Sara needs help!

Copyright:  Ian Wilson

Sound the ancient horns! our friend from the North, Sara, needs help! She is currently in a competition for Rock Star Wigs, and needs votes urgently! since all you need to do is go on the page and click 'vote' you will be doing a service for the effort of a click! Good sirs and madams, go forth and vote for our lovely lady.
 Do it, you chivalrous bastards.
https://www.facebook.com/RockStarWigs?v=app_135636729827676&app_data=cid_1151

Copyright: Chicca photography

Yearbook - Visionary

Well, last year was crap. This year is going to be pretty crap to, as nobody has any money - apart from Iran, who have decided to spend it all making a massive sign spelling out 'FUCK YOU ISRAEL' made entirely of nuclear fuel rods. 

We imagine it would look a lot more impressive than this. 

However, although nobody has any cash, people are still making awesome music all over the place. 


Take Yearbook for example. Unafraid of economic collapse, hypothermia and the nuclear apocalypse, they only decide to go release their spiffy new single, Visionary. 




Essential brit-rock, Yearbook make us like indie music again. Loud, jarring sounds that are matched by seamless alternation between harmonious and razor-swallowing vocals. The video itself is an experience to be cherished, and the perfect characterisation of such a moving song.

The track is stirring and full of the energy that we have come to expect from Yearbook. Distinctive, and carefully constructed tracks are what we have come to expect, and we expect great things from them in the future.

Where stepping on expensive things is O.K.

Yearbook are awesome, and have been for quite a while - so if you haven't heard of them, go check out their new single here at http://www.musicglue.com/yearbook .
Watch them on youtube here http://youtube.com/yearbookband
Read about their doings here ihateyearbook.tumblr.com, here twitter.com/yearbookband and here facebook.com/yearbookofficial

They are also set to play RedFest this year, midst a fitting line-up. From what we hear... It's somewhere in Surrey.

St. Spirit Debut EP - Pidgeon

We love home-grown rock here at FTN. There is nothing better than something cooked up in somebodies Living room, shed or kennel. Although we don't really advise recording your debut album in a miniature dog house, We're sure it will be acoustically brilliant/innovative.

Lovely wallpaper.

St. Spirit are a South London five-piece  named after the island 'San Esperito' from the Just Cause xbox game. Their Debut EP, 'Pidgeon' is released on the 20th of February, and the title track is brilliant.Ghostly and melodic, It is probably the most refreshing new rock track we have seen recently. The debut album is exceptionally professional and shows a lot of promise for the album.

 

Mixed in a garden by Adrian Bushby (who has worked with Muse & Foo Fighters). 'In a garden'? I think this needs explaining, but whatever he has done, it sounds great. If you would like the chance to see St. Spirit perform live, check them out at the following dates and places -

14^th February - The Social, London (Huw Stephens Introducing), W1W

17^th February - Amersham Arms, London, SE14

29^th February – Buffalo Bar, London, N1

To get a taste of their music and for more information on this release, visit the band’s
website www.stspirit.com and www.distillermusicgroup.com.

The band are exciting and fresh, and best of all, inspired. it makes us believe that music can still have life breathed into it by talented and creative individuals such as St. Spirit. 

Black Hats - 'Austerity for the Hoi Polloi'

Oxfordshire three-piece Black Hats kick in the doors, seemingly metaphorically in their new video 'kick in the Doors'.

 Making their mark on the Oxford music scene for the past 18 months, and have finally got stuck into some studio work with their debut mini-album 'Austerity for the Hoi Polloi' which is being released 16th of april.

The first single, 'kick in the doors' appears here -



But not a single door is kicked in. Quite frankly, we are disappointed by the lack of horribly smashed doors and destruction that would make B & Q cry. The only door we saw was right at the start, and it wasn't kicked in, or damaged in any way at all. To fix this we insist that the band film themselves Kicking in a door, immediately. However, this is a fantastic video and the ending is brilliant.

The track is a bouncy alt-rock record that is relatively catchy and definitely works on stage - If the rest of the album is like this we are going to love it, and so are You.



As mentioned previously, the mini-album is released April 16th. More importantly, more doors need to be kicked in before we are ok with this. Also, we are really hoping the next song on the album is called 'fixing the hinges' followed by 'calling the locksmith'.

Album Review; The James Warner Prophecies with Things Change.

Well, look who’s returned from the dark depths of the recording studio! It’s only the James Warner Prophecies! We’ve reviewed them once before, here, and now they’re back with their new album, Things Change.

The first track of the album, Define, is impressive. The guitar seems to disagree with my ears a bit, but The vocals are clean and well done, a major strength of this band. 

Define is the most mellow track off the entire album, so what James Warner Prophecies have done here, is produce a 12 track album with 11 rawer, harsher tracks,  and thrown in this song as a way of saying, “Hey! Look what we can do!”... And this certainly isn't a bad thing. The fact that the track is accompanied by an awesome video is a nice added bonus. (The link for said video can be found here!)

Running Out is the next song that caught our attention. It starts off with a bluesy guitar, something I personally adore. It also hails the return of the flute. Now, if you remember, we had a slight problem with the flute in their previous song You Are The Sun, but, we have to give it to TJWP, it works here. It works very well. You win this round, boys.

This track is a perfect example of how versatile this band are; vocalist Joe Brown has no problems conquering this heavier song, and it sounds like he does so with ease. Also, we approve highly of the guitar all the way through Running Out.

The bluesy guitar makes an appearance at the beginning of the track Holes as well. The song progresses smoothly, and has been very well thought out. It also features yet again another slightly different vocal style. The highs and lows of this song remind us of bands like Five Finger Death Punch. Which is also a very good thing...

The thing that has struck us most about this entire album, is about how easily JTWP can change their sound, but keep it to a high standard. They don’t sound like a band struggling to decide a genre to stick to, they sound like a band who knows these songs sound good, so they will play them, dammit. That’s definitely something to admire.

The songs work together, in an odd way. TJWP have been very clever here; their songs sound different but aren’t on opposite ends of the spectrum; meaning the whole album flows and gives a very pleasant listen. The band have shown that they know how to use their instruments to the full effect, and aren’t afraid to show this off in any way possible.

Keep doing what you’re doing, boys, because you just keep getting better.

-Rosa.xo

The official TJWP website can be found here. Fancy things like videos, new releases and tour dates are put up there, so if you like the sound of these guys be sure to check it out!

JBZ interview - Disco for the New Generation

I shouldn't like dance music; I can't dance. Seriously, watch me. I move like a blind Michael Stipe with a hip problem. However, there is something compulsive about fantastic dance music, and when it is good, it is really good. So that is exactly what can be expected of the legendary collection of artists contributing to JBZ.

JBZ

JBZ is the collaboration of Mark JB (part of the producer duo Bimbo Jones) and Brand New Heavies' Simon Bartholomew. The new-found duo are creating the 'Disco sound for the New Generation' with many artists, including Aurora Dawn, Jocelyn Brown, Omar, Kenny Thomas, Junior Giscombe, KC (sunshine band), Beverley Knight, Kid Fuss, Rita Campbell and Sharlene & Vula from Basement Jaxx. 

FTN: Massive amount of collaboration going on here, who are we going to be hearing with JBZ?

 Mark JB: Well first you will be hearing some of the finest guitar playing crafted by Simon, what a pleasure to work with such a genius!  The first artist we recorded with was Jocelyn Brown at her house in London, we took a mobile studio up there, she did the most amazing one-take adlib track on the end of her tune, that is something I will never forget.

We have so far had through the studio Omar, Kid Fuss (a great rapper who is from Australia who sounds like Q-Tip), Kenny Thomas, John Altman who is a living legend having composed for Monty Python-Life Of Brian and James Bond and jammed with Jimmy Hendrix!  Then we have the amazing Aurora Dawn in today, we working an amazing crowd rocking song called '5432' today, artists confirmed to come all board are KC (Sunshine Band), Junior Giscombe, house diva Rita Campbell and the lovely Beverley Knight.

 FTN: All drawn to the 'disco for a new generation' angle, I'm guessing?

 Mark JB: I think most of the artists are drawn in because it's an interesting project and we have a good laugh in the studio, also Simon and I have good networks and an excellent discography which helps.  It is an interesting concept and a few people have said that there is no one doing what we are and that they cant wait to hear the results!

 FTN: Define Disco for a new generation?

 Mark JB: We love the disco/soul/funk sounds of the 70s and early 80s, the thing that made it so good was that it took a whole team of people to put it together, you had the producers, musicians, arrangers, executives... everyone put their emotion and ideas in, this is why the music was so multi-dimensional.  

On Michael Jackson's Thriller for example there would have been upwards of sixty people pitching in to make the tune come to life.  So we have put a modern spin on the production by bringing in loads of artists and musicians to put their energy into the album; this is disco for today.  'Disco for a new generation' is taking great melodies and music produced for today's hi-fi-club rocking discerning music appreciators.

  

FTN: What is needed for the 'new disco generation' sound?

 Simon Bartholomew: We're doing a project here that's loosely based on the Disco sound. You won't be getting any village people business. More on a soulful tip. Disco got a bad name, but there's some HEAVY Disco tunes being made... We're gonna add some modern flavors into the mix too.

FTN: Your perfect listening conditions for a class A funk track?

 Simon: Smoky, Pokey, Loungy and all the other seven dwarfs that get that Snow white down.

FTN: How much of JBZ is drawn from Brand New Heavies' sound and success?

 Simon: Well there's my guitar on it, so you're gonna hear that sound - but Mark's vibe from his seventy-one #1 dance hits... So it's a fresh sounding familiar set of tunes... the Albums not finished yet, but we're working away in a secret South London location.

FTN: Favourite JBZ track so far?

 Simon: I'm loving this track with Aurora. The Jocelyn Brown track keeps coming up in my mind.... More to come... I love 'em all with their different vibes on each one...

 FTN: Last time we met you was underneath Dirty South, how are Alabama 3?

  Aurora: Still recovering *laughs* We not long finished filming a cameo part in a film called seven songs for amy, starring Sean Maguire, (See the Spartans) Patrick Burgen (Patriot games, Sleeping with the enemy) and also working away on new material and with up and coming artist and doing loads of interviews.

  

FTN: exciting new stuff from 'Shoplifting 4 Jesus  - do you have a favourite track?

 Aurora: Love it all really, The tracks are so varied but holds a strong thread of continuity  that Larry Love is brilliant at doing. None the less, Facebook.con, write is wrong, stars, summer in the city are all wicked tracks.  'Shoplifting 4 Jesus' is officially released on the 25th February 2012 which we will start  promoting with with an international tour  through the UK, Australia, and New zealand. We did a pre-tour of the UK through November and December!

   

FTN: Any comments on the track/tracks your soulful voice will be gracing with JBZ?

 Aurora: Loving the tracks - Working on a wicked dancefloor shaker with Marc JB and Simon JB as we speak. Simon is corrupting me with aquavit... its a Norwegian bevie.

   

FTN: Can't wait to hear the tracks, anything you would like to say to our readers?

 Aurora: Yes! Look out for the new tracks from JBZ and myself but in the meantime come on down to my Charity event Called THE BEST IN BRIXTON TRIANGLE BENIFIT WEEKENDER 27TH AND 28TH OF JANUARY 2012 AT BRIXTON JAMM 261 BRIXTON RD SW9 6LH where you can get a taster of the boys and I. There will be a plethora of artist over 2 nights from HOWARD MARKS, BASSMENT JAXX, MZ BRATT, STERIO MC, RODNEY P and many, many more. See the website or at the door on the night if there's is any tickets left... there going Fast! Get them now!

Marc JB:  The next Bimbo Jones album is coming out, also look out for my new singles with Rita Campbell and Inaya Day, please sign up at WWW.MARCJB.COM for more info on all the projects!

Gaunt story Acoustic video!

Quick update with Gaunt Story and a phenomenal live and acoustic performance of 'Burning up Kindness' - This is one you have to check out.

 

For those of you who didn't see our review of their companion waves album, check it out here!

The Kickliner

We get the impression that Sheffield is a well of talent, an inescapable whirlpool that chews up and swallows indie bands. Sheffield is like a third world of talent, with musical refugees escaping down the M1 every chance they get. What I'm saying is that 'Sheffield's Got Talent' wouldn't be a reality TV show, it would be a statement of fact.

You can't go wrong with snakes. 

But with the help of producer Alan Smyth (Artic Monkeys, Pulp, Reverend & the Makers), The Kickliner have created something that stands out from the usual crowd - but only just. Their new E.P. is a four-piece clash of indie mayhem that can't be denied its appeal. Instrumentally very tight, the band have a real talent for exciting riffs and a dynamic sound with roots in the best of indie - hints of Kaiser Chiefs, Libertines and Two Door Cinema Club. The band could have the potential to join these greats. Joe Doris' vocals are strong and raw, and have the exact amount of angsty north incorporated, but they can get drowned in the instrumental chaos. The songs have immense promise, especially the exponentially less clustered 'Romance is Ruined' - where the entire song seems more structured, the vocals are audible and a whole lot more characterful.

All in all, the lyrics and vocal melodies need to match up to the brilliant instrumental work. A little more structure and some memorable refrains are all that's needed to really get them noticed. At best, the core successful elements of northern indie are evident in full force.

Check out the band's facebook page!

Review: Matilda, the Musical

When I heard there was going to be a musical of Roald Dahl's 'Matilda', I couldn't suppress a disenchanted 'Ohhhhh.' Because everything seems to be a musical nowadays. There's 'Shrek' (wouldn't recommend) 'Legally Blonde' (definitely would!), even an upcoming 'Bridget Jones' with music by Lily Allen. There seems to be a new link in the Hollywood adaptation chain; Book - Film - Musical. I sincerely hope they never do 'The Shining'.

However, when I heard it was a Royal Shakespeare Company production (they launched careers of Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, etc etc - they don't do crap things) , and the music was by Tim Minchin, my favourite eyeliner-wearing musical comedian, I decided to go and see it. And I'm very, very glad I did.

The story, as most people know, is about an intelligent book-loving girl, unappreciated by her tv-loving family, who develops telekinetic powers and uses them to drive out the evil headmistress of her school. With a story for, and based around children, this musical could have fallen into sugary, over-sentimental territory, but it did exactly the opposite. The opening number consisted of a chorus of bratty children singing "My mummy says I'm a miracle" while their adoring parents looked on, capturing the dark yet truthful humour Roald Dahl is famous for. From that moment, a smile never left my face.

Nothing about this production could fail to satisfy a Roald Dahl fan. The set is ingenious and at times surreal, with a backdrop of brightly coloured alphabet blocks. The special effects are magical - they manage to recreate the bit from the film where a small child is hurled around by her plaits, I was sitting there half hysterical, and half terrified. The script is very, very funny, slightly updated for a modern audience, with a knowing and grotesque tone, but some touching moments of poignancy as well. (There are also some extra bits that aren't in the book OR film, which were an excellent surprise for someone like me who knows them both backwards.) Tim Minchin's score is witty, very reminiscent of Dahl's use of language, and there are several tunes that have remained in my head. Although occasionally over-wordy, the music is perfectly matched to the story and I'd be very interested to see any other musicals he worked on. A special mention should also go to Peter Darling's choreography - it was fresh, energetic, dynamic, and utterly suitable in that it made the children look like boisterous schoolkids and not precocious dancers.

Sophia Kiely and Paul Kaye

And the children were the real stars of the show, all of them slick and with comic timing beyond their age. The Matilda I saw was Sophia Kiely, who was so tiny and adorable I briefly considered stealing her and raising her as my own. Her singing and dancing was mature and spot-on, and she believably made Matilda resourceful and strong but also naughty. All the young cast held their own amongst the adults. The standout adult was, of course, Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull, and the many theatre award nominations he has gained for this are fully deserved. I came expecting something similar to the film version - a butch, screaming bully. Instead, I got a soft-spoken tyrant, a Richard III with a magnificent bosom, whose sanity visibly crumbled a little bit more every time we saw her. He is particularly memorable in his number 'The Smell of Rebellion', high-kicking and vaulting around a gym and terrorising the small children. Props also go to Lauren Ward as Miss Honey, who has a beautiful, carrying voice and portrays the beaten-down teacher admirably, and Josie Walker and Paul Kaye as Matilda's garish, sneering parents. (Matilda's brother Michael, played by Peter Howe, is also hilariously reworked into a hoodie-wearing moron who can barely speak beyond his own name).

Lauren Ward and Bertie Carvel....be very afraid.

This show deserves the 5-star reviews and the award nominations it has gained. It's perfect. There is truly something for everyone, and in a West End where the same shows have been running for years and years, this original gem is to be prized. Go. Go now.

Eden xx

Whitemoor & Jay Stansfield save Christmas

Welcome back, Christmas. This month we celebrate the birth of the Jew-king in all his glory, sit around a fire while someone cooks a testicle-bird and figuring out how long a man can actually survive when pinned to a tree.

As if this maudlin event was not depressing enough, we are also denied any good music for the month, and we are force-fed piles upon piles of Christmas covers, Telly people thinking they can do music, and that song where rich people moan about the fact that starving Africans don't give a toss about Christmas.

Dear rich people, we finally found a use for those gap year students you sent over.

What you are about to hear non-stop throughout December is the artists looking to cash in on your hard-earned coinage by singing you that same song some self-styled 'woman warrior' of soft pop music covered last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. We have to assume that this all started shortly after the Jew-king died. it wouldn't be hard to believe that 'Cross Factor' has been running for 2,000 years. 

If that wasn't more than enough, it is even standard procedure to give a lot of realitards free run of a studio, top-notch producer and enough auto-tune to blast Essex into space. That, my friends, may be apt retaliation to the offense caused to the human race by 'Last Christmas' by the cast of 'The only way is to shoot Essex into space then nuke it' 

...although we are pretty sure they have already absorbed enough radiation through experimental fake tan/botox treatments that they would survive/mutate(mutate more, we mean). 

       It's for charity, so SHUU-UUUUUUUP. 

Pretty desolate so far, isn't it? Well, we haven't been entirely truthful with you. There is hope yet, you just have to look for it.

Our synth-rock friends over at Whitemoor have constructed this wonderful festive song for all you would-be no-hopers out there. It is genuinely uplifting to see so much passion poured into a a seasonal song. Lose yourself in melodic synth and a heated vocal track that has melted my cold-to-Christmas heart. For your entertainment, Three words at Christmas. 

WHITEMOOR - THREE WORDS AT CHRISTMAS

The free download is available from www.sound-hub.com, a veritable addition to any Christmas collection.

and the world would definitely be a darker place without Jay Stansfield, which is why he has contributed to brightening up our Christmas and making Christmas music a warm experience once again. This stunning composition has all the charm of Fairytale of New York, and the love that Jay fills all his work with.


JAY STANSFIELD - WAKE UP THE CHILDREN



Jay Stansfield - Wake Up The Children by Jay Stansfield
Click the link to download this wonderful song now.

Merry Christmas from Ry, Rosa, Sam, Egor, Eden @Fetch the Nets.