Summer days through the folkish haze vol.3

28 April 2010

The days have got longer, and the sun is starting to glisten through the trees making this perfect timing for the latest instalment of Summer days through the folkish haze (previously vols 1 and 2). As with all our mixtapes here on TBW, there are some bands you may know and others you wish you did – and all perfectly accompanied by a jug of Pimms…

Big shout outs to the wonderful folk at Young & Lost, Song, by Toad, and For Folks Sake for pushing a few of these in my direction.

The Damn Choir are a four-piece from Chicago and who describe themselves as “sad-bastard music”, but don’t let that put you off as they write some of the most beautiful and soothing to soul music I have heard.

Daniel Zott will not be a new find for some, but I only got wind of him earlier this year and I was won over pretty quickly with the simple and beautiful songs he writes. The heartache slips through the background traffic and dissolves your heart.

Alessi’s Ark have been on my radar ever since Lauren introduced her to me a little while ago, and I’m in love. It’s easy and yet provocative, soothing and yet filled with richness. A blissful serenade.

My First Tooth make use of expansive orchestral builds to strike that emotional chord as you can fully immerse yourself in their musical masterpiece.

Trips and Falls are another fantastic find in the Song, by Toad stables. “…Corduroy Pants” combines soothing string movements with an off-kilter vocal style that almost reminds me of why I loved FrYars. A narrated a musically immersive dream sequence.

Planet Earth should be on every summer playlist with their sweet lullabies. “Goodbye Song” ticks along with an electronic back beat, but you will struggle not to fall for the love-gazed strumming and mumbling.

Twin Sister‘s Nectarine starts slowly with some easy guitar and dreamed vocals before the drums trip into the song and the song jumps along like a dance down your home street.

Beans on Toast has been on the backburner for me for a good while, and his styles vary quite a bit but the chirpy strum along of “Can’t Buy Me Love” just fits so well in here, especially with how provocative he’s decided to be writing a song to “piss everybody off”.

Peggy Sue have long been favourites around these parts, and with Kimya Dawson featured on the first of this series of mixtapes a couple of years, this cover of Hadlock Padlock is just too perfect to pass over even if I did post it a few weeks ago. The beautifully cute duet vocals on this gives this a very special twist on a already fantastic original.

Admiral Fallow are a new find for me, but Squealing Pigs is one of my favourite folk tracks of the last year already. It takes from both the aching heart folk traditions along with a pounding rhythm to drill it into your mind. Scotland is fast regaining their music scene and Admiral Fallow should find themselves at the top of that pile.

Johnny Flynn was on our first mixtape, but he continues to release fantastic folk-pop records so deserves to be featured again. Kentucky Pill has more of a pop sound that much on here but is a perfect summer tune. Sitting in the sun, smiling and this blaring at a volume is what we all want to do.

I Said Yes have twisted some fantastic harmonies and a whole mass of energy into a sunkissed wonder that should be played from every rooftop. FFS picked them for their first Allotment night, they have band members from everywhere I have lived over the past five years, what’s not to love?

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros have what will be the song of the summer for a number of people right here. The RAC mix clicks it along, upping the tempo a little, the the central sections of blissed out homecomings have been kept and should put a smile on everyone’s face. It maybe everywhere already, but it deserves to be so.

Download the whole compilation as a zip file:
Summer days through the folkish haze vol.3

Communion

By: Tim

3 February 2010

In: Mixtapes, News & Leaks

1 comment

What is there to say about Communion? It started off in 2006 as a club night and community at the Notting Hill Arts Club, founded by Ben Lovett (Mumford and Sons), Kevin Jones (Cherbourg) and producer Ian Grimble. But my what an impression it has left as it has provided a platform for the newest bands on London’s circuit. The night has seen the likes of Noah and the Whale, Laura Marling, Mumford and Sons, JJ Pistolet and Peggy Sue grace the stage and has become closely associated with the recent resurgence of folk in the capital.

They have since taken this fantastic live event around the UK, which is well worth catching if you can, but now have also curated a compilation album of some highlights of this folk scene they have helped nurture. We’ve been featuring a handful of these bands here on TBW over the past couple of years from Johnny Flynn to Jay Jay Pistolet, but Communion have created a community and this is the recorded product of that. And it’s amazing.

You can pre-order the double disc vinyl now before its official release date on 01/03 but the MP3s get sent over straight away – time to get on it me thinks. If you weren’t excited enough – here’s the tracklist:

Chapter 1

Johnny Flynn – In The Honour Of Industry

Jay Jay Pistolet – Vintage Red

Marcus Foster – Circle In A Square

Stokes, William feat. Marcus Mumford – Zion

Pete Roe – Bellina

Chapter 2

Broadcast 2000 – That Sinking Feeling

Benjamin Francis Leftwich – More Than Letters

Jeremy Warmsley – How We Became

Brendan Campbell – Maudlin Reverie

Alessi’s Ark – Hands In The Sink

Chapter 3

Mumford and Sons – Sister

Matthew and the Atlas – Deadwood

Alan Pownall – Take Me

Elena Tonra – Peter

Beans On Toast – Things To Do Before You’re Thirty

Chapter 4

Kurran and the Wolfnotes – Pounding

Peggy Sue – February Snow

Andrew Davie – Lie Down In The Blood

Rachel Sermanni – My Friend Fire

Jesse Quin and the Mets – The Sculptor and the Stone

Matt Corby – Light Home

And a sampling of MP3s from some of the artists that have played at Communion over the years:

Noah and the Whale – Instrumental III
[Homepage] [MySpace] [Buy]
(NATW – not on this record but mainstays of the London folk scene and Communion itself and are in are writing their new album as we speak in a converted Synagogue in East London! This track is taken from their film “First Days of Spring”)

Johnny Flynn – Drum
[Homepage] [MySpace] [Buy]
(Johnny Flynn is playing live around the UK this month!)

Beans on Toast – The Country’s Gone to Shit
[Homepage] [MySpace] [Buy]
(Beans on Toast is playing SXSW this year for you yanks!)

Kurran and the Wolfnotes – Here To Fill You In
[Homepage] [MySpace] [Buy]
(KATW will be the main support for The Kissaway Trail on their upcoming UK tour!)

Marcus Foster – I Don’t Mind
[Homepage] [MySpace] [Buy]
(Marcus Foster is back to London in March so get your tickets now!)

Clap to the Electricity Vol.12 with Frenchhorn Rebellion, Barretso, Vitalic and SebastiAn

By: Tim

7 January 2010

In: Mixtapes

16 comments

It’s been a very long time coming, but definitely worth it with 12 just perfect pieces of electro and house tunes ready to get all of you back on the dance floor now the effects of new year have worn off.

As usual it is a mix of some artists you’ll know (hopefully) and others you might not, but each one of them is all kinds of awesome. The length of time this has been sitting half done on my laptop has been ridiculous, but then something better came along and it needed adding, but hey patience is a virtue.

Two Door Cinema Club are going to be huge in 2010, and this remix enhances the electro side with synths and an almost disco bassline for great effect.

Barretso is a recent find for me (hat tip to Trashbag Kids) but with his perfect disco/electro pop I can see him being a taple her on TBW.

See the Sea (Red) is the first track of Vitalic’s album and fuck me if this doesn’t just destroy everything around you. When this gets dropped on the dance floor – my oh my.

And then we have an edit of SebastiAn’s latest release. The original builds for 11 minutes – it’s more of s statement in its own right – but this edit gets into to a lot quicker, and the drop is well worth it. I love this man.

01 Coeur De Pirate – Comme Des Enfants (Le Matos Andy Carmichael Remix)
[Buy] [Artist] [Remix]
02 Two Door Cinema Club – I Can Talk (French Horn Rebellion Remix)
[Buy] [Artist] [Remix]
03 Fan Death – Reunited (CCENTURIESS Remix)
[Buy] [Artist] [Remix]
04 Barretso – Midnight Walk
[Buy] [Artist]
05 Crystal Fighters – I Love London (In Flagranti Vintage Mix)
[Buy] [Artist] [Remix]
06 Electric Soulside – Moulin Rouge (Mark Lam Remix)
[Buy] [Artist] [Remix]
07 Green Velvet – Turn it Up feat Santiago & Bushido (Original Mix)
[Buy] [Artist] [Featuring]
08 The Toxic Avenger – Toxic Is Dead
[Buy] [Artist]
09 Waxdolls – Chips
[Buy] [Artist]
10 Vitalic – See The Sea (Red)
[Buy] [Artist]
11 SebastiAn – Threnody (Capt and Cooked Edit)
[Buy] [Artist]
12 Designer Drugs – Drop Down
[Buy] [Artist]