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Hello dears. I'm mothballing Amusia for a while, as all my attentions are currently going into daily articles for Snipe.

Add it to your RSS feed with this: http://snipe.at/rss/?section=music.

Thanks darlings.

JBX

Out Today: Pagan Wanderer Lu - European Monsoon

THE NEW ALBUM!

MP3: iTunes / Amazon / play.com / 7digital

CD: BRNLV shop / Amazon / play.com / Norman Records

Out Today: Stairs To Korea - Paul, Is This How You Wanted It?

The New Single - Out Now On iTunes

Also available on: Play.com / Amazon / boomkat

On Snipe: Daily MPfrees selected by meyourhost

The ol' blog has been slightly quiet of late, you may have noticed if you're a regular reader. Well, it's because I've started a feature called Daily MPfree over at Snipe and it's taking up what little time is available for writing...

But the upshot is, you can get a free song a day from now on, with a playlist for songs that go live during each issue of the paper. Bookmark it...

Snipe MPfrees - Issue #1 by snipelondon

Snipe MPfrees - Issue #2 by snipelondon

Daniel Bjarnason - Processions

Written forThe Line Of Best Fit

Okay, I'm gonna come clean: I volunteered to review this record because I love the Bedroom Community label, and I'm interested in all things Icelandic. Little did I realise I'd be signing up to spend hours staring at a blank screen as I slowly realised the depth of my ignorance on the subject of contemporary classical composition. Sure, I know a little about some of the big hitters - Xenakis, Reich, Messiaen. I listen to bands that flirt with classical style if not structures; Final Fantasy, Sufjan Stevens, Simon Bookish. But the lack of words forthcoming after listening to Daníel Bjarnason's unarguably accomplished "Processions" felt... a little like vertigo, to be honest.

Which is probably quite fitting, as Processions is a thoroughly uneasy affair. The composer, who shares the Bedroom Community label with the mercurial Nico Muhly, has a knack for twisting arrangements into counter-intuitive, teetering structures that never afford the listener time to get comfortable. The sounds seem to jar against each other, creating a nervy tension that permeates the album. The first two tracks of the first movement (entitled 'Bow To String') could soundtrack Jack Nicholson creeping around that huge abandoned hotel in The Shining slowly losing his shit.

The second movement, Processions, starts with a grand flourish but still maintains an awkward tension, reeling and spinning, punctuated by dizzying smashes of percussion. I can only imagine the imagery going on in Mr Bjarnason's head at this point, despite the inherently cinematic feel of his music. Moments of calm creep up but don't last long, creating a constant sense of disorientation; danger, even. When a motif does recur it's in fractured, twisted shapes and shadows that continue to restlessly explore - there are ever more possibilities within this utterly impressive work.

The final piece, Skelja, is based around plucked string harmonics, groaning undertones and feedback; it sounds almost like Hitchcock exercising his gift for building tension, via the harp instead of the screen. Feeling both entranced and endlessly disturbed, I don't know whether I'd rather throw this nervy album into a lake or buy it on super heavy vinyl. Maybe you'll have more luck deciding yourself.

Ain't no party like a

Brainlove Release Party! All the info is right here on Facebook.

Brainlove Festival Headliners DRUM EYES offer a free download from their album GIRA GIRA

MP3: 50/50

An exclusive track from the forthcoming Drum Eyes album Gira Gira! The accompanying spiel says it pretty well: "It’s a real triumph of an album and finally sees DJ Scotch Egg make an album deserved of attention not only from his loyal fanbase but far and wide across the metal, ambient and electronic worlds of modern music, it’s an album that obliterates genres with pride and grace, whilst remaining true in it’s identity and ability to lodge in your mind."

Drum Eyes headline Brainlove Festival 2010 this weekend.

Drum Eyes - 50/50 (Upset The Rhythm Records) by brainlove

How Many Boyfriends?

MP3: I Don't Like You (Coz You Don't Like The Pastels)

To-cool-for-art-school indie-pop upstarts This Many Boyfriends have released a taster from their forthcoming EP "Getting A Life With This Many Boyfriends". It's a song with a massive possible double-meaning in the chorus that singer Richard says was unintended, so we're left not knowing whether the song's protagonist likes it's subject or not. You'll have to guess.


Order the EP, with badges and a fanzine, from Thee SPC here.

You're at your best in casual evening wear

Released on Brainlove June 14th.

"Your New Favourite Band Is Here" - BBC Introducing

Live
14th May - Cargo, London (w/ Left With Pictures)
27th May - The Camp, London (w/ Napoleon IIIrd)
30th May - Brainlove Festival @ The Windmill (w/ Drum Eyes, David Thomas Broughton etc)
15th June - The Old Blue Last, Single Release Party (w/ Pagan Wanderer Lu)

Stairs To Korea, aka Anglo-Icelandic singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Will Vaughan, is to release his third single this June 14th. An earworm ditty that's perfect for the onset of summer, "Paul, Is This How You Wanted It?" continues the drip-feed of accomplished, memorable pop songs from the vaunted Stairs To Korea live show.

Under the sunshine of the tune and the sparkling production "Paul.." tells a gradually unfolding story, but Vaughan is keen to state that it's not documentary. "I used to live with a Paul but this isn't about him, for the record," Vaughan explains. "This Paul is a personification - he's a man who's slowly losing his identity and self-esteem in a whirlwind of misappropriated blame."

As with Stairs To Korea's previous singles, it's the juxtaposition of light sensibility and subtle substance that adds meat to the juicy bones of the song. "I guess it's one of the darker songs but at the same time the most bubblegum song I've recorded," he muses. "I think those two qualities bolster each other - the melodies lay bear the kinda nihilistic angst of the lyrics. Sort of pop with a point."