With the end of the world nearing fast and the future of humanity staring into a Swedish black hole, I thought it would be a great opportunity to sing the praises of a band I’ve really enjoyed listening to over the last few months!

In the mix of this wonderful feel good indie summer, the superb Liverpudlians, Wave Machines, have been spilling their beautifully melodic, electro pop charm all over the UK.  As well as a jammed packed summer, the boys still managed to release their ultra catchy debut single, ‘I Go, I Go, I Go’.

It’s hard to describe the exact sound this band where intending when they first got together in January 2007, but what they have come up with is a perfect mix of dancable rhythm and soft electric melody that will sink into your brain along with the comforting vocals on first listen.

The boys have already been crowned winners of Zane Lowe’s ‘Fresh Meet’ slot on Radio 1 and described by NME as “Liverpool’s best kept secret”.  Don’t be suprised if you soon find yourself throwing uncontrolable shapes to the hypnotic sounds of the Wave Machines on every indie dance floor!

This review originally appeared on Londonist.

On Monday night I caught US indie supremos Death Cab for Cutie at Koko in Camden as they played as part of the month long iTunes festival at the venue. Needless to say, after having a number one US album, appearing on the OC back when it was good, having a platinum selling big-label debut and selling out two nights at Brixton Academy in the past two years, getting to see them at the relatively intimate Koko was an amazing opportunity that we just couldn’t pass up.

The tricky task of supporting Death Cab went to Das Pop. Normally if you play the hottest pop band to come out of Belgium in a few years to a room full of indie Death Cab fans you’d be seeing a mass exodus for the bar. Somehow though, they managed to win just about the whole auditorium around, with their catchy tunes that sound like Alphabeat songs done by Iggy Pop. Led by Bent Van Looy who looks like Alex Kapranos (of Franz Ferdinand), but with the energy of Mika, the four piece hurtled through 45 minutes of pure pop bliss. Culminating in a mass sing along at the end to “I can’t get enough of your love” and then current single “Underground”, we realised that although we’d come to see Death Cab for Cutie, they’d got a tough act to follow.

Bursting onto the stage from behind a very plush red velvet curtain, Death Cab for Cutie arrived and plunged through a mixture of old favourites and newer tracks from their massive selling “Narrow Stairs”. The new songs such as “Cath”, “No Sunlight” and “Long Division” fit just perfectly next to old classics such as “New Year”, “Crooked Teeth” and “Soul Meets Body”. A few technical troubles blighted the band throughout the set, prompting lead singer and chief songwriter Ben Gibbard to joke “I feel like I’m in a movie and I don’t know what’s going to happen next!” as he introduced “Movie Script Ending”. One of the biggest cheers of the evening came for the epic “I will Possess Your Heart”, an 8 minute rock out that looks set to be one of the best things the band have done, and a chance for them to stretch their legs musically.

Closing out the main set with “Sound of Settling”, Ben came back on his own to do an enchanting version of “I will follow you into the dark”, featuring everyone singing along for a proper hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck moment. To finish was the classic “Transatlanticism”, a slow builder that builds into a frenzy, a fitting ending to an evening with some of US indie rock’s biggest stars of today.

It seems that Scandanavians currently have one of the best music scenes around at the moment, managing to have some of the most diverse, and interesting, acts around at the moment. Denmark’s Alphabeat are set to take over the airwaves in 2008 with their unique brand of camp, over-the-top pop which makes the Scissor Sisters look tame.

Perfectly danceable, lyrically strong, and quintessentially Danish in sound, they have some of the best tunes since the Scissor Sisters with a much more European feel, and a hint of flashbacks from the 90’s too. Their self-titled debut came out last summer in Denmark, and is out this May in the UK, but is one of the most varied collections of music I’ve heard in a while - a really great album.

Fans include the Sun, the NME, and a fair few blogs and online news sites, and they have the same management as Mika - and we all know how big Mika has become, love it or hate it.

They’re currently on tour with Palladium around the UK, and I’ll be going to see them on Monday night in Oxford - expect a full review on Tuesday.

The Sugababes have announced details of a jaunt around the UK’s theatres and medium venues in March and April next year. The month long tour will see them play 20 nights around the country, though whether the girls can all stay together by the end of it is another thing!

The dates include one night at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Tickets go on sale on Friday (October 19) at 9am. UPDATE: New dates have been added and are on sale now. New dates are listed below their already announced dates.

Thursday 13th March 2008 - Brentwood Leisure Centre
Friday 14th March - Brighton Dome
Sunday 16th March - Plymouth Pavilions
Monday 17th March - Oxford New Theatre
Tuesday 18th March - Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Thursday 20th March - London Royal Albert Hall
Friday 21st March - Derby Assembly Rooms
Saturday 22nd March - Portsmouth Guildhall
Monday 24th March - Carlisle Sands Centre
Tuesday 25th March - Newcastle City Hall
Wednesday 26th March - Glasgow Clyde Auditorium
Friday 28th March - Wolverhampton Civic Hall
Saturday 29th March - Blackburn King George’s Hall
Monday 31st March - Bradford St George’s Hall
Tuesday 1st April - Manchester Apollo
Friday 4th April - Grimsby Auditorium
Saturday 5th April - Bristol Colston Hall
Monday 7th April - Sheffield City Hall
Tuesday 8th April - Cambridge Corn Exchange
Wednesday 9th April - Leicester De Montford Hall

NEW dates:

Friday 11th April - Harrogate International Centre
Sunday 13th April - Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Friday 18th April - Reading Hexagon Theatre
Saturday 19th April - Preston Guildhall
Monday 21st April - Bournemouth International Centre
Tuesday 22nd April - Swindon Oasis Leisure Centre
Wednesday 23rd April - Cardiff Arena

Have no taste in music? Want to see a load of 30-something mums crying along to songs? Then go and see Westlife who are on tour next March around the UK. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday morning. Sounds like Ticketmaster’s going to be very popular with mums on Friday!

Friday 29th February - Liverpool Echo Arena
Saturday 1st March - London O2
Tuesday 4th March - Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Saturday 8th March - Cardiff International Arena
Wednesday 12th March - Nec Birmingham
Saturday 15th March - Manchester Men Arena
Thursday 20th March - Glasgow Secc
Monday 24th March - Nottingham Arena
Tuesday 25th March - Sheffield Hallam Fm Arena

It seems that the Spice Girls have finally bowed to the inevitable and added a TONNE of dates to their residency at the O2. Tickets for the majority of dates are supposed to go on sale on Saturday (6th October) at 10am, however expect tickets to go either very quickly or for scalpers to take them.

Further dates are thought to be announced shortly in North America and the rest of the world. Catch the Girls at the following 14 UK dates:

Saturday 15th December 2007 - London, The O2
Sunday 16th December 2007 - London, The O2
Tuesday 18th December 2007 - London, The O2
Tuesday 2nd January 2008 - London, The O2
Wednesday 3rd January 2008 - London, The O2
Thursday 4th January 2008 - London, The O2
Saturday 6th January 2008 - London, The O2
Monday 8th January 2008 - London, The O2
Tuesday 9th January 2008 - London, The O2
Thursday 11th January 2008 - London, The O2
Friday 12th January 2008 - London, The O2
Saturday 13th January 2008 - London, The O2
Monday 15th January 2008 - London, The O2
Tuesday 16th January 2008 - London, The O2

“This is a slower song – hope you don’t mind” Palladium’s Peter Pepper says before launching into “White Woman”. The audience certainly didn’t, as it gave a welcome respite from the scintillating pace they’d been playing at for the last twenty minutes.

Opening up with their new single “Happy Hour”, they quickly set out their manifesto: fast, friendly and frantic pop. Racing through 7 songs in 30 minutes, they worked the crowd well and had more arms flailing down the front than The Thrills did half an hour later for the main set of the evening.

Whilst trying to think of a band to compare them to, this Londonista really couldn’t decide, in the end settling on Klaxons fronted by Patrick Wolf playing Delays and Sunshine Underground. They really are an oddball group of people that really shouldn’t be in a band together, but somehow it just works.

There were three songs in the set (their opening two and closing song) which were very promising, easily able to outshine most of the current crop of pop-wannabes; however the middle of the set did seem to largely be filler that started to sound very similar. Their energy may have been unstoppable, but it’s no good if the tunes all sound similar but slightly re-jigged.

Peter Pepper (if that is his real name…) introduced the last, and perhaps best, song of their evening, Hi-5, by giving the record company spiel about buying their new single in a decidedly boring and un-Palladium like way… they might as well got the guys from EMI to do it themselves. This is one band where they should leave the music to do the talking for them.

Whilst at the moment Palladium are only playing small venues supporting bands at the moment, expect in time them to be playing their own palladiums and theatres near you

Palladium support Amy Winehouse at Somerset House tomorrow, then play Lovebox on Sunday and a headline show at the Barfly on Thursday 2nd August.
Read the rest of this entry »

Having won the Innocent Unsigned bands talent search last year and the chance to play at their Fruitstock Festival, Londoners Scouting For Girls have had an amazing year. Signing to Epic Records on Valentine’s Day this year, they’re about to release their first EP, the incredibly anthemic “It’s Not About You” which will just grab you by the heart strings and make you think “YES!” and become addicted to them. Or you can just write them off as another bunch of Keane wannabes. You choose, but you know what I think.

Scouting For Girls are the sort of band that are perfect to open the festivals – people lounging around, feeling rough after the previous night, and just wanting some music to take them to “that happy place”. As they say themselves in their biography, they’re “unashamedly nostalgic, mottled with loss, disillusion and a poignant lamentation for innocent past times”.

Many bloggers have been very excited about their current material, with favourable reports emerging about their live shows. Needless to say, for those of you fortunate enough to be going to Glastonbury this weekend (and if so, why aren’t you there already?), they’ll be playing on Friday night at 8pm at the Late N Live Stage.

Reminiscent of both Keane (for their Piano-led pop-rock) and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (for Sam Duckworth’s brilliant knack of conveying feelings and images of a time and place), Scouting For Girls are sure to gain a devoted following soon.

After the jump, catch their video for “It’s Not About You”. Picture was taken from Scouting For Girls’ MySpace.
Read the rest of this entry »