[News] The xx to Start Recording New Album After New Year's

It seems we'll be getting new music from The xx sooner than we expected. Exactly one year removed from their stunning sophomore album Coexist, news arrived that the band will start recording LP #3 in early 2014. This comes from the mouth of Jamie xx, who was recently interviewed by Swedish festival blog Festivalrykten. While the band is currently on tour, including numerous festival slots, Jamie said:

We are working on some new songs right now, we have a couple of demos and some sounds. After finishing this tour, we will be doing some separate things, I'll produce and DJ, but we will get back together after New Year’s and start recording our third album."

Let the wait begin. For now, why not indulge in some of The xx's current affairs?

[Listen] Slow Magic Shares Eerie New Single "Youth Group"

Slow Magic once again has me hooked. His new cut "Youth Group," the first single from his upcoming full-length, immediately creeps up your spine with a eerie synth line, enveloping your head and overwhelming the senses. As the song unfolds, it reveals groovy basslines, distant piano chords and soft violin sweeps, adding a great sense of depth to an already powerful offering. Slow Magic doesn't deliver often, but when he does it is simply fantastic. This one comes highly recommended.

Slow Magic will be going on tour starting next week, opening for Gold Panda across North America. Check out the full list of dates after the jump.

Slow Magic 2013 Tour Dates (with Gold Panda):
09/11 – Atlanta, GA @ The Basement
09/12 – New Orleans, LA @ Hi Ho Lounge
09/13 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft
09/14 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
09/17 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
09/18 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
09/19 – San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
09/20 – Hollywood, CA @ Fonda Theatre
09/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
09/22 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
09/24 – Arcata, CA @ Humboldt State University
09/25 – Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall
09/26 – Portland, OR @ Branx
09/27 – Vancouver, BC @ The Electric Owl
09/28 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos (Decibel Festival)
09/29 – Boise, ID @ The Reef
10/01 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/02 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/03 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
10/04 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
10/05 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/06 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
10/08 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Place
10/09 – Montreal, QC @ Sat
10/10 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
10/11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/12 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10/13 – Philidelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

[Listen] Vimes - "Celestial"

Cologne's Vimes have officially hijacked my afternoon with their latest dancy number, "Celestial", due out on September 30th via Berlins' very own Humming Records. The combination of unique vocal stylings from singer Azhar Syed and slight 80s electro vibe courtesy of Julian Stetter has earned itself many a repeat in the past hour due to its subtle catchiness and immanent addictiveness. The duo has already supported the likes of Hot Chip while they were in Mexico and performed many a festival in Europe including Dockville, Eurosonic,  and First We Take Berlin. The band is slated to perform at this year's Reeperbahn and New Fall Festivals, so be sure to check them out if you're heading that way.

For now, enjoy "Celestial". You can check out other songs from the group over on their Soundcloud page, which I highly recommend you doing. 

[Album Stream] Stream New Albums from Delorean and Holy Ghost!

Both Holy Ghost! and Delorean are releasing new albums next week (September 10th to be exact), and both bands thought of week of streaming would whet our appetites. Put aside some time to check 'em out. They're different, yes, but sure as hell worth it.

Holy Ghost!'s sophomore album Dynamics is a strong reminder that the DFA Records name still has strength, despite the disbanding of LCD Soundsystem. Delve into their lush synthpop soundscapes over at Pitchfork Advance.

Delorean, on the other hand, offers a different kind of synth-laden goodness, divulging in airy, summery sounds and ethereal harmonies. It's a strong offering from this Spanish outfit. Stream it here.

[Listen] Wet Nuns - "Hanging"

Wet Nuns are preparing to release their self-titled album next month which was produced by Ross Orton (Arctic Monkey, MIA, The Kills) in their hometown of Sheffield. It's promising to be a belly rumbling lesson in and today we get a new track from the release. Titled "Hanging" you can stream the in your face single below. Make sure to pour a whiskey and grow a beard while you're at it. Watch out for the neck breaking ending too. I'm very excited to hear the album which drops on October 9th. You can pick up the single from September 16th too. 

To support their album release the duo will be hitting the road in the UK. Dates can be seen below.

Wet Nuns UK Tour 2013
03rd Oct - LONDON - Lexington
04th Oct - BIRMINGHAM - Victoria
05th Oct - LEEDS - Belgrave Music Hall
09th Oct - LIVERPOOL - East Village Arts Club
10th Oct - MANCHESTER - Now Wave at Deaf Institute (Supporting No Age)
11th Oct - CARDIFF - Clwb Ifor Bach
12th Oct - BRISTOL - Simple Things Festival
14th Oct - BRIGHTON - Green Door Store
19th Oct - SHEFFIELD - Queens Social Club

[Album Stream] Arctic Monkeys - 'AM'

It was  bound to happen. Arctic Monkeys album leaked earlier this week and as is the done thing these days it was immediately streamed in decent quality for our full enjoyment. We'd heard more than a fair share of tracks from the release already. The full LP features some slow ballads and super funky beats provided by Matt Helders, and all in all the album seems to deliver a package of well made modern rock. I've been spinning it all week and so far "Arabella" and "Knee Socks" are standing out. Also, how damn good does "R U Mine?" sound 18 months after it was first released? To listen yourself just jump on over to iTunes.

AM is officially released next week (Sep. 9th) via Domino.

[Beacons] Highlights including Local Natives, Danny Brown and Wet Nuns

With the ever growing number of festivals in the UK it's easy to get lost in a sea of bands you've most likely seen on a previous weekend. Beacons however managed to create a line-up full of diverse acts who chances are, you won't be seeing elsewhere over the Summer in 2013. So with that in mind, I took the trip over to Skipton to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't disappointed.

Getting to festivals can also be a nightmare, this was one of the smoothest transitions I've ever had arriving to some fields in the middle of nowhere. I was greeted by a hoard of people queuing to get in and all I could think was: "I really want a beer". I get in and pitch up my tent in a lovely spot over looking a field full of my best mates for the weekend. (They were cows, not actual real life people). I then go grab a drink to find I've in my haste to get in a welly has fallen from my bag and with the weekend's weather forecast looking rather grim, this was a disaster of a way to start my first year at Beacons.

I decide to retrace my steps through backstage and the carpark. Back to the entrance twice over. Nothing. This took a good 2 hours. (I could be exaggerating it just felt like an age) Just as I'd given up hope and thought "fuck it", there it is, a gleaming beam of light in front of me. My lost welly. The crowd outside the entrance give me a strange stare as I seem rather too pleased to have found a lone piece of footwear. This may seem irrelevant but finding this put me in the best mood for the start of a very fun weekend filled with the usual stuff you find at festivals and a lot more too. 

Entering the main arena you're greeted by several tents, a futuristic looking dome, some fun and games including a rather fun slide, and the huge Beacons logo (seen below), it was welcoming and felt like home. The next step was to get this long awaited beer. Most festivals charge you over the odds for warm mass produced lager or cider. Beacons offered a real ale tent selling a huge range of fabulous locally brewed ales. They were fantastic and my thirst was more than quenched by the Whitelock's tent all weekend.

The first band to grab my attention on Friday were Thumpers who played on the You Need To Hear This Stage, the London duo, Led by Marcus Pepperell, helped break me into the music for the weekend with lovely harmonies and an all round warm and upbeat feel-good sound. Next up are a band from Manchester who go by the misleading name of Egyptian Hip-Hop who play a blend of mind altering tunes which seemed to go down pretty well with the eager Friday revellers in the tent. 

 

My plan with festivals is always to take a "must-see" list but more often than not this plan goes absolutely out of the window due to some crazy unforeseen circumstance, the welly for instance meant I missed a few on that list but I was certain I would watch the soul driven songstress  Lulu James. Taking to the Loud and Quiet stage she belts out song after song and it's easy to forget she's a proper northern girl with the accent to boot. Her tracks "Closer" and "Step by Step" got the tent moving along with herself, as she said she'd injured her foot the night before on some glass. You wouldn't of known to see the way she was moving around the stage.

Bonobo offered up a delightful end to the first days festivities as the Loud and Quiet tent was packed full of the mixed crowd of young and old. All happily merry at the end of Beacons day one. Some may have been a bit dishevelled but it's bound to happen. And with that I hit the tent for some peaceful sleep opposite my new friends the cows.

Saturday came around and so did some not so great weather. Waking up at a festival to rain is never fun. Boy was I thankful I'd found that god forsaken wellington boot 24 hours prior or I'd of been one miserable sucker all day. Walking around at a festival is even less fun but with all of the music taking place inside tents it made for a much easier ride than the majority of festivals you may have been to and add to the the huge Whitelocks ale tent and you've got not excuse to be holed up in your tent for too long, however hungover you may be.

Making my way not the arena first thing I was met by the wonderful Findlay performing in the You Need To Hear This tent and lead singer Natalie Findlay certainly knew how to way up the slightly moist crowd playing a set filled with blues garage rock loud enough for a far bigger stage. Looking a little tired in her delivery at times, the crowd seemed to warm with her throughout and by the end many were finding themselves singing along to the incredibly catchy "Off and On". I actually heard quite a few people mumbling it to themselves throughout the day in numerous levels of drunkenness. Definitely an act to keep our eyes on in the coming months/years.

We've talked about the great drinks on offer at the festival, but the food was superb too. Not your average mass produced £8 burgers, pulled pork baguette and crap sausage butties. Oh no no, all the vendors on site were hand picked offering a mouth watering selection of meals. Curries, BBQ, Mexican and my saving grace of the weekend, luxury hot-dogs. Seriously, it didn't feel like festival food and it was all made by lovely people. Two thumbs up from me on the food side of thing for Beacons.

The Loud and Quiet stage was a haven in the rain and entertainment came in wonderful form from Stealing Sheep with their delicate female harmonies and Temples delivered their ever more familiar sound to the tent with seeming ease. I was pleased to see JAWS playing the YNTHT stage too bringing their dreamy distant guitar sound to the smaller stage. A transcendent laid back early evening show was delivered from the Birmingham boys.

Saturday's ever brightening (kind of) day was brought to a close by an absolutely spot on, spine tingling set from LA's Local Natives. Playing a range of songs from Gorilla Manor and this year's Hummingbird, the tent was pretty much full to capacity. Their harmonies filled the tent from rafter to rafter and by the end of their set my voice was shot. An encore later for "Sun Hands" and the band were gone. It seemed like Saturday had flown by, and the dreaded Sunday at a Festival was looming. A few beers later and day two was finished. 

Sunday at a festival is like walking the plank. You don't want to reach the end for the ocean that is reality and your day job is just a day of music and a train journey away. You hold on to Sunday as long as you can so with that in mind I made my way first thing in the morning to enjoy Sky Larkin play to a relatively empty tent. Not that it was their fault. It seemed like there was an issue with cleaning the toilets on site which meant we couldn't actually get into the site until the band had pretty much begun. It didn't matter they played a nice set to an ever growing crowd. 

Lone Wolf offered a nice break from the day in the You Need To Hear This tent which was curated by Wet Nuns on Sunday boasting some stellar sets bands that all seemed very friendly off the stage as well s on it. I also headed over to the Into The Woods tent for a talk about whiskey which involved tasting a hell of a lot of the stuff. It's not all about the music at Beacons.  However before those, Splassh managed to grabbed my attention with their laid back guitar tracks that give me a new hope for this whole slacker thing that's reigning supreme at the moment. They definitely got the main stage pumped for what promised to be a highlight of the weekend in the shape of Detroit's Danny Brown. 

 

The tent awaited with eager eyes as the set time came and went. Maybe I was just clock watching a little too much, but Danny came on nearly ten minutes late to raucous applause and in his high energy set kept the whole tent bouncing. You don't have to know a lot of his tracks to join in as he had a little back and forth with the crowd throughout his set. He was in amongst the front rows for a few tracks too, making sure no-one was slacking in their participation. His upcoming album Old is certainly going to be one to check out when it's released. Stand outs for me was Danny proclaiming he was "The Black Brad Pitt" before performing the Evil Nine track along with "Radio Song". 

Back to the Wet Nuns curated tent to see the band that picked the days bands perform themselves to a full tent. Taking us out to Joshua Tree in a few swift moments as the two piece melt some faces with riff upon riff. It seemed fitting as the sun was beginning to lower that these guys had a pretty decent crowd who seemed to be enjoying their balls to the wall metal. A triumph of a day on their stage and a triumph from them too. I managed to then catch a good portion of the masked crusader known as SBTRKT deliver some impressive tunes during his DJ set in the Loud and Quiet tent. My mind does seem to be a a little hazy but I remember several Drake tracks being played which seemed to be everyone's cup of tea, who'd of thought it? I suppose we all started from the bottom in some way or another.  

Sunday was closed by the Mercury nominated Django Django which seemed fitting. Delivering their offbeat guitar pop, the harmonies fitted the mood of the evening well. I found myself kind of marching on the spot to "Default", much like I'd be doing on my way back to the office a few days later. It seemed like once again a day of music had melted away, much like the motivation for anything other than the rhythm of waking, drinking and enjoying good music with like minded folk at a festival. I was already dreading Monday morning.

For a festival that takes a big side step from your usual Reading/Leeds, V Festival shtick and offers up a broad and paler pleasing mix of artists established and new, Beacons hands down took the top spot for enjoyment this summer. You can tell that a huge amount of thought and time has been put into every minute detail of the weekend and with it still being so young, I can see it becoming a force to be reckoned with in years to come. I'd highly advise checking it out next years event as it promises to be bigger and better. Head over to the official site where you can grab some early bird tickets for next year's event already. You won't regret it. 

Photos courtesy of Beacons.

[Listen] Arctic Monkeys - "Arabella"

With just one week until Arctic Monkeys' album AM is released, a few tracks seem to be finding their way online. Last week we got to enjoy the B-Side to "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?", "Stop the World I Wanna Get Off with You". Today "Arabella" has hit the web and you can stream it in full below via Tumblr. 

As mentioned last week, you can now stream 30 second clips of every track from the album over here. AM is officially released on September 9th via Domino.