Watch: Rah Rah – 20s

 

Employing the Blue Peter approach to the pop video, artful indie sextet Rah Rah’s promo for ‘20s’ utilises nothing more than a range of kitsch mail-order ornaments and garish 1970s wallpaper. But tracks that deliver choruses as gloriously contagious as this one don’t need elaborate enhancements. Hailing from Canada’s landlocked Saskatchewan, about as remote a region as can be found on a chartered map, the band have a new album, ‘The Poet’s Dead’, that is instrumentally inventive and pop-hook polished enough to require them to get used to far greater population densities at venues well beyond their native prairies. Single ‘20s’, in particular, has an eerie call-and-reponse vocal crisscrossing the verse, snaring the listener’s attention before exploding into life on that chorus, as multilayered harmonies declare over accelerating guitars: ‘I’ll spend my 20s on rock’n’roll/I’ll spend my 30s feeling old’. As for the charity shop video, well, it was always going to end in tears…

The Poet’s Dead is out now on Hidden Pony.

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Watch: Alpines - No Other Lover / Trwbador - Breakthrough

A double-header of classy new electronica on Lost in the Manor this week. The first finds London duo Alpines hitting their stride with the immersive euphoric house of ‘No Other Lover’. Unfurling around Catherine Pockson’s sensual vocal, Alpines’ new single confidently traverses club and chart with its commercially savvy chorus, taking some sonic cues from the impervious androidisms of EDM but, crucially, adding a soulful, human edge, facilitating a trancey anthem. Atop a dominant four-to-the-floor break, synth melodies dip and soar for optimum goose-pimpling effect, carrying ‘No Other Lover’ to its potent crescendo. Given pop’s cyclical nature, another summer of love must surely be somewhere on the horizon; Alpines’ debut album, ‘Oasis’, out 26 May on Untrue Records, could serve as seasonal bellwether.

From an altogether later hour, or earlier perhaps, depending on your perception of the pre-dawn darkness, comes ‘Breakthrough’ from Welsh pair Trwbador, released on Owlet Music on 26 May. Something to ease the comedown, it features wise words from London rapper ESSA, his soothing baritone urging “Burn As Bright As You Can Do” over a track that melds a stringed pizzicato loop (a harp maybe) with a heavy sub-bass pulse that could trigger tsunami warnings if mishandled at sea. Like a dubstep MC at yoga or a bassline all-nighter in a health-food store, this compelling mix manages to be both foreboding and forward-looking, reflecting the confusion inherent in many a day, particularly, you’d imagine, those that follow a night out with either of these two acts.

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Watch: High Hazels - Summer Rain

In the same vein as classic northern greats such as The Smiths, The Coral, Arctic Monkeys et al, this Sheffield four-piece are looking to capture that bittersweet nostalgic vibe and make it their own. 'Summer Rain' is the lead single from the band's debut EP, 'In The Half Light', released this week on Heist Or Hit Records. All guitar riffs and melancholy lyrics, it sets itself apart from the run-of-the-mill with an infectious melody and soft shimmery guitar, backed by some ballsy bassline hooks. The video is stark and simple, letting the boys, their instruments and their raw appeal take centre stage. There's a danger of it lilting off into something a little too light to take seriously, but as the drum beat ups its intensity, the psychedelic charm of the tune is hard to resist. Currently making the most of their platform on tour supporting The Crookes, the magic of High Hazels is one which the summer festival crowds are bound to embrace.

In the Half Light is out now on Heist or Hit Records

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Watch: VerseChorusVerse - No More Years

Former frontman of And So I Watch You From Afar, Tony Wright, takes an earthier turn on ‘No More Years’, a rousing blast of vigorous acoustic strumming, brash harmonica and pounding stickwork, which rises above much of the national nu-folk output by virtue of its stomping, windswept glee. Appropriately enough for a tune of raw and rustic bent, the accompanying video sets our hero in remote surrounds, with only his guitar case for company as he’s pursued through the woods by a mysterious stalker, an ordeal that provokes one of the finest silent profanities ever mouthed in a pop promo. There’s a lesson to be learned, it seems, and the refrain, “No Going Back To Year Zero”, serves as more of a climactic outro than orthodox chorus. The initial hook on this first single from VerseChorusVerse’s eponymous album comes courtesy of the simple harp melody and the singer’s emphatic “Hey!”, which injects further brio into what is a gratifyingly unrefined and uplifting few minutes.

VerseChorusVerse is out now on Third Bar

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Watch: Davidge featuring Cate Le Bon - Gallant Foxes

An accomplice of Massive Attack, producer/songwriter Neil Davidge also earns his corn soundtracking movies and video games, from Luc Besson’s Unleashed to Halo 4. Perhaps no surprise, then, that the debut single from his Slo Light album melds an earful of ominous ambient electronica with a cinematic, dreamlike video that will tickle the fancies of surrealists, neon fetishists and voyeurs everywhere. The nocturnal visuals are foil to the track’s synthetic motorik beat, minor-key counterpoints and muted trance, over which Cate Le Bon does nothing to eschew those Nico comparisons (even though the Welshwoman is a far superior singer) as she goes all Franglais on us: who’d have thought a lyrical reference to "cheval" (horses, Rodney, horses) would make for such an alluring refrain. ‘Gallant Foxes’ is a sum of mysterious parts for sure, but the whole is an enigmatic electro beauty.

Gallant Foxes is released on 31 March on 7Hz Productions

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Live Video / Photos: Wheels @ The Finsbury - 15/03/2014

Wheels climaxed their Finsbury set on 15 March with a storming version of 'We Can Never Go Back'. Lost in the Manor braved the flailing limbs and flying mic-stands to get right up close to the action. Watch it here Photo / Film: Chris Musicborn @musicborn

Live Video / Photos: Keymono @ The Finsbury - 13/03/2014

Watch Keymono's awesome rhythmic digitalism in full swing as the infectious 'Bubble in Trouble' is filmed live and exclusive by Lost in the Manor at The Finsbury on 13 March Photos, Video: Chris Musicborn @musicborn

Watch: Algiers – Lighthouse

As the more geographically astute readers will know, you can’t get much further from the sea in the UK than Sheffield. But this hasn’t stopped Steel City duo Algiers from penning a tune so salty you can practically surf on it. If the lovesick singalong shantyisms of ‘Lighthouse’ - a minimalist blend of reeling guitar, rolling toms and bracing vocals - aren’t enough, then the video (basically a compilation of olde-worlde maritime peril) should strike home the message. Literal packaging aside, ‘Lighthouse’, taken from Algiers’ debut LP, ‘You’re The Captain’, has a hearty folksome chorus buoyant enough to float many a boat. Check for yourself below.

You’re The Captain is out now on Xtra Mile Recordings.

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Watch: Qtier - Anything Other

Qtier share the stunning lead track from their second EP out now on iconic Berlin label BPitch Control

Live Session #1: Gitta de Ridder - Without You I'm Broken - A tribute to Horace "Jim" Greasley

We can announce Lost in the Manor will now be filming live acoustic sessions and to start us off we have the stunning Gitta de Ridder performing without you I'm Broken. The song is a very sad tale and we will let Gitta explain in her own words what it's all about. It's a long explanation but stick with it...

The song explained in Gitta de Ridders own words

"This last Christmas I spend some time down in Devon with the Man and the Family, my Step Dad-in-law got given this book called "Do birds still sing in hell" I found myself reading the back, starting to read the book, and unable to put it down until I finished it a day and a half later.

I don't often get so carried away but it had me sitting upright with tension, gave me goose-bumps, made me cry my eyes out and had a huge impact on me.

It's a true-story about a guy "Horace Greasley" renamed Jim by his fellow soldiers. An English lad that gets send out to the war in WW2 at 20 years old and ends up in France where he gets captured by the Germans. They go on a 10 week march, no food, no water, constant walking no rest to Holland (as you can imagine most Prisoners Of War -POW's- die on this journey) Then a 3 day train journey which is horrific, and the worst POW camp imaginable. I couldn't get my head around people treating people like this.

Anyway, his luck turns as he get moved to another Working-Camp where he falls in love with the owner's daughter and they start a crazy love affair. But, he gets moved and they loose each other. she spends months trying to find out which camp he is in and finally succeeds. He find a way to escape the camp at night and goes out to meet her 2-3 times a week over the space of a couple of years. Can you imagine going back to the camp after you were free?! mad.

They meet in this little church, they make love, and enjoy spending time, and at some point he manages to smuggle in a radio into the camp and spread around the BBC news.

When the war is over he goes back to the UK, she had to run because she is now the bad guy being hunted by the Russians (German) They finally write letters to each other with the letters suddenly stopping. A year later he gets the news she has passed away whilst giving birth to his child. They both don't make it.

He does marry and has kids later and at 98 he gets this book written (word for word true story) by a ghost writer. It all broke my heart.

Watch: Folie Ordinaire - Chez Folie

'Chez Folie' is the addictive new track by Folie Ordinaire, taken from their second EP. Infused with a new-wave disco beat, the bassline, synth, guitar hook and falsetto vocals defy you not to dance. Treading the line between electro, rock and pop punk, there's a hint of The Cure about them (as well as an affinity with the likes of MGMT), and a similar sexy abandonment. The video follows suit, dripping with sequins, disco balls and glitter. But what shines the most is their energy, led by frontman Antoine, which spreads across the dance floor and out of the speakers. It's a great advert for their live shows, and a sign that these lot are more than just festival scenesters, where they've been making a name for themselves since 2010. And if you don't want the party to stop, the remix by Robin Twelftree takes the track into the realms of clubland, driven by the distinctive beat and manipulated vocals. This is an infectious tune that's difficult to shake; trust us, you'll be singing it to yourself later.

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Watch: The Moth & The Flame – Sorry

Revolving around a tasty instrumental refrain in which a hypnotic bassline welds itself to a pounding soul beat, ‘Sorry’, the lead track of California trio The Moth & the Flame’s new EP (simply titled ‘&’), is a sparkling composition of melodramatic indie-rock. “Sorry, For Everything I’ve Done” laments Brandon Robbins’ falsetto vocal over a strident alt-ballad, delivered in triple time and artfully produced to shine a light on the players’ every flourish, drawing out each searing keyboard effect and cymbal crash to max the song’s dynamics. This sleek production, courtesy of Joey Waronker, is evident throughout the six-track release, but, rather like that moth becoming too familiar with the flame, the collection flares brightly before losing its lustre, fading into melancholy MOR by closing number ‘How We Woke Up’ (a recent support tour with Imagine Dragons is perhaps an indicator of the band’s less-progressive tendencies). But let’s embrace the positive, and ‘Sorry’ — as lean a stadia-oriented-indie single as you’ll have heard this year — doesn't deserve to be ignored. Check it, along with a curious desert-based last-man-on-Earth scenario, via the promo below.

Sorry is out on Hidden Records now

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Watch: Minnie Birch - Glitter

Minnie Birch has been wooing audiences all over London over the past few years and finally here is the debut video called Glitter. It's a Mellon Collie but deeply beautiful...

The song will also be available soon as a free download.

Watch: Jack Cheshire - Into The Void + Free Tickets for Feb 27th @ The Finsbury

Jack Cheshire comtinues his onward march to greatness with his new video 'Into the void'. The track is the 2nd single to be taken from his acclaimed album ‘Long Mind Hotel’

You can bag youself a free ticket for Jack Cheshire at the Finsbury on Feb 27th Support comes from the stunning Buzzard Lope and Geffin Brothers. Tickets are going very fast so be extra quick! Click for tickets

Watch: Elephant 12 - Love Knock On Wood (MG3 Car Advert)

Our good friends in Elephant 12 have struck gold with a sync on a MG3 Car Advert!

The band brings their own brand of musical brilliance to the table. The track “Love Knock on Wood,” is filled with incredibly catchy harmonies, enthusiastic handclaps, and laced with punchy guitars that will draw you in immediately. The vocals provides the perfect blend of brashness and punchy attitude, and a dash of Indie on the side.

Elephant 12 is known for making their own brand of unapologetic punk rock with electro and hip hop undertones, which bring a whole new outlook to an often predictable music scene. Their electrifying stage presence and impressive songwriting is a lethal combination, and also the key elements of what helped build their cult following in the United Kingdom.

Watch: Velour Modular – Forward

Its opening frames may suggest some sort of French numeracy test, but stick with the promo for Velour Modular’s ‘Forward’, because not only is it a wonderfully nonsensical visual showcase of brilliant colour and unlikely objects intruding on a bleak, washed-out landscape, but the accompanying four-minutes of ambient disco-pop confirms that Gallic groovemakers have a hand in much of today’s classiest electronic dance music. Working with London-based Spanish producer Hektagon (whose 2009 ‘Finsbury Park Interlude’ sparked obvious interest in these parts), Cannes-born chanteuse Guilhem has crafted a melodic mini-gem. An ominous choral refrain about nuclear chaos may not seem the most obvious lyric to take hold on the dancefloor, but its immediacy and the song’s crisp, minimal beats and modular synth runs are sure to generate plenty of heat. Find it on the duo’s ‘Capsule’ EP, out imminently.

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Watch: Psapp - Wet Salt

Check out Psapp's cool new video 'Wet Salt' which is taken from Psapp's Album 'What Makes Us Glow'

Speaking about the track, the duo said "Wet Salt is a song about the dirt, greyness and magic of city life. It’s full of bustle, colour and magic. It’s also about the internal battle where you yearn for the quiet green of the countryside but somehow can’t live without the mess and madness of a city. We alternated between Hackney and a German castle in the country to record this record.”

Watch: Joe Goddard – Taking Over

We’ve all been there, of course, at the back-end of a heavy night out, when your fast-food takeaway starts serenading you. No? Hmm, maybe I was overdoing it slightly. Anyway, this hallucinatory eventuality is the focal-point of Joe Goddard’s video for the title track of his recent ‘Taking Over’ EP. Featuring a crooning kebab (Doner Summer perhaps? Pitta Andre maybe. Chilli Gonzalez?), it’s a cool visual foil for the Hot Chip/2 Bears man’s generous serving of gentle after-hours electro, which threads a pleasing guitar peal through squelching synths and a softly insistent chorus. Take a look below. And go easy on the hot sauce.

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Live Review: Lazytalk Live at The Finsbury 26/10/13

It’s hard to see how LazyTalk could become any more efficient at what they do. The band’s populist blend of ska-punk, drum’n’bass, British hip-hop and Jamie T-style street smarts is perfectly forged to whip up any crowd, including that at the Finsbury this Saturday night. Throw in a couple of anthemic, terrace-ready tracks, such as ‘Luzaville’ and ‘Memories’, and you’d imagine it’s only a matter of time before some sharp svengali picks up the band and runs with them. Frontman Piers Robinson has assembled a fluid quintet of skilled rebel-rousers, of whom the trump card could be keyboardist Josh, who took time out to blow gear-shifting sax solos when the tune demanded. Meanwhile, Piers wrapped his tongue around contemporary grievances ranging from the corporate dilution of pop to the perils of the pre-dawn bus-ride, all keenly observed and addressed in quickfire prose. Reappropriated covers of hits by Ini Kamoze and Dawn Penn (I’ll leave you to guess which ones) gave clues to the band’s roots - and there was certainly a punky reggae party at their rhythmic core - but LazyTalk picked and mixed from myriad sounds of modern urban Britain. Most of it was delivered strictly to crowdplease, and although the doubling up of tempo following a languid intro was a trick somewhat overdone, it never failed to lively up the dancefloor. An unashamedly bang-on-it good-time act with fire in their bellies and brains behind the beats, the five-piece put a smile on the face of a sweaty Finsbury, just as they did last time they played here some 18 months previous. This is a band who, by now, should surely be instigating knees-ups at bigger venues nationwide. LazyTalk just need an action plan.

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Introducing: The Lunchtime Sardine Club + Live Date

The Lunchtime Sardine Club recently grabbed the attention of Amazing Radio with the first single “Rumours” and also featured on a Big Scary Monsters best of... compilation earlier this year. With the sound branded as “a happier Elliott Smith circa 1998” by Brighton Noise, The Lunchtime Sardine Club’s Icecapades is the perfect concoction of Elliott Smith’s storytelling style and Grizzly Bear’s lo-fi folk.

Live Dates: Servants Jazz Quarters Oct 22nd - More info