Exclusive: Briefcase Bomb

I recently caught up with Guy Connelly, the creative genius behind one of my favourite discoveries of 2009; Clock Opera.

You seem to have captured everyone's attention in the past couple of months since you first hit the internet, does it feel like everything is falling in to place nicely?
Yeah, since that fateful day, it's been mental. So busy that I've given up ambitions of joining the circus. The trapeze will have to wait and it's all your fault. A lot of people have come knocking, so that's been really nice. Still early days though, eh.

Your recording process and composition are a little on the unorthodox side, what inspired "Chop-Pop"?
I've always loved sampling and rearranging stuff. Dropping everything on the floor and having to put it together again.

Always loved Brion Gysin & William Burroughs chopping their words up & wanted to try it with music. I love looking for different ways of making things, I'm inspired by making mistakes & I like encouraging computers to make them too.

What's the thought process behind your brilliantly titled Clock Operations?
Rather than answering questions about who or what I'm into, I thought it would be fun to see what happened when my music came into contact with singers I love. Scott Walker's pretty much my favourite ever, so he was a natural first choice. Definitely gonna do more.

I'm constantly hearing good things about the live show, how's that coming together?
We're still not in double figures of shows yet, but it's getting better all the time. I don't lose my voice at every gig now. Got some amazing shows coming up too!

You're releasing your debut single soon right?
Yeah! White Noise 7" comes out on Pure Groove on Nov 16th. Alouette is the b-side, which we play at most gigs too.

So what's next for Clock Opera?
Huge amounts of excitement and drama are pretty much guaranteed. A couple of remixes, just done music for an amazing experimental short film which I'll chuck up sometime soon.

Lots of talks about the next single, probably February time. Ideas are tumbling out at the moment, so not sure what it's going to be yet, but I'll sure as hell let you know!

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If you're in or around London this week then you've no excuse not to see Clock Opera doing their thing.

Kicking off proceedings with an in-store at Pure Groove tomorrow night, they're also playing Levi's One to Watch supporting fellow IT favourites Marina & The Diamonds and Wolf Gang (if you're going to this, come say hi!) on Wednesday as well as Kill Em All on 20th Nov and Scandalism on 22nd.

For now, here's the exclusive download of White Noise.

Clock Opera - White Noise (YSI) EXCLUSIVE

Purchase the White Noise/Alouette 7' exclusively at Pure Groove here.

Interview: Baby Monster

Having been raving about them for a fair few months now, I managed to grab Oregon-based Baby Monster for a few words upon their return home from playing a handful of gigs in London. Here's how it went down.

Hey guys, you well?
Actually pretty sure we've got the H1N1, recovering from a week in London and the 22 hour trip home.

I first blogged you way back in May, what have you been up to since then?
Signed a sponsorship deal with Sprite... No we didn't, but we would if they offered... Lots of recording and trying to finish our album. Also, we've got the live band together with drums and lights etc.

You recently performed at CMJ for some label or other too?
It was one of our first shows actually, all the bands were awesome. Local Natives and Theophilus London really killed it...

What did you enjoy most about the UK?
Riding the tube and meeting nice English birds, and Halloween!

You’re about to release your debut single on 50 Bones, have you had much of a chance to check out the rest of their output?
Definitely. Its really impressive that they've released those artists so early on. Dennis is a bad man.

A lot of people have been comparing you guys to MGMT and even M83, compliment or curse?
Probably a bit of both. We love both those bands but most of our stuff doesn't sound much like either of them. Once people hear more songs their opinions should change.

Danny, I heard you turned down the chance to work on what would have been MJ's new album, what's the story there?
I got the offer right around the same time we had just finished 'Ultra Violence and Beethoven' and it woulda been too much time away from Baby Monster so I decided not to do it.

You've also put out a few remixes in the past couple of months, are there any more in the pipeline?
Yes, Ellie Goulding and Housse De Racket!

Marty, you've played in a couple of bands before BM, what's the Oregon scene like?
So many awesome Oregon groups! The best album from Oregon is 'Yes.No.Shut It.' by experimental noise rock group The Hunches. But also the song 'I Was Drinking In A Trash Can' by The Blimp

It's been a pretty crazy year for you guys so far, what's the plan for 2010?
Move to England, tour, put out a record and record another record... become big stars in Japan, eat sushi foreverrrrr.

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Debut single Ultra Violence & Beethoven is out on Monday (9th November 2009) along with a pretty sweet remix from Irish duo Arvene & Misk (that I'm sure you've already downloaded by now!) through 50 Bones.

You can pre-order/purchase exclusively from Pure Groove here.

Interview: LED Illusions

A few weeks ago I came across Glasgow via London based 21 year old all rounder Kid Adrift.

Somewhat of an A&R's wet dream, his dub infused pop has been a huge hit on BBC Radio 1 and 6Music, with at least four of their DJs giving his track Red, Green and Blue airtime inside a week.

Given the fact that he's a bit of an elusive character and there isn't much known about him at the moment, I decided to try and find out a little bit more.

Let's get straight to business, what, or who is Kid Adrift?
Good question! I heard a few rumours that people think I'm on a boat, or that I'm a music producer gone riot or something!? It might be a bit of a secret alter-ego I suppose.

A lot of people probably know me as this kid who appears at electro clubs around Glasgow and London and then disappears for several days at a time. But they don't know that I'm Kid Adrift. I like having some secrets.

What's the thought process behind Kid Adrift?
I started out playing a few different instruments and got pretty into harmony and orchestration and stuff. But I recently spent quite a lot of time down in London with a guy called Kulture who is on Skream's new label.

He's basically this guy my age but he's like some wise sage or something. He'd lock himself away in his house for weeks on end with philosophy books and when he mixes he closes his eyes and touches the speaker to feel what the bass will be like in a club, it was all quite intriguing as he was making sounds that no-one else even knew how to make.

Me and him and some friends would go on like 40 mile walks around the country-side and just fire ideas back and forth, it was inspiring times. Basically all that probably re-wired my classical/pop side into whatever it is I'm doing musically now...

BBC Radio 1 seems to be all over you and has been for a while now, how
did that come about?
I just handed in a CD of the single to Vic Galloway who is the Radio 1 DJ up in Scotland and he opened his show with it and soon after he tipped it to Huw Stephens and Tom Robinson, then Huw tipped it and Nick Grimshaw started playing it on his show and suddenly it started appearing all over the place.

When Record of the Day picked up on it it all went a bit mental! It was just in the space of 6 weeks or so. Apparently it's been on the Radio in America as well. BBC Introducing are great people they're really helping me out with it all, even with advice and stuff. It all took me a bit by surprise, I'm almost like whoa hold up let me actually get my first CD out everyone!

So what does the next 6-12 months hold?
The first EP will be out very shortly, I should have a release date in the next couple weeks. Then me and the band are going to hit the road with the Live show which I'm really excited about.

We got offered sets at Glastonbury and Reading only 2 months into the whole thing which feels pretty mad but we're not going to launch into anything before we've done some more warm up gigs! We've done some pretty mad shows before in previous bands using laptops and samplers etc and we want to create the same feel about it.

I hear you're working on a remix at the moment, can you divulge who it is or is it a secret?
Yes, I'm really, really excited about that. There's a couple I'm working on, just finished the first one today actually. An electro-pop band that I really like somehow heard about my stuff after Record of the Day featuring Red, Green and Blue and next thing I know I had the multi-tracks in my inbox. I've basically taken a pretty light poppy song and made it pretty dark and subversive. I feel all guilty now. All will become known soon....

Is remixing something you're going to be doing more and more of or is
the artist side of things taking precedence?
The songwriting will be the main thing for me always but I'm going to do as much remixing as possible. I like taking very poppy stuff and just adding a dark streak to it. I don't know where that comes from...

When I was a kid I ripped off Santa's beard at the local village hill in front of all the kids to let them see he was a fake. Something satisfying about taking something really twee and breaking it down in front of everyone.

Are you in to new music at all? If so, who's got your ear at the moment?
This guy Son Lux on Anticon. He's writing songs that basically just tear my whole world apart and rebuild it in the space of 3 minutes, breathtaking.

Well, I did say that I tried.

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Check out the much hyped track in the widget below, the lyrics for which can be found at his website. Also, look out for a Guest Mix from Kid Adrift in the coming weeks, it's definitely going to be something special.

Hype: A Trinity Of Ghosts Destined To Meet

Things have been pretty hectic since the new year, but things are slowly getting back on track. I caught up with ex-Bolt Action Five member Dan Murtha on new projects, Eno and sandwiches...

So it's almost a year since BAF called it a day, what have you been doing?
I did the Kissy Sell Out album which is coming out in April, went to Australia for two weeks, grew facial hair and started Danimal Kingdom. It took ages to settle on the name Danimal Kingdom - that actually paralysed my music for a couple of months- I had to have a name before I could write any more music. Actually, I should go on record and say BAF actually split on NYE 2007. Not a pretty scene, I can tell you.

Are you still in touch with the others?
I actually met up with them last week. they were playing a show as their new band. but that was pretty much the first time we'd spoken more than a sentence to each other since BAF.

It was Tobias and I who wrote all of the BAF music, and I think we'll get together later in 2009 and hopefully get all the tracks down to a decent quality - just so we have closure - and finish off a few incomplete songs and give it away as a retrospective.

So Kissy Sell Out is a big fan, I presume that's carried on from when he remixed Tree Friend Tree Foe?
Yes I think that's where it really kicked off between us. In fact my desire to leave was partly galvanised by Kissy Sell Out asking if I wanted to co-write his album with him- it meant I had some goals to attain while I was prepping Danimal. As you say, he'd done a remix for BAF, which him and I recorded extra stuff for, so we'd worked a bit together and I think he liked my work.

What's the plan for SXSW?
Buy a big ten gallon hat and talk all 'furny-like' all weekend, of course. That and hang out with exactly the same people who I hang out with over here because the whole thing is SO INBRED! in a grand way. And party party party.

But you know what? I don't even know which venues we're playing! I'm six months into this Danimal thing and I already have no idea. Kissy and I are playing some places and parties, and anything Danimal does will be totally unofficial so it's a matter of wheedling in on party line ups. I'm on it but if anyone's doing a party out there and likes me they should let me know!

What are the three things that influence your music most?
It sounds a bit "u-huh, yeah right" but it's actually a bunch of things I didn't expect. I went into Danimal with about 20 songs I'd written that were 'too pop' for BAF, but as I was learning how to produce I was developing my sound, as I still am.

I think Brian Eno is a big one. I don't even own any Eno records, but I realised that a couple of my favourite albums were produced by him, and then I remembered he'd worked with Toto on the Dune soundtrack. The Dune soundtrack is definitely a big influence. I love the novel, I love the film's art direction and I love that album.

I have to say Devo are important too, not necessarily musically but having them on my iTunes reminds me that they did some amazing pop records, but they also did really stupid, irreverent songs. It's knowing you don't have to take everything very seriously that helps me finish songs. Plus their time signatures are good.

Thirdly, anything that puts my head into a different place is great. So for me that's bath time and 90s computer games. Not necessarily playing them, but thinking about how they were constructed. Most of the game genres that make all the money these days were developed in the early 90s, the 'golden age', so when you see a game like Another World or Doom and you think about what these guys were thinking when they were making them, coding this new technology, working with their limitations and at the same time pushing boundaries.

It makes me go back to the drawing board and think about what I really want from my music. It's in the spirit of pioneers in any field of endeavour, and it really is inspiring. I'm always taking things away from my music, stripping stuff back, chipping away at the EQ if needs be.

Are there any collaborations with artists/producers or remixes that we should look out for?
There's certainly a wish list, and people seem to be happy to make them come true at the moment which is very nice and very welcome. I shouldn't speak too soon but I may be working with a couple of my heroes quite soon, which is probably the best thing about doing music. I did a track with The Aston Shuffle recently who are thoroughly pleasant young men, and there's a couple of other artist collabs in the works, but keep your eyes peeled.

What does the future hold for Danimal Kingdom?
Hopefully a record deal that doesn't totally dice my bum into meaty chunks, publishing with a good publisher, a tour of Europe and the US, and a debut album. But for the time being, I've just made a sandwich and that's fucking awesome.

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Check out Dan's fantastic new project Danimal Kingdom and feast your ears on the wonderful Through The Ice and Good As Gold demos as well as an amazing cover of DFA 1979's modern thrash-classic Too Much Love.

Hype: Worship False Idols

So before I make some ridiculous link to the sneezing panda, or some sort of pathetic panda-related joke, I'll get to the point.

Before I went to serve coffee in some downtrodden, back-water town this morning, I had a chance to chat with Shoreditch based producer Gold Panda. It went a little bit like this...

What's the thought process behind Gold Panda?
Um. I don't know if I really think about it too much, when I do it never works out. It's just sort of happening at the moment. I guess I get really depressed and frustrated and then make a song... and I hate it.

Maybe I'll listen again a year later and think 'oops, that was actually good'. Only Quitters Raga was made recently...and I hate it. Is that the musical process? Who knows. I am a disaster continually happening!


What's the musical process behind Gold Panda?
Basically I'll listen to loads of gangster rap and get really excited. Then I'll make some crappy twinkly sounding track instead. All my tracks are samples from old records so I basically sift through stuff into a sampler and mess with it till I make my own song. Sometimes I'll pluck some instruments and sample them, pitch them up and down.

I can't actually play any properly though. I try to avoid all preset sounds and definitely no sample CD's!! If I think of a drum sound I want then I will try and make it with paper or bubble wrap or some other junk if I can't find it on an old record. I like it to rain when I make songs.

When did you first start making music? Has your style changed much since then?
I just grew up on hip-hop and made stuff with samplers when I was younger. That is how I started. I think I've made most types of music since then, mainly for a laugh. I guess all my influences have come together for Gold Panda so my style hasn't really changed, just matured, maybe. I always have ideas about other projects and styles though. Too many.


Who were your musical heroes growing up, and have they influenced your sound?
I went through my dad's records, they were all crackly 7" rock n roll and doo-wop tracks etc so I guess maybe that's where the Gold Panda sound comes from.

I loved Michael Jackson and used to dress up as him and dance to it, but hey, who didn't? Mobb Deep, Snoop, Onyx and Gravediggaz. My mate Phil but he's dead!

Whilst there's definitely an underpinning style in your work, all of the tracks are quite different in terms of sound, where or whom do you take inspiration from?
The tracks are all made in the same way so they get a certain style. I want every track to be different but so you know it's a Gold Panda track. (Does that make sense?) Sometimes I'll hear one sound on a record, sample it, loop it for hours, drink some tea and be inspired by that.

You've done remixes for Tin Can Telephone and Stricken City (both of which are excellent!), are there any more in the pipeline?
Thank you very much! Yes there are more on the way (shhhh). Anyone want a remix, let me know. It'll sound like a Gold Panda track though.

What does the future hold?
Hopefully a live set and some releases. A tape. 7". Do an album. More remixing and more tea. Write a book. Grow a cat up. Buy a plant. That kind of thing.

Gold Panda - Quitters Raga (YSI)
Gold Panda - Back Home (YSI)

**EXCLUSIVE**
Gold Panda - I Suppose I Should Say Thanks Or Some Shit (YSI)

Somehow, I don't think this will be the last you'll hear from Gold Panda on this blog.

Interview: Primary 1

This post was initially deleted by the kind people at Blogger because apparently I was breaching copyright. This is bullshit as I have explicit permission to post the tracks but for fear of them deleting this blog; I will not be re-posting the mp3s. Apologies.

I know there was meant to be a bit of a blog-black-out but I caught up with Primary 1's Joe Flory earlier, here's how it went down...

IT: So, all has been quiet on the Western Front lately, what have you been up to?
P1: Well, just finishing my record really!

IT: Who's producing it?
P1: Its been me and another Joe - Joe Hirst, we've done about 90% together. Joe has engineered lots of albums, and that was really the expertise i needed to help me get everything sounding proper. I also did a song with this guy called John Hill in New York. Which turned out great so... it's gonna be good!

IT:: You've collaborated quite a lot in the past year with The Shoes and Claire Maguire amongst others, are there any new collaborations in the pipeline?
P1: I'm not sure really, whatever comes along!

Primary 1 - Hold Me Down (Live @ Durrr)


IT: Hold Me Down was one of my songs of 2007, what's the story behind it?
P1: Cheers! I made the original about 5-6 years ago, and it just hung around for ages until I finally found someone to release it. It was the first proper song I wrote, so I'm glad it got released at some point!

IT: What music are you into at the moment?
P1: I'm not listening to much at the moment, since I've been so stuck up my own music, but there's a song on Metronomy's album called 'On Dancefloors' which is my favourite song in a long time.

IT: Who's impressed you in a live context?
P1: Best live act I've ever seen are Kamerakino, I couldn't tell you why, they're just like my perfect band. I walked into a pub and they were playing, I'd never heard of them or any of their music before, but it was incredible. You just gotta see them to understand/hate them. Their records don't compare to live though.

IT: Are there any more plans for Karaoke Joe?
P1: Yeah! I'm looking into it!

IT: I know you've been having a bit of trouble with the live setup/line-up, are all those things sorted now? Any live dates coming up?
P1: Basically I wanted to get the album done and start representing the album rather than whatever I could at the time. So in the next few months I'll be back on the road!

Primary 1 Myspace

Interview: The Joy Formidable

I have always loved it when I chance upon an ace new band via the good old fashioned medium of late night radio...

This is how I first heard The Joy Formidable - a fantastically noisy pop band based in London. Championed by the likes of Steve Lamacq, they have been getting loads of positive press and message board attention of late and recently played a blinding BBC6music live session for George Lamb.

I threw them a few questions about how life as The Joy Formidable is treating them and here’s what they had to say for themselves....


IT: As a new band journalists will always make comparisons to other more established acts. Which names have been cropping up in reviews etc, and are these ever true/relevant?
TJF: We've all got quite eclectic taste, so lots of influences - generally anything melodically pleasing, with a good beat.. that makes us happy. Music journalists will always try and find a comparison, the favourite at the moment is the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... for obvious reasons.. 3 piece, bowl-headed girl! , but musically, I think we're quite different... they're a good band though. The weirdest comparison we've had is to Bruce Springsteen, which flattering though it is, isn’t the most obvious analogy!! Maybe its Rhyds' onstage poise that did it!!

IT: Although you have a very poppy sound, you don’t really seem to entertain the traditional pop structure that much, which I really like. Are you all fans of both pop and more diverse music or are you divided? Was it a conscious decision to shape the music in this way, or was it simply just how they turned out?
TJF: I like your questions, very insightful!! I don’t think POP is something to shy away from, so many people think it’s a dirty word, but what we do naturally embraces pop ethos and we're proud of it. Saying that, we do have a bit of an internal struggle sometimes, but the results are what they are, and the blend works.

IT: Were any of you involved in other musical projects before TJF, and are any of you involved in anything musically/artistically outside of the band at the moment?
TJF: We've all been in bands, Rhyds and I have worked together for quite a few years, and then we met Justin about 8 months ago. Outside of the band, we're launching our remix label, which is really exciting... so watch out for that. Working with a great act Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs... I mean the name alone makes you prick up your ears!

IT: At times you guys have a huge sound considering there are only three of you, particularly the epic ending to ‘Austere’. Do you build the tracks up in the studio or are the recordings a reasonably true representation of your live sound?
TJF: It’s always a tricky one... matching live and recorded sound, and obviously you're a bit more limited in a 3 piece. I think we manage it really well, and even if the recordings are slightly more layered, you can make that up by sheer rawness and energy when you're performing.

IT: The live radio session that you did for BBC6 sounds great, how did you find that whole experience? Did you get to go to the Maida Vale BBC studios?
TJF: Thank you. We didn’t go to Maida Vale, it was recorded at the BBC 6 studios. The engineer was shit-hot, so we were really pleased with how it turned out, we had a good day and George Lamb was lovely, massively tall.. he probably doesn’t fit on TV!

IT: How have you found your live shows since the recent positive attention to TJF? I’m guessing busier!? Which gigs stand out as memorable or favourites?
TJF: It’s very early days but it’s great when people come to your shows knowing the tunes and are into the band. When you're unsigned, a lot of the time you’re playing to a new audience, who you hope will leave as fans! The last gig we did at Norwich Art Centre was a buzz, great audience and we saw the most beautiful shooting star shower on the way home... i just had to pull the car over and the 3 of us had quite a touching moment! big softies that we are!

"Austere" live on Channel M



IT: I suppse next up is the ‘Support Tour’, is there any particular band you’d like to tour with or think would be fun, or are you not too fussed?
TJF: Yeah, a tour support would be a treat... I love being on the road and I'd love to be gigging every night. If we had our pick, if only! A tour with The Flaming Lips would be a dream... how much fun would that be?! So Wayne, if you're reading this....

IT: Are you as a band at your happiest creating in the studio or chugging up the M1 in the back of a transit van?
TJF: No complaints here, both are very different but very lucky places to be.

IT: What do you enjoy when you aren’t doing band stuff? What are you reading/watching? Been to any good gigs of late
TJF: Lots of reading, I like biographies... reading Lorca's at the moment... films, good telly and lots of going out.
I went to see American Music Club last week, got a lot of respect for Mark Eitzel... very weird gig though, a bit crazy, great song writing though.

IT: Last month saw endless lists of hotly tipped and uber hyped ‘Bands For 2008’ etc. Are you into any of the new crop of new bands?
TJF: Always a funny one those hotly tipped lists, never go off what the "experts" say! I think Vampire Weekend will do well and MGMT. my tip... Sam Sparro I reckon.

IT: I understand you guys have re-located to London, was this for band related activities or did you just fancy a change? How are you finding it there?
TJF: It was a logistical decision really because Justin was living here and we were in Wales, so moving has made things a lot easier. We're having a good time, London’s being kind to us so far!

IT: Finally, what are your plans for the first TJF release, and indeed the rest of 2008?
TJF: We'll have a single out in April/May, we've got some touring planned and then a few festivals. Gonna just keep on doing what we do best!


The Joy Formidable have shows coming up in Lincoln and London this month, further details can be found on their myspace as well as three downloadable tracks which include the previously mentioned "Austere".

Ryan