Everything Everything - Schoolin'

Why are Everything Everything not the biggest band in the country right now? Probably because they haven't released anything in 2010 yet but here comes 'Schoolin' - another sure fire dose of mixing-pot pop. Taking elements of art rock, glam and modern hip-hop production everything about Schoolin' drips with texture and magic. Currently on the NME Radar tour and with a full length album on the way things are looking up for Everything Everything, the most aptly titled band in the game...

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Incoming 002: Everything Everything

Band names are rarely so apt but Manchester band Everything Everything really do throw in, well... everything to their music. Arguably the finest singles band of 2009 this forthcoming year should see the band take up their position as the best new band in the country with a fully fledged debut album and endless touring. Lazy journalists may well tag on to the revival of a ‘Manchester scene’ which will help and frustrate the various and wildly different bands involved in said group. Taking influences from a myriad of sources EE music is a melting pot of huge choruses, intricate twinkles and madcap eccentricity. Whatever they come up with will no doubt be a brilliant mix of the outlandish and instantly memorable.

MP3: Everything Everything- 'MY KZ, UR BF'

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BBC Sound of 2010

The BBC has published it's famous and influential 'Sound Of...' poll results today and I was asked to take part for the first time.

Tragically, in what can only be described as a huge over sight, only one of my 3 tips made it onto the long listed 15 but y'know- I'll live.

For the record I voted for Everything Everything, Frankie and The Heartstrings and Pulled Apart By Horses on the grounds that I believe they are three bands who will play amazing gigs, make brilliant music and offer something new in 2010.

The final 15 is a mixed bag that only a panel of over 150 names could conjure up. There are the safe bets like Marina, Ellie, Delphic and The Drums lining up alongside breaths of fresh air like Giggs, Joy Orbison and Gold Panda.

2010 is a much harder year to predict than 2009 (Florence, La Roux, GaGa, White Lies) was and it seems to me to be a year set to be shaped by bands on their 2nd or 3rd albums. However if I were a betting man (and I never will be as my Fantasy Football action tells me I'm an awful predictor) then I'd offer that the BBC Sound of 2010 poll will finish as follows.

1. Ellie Goulding
2. The Drums
3. Marina and The Diamonds
4. Everything Everything
5. Hurts

What do you make of the poll? Any names that are sadly missing? Who are your tips for 2010? I'll be publishing 2 slightly different tips lists in the next week or so. Keep 'em peeeled.

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Delphic- 'This Momentary' (Everything Everything Remix)

Attention fans of 'The Next Big Thing', here are two for the price of one. Making big steps in showing there is more to Manchester than Oasis and Ian Brown (they have a huge Primark too) are Delphic and Everything Everything.

I rate Everything Everything pretty much above all new bands right now, so many ideas and thoughts go into their music as you can tell by their remix of Delphic's ready made anthem 'This Momentary'

The track appears on the forthcoming first installment of Love and Disaster, a mixtape of new Manchester bands. Also featuring Airship and Dutch Uncles the L&D team are keen to show just how much amazing stuff is coming out of the North West right now.

To learn more about Love and Disaster and to hear their first vinyl release due in January 2010 then click here. For now enjoy Delphic and Everything Everything.


Delphic 'This Momentary' (Everything Everything Remix)

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Little Noise @Union Chapel

Silence can be so loud. The gentle hush adopted by the 500 lucky attendees of tonight’s first Little Noise Session of 2009 render parts of the bands performances almost painful to endure. Not until you have sat in a silent church as a room full of people stare stage wards intently do you know the true fear of sneezing. One wrong move could so easily garner the attention of the people performing on stage that the organisers decision to put those allocated press passes just one row from the front seem like a cruel trick.

Doing their best to fill the Holy walls first are Manchester newbies Everything Everything. Already in possession of three of 2009’s finest singles the future is bright for the band and they show a level of performance which belies their tender years. Where on record things are frantic and full in tonight’s performance the four piece are forced to strip things back to being almost nude. Accentuated by a string quintet courtesy of the Royal College of Music Everything, Everything become easier to investigate as each lyrical eccentricity and twist in their maze of harmony is left open. As a result songs like ‘Suffragette, Suffragette’ and ‘Photoshop Handsome’ take on a new dimension and become more reminiscent of Field Music- a group who must loom at large in these four boys record collections. Of all the bands on show tonight it’s surprising that the most inexperienced are the ones who rise to the challenge the most.

Bombay Bicycle Club have had a stop, start year and could perhaps feel aggrieved that they have not scaled greater heights such is the quality of their debut album. This performance is something of a revelation tonight however as the band seem better suited to the acoustic troubadour style than they do trying to fit their square peg into the round hole of indie-rock. Lead singer Jack Steadman looks particularly at ease and has the jerky teenage introspection of a young Conor Oberst nailed down. It’s often remarked how young Bombay Bicycle Club are but it is tonight made obvious by the introduction of guitarist Jamie MacColl’s Dad Neil playing banjo for the band. A veteran folk performer Neil has made music with Kathryn Williams in the past and tonight he rather amusingly makes the band look like a man called Mumford out with his Sons. The addition of the banjo (Of all the instruments to make a comeback eh?) and vocalist Lucy Rose make songs such as ‘Evening/ Morning’ and a stunning rendition of ‘The Giantess’ feel that much more accomplished. The band inject a youthful blast of vigour into the gig too when they play ‘Always Like This’ which sees the cagey atmosphere rapidly erode as a clap along ensues as the band truly find their comfortable niche.

At the halfway point ‘Gavin and Stacey’ star Mat Horne takes to the stage. Tonight’s show and the subsequent week’s gigs are in aid of the charity Mencap and along with curator Jo Whiley, Horne is here to compere the show. Something of an official groupie for the band Horne warms the stage for The Maccabees who take to the stage to loud screams from posh looking girls with big hair and warm applause from everyone else. The Maccabees have had an amazing year and to see the band play in such a small venue shortly after they headlined the Brixton Academy on their recent UK tour marks this show out as an occasion as opposed to a gig. The band play through semi-acoustic versions of much of their stunning 'Wall Of Arms’ album including particularly sweet renditions of ‘Bag Of Bones’ and ‘Dinosaurs’. All of the bands on tonight’s bill boast singers with a fine set of pipes but none more so than those encased in the throat of Orlando from The Maccabees. His sweet and tender croon speaks of love and heartbreak beautifully and as he and his band of brothers blast through the triumphant ‘Can You Give It’ the only regret is that the band can’t stay on stage longer.

Jo Whiley tells the crowd that Editors were the very first band to sign up to play Little Noise this year which is something of a surprise given at times they look comically under prepared. The responsibility falls on the shoulders of singer Tom Smith who at various points forgets his lyrics, plays wrong introductions and misses his band mates cues to begin. It is far from a disaster however as the collective will of the audience spur the band on to an ultimately successful set. Now three albums into their career the group can pick and choose from across the board of their back catalogue however they kick things off by heavily leaning on new album ‘In This Light and On This Evening’. For an album that has garnered so much attention for it’s electronic machinations the songs melt nicely into the acoustic guitars and grand pianos the group use to play them tonight. ‘You Don’t Know Love’ and the silly of title, excellent of hook ‘Raw Meat= Blood Drool’ show the strength of Smith’s songwriting whilst a rare outing of ‘No Sound But The Wind’ is a treat for fans of the Twilight soundtrack. Older material is visited later on including a cavernous ‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’ and first album cut ‘Distance’ which goes from being a so-so filler track to a stand out slice of beauty. It doesn’t all work however as the band ruin ‘Papillon’ by stripping it of its driving energy and replacing it with navel gazing mundanity. The set ends with a rally though as a frantic ‘Fingers In The Factory’ sends the crowd off into the night nicely.

Everything Everything- 8/10
Bombay Bicycle Club- 7/10
The Maccabees- 8/10
Editors- 7/10

DrownedinSound.com

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Everything Everything- MY KZ, UR BF

Is this as good as 'Suffragette...' or 'Photoshop Handsome'? I'm not so sure but it's great to see a band take so much care and thought over their videos.

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Everything Everything live at Vibe, Brick Lane.

It's always been a pertinent question: What exactly do you need to do to make it in music? Some would say gig regularly, write great songs and the rest will come whilst the more cynical might say find an old genre 'bring it back' sign a record deal with a future raping advance and start thinking of your Live Lounge cover for Jo Whiley. The truth in 2009 is probably somewhere in the middle of that and Everything Everything are looking likely to break through having released two fantastic singles already this year.

Playing on a tiny stage in front of a banner for jeans accompanied by ominous phrase 'ONES TO WATCH' the Manchester four piece rarely seem comfortable. Perhaps it's the audible air of indifference from parts of the crowd or perhaps it's that the band are still in their infancy but first gear is never escaped tonight. That said, twinklings of promise glisten regularly. Essentially the middle ground between The Futureheads jitter-punk and fellow North East boys Field Music's intricate melodies and fey sensibilities EE make a curious racket. Vocalist Jonathan is the natural star of the band and juggles his melodies and instruments nicely. His band mates are slightly more anonymous but this is a band who let their music take centre stage. When it clicks, such as on 'Photoshop Handsome' Everything Everything are a joy to behold, giddy and frantic they make an eccentric clatter that is both unique yet identifiable. However these moments are fleeting and I did find myself wondering if yet again we'd been duped by a band with only a smattering of good songs and a whole load of filler. Time and a better setting will tell but as for now Everything Everything better dig those acoustic guitars out and get down to Radio 1 HQ pronto.

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Everything Everything- 'Photoshop Handsome'

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Introducing... Everything Everything

Everything Everything make the sort of music I dream of in a perfect haze of beauty then wake up crushed when I realise I will never have the ability to commit it to tape. The band take elements of the Gang Of Four/ Wire post- punk jitter style and mix it with intricate multiple harmonies that cross over one another to create a mesmerising sound. The one band I think of when listening to the demos is the wonderful and much maligned Field Music.

The four piece from Manchester have just released their first single ‘Suffragette Suffragette’ (Seems they are fond of repetition) which begins like The Cribs ‘I’m A Realist’ before descending into a dark prog-pop master piece with falsetto vocals and a fierce battle between riffs and Foals esque high fret work. It’s a fine introduction to the band and a late entry for one of the finest singles of the year.

There is still time to see Everything Everything live before the year ends too with an extensive touring schedule taking in Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds and London before Christmas. A deal with XL records is drying as we speak and only good things await this eccentric and alluring band.

MYSPACE

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