popwreckoning updates

Remix Monday: La Roux
Friendly Fires with the xx @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC
Mew – No more stories…
Friendly Fires with Phenomenal Handclap Band @ le poisson rouge, NYC
Bloody Beetroots “Butter” video

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 12:15 PM PDT

La Roux has been around for some months now, with the release of their self titled debut on June 29th, and been getting plenty of hype and acclaim. I've liked their songs but not to the extent that BBC seems to love them. La Roux is a duo from England, consisting of Elly Jackson on synths and lead vocals and Ben Langmaid as co-writer and producer. The band oft comes off as a solo group with Elly Jackson being the face, sporting her Flock of Seagulls inspired hair. They have a lot of right stuff going on for them; sleek, 80s electro sound, a lot of hype, stylish clothes and insane hair, noirish and stylistic album covers and great remixes following all of their work. They are sure to abound to further heights of popularity. The sound is very much in the vein of Human League, Yazoo and Blancmange; all bright, bouncy synth pop.

.La Roux – “Bulletproof”
“Bulletproof” is a breezy, summery pop song filled to the brim with bouncy synthesizers, video game style bleeps and the oft used laser sound. It really does run off slightly like a level in Super Mario Brothers. But what, like all their songs, gives a solid foundation to the music is Elly Jackson's vocals. It's sweet, firm, yearning, especially when she sings, "This time baby I'll be bulletproof."

.Fred Falke Remix
Falke's remix is incredible. I wouldn't be writing this post or listening to this song if it wasn't for this remix. It's by far superior to the original and the mixes to follow. Actually I kind of feel sad about posting the other mixes because they pale in comparison to this one. Here, Falke strips the poppy 80s sound for his signature, minimalistic French House sounds with ethereal flavors. He singles out a beautiful, thick bass measure, surrounds it with equally heavy drum machines and lets Jackson's vocals shine around all of it. They rush and feel more refined and sleek across Falke's meditative melody.

.Yall Remix
Yall's remix starts of slow in a choir mix of voices. I picture children in a church, slowly annunciating the vocals while surrounded by candles. When the mix finally kicks in the music sounds like Justice. Heavy, cut up and distorted music, mixed with a bounce.

.Iamxl Remix
Iamxl starts off with a slap on some bongs with the music building up from a silence, to a whisper to the loud smash with the beat. It takes the original music of the mix and speeds it up quite a bit. So though it doesn't sound too different, it still feels faster and more electronic than poppy. Otherwise it's not really awe inspiring.

.Nacey Remix
This is an ominous sounding mix. It's slow with heavy pianos with a real dramatic flair. It picks up pace slightly with a programmed drum machine with claps and clicks, but continues to be slow and dreary with the sluggish and heavy piano presses as the focal point. A violin solo comes in, which is really beautiful. I think this is a great mix because it completely changes the type of song that it is, all in a creative way.

La Roux: website | myspace

July 20, 2009 — Remix Monday: Santigold “Lights Out” (0)
June 1, 2009 — Remix Monday: Phoenix “Lisztomania” (0)
April 27, 2009 — Remix Monday: Ladyhawke “Back of the Van” (0)
February 9, 2009 — Remix Monday: Rex the Dog (0)
August 11, 2009 — Remix Monday: Gorillaz “Dare” (0)
August 2, 2009 — Interview with: Dan Black (0)
July 21, 2009 — Mercury Prize Nominations Announced (1)
July 13, 2009 — Remix Monday: Peter Bjorn & John “It Don’t Move Me” (0)
July 7, 2009 — Remix Mon…Tuesday: Marina & The Diamonds “I Am Not A Robot” (0)
June 22, 2009 — Remix Monday: Treasure Fingers “Cross the Dancefloor” (0)

Friendly Fires with the xx @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 10:45 AM PDT

The August 13 Friendly Fires completely sold-out gig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn this past week will definitely be a night that the band will never forget (nor will anyone in the audience forget it for that matter). Charismatic Fires vocalist/synth player/bassist Ed Macfarlane introduction to the crowd: “We’re Friendly Fires. This is our second and last night in New York. I want to leave here with happy memories, so come on, please!” Little did he know that the show was going to end up becoming a huge, crazy party running on perspiration (theirs and ours) and would be an event like no other.

The opener for the night was the xx, four talented teens from London. I’d heard their tracks “Crystalised” on Steve Lamacq’s 6music show and loved the sultry opening call-and-response lyrics that begin with “you’ve applied the pressure / to have me crystalised / you have got the faith / that I could bring paradise” against the sexy bass lines. Based on their attire that night in Brooklyn, they looked like skater punks. But more definitely, their music does not sound anything like Avril Lavigne. I like dance music because it’s usually heavy on the bass, so the xx’s music is appealing to me because they’re a bass-heavy rock / experimental pop kind of band and do not have a traditional drummer – they have producer/beat master Jamie Smith and guitarist/keyboardist Baria Qureshi instead. I can appreciate the originality.

Also, they have two singers – bassist Oliver Sim and guitarist Romy Madley-Croft. I have a soft spot for famous duetters – think Johnny Cash and June Carter for one – and while Sim and Madley-Croft aren’t in the same league yet, there is definitely something magical when the two of them sing together. “Crystalised”, their set opener, is a perfect showcase for the two of them, as was “Basic Space”, their current single out on the Young Turks (sister label to Friendly Fires’s label XL Recordings). The band’s debut album xx will be released on August 17 in the UK but won’t be available in the U.S. until October 20.

A short while later, it was time for the band everyone had come to see. Friendly Fires appeared through a stage door at the very top of the venue and came down a staircase – first time I’d ever seen anything like it at a venue. In addition to the aforementioned introduction, Macfarlane exchanged a lot of banter with the audience between songs this night, more than I’d seen at other shows. This could have been the direct result of the extremely excited audience – girls and boys bopped up and down, pumped fists in the air, and sang along to all of the songs, making this easily the most animated Friendly Fires show I’ve ever been to, in terms of both the audience and the band themselves.

“Skeleton Boy”, their regretful yet optimistic song about someone in a finished relationship, was explosive with their touring brass section and Macfarlane’s trademark manic moves across the stage. All night, the floor shook with the simultaneous dancing motion of so many people in one place that I wondered if the floor would come out from under us. “Kiss of Life” was even better in Brooklyn that it was the previous night at le poisson rouge. Note to the current MTV generation: “Kiss of Life” has a wicked, wicked guitar solo from guitarist Edd Gibson that isn’t shown on the promotional video. That alone is worth the price of admission to a Friendly Fires show.

Even with the previous overzealousness of the gig-goers, I was not prepared for what would transpire towards the end of the gig. “Paris”, the song that made me fall in love with the band over the Atlantic via BBC 6music, was the second to last song of the night. It started out relatively innocent enough, with Macfarlane jumping down in the crowd for the second time that night. (By the way, it should be noted that in the name of rock journalism, yours truly found herself wedged completely accidentally between him and the stage. It was a rather uncomfortable position to be in considering I couldn’t move – the crowd was pushing forward to get a piece of him. I’m pretty sure had no idea that anyone was standing and stuck behind him.)

Then things started to get weird. Some drunk girl hoisted herself up onto the stage and started doing cheerleading showboating moves, waving her arms with jazz hands all around. This looked silly next to Gibson and touring bassist/percussionist Rob Lee, who were concentrating on playing their instruments. Security unsuccessfully tried to get her off the stage. When Macfarlane got to the lines “I’ll find you that French boy / you’ll find me that French girl / I promise“, he tried his best to gingerly nudge her back into the crowd. That didn’t work either (she was grabbing his legs and wouldn’t let go), and when it became clear she would not leave without intervention, a member of FF’s crew picked up her and threw her into the crowd ready to receive her with open arms.

With all of that drama happening, it’s almost no surprise that “Ex Lover” became a free-for-all. I won’t go into lurid details about the 25+ people who followed the drunk girl’s lead and stormed the stage, turning it into their personal party. It was disconcerting to me because I was concerned about the guys’ personal safety with so many people in a relatively small space in and amongst lots of equipment. It could have ended in tears (band members getting injured, expensive or sentimental instruments getting nicked, etc). I heard that there was a mosh pit at the Friendly Fires’s headlining gig on July 15 at London’s Roundhouse (I read that Ed Mac had even implored to that audience “just dance, none of this moshing!“) but I didn’t think a similar scene was likely in America.

Having witnessed this ridiculousness firsthand, I had to sit down afterwards at the bar stool to catch my breath and try to absorb what had happened. Maybe I’m a prude, but when I go to a show, I’d prefer not having to protect myself from getting bruised up or watch for flailing arms and legs from above, nor people who want to cause a commotion when the rest of us just want to watch a band finish their set. I talked to a sweaty, exhausted Jack Savidge (drummer for the Fires) after the set and he said this had never happened at a Fires gig before. Perhaps the mayhem of their headlining night at Music Hall of Williamsburg is a sign of things to come?

Set List:
Lovesick
Jump in the Pool
Skeleton Boy
In the Hospital
White Diamonds
Strobe
Kiss of Life
Photobooth
On Board
Paris
//
Ex Lover

Tour Dates:
Aug 23 – Glass House / Pomona, CA#
Aug 24 – El Rey Theatre / Los Angeles#
Nov 19 – Mohawk / Austin*
Nov 20 – Casbah / San Diego*
Nov 23 – Independent / San Francisco*
Nov 24 – Sacramento State University / Sacramento*
Nov 25 – Doug Fir / Portland*
Nov 26 – Richard’s On Richards / Vancouver*
Nov 27 – Neumo’s / Seattle*
Nov 30 – Triple Rock / Minneapolis*
Dec 01 – Bottom Lounge / Chicago*
Dec 03 – Les Saints / Montreal*
Dec 04 – Paradise / Boston*
*as part of Nylon Winter Music Tour
# with Phenomenal Handclap Band

August 17, 2009 — Friendly Fires with Phenomenal Handclap Band @ le poisson rouge, NYC (1)
April 7, 2009 — White Lies and Friendly Fires with the Soft Pack @ Black Cat, Washington D.C. (2)
September 15, 2008 — Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires (3)
July 23, 2009 — New Friendly Fires Video on MTV, Band to Play Jimmy Kimmel and Nylon Winter Tour, Release Expanded Version of Debut Album (0)
June 5, 2009 — Dot to Dot Interview with: Edd Gibson and Ed Macfarlane of Friendly Fires (Part 1) (3)
June 3, 2009 — Friendly Fires @ Dot to Dot Festival, Rock City, Nottingham, England (2)
July 20, 2009 — Jack Peñate – Everything Is New (0)
June 11, 2009 — Dot to Dot Interview with: Edd Gibson and Ed Macfarlane of Friendly Fires (Part 3) (1)
June 8, 2009 — Dot to Dot Interview with: Edd Gibson and Ed Macfarlane of Friendly Fires (Part 2) (2)
August 7, 2009 — Basement Jaxx’s New Album Release Details (0)

Mew – No more stories…

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 09:15 AM PDT

The sweet Danish band Mew, has done it again. This month they will be releasing their fifth studio album titled No more stories, are told today, I'm sorry, they washed away, No more stories the world is grey, I'm tired, Let's wash away. Yes the title is a bit of a mouth full, but to counter balance, they give you quite the ear full of their unique stile of indie music. Having lost their basest, Johan Wohlert, back in 2006, the band has not shown any signs of slowing down. Jonas Bjerre, Bo Madsen, and Silas Graae are still putting their heads and souls together to create the eerie-mystical-indie music that we know and love.

Their new single, “Introducing Palace Players”, is yet another testament to the fact that the band still has got what we all want to hear. A nearly two minute intro jam that makes up a good chunk of the song, is a damn good sign of a damn good song. Although the lyrics of the song are some what confusing, there are quite a few lines that hit home for the listeners. The lines “What is it that you do? You gotta get back up yourself. We know so much. So much we do,” is such an inspirational line. The fact they because we know so much, we should not give up now, is something we can all relate to. We have all gone so far with one thing or another and just wanted to give up, but we don't, cause “we know so much.”

The song that follows “Introducing Palace Player” on No more stories, is “New Terrain”, a great song to follow their single. With a soft and steady beat, “New Terrain” haunts you with the reverse delay on the vocals and the synthesizer that carries the song. At the end of the song, it all just fades out to just the synthesizer playing chords that drag out and into you. Powerful stuff here.

Although there are a few songs on Mew’s new album that I am completely in love with, there are some that just sound so bland; the first few tracks on the album just seem to bleed into each other. However, I do still recommend this album to all fans of Mew! They are still kickin’ ass.

Fellow bloggers over at Strange Glue agree: “the masterful intelligence of the aforementioned opening track, the off-kilter rhythms of “Introducing Palace Players”, the soaring euphoria of the calypso-changeover during “Hawaii”, the none-more-black booty-shaking beats of “Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy” (a dark-universe spiritual anti-brother to Modest Mouse’s “Float On”). Then there’s the intricately designed structure of “Cartoons and Macramé Wounds”, which crams four or five songs into one seven-minute masterpiece, an idea so well-executed that it exposes Green Day’s attempts at the same concept as rank amateurishness. Eventually the million reasons as to why Mew are one of the greatest bands around today begin to get lost in their multitude.” (source)

No More Stories is available August 25, 2009.

Tracklisting:
01. New Terrain
02. Introducing Palace Players
03. Beach
04. Repeaterbeater
05. Silas the Magic Car
06. Cartoons and Macrame Wounds
07. A Dream
08. Hawaii
09. Vaccine
10. Tricks of the Trade
11. Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy
12. Reprise

Tour Dates:
Aug 22 – Paradise Rock Club / Boston
Aug 24 – Music Hall of Williamsburg / Brooklyn
Aug 26 – Terminal 5 / New York City *
Aug 28 – Aragon / Chicago *
Aug 29 – Aragon / Chicago *
Aug 30 – Virgin Music Festival / Ontario
Sep 01 – Troubadour / Los Angeles
Sep 02 – Palladium / Los Angeles *
Sep 03 – Henry Fonda Theater / Los Angeles *
Sep 04 – Independent / San Francisco

* w/ Nine Inch Nails

Mew will also be holding a contest for fans to win tickets to see them with Nine Inch Nails in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Check out the contest here!

Mew: website | myspace

August 17, 2009 — Friendly Fires with the xx @ Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC (0)
August 12, 2009 — The Big Pink Announces First North American Tour (1)
August 12, 2009 — Ladyhawke and Ida Maria Announce Co-Headlining Fall North American Tour (0)
August 11, 2009 — Andrew McMahon (Jack’s Mannequin) Fall 2009 solo tour (0)
August 10, 2009 — The Used 2009 Fall Tour (0)
August 10, 2009 — Built to Spill Fall 2009 Tourdates (0)
August 10, 2009 — Gaslight Anthem add NYC, Boston to Fall North American Tour (0)
August 7, 2009 — AM to play Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live, new album August 11th (0)
August 6, 2009 — 8th Annual Lebowski Fest – "Mark it 8." (1)
August 4, 2009 — The Raveonettes ‘In and Out of Control’ artwork, mp3 “Suicide” (0)

Friendly Fires with Phenomenal Handclap Band @ le poisson rouge, NYC

Posted: 17 Aug 2009 08:15 AM PDT

On August 12, the 800-person capacity venue called le poisson rouge in New York City’s Greenwich Village hosted English soaring stars and PopWreckoning favorites Friendly Fires, supported by Brooklyn’s own Phenomenal Handclap Band. I’d never seen a gig in “the city that never sleeps” prior to this and let me tell you, I was the one who couldn’t sleep after the amazing showmanship put on by both bands this night.

Simply based on number of members, the Phenomenal Handclap Band would be best described as a collective. This eight-person strong group gave the crowd at LPR something they probably have not seen or heard for a while – an engaging live performance with ethereal vocals from Laura Marin and Joan Tick and animated instrumentation with lots of percussion to keep things lively. As a local band, they already have a loyal local following, judging from the delighted yells from the crowd and band members nodding their heads at some gig-goers.

How I first learned of the PHB: I was introduced to their sound thanks to my favorite BBC Radio2 DJs Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, who had the band on in early July for a short, three-song set. The band blew me away with “You’ll Disappear”, which mixes elements of house and funk with a seeming nod to the Fifth Dimension. Their set at LPR this night was off to a high energy start with “All of the Above”, propelled along by banging drums and crashing guitars. Throughout the set, it was obvious that the musicians that make up the PHB know what they’re doing, and do it well. In particular, the guitarists deftly handle guitar riffs such as those in “the Martyr”, rivaling those of ’70s era Jimmy Page. As a long-time Led Zeppelin fanatic, I appreciate axe artistry.

And it’s not just the riffs that transport you back to an earlier time, when you only knew of bands based on their sound, not necessarily by their image. The funky beats reminded me of great disco anthems and the keyboard effect of Alan Price’s memorable work with the Animals (remember “House of the Rising Sun”?) The band delivered a shimmery version of “You’ll Disappear” this night at LPR. Another highlight: “15 to 20″ , the song that should be your new summer anthem if it isn’t already, the tune mixing jump rope rhymes with a toe-tapping-licious beat. In short, their set was nothing less than phenomenal. No pun intended. And I’m really looking forward to seeing them do their very own set at DC9 on August 21.

Phenomenal Handclap Band set list
All of the Above
The Martyr
Testimony
You’ll Disappear
15 to 20
Born Again

Now on the main event: Friendly Fires. Since I last saw the guys in Nottingham on May 24, a lot has changed for them and they’ve been traveling – a lot. Their profile in the music industry has increased tremendously not only in their home country but here in America as well. Both this show at LPR and the show the next night at Music Hall of Williamsburg had completely sold out no doubt with help from the strength of and the ubiquity of their new single “Kiss of Life” on MTV.

The band had triumphant turns at Glastonbury in June, London’s iTunes and Lovebox festivals in July, not to mention performing several dates in Australia, their first time the band had ever played down under. As the blog’s resident expert on Friendly Fires, I try my best to keep up with what the band is up to. (And no, sorry, their second album is not due on the horizon anytime soon. They’ve just been too busy gigging to sit still long enough to record an album.) Thankfully, band members’ tweets keep me informed and in the loop even if I gaze longingly and with utter futility at gig dates across oceans that I’ll never be able to make. This most likely explains why I traveled about 300 miles north to see them…

Delighted whoops and yells from the hungry crowd at the sell-out show at LPR were rampant as they waited for Friendly Fires to unleash their brand of indie electronica / funk / shoegaze / and, now, tropical dance pop. Sound problems delayed the start of the show until well after midnight, with the band hanging anxiously on the sidelines until the problems were sorted. It appeared some mikes were plugged in incorrectly and the band’s crew were not happy with the way some instruments sounded (guessing this was a venue issue?) when they were checking everything before the band was allowed to go ahead. Some unruly crowd members shouted colorful insults to the crew during the interim time – totally uncalled for and I’m sure it made the band feel terrible. I’ve been to enough gigs where bad sound has contributed to a bad performance and frustrated performers who want to give their all and they can’t. I told some people behind me, “chill out people, trust me, this is all worth the wait.”

When lead singer/synth player/bassist Ed Macfarlane finally was given the green light to get onstage, he grabbed his mike and with usual English aplomb, he apologized for the delay with a wide smile: “sorry for the wait. We’re going to make it up to you!” This promise was met with universal cheers from the crowd. LPR is a small venue with a strangely shaped room for gigs – it’s kind of rectangular and kind of triangular, so it’s wider than it is deep – but the packed-in crowd did not seem to care. The crush of bodies from all sides made for a mosh pit-like atmosphere, and everyone appeared to know all the lyrics, singing along with Macfarlane’s lyrics as they danced and jumped up, down, and all over the place.

With so many people in a confined space, it’s no wonder we were all sweaty bumping into each other, but watching Macfarlane, Edd Gibson on guitar, Jack Savidge on drums, Rob Lee on bass and percussion, we really had nothing to complain about. After the first song, “Lovesick” (about giving up on a relationship that isn’t working before either party gets hurt further), they were completely drenched. As usual, Macfarlane with his wild and crazy dancing didn’t disappoint either; it’s a wonder he didn’t faint from sheer exhaustion after all the traveling they do and having played Sunday at Lollapalooza and Monday night in Toronto. I guess the best adrenaline rush that keeps you going comes from loads and loads of exuberant fans cheering you on from down on the floor.

Macfarlane introduced their new single “Kiss of Life” by saying that they’d done two crappy live versions of it two nights before at Lee’s Palace in Toronto (this was also documented post-show two nights previous on Twitter by Savidge) and that they hoped this night would be better; it was a revelation with the driving dance beats different from their previous songs, and I think with more chances for the band to play this live, it’ll be even better in the future. I have to admit, it was awesome to finally see it live after only ever having seen it on MTV because the only instruments you see being played in the promotional video are drums and there are so many more elements to the song than just percussion.

“On Board”, the song that Wii Fit previously commandeered for a commercial, had everyone in the club pumping their fists and grooving to the beat, Savidge vacating his spot at his drum kit to stand next to Gibson and sing along with the others while at the same time beat the hell out of some percussion instrument that I couldn’t identify off the bat (er…maybe a tambourine he was beating with a stick? Sorry, I took piano lessons when I was younger).

“Exlover”, the band’s encore, was even more riotous than I remembered from previous gigs. Gibson was all over the place with his guitar and the trademark cordless vacuum effect he has perfected for this song. Near the end, Macfarlane turned the speaker that was directly in front of me around so the feedback from it was pointed directly at us. Wowsers. After the show was over, two college girls next to me who’d driven down from Boston and had never seen the band live before were gobsmacked by the performance. Which is exactly the kind of reaction the Fires leave everyone with every time they play live.

Friendly Fires set list
Lovesick
Jump in the Pool
Skeleton Boy
In the Hospital
White Diamonds
Strobe
Kiss of Life
Photobooth
On Board
Paris
//
Ex Lover

Tour dates
Aug 23 – Glass House / Pomona, CA#
Aug 24 – El Rey Theatre / Los Angeles#
Nov 19 – Mohawk / Austin*
Nov 20 – Casbah / San Diego*
Nov 23 – Independent / San Francisco*
Nov 24 – Sacramento State University / Sacramento*
Nov 25 – Doug Fir / Portland*
Nov 26 – Richard’s On Richards / Vancouver*
Nov 27 – Neumo’s / Seattle*
Nov 30 – Triple Rock / Minneapolis*
Dec 01 – Bottom Lounge / Chicago*
Dec 03 – Les Saints / Montreal*
Dec 04 – Paradise / Boston*
*as part of Nylon Winter Music Tour
# with Phenomenal Handclap Band