Klaxons and its extraordinary tales in UK tour dates

With Klaxons’ debut album, we could foresee the future: it was colourful, fun, psychedelic. Above all, it was danceable – the type of dance when arms stand high above heads and feet high above the floor. It was like a trance, and we liked it. Klaxons was so difficult to pin down that the British press created a label just for them: new rave.

But as if following James Murphy’s predictions in the song Losing my Edge, next time we heard about Klaxons they had ditched the turntables and embraced the guitars for Surfing the Void, an album at once dense and dreamy, with heavy guitars, out of time keyboards and vocal that reminds of grunting. Then came the interviews: there were tales of biblical visions and Ayuhasca, collective consciousness and the world shift, bringing together of humanity and shamanism.

It could be worrying but there is no ordinariness in Klaxons and its vision can still be clearly perceived behind it all. They are determined to create something extraordinary, and the only way of achieving it is standing where few people have been before. Unlike Samson, Klaxons strength survived Delilah and they can still wrest a lion a day.

Klaxons UK tour dates: Manchester (Nov 11), Norwich (Nov 12), Bournemouth (Nov 13), Nottingham (Nov 14), London (Nov 16), Cambridge (Nov 17), Oxford (Nov 18), Birmingham (Nov 20), Glasgow (Nov 21), Leeds (Nov 22).

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Groove Armada’s UK tour marks the end of an era. And what era!

Electronic dance music has been declared dead many times, and each time it is reborn anew and slightly changed, just like the mythical phoenix. Clubs dance floors remain packed, labels are doing very well thank you, festivals bloom around and new bands are created, loved and reach the mainstream every year.

Groove Armada is among the few old schools bands that have been surfing the ups and downs of electronic music since the mid 90s. Like the genre itself, Andy Cato and Tom Findlay have also been changing not only musically but also conceptually. Now the duo have noticed yet another sea change, and Groove Armada intends to stay above the water. Apparently that catalyst came when Findlay saw Friendly Fires playing live. Suddenly the “two guys on stage” model didn’t make sense for them anymore.

It’s an honest but not surprising account from the guys who once declared themselves as fearful of becoming “the Cliff Richard of dance”. Instead of feeling left out, however, Groove Armada seem thrilled by what the future has to offer and invigorated by the challenge. The current tour marks the end of an era and the beginning of another. Where they are taking us in still unknown, but a bunch of good people will follow with their eyes shut.

Groove Armada UK tour dates: Leeds O2 Academy (Oct 07), Glasgow O2 Academy (Oct 08), Manchester Academy (Oct 09), Norwick UEA (Oct 11), Bristol O2 Academy (Oct 12), Birmingham O2 Academy (Oct 14), London O2 Academy Brixton (Oct 15, 16).

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Morcheeba to play one-off London gig. The Skye is the limit

Sacking a manager is often traumatic for bands, as it’s sacking a drummer or a guitarist. But sacking a singer has nearly always proven fatal. Morcheeba’s identity has been always intimately linked to Skye Edwards whisky-and-honey vocals and when she was given the red card, in 2002, a good bite of the band’s charm evaporated overnight.

It was such a bad decision that, contrary to the old say, this time the mistakes of the fool were known not only to the world but also to himself and earlier this year the brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey reunited with Skye. The seventh and latest album, Blood Like Lemonade, is Morcheeba as we know and love it: chill-out and sexy, delicate and eclectic, sexy and soulful. The only downturn is that we know it too well, it’s like listening to the albums Big Calm or Fragments of Freedom.

But if their most recent work fails to innovate, it could still be worse. Listening to Morcheeba and not recognizing them as it happened in the album The Antidote, for example, was traumatic for fans, and so was the total lack of unity in the follow-up, Dive Deep. The trip-Hop legends long awaited reunion seems to be good enough news for now and leaves the promise of many great songs to come, management permitting and no further cuts to personnel added.

Morcheeba will play at Roundhouse on Oct 23.

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MGMT’s UK gigs are a matter of trust

The Summer of 2008 began precisely when we started listening to Oracular Spectacular, the first album of Brooklyn band MGMT. The song Time to Pretend was the soundtrack of many sunny afternoons, played in every trendy party and was soon in everyone’s iPod. So when their follow up album, Congratulations, came out earlier this year, the psych-pop duo was expected once more to have the warm season started.

But Congratulations was a little disappointing for those expecting a follow-up as such. Apparently MGMT didn’t like themselves a much as we did, moving away from the electro beats and the epic feeling of Oracular Spectacular. Congratulations has also possibly the weirdest cover since Santogold’s eponymous album. Despite these flaws, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden’s latest work brims with playful exuberance, is captivating and grows on you as you listen.

Interestingly, MGMT performances are now more captivating than ever as they seem more comfortable and self assured playing songs from Congratulations than they ever were with Oracular. The energy is contagious; sometimes you just have to trust the pilots.

MGMT UK dates: Glasgow (Sep 20, 21), Birmingham (Sep 23), Bournemouth (Sep 24), Manchester (Sep 26), Leeds (Sep 27), London (Sep 29, 30, Oct 01).

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Bestival Tickets The Year of the Fantastic is fantastic indeed

If when you think music festivals the image that comes to mind is that of flooding loos, corporate banners, dodgy burgers, hot beers and elbow exercising, think again. Bestival and other so-called boutique festivals are on a mission to change the face of festival culture. Organized by BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob that Bank and his wife Josie, Bestival is held in the beautiful Robin Hill country park in the Isle of Wight since 2004, when it was attended by 10,000 people – a figure which has since increased to around 40,000.

Besides being more intimate and to its non-corporate feel, Bestival is also known for piloting odd and innovative ideas, such as offering yoga, massage and therapies, sumptuous cocktails bar with chandelier set all, burlesque-themed afternoon tea, a Pamper Lounge offering hair styling, manicures and make up, organic breakfasts and handmade piesto mention only a few indulgences.

The line-up is even more amusing than the chandeliers: Dizzee Rascal, the amazing Flaming Lips, Prodigy, Hot Chip, Simian Mobile Disco, Roxy Music, Mumford & Sons, Jonsi (Sigur Ros frontman), The XX and Cornershop, to mention only a few.
You don’t need any more convincing, do you?

When: 9 -12th September 2010
Where: Robin Hill Countryside Adventure park, Isle of Wight
2010 fancy dress theme: Fantasy

Check also its baby sister Camp Bestival

When: July 30, 31st & August 1stWhere: Lulworth Castle, Dorset

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Gorillaz and its stellar list of collaborators to tour England in September

There was a murmur in a packed London pub some time ago that sprang from the entrance to the kitchen. At the receiving end of heads turning not so discretely and chefs peaking through the staff door was Damon Albarn, a marmite type figure more loved than hated, incredible known in many circles and also the father of a number of high profile musical projects. The most prominent and first in line of them is Blur, a Britpop band that translated the nineties in Britain as no other band did. (Oasis supporters please refrain from throwing eggs.) Optimism was key in their behaviour and songs – a new and better world was possible and Blur was going to help build, and then conquer it.

The feelings that defined that decade are now long gone, but Damon Albarn is still very connected to the moods of the nation. His subsequent project, Gorillaz, is a virtual band with comic book characters for members and a hint of streetwise cynicism instead of naive hopefulness.  More like a concept than a band, Gorillaz songs are the result of collaborations between various musicians, Albarn being the only permanent feature. In a celebrity world, and considering the force of Damon Albarn figure, to physically exclude personalities from a band was a revolutionary and brave idea and, as such, not everyone thought much of it to start with.

But time has given Gorillaz a seat between the great projects of the noughties and so has  Albarn proved himself a man of many talents, in between them a talent for gathering great names to fulfill ambitious musical ideas. Gorillaz Roundhouse concert in April was memorable, with up to 20 musicians on stage at times, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash among them. Many starred reviews later, Gorillaz announced an England tour in September. Tickets go on sale at 9AM on Friday May 21.

Gorillaz will play Birmingham N.I.A on September 10, Newcastle Metro Arena on September 11, Manchester MEN Arena on September 13, and London O2 Arena on September 14 and 15.

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Hot Chip: new album, new music video, and not leaving after breakfast

Since their first album, back in 2004, Hot Chip seized a permanent place in Britain; precisely that space in between the DJs and the bar. And from then on, every other year we are caught singing their songs over and over and over again. On the cusp of celebrating 10 years, there is no sign of they losing force.
I Feel Better, Hot Chip`s latest music video, is absolutely hilarious and epidemic, while the band’s fourth album, One Life Stand, is short and perfectly formed. At least four of the songs fall in the dance-monsters-smash-hits category, a talent that Hot Chip mastered in the previous albums, while the others are perfect ballads – some warm and cozy, some a little awkward. Instead of inconstancy, the mix gives the album a coherence rarely seen – One Life Stand is not a music compilation, but a proper album with songs that guide you through the moods that involve growing up.

Fact is, Hot Chip´s members are well into their 30s, all respectable family man more prone to be seen in the local playground than in the local club. But even Hot Chip’s devotees, who at first were not impressed by the maturity of the group´s fourth album, have, with time, learned to love it. They may be singing lullabies at home but they still know the formula to make people rock. The title of the album says it all – Hot Chip is here to stay.

Hot Chip is now on tour. They play Glastonbury on June; T in the Park, Oxygen and Lovebox in July; Electric Picnic and Bestival in September.

End of the road for LCD Soundsystem

It’s a sad case of a band’s huge influence and success ending upkilling it. Since singing “I’m losing my edge” in LCD Soundsystem first single back in 2002, James Murphy has had less and less time for his group. It turned out he wasn’t losing his edge, but having his heyday. Everyone wanted to work with him, be produced by him, dance his set lists or be part of his record label, DFA.
Rapture, The Juan MacLean, Gorillaz, M.I.A., Chemical Brothers, Soulwax, Hot Chip, Hercules and Love Affair; they all have James Murphy’s finger somewhere in their careers and you can´t mention the dance-punk genre without immensely acknowledging him. The man certainly deserves the fame but sadly the cost of it all is that he has no patience for his brainchild anymore and LCDSoundsystem’s new album, This is Happening, will be also their last.

“I think it’s nice to feel like it’s the last one and we’ll tour really hard and then go do something else”, Murphy has said in a recent interview. Well, we disagree.
But before the grand finale there is yet another chance to see LCD Soundsystem and shook our heads in disapproval.
LCD Soundsystem’s new album, This is Happening, will be released on 17May.

Their next and possibly last UK/Ireland tour begins 20 April.

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Goldfrapp’s UK dates and a certain fuchsia elephant

What will she wear? How will she look? Who will she impersonate? Differently from Beyoncé or Britney, Alison Goldfrapp’s been managing to dress up, dress down, and dress not much at all without the holophotes focusing strictly in looks. Although very important, and despite the legs always bare, her image plays a part that goes beyond that of femme fatale or sex symbol. Goldfrapp’s image is fantasy, performance and characterization.

Each record demands and receives from Alison Goldfrapp a new persona. She’s been Marlene Dietrich, a clown, a folkie, even a horse. The latest incarnation, that accompanies the fifth album, Head First, and that will be on tour with the electro duo, is glam disco diva. Fuchsia spandex is the new dress code, and 1980s-influenced synthpop is the soundtrack.

Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory treat their music as form, content, spectacle, message and presentation. Watching them live is like watching an impeccable marketing presentation on how to sell your product. They could even sell fuchsia spandex elephants following this formula, so it’s good news that they sell great quality electro pop instead.

Goldfrapp UK tour dates: Norwich (Nov 08), Bristol (Nov 09), London (Nov 11), Brighton (Nov 13), Birmingham (Nov 14), Leeds (Nov 16), Manchester (Nov 17), Glasgow (Nov 19) and Newcastle (Nov 20).

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