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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Paul Weller has announced a string of UK and Ireland tour dates for November as he hits the road in support of his new album, 22 Dreams.

Tickets are on sale now, priced around £30 – £35 each.

Thursday 6th November – Crawley K2
Friday 7th November – Crawley K2
Saturday 8th November – Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Monday 10th November – Dublin RDS Arena
Tuesday 11th November – Belfast Odyssey
Thursday 13th November – Aberdeen Press & Journal Arena
Friday 14th November – Glasgow SECC
Saturday 15th November – Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Monday 17th November – Liverpool Echo Arena
Tuesday 18th November – Manchester Evening News Arena
Thursday 20th November – Cardiff International Arena
Friday 21st November – Birmingham NEC
Saturday 22nd November – Nottingham Arena
Monday 24th November – London Brixton Academy
Tuesday 25th November – London Brixton Academy
Wednesday 26th November – London Brixton Academy

The gorgeous (and very talented) Lykke Li has announced a string of three dates around the UK for late November to cap off her sensational year.

Current single, Breaking It Up, is below, if you haven’t already caught a listen of the Swedish Sensation.

Tickets are on sale now around the £11 / £12 mark.

Catch Lykke Li at the below dates:

Tuesday 25th November – Glasgow Arches
Thursday 27th November – Manchester Academy 3
Friday 28th November – London Koko

The Research have bounced back with a new album, tour and a glorious new single. I’d heard of them before this single, but never really taken the time to have a proper listen, however after being sent a link to their myspace page I must proclaim – I quite like the first single off their second album.

“I Think She’s The One” features jangly guitars, dreamy vocals, “woah-woahs” and 60’s style girly backing vocals – what more could you ask for from a first single?

So, if you like what you’re reading and hearing on their myspace, why not go and catch them at the below venues as they hit the road?

Tickets are on sale now for all dates.

Monday 20th October – Glasgow Stereo
Tuesday 21st October – Newcastle Cumberland Arms
Wednesday 22nd October – London Luminaire
Friday 24th October – Southampton Hamptons
Saturday 25th October – Bath Moles
Sunday 26th October – Oxford Bullingdon Arms
Monday 27th october – Bristol Louisiana
Tuesday 28th October – Birmingham Bar Academy
Wednesday 29th October – Stoke Sugarmill
Friday 31st October – Wakefield Esco Bar
Saturday 1st November – Manchester Roadhouse
Sunday 2nd November – Runcorn Underground
Monday 3rd November – Norwich Arts Centre
Tuesday 4th November – Nottingham Bodega
Wednesday 5th November – Cambridge Portland Arms
Thursday 6th November – Brighton Freebutt

The Research’s new single, “I Think She’s The One I Love” is out on October 20th on This Is Fake DIY Records.

After the jump: A quick (handwritten) biography of the band.

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Like your music angular and dance punky? Well rejoice, as The Faint have recently bounced back with a fifth album “Fasciination”, this time completely self-produced.

First single, “The Geeks Were Right” draws on the tenets of futurist literature and sliding, siren-call guitars… just what we know and love The Faint for, whilst being a bit different to their previous efforts…

Catch the video below, and tour dates below that.

Catch them on tour at the following live dates:

Tuesday 18th November – Glasgow Oran Mar
Wednesday 19th November – Manchester Academy 3
Thursday 20th November – London Scala
Friday 21st November – Brighton Digital

The Faint’s new single, “The Geeks Were Right” is out on Monday 13th October on Co-operative Music.

We all know that I have a love for a lot of shoegazy stuff at the moment, with stuff like Kyte, Sigur Ros and Trespassers William having all perked up my ears in recent times.

Now there’s a new one to add to the list – Manchester’s Spokes, a fivesome who make one hell of a beautiful noise that draws from the likes of Sigur Ros, Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire – all amazing bands in their own right.

“The emotional intensity and waves of melody heard in their songs sound like they come as naturally to the band as breathing.” (Drowned In Sound)

“Spokes were next and could well be my new favourite band. This 5-piece had me absorbed from the second they stepped on stage to the second they finished. With all the vigour and natural emotion of say, a temperate Broken Social Scene, their poignant waves of unassuming melody and up-tempo variation was captivating.” (Narc Magazine)

They’re off on a pretty sizeable tour in November, stopping off at some of the murkier venues in our country, but none the less if they’re playing at a venue near you be sure to stop off and take in their beautiful music – tickets for the below dates are on sale now from the local venues. So why not download the free MP3 below, and then pop out to see them to warm up a November evening?

MP3: Spokes – Young People All Together

Thursday 6th November – Darlington Forum
Friday 7th November – Halifax Royal Oak
Saturday 8th November – Newcastle Arts Centre – Basement Theatre
Sunday 9th November – Glasgow Captain’s Rest
Monday 10th November – Dundee The Doghouse
Tuesday 11th November – Aberdeen The Tunnels (with Volcano!)
Wednesday 12th November – Leeds The Library
Friday 14th November – Sheffield The Casbah
Saturday 15th November – Leicester Sumo
Monday 17th november – London The Big Chill House
Tuesday 18th November – Lampeter University of Wales
Wednesday 19th November – Preston Mad Ferret
Thursday 20th November – Manchester Night & Day
Saturday 22nd November – Barrow Canteen (with Mogwai DJ Set)

The complete lineup for this year’s Swn Festival in Cardiff has been announced. The event, which runs around a number of venues in the Welsh capital boasts The Pipettes, Future Of The Left, Goldie Lookin Chain and Pete And The Pirates amongst it’s 130 artist strong lineup.

The event, which runs from Friday 14th – Sunday 16th November, is the brainchild of BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens. Featuring bands, DJs, conferences, art, film, workshops, Scrabble and exhibitions, this is the festival’s 2nd year.

Wristbands cost £45 and allow free entry to all events on a first come, first served basis. Each event at Swn will also be priced individually for cash payments on walk up, however priority will always be given to wristband holders. The opening party on 13th November will be for wristband holders only.

Alongside an amazing few days of music, the festival will also feature two days of seminars on Thursday 13th and Friday 14th November at The Atrium with a bundle of music industry experts, movers and shakers, and will include Huw Stephens interviewing the band Scouting For Girls ahead of their sellout show at the CIA. Stephens will quiz them on their meteoric rise from nowhere to becoming a chart-topping act.

After the jump: the full list of artists and bands playing.
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Following on from last year’s amazing lineup, the Mencap Little Noise sessions are back again this November to raise more money for the mental disability charity.

The series of gigs at London’s Islington Union Chapel will take place over about 2 weeks, with more dates and artists to be announced

The charity’s ambassador, Jo Whiley, may be on maternity leave from her job at Radio 1, but she’s managed to get an incredible lineup to play. She commented: “Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions are a great opportunity to see big name bands play an acoustic gig in an intimate setting, whilst raising money for a really worthwhile cause.”

Fans wanting to buy tickets need to register on Mencapmusic.org.uk between October 1 and 16. All proceeds from ticket sales go to Mencap.

Saturday 8th November – Glasvegas, Cage the Elephant
Sunday 9th November – Razorlight, Florence and the Machine, Esser
Monday 10th November – Stereophonics, Seasick Steve
Tuesday 11th November – Adele, Angus And Julia Stone
Wednesday 12th November – Biffy Clyro, Friendly Fires, Frank Turner
Thursday 13th November – James Morrison, Katy Perry, Sam Beeton
Friday 14th November – Kasabian, Reverend and the Makers, The Hours, Fight Like Apes
Saturday 15th November – Keane, The Script, Bryn Christopher, Red Light Company
Tuesday 18th November – The Fratellis

White Lies, the rapidly getting big NME hype band have announced another string of UK tour dates for late November.

Two days after their Koko show they’ll be back off around the UK, supporting Glasvegas on their trek around the UK.

Tickets are on sale now, priced between £6 and £11.50.

Thursday 20th November – Gloucester Guildhall
Friday 21st November – Southampton Joiners
Saturday 22nd November – Hull Welly Club (Club NME)
Sunday 23rd November – Stoke-On-Trent Sugarmill
Wednesday 26th November – London Koko

As much as I love to hate Johnny Borrell, Razorlight’s new single is pretty darned good. And to celebrate the release of their shiny new album in November they’re back on the road.

Johnny reportedly said that “we’re playing the best venues in the country, a proper rock and roll tour. We’re going to give it everything”. So expect a reasonable show that inflates his ego to epic proportions! Let’s just hope it means he can buy some more clothes instead of his usual white babygrow.

Tickets go on sale on Thursday (2nd November) at 9am for the below dates:

Monday 10th November – Exeter University
Tuesday 11th November – Bristol Academy
Thursday 13th November – London Brixton Academy
Friday 14th November – Portsmouth Guildhall
Sunday 16th November – Edinburgh Corn Exchange
Monday 17th November – Leeds Academy
Tuesday 18th November – Glasgow Barrowlands
Thursday 20th November – Manchester Apollo
Friday 21st November – Cambridge Corn Exchange
Sunday 23rd November – Lincoln Engine Shed
Monday 24th November – Wolverhampton Civic