Category: A-Z of New Music

Ice Choir

~ Phil Lengthorn ~ 2 Comments

The A-Z of New Music nearly came to a standstill today – new music beginning with ‘I’ – not as easy as it sounds. But eventually I decided on…..Ice Choir.

A listen to Ice Choir and you could be mistaken in thinking that you have stepped back to the 1980s and disaster that was New Romantic music. Why any band would want to replicate the music of the 80s is a mystery to me (I was an 80s teenager and I am still scarred from the experience of listening to ABC and Modern Romance). Their debut sing ‘Two Rings’ is synthpop at its finest, that is, if you like your music: synthetic, programmed and uninspiring. As shocking as it sounds, Ice Choir are hoping to release a whole album of this trash in 2012. It has been near on 25 years since the New Romantic pop sound was at its height, and if the phrase ‘what goes around comes around’ is true we will shortly be inundated with more. So dust off the shoulder pads, swoop the fringe and get down to the synthetic sound of Ice Choir…..

Overall, Ice Choir get a big fat ‘U’……..

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter ‘I’…….

Hooded Fang

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The A-Z of New Music brings us to the 8th letter of the alphabet, H……..from Canada….Hooded Fang.

Yes, I know, it’s indie-pop again, although with a bit rock and a bit of roll thrown in. In fact you could easily mistake them for a band from the swinging sixties, the tunes off their latest album, Tosta Mista, has some unmistakable Beach Boys and Monkees going on. If you’re looking for a band creating original breakthrough tunes, Hooded Fang would not be your first stop – although you can’t help but tap your foot. A listen to ‘ESP’ may even have you hand jiving. A disappointment with Tosta Mista is the length, 10 tracks, of which 3 are instrumental. Indie fans might want to listen to their debut album, Hooded Fang Album, of which ‘Laughing’ and ‘Highway Steam’ are standout tracks.

Debut album gets a B, Tosta Mista a D. Overall, C/D borderline…..

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter H…..

Gabriel Bruce

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The A-Z of New Music finds us at G, and the unique sounding voice of…..Gabriel Bruce.

Bruce has the same low, husky growl that have made Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave household names. If you take the time to check him out you’ll realise he is slightly ‘weird’. As well as singing and composing he is a taxidermist and has an interest in the macabre. His first single, the fantastic ‘Sleep Paralysis’ was released as on 7″ vinyl complete with 50-page illustrated book exploring the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. I’d imagine if there is a debut album on the horizon it will be pretty dark and heavy. If you’re looking for a feel good summer tune, Gabriel Bruce is probably not the place to look for it. Personally, I’m quite partial to a bit of Leonard Cohen so I’ll be eagerly awaiting some more tunes.

Gabriel Bruce has done a great cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid’, that was released in conjunction with Valentine’s Day, listen to it on his tumblr site.

Overall, Gabriel Bruce gets a B+……

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter G…..

Fixers

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The A-Z of New Music brings us to the letter ‘F’ and the psychedelic indie pop sound of……Fixers.

Not quite sure how I’ve managed to avoid Fixers over the past year, apparently  they have been getting a lot of air play as well as supporting Kaiser Chefs on tour. I’m undecided about them. Listening to their early EPs they use a lot of synthesisers and have some weird harmonies going on, ‘Swimmhaus Johannesburg’ a perfect example. Although a listen to tracks from their latest album would suggest a move away from this and towards a more indie-rock feel. A standout track for me would have to be ‘Iron Deer Dream’, title track from their forthcoming album, released 11th March.

So if you fancy a bit of psyche-indie-pop-rock…..

Fixers, C/D borderline….

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter F…..

Elliphant

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The A-Z of New Music brings us to the letter ‘E’. It was probably only a matter of time until we ran head long into the biggest pile of crap you could imagine, and here they are…..Elliphant.

The idea of this blog was to listen to ‘new music’. Whether it be folk, R&B, rock, acoustic, or any other of the hundreds of styles of music out there, I wanted to listen to stuff I’ve never heard before. Hence, the uninspiring ‘dance’ sound of Elliphant.

One listen to their debut single, ‘In the Jungle’, should be just about enough to make you want to rip your ears off and insert them in a blender. The track has plenty of negative points: the endless thud, thud, thud; the ridiculous use of dodgy percussion beats; the even more ridiculous lyrics, something about “basics”; I could probably go on and on and on (but I won’t).

Elliphant are from Sweden, and this exactly where they need to go back too and never return.

Elliphant, ungraded….

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter E……

Duotone

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The A-Z of New Music brings us to the letter ‘D’, and at last, a move away from the twee indiepop as we enter the murky depths of folk. Today I present the mature, intellectual, acoustic sound of…..Duotone.

Work Harder & One Day You’ll Find Her, Duotone’s debut album, was my first stop, thanks to @ladymarples. I was instantly impressed with the album, a collection of 8 tracks (a tad short I know) featuring various stringed instruments (Barney Morse-Brown is the cellist for The Imagined Village) and inventive and intelligent lyrics – although some would say melancholic. On first play it reminded me a bit of Damien Rice ‘stuff’ – but more musical – the instruments, at times, overwhelm the lyrics (not sure if that is a good or bad thing). Favourite tracks off the album: ‘Golden Hair Saved My Life’,  ‘House of Keremma’ and ‘You Don’t Need Church’. The album is definitely a ‘grower’ – I think there’s a lot going on – definitely worth an extended visit. Perfect for the summer: sit in the garden, put the album on, open a bottle of wine and relax….

A new album, Ropes, is due for release towards the end of the March.

Duotone, overall grade B….well worth a listen…..

Just to reflect on the start of this month’s project…..four letters…four new good discoveries…..lovely jubbly!

Today’s blog was brought to you by the letter D….