The Joy Formidable are back!

The Joy Formidable debuted their latest single, 'Wolf's Law' on Huw Stephen's Thursday night show. The track, 'Wolf's Law', also happens to be the title track of their second album which is due to come out in early 2013. Apparently though, the track won't actually appear on their album but is just a teaser of what's to come, which I suppose is why they're giving it away for free if you subscribe to their mailing list. The track also comes with a beautiful video directed by Cat Botibol. The track is a complete surprise to me, as it probably is to a lot of their fans. The last thing I expected to hear was a piano. I guess what the band are telling us is that there is going to be a big change in their sound on their next record. Which, some people might say is a bad thing. However I don't, I think it's great that they're experimenting a bit. If they were to keep to the same indie rock style that they're already known for it would be like a re-run of their debut.

Howler - Central Station, Wrexham, 22/8/12

Howler have recently been getting a huge amount of attention, mostly thanks to NME - where I first became aware of them. Since that NME gig review (February 2012) I've now heard their sessions with Zane Lowe, Lauren Laverne and with Bands In Transit - amongst the many others sessions they've done. I bought their album, which sounded pretty strong. With all this hype and attention I have to say the last thing I expected was to see Wrexham on their list of tour dates, and for it to be their warm up gig for Reading and Leeds.

                   Finding the venue wasn't hard. When walking down the pedestrian streets of Wrexham I could hear the sound of the supporting band's loud guitars vibrating straight through what looked to be the tin roof of Central Station. The venue is small, friendly and great to get up close to the musicians themselves, which I suppose is the reason why it's named as 'Wales' leading live music venue' by Kerrang & The Independent. There wasn't a big turnout and the few people that were there didn't seem to know of the band, I must have been the only one singing along to any of their songs. Even if Howler's music didn't please the crowd, frontman Jorden Gatesmith's stage banter sure did. He questioned the crowd on what people do in Wales and got the reply of sheep-shagging (which by the way, is NOT what people do in Wales). He also rated his band members on how well they played a new song that they debuted, which got a laugh. During their set, Jorden quite rightly complained about the sound- the sound guy shouted across the crowd, "the sound's always shit here!". The reverb was terrible, even their tracks that didn't have a wall of distorted guitar in them sounded like they did. What Jordan and his band didn't realise was that there probably wasn't anything wrong with Central Station's sound equipment, it was they themselves who were playing way too loud for the venue. Central Station has a wooden floor and what seems to be a tin roof, so the sound bounces around everywhere creating loads of natural reverb, so it's best if bands play quieter, especially if there isn't a large crowd to absorb the sound.
                 Even though the gig wasn't that great, I could tell that Howler would soon become bigger than they are right now. They've got everything an indie rock band needs, the cheekbones, the lanky bodies and the good music to go with it. They're really nice guys too and they sure deserve the success they've been getting. In a way, it's brilliant that the gig they played in Wrexham was their Reading and Leeds warm-up gig; It will make them playing at such a huge festival with thousands of people watching seem much more unbelievable than it would have done.

In October, Howler are doing the NME Generation tour, which you can buy tickets for here.

I also recommend that you buy their album, America Give Up - which is cheapest if you buy it with Amazon.

Also, check out the Central Station website, they've got some pretty good bands playing there soon.

A Heavy Abacus - The Joy Formidable (FilmAid version)

Check out this video, presented by FilmAid and made by two award winning filmmakers Topaz Adizes and Paola Mendoza during a month they spent volunteering in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Northern Kenya. They have used one of my favourite tracks by the brilliant The Joy Formidable, A Heavy Abacus. The video is incredibly inspirational and makes you realise how lucky you really are. 

       

 

You can donate to FilmAid here. 

Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments (Star Slinger Remix)

Star Slinger has recently dropped his remix of Jessie Ware's 'Wildest Moments' on his Soundcloud. I don't expect it to be as big as the Disclosure remix of 'Running' but it's still pretty good for what it is.

Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments (Star Slinger Remix)

Jessie recently opened up the 'In New Music We Trust' stage on the Saturday of BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hackney. If you missed it, I recommend you watch it back here. Jessie's debut album, 'Devotion' is due to be released on August 20th. I can't wait.

Swim Deep

I recently came across the great Birmingham 3-piece Swim Deep. NME have been talking about them and Huw Stephans has recently given their debut single "King City" a daytime radio 1 play. Their track "King City" is brilliant. It's the perfect dreamy-pop song that you can never get bored of.  For Warpaint fans, the lyric 'I want to pretend that Jenny Lee Lindburg is my girlfriend' is what makes it, for me.. it's everything about it!

Here's the fab video:

Austra - Katie Stelmanis

Everyone has heard of Austra by now, but does everyone realise how incredibly talented Austra's Katie Stelmanis is?

Jai Paul

Everyones been waiting patiently for the return of Jai Paul. His track 'BTSTU' quickly gained lots of media attention and managed to get play-listed by Radio 1 and even went on the be sampled by the likes of Drake and Beyoncé. With high expectations, he has clearly been taking his time to perfect his sound and to decide what route he is going to take musically.

He has returned with 'Jasmine'. It's already Annie Mac's record of the week.

I'm just hoping that I don't have to wait until 2013 to hear more from him.