Babe Rainbow

There’s a new phrase that has rapidly become a fact of life in the for anyone trying to “make it” in music: if you don’t like doing self promotion, don’t become a musician. To some, self-promo is a necessary evil. To others, namely Vancouver’s Cameron Reed (aka Babe Rainbow), it’s a built in feature. While his music itself has managed to impress enough people to get him signed to the prestigious Warp Records and land him a European tour, what may be more impressive about Reed’s music is his ability to get the right people to listen to it—to stand out in a massive ocean of so called “bedroom producers” and internet-era electronic artists. Reed has an incredible ability to blend the modern concepts of musician, artist, internet personality and PR mastermind into one seamless entity. He is the blueprint for any artist trying to make a name for themselves.

New Bands: The Lovely Eggs, Tall Stories, Sacred Harp

Yann Tiersen: Ask the dust

Yann Tiersen, the reserved (not shy), musician (not composer) and enigmatic Breton (not Frenchman), appears to be back ‘en-scene’, and as it transpires, available for a chat to discuss ‘Skyline’ – the ‘quick-and-easy’ apparent sister album to last year’s acclaimed Dust Lane.

As I find out during our laid back telephone chat, despite the album not being released until October 17, almost exactly a year after its predecessor, the tireless Tiersen is already on the road showcasing new songs. Albeit, minus the company of his charming VIP pooch Voltaire, whom I had the pleasure of meeting when Tiersen played the La Route Da Rock festival in his home town of Brittany last summer. Did he take the delightful creature with him this time round?

Dad Rocks: the pro-Internet, anti-Disney Icelander fights for free expression in music

Dad Rocks! is the nom-de-plume of one Snævar Njáll Albertsson, a Denmark-based Icelander who has quickly risen to fame in the European indie scene this year with his affectingly humane, witty and melodic music.

Mount Modern is his first album as Dad Rocks!, and it’s a strikingly complete release for such a young project. Nestled inside its eleven beautiful songs is a sense of kindness and innocence, but also a sense of being embattled by modern life. “Yeah, I think that’s accurate,” says Albertsson. “Since becoming a dad I’ve seen the world from a totally different perspective. The innocence probably comes from that – not just looking as yourself, but also at challenges your children are going to face.”

Don't Let Me Be Denied by Pinemarten

Listen to our John Rogers talk about Iceland on 6 Music

Future Islands To Tour Current Islands

After their one-off London show on Dec 8th (at Rhythm Factory) and an ATP festival appearance on the Dec 9th, Future Islands have announced an epic European tour in Feb/March 2012 in support of their excellent new album “On The Water”. Known as much for the deranged theatrics of singer Samuel T Herring (pictured) as they are for their catchy, pulsing synthpop, Future Islands live show is not to be missed. You hear that, you naughty Future Islands live show missers? Get down there!

They’ve also given away a remix of the album’s bonus track, “Crish”.

Future Islands – Crish (Javelin Remixxx) by thrilljockey

The band say of the remix: “Crish is a song that was recorded for On the Water but the lyrics weren’t completed in time to make the cut.We asked Javelin if they would do a remix of it for a bonus track.At this point, we’re not sure if our version of ‘Crish’ will ever see the light of day, but we really love what Javelin did with it… I feel like it’s more of a collaboration than a remix.”

See the full list of tour dates after the jump.

U R 1 (Friendly Ghost Remix) by TEETH

Get a free banger from Fireworks Night

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