Free mp3 from Keith ToTP

After building up a stellar reputation among fellow musicians while touring Europe and the US, Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band are releasing their debut album - Fuck You! I'm Keith Top Of The Pops.

The band were formed by chance during an Art Brut show at The Knitting Factory in New York, when the support act pulled out at the last minute, and Keith and two members of the headline act joined forces to play some of Keith's songs. Since then, the band has existed in a constant state of flux, with band members often being recruited a few minutes before the show, and numbers ranging from just Keith and a drummer to 24 musicians, and a brass section, sharing the stage!

The band live by two rules - no rehearsals and no soundchecks - to ensure that every song they play sounds different every time. This novel approach is applied to the track listing on Fuck You! I'm Keith Top Of The Pops, as they were arranged based on the songs' first ever performance.

Keith has also attracted a fantastic line up of musicians to record alongside him, including Dyan Valdes of The Blood Arm, Fruitbat and Jimbob from Carter USM, Keith Murray and Chris Cain from We Are Scientists and Ian Catstiltskin, Eddie Argos and Jasper Future from Art Brut. As a result, the sound is a collection of wonderfully chaotic freeform rock tunes that sound like a cross between The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit, with more bitter and twisted undertones.

With an album tour due in September, Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band, are sure to ruffle some feathers in the UK Indie music scene over the coming month.

You can download a sneak preview of this craziness here:
Keith Top Of The Pops & His Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band - I Hate Your Band by abadgeoffriendship

Ghostpoet to play next Last FM pop-up session

The third in the summer (yes, it is summer still apparently) series of pop up gigs has just been announced.

Following gigs from Slow Club in Soho Square and Boxer Rebellion on Carnaby St, Mercury Music Prize nominated Ghostpoet is going to have a crack and will be popping up in The Big Chill Bar on Brick Lane this coming Monday (22nd) from 8pm.

This marks the last of the pop up sessions, hosted by Black Cab Sessions in association with Last.fm.

For the latest information on the pop-up sessions, exclusive content and artist interviews follow HP on Twitter and Facebook.

Hawk Eyes & Turbowolf released to wreak havoc together

The mighty Hawk Eyes are being let out of their cage to terrorise the country once again and this time they're bringing reinforcements in the shape of the awesome Turbowolf & The James Cleaver Quartet.

They will be riffing it up at these locations:

Tue 08 Nov 2011 Bristol Croft
Wed 09 Nov 2011 Cardiff Ifor Bach
Thu 10 Nov 2011 Colchester Arts Centre
Fri 11 Nov 2011 UK Southend Chinneys
Sat 12 Nov 2011 Nottingham Basement
Mon 14 Nov 2011 Birmingham Vudu
Tue 15 Nov 2011 Leeds Cockpit
Wed 16 Nov 2011 Glasgow King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
Thu 17 Nov 2011 Manchester Alter Ego
Fri 18 Nov 2011 UK Sheffield Corporation
Sat 19 Nov 2011 Aldershot Westend Centre
Sun 20 Nov 2011 Bournemouth Ibar
Tue 22 Nov 2011 London Upstairs at the Garage

Bring the fucking noise.

Free Spencer Park Music sampler

The lovely folk at Spencer Park Music have decided to pick a few of their favourite tunes by the artists on the label (Matt Stevens, The Fierce & The Dead, Datapuddle and Yonks) and compile them in to a rather fine, free, downloadable thingamabob.

As well as the fab music, it includes 2 essays, a discography, photos and press cuttings. It sums up the last 4 or 5 years of their stuff pretty well and hopefully will get some more people in to the music.

You can download it from their Bandcamp.

Neon Indian: Brand new album announced, London show next week and free download

Neon Indian is back with his second full-length offering ‘Era Extraña’, to be released on October 10th through Transgressive Records.

A special one-off London date has also been announced for Tuesday August 9th at Islington’s Electrowerkz venue. NPR exclusively revealed new track ‘Polish Girl'’ which you can hear by going to the Neon Indian Facebook page and clicking ‘Like’.

If that’s not enough, Neon Indian is also riding high in the blogging charts with the first taste of Era Extraña’, 'Fallout' which is online for free download now....

Esmerine release new video & October tour dates‏

In support of their recent album on Constellation, 'La Lechuza', Esmerine will embark on a UK tour this October. They have released a video to help promote the UK shows which can be viewed here:

Esmerine: UK Tour Promo 2011 from Constellation Records on Vimeo.

Here are the dates and touring line up info:

19 Sept Stereo, Glasgow
20 Sept Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
21 Sept Union Chapel, London

The touring line up is as follows:

Rebecca Foon - cello (Silver Mt. Zion)
Bruce Cawdron - marimba, percussion (Godspeed You! Black Emperor)
Sarah Pagé - harp (Lhasa de Sela, Barr Brothers)
Jamie Thompson - percussion (Islands, Unicorns)

With live lightbox projections by Clea Minaker
http://cleaminaker.wordpress.com/
(Responsible for live visuals for Feist tours 2008-2009)

Esmerine enters its second decade with an expanded line-up and a new album – the band's first in six years. As a duo co-founded ten years ago by percussionist Bruce Cawdron (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and cellist Beckie Foon (Thee Silver Mt. Zion), Esmerine released two critically-acclaimed albums of modern chamber music in 2003 and 2005 that had one foot in the new music/experimental terrain of contemporaries like Rachel's or Town And Country and the other in a more visceral and lyrical landscape populated by the likes of Dirty Three (and GY!BE themselves).

Bruce and Beckie have continued stoking the embers of Esmerine, with occasional special events in their Montreal home town over the past few years, often including invitations to guest musicians. While Esmerine had made deft use of guest players on previous records, their performances over the past two years opened the band up to two new musicians in particular who were invited to join as full members: harp-player Sarah Page ( The Barr Brothers) and percussionist Andrew Barr (The Slip, Land of Talk, The Barr Brothers).

The War On Drugs Release New Video & Free MP3

Philadelphia’s The War On Drugs have released a brand new video for the charging, triumphant album track ‘Come To The City’ plus giving away a free download of the track.

Ahead of the release of ‘Slave Ambient’, The War On Drugs’ sophomore album of mile-high rock anthems, due out August 15 on Secretly Canadian, the band have teamed up with Urban Outfitters for this hazy promo clip. The video follows an LA gang doing some wilding on the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis.

The War on Drugs - "Come to the City" (Official Music Video) from Urban Outfitters on Vimeo.

Download ‘Come To The City’ here:

Come to the City by DOJAGSC

Also you can now hear ‘Slave Ambient’ streamed in it’s anthemic entirety exclusively on Urban Outfitters for a limited time HERE.

Bearsuit - Video for new single "Princess You're a Test"‏

Dark, relentless and thickly laden with dirty, heavy bass, 'Princess You’re A Test' sees Norwich 5-piece Bearsuit take a turn to the dark side. As the fourth single from their recent album 'The Phantom Forest' (released on Fortuna POP! earlier this year) 'Princess You’re A Test' is an altogether darker proposition. Guaranteed to set the indie-disco dancefloors ablaze, the song delves into the mysteries lying await in the phantom forest. Watch the brand new (slightly spooky) video for the song here:



Bearsuit are about to embark on their first tour across mainland Europe, stopping at the Contempopranea and Razzmatazz festivals in Spain as well as Sweden’s Cosy Den festival among others.

DATES:

July 29 Contempopranea Festival – Alburquerque, SPAIN
July 30 Razzmatazz Festival - Barcelona, SPAIN
July 31 Hossegor Festival – Hossegor, FRANCE
August 2 Saint Ex – Bordeaux, FRANCE
August 3 L’International – Paris, FRANCE
August 5 Studenterhauset – Copenhagen, DENMARK
August 6 Cosy Den Festival – Stockholm, SWEDEN
August 14 Old Blue Last – London, UK

Timber Timbre release new video & UK/European tour dates‏

Following the recent announcement that their second album ‘Creep On Creepin’ On’ has been nominated for the Polaris Prize, Canadian trio Timber Timbre have revealed a new video for album track 'Bad Ritual', featuring dark, Lynchian imagery akin to the track's brooding melody.



Timber Timbre have also revealed a few more live dates across the UK/Europe. Most notably these include London's Union Chapel, an appearance at End of The Road festival and a tour for Les Inrocks.

Full dates are as follows:

AUGUST
10 Basel, Switzerland – Festival Im Fluss
11 Gothenburg, Sweden – Way Out West
13 Haldern, Germany – Haldern Festival
14 Hamburg, Germany – Dockville
16 Nijmegen, Holland – Doornroosje
17 Tivoli, Holland – Tivoli de Helling
20 Biddinghuizen, Holland – Lowlands
21 Hannover, Germany – Bootboohook Festival
23 Brussels, Belgium – Feeerieen Festival
25 Dudingen, Switzerland – Bad Bonn
26 Zurich, Switzerland – Exil
27 Luzern, Switzerland – Sudpol
29 Frankfurt, Germany - Brotfabrik

SEPTEMBER
1 Brighton, UK - Jam
3 Dorset, UK – End Of The Road Festival @ Larmer Tree Gardens

NOVEMBER
1 London, UK – Union Chapel www.livenation.co.uk
3 Paris, France – Festival les Inrocks @ Cigale
4 Strasbourg, France – Festival les Inrocks @ La Laiterie
5 Lyons, France – Festival les Inrocks @ le Transbordeur
6 Marseille, France – Festival les Inrocks @ Cabaret aleatoire

The Boxer Rebellion: Last.fm secret session and interview online!

Over the last few weeks you've probably heard us talking about the secret pop-up acoustic Last FM sessions throughout the summer. These sessions have been organised to help promote the recently announced partnership between HP and Last.fm celebrating the Beats audio technology that comes with HP Premium PC, laptop and tablet devices through a series of live music events and artist interviews, curated by Last.fm.

Last month, on July 14, The Boxer Rebellion hit Carnaby Street in central London. They amassed a huge crowd on the bustling street under the summer sun. Everyone from fans to school trippers, tourists and curious passers by stopped to watch the band play this very special live set.



Another pop-up session will be take place in London in August, hosted by Black Cab Sessions in association with Last.fm, watch this space for details.