Thursday 30 April 2009

Heartbreak // Vice Mini Mix

Italo-Disco duo Heartbreak have recorded a mini mix for Vice Magazine called “Grandes Exitos de Ayer y Hoy”. It's full of great disco tracks and they even dropped The Horrors new single 'Sea Within A Sea'. Remember to catch Heartbreak on the 'NME Radar' tour on 7th May at Cockpit, the other acts on the bill may be terrible but it would be worth it so see Heartbreak perform live.

Check out the mini mix here.

Monday 27 April 2009

Releases // Monday 27th April


London wonder boys S.C.U.M release their second single online today. 'Warsaw' it is the first of a number of releases under the title 'Signals'. The track is dark, mesmerising and totally brilliant. Remember you can catch them live on Wednesday 29th at Josephs Well which should not be missed. They may also be supported by An Experiment On a Bird In The Air Pump but this hasn't been confirmed on the bands myspace.


R O M A N C E are one of my favourite bands around currently. About to go on a U.K tour with The White Rose Movement and Ulterior so if you can make it to one their shows I definitely would. Currently you can buy a E.P from their myspace. The E.P contains three great songs with post-punk guitars with the most fantastic powerful vocals.

Sunday 26 April 2009

Threat Manifesto // Twisted // 25th April

Threat Manifesto. Photo: Jon Mohajer

"Garage punk meets 80s DC post hardcore" - I'm not going to pretend to know what that really means but apparently that's what Twisted play, and I like it. Twisted are a new band in Leeds and last night saw them play the Peanut Gallery in the Leeds University Union; a collaboratively run, free space that seems the perfect setting for a gig like this. Twisted gave a fantastic high energy performance, playing songs from their first EP 'Daydreams' (which can be downloaded for free here) as well as some very promising new tracks.

Threat Manifesto are a hardcore punk band from South Wales who after spending the day 'soaking up Leeds' gave a fairly shambolic performance. They were enjoyable none the less though; their passion and energy easily making up for any sloppiness.

Twisted have a few more gigs lined up in the next couple of weeks:
  • 3rd May- Brudenell Social Club, Leeds (w/ Human Hair)
  • 8th May- The Packhorse, Leeds (w/ Navvy)

Thursday 23 April 2009

The Breeders // Fate To Fatal E.P


Fate to Fatal from The Breeders on Vimeo.

The Breeders have come a long way since forming back in 1988 with Kim Deal of the Pixies and Tanya Donelly of Throwing Muses. Now after many line-up changes it mainly consists of Katie Deal and twin sister Kelley Deal. They are probably best know for their single hit single 'Cannonball' released in 1993. No longer aiming for chart success with they previous experimental records. Their new E.P 'Fate to Fatal' is fantastic and for me hard to understand how anyone could dislike it. The video of for the title track can be seen above, the other 3 tracks on the E.P are much more relaxed and a great listen. The very limited edition vinyl E.P released on 4AD has already sold out. You can catch The Breeders live at All Tomorrows Parties on the 14th, 15th and 16th May.

MP3:The Breeders - Fate To Fatal (zShare)


Tuesday 21 April 2009

The Big Pink // The XX // A Grave With No Name



If you were lucky enough to be a The Cockpit last night you would have witnessed one of the best gigs I've been to in ages. First up was Mt.Jade's A Grave With No Name, their opening track full on feedback didn't set high expectations for the rest of the set. However after short 5 song set I had been totally won over their lead singers soothing voice coming from through the discordant sounds reminding me of 90's grunge and shoegaze. Can't wait for more releases from these boys. You can see the music video for their track 'The Underpass' above.


The XX although not being a particularly big fan, their live performance with still disappointing. The every song had the same MPC drumbeat, guitar riffs and dull vocals. After having enjoyed the previous band so much it was a total buzz kill.

Headliners The Big Pink brought the standard back. Opening with their first single 'Too Young To Love' and continued with a scuzzy, drone, wall of sound powered by twin keyboards, bass and solid drums. But you would still drift away in the melody and vocals. Their performance relying on lighting and smoke machines just added to the atmosphere of the music making it a complete aural and visual pleasure. You could understand all the hype in the media about this band. Remember to download their latest single in the post below.

Monday 20 April 2009

Releases // Monday 20th April


The Legendary Sonic Youth have launched the first MP3 from their new album 'The Eternal' due to be released on 8th June. The track is titled 'Sacred Trickster' and is a great signature hardcore Sonic Youth track and is my favourite song they have released in the last 5 years. Which makes 'The Eternal' which will be the bands 16th album looks promising. The band play a secret show on the 27th April at The Scala, London and have been confirmed for the My Bloody Valentine-curated
ATP Nightmare Before Christmas to be held at Butlins, December 4th - 6th, 2009.

MP3:Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster (zShare)



The Big Pink who have been named the band to watch in 09 so far have not disappointed. Their second single 'Velvet' is a loud, dirty, shoegaze epic track. Available from their new label 4ad on limited 7".
Remember you can catch the London lads playing tonight at The Cockpit with support from favourites A Grave With No Name who are over from the U.S. You can download the single below and a remix by New York's experimental group Gang Gang Dance.

MP3: The Big Pink - Velvet (zShare)
MP3: The Big Pink - Velvet (Gang Gang Dance Remix)
(zShare)

Remember to check out this weeks playlist on spotify here.

Saturday 18 April 2009

Deerhunter // Rainwater Cassette Exchange E.P

Deerhunter for me the band of 2008 just don't stop churning out new music. Last year the released 'Microcastle' with 'Weird Era Cont' and are now releasing a new E.P titled 'Rainwater Cassette Exchange'. Due to be released digitally on 18th of May and on the 8th June on CD. The digital release is going to be mark the start of their U.K tour in London and they will be coming to Leeds on 24th May at The Brundenell Social Club.

Tracklist:

'Rainwater Cassette Exchange'
'Disappearing Ink'
'Famous Last Words'
'Game of Diamonds'
'Circulation'


You can see a live performance of 'Disappearing Ink' I posted about last month here and download the title track
'Rainwater Cassette Exchange' below.

Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange

Thursday 16 April 2009

Record Store Day // Saturday 18th April


Record Store Day is being held worldwide this Saturday 18th April.

"The original idea for Record Store Day was conceived by Chris Brown, and was founded in 2007 by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave and Brian Poehner as a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA, and hundreds of similar stores internationally.

This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on. Metallica officially kicked off Record Store Day at Rasputin Music in San Franscisco on April 19, 2008 and Record Store Day is now celebrated the third Saturday every April."

This year Crash Records will be participating hosting some live bands in the basement thought the day, free giveaways and competitions. Jumbo Records are also participating with the event


With the event comes a number of limited edition releases from the likes of Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Taking Heads, Beck and many more. Click here for the full list.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Where To Now? Compilation #5


Where To Now? DJ's have released their 5th compilation which you can download from here for free. It's another great selection of post-punk tunes from the Brighton boys. If you go to their myspace you can also download compilations 2 - 4 .

Tracklist:

1. Native Hipsters – Hang Ten
2. Girls at our Best – Going for Gold
3. Martin Rev – Clouds of Glory
4. Snakefinger – Smelly Tongues
5. Margox – Jimmy’s Grin
6. Mothmen – Please Let Go
7. Birds with Ears – Head in my bag
8. To The Finland Station – Pivotal Couples
9. Occult Chemistry – Fire
10. Tuxedomoon – 59 To 1 Remix
11. Mark Perry – The Whole World’s Down On Me
12. 35mm Dreams – More Than This
13. I’m So Hollow – Distraction
14. Grow Up – Stay Awake
15. Shop Assistants – All That Ever Mattered
16. Everest The Hard Way – Take The Strain
17. Screaming Mee Mee’s – Going For Grease
18. Nash The Slash – Reactor No.2

Monday 13 April 2009

Releases // Monday 13th April

Health have delivered their best song so far in the form of "Die Slow". They have combined both their loves for noise and dance to bring this great industrial dance track. On the flip side is a great Pictureplane remix making this limited 7" is worth getting.

The Juan Maclean bring you their second album "The Future Will Come". They have described it as "SINTETIKA Nu Kraut Disco" and you can see why, as their krautrock, italo disco and house influences are obvious. Although I enjoy the album some of the tracks are lacking something. Best tracks; "Happy House", "Accusations" and "Tonight".

Sunday 12 April 2009

DFA // REMIXER


I was checking out DFA Records today and found this game. It's a flash game which has two samples from the 8 tracks which feature on the 'DFA Remixes: Chapter Two' which you can then remix to make your own song. In all honestly the technology is pretty basic and their isn't a way to record what you do, but it's still fun to play around with. Check it out here.

Friday 10 April 2009

Spotify Playlists


If you haven't already got Spotify then I recomend that you download it. It allows you to stream thousands of songs which includes whole albums so you can decide if you want to buy the record or not. The other great feature is that people can set up playlists to share music with friends.

Over here at Heads Will Roll we have set up two playlists. The first is our Heads Will Roll Blog playlist. This is where we are going to add songs by the bands we are blogging about or that we are currently listening to. So you can check them out.

The seconds playlist is an open playlist called Heads Will Roll Open Playlist this is where we want you to add the bands that your listening to, so everybody else can listen to them too.

To access the playlists just download Spotify, click on the hyperlinks and then choose open with Spotify.

I really hope that this takes off as I think that it's a great way to share music. Enjoy.

Thursday 9 April 2009

S.C.U.M

The suitably named S.C.U.M got their name from radical feminist Valerie Solanas' Society For Cutting Up Men Manifesto, which calls for the gendercide of all men. The dark name reflects their Gothic/Punk/Atmospheric sound which they have been playing across London since forming in 2008. Their debut release "Visions Arise" is a mesmerising anthem where you can see a clear Bauhaus and Joy Division influence in the echoing vocals.

S.C.U.M now have a series of releases under the title 'S.i.G.N.A.L.S'. The first release is going to be 'Warsaw' due to be out on 27th April. This will mark the start of their U.K tour and on the 29th April will be gracing us their their presence at Josephs Well. If you weren't lucky enough to see their memorable performance at Cockpit in October 08 they are definitely a band to see live. Their raw sounds, strobe lighting and front man Thomas Vain's theatrical performance leaves you not really sure what you just witnessed, but you know it was good.


On the 27th
S.C.U.M are also going to be joined by the excellent An Experiment On A Bird In The Air Pump + more TBC.

S.C.U.M – R.I.T.U.A.L.S.

Wednesday 8 April 2009

E.Gold // Ones To Watch

E.Gold is a new London based musical project. Their newest track CPIBTA is a experimental disco influence track which features vocal from Alexis from The Violets and I love it. Although currently unsigned I dont think it will be long before it is released, so they are certainly ones to watch. On their myspace their are two remixes of CPIBTA, one by Passions and the other by Tomethy Furse (The Horrors/ Spider and the Flies) which are both great offerings.

Tuesday 7 April 2009

Tonight // Leeds


Jon who helps with the blog, new band Twisted have their first gig tonight at the Royal Park Cellars. Their garage punk sounds somtimes reminds me of Sonic Youth. They are giving their E.P away for free, which you can download here so have a listen. They are going to be joined by Heliport, The Old Romantic Killer Band and Patrickjamespearson. Doors are at 8pm and Entry is £3. For more info click here

Also, club night Kitsch have a Easter special at Wire. Worth checking out, for more info go to The Golden Owl blog.

Monday 6 April 2009

Releases // Monday 6th April


Not many out this week.


The No Pain In Pop label have been bringing you some of the best new bands recently such as Telepathe, Health and Banjo or Freakout. They have now released a eclectic mixpate of tracks which features the bands previously mentioned, Abe Vigoda, Pens and A Grave With No Name. It's only available on CD but for £5 it's going to be worth it.

Ulterior have been tearing up east London shows since forming in 2006. Their aggressive, raw sound has led them to being compared to the likes of Suicide, Jesus and Mary Chain and Big Black. This CD includes both singles '15' and 'Weapons' that have been released on the up and coming DiscError label and a few other new tracks. You can see Ulterior's signature raw live performance on the 1st May at Josephs Well.

This one is available for Pre-Order and isn't out until early May but as only 500 copies worldwide I would order in now. 'Headhunters' is Graffiti Island's best effort so far, it's a simple, bass driven Lo-fi track with the vocals falling in and out of spoken word. The artwork for it's pretty rad too.

Sunday 5 April 2009

Tuff & Deadly // 11th April // The Railway Hotel

I know this isn't a Leeds event but next Saturday I'll be playing at Tuff & Deadly at The Railway Hotel, Southend-On-Sea. Expect the finest disco beats, electro synths and techno sounds. Music will be provided by Scum Kid (KKK), Tuff & Deadly DJ's and myself.

Doors open at 9pm and entry is free. For more info click here.

Arrive early to catch my set.

Telepathe // SXSW Mixtape

Photo by Jeremy Liebman
Telepathe have made a down tempo SXSW mixtape. It's pretty cool and worth giving a listen.

Tracklist

Bone Thugs and Harmony - Thuggish Ruggish Bone
Oppenheimer Analysis - Cold War
Salem - Dirt
The Chills - Pink Frost
Juvenile - Ha
Lisa Lisa and The Cult Jam - I wonder if I take you home
Bloc Party(Burial Remix) - Where is Home
Warrior Queen - Things Change
GZA - Liquid Swords
J Dilla - Two Can Win

Download it here.

Saturday 4 April 2009

Spider and the Flies // Mix Pt. 2 // Down

I posted about the first Spider and the Flies mix 'Up' a few weeks ago. Vice have now released the second half of the mix 'Down' which is again filled with a bunch of obscure records. Download it here.

Friday 3 April 2009

A Certain Ratio // Mike Bones // The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart


Manchester's A Certain Ratio will be playing The Brudenell Social Club on July 4th. Starting out on Factory Records playing post-punk band over the years have added funk and disco elements to their sound and are clear heavy influences on contemporary disco-punk bands.

A Certain Ratio - Do The Du (John Peel Sessions, 1979)

Mike Bones released his second album earlier this year and is one of the few singer song writers that I really like. He is playing
The Cockpit on 14th May.

Mike Bones - One Moment's Peace

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart released one of my favourite records of the year earlier this year. You can see them perform their noise-pop debut at The Cockpit on 21st May. This adds to the hectic week already posted about yesterday.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction


Tickets for all these events are available at Jumbo and Crash

Maps & Atlases//Pigeon

Maps & Atlases have put up a free download of their new demo 'Pigeon' here. I don't think its going to be available forever so get it whilst its hot!

Thursday 2 April 2009

BLACK LIPS // MIKA MIKO // TIMES NEW VIKING // GRINGO STAR

I'll Be With You - Black Lips


Sorry for the lack of post from myself over the last couple of weeks, I've been away hitch-hiking to Africa.

The guys over at Bad Sneakers have got another awesome line-up at TJ's Woodhouse Club on the 20th May. Headlining is Atlanta's Black Lips who have been spreading their "Flower Punk" across the world since forming in 2000. Last month they released their 5th studio album '200 Million Thousand' which is again a great example of why they are going to continue to take over the world. Their renown crazy live performances should not be to missed. You can see their new video above for 'I'll Be With You'.

Joining Black Lips will be Times New Viking who aren't my favorite band from the NY scene but after getting their 'Stay Awake EP' they are growing on me, so ready to give them another chance. Finally on the bill is Mika Miko and Gringo Star.

Tickets cost £14 and are available from from Crash Records and Jumbo Records.
For more info go to the Events Page.

This is going to be the first event of a hectic bank holiday weekend in Leeds.

20th May - Black Lips // Mika Miko // Times New Viking // Gringo Star @
TJ's Woodhouse Club
22nd May - Stag and Dagger // Various bands @ All Over Leeds
24th May - Deerhunter @ The Brudenell Social Club
25th May - The Horrors
@ The Brudenell Social Club

P.S Personal favorites Wavves has been added to the Stag and Dagger bill.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Festivities

With the festival season fast approaching now seems like a good time for a run through of the festivals hitting up Leeds over the next few months.

Fuse Leeds 2009//25 April - 2 May

Fuse is a contemporary music festival that celebrates the vibrant music scene in Leeds with a selection of specially commissioned pieces and exciting collaborations. Highlights look set to include The BBC Big Band performing new arrangements of hits by The Wedding Present, Spanish Bombs: A tropical tribute to the Clash and Dub Echoes - a new film on the history of dub featuring Lee Perry, King Jammy, Kode9 and Roots Manuva. Check the website for the full line-up of events.

Live at Leeds//1-3 May
Live at Leeds is a three day festival that brings you the best in local underground talent. I wrote a post about it a while ago which you can check out if you like. For more info and a list of confirmed bands go to the Live at Leeds website.

Stag & Dagger//22 May
Stag & Dagger is a festival taking place in three different UK cities on three consecutive days. Its coming to Leeds on 22 May and promises to deliver
"one night of new music, DJs and partying". James has been following the festival pretty closely and gave you a list of confirmed bands a few weeks ago.

Leeds Festival//28-30 August
I don't think I need to say much about this behemoth of a festival. Weekend tickets sold out within 24 hours, a few day tickets are still available. It does looks like you're in for a good time if you did manage to get your mits on a ticket with Radiohead, The Prodigy and The Maccabees on the bill and loads more to be announced.
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