Spoon: "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine" Video
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Indie-pop band Spoon's got a brand-new album, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga," and this is the first single.
Raging Speedhorn: "How Much Can a Man Take"
Raging Speedhorn first came to be in August of 1998. The forming of the band was a result of the combination of the bands 'Soulcellar' and 'Box'. Guitarist Gareth Smith, drummer Frank Regan and bassist Darren Smith from 'Soulcellar' met up with guitarist Tony Loughlin, vocalist Jon Loughlin and drummer Gordon Morison from 'Box' to form Raging speedhorn. Frank Regan, formerly a drummer then changed to vocals along with Jon Loughlin to make an outstanding team. As the songs began to flow, Speedhorn recorded demos, and got a few good giggs, getting strong reviews in important magazines like Kerrang! and Metal Hammer.Their first big break came when they supported the legindary 'Ministry' at the London Astoria. From then on they never looked back, and have got stronger and stronger. Speedhorn have now recorded about 20 songs in just over a year together, and they play live regularly, with some great acts. Easily their biggest gig so far was at the Ozzfest UK, along with the likes of the mighty SlipKnoT and Amen.They have also been touring regularly, sponsored by Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. Their first demo song [selling over 800 coppies], Thumper, has since been released on Metal Hammer's December 1999 cover mount CD. Ian Camfield has also given Speedhorn plenty of airplay on his Xfm show. All this has built up to the release of their debut album, entitled 'Raging Speedhorn', which was released in the spring of 2001. After the success of their debut album, Raging Speedhorn kept up the tough schedule and started working towards a new album. Touring the country regularly, as well as trying to maintain part-time jobs meant that time to write was limmited. However, two years on from when we were first greeted by the din of Speedhorn, 'We'll Be Dead by Tomorrow' is set for release in the summer this year. 'The Hate Song' is the first single from this album, and was released on June 24, 2002. Appearing on the main stage at the Reading Festival this summer, as well as having more than one headline tour is sure to give them the publicity they deserve. And so, my friends, the story comes to an end... for now, anyway.
Prefuse 73, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Cool Kids
Crossfade TV this week checks out the latest hip-hop/funk/chop-rock smarts from Prefuse 73, new music from indie-rap duo Cool Kids, and the great new collaboration between bluegrass chanteuse Alison Krauss and Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant.
One of Australia's most quietly adored bands, Youth Group, stand ready to roar with 'Skeleton Jar'. Youth Group are at the forefront of an exciting new era in Australian alternative music. Singer/guitarist/songwriter Toby Martin formed the group with drummer Danny Allen in Sydney, Australia and despite several line-up changes since, these two remain at the band's core. After quickly gaining a strong live following the band signed to local independent label Ivy League Records (the same people who manage The Vines and Jet) and released their debut album in May 2001. 'Skeleton Jar' is the band's second album and the first to be released in the US. The talents of singer/songwriter/guitarist Toby Martin shine through on this album like a beacon. Eccentric, yet highly emotive lyrics navigate their way across varied landscapes of pop, folk, and indie rock terrain with his uniquely pure voice. From the haunting singles 'Skeleton Jar' and 'Shadowland' to live favorites "See-Saw" and 'Piece Of Wood", Youth Group present an eclectic feast, with a darker and less poppy approach.
One of Australia's most quietly adored bands, Youth Group, stand ready to roar with 'Skeleton Jar'. Youth Group are at the forefront of an exciting new era in Australian alternative music. Singer/guitarist/songwriter Toby Martin formed the group with drummer Danny Allen in Sydney, Australia and despite several line-up changes since, these two remain at the band's core. After quickly gaining a strong live following the band signed to local independent label Ivy League Records (the same people who manage The Vines and Jet) and released their debut album in May 2001. 'Skeleton Jar' is the band's second album and the first to be released in the US. The talents of singer/songwriter/guitarist Toby Martin shine through on this album like a beacon. Eccentric, yet highly emotive lyrics navigate their way across varied landscapes of pop, folk, and indie rock terrain with his uniquely pure voice. From the haunting singles 'Skeleton Jar' and 'Shadowland' to live favorites "See-Saw" and 'Piece Of Wood", Youth Group present an eclectic feast, with a darker and less poppy approach.
The Rapture: "Get Myself Into It"
The Rapture was formed in early 1998 by drummer Vito Roccoforte and guitarist/vocalist Luke Jenner. The whimsical indie group had extensive touring behind them by the time they recorded 1999's Mirror for Gravity. More touring ensued -- with the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate and Nuzzle -- and the band eventually relocated to New York City. They lost their original bassist and found a new one in Matt Safer, who had recently moved from Washington, D.C. After some more touring, the band recorded the six-song Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks EP and had it released by Sub Pop in 2001. Thanks to their sloppy brand of scratchy post-post-punk, the Rapture was hailed as a forerunner of the post-punk revival that was taking place in the early 2000s. Their profile increased significantly with 2002's "House of Jealous Lovers" 12"; that same year, they added multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Andruzzi to the fold. The full-length Echoes followed for Gary Gersh's Strummer label in late 2003. The follow-up, Pieces of the People We Love, was released three years later by Mercury.
Corrosion of Conformity: "Stone Breaker"
We really try hard to be true to what our hearts tell us to do," says New Orleans-bred Pepper Keenan, guitarist and songwriter for the band. "We do what we feel and we don't want to get caught up in any '90s-style production bullshit, 'cause when we look back at what we've done we want it to sound timeless. So many bands are gonna laugh at themselves in ten years. We don't want that." COC has been hurtling towards a "timeless" rock sound since their humble-but-turbulent beginning as a hardcore band way back in 1982. Back then, the band -- guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean and drummer Reed Mullin (Keenan didn't join until 1990) -- searched desperately for a voice, an identifiable way to vent the spleen that has continued to haunt them through a full six records: 1983's vociferous Eye For An Eye, '85's phlegmatic rant Animosity, '87's drop D-tuned barrage Technocracy, '91's awesome, menacing Blind, and the album that serves as WISEBLOOD's most direct sonic ancestor: '94's breakthrough platter, Deliverance. "We began carving our niche with Deliverance," says Keenan with a hint of the South in his voice. "Now that we have that niche we should stay in it. I often wonder what makes good bands take sudden left turns. Why would you work hard to develop a sound and then just abandon it? It makes no sense." "We've always tried to make albums that have highs and lows and midpoints," says Keenan, "records that you can listen to from beginning to end. We've got no interest in ramming ten songs in the same key down your throat.
Security Bites: Firefox 2 beats IE 7
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Mozilla unleashed Firefox 2 this week. Although the new browser is not a giant leap from version 1.5, it does beat Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 in several aspects, including security, say CNET News.com's Joris Evers and CNET.com's Robert Vamosi on this week's Security Bites.
Kate Nash, Hot Chip, Dengue Fever
On Crossfade TV this week, the Download Music crew recommends up-and-coming London pop artist Kate Nash, electro-pop quintet Hot Chip, and Cambodian-American indie-rock group Dengue Fever.
Change is unquestionably a constant in life. When Matchbook Romance began in 2001, the idea of playing music for a living felt like a dream, a romantic fantasy that dwelled in each member of the band?s imagination. And, for years, anyway, it seemed like it would remain that way. ?We never thought it was something that could actually come true for us,? says vocalist/guitarist Andrew Jordan who, at the time, was living at home and working as a waiter at a local restaurant. ?We had seen so many other bands try and reach for that place in the world only to fall short. We always thought, ?What are our chances??? Still, people believed in the band?their friends, families and peers?and they encouraged Matchbook Romance?s just-stepping-into-the-world rank and file to drop their impending classes at various community colleges in and around Poughkeepsie, NY that fall, in order to concentrate on the band. Which, they did. Thankfully, for us, they did. Matchbook Romance spent the next six months recording a group of demos that would attract the attention of Epitaph president Brett Gurewitz?a man who would later sign the relatively green band (literally the day before stepping on a plane to finalize contracts with the longstanding punk label, the band?s then-18-year-old drummer Aaron Stern graduated from high school). Gurewitz also produced their first real recording, the West For Wishing EP, in 2003, but it was Matchbook Romance?s debut, Stories And Alibis, that the world would really take to. The album?s list of successes now speaks for itself: following its late 2003 release came the video for ?My Eyes Burn,? a run on the cover of scene bible Alternative Press and a slot headlining the first-ever Epitaph Tour. In between, Stories And Alibis sold over 200,000 copies and the band absolutely lived on the road in support of it. As Matchbook Romance began writing the initial version of what would become their second album, VOICES, they began to take their musical ideas to a variety of new levels. The band was writing constantly. If you were to have walked into the back lounge during one of the many tours behind Stories And Alibis chances are the mirrored walls in their tour bus would have been covered with ideas for lyrics and ideas for new songs. Matchbook Romance knew their next record would have to stand apart and the material they had begun self-recording while out on the road behind Stories And Alibis?all of it decidedly more sparse, moody and meditative?was significantly removed from the sound they honed on their debut. One significant factor, as Jordan puts it poetically, is that they ?declared war on power chords.?
