Okay, so last night I caught I’m From Barcelona at London’s great Scala. Quite honestly, it blew me away. It was similar to the Polyphonic Spree’s show at the Astoria, but gone European, and much more spontaneous.

A full review will follow, but let’s just say for now that they had more confetti, more fun and more balloons on stage than any band I’ve seen for a while.

After the jump: setlist. Full review by end of the week (hopefully).

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We’re always hearing stuff on the news about how we’re meant to be being greener, looking after the planet, recycling and generally reducing our CO2. However, when you’re on a night out most of that goes by the wayside - until now.

Surya is a new club in Kings Cross that features a self-generating energy dancefloor which by combining materials such as quartz crystals, ceramics, cutting edge technology and the dancing motion of clubbers generates enough energy to power up to 50% of the clubs energy requirements.

A wind turbine and a solar energy system makes the club 100% fully sustainable and an advanced alternative energy system is so effective that it will produce a surplus of electricity which is freely donated to the private residents closest to the building. The club has also installed the latest air flush, waterless urinals and low flush toilets and automatic taps to ensure maximum water saving and the latest innovations in ecological air conditioning units.

And the best bit? All customers attending the club who can demonstrate that they travelled there by foot, cycle or public transport receive free entry…. sounds good to me.

Full details are available about this weekends events here, or if you want to find out more about the man behind it all, just go to the Club4Climate website here.

Top image comes from Ravingheart’s flickr stream.

Hackney five-piece The Wireless are back with a follow up to the sensational “He’s So Proud.” It would be hard, verging impossible to follow up the success of such a promising debut, but the latest installment “Been Here Before” hits the same standards, reaffirming the band’s potential. Combining blues inspired garage guitars with spontaneous lyrics; “If looks could kill then musics dying/These punks should care more about what they’re buying,” the band attack generic stereotypes emerging on to the music scene. This attack is not unfounded, the band themselves providing fresh air and the energy of youth in to the current London garage rock circuit.

B Side “Give In To Me” could have led the release on it’s own. It is both catchy and musically well done, the bass being a particular highlight on both tracks - commanding of the rhythm yet subtle and not overpowering - the bassist should feel proud of his contributions.

This follow up will please and surprise those who didn’t think it possible to follow up the massively impressive He’s So Proud. The band yet again deliver on both musical and commercial avenues, making catchy singles for the radio and keeping true to their garage rock roots simultaneously.

9/10

Normally the words shoegaze, pop, 80s, rave and enjoyable shouldn’t be put next to each other, let alone used to describe the same 90 minutes. However, those are just the words I’m going to use to describe last night’s M83 gig at London’s Scala.

Taking to a stage coveredwith enough cables to give even the most seasoned of electricians a heart attack, Anthony Gonzalez (who’s much smaller and more elflike in real life than I had realised…) made it clear it was his night, and with the help of a few supporting artists ploughed through an impressive selection of his work from the past 7 years.

Naturally, the focus of the evening was on new album Saturdays=Youth, with tracks like Couleurs, Graveyard Girl and Kim & Jessie getting some of the biggest cheers of the night. However, whilst his new pop direction was the reason Scala was so packed, he didn’t forget the diehard fans from his early days (and there were a few…), throwing in some harder dancier numbers which culminated in the encore with an almost full-on rave. Well, for about 5 minutes.

Shoegaze was the theme of the evening really though, with many songs blurring into one, and for the casual fan (like myself) it was easy to lose yourself in the music for 10 minutes, totally entranced by the teamwork and the skills of everyone.

M83 is out on the road again in December, supporting the Kings of Leon, which should be interesting - be sure to get there early if you’ve got tickets.

After the jump: photos, photos and photos.

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Usually, instore gigs are quite fun, but a bit tame - the crowd are divided by stock and shelves, crammed in, and slightly peeved off by an incredibly short set. However, last night’s Bloc Party set at Regent Street’s Apple store was anything but tame. As part of the iTunes’ “Live from London”, Bloc Party played a full hour long set, blasting through 13 tracks and sharing banter with a crowd of competition winners and Apple employees.

“So, is everyone enjoying your black Friday?” smirked Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke after opener One Month Off, “We certainly are!” It was all the more relevant when you considered that one of Iceland’s largest banks have their offices just above Apple’s flagship store.

Amazingly small and cozy, somehow Apple managed to fit 600 people into the back of their store, which whilst tight was amazingly special to see a band who has sold out Olympia twice play to such a small crowd, and we knew it. Drummer Matt Tong joked about the “different” surroundings by commenting in perfect in-store tannoy voice: “And next week you can catch Bloc Party in your local BHS!” to much amusement.

Mostly playing their new material from third album ‘Intimacy’ (”We do have a new album to promote!” joked Kele), many songs hadn’t been played live before, as shown by their nervousness before tracks like ‘Ares’ and ‘Ion Square’, but made it all the more raw.

As “Mercury”’s chant swept around the gathered hordes, Kele took to the crowd, climbing over the theatre chairs, signing things as he went. Messy and sweaty, he joked “wow… sorry if I inappropriately exposed myself to anyone!”

Closing with old favourite “Helicopter”, I suddenly realised that the floor actually bounces - slightly scary, but at the same time worthwhile - any inhibitions were thrown out the window as everyone (even some security) started bouncing.

Enjoy a setlist and photos after the jump.

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The only band to have a frontman who can give Johnny Borrell a run for his money in the irritating self-important front man league, Snow Patrol, have announced a unique 48 hour tour around the UK and Ireland around release day of their new album, A Hundred Million Suns which is out on Monday 27th October.

The ‘Take Back The Cities Tour’ will see the band play four capital cities across the UK and Ireland in a 48 hour period stopping off in Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh and London.

Tickets for these shows are priced £22.50, and due to the intimate nature of the events are available exclusively to members of their fan club via a lottery draw. Each lucky ticket holder will also get an exclusive free Live CD of the show they attend, picking up an artworked CD on the night, which will contain details of how to download highlights of the show the next day.

Sunday 26th October - Dublin Gate Theatre (Lunchtime show)
Sunday 26th October - Belfast Empire (Evening show)
Monday 27th October - Edinburgh Assembly Rooms (Midday show)
Monday 27th October - London Bloomsbury Theatre (Evening show)

I’ll be honest… my knowledge of Israeli rock singer-songwriters is lacking at best.

However when I got a press release earlier today introducing me to Aviv Geffen, I was intrigued - he’s got over 14 albums released over 15 years, and seems to be rather a big deal in the Middle East.

And now he’s coming to the UK.

He’s playing an exclusive London gig on 10th of October at London’s Roundhouse in preparation for releasing a single and album in the UK for the first time.

In the same press release, the F-Gen competition was announced, which sees Aviv opening the doors for video directors, stylists and artists to completely design the look and feel for the upcoming video’s, artwork and tour costumes ahead of a full UK tour and single release next year reportedly.

So, if you fancy something a bit different why not pop on down to London’s Roundhouse to catch Aviv next Friday… tickets are £8 each from the Roundhouse Box Office.

I received this on Friday about a two day festival around Shoreditch in London in two weeks time on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September, and looks quite interesting. I won’t be going having spent next weekend in Scotland, but even so looks good if you live locally.

Created by Who’s Jack, a trendsetting music, art and lifestyle magazine, The Shoreditch Shuffle will boast names from a variety of creative arenas coming together to perform and create for the public, marking a fantastic end to the summer season.

Boys of the moment; 5 O’clock Heroes will play 333 on Sunday 14th September at 10.30pm as one of the headline acts of the weekend. Also, on a musical tip, ‘kiddy disco punk’ maestro Kid Carpet joins the 333 bill. ITV’s Rufus Hound is confirmed to top the comedy line up.

If you want tickets, they’re available for £30 for the weekend, or £20 a day from Ticket-Text.

The full lineup includes: Five o’Clock Heroes, Kid Carpet, 28 Costumes, 5 Minute Pop Promo, Akira The Don, Assembly Now, Depot London, Eskimo Disco, Gary Go, Ghostcat, Ist, Jacob’s Stories, Joe and Will ask?, Kids Love Lies, Little Man Tate, Mama Shamone, Marvin the Martian, Me My Head, Minus IQ, Miss Odd Kidd & Dekker (Live), Model Horror, Public Service Announcers, Rank Deluxe, Substatic, The Coolness, The Fighting Cocks, The Gadsens, The Ghost Frequency, The Sexual Hot Bitches, The Standards, Thomas Tantrum and Vincent Oliver

The Elementalists‘ fusion as a group is really apparent in their album ‘Crazed Maniac’, the beautiful blend of hip hop grime, rock, with a sweet synthesis of electronic extras and a set of decks thrown in for good measure does beautiful things to one’s senses. From the outset the listener’s attention is captured, starting with the tongue in cheek ‘Talk to the hand’ all the way through to the dark gothic sounds of ‘Reel 68′ the group are able to maintain not only their hunger for the right fusion of each member’s efforts but do the same for their audience.

One literally sits on the edge of their seat with ears pricked, eagerly anticipating the next guitar solo from the more than capable Stu Brew. And when their not being tickled by his fingering of his instrument, Brew’s sweet delectable strumming compliment the lyrical delivery of the lead vocalist Elmo to form a musical marriage to be proud of. The mêlée of musical moment makers sets this album up as well as the group for hopefully a wonderful future.

The soft rock style of their second song ‘Bad Times’, shows another dimension to Elmo’s vocal capabilities, highlighting to their audience that he is more than your run of the mill UK mc trying to ‘make a difference’ with his lyrical ability. He caresses the track with raspy chords and choruses until he is ready to hand the baton over to KRL on the decks, who handles them well for a brief minute before inviting the whole group to join in the jam session. In an instant you are thrust into a jazz infused bar, and your foot starts a tapping and soon after you notice your head is nodding hard to the beat that speeds and slows until it reaches its final crescendo.

I love the line in ‘Crazed Maniac’ - “wearing corduroy even though a new style of jeans is in”. possibly sums up the approach of the group as a whole, they are far from conventional, streets away from the nearest, grime, meets soft rock, greets jazz, says hi to blues and please don’t forget the introduction of synthesised sounds concoction out there. The list of sounds included on this album is a testament that there really are no conventional boxes to squish this group into, the minute you get comfortable with an approach, take the soft infusion of jazz and blues on ‘Pills’ and before you know it your senses are being rocketed out of their comfort zone and catapulted into the dark grime and gothic sounds of ‘Reel 68′.

Within this song, you are left not quite knowing what to do with your listening faculties, do you allow the guitar bass and swishing drum beats soothe your person or are you chilled to the bone by the manic laughter that manages to crawl all over your senses. Just as you are about to decide an infusion of blues style guitar strumming is introduced to the track and your body is jolted up by the concerto of dramatic yet directed drumming, accompanied by some serious deck manipulation. There is no opportunity to rest on your laurels with this track, your senses are forever being manipulated, your preconceptions challenged and by the end of the listening experience, all you can do is sit back, exhale and then start again.

Very few albums can be listened all the way through, let alone be put on repeat just to catch what you missed the first time around. Their hunger resonates throughout each track, the question in anticipation of their next album is; whether they plan to iron out these kinks that are somewhat reminiscent of the classic crackle you hear on an old school LP. Rather than hold on to their hunger and harness its energy will they favour for a smoother sound?

“So, erm, this is a song about death!” mumbled Richard Frenneaux, lead singer of Red Light Company when introducing “With lights Out” last night at London’s Camden Barfly. Let’s be honest – as you may be able to tell from that little quote, they’re not a light hearted, fun band like the Hoosiers or We Are Scientists. However, what they lack in fun they more than make up for in depth and darkness, as they showed the packed Barfly.

Earlier in the evening A Silent Film had brought a hint of Keane and awful Dad dancing to the stage for the first support slot. Movie-esque music, layered and gorgeous, but ultimately nothing that Keane, Coldplay and Longview haven’t tried before. However, the one thing that Keane and others haven’t tried was their interesting cover of Underworld’s Born Slippy, which suddenly had a dreamy feel to it… interesting, thought it’d take a few more listens to get us really convinced that they can pull it off.

They were followed by the awful Holy Ghost Revival who seemed to just want to cause trouble with their “seen-it-all-before” 70’s rock rip-offs. Halfway through their set a waterfight broke out between crowd and band, leaving their keyboard temporarily broken and a 5 minute interlude, before they unfortunately resumed their noise. The only good thing was the fact that lead singer Mikko Freeman responded to hecklers: “Yes, we’re gay stoner cowboys! Finally, London gets us!” he remarked. Yes, and we wish you’d just go with the other cowboys.

At this point, our faith in the London music scene was diminishing rapidly, and an early night was on the cards. However, when Red Light Company finally took to the stage at 10pm, we were immediately enthralled. To describe their music as a mixture of Black-Market Music era Placebo, Interpol and Hot Fuss era Killers would be doing them an injustice – they’re more than the sum of their parts, darker and catchier than many bands out there.

Frenneaux appeared distant throughout the set not really interacting at all, seemingly pre-occupied with other things, but managed to fill the stage with his gaunt frame. Surely he’s got to be a shoe-in for Brian Molko’s replacement for confused teenagers across the UK now that Molko has gone all disco-dance on us? Time will tell.

Previous single “Scheme Eugene” was thrown in early in the set, giving Frenneaux and bassist Shawn Day a chance to show off their vocal skills, and a chance for an early rock-out. Current single “Meccano” went down a treat mid-set, having everyone singing along and really going for it, following on from airplay with Jo Whiley and Zane Lowe on Radio 1. Closing out their set, there were no theatrics, just a simple thank you and off they trundled to their next gig.

If they work on connecting with their audience a bit more, then surely mega-fame is just around the corner for Red Light Company.

Photos and stuff to follow.