Caribou wins Polaris Music Prize for Best Album 2008

Last night in Toronto Daniel Snaith aka Caribou won the coveted $20,000 Polaris Music Prize for his 2007 album Andorra.  Caribou now lives in London but win best Canadian album as he was born in Dundas, Ontario.

Andorra is a departure from heavily influenced electronica of previous albums such as Start Breaking My Heart and The Milk of Human Kindness. With Andorra, Caribou has produced a great album with traditional instruments and influences of sixties pop harmonies and psychedelic traces.  I can hear Brian Wilson and early Pink Floyd in amongst the deep and profound trip-pop grooves.

It is only on the very last track of the album, Niobe, that Snaith blends the Wilson-esque vocals with a more experimental electronica music that I have previously associated him with.

Once again Daniel Snaith is treading his own path.  After making a splash in the world of electronic music with such great tracks (and titles) as Dundas, Ontario, Tits & Ass, and the brilliant If Assholes Could Fly, This Place Would Be An Airport, Caribou has received the Polaris Music Prize award for a much more commerical sounding but no less brilliant album.

Andorra shows yet another side to this very talented individual; an album that really deserves commercial success to bring this wonderful music to a much wider audience.

For more information visit the Caribou MySpace page.

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This Summer Night has Robert Wyatt’s beautifully warm and original, at times wonderfully frail, vocal delivery and is a worthy addition to a list of past collaborations Wyatt has worked on.

The single comes with a great remix which immerses the late evening, sun setting easy listening pop of the single with the analogue bleeps and squeaks of a Hot Chip accompaniment.  I am loving the remix and listening to the new single reminded me of Robert Wyatt’s amazing performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test performing Shipbuilding in 1982.

This Summer Night is due for release on 20th October.

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Modey Lemon - Season of Sweets

Modey Lemon - Season of Sweets is released on Birdman Records

Modey Lemon are a loud, expansive mix of garage rock, post-punk aggression, spasmooodic moogs, fuzzy guitars, a good helping of psychedelia and synthesizer kraut-rock. The success is in the way that Modey Lemon seamless blend of all of these influences into one massive album.

The album twists and turns through every influences without managing to sound disjointed, which is pretty amazing.  I absolutely love the Ranconteurs-sound of The Peacock’s Eye, while other tracks like Sacred Place remind me of the synthesizer heavy, moodiness of Suicide.  And It Made You Dumb is a powerhaus of a track with its pounding tribal drums, grungy guitar assault and bitter sweet vocal.

Season of Sweets is the fourth album by Modey Lemon.

Make up your own mind by watching the promo video for It Made You Dumb.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEsvrFj-GfQ

For more information visit the official Modey Lemon MySpace page.

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THE KOOKS US TOUR DATES

09/30 - Baton Rouge, LA - Varsity Theatre
10/02 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
10/03 - Houston, TX - Meridian
10/04 - Austin, TX - Antone’s
10/05 - Tulsa, OK - Cains Ballroom
10/07 - St Louis, MO - The Pageant
10/08 - Des Moines, IA - People’s Court
10/09 - Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre
10/11 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
10/12 - Cincinatti, OH - Bogarts
10/14 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
10/21 - Seattle, WA- Showbox SoDo
10/22 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
10/24 - Sacramento, CA - Empire
10/25 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
10/27 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
10/28 - Hollywood, CA - Hollywood Palladium

For more information visit

www.thekooks.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/thekooks

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In December they will appear in Birmingham for three nights at the MIA Arena, followed by two nights each at Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool and Manchester.  Three Coldplay concerts will then take place at London’s O2 Arena before completing the European leg of the tour with nights in Belfast and Dublin.

The Coldplay tour will see Chris Martin and co play songs from their current album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, including the single Violet Hill as well a selection of hit singles from their previous three albums – Parachutes, X&Y, and A Rush Of Blood To The Head – including Yellow, Fix You, The Scientist and Talk.

Coldplay Tour Dates

Coldplay Mon 22/09/2008
20:00 CEST O2 Arena, Prague

Coldplay Tue 23/09/2008
20:00 CEST Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, Budapest

Coldplay Wed 24/09/2008
20:00 CEST Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna

Coldplay Fri 26/09/2008
20:00 CEST Olympiahalle Munich, Munich

Coldplay Sun 28/09/2008

20:00 CEST Hallenstadion, Zurich

Coldplay Mon 29/09/2008
21:00 CEST PalaMalaguti, Bologna

Coldplay Tue 30/09/2008
21:00 CEST DatchForum (ex Forum Di Assago), Milan

Coldplay Thu 02/10/2008
20:00 CEST Ahoy, Rotterdam

Coldplay Fri 03/10/2008
20:00 CEST Ahoy, Rotterdam

Coldplay Sat 04/10/2008
20:30 CEST Antwerps Sportpaleis/Lotto Arena, Merksem (Antwerpen)

Coldplay Mon 01/12/2008
19:00 GMT NIA Birmingham, Birmingham

Coldplay Tue 02/12/2008
19:00 GMT NIA Birmingham, Birmingham

Coldplay Wed 03/12/2008
19:00 GMT NIA Birmingham, Birmingham

Coldplay Fri 05/12/2008
19:00 GMT SECC, Glasgow

Coldplay Sat 06/12/2008
19:00 GMT SECC, Glasgow

Coldplay Sun 07/12/2008
19:00 GMT Sheffield Arena, Sheffield

Coldplay Wed 10/12/2008
19:00 GMT Liverpool Echo Arena, Liverpool

Coldplay Thu 11/12/2008
19:00 GMT MEN Arena Manchester, Manchester

Coldplay Fri 12/12/2008
19:00 GMT MEN Arena Manchester, Manchester

Coldplay Sun 14/12/2008
19:00 GMT O2 Arena, London

Coldplay Mon 15/12/2008
19:00 GMT O2 Arena, London

Coldplay Tue 16/12/2008
19:00 GMT O2 Arena, London

Coldplay Thu 18/12/2008
20:00 GMT Odyssey, Belfast

Coldplay Fri 19/12/2008
20:00 GMT Odyssey, Belfast

Coldplay Sun 21/12/2008
19:00 GMT The O2, Dublin

Coldplay Mon 22/12/2008
19:00 GMT The O2, Dublin

At Viagogo, Coldplay tickets and transaction is 100% guaranteed to be safe and secure.

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For those new to the three-piece, Threatmantics are a rock and roll band from Cardiff. However, they are not quite like other rock and roll bands. This is mainly and probably due to their lead guitar being a viola and their drummer and keyboardist being the same person. At the same time.

Featuring distorted vocals from lead singer (and viola player) Heddwyn Davies, loud skuzzy guitars from Ceri Mitchell and lusty drumming from Huw Davies, Big Man is a three minute disjointed foot-stomping corker.

Having released two singles so far, Don’t Care - on the Ciwdod label and Sali Mali - on AM, this is Threatmantics’ first release for Double Six Records, and is a nice taster of what their forthcoming LP will bring.

Catch them singing songs live in both English and Welsh at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff on 10th September, the End Of The Road Festival on 13th September, and Concrete and Glass (east London venue TBC) on 2nd October.

Big Man will be available on 7” vinyl (DS013) and via digital download (DS013D). Tracklisting is:

A – Big Man
B – Trainspotting

For more information visit:

www.threatmantics.com
www.myspace.com/threatmantics

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Shinedown

Shinedown - The Sound Of Madness - Album Review

The Sound Of Madness is Shinedown’s third studio album.  The 11 tracks were apparently selected from over 60 tracks that singer/songwriter Brent Smith had written and a few new songs written while rehearsing in the studio.  The album represents both Shinedown’s more commercial sounding soft rock leanings as much as a harder grunge rock.

Devour is a great standalone track, but it also serves as a great introduction for the new Shinedown album, The Sound Of Madness.

Devour is an ideal start with snare & bass drum stomping its way towards the speakers, increasing in volume likened to a marching army of soldiers.  The Shinedown army is full of hard-hitting heavy progressive metal soldiers, ready and waiting to explode withpost-punk, post-grunge heavy rock raw, angst agression.

Next up is the title track, Sound Of Madness is slower in tempo, but no less heavy or menacing.  In fact the slower tempo is moreso.  Sound Of Madness has a great throbbing bass and a true call to arms – the sound of madness, when you gonna wake up and fight?

Second Chance is the third track on the album and is altogether a different animal.  Second Chance sounds like an obvious contender for the next single.  With its lighter, more melodic MOR sound, it is both radio and TV friendly, especially with its anthemic sing-a-long chorus.

Cry For Help gets the show back on the road, as the power, volume and beats per minute return and once again Shinedown are, for me, doing what they do best.  Death to timid pop metal! Lock up your daughters.  Cry For Help sounds great on vinyl and probably even better live.

Go to Shinedown Concerts for a list of tour dates.

The Crow & The Butterfly, If You Only Knew, What A Shame, Breaking Inside and Call Me are slower tempo, big anthemic productions which will have live audiences waving their lighters in the air. While Sin With A Grin and Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide return the album to a faster speed and heavier pumping bass and metal-tastic guitar sound.

Of the two sides to Shinedown’s music I prefer it when they are coming towards me like a steaming train with more decibels than lighters.  I understand that anthemic MOR tracks are good for radio, tv and more importantly commercial success but I like to see bands with long hair, tattoos and menacing looks to be loud, grungy and full of spunk; and judging by some of the photos uploaded to the Shinedown Photos website page, I’m not alone.

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OASIS - Dig Out Your Songs

This week’s issue of NME Magazine comes with a special Oasis songbook and CD-ROM. In the songbook there’s lyrics and sheet music to three songs off of Oasis’ new album ‘Dig Out Your Soul’.

Fans can then video themselves playing the songs and upload their efforts tothe following web page:

www.oasisinet.com/digoutyoursoulsongs

Oasis will rifle through them and dig out their favourites.

Prizes including a pair of VIP tickets to an Oasis concert anywhere in the world, tickets to an Oasis gig and limited edition Oasis boxsets are all up for grabs!

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Pink Floyd's Rick Wright

Rick Wright, keyboard player with Pink Floyd died on Monday from cancer, aged 65.

Rick Wright’s multi-layered experimental keyboard was a vital ingredient to the psychedelic sounds of the original Pink Floyd and the more spacious, expansive sounds of Pink Floyd’s classic albums such as Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here.

Wright was currently working on a solo instrumental album.

Fellow Pink Floyd band member, David Gilmour said:

“In my view, all the greatest Pink Floyd moments are the ones where he is in full flow. No-one can replace Richard Wright - he was my musical partner and my friend.”

Here is a recent clip of Rick Wright and David Gilmour on Jools Holland performing Arnold Layne as a tribute to Syd Barrett, who died in 2006.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKWtZWmFUss

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Though Gallagher made fun of the incident he also wrote that the attacker, Canadian Daniel Sullivan, will be prosecuted.  He wrote:

“Can’t say much more than that as the ‘perpetrator’s’ gonna get the book thrown at him. Repeatedly. It was all going so well up until that point’n'all.”

Apparently Sullivan hid under the stage to avoid security before leaping on stage and pushing Noel Gallagher over from behind.

The following show in Ontario was cancelled due to Gallagher’s injuries.  He added:

“[I] feel like I’ve had a sparring session with Ricky Hatton.”

Here’s the video footage of the incident captured by a member of the audience.  Watch carefully and you will see following the incident that Liam Gallagher runs away, then once the security men have a hold of the attacker, he wants to ‘have a go’.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX5JBsKih0c

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