All 5 entries tagged Voxtrot

Hot New Choons

I have been pleasingly endowed this month with some tracks for my favourite bands in the world, ever. (Well, a new Radiohead studio release would have been nice, but hey, maybe that’s just a little too much for a couple of months yet). Here are just a few of them (the rest will probably be played on the weekly radio show, Mat and Chris’s Indie Nipple, Friday at 5pm GMT at http://www.radio.warwick.ac.uk/). Enjoy, kiddies!

Voxtrot – Your Biggest Fan

á la discothèque favourites Voxtrot released, by my reckoning, their new single Your Biggest Fan a couple of days ago now. It’s stonkingly good, and bodes well for the debut album being released early next year. Unfortunately, the single is US-only, so us Brits aren’t supposed to get our grimy hands on it, boo!

...Oh well.

‘Your Biggest Fan’ MP3 Expired
(Buy ‘Your Biggest Fan’ Import)

Voxtrot – Band Profile
Voxtrot on á la discothèque

Bloc Party – Song For Clay

[MP3 removed by request]

The awesome Bloc Party are back with their new album, A Weekend In The City on 5th February next year. If this isn’t the first track on that album, I’ll eat my hat – a slow starter with Kele’s soft lyrics hitting into a heavy number that is just a little bit more grown up than the rocky songs that adorned Silent Alarm.

Buy ‘Silent Alarm’

Bloc Party on á la discothèque

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – Some Loud Thunder

When Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! first emerged on the scene, distributing their own eponymous debut album, everyone kind of winced at their sound. It was a little bit before their time, but luckily they survived into the current age of indietronica and electro-pop that makes them absolutely bloody brilliant.

A new album is on the way in January, and it promises to be good on the basis of this track, which is good because I like them so there listen now??

‘Some Loud Thunder’ MP3 Expired

Buy ‘Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!’

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! on á la discothèque

We Are Scientists – Hoppípolla

In the world of covers of songs that you’d never think would work, We Are Scientists covering Icelandic Gods Sigur Rós’s epic Hoppípolla (of every-BBC-advert-ever fame) is right up there, but after hearing them play it live on a BBC session it seemed strangely beautiful, and after hearing it on their new album Crap Attack (a compilation of B sides and rareities) I’m absolutely convinced that it’s one of the most beautiful covers you’ll ever hear now that the bum notes are gone. It’s a stunning tribute to the song and even the Icelandic/Hopelandish lyrics are there!

‘Hoppípolla (Sigur Rós cover)’ MP3 Expired
(Buy ‘Crap Attack’)

We Are Scientists on á la discothèque

The Long Blondes – Once and Never Again

I yelped in glee on Monday when The Long Blondes’ debut album Someone To Drive You Home plopped onto my doormat. Probably one of the most exciting new artists to appear this year, and sexy to boot. Lovely. I love the way that most of the tracks that we’ve all heard before have been tidied up for the studio release, but I’m not too sure about the massive change that’s come to Separated By Motorways, which was so raw and powerful before but now seems stripped of it? I mean, I still love it, of course…

Anyway, this is Once and Never Again, my favourite track off the album. There’s something about singing “Oh, how I’d love to feel a girl your age” that’s strangely wonderful…

‘Once and Never Again’ MP3 Expired
(Buy Someone To Drive You Home)

The Long Blondes – Band Profile
The Long Blondes on á la discothèque

Mathew Mannion : 09 Nov 2006 11:43 |  Tags: Bloc Party Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Music The Long Blondes Voxtrot We Are Scientists |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Response to the sleep mini–mix: Mat's Sleeping Mix

Follow-up to Mini–mix : Sleep from á la discothèque

Without wanting to steal some of the thunder from Jim’s excellent Sleep Mini-Mix, it inspired me to create my own, longer version. Whereas Jim made an excellent job of mixing the tracks together seamlessly, I’m rubbish at that kind of thing so I concentrated more on the ordering and making sure that things flowed smoothly from track to track, much like an album ordering… so this is more of a mixtape than a mix :) But enjoy, nevertheless.

Note: If you use the in-browser player, ignore the progress bar – tracks will play one after the other

MP3’s Expired

1. Radiohead - Go to Sleep [Buy Hail to the Thief]


2. British Sea Power - To Get to Sleep [Buy Open Season]


3. Belle and Sebastian - We Are the Sleepyheads [Buy The Life Pursuit]


4. Hope of the States - 66 Sleepers to Summer [Buy The Lost Riots]


5. Voxtrot - Fast Asleep [Buy Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Wives]


6. Idlewild - Let Me Sleep (Next to the Mirror) [Buy 100 Broken Windows]


7. Something Corporate - As You Sleep [Buy North]


8. The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight [Buy Give Up]


9. The Flaming Lips - Sleeping on the Roof [Buy The Soft Bulletin]


10. Eels - I Need Some Sleep [Buy Shrek 2 OST]


11. Evanescence - Goodnite [Unreleased]

Mathew Mannion : 17 Aug 2006 10:21 |  Tags: Belle And Sebastian British Sea Power Eels Evanescence Hope Of The States Idlewild Mixtapes Music Radiohead Sleep Something Corporate The Flaming Lips The Postal Service Voxtrot |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Mixtape: Summer

So summer is here… As a former student, it still feels like I should be spending every day lounging outside in shorts drinking Budweiser at 10.30am… Except that when I say 10.30am, I mean 4pm… Anyway. I'm off to France for two weeks at the end of next week, so I was trying to put together a laid back (yet awesome) mixtape that I could enjoy whilst dozing in the back of the car on the long drive down. This is what I came up with, mostly with laid back music or from SXSW '06 artists… Anyway. Enjoy!

Radiohead – Paranoid Android MP3 Expired [Buy (only £3.99!!!)]
Dresden Dolls – Sing MP3 Expired [Buy]
Magnolia Electric Company – Dark Don't Hide It MP3 Expired [Website]
Persephones Bees – Nice Day MP3 Expired [Buy]
The Thrills – Tell Me Something I Don't Know MP3 Expired [Buy]
Keith – Replica MP3 Expired [Buy]
Sia – Breathe Me MP3 Expired [Buy]
Lily Allen – Smile MP3 Expired [Buy]
Replica X – Requiem MP3 Expired [Website]
Dash Rip Rock – Locked Inside a Liquor Store MP3 Expired [Buy]
Tapes'N'Tapes – Cowbell MP3 Expired [Buy]
TV On The Radio – Staring at the Sun MP3 Expired [Buy]
The Knife – Bird MP3 Expired [Buy]
Under Byen – Hjertebarn MP3 Expired [Buy]

Edit (Saturday 8th July 06): Courtesy of Gorilla vs. Bear, I've come across this quite beautiful unreleased Voxtrot track, which is quite special… and fits perfectly on here. So add it!
Voxtrot – Warmest Part of the Winter MP3 Expired (Courtesy of here)

Mathew Mannion : 07 Jul 2006 15:51 |  Tags: Dash Rip Rock Dresden Dolls Keith Lily Allen Magnolia Electric Company Mixtapes Music Persephone Bees Radiohead Replica X Sia Summer Sxsw Tapes N Tapes The Knife The Thrills TV On The Radio Under Byen Voxtrot |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Voxtrot

Since this is my first proper post on a music blog, I guess it's a little fitting that I start with a band who were brought to my attention by another music blog (Another Form of Relief), and that it's probably the most talked about "unknown" (ish) band on music blogs for the past six months or so. That band is Voxtrot.

Fronted by Ramesh Srivastava, Voxtrot are a five piece from Austin, Texas, with a sound not unreminiscent of bands such as The Strokes and The Smiths, in some kind of bastard love–child hybrid that brings out such a wonderful flowing, emotive sound that you can't bear but love it and listen swaying from side to side whilst your head is bopping. Their first official EP, Raised By Wolves, is a tour-de-force of beautiful music, from the fast-paced, Strokes-esque title track through the quite wonderful The Start of Something right through to Wrecking Force, which doesn't disappoint from the title.

At the start of April, Voxtrot released their second EP (again through their own record label, Cult Hero), Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Wives, with more of the same kind of thing but with a more refined sound that allows for them to be enjoyable to everyone. The title track is once again a wonderful beginning, with beautiful lyrics once again dominating your album. Whereas the first EP had the monster The Start of Something, with Ramesh singing "Come by and see my I'm a love letter away / I'd break your name before I'd say 'I really love you loved you' / Now I don't care if you saw / I watched every inch of film flash across your roman features / And I loved it, loved it." with emotive bliss that lends for further listening, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Wives sees the versatility of Ramesh work in clever lines into most of the tracks, up to the epic finale of Soft and Warm: "Everyone loves a man, who lets the hardest people build him up and cut him down to a lovable size".

Any tag as "The next big thing" or "Destined for greatness" doesn't really do justice to Voxtrot at the moment. They're already huge in certain circles and with an accessible sound that allows many to enjoy, it's almost certain that they will go from strength to strength.

Tour Dates

US–only folks, sorry, a number are free or All–Ages though.

• 30th June – Brooklyn, NY – Prospect Park
• 4th July – Brooklyn, NY – OfficeOps Rooftop
• 27th July – Cincinnati, OH – Alchemize
• 28th July – Chicago, IL – Metro [Pitchfork pre–party]

Samples

All samples courtesy of Voxtrot.net

• Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Wives
• The Start of Something
• Heaven [Talking Heads Cover]

A number of Voxtrot's live recordings and covers are available here

Buy

• Buy "Raised By Wolves" from Amazon
• Buy "Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Wives" from Amazon

Voxtrot's first UK single, "Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Wives", is out on June 12th.

Links

• Ramesh Srivastava's blog
• MySpace

Mathew Mannion : 30 Jun 2006 09:51 |  Tags: Indie Music Pop Voxtrot |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Meet the Contributors: Mat Mannion

Helloes!

Name: Mat Mannion
Number one in UK when I was born: George Michael – Careless Whisper
First album bought: East 17 – SAD: The Best Of. Bad. It's SAD for a reason…
First gig attended: Ozzfest 2002. Woop woop woop
Favourite album: Hmm… At the moment, Hot Chip – The Warning. For all time, Radiohead – Kid A
Favourite song: Radiohead – Paranoid Android
Favourite gig: Bloc Party at the NME awards last year as pretty ace
Favourite band: Radiohead
Favourite genre: Indietronica/Pop Rock
The band you like but are embarassed about/feel is a little out of place in your collection: Evanescence is probably the most out of place.
Number of CDs bought since 1st January 2006: Around 45. No wonder I'm skint…
What musical event would you most like to see happen: That time where the Arctic Monkeys told David Bowie to move out of the way, except David Bowie would turn into Jareth from Labyrinth and kick their asses with some crazy crystal thing
Musical hero: David Bowie. Legend.
Music's biggest enemy/ies in my opinion are: 13 year old girls. Stop it! Stop it!

And there we go. That wasn't so bad, was it?

Four tracks I love for your pleasure

Radiohead - 'Like Spinning Plates' [link expired] [Buy from Amazon]
Hot Chip - 'The Beach Party' [link expired] [Buy from Amazon]
Voxtrot - 'The Start Of Something' [link expired] [Buy from Amazon]
David Bowie - 'The Laughing Gnome' [link expried] [Buy from Amazon]

Mathew Mannion : 29 Jun 2006 13:01 |  Tags: Blog Contributors David Bowie Hot Chip Mat Mannion Music Radiohead Voxtrot |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem