Bombay Bicycle Club-Flaws

To view the original Faux post, click here

Everyone who’s ever listened to Bombay Bicycle Club knew that if they ever did an acoustic album it would be pretty beautiful. Those judgements appear to have proved correct with the release of BBC’s latest acoustic album Flaws – released this week.

With the distorted electric guitars having been replaced by acoustic guitars, more reflection of Jack Steadman’s lyrics is allowed, shedding new light on older track ‘Dust on the Ground’ from their debut I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose and helping listeners form a deeply rooted love with new tracks such as ‘Jewel’ and recent single ‘Ivy & Gold’ which provide glistening lyrics.

The stripped back songs also remind listeners that BBC are never trying to be anyone else but themselves and that their music is genre defying; they don’t need electric guitars to make their music work. Their lyrics are pure and honest as Steadman pours out thoughts and feelings that are close to his heart like drunken word vomit in his unique, deep, signature voice.



The fine texture of the music permits listeners to hear every single stringed instrument as clear as crystal, each of them intertwining blissfully in a beautifully, complimenting mélange as well as showcasing the bands true musical potential. In ‘Fairytale Lullaby’ BBC present their own version of the classic John Martyn song, Steadman’s voice carrying it well and introducing a new audience to the old song.

Some may interpret Bombay Bicycle Club doing an acoustic album as them going soft and trying to follow in the successful footsteps of Mumford & Sons, but I see it as a brave, bold and interesting change on their behalf that permits listeners an even deeper insight into Jack Steadman’s lyrics and feelings – as well as the musical talent of the band and how the life of their songs is established before being made into intense works of art with an indie-rock twist.

If I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose yanked at your heart strings, just imagine the impact that this album will have on them; it may even snap them.

Flaws is out now on Island Records. You can stream the video for the band’s fabulous cover of Jonna Newsom track ‘Swansea’ below.

Mystery Jets-Serotonin

Having been teased by free download ‘Flash a Hungry Smile’ and the new single ‘Dreaming of another World’, this album seemed a long time coming. After a couple of years away from the music scene, Mystery jets have returned with a brand new album entitled ‘Serotonin’, which was certainly worth the wait.

The band has said that it’s a continuation of their second album, ‘Twenty One’; this is evident as their general sound hasn’t changed at all really. The only difference is that this album is even stronger than ‘Twenty One’, this record contains just as much heart and soul as 'Twenty One', it is just that riffs and lyrics are more infectious and compelling than ever before.

There are more powerful, anthem like choruses present in this record. I can certainly imagine crowds of people singing along very loudly to the contagious lyrics established on ‘Serotonin’ , particularly on tracks such as the title track; ‘Serotonin’, ‘Show me The Light’, ‘The Girl is Gone’ and ‘Lady Grey.’ And then there are the high pitched lyrical riffs of ‘Flash a Hungry Smile’ and the keyboard riff of ‘Dreaming of another world’ (a song which was written and is sung by Will) that give life to bright, polished pop music with an 80’s twist.

From ‘Flash a Hungry Smile’s ‘Have you heard the birds and bees? They’ve all caught STD’s’ to ‘The Girl is Gone’s ‘You’re spread like butter on the bed linen’ and ‘Fingerprints on a dusty wall, remind me of what went before,’ Mystery Jets get it right every time lyrically in capturing a dark, sinister ambiance, as found on previous record, ‘Twenty One.’

‘Serotonin’ is a glistening gem of an album, made pristine by producer, Chris Thomas that showcases Mystery jets true musical and poetic skills. Let’s just hope that they haven’t peaked too soon and continue to produce such incredible albums.


Katie x

Cassette Playa

Carri Mundane and Thomas Manat are 21st century fashion pioneers that effortlessly fuse fashion, music and technology together to create magnificent, original clothing. Having already worked for musicians such as M.I.A, The Klaxons and fashion designer, Jeremy Scott it seems things can only get better for the pair. Here's an interview with them as part of The Creators Project where they speak of their thoughts and inspirations behind their pieces and their collaboration with Nike.








Katie
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Introducing Sunday Girl

For original Faux Magazine post click here





Sunday Girl – real name Jade Williams – inherited her name working in a pet shop on, yes, you guessed it; Sundays, rather than the popular Blondie song. She’s the creator of smooth electro-pop, and having already bagged a collaboration with legendary producer Diplo on her track ‘Four Floors’ which was her début single in March of this year, her future seems bright. This young lady is starting to get a lot of attention recently not only for her delicious, fuzzy electro-pop music but also for her fashion enthusiasm – she has been blogged about by everyone from Popjustice to ASOS Magazine.


Sunday Girl - Self Control by Sunday Girl



Following on from ‘Four Floors’, new single ‘Self Control’ is set for release on the 26th July. It incorporates blissful production with a serene representation of Laura Branigan’s original captivating lyrics, whilst a third single ‘Stop Hey’ is geared up for a September release. Sunday Girl is effortlessly chic musically – taking in to account her flawless, stylish appearance, she seems to have pretty much everything going for her. Expect to see her all over fashion and music magazines shortly, but in the meantime you can read her blog where she posts her drawings (she does all of her own artwork), her latest fashion interests and music news.

Sunday Girl releases ‘Self Control’ on July 26th. You can download a fantastic remix of ‘Self Control’ by previous New Blood stars Fenech-Soler here and stream previous single ‘Four Floors’ below. Sunday Girls blogs over at her official site here.





Katie x

Introducing Spike Jonze...

Spike Jonze is the man behind Jackass and director of the films 'Being John Malkovich', 'Adaptation' and the beautiful 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Spike Jonze is also the magical genius behind videos for Sonic Youth, The Chemical Brothers, Beastie Boys, Weezer, Björk, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. As part of The Creators Project, VICE caught up with Spike for an exclusive insight into his world of creativity:





Pretty inspirational stuff yes?

Besos,

Katie
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Things that I've fallen in love with recently:

The New Perfume Genius Album- Learning

It's one of the most beautiful things I think I've heard since I first discovered Bon Iver, yes, it's that sickeningly beautiful! I can't even believe I only found out about this band last weekend when Rebecca from Slow Club tweeted a link to the album. You can stream the album on spotify, via my playlist here.


Lost Fiction

There seems to be a new form of indie pop around. It's less energetic and more melancholic, reflective and tugs on the heart strings a little more. It's already been seen in emerging bands like Yuck, Babeshadow and more established bands like The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Bombay Bicycle Club. Check out their myspace page for more info.


Download their demo of their song 'Time' here


David Lyre's Marina and the Diamonds Cover

With his extraordinary covers that have the ability to completely change a song and showcase a songs inner meaning, this man's caught the attention of many music journalists recently. Here's why:



You can also download it for free here


Spark- Shut out the Moon (Monsieur Adi Remix)

Fresh from a tour with Marina & the Diamonds, 18 year old, East London raised singer 'Spark' releases her first ever single 'Shut out the Moon' in July on Puregroove Records. Here's the fantastic Monsieur Adi Remix, which I've had on repeat all week!

Spark - Shut Out The Moon (Monsieur Adi Remix) by Pure Groove


Bisous,

Katie
X

The Creators Project Event at Victoria House,London

On the 17th July The Creators Project is hitting London, bringing with it an array of artists, musicians, designers, panelists, filmmakers and lots of food and drink. Therefore there will be lots of things to see, hear, watch, eat and drink. And if this wasn't a good enough reason to attend, well, you'll be glad to hear that it's free! So make sure that if you don't live in London that you book yourself a hotel room/crash on a friend's floor and get yourself down there for one of the coolest and most interesting events of year! And if you live in/around London then you certainly have no excuse not to be there! It starts at 10am and finishes at 3am, live performances will come from Kele Okereke, Mark Ronson, Filthy Dukes, Trevor Jackson, Mumdance, Flats, Yuck (if you've read my previous posts, you'll know how much I love these people), and Hudson Mohawke whilst you'll also get to experience exhibitions, attend film screenings, and interact with multimedia installations from the following:

Radical Friend (see my earlier blog )

Karl Sadler

Felix’s Machines

Mos Architects

United Visual Artists

Spike Jonze

Nick Zinner (Yes, Nick from the YYY's)

Takeshi Murata

Mark Essen

Peng Lei

Ray Lei

Danny Perez and Animal Collective

ladj ly

Patrick Jean

Sun Haipeng

To find out more about these creators and their projects, and to register for tickets from Monday 28th June please click here






Katie
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