Boys On Film

Two Door Cinema Club
From: Bangor, Northern Ireland
United Kingdom

You've probably already heard of Two Door Cinema, the jaunty art-pop group from Bangor, Northern Ireland. They've been plastered over the blogosphere and the NME and were one of the BBC's Sound of 2010 tips for fame. For once you can believe the hype. They're like a menage a trois between the Futureheads, Bloc Party and The Wombats, poppier than a truck load of popping candy in a lake of coca cola with just enough of a whiff of the art school to keep the Artrocker crowd onside.

Go Try

MP3 - Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk (French Horn Rebellion Remix)
MP3 - Two Door Cinema Club - Lasso (Phoenix Cover)
MP3 - Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk (Crystal Fighters Remix)
These tracks areare linked direct from the Radar Maker website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Two Door Cinema Club - Myspace // Last.FM

Go View

Two Door Cinema Club
I Can Talk

Good Golly Miss Holly

Holly Golightly
From : United Kingdom

Those of you with long memories or an encyclopedic knowledge of the plethora of Billy Childish bands will know Holly Golightly as a founding member of the all girl British garage band Thee Headcoatees, a Billy Childish/Thee Headcoats splinter group in 1991. You'll also probably know that she has been a solo artist for over 15 years since making her debut solo record, The Good Things, in 1995.

Where the Headcoatees sound was a blend of girl-group sounds and three-chord garage-rock, with all the original songs coming from the pen of Billy Childish, Holly’s solo sound is more a blend of pre-rock electric blues, folk, soul and less frantic elements of rock & roll. Apart from the wide range of covers of such artists as Willie Dixon, Ike Turner, Lee Hazelwood, Wreckless Eric, and Bill Withers, Golightly also writes her own material.

Holly's travelled a long way since those early Headcoattee days even making it to the illustrious pages of the Wall Street Journal who recently ran a feature on Holly Golightly and The Brokeoffs (check out the interview here, British Rocker Holly Golightly Goes To Georgia). In the article Holly, and her latest partner in rhyme, Lawyer Dave discuss their new farm in Georgia and words and phrases that they refuse to sing (including "Florida" and "make love"), phrases that are notable by their absence from their new album 'Medicine County' which has just been released on the self proclaimed future of indie music Transdreamer Records.

The album was recorded in an abandoned church near Holly's home and sounds like a typically British tongue in cheek take on the well received Americana of Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan. Medicine County manages to be both a subversive and reverent take on Americana and a perfect document of how far Holly has travelled since her early days in Thee Headcoatees.

Go Try

MP3 - Holly Golightly - Forget It
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the approval of Shorefire so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Holly Golightly - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

Go View

Holly Golightly
Slowly But Surely

Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
Jesus Don't Love Me

Boxing Clever

Boxharp

From: North Carolina, United States

Boxharp are an ambient experimental pop duo North Carolina formed by Scott Solter (producer/engineer for the likes of Spoon, The Mountain Goats and St. Vincent) and Wendy Allen (The Court & Spark, Tarentel and The Ballustrade Ensemble) who David Bowie has named as one of his favourite current artists.

The duo's new single 'The Green' is about to be released by Hidden Shoal Recordings. The title track from their stunning forthcoming album, ‘The Green’ sees Boxharp in spacious astral pop mode exuding a kind of earthbound celestialism that makes it at both intimate and expansive. With its chiming pop nous infused with the achingly lovely multi-tracked vocals of Wendy Allen, 'The Green' distills Boxharp’s brilliance into four minutes of magic that more than whets the appetite for their full-length and for those of you yet to succumb to Boxharp's beauty it's available for free download from the Hidden Shoal Store until the release of the album on 4th May 2010.

Go Try

Boxharp 'The Green' from Hidden Shoal Recordings

Go Visit

Boxharp - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

If you like this then check out a couple of band's that Wendy Allen has been involved with and Scott Solter has had a hand in producing, mixing and recording ...

MP3 - The Court & Spark - To See The Fires : The Court & Spark - Myspace
MP3 - Tarantel - Popol Vuh : Tarantel - Myspace
MP3 - The Balustrade Ensemble - The Museums Of Sleep : The Balustrade Ensemble - Myspace
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from Scott Scolter's website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Hanging Around

No Bra
From: London, United Kingdom

God this is so hard. I've been sitting here for half an hour trying desperately to conjure up the words to describe London's No Bra a duo that truly defy description. Combining industrial grooves with sinister Germanic folk while 'singer' Susanne spouts frequently pornographic poetry it's a confrontational, controversial, sinister sound that eschews convention and pushes boundaries that haven't even been created yet. They're more controversial than Selfish Cunt and more avant garde and out there than Throbbing Gristle.

No Bra are the first artist to truly take Patti Smith's baton and run with it, and boy do they run with it, they run to the dark side and just keep on running.

Go Try

MP3 - No Bra - Minger (These New Puritans Remix)
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the approval of The Playground so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

No Bra - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

Go View

No Bra
Munchausen

An Introduction To Nikoo

Nikoo
From: Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

I've never been a believer in synchronicity but receiving an email about Dutch noise poppers Nikoo on the day after the death of Big Star's Alex Chilton is making me reconsider. It's not that they're carbon copies of Big Star or any of Chilton's other bands but their songs fuse Big Staresque harmonies with the noise drenched rock of The Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine to create a noise pop cocktail that'll leave you shaken and stirred!

Go Try

Download Nikoo's debut EP for free...

Nikoo - EP

Go Visit

Nikoo - Myspace // Website

Go View

Nikoo
Cow




If you like this then check out Joep van Son's other bands...

The Very Sexuals
From: Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant
Netherlands

Go Try

MP3 - The Very Sexuals - Billy Idol Look-alike Contest
MP3 - The Very Sexuals - Can You Promise Me The Sky Won't Fall On Us

The Sugarettes
From: Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant
Netherlands

Go Try

MP3 - The Sugarettes - Enola Gay
MP3 - The Sugarettes - Jolene

Glorious Esteban

Esteban
UK, Midlands
United Kingdom

Despite being smack bang in the centre of England the Midlands (the clue is in the name!) has always been slightly out of step with the rest of UK music scene. It's always been a magnificent hotch potch of influences with at least one eye on the rest of the world. Don't forget it was from the Midlands that the Ska revival of the late 70s/early 80s originated.

It's not surprising then that Derbyshire based 'Desert Funk' quartet Esteban (not to be confused with the multitude of other bands called Esteban) don't sound like any other band on the current UK scene. They must be the only Flamenco based rock band from the Midlands which believe me is much much better than that sounds. The band apparently previously performed and recorded under the unfortunate name Onion (cue headlines about making the audience cry!) before changing to the much more exoctic sounding Esteban.

Their new single 'She Goes Out' sounds like two different songs welded together, like a cut 'n shunt (be careful how you say that!) between Kasabian and Gloria Estevan! I can see it going down a storm live and it's made it to the list of tracks competing for the Devil's favourite track of the year. The rest of the tracks on the band's myspace site don't reach the heights of 'She Goes Out' but if they can raise the Kasabian quotient a couple of notches and churn out a few more in the 'She Goes Out' vein then they could be massive.

The Flamenco revival start here.

Go Try

MP3 - Esteban - She Goes Out
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of The Animal Farm.co.uk so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Esteban - Myspace

Go View

Esteban
Say It Loud

The Men From Uncles

Uncles
From: New York, United States

The men from Uncles are Dan Bateman and Will Schwartz, two Queens-based songwriters who grew up together in Yonkers, NY. An alt folk duo who utilize a rotating ensemble to back their songs which includes a double bassist, violin, pianists, and drummers.

Their debut album, Replacing Words with Other Words, is the last stage of a 2 year process of writing, recording, and subsequently scrapping original material. The ten songs on the record that remain take you from story to story; each is a lyrical microcosm with its own unique characters. There's a lot of sex on the record, some urban grit, a fair share of plaintive mid-western balladeering, tales of nursing-home dementia, and plenty of violence, too.

Go Try

MP3 - Uncles - Settler's Song
MP3 - Uncles - Where Does It Sleep?
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Uncles so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Uncles - Myspace

Fan Worship

Fan-Tan

From: Brooklyn, New York United States

Brooklyn’s Fan-Tan formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in 2006 when Indonesian expatriates Kuki and Sandee Kooks joined forces with Ryan Lee Dunlap. Intent on diverging from the college rock scene of the area, the band drew on influence of the Manchester, England music scene circa 1983. After adding Mike Walter on synthesizers, the group decided on the name Fan-Tan, an ancient Chinese gambling game that was repeatedly mentioned in much of the history of the American west due to the many Chinese immigrant laborers in area during that time, creating an “east meets west” connection similar to the band’s lineup.

Despite their "east meets west" back story their obvious affinity for British post-punk and new wave of the 80s and their American location prompt comparisons to The Killers, or at least the first incarnation of the Killers before they went all mustachioed Bruce Springsteen on us. Their newest EP, The Age of Discovery (set for release in April) is so good that the Killers will be flattered to be compared to Fan-Tan!

It's time for some Fan-Tan worship.

Go Try

MP3 - Fan-Tan - On Your Wall
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Green Light Go so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
MP3 - Fan-Tan - Damage
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Fan-Tan Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Fan-Tan - Myspace // Last.FM

Go View

Fan-Tan
On Yr Wall

Shooting The Rapids!

Rapids!
From: Bournemouth /Southampton / Portsmouth, United Kingdom

The South Coast of England hasn't been having the best of times recently. They've had very little to cheer with their football clubs dismally failing to set the sporting world on fire. Southampton are mid table in the third tier of English football (interestingly called League 1!). Portsmouth are in administration and destined to drop into the second tier and Bournemouth are in the ninth tier! But things are looking up for the South Coasters with Portsmouth defying the odds to reach the FA Cup semi finals and the emergence of angular art pinkster Rapids!, a great new band they can call their own.

The south coasters new EP, Maps, is art punk for the purists. Title track Maps sounds like Bloc Party smoking a Buzzcocks roll-up with lead singer Matt's androgynous vocals contrasting beautifully with the art punk clatter of the rest of the band. Void sounds like an angry and explosively volatile Placebo while The Elitist starts like an art funk take on the best of the Gang Of Four before skittering into a mash-up of Bloc Party and Placebo. The Devil likes.

It's time to shoot the Rapids!

Go Try

MP3 - Rapids! - Maps
MP3 - Rapids! - The Elitist
MP3 - Rapids! - Void

Go Visit

Rapids! - Myspace // Last.FM

Atlantic Records

Grand Atlantic
Brisbane, Queensland
Australia

If you're looking for the new Oasis then you need look no further than Aussie foursome Grand Atlantic. The band, named after Atlantic City's Grand Atlantic Hotel which not only harboured guests after the shark attacks made famous by the movie Jaws, combine the Gallagher brothers swagger and way with a tune with the chiming, Byrds-esque guitars and harmony vocals of Teenage Fanclub.

Lyrically Grand Atlantic's new release, How We Survive, released in March 2010 by Laughing Outlaw Records is stronger than any Oasis album with themes of mortality and loss, self-belief vs. self-doubt, and the challenges of living in this modern world. If that all sounds a little serious and po-faced, don’t be put off this is an uplifting set of Britpopesque gems that could hold their own against the best of the Cool Britannia era.

Go Try

MP3 - Grand Atlantic - She's A Dreamer
MP3 - Grand Atlantic - Coast Is Clear
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are published with the permission of Green Light Go so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
MP3 - Grand Atlantic - Single Ladies
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Grand Atlantic Last.fm site and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Grand Atlantic - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

Go View

Grand Atlantic
She's A Dreamer

Pounding The Pavement

Filthy Little Angels Pound The Pavement

Filthy Little Angels have done it again. After rumours of their demise were greatly exaggerated March sees them release another of their famous, and famously free, compilations an unparalleled collection of cover versions of Pavement songs. 'Show Me A Word That Rhymes With Pavement' is the usual FLA serving of unknown indie bands that range from the sublime to the ridiculous with a huge helping of brilliant. FLA's Woon is the Indie A&R supremo.

Looks like my suggestion of an indie covers album of the songs from Chicago and/or Annie have been rejected in favour of a far cooler, but possibly not as funny compilation.

Track Listing

01 Cats and Cats and Cats – MP3 - Cut Your Hair
02 Mascot Fight – Carrot Rope
03 The International Karate Plus – Box Elder
04 Vom Vorton – MP3 - Zurich is Stained
05 Benjamin Shaw – Starlings of the Slipstream
06 Black Heart Generator – Serpentine Pad
07 Postcode – In the Mouth a Desert
08 Ace Bushy Striptease – Secret Knowledge of Backroads
09 Horowitz – I Love Perth
10 Captain Polaroid – Here
11 The Dead Cassettes – Gold Soundz
12 Jack Lewis and the Golden Indies – Stub Your Toe
13 Later – Trigger Cut
14 Rod Jones – Shady Lane
15 Olympic Swimmers – We Dance
16 Billy Ruffian – Stereo
17 Miss Halliwell – Silence Kid

Seasick Yet Still Docked

Seasick Steve
From: United States

The Seasick Steve story is so unbelievable if it was a Hollywood film it would be panned as completely unbelievable. But it's true. An artist from the U.S. signed in his 60's who becomes an overnight sensation in the UK with a platinum-selling album, the oldest Brit Award nominee and Mojo Magazine's Best Breakthrough Act. All this at an age when most of us will be looking to take it easy!

Seasick Steve’s “sudden” career rise began to take place in 2006 after a UK television appearance on Jools Holland's 'Annual Hootenanny' BBC TV show. His electrifying performance immediately propelled him into the UK public’s consciousness. His raw, honest, human performance and his life worn appearance were such a contrast to the fake gloss and glitz that hung over the UK in 2006 like a diamante encrusted blanket. He was a swine amongst fake pearls and that's just what the UK was looking for.

In hindsight it can be seen as a reaction to the dying days of unrestrained casino capitalism, political spin and a culture that valued youth over wisdom. It was almost as if the UK had become sick of gorging on a rich diet of over-processed music served up by bland factory produced, personality free clones and yearned for something real, something human, something unspun.

Seasick Steve's album 'Man From Another Time' is out in the U.S. on March 30th via Ryko. Seasick Steve might well be a 'Man From Another Time', but it’s clear after one listen to his new album, his time may have finally arrived back in his the country of his birth.

Go Try

MP3 - Seasick Steve - Diddley Bo
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the approval of Musebox so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
MP3 - Seasick Steve - Never Go West
MP3 - Seasick Steve - Hobo Low
MP3 - Seasick Steve - Save Me
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from the Seasick Steve website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Seasick Steve - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

Go View

Seasick Steve
Dog House Boogie

Turn on, tune in, drop off!

Hands
From: Los Angeles United States

Hands, an ambitious, ambient experimental duo from Los Angeles are the musical equivalent of the Keep Calm & Carry On posters that have been doing the rounds in the UK since the collapse of the world financial system in 2008. Their waves of soothing, multi-layered electronics wash over you leaving you feeling calmer than a Zen Buddhist on diazapam.

Of the tracks on the duo's myspace site the Devil's favourites are 'Hold', which is all complicated rhythms, whispered vocals and subtle electronics and Returning for it's quasi tribal vocals and ambient electronics which make it sound like Tinariwen re-imagined for a spa break. Having listened to the rest of the tracks on the duo's myspace site I feel so relaxed I'm going to go lie down.

Turn on, tune in, drop off.

Go Try

MP3 - Hands - Returning
MP3 - Hands - Hold
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Hands so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Hands - Myspace // Website

A Big Star Has Become A Black Hole

Alex Chilton
1950 - 2010
RIP

Over the past couple of weeks the Devil's blog has taken on the appearance of an obituary column. Following the untimely death of Mark Linkous news of the death of Alex Chilton reached me yesterday.

I can't think of a better tribute than Cry Like A Baby rest in peace Alex.

The Box Tops
Cry Like A Baby

Literate Rock

The Wind-Up Birds
From: Leeds, United Kingdom

The Wind-Up Birds are from Leeds. They are named after a book by Haruki Murakami. They write songs about car parks, and songs about pubs, and songs about work, and songs about escape. They sound like a John Peel band from the early 80s, like the Fall stalking The Nightingales in Jarvis Cocker's library.

In an increasingly illiterate world where you wonder whether there are any musicians left with anything interesting to say thank god for band's like The Wind-Up Birds who combine the caustic satirical bite of Mark E Smith and the wit of Morrissey with a cathartic post-punk racket as unflinchingly messy and beautifully ugly as, well, life itself.

If John Peel were still alive then the Wind-Up Birds would be his new favourite band.

Go Try

MP3 - The Wind-Up Birds - Night Soil
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Sturdy Records so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

The Wind-Up Birds - Myspace

Go View

The Wind-Up Birds
Slow Reader


slow reader

The Wind-Up Birds | MySpace Music Videos

Official SXSW College Showcase

Team Clermont & MBV Music present the Official SXSW College Showcase!

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Team Clermont & MBV Music are partnering to throw the Official SXSW College Party on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at Flamingo Cantina (ya mon). The party runs from 12PM to 6PM and the free drinks will be flowin!

They will also be giving away goodie bags to some lucky attendees that will feature original artwork from artist Lauren Gregg's well-known Record Store Nerd.Some goodie bags will contain copies of the book "This Is Why You're Fat" (Jessica Amason & Richard Blakeley), ReadyMade magazine, and vinyl from Hometpaes, Merge, Western Vinyl, Domino, K Records, Asthmatic Kitty, Joyful Noise, Control Group, Yep Roc, Dead Oceans & more! For those of you who, like the Devil, are stuck in dear ol' blighty and missing out on all the fun create your own personal SXSW on your Ipod courtesy of the Devil.

THE PARTY

What: The Team Clermont & MBV Music Official SXSW College Party

Where: Flamingo Cantina, 515 E. 6th Street in Austin, Texas

When: Thursday, March 18, 2010

Time: 12PM - 6PM

THE BANDS

Califone (Dead Oceans)

MP3 - Califone - Funeral Singers

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Collections of Colonies of Bees (Hometapes)

MP3 - Collections of Colonies of Bees - Flocks 1
Featuring members of Volcano Choir.

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Dengue Fever (SR)



MP3 - Dengue Fever - Sober Driver

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Jeremy Jay (K Records)



MP3 - Jeremy Kay - Breaking The Ice

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Jookabox (Asthmatic Kitty)

MP3 - Jookabox - You Cried Me

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...and Special Guests!

Party Emcee'd by ExcaliBRAH (SR)

MP3 - ExcaliBRAH - Drank Sippaz

Blu Velvet

Lately Blu Blu
From: Los Angeles, United States

Exotic and punky American chanteuse Lately Blu Blu makes me feel exhausted. Not content with a CV that boasts of her background as a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, poet, writer and visual artist she is also the visionary founder of Los Angeles underground DIY space L’KEG Gallery, the lead front women of Blue Jungle, and a member of Haunted Tiger (of which more tomorrow). How she finds time to eat, sleep and relax I don't know.

Maybe she is actually a fembot time traveller from the future come to save humanity from Simon Cowell. We can only hope.

Instantly recognizable by the three dots under her right eye and provocative appeal Lately Blu Blu is the anti Lady GaGa. Like the sound inside David Lynch's head her understated aloof dark confrontational overtone defies popular belief and excites discontent.

Go Try

MP3 - Lately Blu Blu - I Knew It
MP3 - Lately Blu Blu - My Old Love
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Lately Blu Blu Last.FM site so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Lately Blu Blu - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

Go View

Lately Blu Blu
Act Like A Whore

A Bit Of Banter At SXSW

Banter Artists at SXSW

It's that time of year again and the Devil's inbox is full of invites to shows at SXSW. Unfortunately no-one ever offers to throw in the plane fair and cover the hotel bills so instead I have to make do with creating a playlist of the bands that are playing and have my own mini SXSW in my living room! For those of you who, like me, are missing out on all the fun here are a few MP3s from Banter Media artists who are playing in Austin next week so you can close your eyes and pretend you're there!

A Classic Education

Canadians from Italy!

Go Try

MP3 - A Classic Education - What My Life Could Have Been
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Banter Media & Management so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

A Classic Education - Myspace // Last.FM

Go See

Wednesday, March 17th (5 pm) @ The Redhouse Pizzeria (Music For Listeners showcase, 1917 Manor Rd, w/ Jenny Owen Youngs, Standard Fare + others)
Thursday, March 18th (11 pm) @ Friends Bar (official show w/ The Laurel Collective, Kissaway Trail, Surf City + others)

And So I Watch You From Afar

Heavy, swelling instrumental rock from Ireland!

Go Try

MP3 - And So I Watch You From Afar - The Voiceless
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of Banter Media & Management so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

And So I Watch You From Afar - Myspace // Last.FM

Go See

Wednesday, March 17th (12 am) @ Friends Bar (208 East 6th St)
Sunday, March 21st @ Goodbye South By Party

Dana Falconberry

Beautiful folk music from an Austin native!

Go Try

MP3 - Dana Falconberry - Crooked River

Go Visit

Dana Falconberry - Myspace // Last.FM

Go See

Tuesday, March 16th (12 pm) @ SXSW Recharge Lounge (3rd & Red River, Solo show)
Thursday, March 18th (11 pm) @ Thunderbird (2200 Manor Rd)
Friday, March 19th (12:45 pm) @ Progress Coffee (500 San Marcos St, Solo show)
Friday, March 19th (3:45 pm) @ Papercloud Collective (3901 Maplewood)
Saturday, March 20th (12:30 pm) @ Uchi Day Show (801 Lamar Blvd)
Saturday, March 20th (4 pm) @ Moose Lodge (E.M. Franklin - East side)
Saturday, March 20th (10:45 pm) @ Carousel Lounge (1110 East 52nd St)

Dead Good

The Fierce And The Dead
From:
United Kingdom

Experimental instrumentalists The Fierce And The Dead are an acquired taste. Their noodling, ambient soundscapes are far removed from the commercial mainstream. So far removed that their new single is a 19 minute instrumental epic. It's post rock that's so post it's off the scale. If you have a record collection that includes Mogwai, Slint, Cul de Sac and Tortoise then it's time to make space on the shelf for The Fierce & The Dead.

Go Try

MP3 - The Fierce And The Dead - Part 1

Go Visit

The Fierce And The Dead - Myspace // Website

Had It In The Palm Of My Hand

Wild Palms
From: London, United Kingdom

You wait years for a good cover version to come along and then two hit your inbox at the same time. After waxing lyrical about the brilliant cover version of Damaged Goods by The Hot Rats yesterday, today the Devil presents Wild Palms' (previously known as Ex Lion Tamers) awesome cover of Bjork's Human Behaviour. Wild Palms have created an alt pop pièce de résistance that sounds like an early 80s strategic alliance between ABC and The Associates.

Impressively the track is merely the b-side (do these still exist in the iTunes era?) to their forthcoming single Deep Dive which is due out on 19th April 2010 on One Little Indian.

These guys have the potential to become the Devil's favourite new band.

Go Try

MP3 - Wild Palms - Human Behaviour (Bjork Cover)
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of One Little Indian so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Wild Palms - Myspace // Last.FM

Go View

Wild Palms
Over Time

It's A Rat Trap

The Hot Rats
From: The Midlands, United Kingdom

The Hot Rats are better known as two thirds of Britain’s much loved Britpop combo Supergrass. Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey together with world renowned producer Nigel Godrich. Named after Frank Zappa's album Hot Rats the duo released Turn Ons, an album of cover versions in the vein of David Bowie's Pin Ups at the end of January. It's a difficult trick to pull off. Cover versions are notoriously difficult and the Hot Rats have not made it any easier by opting to cover tracks like the Sex Pistols' EMI, Bowie's Queen Bitch, The Beatles Drive My Car and Pink Floyd's Bike.

With very few exceptions cover versions end up sounding like little more than a pale imitation of the original. It's therefore to Gaz and Danny's credit that, in most cases, The Hot Rats manage to take the originals and reshape them until they sound like their own. The Gang Of Four's Damaged Goods has all it's art rock creases ironed to become a thing of beauty while simultaneously reminding you of how good the original was. A difficult trick to pull off. Roxy's Love Is The Drug is re-imagined as a dirty pub rock anthem and The Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) is utterly unrecognisable sounding like a cover version of a long lost Who b-side.

OK not all of the covers are as successful, Drive My Car sounds like The Bootleg Beatles on an off day, Queen Bitch sounds so much like the original that it descends into mere pastiche and Pump It Up sounds like Elvis Costello played through very poor speakers. But these are minor gripes and in a battle with Bowie's 'Pin Ups' 'Turn Ons' is the winner by a mile!

It's a rat trap baby, and you've been caught.

Go Try

MP3 - The Hot Rats - Changes
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from the Hot Rats Last.FM site and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

The Hot Rats - Myspace // Website // Last.FM

Go View

The Hot Rats
Damaged Goods

Sambassadeur You Are Spoiling Us

Sambassadeur
From: Gothenburg, Sweden

Devil readers with long memories may recall me waxing lyrical about a snappy little ditty from Pelle Carlsberg 'I Love You You Imbecile'. In fact I loved it so much it made the top 10 tracks of 2007. Well the track is still available as a free download courtesy of the brilliant Swedish label, the self proclaimed but actually quite accurate world's finest purveyor of pop music, Labrador Records.

Which is a rather convoluted and roundabout way to introduce tonight's Devil's favourite band Sambassadeur who are also on Labrador Records also home to The Radio Dept, Acid House Kings and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names.

The first line of the band's bio says they formed as the DIY answer to ABBA, their country of origin’s claim to pop fame. I'm not sure how firmly biographical tongue is planted in biographical cheek but one thing’s for sure they've certainly inherited ABBA's uncanny ability to knock out a tune so massive it can be seen from space. Their new album, European, is a deliciously extravagant affair, a sprawling epic of sweet, supple perfection that sounds like, well, an indie ABBA!

Just think in 30 years time someone may write a play based on Sambassadeur songs, how cool would that be?

Go Try

MP3 - Sambassadeur - Stranded
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is published with the permission of The Musebox so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.
MP3 - Sambassadeur - Kate
MP3 - Sambassadeur - Between The Lines
If anyone from the IFPI is reading these tracks are linked direct from Labrador Records website and are therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.

Go Visit

Sambassadeur - Myspace // Website // Last.FM
Labrador Records - Website // Last.FM

Go View

Sambassadeur
Kate (Live)



And for those of you who missed Pelle Carlsberg's little gem then here it is again in all it's glory...

MP3 - Pelle Carlsberg - I Love You, You Imbecile
If anyone from the IFPI is reading this track is linked direct from Labrador Records website and is therefore already freely available so please refrain from alleging infringement of copyright.