Not Squares - Asylum

'Asylum', Not Squares' debut single, opens with a punch right in your ears delivered by a fist full of drums. Then, before you've had a chance to clear the stars orbiting your head, you're placed in the middle of dance floor and instructed to do one thing and one thing only: dance fucker!

Filthy bass, frenetic drums and angular guitar riffs propel this thrash disco beast out of the blocks at a pace that doesn't let up until its four and a half minutes have expired and you're finding yourself short of breath, the only respite being a breakdown of anthemic chanting and four to the floor kick drum.

Asylum gets a digital release on The Richter Collective on March 1st.


Not Squares - Asylum from Bright Stem on Vimeo.

ReviewDo It Yourself Vol.1 - The Mosaics

Sometimes as a reviewer, you can get carried away with the more, let's say, ornate aspects of the English language. Tracks are 'achingly beautiful' 'willfully ramshackle'; riffs are 'razor-sharp', and so on. So in reviewing this latest track by geordie hopefuls The Mosaics, (who I would be pretty positive about on the whole, as they seem to blend early Coldplay with elements of A-Ha without being annoying or smug about it), I'd like you to submit your own review. It's not lazy journalism, it's just a reaction to some of the utter, utter wank posted by sites such as Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound, which are nearly all staffed (barring a couple of honourable exceptions), by a slurry of pretentious, third-rate Lester Bangs impersonators.

'Illuminate' may not sound fashionable, but then again, with the parlous state the UK music scene is in at the moment, that may not be a bad thing. But I want you to get involved and spew your reactions to this in the comments box below... The more the merrier, and try and be constructive innit. And it's out now. So have a listen and let me know what your ears think.

The Mosaics - Illuminate by benstroud

Single Review - Ali Love 'Diminishing Returns' (Backyard Recordings)

You get the feeling that life has not dealt an artist as talented as Ali Love a fair hand. You'd probably right. Whilst infinitely inferior bands from his East London manor (hello, The Klaxons) have gone on to enjoy mainstream success, all Ali has had to show from his aborted major label deal (he recorded an album for Columbia, didn't like it very much, they parted company), is a few battle scars and stories of gatecrashing Ronnie Wood's birthday party dressed as a gypsy.

Which is why it's good that he's been given a second chance on Backyard - one of the best indie labels around. And their investment and his efforts have paid off - 'Diminishing Returns' is an italo-flecked beast of a track, tearing synth-pop a huge Moroder-shaped new arsehole, with lyrics that could have been lifted from Princes purple notepad circa 1984. Comebacks don't come much better that this...



'Diminishing Returns' is out now.

Free MP3! The Plasticines - Barcelona (Lifelike remix)

Check this spaced-out housey remix by Lifelike of the French girlband de-jour (arf arf) The Plasticines. It's a bit of a stinker for Sunday (avoid if you have a hangover), make sure you have this in your arsenal this week if you are playing out. I like - 7/10

Barcelona (Lifelike remix) by Plastiscines

REVIEW: Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
Release Date: 2009
Label: Self released

I whacked on the Cymbals Eat Guitars album Why There Are Mountains this morning, only to be reminded that it's one of this year's sleeper hits. What a wonderful, wonderful noise. They'll be most easily, and not doubt often, compared to earlier Pavement -- but that's just one string to their musical bow.

Indiana, after an intro of amp noise and unintelligible vocals, falls over itself into a toe-tapping, barroom piano-led romp of a track, replete with charming brass and sing-a-long chorus. On the flip side to this What Dogs See is a slow, brooding, post-rock monster that reveals itself slowly through atmospheric guitar loops, bass harp and shimmering vocals. The track finally dissolves into a mess of low-register strings, serving as a segue to what the album's  most radio-friendly hit, Wind Phoenix, the track responsible for those Pavement comparisons.

The seven minutes of Share arguably stand as the album's highlight. It opens with slow, huge, My Bloody Valentine distortion you can wrap yourself in; a warm blanket of fuzz. And then it happens: it peaks. An explosion of proud brass and screaming guitars lifts the whole thing to a triumphant climax. It's like Ágætis Byrjun era Sigur Ros, only really fucking loud, and with more foot-on-monitor wailing guitar solos. And then, as if they hadn't already crammed enough into one track, it happens again. The whole thing drops into a four to the floor, disco hi-hats, indie-rock outro. This is seven minutes of yes.

It's commendable that one band can cram so many ideas and styles onto one record and still retain the coherence that Cymbals Eat Guitars have managed. By stealing from a myriad of genre and eras they've somehow manage to carve a niche all of their own. It's a breath of fresh air to find a band who are so seemingly involved in their own sound that they've not bothered to see what everyone else is doing at the moment.

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You can listen to Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains on Spotify.

REVIEW: The Slew - 100%

The Slew - 100%

Label: Ninjatune

Release date: 24/11/09

...and then for his third effort DJ Shadow released The Outsider, at which the majority of his fans breathed in sharply through their teeth and released a collective, "Really?" At the time, Shadow is quoted as saying: "Repeat Endtroducing over and over again? That was never, ever in the game plan. Fuck that. I think it's time for certain fans to decide if they are fans of the album, or the artist." I think we all know what the collective decision was.

A couple of years later and Shadow was back with his old partner in crime, Cut Chemist, touring The Hard Sell, the latest of their collaboration records. Opening for them on these shows they had Kid Koala, the Montreal turntablist who has the pleasure of a Bjork and Radiohead name-drop when it comes to people he's opened for.

A couple of years before this jaunt around the US with two of the world's most respected turntabalists, Kid Koala started working on a rock record with Dynomite D, longtime shoulder-rubber with the Beastie Boys. The pair, who met on the Beasties Boys tour in 1998, had been approached to soundtrack a documentary feature film. The film was eventually abandoned, but with Mario C (Beastie Boys Engineer/Producer) on board for mixing, D and Koala were already deep into the psych rock-influenced score and there was no turning back.

To complete the project, D and Koala teamed up with Chris Ross and Myles Heskett, the rhythm section of Wolfmother (yes, of Woman! fame), and The Slew were formed. The result is a melting pot of psych blues riffs, turntable gymnastics and sample wizardry. The beats and samples on offer ooze with the teachings and influence of classic DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and Mix Master Mike, and the sleazy, fuzz-drenched bass lines and blues guitars are everything you'd expect from the over the top rock excess of Wolfmother. On paper it sounds horrible. In reality it's quite special.

Opening with its title track, the first thing to hit your ears on 100% is a high pitched wail which is somewhere between James Brown and Robert Plant. Enter a scratchy guitar riff dripping in bluesy rock-n-roll; the riff plays cat and mouse games with a turntable; and then in comes the bass line to get appreciative heads nodding and chins stroking. This is straight up Blaxploitation rock-n-soul. Slip this on some headphones and take a walk: you'll be 100 miles high as the most street walkin', jive talkin', coolest cat in, er, West Hampstead? It's this opening mix of breaks, blues and samples that sets up the whole album.

The Grinder is a bass-driven acid soul groove, Shackled Soul's frenetic break beat and guitar freakout morphs into a guitar solo reminiscent of Van Halen's Eruption battling with a turntable, and You Turn Me Cold has a grimey cock rock riff. Southeast Solilioquay slows things down by taking a Delta Blues sample and applying a thick sheen of hip-hop filth. Album highlight Battle Of Heaven & Hell is all sinister high note strings, osculating phasing and haunted spoken word samples. The album reveals shades of The Free Association and UNKLE along with early Stones and Zeppelin. It's a myriad of competing styles and reference points that somehow manage to gel.

After touring the record and selling limited copies at shows, demand has grown so much that it's soon to see a release proper via Ninjatune. However, if you're quick you can download the whole thing for free here. The download link is set to self destruct on November 1st so think fast. Of course we'll all be putting in an order for the double-vinyl to pour over the samples and gain credibility.
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REVIEW: Atlas Sound - Logos

Atlas Sound - Logos
Release Date: 19/10/09
Label: 4AD


There's been a lot written about file sharing of late, much of which has been off the back of comments made by Lilly Allen, Queen of The Internet. So, what happens when a band/artist leaks an album themselves, albeit accidentally, when it's unfinished? This is the predicament that Bradford Cox, mastermind behind Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, found himself in last year when he managed to inadvertently leak an unfinished, unmastered version of Logos to the world via his own Mediafire account. When you distribute as much free material as Cox does you've got to be a little more careful. After this Cox was understandably pissed off (at himself you'd guess). After a period of both um-ing and also ah-ing he decided to go ahead and finish the album after all. And here it is: Atlas Sounds' Logos.

When it comes to the world of Bradford Cox, personally I'm a relative newcomer. On hearing Deerhunter's Microcastle last year I was all over anything I could get my hand on, which included Atlas Sounds' first proper LP Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel. Now, just a year later I've got Logos to get excited about. Well, have I?

The album opens with The Light That Failed, a repetition of lazily played acoustic played over a scattering of watery squelches, single-hit tambourine with Albert Hall reverb, and some ethereal vocals lost deep in the mix. Every now and again a intelligible lyrics slips through: "I will never." Following this, and seemingly starting about three minutes into what was recorded, is An Orchid. More unintelligible lyrics but this time the band raises its head a little higher; an acoustic chord sequence is afforded a little strumming action; I'm sure if I listen hard enough there's an actual drummer in there. A shimmering guitar line enters the mix, brilliantly offsetting the mantra-like timbre of the track proper. Oh, hang on, it's finished. Not the guitar line, the song. But it was just getting interesting! And it's this opening salvo that serves to sum up Logos for me. I feel as if I've picked up a copy of Bradford Cox's sketch book; a collection of unfinished ideas which can't yet be called songs.

The album launches in earnest on its third offering, the much-anticipated collaboration with Animal Collective's Noah Lennox. It's here that the album throws up its first 'proper song' and, unfortunately for Cox, it sounds like Lennox's influence here is stronger than his; this could easily be a Merriweather Post Pavilion out-take: the familiar sound of Panda Bear's vocals over an organic-yet-electronic soup of beats and backing. It's easily the album's standout track. Well, it does have another track which rises to the top amongst the litter of sketches and ideas: another collaboration. Quick Canal (featuring Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab) is an eight minute majesty of beats, wall of sound reverb, and washed out in the mix vocals. For fear of sounding like my Dad, it's a laid-back dance groove (man). Obviously Bradford Cox's influence is strong on both of these tracks (even if it's not always in your face) and it goes to show what it achievable if he's working to satisfy someone other than himself.

To dismiss the whole record as a collection of sketches, bar the two collaborations, may be doing it a slight dis-service. Attic Lights is a lo-fi acoustic number with well placed, haunting strings. Sheila starts as a simple three-chord dirgey repetition but soon there's a step-change to lift the whole thing and keep the listener on their toes. However, even with these glimmers there's still, for me at least, more rough than smooth.

I'm sure that this album will get glowing reviews from most reviews that put fingers to keys. But, I have to ask, is that because it's expected? I wanted to like this record -- and I really tried. However, just because someone's reputation precedes, just because you think you should like something, all work needs to be judged on its own merit. For Bradford Cox's disciples Logos will no doubt serve as a record of the inner workings of his mind; for everyone else its no more than a sketch book of potential, and maybe a hint of what lies in wait.
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Listen to Atlas Sound - Logos on Spotify and let us know what you think.