New Music From The Joy Formidable
Welsh trio The Joy Formidable hits New York in 2010 with Passion Pit.
2009 was a pretty good year for The Joy Formidable. They sold out their debut tour in the summer, and then toured in the fall with Editors and Passion Pit. The Joy Formidable isn’t quite done with Passion Pit yet, as they have early 2010 dates lined up in New York.
Fri Jan 8 - Terminal 5 (with Passion Pit)
Sat Jan 9 - Terminal 5 (with Passion Pit)
Mon Jan 11 - Union Hall
Tue Jan 12 – Pianos
The Joy Formidable will head back to Europe after January to complete their European tour with Temper Trap – and release their debut album in June. Have a listen to “Austere” below.
Posted by Wes Soltis on Dec 16, 2009 @ 10:00 am
New Music From The Fauns
The Fauns deliver 'Road Meets Sky.'
As 2009 dwindles down to its last petering gasp, it has become increasingly clear that this is the year that many many bands rediscovered a little known secret known as the Oxford band Ride. Whether it be The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, or the more thunderous A Place To Bury Strangers; the blatant influence of melodious shoegazers Ride could be felt melting the back of your brain.
Forming in Bristol in 2007, The Fauns have a most pleasant sound. Vocalist Allison Garner has a breathy, angelic and candied delivery - blending ever so nicely with a thinly formed wall of fuzz and jangle. Latest single, "Road Meets Sky," is as instant as a cup of Nescafe.
Look out for new material early 2010.
Posted by Joe Roth on Dec 16, 2009 @ 9:00 am
Holiday Helpings: The Little Brown Lace-Ups and 'Happy Xmas'
The Little Brown Lace-Ups do a nice little version of 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over).'
Not much is known about The Little Brown Lace-Ups. I know they are a duo from the United Kingdom who are planning on releasing a demo in January 2010. I also know that Hannah sings, plays ukulele, violin and various other noises. Aaron also sings and plays guitar.
“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” is a tad bit better known than The Little Brown Lace-Ups. John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote it as a protest song about Vietnam, but it has (very obviously) transformed into a staple in any Christmas collection. It’s also one of those songs that probably shouldn’t be covered. And, if you are going to cover “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” you better not fuck it up.
A golden rule for covering “Happy Xmas” is to keep it as simple as possible. It’s a beautiful song for its lyrics and message, so don’t try to upstage the lyrics by doing anything fancy. The Little Brown Lace-Ups understand this perfectly and make the war protest sound just as beautiful as Lennon portrayed “Happy Xmas.” Have a listen below.
Posted by Wes Soltis on Dec 15, 2009 @ 9:00 am
In Remembrance: The Unicorns
While we may appreciate you more nowadays, The Unicorns will always stay with us.
Call me shallow if you will, but in my books, picking a good band name is one of the most important decisions in the life of a band. Pick a bad name and you’ve veritably insured the doom of the entire project. The name must be original and catchy enough for people to remember. It can’t be too stupid or strange; otherwise people will just dismiss it without as much as a listen...
Posted by Andrew Scott on Dec 14, 2009 @ 9:00 am
Holiday Helpings: Far and 'Feed The World'
Far and Chino Moreno team up for a cover of 'Feed The World.'
I very much dislike the original version of this song. It's treacly, overplayed even by Christmas song standards and doesn't even have the novelty value of "We Are The World." I'm not saying I hate this song because Eddie Murphy isn't a part of it, I'm just saying that it would've helped. Plus, if you go through the lyrics, it's kind of really condescending. I never thought I could dislike U2 anymore, and then I realized it was Bono singing, "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you!"
I like this version a lot better because it reinvents the song not as rich people trying to feel guilty for poor people, but a really angry song about a part of the world suffering. As ambivalent as I've always felt about Moreno's work in Deftones (he gets shrieky REALLY easily), he's great here as he works with his trembling middle register that's so great on tracks like "Minerva." The song as a whole maintains the pop sensibility of the original but without the "look how forward-thinking we are" novelty.
Posted by Dominick Mayer on Dec 11, 2009 @ 11:00 am