Lapalux

I'm so glad to have seen this guy live. I think he's amazing.
Will write more on him later when I've had time to digest his body of work.
New things popping up all the time. My life has changed for the better. Magnetic Flux by Lapalux

Yummy Yuck

I've recently started listening to 'Yuck' after hearing them on the Radio.
Their sound is deliciously nostalgic, it reminds me of old friends, bus rides to camden,skating on southbank and summer kisses.
The album is sounding great so far!
Here's them in a live session for the Beeb.

Caribou oooh oooh!!

I'm off to see Caribou tonight, the final performance of the 'Swim' tour, which is nearly up there in my top albums( a list I shall be compiling soon). I have a love for Caribou that may not be entirely rational. The same irrational love I have for Blur and The Deftones, Deftones is definitely shameful I admit, but I can't help it. They infiltrated me inmy youth and I find it hard to let them go. That's not to say i'm listening to them on a regular basis nowadays of course. What am I saying?! Caribou is not irrational!I think I may have an outer body experience. I'll let you know...

Radiohead

I've just taken my first listen to the latest Radiohead album, I am unable to give an unbiased review so I won't even bother trying. I'm still getting to grips with the magnificence of Kid A and In Rainbows.So far so good with this one,the track 'Codex' seems to stand out above the rest so far, i've only heard it once though. You can judge for yourself here... http://nerdotv.webs.com/apps/videos/videos/show/12667360-radiohead-the-king-of

Lucky Dragons @ Cafe Oto

Ah Lucky Dragons! I was so looking forward to this.
What's not to get excited about? I love gigs, I love Lucky Dragons, I love Cafe Oto!
It should have been the perfect night. But I could not help but feel a pervading sense
of disappointment as the night went on.
As separate entities, cool Cafe, cool Band they work well, but together it was nearing disasterous. As they sat on the floor playing with their laptops and creating light displays
on the ceiling with compact discs, all but a few stretched and strained to see what was happening.
Rather than it being the interactive experiment they had promised, it felt more exclusive than inclusive.
There was a half-hearted attempt at audience participation when a frankly bullshit piece of poetry in
a dodgy font got passed around the room. Really? Is this it?

All in all, the set was short they pulsed through an 'extended' ambient set, which felt like two tracks at 10 minutes each, and that was it! Disappointing. Most people looked a little baffled and dejected. I still like them though.
On the plus side, I did have an amazing Strawberry beer, that was the highlight of my night.

My top artists/tracks of 2011 so far... apparently

This list is based on my Listening Stats on Last FM. Probably influenced by a bit of 'scrobbling' from spotify...it is what it is.


1.Animal Collective – Cuckoo Cuckoo
2.Claude Debussy – Clair de Lune
3.Sébastien Tellier – La Ritournelle
4.Caribou – Odessa
5.Animal Collective – Did You See the Words
6.Caribou – Sun
7.Modeselektor – The Dark Side of the Frog
8.Caribou – Found Out
9.High Contrast – Everything's Different
10.Modeselektor – The Dark Side of the Sun (feat. Puppetmastaz)
11.Toro y Moi – Blessa
12.Caribou – Jamelia
13.Mumford & Sons – White Blank Page
14.Aphex Twin – Alberto Balsalm
15.Minnie Riperton – Inside My Love

Cloud Boat supporting James Blake

Cloud Boat were an exciting surprise at James Blake's recent Borderline Club gig as part of HMV's
'Next Big Thing' tour. The tour literature didn't reveal much in the way of support acts, so it was literally as
they ambled on stage and introduced themselves that I realised there would be a support act at all.
The tickets were only a tenner so I wasn't sure what to expect.
For those who don't know the Borderline is a small 200 capacity venue situated on the fringes of Soho.
As Cloud Boat took to the stage The borderline was still less than half full and generally people seemed uninterested
at the prospect of any band other than the main event James Blake.
But from the moment their set began a respectful silence descended and people seemed genuinely blown
away.

Cloud Boat are Sam and Tom from London. That's pretty much all I know about them. They currently have no recorded material, so in order to get what these guys are about you really have to see them live.
They sound like a dreamy digital raft sailing across a sea of marshmallows... just kidding. They are kind of an experimental electronic-ish folky guitared, high pitched vocal noise duo( is that a thing?), not so far off the James Blake sound, less dark, more magical.

James Blake gave a great performance too, but his set felt somehow pressurised and self-aware. Probably due to the weight of expectation very evident in the room. The highlight of his set was The Wilhelm scream, really stunning, sad that he didn't drop CMYK, but it's an incentive to see him again.
There is still time to catch Cloud Boat as they will be touring alongside James Blake on his U.K tour.

upcoming shows:
(all w/ James Blake)
23/02/11 - Thekla, Bristol
24/02/11 - St. Pancras Old Church, London
26/02/11 - Band on the Wall, Manchester
27/02/11 - Nice n' Sleazy, Glasgow
10/03/11 - St. Pancras Old Church, London
23/03/11 - Thekla, Bristol
24/03/11 - St. Pancras Old Church, London
26/03/11 - Band on the Wall, Manchester
27/03/11 - Nice n' Sleazy, Glasgow