Bands doing covers is a risky game. There’s every chance – nay, likelihood – that they’ll make something that either sounds too similar, too twee or just naff. Luckily here we have two bands who have done it right. First up is a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Revere featuring Toumani Diabaté. The original song is melancholic enough, but these guys have turned into something almost haunting. The simple, acoustic instrumentation allows the vocals to really come to the fore in a way that they don’t in the original. And the Cello, oh the Cello! It’s spine-tinglingly good when it comes in. Malian musician Toumani Diabaté plays the kora, which adds a sounds that cuts through the track, complimenting the harp superbly. That’s the video at the top of the page, and below you can listen to the original.

Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart [Buy]

The second cover is by the band Tashaki Miyaki. We posted about them a while ago (read that here) and said that they play melancholic surf rock. Well, they haven’t changed, and this is a full-on reimagining of a classic country song, washed out and pulsing throughout. It’s part of an EP they’re releasing on Rough Trade called Tashaki Miyaki Sings The Everly Brothers. Listen to both the cover and the original. If you like the cover then click on the title and you’ll be taken to The Fader’s Soundcloud page where you can download the song for free.

Tashaki Miyaki – I Wonder If I’d Care As Much

Now listen to the original and see what you think of their version in comparison.

Everly Brothers – I Wonder If I’d Care As Much [Buy]

So the time has come to announce another big album release for 2012. It’s only been 18 months since Serotonin came out, but they’ve been to Austin, TX and recorded a whole bunch of new songs that they want to share. In the video above they’re all on their best behaviour, describing how great it was to be out there and the likes. I don’t doubt it for one minute and I’m a little jealous, if I’m being perfectly honest.

Anyway, the release date is 30th April and leading up to that they’ve got a whole bunch of intimate live shows. When I say intimate I mean around 500 people. Grab your tickets quickly as they will sell out in no time. All the dates are below and you can get your tickets here.

Wed 28 Mar – Leeds, Brudenell
Thu 29 Mar – Hartlepool, Studio
Fri 30 Mar – Carlisle, Brickyard
Sun 1 Apr – Edinburgh, Electric Circus
Mon 2 Apr – Newcastle, Cluny
Tue 3 Apr – Hull, Fruit
Wed 4 Apr – Birmingham, Rainbow
Wed 11 Apr – Cardiff, The Gate
Thu 12 Apr – Norwich, Arts Centre
Sat 14 Apr – Nottingham, Bodega
Sun 15 Apr – Stoke, Sugarmill
Mon 16 Apr – Sheffield, Queens Social Club
Wed 18 Apr – Oxford, Bullingdon
Thu 19 Apr – Tunbridge Wells, Forum
Fri 20 Apr – Cambridge, Junction 2
Sat 21 Apr – Bath, Moles

A couple of weeks ago I went to the Jazz Café for HMV’s next big thing, whilst the show was undoubtedly stolen by Belleruche (hardly surprising what with them being and the headlining act), a special mention needs to be made to Anchorsong. Anchorsong (aka Masaaki Yoshida) is a Japanese artist and producer who uses a sampler, a keyboard and some sort of black magic to create incredible electronic music.  It’s rare enough to find this kind of music that I’ll listen to – let alone really like – but this really hits the spot. Ghost Town and Plum Rain were released as a double single before  his current album Chapters came out at the end of last year. The single was a cracker and the album is pretty damn good too. And if you like the album then you will love the live show. His next UK gigs are in March before he hits up Europe. Don’t miss it, I know we won’t.

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Anchorsong – Plum Rain [buy]

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So basically I was on youtube earlier and “re-found” this video, it was posted about a year and a half ago and is pushing 18million views. Most of what makes this video is the seemingly impossible stunts being effortlessly performed by Danny Macaskill, but after I’d got past the awe and jealousy I realised that the music not only fits the video incredibly (a lot of that has to do with good editing I’m sure) but is also really good.

The first song Wax and Wire [buy] is by an american band called Loch Lomond. Started as a ‘one man band’ by the multi talented Ritchie Young in 2003, the recording project developed over the next few years and a massive band was formed around it. They describe their music as ‘raw symphonic chamber pop’ which it’s fair to say hits the nail on the head. The combination of some strings, some generally underused instruments and Ritchie’s incredible voice make listening to Loch Lomond like getting a massage inside your ears. Anyway they released their latest album nearly a year ago and followed it up with their first UK and European tour last autumn. Here is a little something from that album. We are really hoping for more of the same in 2012, so watch this space…

Loch Lomond – Elephants and Little Girls [buy]

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The second song A Little Piece [buy] is by an australian quartet The Jezabels who over the last few years have been gathering a massive following down under. Their music is incredibly relaxing, easy to listen to and in fact difficult to stop listening to too. The last year The Jezabels have been incredibly busy recording their latest album Prisoner which will hit the shops at the beginning of March. I’ve just got a couple of little things to tie you over till then, firstly they are currently in the UK and their tour starts in london tomorrow! Sorry I didn’t say anything sooner but I have checked and there are still limited tickets left. The second is a little gem off their upcoming album.

The Jezabels – Endless Summer [buy]

My main memory is the song ‘Left Myself Behind’ and their image (read: hair). They’ve got a real 70′s, Krautrock sound, experimenting with trippy sounding guitars and cool synths in the background. They’ve also got a hint of UMO to them, not necessarily in the production but in the kind of feel and maybe influences. Anyway, the video’s pretty good (click on the photo to see it) and there are a couple of songs to check out below too. And in case just typing in ‘toy’ into your search engine gets you nowhere, here’s their website: http://toy-band.com/. And you can download the two songs below for free if you pop over there.

Toy – Left Myself Behind [Get It Free]

Toy – Clock Chime [Get It Free]

First up it’s a remix of Gang Colours’ ‘Fancy Restaurant’, taken from his forthcoming EP of the same name. Spacy and laid back, it’s bassy enough to warm your cockles without shaking the glass in the windows. Ifan Dafydd has done a sweet job on this. It’s video only sadly, but the EP will be out to buy on Monday, quickly followed by his first album on the Brownswood label, due out the week after. Check out links for both of them here.

Secondly we’ve got a track from Germany’s Apparat. It came out last summer and it’s been a song that has popped up repeatedly on my itunes since then. It builds all the way through, some really nice atmospheric pads adding depth and warmth to Sascha Ring’s vocals. It’s a class act.

Apparat – Black Water [Buy]

The rather superb SoKo is back. After her song ‘I’ll Kill Her’ went big on the internet, she seemed to disappear for a while. Apparently it was due in part to her wanting to focus on her acting and in part because she got fed up with only being known for that one song. Well, luckily, she decided that the best way to throw off the shackles of one-hit-wonderdom was to make a new album. It’s streaming on Stereogum for next few days, so head over and check it out.

The album is much, much  more polished than her previous EP I’ve got, but it’s still got that oddball charm that makes her so instantly recognisable/likeable. The album comes out on Monday, when you’ll be able to pick it up from all the usual places. So give this a listen while it’s live, and then buy it when you can. You won’t regret…

Photo by James Buckle // @BuckleTweets

Today I’ve got something from a guy you almost certainly haven’t heard of. He’s a 17/18 year old guy from South London and he goes by the name of Spara-Drap. I remember him as this little kid who used to get the same train as me and we’d rip on but since then he’s clearly become pretty cool. It’s laid back, glitchy electronic music with garage influences and he uses some pretty cool vocal samples that pop their heads over the ramparts every now and then.

If you like it, give him a listen on his Soundcloud.

Spara-Drap – Yorgy

Spara-Drap – Sim

The Velvet Underground – Pale Blue Eyes [Buy]

The Kills – Pale Blue Eyes [Buy]

They’ve just released a free single on their Soundcloud page. So here’s that new EP and a couple of the older songs I discovered on my ipod.

Niteflights – Here Comes Tomorrow

Niteflights – What’s The Point?

I hope you’ve heard about Willy Moon. If you haven’t then here’s your chance. If you have then you know what they’re missing.

Taking the best bits of the 50′s – namely the guitars, the frantic energy and the look – Willy Moon is effortlessly cool. His songs are class, blending the vintage vibe with breaks and hip-hop beats and some electronic production to top it off. It’s energetic, enigmatic and quirky enough to stand out from the crowd.

His debut album is due out on Island a little later this year, but here are two of his songs from last year plus something a little newer.

Willy Moon – She Loves Me [Buy]

Willy Moon – Yeah Yeah [Buy]

Ben Browning – I Can’t Stay [Buy]

Now to say that this is the first official release by Cut Copy’s bassist Ben Browning on Cutters Records. His album is going to come out soon and it’s been produced by a couple of the guys from Architecture In Helsinki. I’m looking forward to more. Now, back to my dancing (in the style of One Night At The Roxbury…)

His music has a cinematic quality to it that wouldn’t feel out of place on a montage at the end of a Hollywood romance. Here are a few songs to wrap your ears ’round, and if you like it then he would probably like it if you headed over to his website or Twitter.

Luke De-Sciscio – Happy New Year

Luke De-Sciscio – I Don’t Want To Be Free

Luke De-Sciscio with Audrey Aroha- I Could Not Feel More Than I Do Now

Lead single ‘Serpents’ is a great song, mixed with a really prominent bottom end that competes with her voice but never overpowers it. With any luck, this will be the album and the year that sees her make some really big waves. Here’s the original version of ‘Serpents’ and an acoustic version of it that I got through Track In The Box a couple of days ago.

Sharon Van Etten – Serpents [Buy]

Sharon Van Etten – Serpents (Live)

It’s the first song off his new album Daily Intake which is due to come out on 19th March. We’ll have our copy on order if this track is anything to go by…

Hint – Aliens Enter Feat. T Fly [Buy]

Curley Moore – Don’t Pity Me (DJ Modest’s selection)

A blistering 3 minutes of New Orleans filthy soul music. A heavy arrangement and staggering slow and deep drums bring together the swamp rumble under Curley Moore gritty melodic vocal, which hits exactly the right balance between plaintive and ambitious. The sound of this record is only possible due to the compression that would have gone on in the (probably limited) studio, before squeezing it further to get it as loud and as biting as possible on a juke box 7″. The medium becomes the part of the sound, as with so many recordings from that period. An mp3 doesn’t do this justice! Buy a vinyl copy, play it loud and see what shakes in your house.

Grieves – Bloody Poetry (Kathrin deBoer’s selection)

I first heard of Grieves last year, he was supporting labelmates Brother Ali and Atmosphere at the Electric Ballroom here in London.
There are two essential connections for me to his music.  I really enjoy his stories, he’s a clever and insightful lyricist, scratch the surface and you find something else you weren’t expecting.  And Budos’ production is tight, subtle, playful but essentially tough and full.  During their show he’s switching between keys, horns, mic… I’ve always found that seeing and hearing a live performance with all its energy adds to the CD listening for a good time after, it kind of completes the listening experience.

Lorn – Cherry Moon (Ricky Fabulous’s selection)

Reminds me of eighties films I watched when I was younger. Feels like the bit just before the things start winding up where the main character’s feeling hopeful. Has an ambiguous feel to it which I always like in a song. Doesn’t feel happy or sad, somewhere between twee and unusual. Like something you’ve heard or felt before before but not sure where or quite how you feel. There’s something very charming in the innocence of the song.

Lafayette Afro-Rock Band – Darkest Light [Buy]

I heard this song on the radio this day and thought it sounded good enough on the crappy little thing to warrant Googling. Christ, was I right! It’s by Poliça, a relatively new band from Minneapolis who’s debut album Give You The Ghost is just about to come out in the States. It’s a four piece with a pedigree, featuring Gayngs frontman Ryan Olson as well as Marijuana Deathsquads’ drummer Ben Ivascu. The vocals are provided by Channy Casselle, who used to be in Roma di Luna. Enough about them though, because that’s all stuff you can read elsewhere.

The important thing is that they make some good music. The song from the video up top is insanely good… All swirling drums and understated bass with Casselle’s heavily autotuned vocals. I can’t get enough of it. The video is also sick. A great song, a good looking girl and a bass guitar that pops in and out of shot. Sign me up for more of this please.

Poliça – Lay Your Cards Out

Poliça – Dark Star

His new album, Outside The Barcode, is out and you can pick it up from his website. For now, listen to his track ‘Weh-Weh’ and get following him on all the various social media platforms.

Kae Sun – Weh-Weh [Buy]

Tom Vek – I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes

Tom Vek – Aroused