Scattered Trees new album, Sympathy

No matter what your opinions are on Dracula or Twilight, today’s vampire craze hits a metaphysical nerve. In a society of joblessness and bankruptcy, we feel prayed upon and betrayed by Wall Street and the corporate Capone’s who wooed us with the glitz and glam of pre-recession pop culture.

Rattled but hopeful, our modernity is on a search for tangible life in a world framed by death, smoke and mirrors. This feeling strikes home in the ten songs that make up the new album from Scattered Trees, Sympathy.

The lifeblood of these Chicago natives lies in their lyrical ringleader Nate Eiesland. In this hymn-like sophomore album, Sympathy, the band seems to have found their secret chord. After a long hiatus, the band returns with a hallowed, resonant sound and a barebones intimacy that rivals the XX and Pixies. No sugar added.

Nate Eiesland lost his father to an unexpected heart attack last winter. By chiseling his grief, disbelief, and religious disillusionment into ten haunting indie pop music songs, a cold but inviting album emerges that seems to both resent and belong to the cathedral.

Although not perfect for everyone (the devout melancholy and long-winded stamina of the album may cause the zesty ear to wander), Sympathy injects an unadulterated, rebellious energy to the already unique Scattered Trees sound.

Scattered Trees are releasing the album free for one month.

Download Scattered Trees’s Sympathy
For more information, visit the Scattered Trees Myspace page

The Crookes

The indie pop wonders The Crookes have launched their own special ‘advent’ style website, with special daily treats ranging from festive covers to free downloads and guest appearances from friends of the band.

The site went ‘live’ on Sunday December 13th, so there will be a few doors already waiting to be opened. Special guests on the site include Reverend and the Makers and Richard Hawley, with John McClure and Steve Lamacq on board hosting the daily treats.

In addition, the band will be offering a free download of Chorus Of Fools for the duration of the project. A work of winsome, jangly magic, it’s one of the band’s best-loved numbers and a fine illustration of why The Crookes Myspace page regularly clocks up hundreds of visits every day.

Visit the 12 Days Of Crookesmas here.

What they are saying about The Crookes:

“One of the bands I’m most excited about this year. The Crookes have ambition and flare and a singer with a beautiful voice; one of those special, poetic voices which dips and soars above their jangling guitars.” Steve Lamacq

“I heard a brilliant band last night called The Crookes, who are superb…. really good.” Richard Hawley

Our good friends over at Xtra Mile Recordings have announced a Christmas Xtravaganza offering great discount savings at their online store. They will be offering a 20% discount off everything ordered before the New Year, with a promise that orders placed by December 18th will reach their UK destination by Christmas Day.

As an added bonus Xtra Mile are offering an exclusive album totally free of charge to anyone that signs up to their mailing list. The album is not available for purchase and features tracks taken from the labels 2009 releases as well as, as yet unreleased tracks that will feature on some of next years albums.

Check out the amazing Christmas offers at the Xtra Mile Recordings website.

The full album tracklisting:

Beans On Toast – ‘The Pub In Holloway’
Crazy Arm – ‘Broken By The Wheel’
The Xcerts – ‘Crisis In The Slow Lane’
Frank Turner – ‘Try This At Home’
Reuben – ‘Scared Of The Police’ (Sheldon version)
Million Dead – ‘I Am the Party’
Dartz – ‘The End, Moving On’
Chris T-T – ‘In The Halfway House (I Don’t Sleep Around)’
Straight Lines – ‘A Place To Stay’

xtramile

The clever video juxtaposes  cautionary seventies Health Class videos playing behind the band’s celebration of youthful hedonism.

Watch The Black Lips’ “Drugs” From 200 Million Thousand [Vice Records] below:

You can download video of The Black Lips’ “Drugs” From 200 Million Thousand- free.

For anyone not lucky enough to pick up one of the Dropcards at the time, Leaf are now making the compilation available as a budget-priced download (from 99p for the whole album) through a few hand-picked download outlets, including iTunes, Bleep, Boomkat, eMusic and Other Music.

The track listing for Don’t Run Over the Birds, Please:

1. Icy Demons – 1850
2. Efterklang & The Danish National Chamber Orchestra – Frida Found A Friend (live)
3. A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Kertész
4. Nancy Elizabeth – Tow The Line
5. Murcof – Excerpt #1
6. Wildbirds & Peacedrums – There Is No Light
7. Vladislav Delay – Melankolia (edit)
8. Essie Jain – I Remember It Just Like This
9. volcano! – So Many Lemons

The sampler will also be available for FREE to subscribers the Leaf Label’s newsletter until the end of August. To be added to The Leaf Label’s info mailing list (if you’re not already), sign up here and follow the instructions to get the free downloads.

Arbouretum

Hot on the heels of their critically acclaimed album Song of the Pearl, Arbouretum have announced some UK live dates in July. The psychedelic doom folksters will be bringing their electrified gothic Americana to the UK with a string of live dates, starting in Cornwall and travelling the length of the UK to end up in Glasgow.

Song of the Pearl has recieved some fantastic reviews, The Independent said “It’s one of the most startling, insidiously attractive things I’ve heard all year” and Mojo made the record it’s Underground Album of the Month, describing it as “Spellbinding”.

You can enjoy a free download of the track False Spring, taken from the album Song of the Pearl, here. The album is available now on Thrill Jockey Records.

Arbouretum UK live dates in July

24/07/09 : Penryn, Cornwall – Miss Peapod’s

26/07/09 : Birmingham – Supersonic Festival

27/07/09 : London – Club Uncut @ The Lexington

28/07/09 : Winchester – The Railway

29/07/09 : Colchester – Colchester Arts Centre

30/07/09 : Manchester – Night ‘n Day

31/07/09 : Glasgow – The Captain’s Rest

Doomcloud by Kevin Hewick

In the summer of 1980, following the untimely suicide of Ian Curtis, the remaining three members of Joy division: Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook & Steven Morris, returned to the studio to record with a Factory Records labelmate and friend, Kevin Hewick.

I can’t remember if the official line was that Kevin Hewick was auditioning to become the new singer with Joy Division or New Order, as they became, or whether the resulting track, Haystack, was always intended to be a one-off collaboration. But months later, after Steven Morris then Peter Hook recorded vocal tracks, New Order decided to release their debut single, Ceremony, an unreleased Joy division song, with guitarist Bernard ‘Barney’ Sumner on vocals.

Haystack was released by Kevin Hewick in 1981 on A Factory Quartet along with six other tracks, on Factory Records.

A Factory Quartet was a double album featuring one side each from four Factory artists: Kevin Hewick, Blurt, The Royal Family & The Poor, and Durutti Column.

Kevin Hewick went on to release his debut single, Ophelia’s Drinking Song, also on Factory Records in February 1982. The single was produced by A Certain Ratio drummer Donald Johnson and Peter Hook.

Hewick left Factory Records and released a couple of singles and albums on the independent Cherry Red label, including the Tender Bruises & Scars: The Factory & Cherry Red Studio Recordings 1980-83 compilation.

Like many other ex-Factory Records artists, Kevin Hewick seemed to drift into silent obscurity with such wonderful artists synonymous with the grey, wet Manchester (even though Hewick is from Leicester!) sound of Tony Wilson, Joy division and Factory Records.  Artists like Section 25, Stockholm Monsters, The Wake and The Royal Family & The Poor.

In 2003 Kevin Hewick recorded Doomcloud, an album laid bare with personal lyrics and just Hewick’s voice and acoustic guitar.

Doomcloud is now available as a free download from Kevin Hewick’s official website.

Hewick describes Doomcloud as:

“My dogme album. Very bare, very honest.”

Doomcloud features raw recordings made between 2000 and 2003 with Robbie Murphy at Woodland Studios in Leicester.

Kevin Hewick recently played European dates with fellow ex-Factory act Section 25 and Joy Division / New Order bass player Peter Hook.

Free Download Doomcloud

Download Doomcloud – free mp3 album and artwork

For more information on what Kevin Hewick is doing in 2009, visit the Kevin Hewick MySpace page.

On the face of it, National Snack shouldn’t be any good. Their self-released Apply Machine EP is tinny, their press shots show a band that look a lot like they play death metal in dingy basements, they describe themselves as a mix between Prince, Fugazi and The Weather Girls, and this is not to mention their name National Snack (a very nondescript name – I have already had to re-look it up four or five times).

Alas, how wrong preconceptions can be.

The tinny production is raw and exciting. As metal as they may look, their sound is more a clash of punk and lo-fi, making them sound kind of sweetly naïve, and whilst Fugazi is audible in their sound, I think the Prince and Weather Girls part may well be more in their head than on their record.

National Snack are a three-piece, who release their records on their own Scatty Cat record label and are made up of guitar, bass and drums along with female and male vocals. The effect is not a guitar driven indie noise-wall with a repeated-note bass line, but rather artistic compositions meshing all instruments and backing vocals that carries either or both of the alternative lead singers Gemma Storr and Joe Carlo.

National Snack have been playing gigs in their current form since 2005 at festivals, on streets and in pubs, along with once travelling all the way to Russia for a 30 minute slot – there and back in 24 hours.

The Apply Machine EP features six songs, of quickly written guitar riffs and vocals that are both fun and genuine. The quality of the harmonies is proved on ‘My Head Hurts’, which is a highlight, and which they have offered for free download on the National Snack MySpace page. ‘This Is Not Enough’ is also great – strangely touching, with a touch of embarrassment as Gemma Storr snorts with laughter.

It is rare to be really excited by an unsigned band, but National Snack have strangely managed to not sound like desperate wannabes craving limelight on Apply Machine. It’s hard to compare them to other bands, though I’d be looking at the post-punk era to try and find one. The only other comparisons that come to mind are a couple of other bands I’ve heard trying for the big time – 28 Costumes and Elle S’Appelle.

Have a look at their MySpace, and one of the bonuses if you buy their record is that you get “a tiny square piece of the back cover to design however you want, a copy of the album and a free magnifying glass to find your square”.

Pendulum - Free Propane Nightmares MP3 Downloads

As Australian electronic drum & bass / rock crossover band Pendulum continue to woo crowds on their current ‘Tour of the Americas’,  here are two free MP3 downloads of Pendulum’s Propane Nightmares to enjoy.

Propane Nightmares (VST Mix)

Propane Nightmares (Celldweller Mix)

Two cool remixes of the awesome single, Propane Nightmares, that is having crowds rocking, all over the world!

And if that’s not enough, then here’s is a free MP3 download of a 12-minute mini mix of their latest album, Pendulum’s In Silico Remix by Celldweller.

Check out more information and the free MP3 download of Propane Nightmares (VIP Mix).

Frontman Tom Chaplin said the track, recorded in Berlin, is “a train of thought about human endeavour, built on an outrageous groove”.

Keane have reported that they ‘have ignored the rules of good taste’ in the making of their third album, with recording taking place in various studio’s around the world.

The album Perfect Symmetry will be released in October this year.

The new single sounds like early Duran Duran,  with hooks from Keanes Somewhere Only We Know. And that is the problem with Keane, they have never come close to producing another track that comes near to Somewhere, and sadly never look like doing so.