All posts tagged Leeds

1-800-LIPSTICK – Eleven

dario

Dark to the point of being genuinely disturbing, the crushingly bleak witch beats of DMR aka Daria Ramone seep silkily into your soul, extracting all colour until all that remains is a strobing montage of monochrome ghostly detritus. Debut long-player The Falling Body follows on from a string of excellent EP’s which themselves are well worth exploring; this time out however something feels more taut, more focused.

There’s a sumptuous weighty density to Eleven, cold slow beats striking unholy accord with an articulate mesh of sustained gothic synth sounds. The key choral vocal lines sweeping the track to it’s all-too-soon denouement are devastatingly spooky – like the more melodic sections of James Cargill’s Berberian Sound Studio soundtrack turned up a few notches.

You’re not going to find any stock can-tricks here, it’s just pure unadultered sonic malevolence.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/157520811″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

https://www.facebook.com/1800lipstick

Mike Phillips

Eaves – Pylons

1003811_208440235972782_1016813789_n

There is something very compelling about the music of Leeds based artist Joseph Lyons, and I was gutted to miss his recent performance for Now Wave at Sounds From The Other City. Eaves melancholy compositions are built around a beautifully fragile vocal that still manages to provide warmth and comfort. Pylons is no exception, exposing a raw quality that other artists struggle to find. The intimate nature of his work is balanced with exceptional songwriting craft, that could see him propelled into the spotlight.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/148701812″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

https://www.facebook.com/JosephEavesMusic

Phill Young

Billy Lloyd – Steam

billy

“I’m running out of steam, trying to destroy my body”

Its not often I discover an artist that really speaks to me, or makes me feel like we’ve been through similar experiences. Leeds based electronica artist Billy Lloyd has achieved this with just a couple of songs. In many respects he shares much in common with Perfect Genius; lyrically he’s brave and very revealing about his personal life, but it’s also beautifully understated. Steam is a tender composition that leaves you emotionally invested in him.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/90872329″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Normal is a song that deals with sexuality, gender and acceptance. That he makes it so reflective and self aware, reveals an artist of great promise and insight. He’s the kind of artist that makes prediction lists so utterly repellent to me, as most would rather hedge their bets on industry marketed acts. Me. I’d prefer to champion a Billy Lloyd.

https://www.facebook.com/billylloydmusic

Phill Young

Autobahn – Force Fed

1381826_581901741863388_1990155588_n

Autobahn are five young guys from Leeds making one hell of a racket. Channeling the likes of Pissed Jeans and Interpol, their shadowy, industrial guitar music is high on attitude and bad intentions – their live show well honed. Front-man Craig Johnson tensely stalks the stage, roaring cathartically, venting his demons – the band are focused, tight and gang-like and motor along like they’re gulping down diesel.

Force Fed is bold and memorable – an exorcism of pure bleeding hatred. A chilling, well chiseled post-punk outburst propelled by a relentless beat, a stabbing bass line and some fittingly Bernard Albrecht-esque guitars. When Johnson screams his way through the chorus, spewing out the hook, “What I want is for you to fall down” – it’s so biting, so full of venom you just might.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/118897208″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

https://www.facebook.com/autobahnmusik

Paul Baird

Fun Adults – Sap Solid

Fun-Adults-500x500

Fun Adults are a four piece from Leeds whose precocious songwriting has been garnering attention from music blogs for a couple of months now. Their sound isn’t always easy to pin down – they effortlessly mix electronic samples, classical acoustic guitar, drums, bass and vocal harmonies that would make Dirty Projectors proud – yet the songs come across so well you’d be forgiven for missing the intricacies.

The band released a sublime debut double A side single ‘Sap Solid’/’Acacia’ on Tough Love Records, and have just announced a headline show at Old St Pancras Church, London, on 29th May. Check out the beautiful video for ‘Sap Solid’ here:

Charlie Francis

Tickets for Old St Pancras: https://parallellines.ticketabc.com/events/fun-adults/

Tumblr http://funadults.tumblr.com/

Bodywork – Tame

ben-web

‘Bodywork’ sees Benjamin Wetherill move away from the abstraction of previous project ‘Trumpets of Death’.

Traces of the avant-garde are still present on ‘Tame’, but the persistent electronic drums provide a pop grounding that was unfound on ‘Teeth + Teeth = Teeths’. The coupling of Benjamin’s fragile vocals with experimental electronica makes for a truly exciting new band. Their debut album, ‘The Grind’, is set for release in the summer

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/75709120″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Alex McKenzie