For editor Mary's coverage of SXSW 2013, go here.
For TGTF team coverage of Liverpool Sound City 2013, go here.
For TGTF team coverage of the Great Escape 2013, go here.
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As a follow-up to the fan beloved album ‘Hello Sadness’ released last year on Wichita, Los Campesinos! are giving away the track ‘Tiptoe Through the True Bits’ (an obvious play on words on Tiny Tim’s ukulele cult hit) on their Web site. Use this link to get it. The band have also handily provided the lyrics here.
We here at TGTF aren’t fans of Kanye West. We are, however, fans of people who take Kanye’s songs and turn it into something great. Take, for example, Oberhofer‘s interpretation of the public gaffe maker’s song ‘Runaway’, which you can listen to and download for free below.
There is a far too much maligned type of band in the music business: the boyband. Having been a massive fan of the late ’90s boyband scene (Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, 5ive, most of the lot), I have a fondness for this genre most likely not shared by my blogging contemporaries. While boybands won’t win any music awards except in popularity polls, what they do – and what they do very well is sing well and present incredibly catchy songs in an attractive package – shouldn’t be minimised or belittled. You might not like One Direction, but (don’t groan) they’re already starting to gain traction in America, as are the Wanted, who had their first headline North American tour last winter. Love ‘em or leave ‘em, boybands are here to stay, so you might as well stop whinging and get used to it.
The latest? We’ve heard about a new band from Cheltenham who’s been signed by well thought of Manchester indie label LAB Records. Called Young Kato, they’re six boys, boys being the operative word here: the collective average age of the band is 18. They’re making a big splash this weekend.. Tomorrow they will play their biggest gig yet with another teenage idol you’ve certainly heard of, Pixie Lott, at the Bristol Diamond Jubilee Concert at Cribbs Causeway. And then on Sunday (3rd of June) they will release the single ‘Drink, Dance, Play’.
I know what you’re going to say. That title sounds awfully trite. Then watch the video below. A gentle synth intro leads into a rather suburban scene. They’re drinking coffee (or perhaps tea?) out of little cups, not pints. Good on them for not glamourising drinking; after all, don’t forget who their core audience will probably be. A woman in dress clothes dances with reckless abandon; there’s something very freeing about that. There’s also brief scenes of a scantily clad couple snogging – let’s face it, sex sells – but it’s not for long, so it can get by the censors. Verdict: pretty good. And get used to it, because you’ll be hearing it on the radio soon enough.
But what actually turned me on to this band initially was going through my feed on Soundcloud and finding their track ‘When Lights Go Out’, which I think is actually catchier and less boyband-ish than the single. If you’re still reading this post, you have got to have a listen to this song too. (And ooh, it’s even a free download.) Remember what I said about boybands and not dissing them because their songs are insanely catchy? I can’t stop playing it. While I’m not agreeing with their press release stating this is “an amazing, punchy track likened to the pop offspring of Friendly Fires and Morrissey” – they sound like neither, though you could argue the wide-eyed wonderment of their singer sounds awfully like early Two Door Cinema Club – this track is likeable, fresh and fun enough that they could be the next hit of this festival season.
Definitely one to watch. With their debut EP out on the 23rd of July and produced by Gordon Mills, Jr. (Placebo, Ed Sheeran), you can expect quality product. Good luck, lads.
Saturday 2nd June 2012 – Bristol Cribbs Causeway (Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Festival)
Wednesday 20th July 2012 – Cheltenham 2 Pigs
Thursday 21st July 2012 – Gloucester Park Festival
Thursday 26th July 2012 – Birmingham Rainbow
Friday 27th July 2012 – Bristol Thekla
Films of Colour‘s next single will be ‘Running’, out on the 16th of July, and we’ve got not one, but two bits from them for you this morning.
First, ever wondered what they’d sound like all electropopped up? Wonder no more. Fellow Londoner Lemmy Ashton has turned the right dials and done his best to the single. Listen to and download it below.
Second, they’ve revealed the video they made for the song while in New York City right before SXSW, and the drummer of a certain Polish band makes a cameo. (More about TGTF being the one degree of separation between these bands in my Friday night Great Escape 2012 roundup.) Have a fab Jubilee weekend, everyone!
Zulu Winter‘s latest single is ‘Silver Tongue’, now to go down in history as famously yelled for by a massive Norwegian at the 2012 Great Escape. The band will be releasing their album in North America on Toronto, Canada label Arts and Crafts, so it makes sense and fellow labelmates the Darcys took a crack at remixing the single. Listen to and download it below.
Electronic music titans Orbital returned in April with new album ‘Wonky’, and here’s a remix of the title track by CSY and Stripes.
There Goes The Fear is where we tell you about the latest tours, gigs, and music we love and think you should too.
We love music that has its heart on its sleeve, tells a story, swims around our head all day or makes us dance like idiots.
The blog is edited by Mary Chang, who is based in Washington DC. She is joined by writers in the UK and America. It was started up by Phil Singer in Bristol, UK.
All MP3s are posted with the permission of the artists or their representatives and are for sampling only. Like the music? Buy it. If you want a track removed, email us and we'll sort it ASAP.
