Conveyor - Woolgatherer
Here’s some nice upbeat, tightly played US indie-pop by Conveyor, courtesy of the ever reliable Paper Garden Records. Shades of Animal Collective and Bleeding Heart Narrative bubble away under glossy, sparkling production.
21 Jun 2012
Meursault - Flittin'
We’ve long been huge fans of big-voiced Scottish indie outsider Neil Pennycook and his aptly-named band Meursault. In fact, their previous album “All Creatures Will Make Merry” arguable ranks alongside the great independently produced records of this century, so far.
So the emergence of “Flittin’”, the first track from their next LP, is an exciting event. It’s a stomping folk song with swooning strings, pleasingly on the right side of lo-fi, that manages to squeeze both melancholy and triumphalism into its four-and-a-half minutes. A spidery, morning-light piano version reveals its lovely bones.
Look out for the new album soon on Song, By Toad.
20 Jun 2012
Poliça - Wandering Star
Here’s a new video from US electronica upstarts Poliça, who play an instore at Rough Trade East on July 12th, on their way to Latitude.
20 Jun 2012
Story Books Unveil Peregrine Video
Medway indie-rock six-piece Story Books have unveiled a lyrical and beguiling video for their signature tune, “Peregrine”.
The track is released digitally on Monday then on 7” this July 9th, the same day as a headline show at The Lexington.
Before that, they take to the big stage on Thursday (21st June) at Koko, opening for Bloc Party.
18 Jun 2012
When Saints Go Machine - Mannequin
Here’s a pretty cool H.R. Giger-style video for the new When Saints Go Machine song “Mannequin”, taken from their forthcoming second album.
18 Jun 2012
Ariel Pink - Baby
Creepy acid-pop crooner Ariel Pink will release a new album this August, self-consciously titled “Mature Themes”. The first single, “Baby”, is streaming now on Soundcloud. It’s a cover, originally by 70s duo Donnie & Joe Emerson, and despite quite conventional production it still carries a slight skewed weirdness that permeates everything Ariel Pink turns his hand to.
13 Jun 2012
New Icelandic Sounds
We make no secret of our fixation with all things Icelandic here at Snipe. The small volcanic isle flung out in the Arctic Ocean powers its remote villages and cities via the molten rock and hot water that lies just under the barren surface; the amount of art and bands that erupt from its shores reveal a similarly natural, simmering creative core.
So here is a compilation of some new Icelandic sounds, presented by the Iceland Music Export, an organisation designed to champion Icelandic music around the world. From the skewed songwriting of Sóley to the soulful, immersive techno of electronica veterans Gus Gus, and from the Afro-indie-funk-metal genre pileup of pop pioneers Retro Stefson to the svelte electro of Sykur (pictured above, dressed by Icelandic designer Mundi Vondi), there is something here for everyone.
Iceland is a renewable creative resource the world should be proud of.
13 Jun 2012
Snipe Likes: Torches - 'Sky Blue & Ivory'
The debut single proper from these London gloom-merchants. Frontman Charlie Drinkwater channels the spirit of many an ’80s new romantic crooner, in fine fashion – the new Tony Hadley anyone? Sky Blue & Ivory is released July 23 on new label Fractions of One . Catch Torches at the Old Queen’s Head, June 14 and White Heat (Madame Jo Jo’s), June 23.
08 Jun 2012
Radioblue - Take Me Home & London Show
Berlin electro duo Radioblue hit London this Friday night for a gig at pop-up diner & club Pret-a-Diner. Their debut single “Take Me Home” has hardly been off our stereo – the live show sounds like a treat to match.
30 May 2012
Brainlove Festival: Väljasõit Rohelisse
Last of the featured band interviews from this weekend’s Brainlove Festival is Estonia’s Väljasõit Rohelisse. Make sure you head down to The Windmill in Brixton today, with music starting from 2pm, to catch the band, soak up the sun, have a bit of free BBQ and generally have a drink and listen to some fine, fine music.
To get you warmed up, this is what Väljasõit Rohelisse had to say about themselves.
Could you introduce yourselves?
We are an amateur affair. One-chord ceremony with swamp blues, surf and krautrock tinges and Estonian echoes. Named after the sci-fi novel “Roadside Picnic” by Soviet writers, Strugatsky brothers. Picture an echo-chamber filled with smoke. An off-duty shaman having a mushroom salad and a glass of absinthe. Cheap crystal carafes, inverted glances, glittering tambourines and oscillating tremolos spread the infinite drone all around the town.
For people who haven’t seen you live before, what can they expect?
Thick veils of smoke, green lights, white shirts, black shirts, white dress or black dress, tons of echoes and reverbs, glittering tambourines and shamanic beats, some awkward dance moves (if you’re lucky), five different personalities playing a mind ping-pong with each-other.
Are you familiar with the Brainlove Festival?
We haven’t played nor been there before. But we’re really looking forward to it.
What are you looking forward to most about it?
Old windmill and barking dogs; lazy atmosphere; nice chats about weird music, books, food, sailing, films, alcoholic beverages, art, computer games; latest gossip; people’s reaction to Estonian language; a lot of great sounds to nod your head to.
Looking at the line-up, who are you excited about seeing live?
We played with Mat Riviere and Napoleon IIIrd at Tallinn Music Week and these guys were really great, so we’re looking forward to see them again live. Also Female Band and Octagon Court sound exciting.
How do you find festivals in general? Do you prefer smaller venue shows?
The thing with festivals is that there are always really tight time limits for sound checks and getting on and off the stage. As we are just amateurs and using quite a lot of cheap electronics and effects, we are always short on time. So it’s fair to say that we prefer smaller venue shows time wise and also because of the intimate feeling and being closer to audience (and each-other on the stage).
Do you enjoy the prospect of people that necessarily aren’t that familiar with your music getting the chance to stumble upon you?
It’s always wonderful to get this kind of positive feedback from people who haven’t heard us before. The feeling that you can surprise people with your creation is one of the best that’s out there.
Could you tell us a little bit about the track you chose to give away as a free download?
It’s called “Pea on pilvedes” (Head in the clouds) and it reflects quite well what we’re about – one-chord drone with glittering tambourine, tons of echoes and reverbs, sinister bass and synth lines and distant vocals with a touch of melodrama. It’s recorded live in our rehearsal space with just one take on portable Zoom recorder. All the instruments and vocal together. It paints a hazy picture of introvert tripping in the spheres of one’s mind. In a darkened room, where you never climb higher in the name of ambition. With a touch of erotic closeness.
What do your band have going on at the moment? Anything you’re working on or forthcoming releases in the works?
Performing at Brainlove Festival is actually a part of our record “gastroll”. A mini-tour to present our first official release, a 10-inch EP “Külastus”. It’s released by Estonian label Onesense Music and will be also lovingly released and distributed in UK with the help of Brainlove Records (thanks, John at Brainlove and Helen at TMW!) Our gastroll also takes us to Moscow on the 19th of May. And of course couple of shows in Estonia. New songs keep popping up all the time, so may-be later in autumn we’ll record some new material also.
Brainlove Festival takes place at Brixton’s Windmill today (26th May).
Tickets & Lineup Info at: www.brainloverecords.com/festival.
26 May 2012
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- The five best places in London to have an epiphany
- The best church names in London, and where they come from
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
- Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
- A unique collection of photos of Edwardian Londoners
- Peter Bayley has worked for 50 years as a cinema projectionist in East Finchley
- 9 poems about London: one for each of your moods
- Diary of the shy Londoner
- Random Interview: Eileen Conn, co-ordinator of Peckham Vision
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