Mid Week Music News

By londonist_mark Last edited 225 months ago
Mid Week Music News
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So it was the week that the Crazy Frog beat Coldplay to the number one slot, and suddenly everyone cares about the singles chart again! Still at least Coldplay's X&Y was leaked on to file sharing networks (not free music sites as you might like to call them) before Froggy has even hit the studio, so kudos to the band there. Of course it will mean that EMI's share prices will fall through the floor and shareholders will be heard protesting about fair greed outside the Live 8 show. Londonist had to give a big thumbs up for Chris Martin's recent tirade against his paymasters which reminded us of that scene between Carrie Fisher and Peter Cushing in Star Wars:

The tighter you close your grip, the more great bands will slip through your fingers...

Or something like that. Anyway, first person to send us a picture of Chris Martin with Danish Pastries strapped to the sides of his head wins a prize. No PhotoShopping please, we want the real thing.

It's also the week that Eminem and 50 Cent (that's about 38 pence to you and we) announced they will be playing Milton Keynes Bowl together on 9th September. Londonist is quite excited about the prospect of seeing what happens to the promoter when these scary-scary violent men realise exactly what the weather's like in this country round that time. Inclement? Let's hope so. Wash out their filthy filthy mouths. Anyone who was at Reading last year should be first in line for tickets.

Much more sensible to play indoors like Embrace. That's play indoors because that's what Embrace are doing, not play soppy anthemic sing-a-longs like Embrace do. Although Hearing Fiddy Diddy or whoever shouting along to All You Good Good People might be fun. But not in Alexandra Palace because that's where Embrace will be. At least on the 15th December. They certainly have the chorus's to fill the venue and more than enough fans but will it work? Do we care? Quite frankly no. Any venue you have to climb a mountain to reach is not endearing to us no matter how pretty it looks on the outside.

Right, time for some more sensible recommendations over the jump.

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First off it's an evening of fine and funky ROCK'N'ROLLSOUL back at THE ALBANY (opposite Great Portland Street tube) will be available to you this Saturday, June 4 for six solid hours of soul that rocks and rock with soul. Some very special guest DJs will be joining residents Gary, Nat, Al, and Jimmy on the decks. Arrive early to avoid disappointment.

8.30pm-2.30am

£5 (£4 with flyer/badge/NUS)

If you like your beats less sleak and funky and more itchy and scratchy then Eat Your Own Ears and Four Tet present the lap top driven sounds from Four Tet at Kokos that self same night. Mr Tet has apparenty moved away from the British folk influence of 'Rounds' toward a hyper-kinetic sound on new LP 'Everything Ecstatic', which shuffles through Kraut rock, hip hop, techno and even drill 'n' bass. Plus avant jazz legend Steve Reid plays with full ensemble. Brooklyn hip hop futurist Beans of Anti Pop plays a dynamic solo set.

Inspired by Wilco's word-of-mouth success after giving away their album, Drowned in Sound Recordings release Redjetson's Stay Comfortable for free this week via redjetson.co.uk and reviewed a few months ago, Stay Comfortable is one of the strongest tracks from that album. With a dual guitar lines that dovetail and complement each other, the vocals are delivered effectively with minimal fuss. The song's well crafted, showing a good appreciate of dynamics, and well-recommended, especially since it's free. Download it now.

The six piece can also confirm that friends and fans, Bloc Party have invited Redjetson to play support at two sold out nights at Brixton Academy in October. These Brixton dates coincide with the full-release of the album. Before then, however, you can catch Rejetson at Club Hedonistic on 15th July, in the usual venue, the Islington Bar Academy, or on 28th July at Hoxton's Bar And Kitchen.

A couple more Londonist faves on the way soon. In reverse chronological order Kaibosh will be at 93 Feet East on the 30th June and The Delta Blues will be Up All Night at Hoxton Square this Thursday. We'll be bringining you more on these two over the coming weeks.

There's a ton of great bands appearing at the Barfly over the coming weeks so we're only going to pull out one and since Ken's not doing this week's column, The Magic Numbers don't get the mention, but The Duke Spirit do. Wednesday 6th July. BE THERE. It'll rock. !,,!

Don't forget to check out Plum Promotions for all the gigs going on at the Marquee, the Water Rats and The Betsy Trotwood. So many to choose from, we do highly recommend you get on their mailing list.

And finally some scruffy bunch of students have just announced a gig at Kokos on Monday 6th. The £20 tickets go on sale at 8am that day because they apparently have some new album called X&Y coming out. Always good to check out new bands.

If you're a band looking to get coverage in Londonist, get in touch with the music team, after reading these handy tips on How To Get Into Londonist's Music Posts. We'll be bringing you more on these two great bands later. So don't go away now!

Last Updated 01 June 2005