The Optimist finds New Young Pony Club at their poppiest with this melodic sexy record. The album is self produced and more importantly self funded and self released, it is the sound of a band taking full control of their present and future. Opening with incredibly catchy Lost A Girl, it provides an excellent anticipation for the rest of the album. It combines cutting disco vibes, dance ethic with pop ethic, all set in a dark, mysterious tone. Stone and The Architect Of Love are stripped back, post punk indebted break-up records that heighten to an explosion of synth. NYPC are definitely on top.
The official music video to the first single of Jónsi’s upcoming debut solo album ‘Go’ has been released as shown below. A dark and glittery affair, the video is too fast paced for my liking but it defines Jónsi’s style perfectly.
‘Go’ is now set to be released on the 5th of April 2010. The North American tour dates have been posted here and the first show is to be in Vancouver; a day after the album is released worldwide.
No dates in other continents have yet been announced but it is still being called a world tour so I expect they will be in the near future.
Race Horses first full length release Goodbye Falkenburg was out mid-January. Thirteen tracks long and with around a quarter of the songs in welsh, this album features a comfortable blend between a modern indie rock vibe and a distinctly 60s feel. There’s clear musical influence from The Beatles with double tracked vocal harmonies and analogue effects like phasing but in my mind Race Horses are more reminiscent of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd.
Goodbye Falkenburg was recorded over the space of nine months and the band took an unorthodox approach to this debut. “We felt bored with all modern music,” says singer Meilyr Jones. “We wanted to make our fifth album first, if you know what I mean.”
Race Horses also brought out a 4 track concept EP ‘Man In My Mind’ in December 2009. Although it was an incredibly short release at just under 9 minutes in length, it’s depth made it clear that Race Horses are a band that have the means to last.
Plastiscines – four female school friends from Paris, who create chunky riffs, and new wave pop tunes. It’s fair to say that when the rock band started out 4 years ago, they weren’t taken seriously by their Parisian peers. Single ‘Bitch’ is a slice of pure, unadulterated aural pleasure, a protest song against people who said Plastiscines were just rich girls put together. Ironic then that the single should have its world premier on the cult, hair pulling, and boyfriend stealing hit American TV series Gossip Girl.
The foursome name the Strokes and Blondie as their biggest influences and their songs are two-minute bursts of sultry punk-pop, like the Runaways with French accents. But while they give it their best shot, the music isn’t interesting enough for your attention, it’s too imitative. Plastiscines may still be nauseatingly young, but these girls are already every bit the Parisian “riot girl” rockers of the naughties.
Toro Y Moi, a 23 year old from South Carolina, is getting ready to release his debut album Causers of This. There’s already word of a second full length album in late 2010 with a completely different sound. This is Blessa from Causers of This, the first single of the album.
It’s been said that he’s of a currently unnamed genre but I don’t think we should get ahead of ourselves about how original this act is. His sound, in my opinion, can be summed up in a number of genres which is the mark of any interesting artist. There’s elements of funk, break/big big beat but I think the defining genre would have to be trip hop. It’s like The Avalanches, Shuggie Otis and Four Tet met and decided to transcend to a higher dimension for a jam.
Indie Music Finds was started in April 2009 as a place for people to find something new. It’s now being written by two people both living in the U.K. I try and keep it quite diverse so rummage around a bit and I’m sure you’ll find something you like to take away with you.
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The Optimist finds New Young Pony Club at their poppiest with this melodic sexy record. The album is self produced and more importantly self funded and self released, it is the sound of a band taking full control of their present and future. Opening with incredibly catchy Lost A Girl, it provides an excellent anticipation for the rest of the album. It combines cutting disco vibes, dance ethic with pop ethic, all set in a dark, mysterious tone. Stone and The Architect Of Love are stripped back, post punk indebted break-up records that heighten to an explosion of synth. NYPC are definitely on top.
