:(

My photography (for once) here.

COLON OPEN BRACKET. Stupid name really. They make 8-bit electronic music with sort of almost screamo music on top. Sort of like Crystal Castles, only not. A friend of mine described them as 'emotronic', which I think is a nice way to sum it up. They're a four piece from Aberdeen in Scotland (two boys, two girls) and at some point in their formation had the rather wonderful idea of adapting old computer keyboards to use live on stage. Leona and Claire hold these inmuch the same way as a guitar, with a guitar strap and standard jumping around - there's typing but no strumming. Anyway, they played the Camden Underworld just over a month ago, and I was there to see it. The show was a matinees performance starting at 3.30 with loads of other bands playing before. :( finally took the stage at about seven O'clock. Lead singer Mart put on an enigmatic performance; we managed to grab a place right at the front, the girls I was with spent the whole performance stroking his yellow converses; and drummer Adam wowed the crowd with his superhuman drumming skillzzzzzzzzzzz.
The show ended with the strap breaking off Claire's keyboard and her making the abrupt decision to destroy it. Pretty rock & roll if you ask me, and I still have one of the arrow keys and the q. Yep that's me in the flashing green circle. I was really amazed to see myself on the :( Myspace, surely my fame knows no bounds. (Not my photogaphy. Obviously.)

DOWNLOADS: I couldn't see the point in posting any here, but they are available off the :( myspace:
www.myspace.com/colonopenbracket
:( have an EP, First Blood, on release and it's on sale from the Myspace.

KC

KC is a very strange lady. She dresses like the scenest of scene kids, but sounds like Lady Sovereign. Hmm. Seemingly ALL of KC's song reference her range of t-shirts, which to be brutally honest, aren't all that special. On a line between very cool and very annoying, KC is not for everyone. But, I saw KC supporting Colon Open Bracket at the Camden Underworld a few weeks and she can work a crowd. Nice tunes, nice beats, she just needs to work on the actual lyrics she's writing - which are really crap.

Download: KC - The Best Things Come To Those Who Wait
Download: KC - Geek Chic
Download: KC - Rare Threads

Hadouken!

Although the Klaxons get credit for 'inventing' the 'new rave' scene, pioneers of the genre (which may or may not exist, depending on who you ask) are Hadouken. Mixing grimey ravey indie electro rock, their new single is here at last. In the making-of video for their new (as of yet unreleased) video for latest single Liquid Lives, the guitarist explains the song is
"based on the whole allegory of emotions based around the drug that is alcohol."
Someone off camera adds, (I have no idea who, sorry)
"It's not a drug ... it's a drink."
A friend of mine ripped this off their Myspace, but as far as I know it's the final mix that will be available for download soon. If you've heard the old demo from Keep Hope Inside in January and liked it, have a listen to this; everything slightly crap about the old one has been resolved. I'm seeing Hadouken! at the ULU in june with Does This Offend You, Yeah? supporting. It's going to be fun. Have a look at their Myspace, there's usually at least one mp3 available for download. Coming soon will be the long-awaited Hadouken! remix of something by Forward Russia, and there has been rumours of an Enter Shikari remix. Now that would be interesting.

Download: Hadouken! - Liquid Lives

www.myspace.com/hadoukenuk -The Hadouken! Myspace
www.myspace.com/hadoukenremixes -The Hadouken! Remix Myspace
www.myspace.com/doesitoffendyou -Does It Offend You, Yeah? Myspace

Vatican DC

I first heard Vatican DC a year ago, and today on the radio I heard their debut album, 'Make It Ride' is out on May 14. Vatican DC are a London-based post-punk four-piece (Yes, I'm a big fan of hyphens) and they're fast, aggressive and as raw as sushi. Or so I thought. Today I heard 'Don't Pull Your Gun On Me', which is a much slower, more friendly affair. For me the real gem of the album is 'Wow'. The song starts with a few seconds of electronic beeps which quickly merge into a killer bass riff. For me, this is a song that needs to be played over and over. Endlessly. Also worth a mention is their new single, 'Fountainhead' which I don't as of yet have an mp3 of but it's available off iTunes now.

Download: Vatican DC - Don't Pull Your Gun On Me
Download: Vatican DC - Wow
Also Worth A Look:
http://www.myspace.com/vaticandc -The Vatican DC Myspace
http://www.vaticandc.com -A triumph in Flash 8

Hello There

I've been a fan of a few music blogs for a while now, and I'm a regular user of the The Hype Machine, and for some complex psychological reasons due to the fact I genuinely do think my music taste is IMPECCABLE, and should be shared with the world, I have decided to start this blog. I'm 15 years old, studying for my GCSEs and have no musical skill whatsoever. This is probably because I'm incredibly impatient and expect immediate results. And that piano teacher just smelt a little bit strange.

Anyway, onto the music. First up is Kate Nash. Say what you will about her, but she is an extremely able musician and knows how to write a good tune. I think she suffered a bit at the hands of LDN is a Victim , but to be fair pretty much everything they said is true and, let's face it, Harrow isn't exactly a ghetto - what's so wrong with being oh so slightly well-spoken. And her song 'Caroline's a Victim', everyone seems to think is rubbish. Which it is really. But it's still very fun. It's like that Russian painter who reduced his paintings to white squares on a white background then declared painting was dead. With this song, everything from it has been taken away apart from that sharp drumbeat and the synth bassline - and it still works! Also, she has a new song 'Foundations' due to be released later in the summer. I've got it here in demo form off her MySpace, it cuts out after two minutes but it will have to do for now.

Download: Kate Nash - Foundations
Download: Kate Nash - Caroline's A Victim
BUY KATE NASH MUSIC AND STUFF - www.katenash.co.uk