Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Radio & Music >

New Bands for 2006

10:52 / 20.05.06

We had a thread similar to this one a couple of years back and I thought it was a good time to start a new one to help spread the word on what is hot at the moment.

Whether a cool local band or your industry know-how has got you a tip for the top. Myspace and website links are essential so we can all have a listen and pass comment on and hopefully discuss. Ideally it would be great if before posting a link you could add a comment on one or more of the previous bands mentioned in thread- keeping the discussion element of the thread going.

So to kick the ball rolling I would like to introduce you all to Babel- one of Bristols best kept secrets- They remind me of Nick Drake, Arcade Fire and touches of Led Zepplin when they were a bit folky. I know that they don't really like playing the music industry circuit and as a result London show are few and far between (boo!) but they are bloody, bloody good.

Have a listen to the 3 tracks on their myspace site to have an idea of how glorious they sound all taken from their debut EP- the lead track Pearl Street Raga is a moody Zeppliny stomp, and then Shangrila and Disarm slow things down a little sounding like a slowed down Arcade Fire playing Nick Drake songs- I love these songs and can't wait for the new EP- hopefully there's an album in the pipeline beacause if the rest of their songs are this good they're not going to be a secret much longer!

Next up is Tapes N Tapes the latest self made US indie band to have undergone the label bidding war after their self released debut sold 10,000+ copies, they are now on XL and have been getting lots of good press.

They sound a bit pavement but a little more dramatic, or Clap Your hands without the heavy talking heads influence (i know that sounds strange but have a listen to see what i mean. My favourite tracks are the stomper 'Insistor' with its killer cowboy surf guitar lick and the uber mellow piano and bass driven Omaha.

I got the album on import a couple of months back- but i believe it gets re-released in July. I'm going to see them on monday so hopefully i'll have more to report later.

I have to do some work now but i will add some more later- in the mean time some more reccomendations and i'd love to hear some opinions/ have some discussion on the bands i'm recommending.

uncle retrospective

13:08 / 20.05.06

So my big love for this year, well, there seems to be a few, 2006 is looking as good as last year for music.
Any way But for me Jim Noir is the person putting a smile on my face. Putting singer song writers to shame, he plays everything on the album and hasn't one acoustic song whinging about being dumped. He sounds like a Super Furry Beach Boy, which is almost as good as it sounds. The only down side is it's all very twee. Eanie Meany is a song about how some neighbour won't give his football back so he's going to get his dad. Great summer stuff and is going to be brilliant on a sunny day drinking cider in a field.
I've been trying to get into the Tapes N Tapes album but nothing much has stuck yet. I'll keep plugging at it though, too many people have been telling me it's great.

22:37 / 24.05.06

those babel songs are pretty nice, you're not kidding about them sounding like ver zep tho.
that first track is almost identical to 'friends' from lz3! having said that, i like the sound of them: very chilled and kind of old-fashioned sounding but without being twee or affected. the third track, (shangrila?) is really quite beautiful.

my first pick is thinkpol who hail (i think) from southampton and who played at edinburgh's prestigious subway a couple of months ago.
their music is what you might describe as heavy guitar pop: powerful, pervasive and ever so slightly metal-tinged but with really catchy tunes to boot.
they fucking own live too

linkoid

13:13 / 25.05.06

Depends what you're into really but I'm loving Hot Chip at the moment. Think they're going to be quite big this year, especially around the festival season.

13:54 / 25.05.06

What do they sound like dude? Tell us a bit about them- the point of adding no lists is to get discussion going- I know for example that Hot Chip have made some great videos- the latest being by Hammer and Tongs- the collective team behind Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Blurs Coffee and TV video.

It would be great if you can expand upon your post cos at the moment it gives me no reason to click on your link- or why a mod shouldn't just delete your post, a list of one is almost as boring as a list of many! Also tell us what you think of the other bands mentioned in thread, as i asked we would do for each other in the start of the thread.

I appologise in advance if i sound a little rude- i can see your new round here and i'm glad your posting

Back on topic- the Jim Noir stuff is kind of cool- Super Fury Beach boys is a great description- and while i should like it more nothing has really grabbed me yet- that said i bunged a couple of tunes on my ipod and hopefully i'll hit em on shuffle and like 'em a bit more.

Thinkpol i wanted to like but they didn't really doing anything that new or fresh- i guess there are a million and one bands that have that guitary indie, libertines/ arctic monkeys/ supergrass/ kinks sound at the moment- they're not a band band but not one that i would actively listen too either.

18:34 / 25.05.06

They've been around a wee while but I really hope 2006 will be a good year for Vincent Vincent and his Mighty Mighty Villains. They're a sort of doo-wop punk band with a fantastic sense of style. Seen em' live a couple of times and they shake some serious ass.

I should also big up Jeremy Warmsley, who's quite good, even though the bastard once auditioned me for his band and decided I was too 'rocky' because I said I wanted to sound like Spacemen 3. Bastard. Who is, as I said, quite good.

20:36 / 25.05.06

I'm liking Vincent vincent and his villains- They reminded me of Dexy's mixed with the rockabilly side to the Clash- good stuff- good website too- i was hoping the models would feature in a video cos they are very cool.

21:24 / 25.05.06

Aye yeah, sorry. I'm rubbish. Let me try again.

One of my friend's recommended Tapes 'n Tapes to me a couple of weeks ago, totally forgot to check them out though. Just had a listen on their myspace and they sound really cool. I'm a drummer myself and the first thing that I notice in a song is the drumming, of which Tapes 'n Tapes' is mint. They sound like one of them bands where the more you listen to them the better they get, I prefer this over bands where they sound great at first but the more you listen the worse they get.

Hot Chip are an Indie/Electro band, like Clor if you've heard any of them. They're right geeks which makes them better too, I don't know why but I like it when you hear some music and like it, then see the band who play said music and they look like you. They're also a band which really like what they do, you can just tell, not like sellouts such as Hard-Fi who scream "We should have won!" at awards ceremonies. I'm loving the new Indie/Electro music which is coming out at the moment, it all feels so; original. I know it's not but, I suppose it's the first time I've really listened to it.
The only video of their's I've seen is 'Boys from School' which is the one where they make a big Neil Buchanan Art Attack with the band members layed in it. Going to see if I can find some more now.

Sorry about the rubbish post earlier, I'm still learning. Thanks for being so understanding and helping me along.

08:43 / 30.05.06

Good post, Cheers for taking the time. I read about Hot Chip on Woeobt a few weeks back and his post left me curiously undecided. Have to here them, I suppose. Woebot entry is here

09:17 / 30.05.06

I saw Tapes N Tapes last week at the barfly- they were really, really good live, like Pavements little brothers or summit.

The Art attack video for Hot Chip is by Hammer & Tongs and is great- as is the Jeremy Warmsley video for Dirty Blue Jeans- they showed them both at Antenna a couple of weeks ago.

I'm not sure about Hot Chip yet- they remind me of a mixture between Flaming Lips and The Beta Band (who i always saw as a poor mans Beck). Kind of good but they've not totally won me over yet- i guess i'm often cautious of bands that seem to set themselves up as 'wacky'- but then i love flaming lips and SFA- who do that too....

Jeremy Warmsley seems like he makes nice music- although i need to check out a bit more- first impressions are good though.

uncle retrospective

10:41 / 30.05.06

Hot Chip are great live, I saw them supporting Goldfrapp a few months ago and people were going nuts with the dancing and the shouting. Every time they finished a song people kept asking what the bands name were. I'll check 'em out next time they're about.

18:39 / 01.06.06

boy oh boy hot chip are really pretty good aren't they?
i think they played near me the other day ... and i missed them
'(>_<)' dang!

uncle retrospective

09:47 / 08.06.06

Ok, time to pimp the best band in Ireland at the moment (No not Westlife and yes we're sorry) I'm talking about the redneck manifesto a Slint like, dub bass heavy post rock band. The main thing that makes them stand out over here is they were the first real backlash against the singer/song writer plague we've been suffering over here (All you guys got was David Grey and Damien Rice, you were lucky) but their main appeal is their live show, they put the rock back in post rock.
There is a free ep on the home page.

Regrettable Juvenilia

11:01 / 08.06.06

Cansei de Ser Sexy - a.k.a. CSS (or even Tired of Being Sexy, as their name translates in English). Five girls, one guy, from Sao Paulo. You can hear a couple of their tunes on that site - 'Let's Make Love & Listen To Death From Above', which is the new single and about fifty times better than all actual material by Death From Above 1979, and 'This Month Day 10' (deceptively sweet, until the singer starts going on about breaking people's faces and getting their blood everywhere) are two highlights of their forthcoming album. Two particularly awesome things about 'Let's Make Love...', apart from the title*: i) when you realise she's singing "wine, then bed, then more, then again", and ii) the bits where it suddenly switches pace and turns into a Goldfrappy glam stomp.

And 'Art Bitch', which I will try to share with you later, is even better than either, all the early excitement and scuzzy glamour of the first Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP, as the name might suggest, but just that little bit more danceable. CSS = my new favourite band, and if it's true that Le Tigre have split, they're more needed than ever. They deserve a thread of their own, really.

*They have the BEST titles: 'Fuck Off Is Not The Only Thing You Have To Offer' and 'Meeting Paris Hilton' being two more.

Regrettable Juvenilia

21:50 / 23.06.06

Um, very late but as promised, here's 'Art Bitch' by Cansei de Ser Sexy. Good for seven days.

D Terminator XXXIII

22:18 / 23.06.06

*So* hardcore. And other sorts of core. The cool ones.

09:42 / 24.06.06

Utterly take back what I said about Mr. Warmsley. Saw him last week- the boy is the personification of dull.
Yuck.