Saved By The Bell

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS RELEASE "MY CABAL" SINGLE ON GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL / RELEASE "MY CABAL" VIDEO / TOUR US WITH BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW

Brooklyn trio School of Seven Bells (first featured last August on the Devil's blog, Bank Holiday Buffet) is coming off successful UK tours with Bat for Lashes and White Lies and a nomination for MOJO Breakthrough Act 2009. Now, 'My Cabal', the third single from their Ghostly International debut 'Alpinisms', is here, released on May 19th, 2009.

'My Cabal' has at its core a rather telling bit of wordplay. The word "cabal"-usually pronounced "kuh-BALL," meaning a secret, conspiratorial clique not unlike School of Seven Bells themselves-is here pronounced "cable," like the electronic connector. Appropriately, the song "My Cabal" reflects that strange conflation of technology and the supernatural, spinning a drum-machine throb, a few chiming guitars, and a My Bloody Valentine-style atmospheric "whoosh" into a sophisticated dream-pop anthem.

The 'My Cabal' single also includes the melancholy instrumental 'My Camarilla', a halftime remix of 'Alpinisms' 'Chain' by UK ambient legends Seefeel, and a blown-out re-imagining of 'Face to Face on High Places' by Jesu's Justin Broadrick.

The David Mullett-directed video for 'My Cabal' matches the song's woozy lilt with a new take on the usual band-performance video. In the clip, School of Seven Bells play in an equipment-stuffed soundstage as a single camera captures the action through a fisheye lens. The video's gorgeously saturated colors and disorienting, constantly-shifting camera angle create the sense of watching the band while sitting in a tiny, smoothly calibrated rollercoaster.

School of Seven Bells also recently contributed a brand-new track to Brand Neu!, a tribute to seminal '70s Krautrockers Neu!, out May 11th on Feraltone Records.

Go Try

MP3 - School of Seven Bells - Face to Face on High Places (Jesu Remix)

Go Visit

School of Seven Bells - Myspace // Website
Label - Ghostly International

Go View

School of Seven Bells
My Cabal

Cigarettes and Alcopop

Alcopopular 3

Compilation released 1st June 2009 on ‘message in a bottle’ format

First it was a 3”CD, then a tape… and now the third in the series of DIY-indie pop label Alcopop Record’s compilations comes released as a treasure map in a glass bottle. eaturing delicious exclusively (as yet) unreleased tracks from the likes of Pulled Apart by Horses, Apples, Paul Steel, Unicorn Kid, Stagecoach (see track for download below) and many more. There's also the deeply philosophical treatise on the future of east west relations and the threat of nuclear armageddon 'Cock Muff Bum Hole' (ok maybe not) by the Devil's scouse compatriots Town Bike!

The physical bottle (all prettily stickered up in Alcopopular decor) arrives complete with ye olde map – leading you to the digitally downloadable booty! So not only can you listen to some cracking tracks you can also pretend to be a pirate. You can’t beat that me hearties! Tracklisting is as follows...

1. Tellison – Wasp’s Nest
2. Apples – Theo
3. David Gibb – The Oxfordshire Brigade
4. Stars and Sons – In the Ocean (piano version)
5. Town Bike – Cock Muff Bum Hole
6. Pulled Apart By Horses – E=MC Hammer
7. Stagecoach – We Got Tazers
8. Paul Steel – Psychedelia Smith
9. Unicorn Kid – Nuts n Milk
10. Arrows of Love – Prescriptions
11. Ice King of California – I Wouldn’t Want To Do That All
12. The October Game – Cast These Waves
13. The Computers – Track Four

Although the compilation doesn’t see the light of day until Monday 1st June, it was officially launched (into the sea) at Brighton’s’ Great Escape on a blustery, hungover morning – and a team of hardcore fans have been twittering daily reviews track by track each day starting from Tuesday 26th May.

Nows the time to get drunk on Alcopop.

Go Try

MP3 - Stagecoach - We Got Tazers

Go Visit

Alcopop Records - Myspace // Website

Go View

Alcopopular Vol 3
The Great Bottle Launch




Town Bike
Live at the Klondyke

They're Out Of Here

Escape Act
Genre: Alternative / Pop
From: Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

Belfast nu wavers Escape Act (featured on the Devil's blog a couple of times late last year, Break Down The Walls It's An... and Houdini Would Be Proud) have transformed from a trio into a quartet with the addition of a fourth member, Ross Neely, on guitar.

Not content with a mere change in personnel they've also signed to the record label arm of one of the Devil's favourite blogs 17 Seconds.

Their first release for the label will be released tomorrow, 1st June, and will be a re-issue of their single, 'God Says' backed by two brand new remixes from Blaster (see below for a sneak preview) and Exmagician.

Go Try

MP3 - Escape Act - God Says (Blaster Remix)
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of 17 Seconds so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Escape Act - Myspace // Website

Go View

Escape Act Cabin Fever

Come On Baby Light My Fire

Bonfire Madigan
Genre: Other / Punk / Soul From: Brooklyn, California, United States

Bonfire Madigan's Madigan Shive has quite a back story. Saddled with the name Running Pony (saddled geddit?) by her mother until she was six years old she lived in a teepee in Washington for a couple of years and regularly changed her name. Well wouldn't you if your mother kept shouting Running Pony your tea's ready. When she was 14 she finally decided to stick with the name Madigan which no doubt came as a relief for the authorities with their workload halved overnight!

As one half of folk punkers Tattle Tale who released a self-titled demo cassette on seminal US indie label Kill Rock Stars Madigan was a leading light in the early nineties US Riot Grrrl movement. Tattle Tale released before the duo decided to go their separate ways.

After the demise of Tattle Tale in 1995 Shive formed the pioneering chamber punk group Bonfire Madigan with contrabassist Sheri Ozeki, guitarist Shelley Doty, and percussionist Tomas and formed her own music label Moonpuss.

Blending folk, art, punk, classical and avant-baroque styles Bonfire Madigan set fire to convention and hum drum indie schmindie to create a unique and strangely compelling sound like a musical lava lamp. It's as if Kate Bush hooked up with Bjork at a Kronos Quartet concert.

With an EP, 'The Lady Saves', out now and their latest full-length album expected later this year Bonfire Madigan are about to set 2009 alight!

Go Try

MP3 - Bonfire Madigan - Lady Saves
MP3 - Bonfire Madigan - Lady Saves (Acoustic Mix)
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are published with the permission of Fanatic Promotions so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Bonfire Madigan - Myspace // Website

Go View

Bonfire Madigan
Snowfell Summer

The Hot Melts A Devil Exclusive

The Devil's fellow scousers took time out from their campaign to rule the musical world to provide an exclusive insight into the band, their influences, the strangest place they've played and some tips to beat the credit crunch.

So, without further ado, here is another exclusive Devil interview with Jai Otsa the bass player with one of the hottest (groan!) bands of the moment...

The Devil - Where did you get the name and what were other names that you considered before deciding it had to be The Hot Melts?

The Hot Melts - Will, our singer, says that it was written in the condensation that had collected on his mirror after taking a shower one day. Someone had written "You are The Hot Melts" and he thought "we are The Hot Melts....". Names we considered include The Broke Back Mountains, Daddy Was A Violent Man, and Too Much Crack. These may or may not be true.
The Devil - Was Edith (one of the Hot Melts classics in the making check it out here) inspired by someone you know and if so who?

The Hot Melts - The song Edith is basically a collection of different anecdotes from the life of a teenage Will trying to be normal and fucking things up. It's about smoking weed, being a loser, being incapable of looking after yourself....this isn't painting him in a very good light really but he's turned out ok.

The Devil - Who are your biggest influences?

The Hot Melts - We all have quite diverse tastes in music really, but we all appreciate the art of good song writing no matter the genre. Will's into a lot of great American pop/rock like Weezer, Green Day et al, a lot of Britpop (Pulp, Divine Comedy, Straw) but also lo-fi American stuff like They Might Be Giants, Giant Drag, Devo, Grandaddy....oh and a 50's girl group called The Chiffons who are amazing.

The Devil - What is your Unique Selling Point?

The Hot Melts - I would say our USP is that we are the Liverpool version of your favorite things about American music. Quirky songs with good lyrics and a good melody, and I think our live show is pretty good. We're not trying to bullshit you or be fashionable, we just play the music we like to make.

The Devil - What was the first record you ever bought and why?

The Hot Melts - I don't know about the rest of the boys but I think the first record I ever bought was possibly Nevermind by Nirvana, but it may also have been Smash by The Offspring...I bet loads of people lie on this question to try and look cool. I was like 10, and Nirvana were the coolest thing I had ever heard.

The Devil - What's the strangest place you've ever played and would you go back there?

The Hot Melts - Good question! (why thank you kind sir). There have been many, many, many strange gigs...I reckon the weirdest was maybe in Blackpool, we played in this place that was like a kids birthday party restaurant downstairs with a venue above it and got heckled by a man in a suit who was shitfaced. He just kept shouting "Radio 2!" and "Wogan!" and then afterwards told us that we sounded like The Strokes and Kings Of Leon, which I wouldn't say was a bad thing. Unfortunately he got a bit gobby and Jonny our guitarist pushed him over a table.
The Devil - Other than the Hot Melts who are the most exciting bands around at the moment and why?

The Hot Melts - If we're talking about exciting bands in Liverpool I would strongly urge people to check out Wave Machines and Screaming Lights (first covered by the Devil back in March, Blinded By The Lights)who are both amazing bands full of great musicians. As for elsewhere I've been listening to a lot of Johnny Flynn, Jeffrey Lewis and Seasick Steve for quiet times, and a lot of Gallows for the loud times. We get some free CD's from our record label occasionally and we got sent albums by The Beatsteaks and The Weakerthans (check out the link below for a Weakerthan MP3) which were both incredible.

The Devil - If you weren't in the Hot Melts what would you be doing?

The Hot Melts - I would be drastically failing my Archaeology degree at Liverpool University, Jonny would be designing web sites, Jack would be working in a drum shop and Will would be writing songs in his bedroom and watching old horror films on VHS.
The Devil - If you were interviewing yourself what would be your killer question and how would you answer it?
The Hot Melts - What's the speed of dark? Deep man.

The Devil - What are the band doing to beat the credit crunch? Any tips on saving money for the Devil's readers?

The Hot Melts - We've been doing some serious crunch-beating lately so here are our favorites:

1. Use your skills. We busk, £35 in an hour isn't too bad for standing in the sunshine playing music.
2. Check the back of all sofas/chairs.
3. Go for phoneboxes/arcades/vending machines and check the return slots.
4. If you're seriously fucked you can turn to begging. We met a guy once with a sign that said "Need money for booze, drugs and prostitutes - at least I'm honest!" and he was raking it in.

The Devil - If there were an election tomorrow how would you vote?

The Hot Melts - I would vote whatever was most likely to keep the BNP out and so should you.
The Devil - Anything else you'd like to say?

The Hot Melts - This has been fun, we should do it again some time. Check us out at www.myspace.com/thehotmelts and come down to a show - cheers!

Check out one of Jai's favourite current bands, The Weakerthans...

MP3 - The Weakerthans - Last Last One
MP3 - The Weakerthans - Our Retired Explorer (Live)
MP3 - The Weakerthans - Pleas from a Cat Named Virtue
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from the Weakerthans website so are already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Rock The Casbah

Rock Plaza Central
Genre: Americana / Folk / Other
From: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

With a name that sounds like a music show on a third rate satellite channel Toronto's Rock Plaza Central didn't fill me full of hope but gladly I learned many years ago not to judge a book by it's cover and took a listen to the track their label, Canadian indie label Paper Bag Records, sent me to check out. 'Handsome Man' is unvarnished Americana with a hint of indie like Bonnie 'Prince' Billy fronting Okkervil River.

The band's new album, the wordy 'At The Moment Of Our Most Needing, Or If Only They Could Turn Around, They Would Know They Weren't Alone', is strongly influenced by Faulkner’s Light in August a story of a young woman, eight-and-a-half months pregnant, who leaves home with big dreams and returns in shame, which she wears with pride, as she searches for her lover/her betrayer/the father of her unborn child.

Deep, meaningful and literary just a pity about that bland name.

Go Try

MP3 - Rock Plaza Central - Handsome Men

Go Visit

Rock Plaza Central - Myspace // Website

Go View

Rock Plaza Central
My Children, Be Joyful

Have Faith

Faith No More Return
Win Free Tickets For 10th June Brixton Show

Before their dissolution in April 1998 Faith No More were one of the most respected and admired bands of recent times. They were a platinum selling arena act with a distinctly non mainstream agenda.


Whilst the world of rock had their heads turned, in true style Faith No More yet again surprised us all. In February this year, they announced that they planned to reform and headline the Download Festival along with a run of European festivals. This is the summer of Faith No More – get ready!

To celebrate the return of Faith No More and the release of 'The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection' a 2CD album with the out & out fully re-mastered best of Faith No More plus a bonus CD showing off the amazing b-sides, hidden gems, covers, rarities and some very interesting songs Rhino.co.uk has two tickets to their sold out Brixton show on 10th June to win.

All you have to do is suggest a name for the shark that features on the cover of the new Best Of before 4pm UK time on Friday 5th June. Their favourite entry will win a copy of the new albums, a 12x12 flat and two tickets to the show of a lifetime.

Send your suggestion in an email to rhino.d2c@warnermusic.com with 'Name The Shark' in the subject line!

The album can be ordered now here.

The Sum Of The Whole Is More Than The Sum Of The Parts

Math The Band
Genre: Big Beat / Breakbeat / Afro-beat From: Providence Rhode Island and Dartmouth, Massachusetts United States

Math The Band is a boyfriend and girlfriend duo that can be best described as a hard and furious mixture of screeching 8-bit sequenced keyboard lines, driving Casio drums, melodic, yet throat-shedding yelping, and a high and human energy that can only be derived from the childhood naivety that beckons Wang Chung's mantra: "Everybody have fun tonight!"

Currently the band are gearing up to release their second full-length album 'Don't Worry' in June 2009, on Los Angeles up-and-coming indie/electro label Slanty Shanty Records (ANAVAN, Mose Giganticus, CAW! CAW!, The Emotron). The band has plans to tour the entire United States twice during the summer of 2009, playing everywhere from large concert halls, to high school cafeterias, to the sweaty-packed basements of random fans. On top of touring in 2009, Math The Band is already planning to release their long-awaited rock opera entitled "Don't Lose the Magic Eye," which is due to hit shelves in late winter.

With Math The Band the sum of the whole is much more than the sum of the parts!

Go Try

MP3 - Math The Band - Why Didn't You Get A Haircut


Go Visit

Math The Band - Myspace // Facebook
Label - Slanty Shanty Records // Slanty Chanty Records Myspace

Happiness Is A Warm Gun

SmileRifle
Genre: Alternative / Jam Band
From: Liverpool, United Kingdom

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then John Frusciante must be feeling very flattered by scouse funk rockers SmileRifle. Not content with taking their name from Frusciante's 'My Smile Is A Rifle' they've purloined the whole Red Hot Chili Pepper's schtick apart from the socks on the cocks. Not so much Californication as Liverpool Four-nication.

If they can expand their horizons beyond the teach yourself Chilli Peppers songbook and experiment a little more then SmileRifle could find that happiness is indeed a warm gun.

Go Try

MP3 - Smile Rifle - Skin
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of SmileRifle so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

SmileRifle - Myspace

Go View

SmileRifle
Skin

Monster Monster

PETE FOWLER OFFERS FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD FROM A PSYCHEDELIC GUIDE TO MONSTERISM ISLAND

Lo Recordings and Welsh psych-illustrator Pete Fowler are offering a free mp3 download from Brazilian DJs/producers Monsters at Work aka Dinho and Renata Poletto for Magic Morning, off Fowler's forthcoming release, A Psychedelic Guide To Monsterism Island.

Well-known for designing the artwork for the Super Furry Animals, Fowler's A Psychedelic Guide to... surrounds his animated Monsterism Island series and contains original compositions, ranging from monstrous rock fry ups to electronic exotica via psychedelic folk and spooky krautrock. The album features Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jerry Dammers, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (Peter Brooke-Turner), The Future Sound of London (Brian Dougans, Gary Cobain), Luke Vibert, Circulus, The Advisory Circle and Wolf People to name but a few.

Go Try

MP3 - Monsters at Work - Magic Morning
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Big Hassle so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Watch






















Watch an episode of Pete's 'Monsterism Island' cartoon series here.

Go Visit

Monsterism Island - Myspace
Mobsters at Work - Myspace // Website
Lo Recordings - Myspace // Website

Russian Roulette

After a painstaking 2 years, Bloomington, Indiana's Russian Recording releases an amazing compilation album 'We Just Call It Roulette'.

The Bloomington, Indiana-based recording studio is finally releasing 'We Just Call It Roulette' Vol.2, an eclectic collection with more variety than a Heinz factory. The generous people at Russian Recording have been carefully and painstakingly compiling a diverse range of tracks which are more than just a string of unimpressive demos. With bands including eccentric rockers Child Bite, the appallingly named obtuse punkers Prizzy Prizzy Please and psychotic wierdos Everthus The Deadbeats it's oddball rock for the non conformist soul.

With only 500 physical copies in existence the album is beyond the reach of all but the lucky few but don't despair Russian Recording has released the entire album free to the public for a limited time!

Go Try

MP3 - Child Bite - Good Arm Getter
MP3 - Everthus The Deadbeats - First Time Again
MP3 - Prizzy Prizzy Please - Thundergust of Woodpeckers
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Soapbox Promotion so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Download

Download the entire 'We Just Call It Roulette Vol.2' album from Soapbox Promotion.

Go Visit

Russian Recording - Myspace // Website

The Ice Queen

Hafdis Huld
Genre: Acoustic / Folk / Pop
From: Iceland

The Plot

The pace is hotting up for Icelandic folkster Hafdis Huld; a new single, a UK tour, a new website, a new management team and a new album under way.

Last year saw Hafdis gigging in Europe, filming ad campaigns for Mercedes Benz and Reyka Vodka, and guesting on Tricky’s ‘Knowle West Boy’. By the summer she was back in the UK, writing songs for her second album and continuing her series of quirky video blogs which have developed an avid following.

The Recording

At the start of 2009 she gathered together a group of A-list musicians along with French grammy winning producer Calum MacColl, and took them to a remote studio in Yorkshire to record a bunch of new tracks. The sound they created has grown from her first album, ‘Dirty Paper Cup’, using a range of unusual instruments and percussion to provide a warm, organic, live sound.

“It was lovely getting back into the studio. The place we recorded in was a converted barn with chickens wandering around outside. It snowed and we were all wrapped up in scarves and hats and gloves. My Mum and Dad came over from Iceland to cook for us all so it felt just like home. I think that comes across in the recording because we were all so relaxed. It was quite homely and not at all glamorous or rock and roll but I always wore a bit of glitter with my mittens!” says Hafdis.

The Single

The first single release from these sessions is the up-beat, percussion-driven ‘Kongulo’, released on Hafdis’s own label. Kongulo is the Icelandic word for spider; the song was inspired by Frenchman Alain Robert, known as the ‘human spiderman’, who climbs skyscrapers using just his bare hands. The accompanying video (of Hafdis in the woods with a bloke in a spiderman costume) is another tongue-in-cheek classic in the vein of the award-winning video for the earlier single, ‘Tomoko’.

Website, Twitter and the Blog

Hafdis’s beautiful new website is here: http://www.hafdishuld.com.

You can see the videoblog of the recording, and all the other videoblogs here: http://www.hafdishuld.blogspot.com/

Hafdis will be blogging and tweeting about the progress of her single, the press campaign around it and everything that happens on tour, good and bad. Follow her here: http://twitter.com/hafdishuld

Or you can check her out at her myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/hafdishuld

Much More Than OK

OK
Genre: Indie / Country / Pop From: Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom

Enter OK, the best-kept secret in Welsh music, until now of course! This four-piece emerged from the depths of the Welsh wilderness early last year, armed with a charm and wit set to overcome the din of today’s down-turned spirit.

OK unleash the spirit of youth with a casual doff of their caps to the Beach Boys, Morrissey, Radiohead & Barrett era Pink Floyd. Their debut offering 'Tell the World', which is out now on Swansea label Sound of Monkey, is quintessential British guitar pop at its finest and a tantalising taster for their debut album 'You Can Turn This Around' .

Go Try

MP3 - OK - Star
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Future Proof Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

OK - Myspace // Website

Go View

OK
Stiff Upper Lip

The Changing Of The Avant Garde

The Cubists
Genre: Psychedelic / Shoegaze / Experimental From: Augusta, Georgia, United States

True to their name, The Cubists approach to pop is like ELO as painted by Picasso and Braque. All the structures are there, the chorus and verse, the bridge and hook, but they're all bent out of shape, all twisted and manipulated, expanded and enhanced far beyond the normal boundaries of pop.

Over the course of seven material-mining years the Augusta, Georgia-based psych-rock act has evolved from earnest power pop trio to something bigger, bolder and infinitely more complex. Incorporating dense orchestral arrangements, electronic experimentation, found sounds and field recordings, The Cubists have grown in both size and scope. Channeling disparate musical elements and personal loss the band has emerged with the sprawling debut full-length, 'Mechanical Advantage'.

Recorded over the course of nearly two years at home and with Athens, Georgia producer David Barbe (Drive-By-Truckers, Cracker), Mechanical Advantage, marks the bands first proper recording effort, as well as the first release for their Augusta based label Semi-Precious.

Incorporating principal songwriter Noel Brown’s love of psychedelia and electronica, guitarist Marcus Barfield’s interest in both classic rock and atonal jazz and Chris Carrick’s intuitive and dynamic drumming, The Cubists, which now include multi-instrumentalist Eric Kinlaw and bassist Jack Craig, have made a record that is equal part punk rock and psychedelic pop, orchestral arrogance and heart-on-sleeve humility.

It was the unexpected death of Brown’s father, himself a musician, that prompted a more serious approach to music; allowing the songwriter to channel the loss through his sonic endeavors. But it would be a mistake to think that the music of The Cubists is an exclusively somber affair. Rather, it represents a wide spectrum of emotion…and there is plenty of hope and exuberance thrown into the mix.

Go Try

MP3 - The Cubists - She's Got Blood

If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Team Clermont so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

The Cubists - Myspace

Life Is A CABaret

Taxi Taxi
Genre: Indie
From: Stockholm, Sweden

Taxi Taxi are extremely young and obscenely talented Swedish twin girls who have just completed high school and the greatest thing about them is they've spent their entire youth writing songs about love and life in their bedroom.

This is music without adornment, there's nothing superfluous, nothing flash, no gimmicks, no tricks just acoustic guitar and voice. It's delicate, wispy melodicism as minimalist as a Zen garden at night and as sweet as summer strawberries. It's like a distant voice from another world, beautifully out of step with the pop sensibility of the 21st century. If Simon and Garfunkel were a young indie female duo from Sweden they'd have sounded like Taxi Taxi.

Anyone yearning for the classical simplicity and beauty of the Young Marble Giants, Weekend, The Marine Girls and the young Tracey Thorn could find their dreams fulfilled by Taxi Taxi.

Go Try

MP3 - Taxi Taxi - More Childish Than In A Long Time
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Tigerspring so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Taxi Taxi - Myspace

Bye Bye Baby

Au Revoir Simone Gives Away Catalogue With Still Night, Still Light

This week Brooklyn indie pop darlings Au Revoir Simone released their sophomore full-length, 'Still Night, Still Light', as part of a generous package. As if a brand new album of bittersweet pop wasn’t enough, for the next two weeks, anyone purchasing the album at Amie St they get (totally free, gratis, without any more money changing hands!) the entire Au Revoir Simone back catalogue as a thank you for buying the new stuff. That’s their debut LP, 'The Bird of Music', last year’s remix collection 'Reverse Migration', and the introductory mini-album 'Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation'. Hours of beautiful music, free with every purchase.

One of the new album's finest tracks 'All or Nothing' is available for free download below as a little taster.

Go Try

MP3 - Au Revoir Simone - All Or Nothing
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of The Orchard so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Buy

Buy Here: Amie St | B&N | iTunes

Go Visit

Au Revoir Simone - Myspace // Website

We're So Pretty, Oh So Pretty

To help celebrate and bring in the bank holiday weekend, below are two more tracks from Pretty Lights' FREE double album Filling Up The Pretty Skies. All of Pretty Lights' music is available for free download at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

Having drawn recent comparisons to DJ Shadow and Girl Talk, more and more ears are discovering and falling in love with Pretty Lights' ability to mix several genres of music and create electro organic beats that are driving dance floors across the country into frenzies.

Go Try

MP3 - Pretty Lights - More Important Than Michael Jordan
MP3 - Pretty Lights - Up & Down I Go
MP3 - Pretty Lights - Hot Like Sauce
MP3 - Pretty Lights - The Time Has Come
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Sneak Attack Media so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go View

Pretty Lights - Myspace // Website

Go View

Pretty Lights
Up & Down I Go

Kentucky Fried Chico

Chico Fellini
Genre: Rock / Melodramatic Popular Song / Pop From: Kentucky, United States

Kentucky foursome Chico Fellini have an identity crisis worse than a schizophrenic in a hall of mirrors. They mix styles and influences like a cocktail waiter mixes drinks, one minute they're adopting a punkish nu wave style that recalls the early years of Elvis Costello the next they go all Rock Lobster on us.

This variety isn't without it's merits 'Control', see video below, for example is a sclerotic, less sexually precocious Louis XIV which stands out as one the bands best tracks. Meanwhile 'Uli', available for download below, is an exotic cocktail that sounds something like Antony & The Johnsons covering Spandau Ballet in the style of the Associates which is such a wonderful idea it's amazing no-one else has tried it.

Despite the mixing their styles as often as an alcoholic mixes his drinks the band win you over with their hyperactive impudence and bewildering energy. Now all they need to do is focus all that energy on creating a style of their own and then it will truly be Chico time.

Go Try

MP3 - Chico Fellini - Uli
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Crash Avenue so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Chico Fellini - Myspace // Website

Go View

Chico Fellini
Control

Bank Holiday Bonanza

It's a bank holiday weekend in England so here's a bonanza of tracks that have hit the Devil's inbox over the past week or so...

First up a new track Black Moth Super Rainbow's new album 'Eating Us'...

MP3 - Black Moth Super Rainbow - Twin Of Myself
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Shorefire so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

and a couple of oldies...

MP3 - Black Moth Super Rainbow - I Am The Alphabet
MP3 - Black Moth Super Rainbow - Trees and Colors and Wizards
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from the Black Moth Super Rainbow website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Myspace // Website

Next up it's the second single from the debut album of Canada's best kept secret, the Coast...

The Coasts' sound has been described as a Canadian band who sound like a British band trying to sound American. Find out for yourself.

MP3 - The Coast - No Secret Why
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Afternoon Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

The Coast - Myspace // Website

and there's more with the alt-folk of Alexa Woodward...

MP3 - Alexa Woodward - Spoon
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of PiratePirate so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Alexa Woodward - Myspace // Website

and to finish off this launch party for the late May bank holiday here are Brooklyn's Suckers...


MP3 - Suckers - It Gets Your Body Movin
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of I Am Sound Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Suckers - Myspace

A Night At The Opera

Vagabond Opera
Genre: Indie / Jazz / Experimental
From: Portland, Oregon, United States

Opera is alive. Vagabond Opera (the critically-acclaimed sextet from Portland Oregon), pumps life into opera with the bellows of an untamed Romanian accordion, re-invents it, and accomplishes the near-impossible. The ensemble prompts Music Halls, Performing Arts Centers, taverns even, to resound with the ovations of the vox populi, clamoring, once again, for opera’s new wave.

The curtain parts: steampunked Absinthe-era vestments, thirteen languages, an operatic encounter that puts its green-backed silver dollar where its mouth is—square in the center of a ringing high C that beckons the zeitgeist in a juicy song. The words go like this: Opera’s no longer stuffy and elite; it’s for you and it brims and burns with new life, a gypsy bouillabaisse brewed of Balkan, Jazz, bohemian cabaret, Arabic maquam, vital and reinvigorating, marking uncharted territory. It’s a new world opera, a global one. The curtain closes. Encores. Room keys thrown on to the stage. Opera reinvented.

The band's lineup features trained operatic tenor and soprano vocals, accordion, tenor saxophone, cello, violin, musical saw, banjo-lele, stand-up bass and drums.

Vagabond Opera is at the vanguard of a growing popularity in the Neo-cabaret phenomenon, and through their theatrical performances, lyrics in 13 languages, and an eclectic repertoire, they liberate opera from its usual construct, expanding musical and theatrical biodiversity. Vagabond Opera has performed all over the USA and in Europe. They have been featured on NPR, in the Washington Post and Jazziz Magazine, and have shared stages and players with Pink Martini, Devotchka, The Decemberists, and the Oregon Symphony.

If you've been searching for a band that sounds like it's swallowed a Gogol Bordello, Beirut, Topol, and Dresden Dolls cocktail then your luck is in because here come Vagabond Opera. Their album is prophetically titled 'The Zeitgeit Beckons' and who am I to argue.

Go Try

MP3 - Vagabond Opera - New Year's Eve In A Haunted House
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of the Musebox so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Vagabond Opera - Myspace // Website

Go View

Vagabond Opera
Marlene Dietrich

Brimful of Passion

Cornershop
Genre: Psychedelic
From: United Kingdom

Here's something that doesn't happen very often, a new record from one of the UK's most cherished bands, Cornershop.

They will be releasing the 1st single from their forthcoming album on Tuesday 26 May. The new single is titled 'The Roll Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)' and will be released on Cornershop's own Ample Play Records imprint. The Devil has a twitchy house remix of the single available for download for a limited period.

Vinyl copies of the single are to be distributed through Cargo to local shops, however, both vinyl and digital copies are also available for sale directly and securely at the Cornershop On-Line Shop from the group themselves, at www.cornershop.com .

Musically it’s different, from the trombone/sitar get-go, right down to its funk outro, with country piano added for good measure. Different, but typically Cornershop.

Go Try

MP3 - Cornershop - The Roll Off (Solo Mix)
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this tracks is published with the permission of Ample Play Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Cornershop - Myspace // Website

Go View

Cornershop
The Roll Off Characterstics (Of History In The Making)

The Roll Off Characteristics - Cornershop from Khushi Films on Vimeo.