The last time I saw Miles Kane live was at Sheffield Town Hall playing alongside Alex Turner in the Last Shadow Puppets. Usually I don’t listen to these types of artists most of the time they all sound a bit samey, but Miles definitely has something different about him which even I can enjoy listening to his music. This was a perfect time for Kane to showcase songs from his debut solo album ‘Colour of The Trap’.

With the opening song ‘rearrange’ Miles and his band walked onto the stage. The crowd went wild some of the roughest jumping I have seen in a while with beers flying up almost hitting the ceiling.  As he leans backwards playing his electric guitar the riff radiates outwards reaching every corner of the room making you dance round in circles as he sings the lyrics ‘Let it out, let it out, let it all out’.

Not that I needed reminding that I was at Miles Kane gig the backdrop was clearly backlit with his name on.  You’d expect it to be just the young lasses screaming for him but even the lads were getting quite loud.  Kane likes to get the lasses screaming for him though as he says ‘I’d like to dedicate this song to all the beautiful girls here tonight’. As starts to play ‘Happenstance’

Songs such as ‘telepathy’ sounding very similar to The Last Shadow Puppets, even so Kane performs flawlessly throughout the night and I much prefer him as a solo act compared to his previous groups The Rascals and The Little Flames.

Miles shouts out ‘I want to thank you for making it a fucking great fucking night! Fucking great Manchester!  Now do you fucking want it!’ Putting on an exhilarating performance bursting straight into the song ‘Inhaler’. Ending the night with ‘Come Closer’ as the audience screams and shouts to the chorus ‘Whoa Whoa’ ‘Ahha-h-ah-ah-ahh-ah’

Miles will also be playing a very intimate date at Warrington Parr Hall on the 17^th August so I would definitely recommend getting a ticket if you missed him at Manchester Academy.

Helping to propel bands forward on their way to big things and welcoming in some of the coolest acts from around the world, Dot To Dot takes place over the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend in Bristol (June 2nd), Nottingham (June 3rd) and Manchester (June 4th)

Gracing this year’s event will be a kaleidoscope of talent such as a fiery live show of Pulled Apart By Horses, the beautifully voiced folkster Willy Mason, New York’s The Drums, alongside a slew of GIITTV favourites 2:54, Beth Jeans Houghton, Mary Epworth, Admiral Fallow, plus over 50 more acts including Wavves, Summer Camp, Willis Earl Beal, Dog is Dead, Friends, Lucy Rose, Jake Bugg, Cloud Nothings, Hooray For Earth, Neon Indian and Pond.

Having previously stamped acts such as The xx, Mumford & Sons, Florence & The Machine and Metronomy on the musical map, Dot To Dot Festival offers incredible value for money priced at just £20 per day, while giving music fans the opportunity to catch future stadium fillers and the most exciting acts around in intimate surrounds.

If you and a friend want to be in with a chance of seeing such a phenomenal and diverse line-up, enter now to win a pair of tickets to the city of your choice.

For more information please visit www.dottodotfestival.co.uk and
tickets can be purchased from http://www.alt-tickets.co.uk/alttickets/home_dot_to_dot_2012.html

Closing date Monday 28th May, 2012
Competition is open to over 18s only

Day 1

I was welcomed to Brighton last Thursday with wet hair and an ominous grey cloud lurking overhead: the quintessential Great British festival. Keen to ignore the potential of a washout weekend and to get reveries underway as soon as possible, I swiftly grabbed my wristband and made tracks to get to The Haunt on the seafront for the first band of the day.

For the past year I have been keeping an admirable eye upon La Femme. They combine 60’s surf sounds and songwriting stylistics with the darker sides of 80’s synthwave. I wasn’t quite sure of the instrumentation of the band in a live context, as I had only heard them upon record. Hence my surprise when I walked in the room to see an electronic militia of 4 synthesisers and a drum machine positioned as a firing line at the front of the stage.

Their performance started brightly. Most of their material has ‘four to the floor’ rigid bass drum beats played at a danceable up-tempo pace. They often include instrumental sections where they play with musical dynamics incredibly well and there is a strong sense of enjoyment and feeling amongst band members, which isn’t lame. ‘Fun’ can be lame. By the time they dropped their most popular track, ‘Sur La Planche’, (third in the set) the crowd really picked up and were completed sold by their efforts.

They’re cool. The singer is a babe. The Parisians also opt to sing in their mother tongue, which of course contributes to their coolness. In case you hadn’t noticed, this was an outstanding start to the Great Escape 2012. J’adore La Femme.

I then ventured over to The Green Door Store, a lovely little venue built within the foundations of the railway station above it, to catch Cave Painting. This band adopts the ‘less is more’ approach to music. It is obvious that they are all outstanding performers, yet they concentrate more on the overall sound and the parts are very well thought out and strategically textured.

There’s something very Paul Simon about Cave Painting. They use sweet harmonies, subtle and sophisticated afro-beats and confidentially segregate the soft, reverbing lead vocal from the rest of the music – sometimes even to a cappella. Good stuff.

Fitzherbert’s was the next stopping point that afternoon to check out the much hyped Aussie psych-rockers Pond. It was ridiculously busy. This isn’t even a venue; it’s the upper function room of a small pub. Yet in the spirit of urban festivals: if you can physically fit a band in there; it’s a venue. However, upon reflection of the event I cannot think of a more apt environment for Pond.

They create sweaty, noisy and shamelessly psychedelic rock, which could easily work as a soundtrack to a documentary on Woodstock in the 1960’s. Pond are not really pushing boundaries in terms of musical innovation, but it’s just so likeable that no one would seem to care. The singer was revelling in the overly populated audience by making his own moshpits and engaging them as part of the theatrics. Its good to see that the ‘Spirit of ‘69’ still lives on!

I decided to hang around at Fitzherbert’s for the following act,St.Lucia I knew from prior research that their clean, polished synth-pop wasn’t really my bag, but I wanted to see what all the [undeserved] fuss was all about. It was awful. This wasn’t solely down to the band, which did perform well, but it was simply a case of being put in the wrong place at the wrong time. The venue didn’t complement their music. People were walking out mid-performance. I followed.

As the sun set that evening I bowled over to the relatively gigantic Corn Exchange to witness arguably the most talked about band of the moment; Savages. The slot was a bit of a last-minute arrangement, as Savages were filling in for New Build who had suddenly dropped out, yet they rose to the challenge confidently.

The all female post-punk outfit encourage repetition between the bass and drums to build a sturdy platform upon which free reign is given to the swirling, gothic guitar effects of Gemma Thompson and intensely haunting vocals from Jehnny Beth. The ethos of Savages’ songs is that they appear to be loosely structured, which allows the girls to feel the music and reflect energy off each other and therefore sculpt their collective sound. On a less artistic note, I was stood next to Michael Eavis and his great, big, bushy beard. He was loving it.

Just around the corner was the Pavilion Theatre where TOY were just about to start. There was also a never-ending queue that meant missing most their set, much to my absolute distress. To rub salt in the wound, from what I did catch at the very tail end of their performance seemed completely encapsulating. They were wrapping up the show with a Krautrock-esque ruckus. Psychedelic guitars were feedbacking everywhere, drums were getting demolished and the noise was building and building to a highly dramatic finale.

It then struck me that the aforementioned queue was by no means for TOY, but it was for the succeeding headliners of the theatre that night; Django Django. The Edinburgh art school quartet has had a great year and were certainly one of the most hyped acts of the festival, yet I was not completely convinced. Their music does not personally appeal to me, yet it is easy to see why they are becoming so popular. They write intelligent indie-pop songs and have developed their own sonic identity, which in this post-modernistic day and age is drastically hard to come by!

Everyone expectedly went berserk when they played the hit ‘Default’ and the performance was flawless throughout – with the exception of a 6-minute wait due to a technical hitch, which was rather embarrassing and visibly awkward for the band, but that wasn’t really their fault so we’ll let them off! I’m sure that Django will continue to reach greater achievements this summer and beyond.

Catch of the Day: La Femme

Kent quartet Two Wounded Birds introduce another stellar track from their forthcoming self-titled debut album, out June 4^th. They have also announced another slew of live dates including Dot to Dot festival (fast becoming the Work It Media festival!) and a Rough Trade Instore as well as next week’s Tracy Emin exhibition opening – see below.

After last week’s heartbreaking The Outer World, they speed things up again with this, as Consequence of Sound described, “fresh slice of pop romanticism seeped in vintage sensibilities”. It’s snother of the brand new songs making up the full length LP ‘Two Wounded Birds’, out June 4^th on Jacob Graham of The Drums’ label Holiday Friends Recording Co.

After a clutch of critically acclaimed singles & EPs, winning fans the world over and playing shows with the likes of Grouplove, The Black Lips and indeed The Drums (who Two Wounded Birds front man Johnny Danger joined onstage for their recent Roundhouse headline show) they return with what their label owner Jacob Graham describes as “a palpable emotion proving that the rebel does have a heart after all and perhaps feels even more deeply than the rest of us.

“It’s easy to see why these rising stars caught the ears of such legends as Brian Wilson and Debbie Harry.”  Graham continues, “Their songs capture the American spirit with clear allegiances to the Beach Boys, the Ramones and Elvis—all while still acknowledging the band’s British roots. You won’t hear any Elton John-style American accents here; instead, Johnny Danger’s sound recalls the velvety tones of Colin Blunstone in his Zombies heyday—a voice with true character.

“In an age in which the shroud of “pop” can describe any poorly constructed jingle that comes along, it’s nice to see the dust settle and discover the genuine article…. Here you will find proof that sincere pop songs are truly timeless.”

See Two Wounded Birds live on tour:

May 24th London  Queen of Hoxton
May 26^th Margate The Turner Gallery, Tracey Emin Exhibition opening
June 2^nd Bristol Dot to Dot festival
June 3^rd Nottingham Dot to Dot festival
June 4^th Manchester Dot to Dot festival
June 9^th London Rough Trade West
June 22^nd London Shacklewell Arms
June 29^th Coventry Godiva Festival
July 6^th Rome, Italy Atlantico Live Rome
July 20^th Preston Mad Ferret
July 28^th Portsmouth Club NME
Sept 1^st Portsmouth Southsea Festival

www.facebook.com/twowoundedbirds

Hip hop-influenced folk/Americana/blues artist Mike Doughty returns to the UK this summer for a London headline show on June 11th at The Borderline, London plus a full UK tour supporting Suzanne Vega: June 13th – 21st. In support of his new live album: ‘The Question Jar Show’.

Catch the Mike Doughty live experience this June:

Thu 21st June: Basingstoke, The Anvil (with Suzanne Vega)
Door Times: 8pm
Ticket Price: £27.50
Booking Number: 01256 844244
Ticket Link: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=THEANVIL&organ_val=31947&event_val=A2CO&patronid=&
Venue Address: The Anvil, Churchill Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 7QR

This summer marks the release of ‘The Question Jar Show’, a double-disc live album recorded during Mike’s US tour of the same name. It perfectly captures Doughty’s hip hop-influenced folk/Americana/blues, and just as importantly, his deftness at charming crowds.

Doughty used a capsule of the antidepressant Duloxetine as a percussion instrument on several tracks and played a Chinese lute (called a Zhong Ruan) on the song ‘Telegenic Exes, #1’.

www.mikedoughty.com

www.facebook.com/mikedoughty

http://mkdo.co/

Just as the duo of James Ford and Jas Shaw are pushing themselves into heretofore unexplored electronic terrain with “Unpatterns”  (released this week), so the videos have pushed the envelope of design and animation to new heights and ‘Pareidolia’ is no different.

This week,  in celebration of the release of the album,  Simian Mobile Disco are playing a Phonica instore tomorrow and Fabric on Friday both which should be unmissable,  as well as a set for Zane Lowe on Radio 1 this evening following a scintillating XFM Mary Anne Hobbs mix for her show.

Over the summer Simian Mobile Disco will also  embark on a string of dates all across the world, taking in their own headline shows as well as festival dates – including their only live show of the summer at the world renowned Sonar in June.

UPCOMING DJ DATES
MAY
16 – Nuits Sonores, lyon
18 – Fabric, London
19 – The Ship, Liverpool
20 – Optimo, Glasgow

JUNE
9 – Parklife, Manchester
15 – Sonar, Barcelona (live)
16 – Eremo, Bari
30 – Renegade On The Beach, Helsinki

JULY
4 – Pratersauna, Vienna
8 – T In the Park, Glasgow
17 – Together, Ibiza
18 – Wax:On, Croatia

AUGUST
17 – Summersonic/Sonic Mania, Tokyo
18 – Summersonic, Osaka
23 – Zurich Open Air, Zurich
25 – Mysteryland, Amsterdam
26 – SW4 Festival, London

www.simianmobiledisco.co.uk

Liverpudlian act STEALING SHEEP have  announced news of the release of Shut Eye, the dreamy 60s flecked first single to be released from their forthcoming LP due this summer. ‘Shut Eye’ is a dreamy 60s flecked number, a heady mix of analogue electronica, voodoo folk and psychedelic pop, this infectious single is due for release 28th May on Heavenly Recordings.

The single will be available as a limited edition 7″, with new track ‘We Like The Dark’ on the b-side, and comes complete with an intriguing animated video directed by Rivkah Gevinson.Watch that here!

 
STEALING SHEEP have a busy spring/summer touring schedule lined up, beginning at the Camden Crawl tomorrow and including a headline UK tour in June and numerous festival appearances at the likes of Green Man, Secret Garden Party and Bestival… Dates/info below:

Fri 7 – Sun 9 September – ISLE OF WIGHT – Bestival

https://www.facebook.com/stealingsheepuk

http://heavenlyrecordings.com/

Lilies On Mars

…………………………………….

Hi Lilies On Mars. Do you want to introduce yourselves?

Hello, yes we are Lilies On Mars aka Lisa (Masia) and Marina (Cristofalo) and our special guest at the drums Gal Cohen

I don’t know that much about how you started, but I understand it was originally for a film project in Italy with Franco Battiato, and that the band grew from there. Is that about right, or a gross over-simplification

This is exactly how we started. Our collaboration began when Franco Battiato asked us to arrange a piece by Tchaikovsky for his last movie “Niente e’ come sembra” and we went on to tour with him for two years in Italy and around Europe. After this amazing experience we formed Lilies On Mars in August 2008, with a strong urge to experiment new sounds and instruments – we can say for sure that we were inspired by this experience a lot.

And you are Italian but live full time in London and have for some time? Or do you split your time?

We are full time in London, based between Hackney and Shoreditch. We only leave the town to tour around or to go on holiday to our beloved Sardinia where we were born and grew up.

So, if you were to meet an aunt at a wedding, one who is perhaps slightly elderly but musically well informed, how would you describe your music

A full immersion of dreamy and distorted notes with a hint of melancholy- you should have a listen Aunty!

I’m struck not only by the wooze and psych elements of your music, but also hugely by the wide soundscapes, such as on ‘Aquarium’s Keys’ or ‘Passing By’. And then there are those crashing crunchy guitars at the start of ‘A Lost Cause’. I am really wary of that ‘influences’ question, it always seems….trite. But can you describe where this wonderfully varied approach comes from?

Our influences are various and multiple, coming from images, words, dreams, notes, noise, subtle sounds. The combinations of many elements make our sound the way it is. It is what is inside that comes out in notes.

And what is the intent behind it, what are you striving for? Did you spend a lot of time ‘searching for your voice’ as a band or does it evolve organically?

Our intention is to bring the listener into our world and to display and stimulate the concept / feeling of letting go and dreaming. Its an experience that we feel strongly about creating and sharing, as so much within life seems to stand in the way of it.

You have just been on tour in Italy – how was that?

It was absolutely amazing, we don’t go back often but the people are lovely and every time it’s a great party.

You’ve recently gotten involved with Ryan Abato as your manager. Given that you are Italians living in London and Ryan is based in Miami, there must have been something pretty special to make that sort of long distance relationship work?

It’s a pretty great collaboration. When you can delete these big distances you understand how powerful music can be. It’s a matter of mutual respect and a passion for music that makes this possible. Ryan is a really good friend and we are looking forward to tour again with him in February 2013 in the US for the IATP project.

Ryan runs a musical collaboration via facebook which is intent on sharing new and alternative music – you can find it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/233578816772 Lilies On Mars are the first band he has chosen to manage; Lilies are the first band he’s been sufficiently convinced about to sign on the dotted line. The respect is mutual, as they have sought each other out across the Atlantic. As befits their manager, he got them over to the States in March this year…..

You went over to Texas for SXSW – I was following that on your Facebook page – it seemed like it was quite a quick decision to go over there? You were suggesting that people could donate to help you make the trip. Did you end up flying first class on the proceeds?

Ha, the trip was very expensive and as a self produced band we were struggling very hard at the beginning. We never expected the support of our fans could be so immense. We received so many donations and people were really generous. We didn’t fly first class but we definitely were able to get there thanks to the support we received.

And you took only one guitar between you?

We only managed to take our baritone guitar with us. We managed to borrow different equipment at each show thanks to other lovely helpful bands.

You planned to do one showcase, for Ryan’s IATP project, but actually ended up playing five sets. How was the whole experience?

That was a great surprise we didn’t’ expect at all, and in the end we were invited to play every day of the trip. We managed to sell all our merchandise, while the response from the crowds was incredible

Right now today, if you wanted to show me a great band apart from yourselves who would that be?

Thank you for considering us a great band, at the moment we really like Thought Forms, Ueberweg and Joe Innes and the Cavalcade, all of which are playing with us at our residency show at Power Lunches (in London) on the 27th May!

And then in two years time, when you are headlining the O2 arena, who would you dream of opening for you?

Ha thanks, but we personally don’t see ourselves playing in such a big arena, though we certainly like the idea to share the stage with bands like Porstishead, PJ Harvey or Beach House, perhaps in the opposite context – I mean us opening for them is more realistic!

Do you have festival plans for the summer?

We are playing a festival in the desert in Israel and also a few shows in London and some nice shows at the beach in Sardinia..

What do you think of female only festivals? Are they still valid and needed?

We don’t really know, as we’ve never really viewed music in this context and with this type of distinction.

What question should I have asked to get under the skin of Lilies On Mars? And what would the answer be?

We are currently writing our third album and the best way to get to know us is to listen to our music. It’s all in there really, so check out our up coming shows and the website liliesonmars.com for more.

Cheers and thanks again

Folk-rock band Levellers who release their tenth studio album, Static On The Airwaves, on 25 June 2012 have announced an 11 date UK tour in November including a night at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Saturday 24 November. Levellers will be joined by special guests Citizen Fish.

Already being heralded as their most accomplished album to date, Static On The Airwaves is the sound of a band whose incisive lyrics, innate musicality and passion have continued to improve rather than diminish in nearly a quarter of a century of writing, recording and performing.

‘Truth Is’, the first single from the album will be released on Saturday 21 April. A Limited Edition Red Vinyl 7” version will be available exclusively as part of Record Store Day, with the digital download being available from online music stores the following day.

Produced by Sean Lakeman, who is renowned for producing his brother’s Mercury-nominated and gold-selling albums as well as Letters From The Underground (Levellers’ previous album), Static On The Airwaves was recorded ‘as live’ at Sono Studios in Prague and mixed in New York by the legendary Victor Van Vugt (PJ Harvey, Beth Orton, Nick Cave).

Sell-out tours and nine years of a sell-out festival are powerful proof of the power of the underground and the power of great live music. Renowned for their energetic live show, longevity has not diminished the Levellers’ ability to put in a performance and get everyone in a room, or field, dancing.

SEPTEMBER – Acoustic Tout
Tues 25 BASINGSTOKE The Anvil
Wed 26 EXETER Cathedral
Thur 27 SALISBURY Cathedral
Fri 28 BUXTON Opera House
Sat 29 HARROGATE Royal Hall
Sun 30 GATESHEAD The Sage

NOVEMBER
Wed 14 CAMBRIDGE Corn Exchange
Thu 15 BRISTOL O2 Academy
Fri 16 LINCOLN Engine Shed
Sat 17 MANCHESTER Academy
Sun 18 LIVERPOOL O2 Academy
Tues 20 GLASGOW ABC
Wed 21 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Thu 22 LEEDS O2 Academy
Fri 23 BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy
Sat 24 LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Sun 25 SOUTHAMPTON Guildhall

www.levellers.co.uk