries but they do bear an obvious comparison to Late Of The Pier. Admittedly that could be preceded by "poor man's", possibly unfairly. I'd prefer to compare them to The Blood Arm but more electro-fied.

They've been outrageously awesome and made quite a few of their tracks available for download (albeit some in .m4a) on their MySpace. Of those, I'm particularly enthralled by 'Indecisions', which is when stadium rock fathered a child by electro. It sounds a bit like The Killers or more closely, the hotly tipped White Lies (who are appearing on Later With Jools next week apparently. [KHI interview here]). But with spazzy special effects. As for Patrick's remix of 'Space & The Woods', it's a grungey take on europop. Not half bad.

LATE OF THE PIER - SPACE & THE WOODS (PATRICK PLASTIX REMIX)
NEON PLASTIX - INDECISIONS

The Late Of The Pier single is out next week, preorder from their own Zarcorp site [here]. LOTP (and associates) also run their own blog of the same name, [here].

New Weezer (again)

Seven Weezer songs from their upcoming album leaked this week. Courtesy of Drownedinsound.com user 'abp114', you can listen to them all on Muxtape [link]. I've got a couple of the mp3s here for you, and lead single 'Pork And Beans' can be streamed in full on weezer.com

This post has undergone numerous updates but finally I give you my "low down" on a couple of the Weezer tracks to emerge. Firstly, 'Everybody Get Dangerous' appeared in my other Weezer post about new material but in crappy preview form, from its appearance in not-so-hit film '21'. A probable future single, albeit in need of a radio edit with the last thirty seconds being the musical equivalent of talking, but not saying anything. It starts off sounding like the Top Gear theme tune. Its catchy chorus and jokey lyrics will undoubtedly annoy a lot of listeners. If you persevere however, you arrive at a magical dreamy interlude that makes it all worth it. Before that chorus smacks you in the face again with a frying pan or any other unsubtle smacking object of your choosing.

Now for the headliner of this post, 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)', metamorphosing famous Shaker hymn 'Simple Gifts' into the surf-pop 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. This a 6 minute epic that has been compared to American Idiot-era Green Day, MCR's 'Welcome To The Black Parade' and even Weird Al Yankovic. All those comparisons are valid and that means people either think it's the most amazing Weezer track in years or think it is utterly abysmal. Either way, I thought I might as well offer my indepth thoughts. You can listen along at [The Hype Machine] or download the song below.

0.01 - The anticipation of a live crowd...
0.06 - ...obviously a receptive one, as they're already applauding
0.10 - err twinkly piano?
0.33 - police sirens?! Possibly consider this a warning about imminent nerdy rapping.
0.35 - Rivers 'Fred Durst' Cuomo starts rapping.
0.40 - Rivers 'sex talk' Cuomo. "Soon I'll be playing in your underwear" is topped by "You come like a dog when I ring your bell". Phwoar.
0.58 - "EEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY". The Fonz was never this pervy.
1.00 - Crunching riffs. Still sounds more like Limp Bizkit than Weezer.
1.26 - I don't think I'll ever be more pleased to hear Rivers' whiny vocals and a bit of acoustic guitar.
1.51 - Fuck yes, more songs need a marching band meets shaker hymn vibe.
1.57 - "No more words will critics have to speak". Unfortunately, false.
2.17 - Rivers 'Stevie Wonder' Cuomo. Go go gadget falsetto.
2.43 - Tempo change, nice. Beginning to sound like a mish mash of Pink Triangle and Hash Pipe.
3.08 - Wait, this is starting to sound like Maroon 5?!
3.16 - On second thoughts, it is actually 'Shine' by Take That [Youtube]. Oh dear?
3.33 - Thankfully, a tempo change and futuristic synth pop rescues the day. "I am the greatest man that ever lived". Steady on, Rivers.
3.58 - RADIOACTIVE. The greatest radioactive man that ever lived - Dr Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk.
4.07 - Rivers 'spoken word' Cuomo. "Somebody said all the world's a stage". William Shakespeare/Elvis Presley reference.
4.30 - "If you don't like it, you can shove it. But you don't like it, you love it". Rivers = badass.
4.36 - The vocal effect on "stage" is stuff Rivers has been using on his "let's write a sawng" project [YouTube]. Well worth a quick look to see how it's going.
4.37 - Choral bliss.
4.54 - Turbo boost on those harmonies.
5.10 - These drums, guitar, melody etc = a perfect Weezer chorus
5.42 - Enough with the false endings already!
5.43 - Yeah, I'm screaming with frustration too.
5.45 - A nice gospel burst to finish us off.

So that was my run through of the track, which despite the odd hiccup is easily my favourite Weezer track to emerge in the last five years. In fact, possibly my favourite post-Pinkerton track but that's getting a little ahead of myself. The other tracks that have appeared from the Red album range from mediocre to good but listen to them yourselves on that Muxtape link and let me know what you think. The future's bright, the future's..............red?

WEEZER - THE GREATEST MAN THAT EVER LIVED (VARIATIONS ON A SHAKER HYMN)
WEEZER - EVERYBODY GET DANGEROUS

Santogold

Following yesterday's post on Brooklyn's Yeasayer, we stay in the same geographic area for a little post on Santi White, aka Santogold. Miss Gold has been receiving mega hype of late, a result of her debut eponymous album leaking on the internet. That album is out on May 12th in the UK (and she's touring too), by the by.



Not that she's a particularly new sensation, with internet fandom late last year and an appearance on Mark Ronson's 'Versions' album covering The Jam. She's even written and produced hit US R&B singles. But she's moved away from R&B really and comparisons to MIA are inevitable. A simple conclusion would be that she's the electro pop MIA. But it's difficult to pigeon hole Santogold with her tracks displaying an array of influences, admittedly largely from the 80s. I guess it's this diversity that will allow Santogold to emerge from MIA's shadow, as an artist in her own right. But maybe that's being a bit presumptive, what do you think? Listen to recent single 'L.E.S Artistes' as performed on BBC TV show, Later With Jools Holland yesterday. It's out this week in the UK as a single.

SANTOGOLD - L.E.S ARTISTES (LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND LIVE)//MIRROR
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Seeing as I didn't manage to get a podcast out for April, if you're looking for a bit of podcast action, you could do no worse than to catch KHI podcast#3. It expires in a couple of weeks time or so, and features Johnny Foreigner, Miracle Fortress and other randomly put together tracks that were pretty good to these ears. Listen then download [here].

A May 2008 podcast but the best way to keep abreast of such things is to subscribe to my RSS feed/s - look in the sidebar on the right hand side of your screen for my podcast only feed or my feed for podcast and blog posts. Otherwise, feel free to check back every so often!