If you’re a fan of electropop and NOT a fan of JLS, then you’ll love Hot Chip’s hilarious new video for ‘I Feel Better.’ The video takes place at a gig for a boy band that looks an awful lot like JLS, and is pretty straightforward until a man in a white robe floats in and starts shooting lasers from his mouth…don’t ask me to explain, I don’t get it either. I’m not usually a fan of music videos that put sound effects over the song, but it works in this case. Directed by actor/comedian Peter Serafinowicz, it’s as entertaining as it is random. Check it out below:

‘I Feel Better’ is the second single from Hot Chip’s latest album, ‘One Life Stand.’ Check out Mary’s review of the album here.

Touring in support of their new album ‘Beast Rest Forth Mouth,’ Brooklyn band Bear In Heaven will hit SXSW before spending a week playing for audiences across the UK.

Tuesday 20th April 2010 – London, The Lexington
Wednesday 21st April 2010 – Brighton, Freebutt
Thursday 22nd April 2010 – Manchester, The Deaf Institute
Friday 23rd April 2010 – Glasgow, Captain’s Rest
Saturday 24th April 2010 – Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s
Sunday 25th April 2010 – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Monday 26th April 2010 – London, Windmill Brixton

Tickets are available now through Seetickets.

And while you’re at it, check out their video for ‘Fraternal Noon’:

Soulful singer-songwriter Pete Lawrie feels that his music is very hard to classify. He says, “If I had to give my current sound a name, I would call it Southern blues country rock skiffle hop tronica, whilst cringing at my own pretension.” But that explanation over-complicates things. When I listen to his EP, ‘How Could I Complain?,’  what I’m struck by is the simplicity and authenticity of his music. There are no gimmicks and there’s nothing over-thought, it’s just a man expressing himself beautifully through his music.

While there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about his music, there doesn’t have to be. His bruised, growling voice drips with the emotion behind the songs, and it’s this that really captivates the listener. In his biog, he explains that “the last few years have been without doubt the most amazing, eye-opening, terrifying, hilarious, devastating, glorious times in [his] life,” and it’s this emotion that resonates through the songs.

The four-track EP takes it’s name from the first track, ‘How Could I Complain?’. In it, Lawrie asks “So tell me how could I complain?” when he hasn’t experienced some horrible things like deaths in the family, and philosophizes, “you wouldn’t know joy if you didn’t have pain.” This mid-tempo track has a very rustic feel to it, which you really get a sense of in the video below. Second track, ‘Panic,’ has a raw, visceral feel to it. With Lawrie’s raspy voice over pounding piano, hand claps, cowbell and distorted guitars, you get the feeling your listening to an exposed nerve. The second half of the EP is a lot slower and more laid-back, but doesn’t lose any of it’s emotional intensity. ‘Paperthin’ uses strings and tinkling piano to great effect, and is very relaxing to listen to, and ‘Jimmy and the Birds on Fire’ is simple and beautiful, really showcasing Lawrie’s voice.

So if you’re tired of voices that have all the emotion auto-tuned out of them, then give Pete Lawrie a shot – his voice will make you feel emotions you never even knew you had.

‘How Could I Complain’ will be released on 5th April 2010. Pete Lawrie is on tour now with Turin Brakes. See our ticket alert for more information.

London electronic rock band Three Trapped Tigers are hitting the road this April in support of their newest effort ‘EP3′. Check out the video for ‘6′ below and go see them in a town near you!

Friday 23rd April 2010 – Cardiff, Arts Institute
Saturday 24th April 2010 – Bristol, Start The Bus (Tickets)
Sunday 25th April 2010 – Manchester, DEAF Institute (Tickets)
Monday 26th April 2010 – Edinburgh, Electric Circus (Tickets)
Tuesday 27th April 2010 – Birmingham, Hare & Hounds (Tickets)
Wednesday 28th Apr 2010 – Brighton, Freebutt (Tickets)
Thursday 29th Apr 2010 – London, Institute of Contemporary Arts (Tickets)

Talons is the support act for this tour.

In order to test the “new live band” before next month’s headlining gig at Coachella, Gorillaz will be embarking on a short 6-date tour of the UK in a little over a week. The lineup will likely include former Clash members Paul Simonon and Mick Jones, who collaborated with Damon Albarn on Gorillaz’s new album, ‘Plastic Beach,’ which was released this past Monday, March 8th.

Sunday 21st March 2010 – Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
Monday 22nd March 2010 – Bristol, Trinity
Tuesday 23rd March 2010 – Cambridge, Junction
Thursday 25th March 2010 – Brighton, Old Market
Friday 26th March 2010 – Birmingham, Irish Centre
Saturday 27th March 2010 – Lincoln, Shed

Tickets are limited and are only available to members of the G-Club on a first-come-first-served basis. If you’re unable to get tickets for these shows, console yourselves by watching their new video and don’t worry – rumour has it they’ll be doing a more extensive tour later in the year.

Other than Lady Gaga’s new video for ‘Telephone,’ it seems the biggest buzz in the music world this week is around the new MGMT teaser track, ‘Flash Delirium,’ off of their forthcoming album, ‘Congratulations,’ due out 13th April 2010. Some seem to think that it’s a fantastic new direction for the band, while others don’t like it because they think it sounds nothing like MGMT. I fall somewhere in between: I was not, shall we say, particularly whelmed by it at first, but it’s growing on me. It has none of the catchy hooks of the singles off of ‘Oracular Spectacular,’ but that reflects an intentional move by the band away from singles and towards albums. As the band told NME, the album is “a collection of nine individual musical tours de force sequenced to flow with sonic and thematic coherence,” and they want it to be appreciated as a complete album. Ben Goldwasser of MGMT said to the magazine, “There definitely isn’t a ‘Time to Pretend’ or a ‘Kids’ on the album. We’ve been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it.”

They have, however, made ‘Flash Delirium’ available for free through their website, so head on over and download it now!

If you’re anything like me, the breathtaking song ‘Blood’ from Australian folk-pop band The Middle East will stop you in your tracks. After hearing it on NME Radio as Chris Martin’s Track of the Week, I haven’t been able to take it off repeat. Tailor-made for fans of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes, it is both delicate and powerful, subdued and joyous. With its gorgeous harmonies, tinkling bells and whistling, it’s impossible to come out of listening to it without a smile on your face. As their official bio says, ”after 5 minutes and 27 seconds of Blood you’ll be jumping with joy and brimming with excited energy, dreaming that life is all about smiles and sunshine (and great entertainment).”

The song serves as the centerpiece of their debut EP, ‘The Recordings of the Middle East,’ which is well worth a listen. Originally self-released by the band in 2008, they re-released it last year after a short hiatus, and are generating quite a buzz about themselves. They will be performing at SXSW before touring North America with Mumford & Sons. Check out the amazing hand-crafted video for ‘Blood’ below – it is the perfect accompaniment to an already fantastic song.

The Middle East will be performing at T in the Park 2010. If you were lucky enough to get tickets, make sure you check them out!

Chris Corner, lead singer of one of my favorite bands, IAMX, is famously a control freak when it comes to his art. He writes, plays and produces everything almost entirely on his own, and then brings in the band to play live. So I was somewhat surprised that he would release an album consisting entirely of remixes and re-workings of IAMX’s third album, ‘Kingdom of Welcome Addiction.’ Due out on 19th March, ‘DOGMATIC INFIDEL COMEDOWN OK,’ includes re-workings by Alec Empire, Combichrist, Terence Fixmer, Black Light Odyssey and more, and only one of the bonus tracks, ‘Church of England,’ is done entirely by Chris himself.

As someone who can find no fault with original album, I find some of the re-workings on this new album underwhelming, but the Alec Empire remix of ‘I Am Terrified’ is certainly not one of them. While the original track is sweeping and melodic, the remix has a more raw, dirty feel (aka a more old-school IAMX feel) to it that only adds to the song. Shot and edited by Chris Corner himself, the broken glass and dimly lit, voyeuristic shots fit the music perfectly. Check it out for yourself.

IAMX will be performing in London at ULU on Saturday, 20th March, 2010. Tickets available through SEE Tickets (16+ only)

‘DOGMATIC INFIDEL COMEDOWN OK’ will be released 19th March 2010, and can be pre-ordered now.

English piano rock outfit Keane have been known for their uplifting, piano-driven tracks (think ‘Somewhere Only We Know’) from their debut album ‘Hopes and Fears’ (2004) through their most recent release, ‘Perfect Symmetry’ (2008). While their use of piano as their primary instrument rather than guitar is certainly different than most other bands out there, they’ve never strayed far from this distinctive Keane sound. If the track ‘Stop for a Minute’ is anything to go by, then that’s all going to change with their upcoming EP, ‘Night Train.’

Seeking to experiment with their sound, last summer Keane collaborated with a number of people, most notably Kanye West, but their most fruitful collaboration was with Somali/Canadian rapper K’Naan. They recorded two songs for the EP with the socially conscious musician, including ‘Looking Back’ and ‘Stop for A Minute.’ Lead vocalist Tom Chaplin has said “I think those tracks show us in a completely different light,” and I have to agree.

But for any fans worried about their new direction, it’s still distinctly Keane. In fact, ‘Stop for A Minute’ sounds exactly like what you’d expect if you put a rapper on a Keane song. The track has a stronger, more hip-hop inspired beat than most Keane songs, but the piano and Tom’s powerful vocals are still there in full force. While Tom Chaplin and K’Naan trade off on vocals throughout the verses, they’re both singing – the only actual rapping happens in the bridge, and it’s integrated seamlessly. So take a deep breath, Keane fans, and enjoy this irrepressible track. As it says on their website, “It’s still Keane, and it’s still ace. Trufax.”

‘Night Train’ will be released on CD and available for download on 10 May, and you can pre-order a special numbered edition of the EP through the Keane Store right now by clicking here. They will be touring the UK in June, read our ticket alert for more information, and click below to purchase tickets for the remaining three dates that aren’t sold out.

Now based in London, North Wales three-piece band The Joy Formidable have just released the video for their newest single ‘Popinjay’ off of their eagerly anticipated debut album. The track is equal parts rock and pop, with its thrashing guitars and drums and it’s catchy chorus. Directed by Adam Gregory, the stop-motion video features paper versions of each of the band members and lots of flying paper birds. It doesn’t make much sense to me, but it looks pretty cool. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think!

‘Popinjay’ is available as a digital download now, with a limited run of 500 7″ vinyls out from April 5th.

The Joy Formidable will be touring across the UK in March and April. For more information, check out our ticket alert post.