Category: Concert / Live

High Society – High Contrast

Today we are heading back to 2004, with Hospital Records pillar, High Contrast. This guy was pretty much responsible for building my love of drum & bass back in my teens, and this album is one of his finest. Proper goosebump material.

Tutti Frutti, Brief Encounter, Racing Green, Natural High and Twilight’s Last Gleaming are all top level feel-good d&b bangers. Fast breaks, soulful vocal samples and thrubbing bass. It’s a good recipe, and one that he has down.

Hospitality are throwing a day party at Printworks in February. They have put together about as strong a line-up as they can muster with High Contrast being supported by S.P.Y, London Elektricity, Danny Byrd and more. Tickets on sale now.

Drawn (Feat. Little Dragon) – De La Soul

Hands down one of my favourite tracks from the past few years. Drawn is a beautiful collab between Little Dragon and hip-hop royalty De La Soul. It’s delicate, it’s strong, it’s brilliant. My only criticism is that it doesn’t go on for long enough.

Little Dragon is playing alongside Harvey Sutherland at Printworks this Friday. Cannot. Wait.

P.S. the image is taken from the video. It’s a good one. Watch it here

Gallipoli – Beirut

Every Sunday I bring you something a little more downtempo to ease you back into the world.

I’m literally in Beirut (the city) right now. In honour of that fact, and the fact that Beirut (the band) have just released the title track from their upcoming album Gallipoli – here it is! Full of their trademark whistful brass sounds.

Tour details can be found here. Tickets are on sale for the London date now. These guys gave me one of my favourite ever gig experiences, so get involved before they sell out. The album will be released in February.

 

Turned On – Ben Gomori

A confession. A huge amount of the new music I post, comes from this show.

If you like what you see on here, do yourself a favour and check out Turned On. A weekly hour of the best new electronic and house, curated by producer, DJ and Monologues Records label boss Ben Gomori.

You can hear Ben play live at Farbfernseher in Berlin next month. He is also the founder of Pitchblack Playback – a cool set of events where an album is played in full, in complete darkness. Recommend. http://www.pitchblackplayback.com/

7 – Beach House

Sitting somewhere between dream-pop, shoegaze and indie-rock, you’ll find Beach House. 7 is the duo’s seventh album (clever). My highlights are the tense and foreboding Lemon Glow, and Black Car. I’m off to see them for the first time at The Troxy tonight. Very excited.

Bonus track: Sparks is my favourite. Guitar comes screeching through some chanting and takes you on a magical ride before you know what’s happening. It’s good, trust me. Try the album Depression Cherry for more of the same.

Saw You For the First Time – Laurence Guy

What do you get if you throw together the most delicate sections of Leon Vynehall and the playfulness of Harvey Sutherland? Well you get this of course! Laurence Guy’s debut album released last year on Camberwell-based Church Records is a glittery piano-looping genre-transcending gem. There are literally no bad tracks! Enjoy.

He’s playing alongside Session Victim at XOYO this Saturday. Don’t miss out.

Bonus track: Laurence’s break-out single Les Mur, released on Ben Gomori’s Monologue Records back in 2015

Give You The Ghost – Poliça

Moody. Unsettling. Spooky. Bewitching. Enchanting. A Rolling Stone review of this 2012 album, the band’s first, described it as “the sound of heartbreak and celebration happening simultaneously.” I love that. Basically, Poliça are a 5-piece outfit from Minneapolis making synth-pop music fit for a Hallowe’en party. Get to know.

Also, they are on tour. I have 2 tickets for sale at face value at London’s ICA on Saturday 3rd November. Let me know if you want them.

Oh, and one last thing – chill, I’ve got you covered.

The Cure – Jadu Heart

Masked duo Jadu Heart are back releasing music with a new EP, The Gloom That Looms. It’s their first release since they entered the scene with their awesome EP Wanderflower on Mura Masa’s Anchor Point records. In The Cure they capture their original catchy screwed-up electro-poppy style – if a little less raw than their previous outing. I’m a bit disappointed by the other track on the release tbh, but hey, can’t win ’em all.

Watching them live last year, the gig had that exciting kind of energy you get when you are watching a band ‘before they’re big’. They are playing another date in London at OMEARA on 21st November. Tickets on sale now. (By they way, they make you feel real old)