Warpaint, a four piece girl band of LA released their debut album The Fool towards the end of October last year. The Fool to me had a real overcast feel to it and despite their relatively stripped down sound, they maintain a driving rhythm in a similar fashion to The xx, with a real emphasis on bass and drums. Vocally, three of the four member contribute and with this they produce some captivating layers and harmonies in their songs.
Late last year, Warpaint took part in the AllSaints Basement Sessions. They played a version of their song ‘Billie Holiday‘ as well as giving a six minute interview, mostly on the topic of the Fools album, in front of a wall of the iconic AllSaints antique sewing machines. Warpaint have also made their debut album Fools available to stream on SoundCloud. Over the coming months, Warpaint are scheduled to appear at the Coachella, Glastonbury, Reading and Lowlands festivals and will be knocking about in the UK for most of May.
Special Benny, an extraordinary British band I first featured on this blog almost a year ago are finally ready to release their debut ‘Toys’, a largely instrumental 9 track album. Toys has been a long time in the making and nearly didn’t happen at all. Special Benny first released the Rumblestrip EP back in 2006 but the band started to lose momentum as different members followed their seperate paths in life. A send off gig was played and then nothing more until late 2008 when Special Benny discovered a newfound enthusiasm for their music and went onto eventually complete Toys.
Toys opens with Air Filter, an absolutely blinding track released as a single last Autumn that sets the tone for the rest of the album perfectly. Special Benny themselves have said their musical tastes vary greatly and this really comes through in Toys. There’s a certain lucid quality to their sound and it’s hard not to get drawn in by it, particularly in a somewhat repetitive track like Sine and Step. Either way, you can tell right from the first listen how much studio time has gone in to this recording to make Toys exactly what Special Benny had envisaged down to the finest of details. I’m really glad that this band didn’t fall apart before they truly got started, there’s no stopping them now.
Mitchell Museum are Scotland’s most exciting new band. They splash the more instantaneous moments of Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse and Animal Collective onto a technicolor canvas, and capped by a healthy dose of edge and hyperactivity.
The album’s title derives from the town on the Isle of Benebecula in Scotland where vocalist Cammy MacFarlane was shipped out to live as a kid by his parents, where he was treated for “losing his mind”. Although close friends, he and his brother Raindeer (drums and vocals) count those lost years as monumental in bonding their relationship, and the band has become an extension of that bond.
Single Warning Bells is a frenzied klaxon call of an introduction into MM. Take The Tongue Out and Tiger Heartbeat are sizzling sunshine pop songs, with their own distinct British twist of lyricism, which is present throughout the whole record. This debut album is the perfect summer soundtrack.
I Speak Because I Can is 20-year old Laura Marling’s coming of age album, its ten songs are imbued with a new richness, ripeness and sophistication. It is also a record marked by its quintessential Englishness. For all of its American instrumentation, and its shades of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, these songs are no pale Americana interpretation; they are tales deeply rooted in England.
Producer Ethan Johns was an excellent choice as his use of reels, quiet and traditional methods of production are very suited to Laura Marling’s music. This new record reveals a new maturity and at points her voice sounds a little harder and more cultured.
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.
Indie Music Finds was started in April 2009 as a place for people to find something new. 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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