I love Koko in London - some of my favourite gigs of the year have taken place there (Stars, Air Traffic and Death Cab to list three - I also caught Tegan and Sara and Delays there, but didn’t write a review). They’re upping their game a bit, and have released some quick “highlights” programmes if you will - below is the Gossip @ Koko, or if guitar rock is more your sorta thing then catch The Enemy here.

Black Cab Sessions have garnered quite a cult following recently, with some massive artists playing the back of a cab… these include Brian Wilson,  Badly Drawn Boy, Lykke Li and Death Cab For Cutie. However, I honestly think that the latest one with Kurt from Lambchop was the best… catch it below:

Stumbled across this music video that recycles clips from 41 TV adverts - it’s by a Los Angeles band called From, and sounds pretty good, but the video is what takes a good song to an amazing combination.

Swedish duo First Aid Kit are Wichita’s latest signings, and are playing the label’s Christmas bash at Hoxton Bar and Grill (tickets £5). To get in the seasonal spirit of things they’ve done a special video… sounds like Tegan and Sara gone all Fleet Foxes on us. And that’s a good thing.

MUZU.tv has a great video from a band calling themselves the British Port Authority. Their new single, Seattle, is taken from their forthcoming album “I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat” which features the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Jack Penate, David Byrne, Iggy Pop and Martha Wainwright. I can’t find an official website, but watch the video and enjoy anyway!

Air Traffic have announced a selection of dates for April.

The Bournemouth lads will play the below dates: tickets go on sale at 9am today (Tuesday 5th February)

Thursday 24th April - Exeter Lemon Grove
Friday 25th April - Brighton Concorde 2
Saturday 26th April - Sheffield Carling Academy
Monday 28th April - Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
Tuesday 29th April - Norwich Waterfront
Wednesday 30th April - London Shepherds Bush Empire

Sometimes a band that has a great album, they’re shockingly awful when you go and see them live (yes, Magic Numbers, I’m looking at you). However, Air Traffic tonight proved that you can have an exceptional album, and be amazing live.

Opening up were The Runners, initially a pretty average band, however as their set progressed a particularly dazzling ending couple of singles – catchy, poppy, and pretty intelligent stuff – but none too original. But ho hum.

Second up was Alberta Cross. Now, normally their music would be right up my street, but for a gig full of teenagers wanting to have the loud version of a band, to come on and say “We’re Alberta Cross, and we play acoustic guitars” is almost like advertising “time for a loo break for those that need it, else blow up a condom and bounce it round the crowd and boo where you see fit”, which is exactly what happened. Good stuff, but pretty samey, and not at all suited to the crowd.

Then, finally, the moment we’d all been waiting for: Air Traffic. Their debut album, Fractured Life, is full of rather good singles, varied, but still not too far out of the mainstream (and far better than Athlete (who some have compared them to) any day). Launching through their catalogue, they went at a breakneck speed, playing new stuff, old stuff, and everything everyone wants.

The highlight was, without a doubt, their last single “No More Running Away”, thrown in just before the end of their main set, seeing two drums beating out the enchanting chorus that had the whole room chanting “No more…. Running away…” it was quite hypnotic, and the exact reason I went to see them.

They all seemed pretty gobsmacked at the response we gave them – Chris, the lead singer, couldn’t stop thanking the audience, and seemed to imply it was the pinnacle of their past year, even uttering those famous words “you know, I think this is our best gig ever”.

Closing off the encore with “Shooting Star”, the lads from Bournemouth showed just what a long way they’ve come in the past year, and shown us that there’s plenty more of where their stunning debut album came from. Read the rest of this entry »