Hype: Fantasies Are Just Plans In Fancy Dress

I first came across the charms of Hackney's Summer Holiday back in 2006, when their brilliant U Could Be Mine quickly became both a defining song of the year for me and one of my favourites of all time.

Fast forward a few years and Channel 4 are about to air a documentary on their escapades, which include guerrilla gigging on top of their car in various locations around the world.

It would seem that the the seven piece are going from strength to strength and they have just updated U Could Be Mine and a few others in their extensive catalog. Have a listen.

Summer Holiday - Spaceman (YSI)

Summer Holiday - U Could Be Mine (YSI)

When I finally gather the funds to move to the big smoke, these guys are definitely near the top of my 'must see live' list. If you have some spare time on your hands, read their Myspace blog as vocalist Tom Parkinson is one of the funniest people I know (and one of the hardest to keep on task!).

Step Up To Get Ya Rep Up

It's nice to take a break from listening to new music non-stop, step back and delve through the ol' record collection (otherwise known as my ridiculously large external hard drive) and dig out some old classics.

Here's a track from what I consider to be the greatest hip-hop album of all time - Gang Starr's 1998 comeback album Moment Of Truth. Feel free to debate/discuss this in the comments.

Fans of Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2 might recognise this...

Gang Starr - Moment Of Truth (Zshare)
Buy Moment Of Truth @ Amazon.com

Mercury Know Their Arse From Their Elbow

"This is quite literally the best thing that's ever happened to us".

So... a band who created one of my top ten favourite songs of all time, has won the 2008 Mercury Music Prize in the UK, something that pleases me greatly.

A band and lyricist who have never quite made their mark on the mainstream, Elbow have finally received some sort of recognition with their fourth album The Seldom Seen Kid.

Guy Garvey is one of the best lyricists of his generation, Elbow are one of my favourite bands (something that I get quite a lot of aggravation for) and with songs such as Starlings, Mirrorball, Grounds For Divorce, The Fix and One Day Like This, Seldom is a deserved winner.

However, in my opinion it's not their best. That accolade would go to Leaders Of The Free World. Released in 2005, it features the song which I mentioned previously, a song called Puncture Repair.

Elbow - Puncture Repair (Zshare)

Burial's Untrue was the bookies favourite, and with half of the commentators not even caring to notice he had actually unveiled himself to be a a guy from South London called Will Bevan to prevent a UK tabloid from doing it for him, he didn't even turn up for the ceremony.

I'd have been almost as pleased if he had been victorious, though in an ideal world he'd have won it last year with his self-titled debut album, which wasn't even nominated.

Third choice would have been Laura Marling with a remarkable debut in Alas, I Cannot Swim.

Well done Mercury.

Summer Lovin'

It's a Saturday night, I should really be out doing something far more interesting... but nevermind that.

Whilst hibernating in my rubiks cube sized box room, I just came across this gem of act - Shooting Spires.

It's the "bedroom art-pop" project of Parts & Labor bassist/vocalist BJ Warshaw, and while I'm not particularly enamoured with his main project, I can't help but fall in love with his debut and self-titled album under this guise.

Released in late 2007, Shooting Spires is a great experimental album which borders on industrial in parts. It's all a bit muddled, and the lyrics are almost undecipherable underneath all the layering but it blends well and conveys a great deal of emotion and warmth and that's it's strength.

I'm done sounding like a journalist now, but it's a perfect album for these late summer nights.

Shooting Spires - Alive And Well
Shooting Spires Myspace
Purchase Shooting Spires Here

We'll Never Amount To Anything, But We Don't Care

With the imminent release of Elle Milano’s long long long awaited debut Acres of Dead Space Cadets on the 14Th April looming, as well as touring over April and finishing with the Great Escape and Hull Festivals, I thought now would be a great time to talk about lead singer Adam Crisp aka Kobe Winona's other projects.

The myspace gives little away about Entrepreneurs, so its not difficult to understand why I have only recently found out about them, and even then it was down to the sharing-caring side of a friend.

However, that unmistakable voice belongs to Crisp and it can only be said that this guy has talent spilling out of his ears. Also worth a mention is another project, Kobe & The Konsoles.

Due to his commitments with Elle Milano, he hasn't released new material under either moniker since June 2007. Let’s hope that once the children of the world fall in love with Elle Milano, Kobe will return his focus back to his smaller projects.

Here's two songs from the Entrepreneurs only available EP I Love You But I Want You To Fail, the other two tracks can be downloaded from the Myspace page.

Entrepreneurs - Offensive Coordinator
Entrepreneurs - Soundtrack To The Party I Was Never Invited To
Entrepreneurs Myspace
Pre-order Acres Of Dead Space Cadets

Lea

No More Bolt Action

So Bolt Action Five are no more.

After releasing singles through No Pain In Pop and This Is Fake DIY as well as a remix EP on Lost In Paris Records, it seems the self-proclaimed 'Industropoppers' have called it a day after posting a bulletin confirming the rumours on their Myspace account.

Quite a shame considering the London four-piece could produce some awesome dance-floor hits on their day, including one of the soundtracks to my summer last year (due to my housemate having it on repeat ALL the time) - Tree Friend Tree Foe.

We wish them all well and look forward to hearing their new projects. Here are some of their unreleased songs available for download on their Myspace page.

Bolt Action Five - Hellmouth
Bolt Action Five - Landmark Landfill
Bolt Action Five - Face Of The Beast
Bolt Action Five - Standby
Myspace

Carl

What A Man, What A Man...

Again, nothing new here but some music I just want to share because it's that-damn-good. White Flight is the solo project of Justin Roelofs of Kansas alternative rockers The Anniversary.

The story behind his self-titled album is a remarkable one, allegedly an assembly of sound vibrations, both electronic and vocal. Justin recorded the sounds shortly after returning from an enlightening exploration of traditional medicinal and hallucinogenic plants in the jungle of Peru whilst The Anniversary were on a four year hiatus.

With a sound similar to what I'd imagine Modest Mouse would be like if they were raised on a diet of hip-hop and funk, White Flight is full of weird and wonderful sounds and could almost be considered avant-garde.

Released in March of last year, yet still somewhat of a hidden gem, tracks to note are piano driven opener 'Deathlands', the utterly psychedelic RJD2-esque 'Great Gold' and the indescribable 'Superconductor'.

Rather disappointingly, Pitchfork only gave White Flight just 5.5 out of 10, but who reads Pitchfork anyway?!

Myspace
White Flight - Deathlands
White Flight on iTunes

Carl