Ladyhawke Announces Headline UK Tour

15 May: Òran Mór Auditorium - Glasgow
16 May : Cockpit - Leeds
17 May: Club Academy - Manchester
19 May: Digital - Brighton
20 May: O2 Academy 2 - Birmingham
21 May: KOKO - London

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Album Of The Year #9- Ladyhawke, 'Ladyhawke'

LADYHAWKE INTERVIEW
When people write about Ladyhawke they like to use metaphors for how 80's she and her self titled album are. Things like "More 80's than a John Hughes movie on MTV listening to a Walkman wearing shoulderpads and red braces." or "As 80's as suffering from crippling unemployment and going on the Miners strike", well maybe not the last one. I'l avoid the metaphors here though because they are lame and make this album sound gimmicky which it certainly is not. Sure it's heart belongs to Stevie Nicks and Joan Jett but there is so much more going on here. From the huge pop elements on 'Paris is Burning' and 'Love Don't Live Here' to the naggingly addictive choruses of 'Mainpulating Woman' and 'Magic' there is not a second where the quality drops below outstanding. There is a romantic heart beating beneath the retro pop too, 'Morning Dreams' is as cute and understated as anything I have heard this year. If the world was sane then Ladyhawke would be as big as Rhianna and Katy Perry, the fact she is somewhat of a secret remains a blessing for those lucky enough to be in the know.

Dusk Til Dawn (Ft. Sia, Cage The Elephant, Le Tigre, Lightspeed Champion etc)

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Singles of 2008- (#50-25)

25. Mumford & Sons- Love Your Ground EP- REVIEW
26. Au Revoir Simone- Paris (Friendly Fires cover)
27. Ladyhawke- Paris Is Burning
28. Lykke Li- Little Bit
29. Kanye West-Love Lockdown- ALBUM REVIEW

Lykke Li- 'Little Bit'

30. Friendly Fires- Jump In The Pool
31. Black Kids- I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance
32. The Kills- Cheap and Cheerful
33. Johnny Foreigner- Salt, Pepa & Spinderella
34. We Are Scientists- After Hours- REVIEW
35. Tilly & The Wall- Beat Control
36. Last Shadow Puppets- Age Of The Understatement
37. Yeasayer- 2080
38. Port O'Brien- Close The Lid
39. Esser- Headlock

We Are Scientists- 'After Hours'

40.Portishead- Machine Gun
41.Hot Club De Paris- Hey! Housebrick
42.Chairlift- Bruises
43.Ox. Eagle Lion Man- The Drowned & The Saved EP- FEATURE
44.The Black Ghosts- Repetition Kills You
45.Cut Off Your Hands- Oh Girl
46.Lightspeed Champion- Tell Me What It's Worth
47.Pete & The Pirates- Mr Understanding
48.White Lies- Death (Crystal Castles Remix)
49.TV On The Radio- Golden Age
50.Hercules & Love Affair- Blind

Pete & The Pirates- 'Mr Understanding'

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Peaches- Discuss.

As the clocks go back and you wake up in darkness you realise the end of the year is approaching. After the initial “Where did that go?” questions you begin to get excited about what the next year will bring. Amongst the 2009 treats is a new studio album from Peaches, the first since 2006’s ‘Impeach My Bush’. Last week Peaches revealed she is working with, amongst others, Simian Mobile Disco and Digitalism whetting an already dripping appetite amongst those who danced through the electroclash days and the subsequent indie/ electro scenes that have sprung up year on year.

2008 however has seen the emergence and development of a number of female electro acts. From Lykke Li and Ladyhawke to Santogold by way of Uffie and Annie the niche Peaches once had monopoly of is now gaining members by the day and shows no sign of waning. Whereas in 2000 when ‘The Teaches Of Peaches’ was released a strong female voice was a rarity across the club nights of Britain, now we live in a more enlightened hedonism where cross genre, sex and styles meet in the middle to enjoy a good time. Which begs the question: Will there be room for Peaches in 2009?

Peaches one defining factor is her overt displays of sexuality. Youtube clips showing her performing ‘Fuck The Pain Away’ straddling an inflatable penis are typical fodder and the live shows are famously raucous. However Peaches, or to give her full name Merrill Nisker, turned 40 this year. Madonna is widely derided for gyrating in a leotard at 50 so why would an ageist media be any less scathing of Peaches?

To add more pressure to the return two names set to feature on numerous ‘Ones To Watch 2009’ are electro, pop and female. Little Boots, aka Victoria Hesketh formerly a member of Leeds also-rans Dead Disco is gathering more column inches and hype than any new act right now and already has two club hits to her name with ‘Meddle’ and the brilliant ‘Stuck On Repeat’. New to Polydor records meanwhile is La Roux who takes an icy disco infused stab at the electro filth and coming out the other side with a series of big floor fillers. Add to this list names like Cocknbullkid and Erol Alkans latest darlings Fan Death and you have a well and truly congested playing field.

What’s key to state here is that all the bands sound tracking your Saturday nights in dark sweaty clubs are forever indebted to Peaches, to Fischerspooner and to clubs like Trash. Without innovators there is not a springboard to leap from and diversify the scene. Fingers crossed that the new Peaches LP is a return to form but even if it’s not we are safe in the knowledge her influence runs deep through the nations tapping toes.

'Fuck The Pain Away' (Miss Piggy Style)

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New Albums In 100 Words Or Less- September 22nd

Kings Of Leon
‘Only By The Night’

The ‘Southern Fried Strokes’ (NME) become ‘Y’all2’(Pitchfork) on album number 4 with mixed results. Four albums in five years is impressive however like ‘Because Of The Times’ the latter half of ‘Only By The Night’ runs out of steam around the half way mark. Alongside the Number 1 smash ‘Sex On Fire’ other highlights include ‘Closer’ and the humongous ‘Use Somebody’ which is destined to play over the credits of a thousand reality TV show finales. Things descend into Stadium Band™ territory soon after however and things lose the heart and passion KOL have always been about. Close but no cigar.

TV On The Radio
‘Dear Science’

Brooklyn demigods emerge for album 3 and shock all by becoming more accessible than ever. Siteks’ experimentation permeates throughout with loops and beats colliding perfectly under the soulful vocals creating a ceaselessly engaging atmosphere. ‘Dancing Choose’ channels Talking Heads, Outkast and Prince to create a cerebral floor filler whilst ‘Family Tree’ flexes the bands dexterity taking things down a notch with a piano led ballad. One of the most adored and revered bands of the modern day have delivered yet again on an album that will surely see their stock rise from underground chic to populist recognition.

Ladyhawke
‘Ladyhawke’

Revivalism reaches it’s zenith with one of the best debut albums of the year. ‘Ladyhawke’ is cool retro fun spread thick showcasing Pip Browns love of Stevie Nicks and Chrisse Hynde to the full. All the tracks are packed full of huge choruses and enough hooks to last most bands a career, ‘Magic’, ‘Professional Suicide’ and ‘Manipulating Woman’ stand out in particular. Hipster points are retained through the albums release on Modular and being produced by Australian sex pots Van She. More 80’s than a John Hughes film about Live Aid in leg warmers but brilliant for that very reason.

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4 Videos I love- September 18th

The Black Ghosts- 'Repetition Kills You'

Ladyhawke- 'Dusk Till Dawn'

Foals- 'Olympic Airways'

Crystal Castles- 'Crimewave'

Crystal Castle Crimewave
Uploaded by Differentrecordings

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Ladyhawke- DisCover

http://www.drownedinsound.com/articles/3727525

No doubt those of you with a radio, access to The Hype Machine or simply a pair of ears will be au fait with Ladyhawke’s recent single, ‘Paris Is Burning’. A blissful ode to a lost weekend in the French capital, it’s a dark but FM-friendly electro-tinged summertime smash. DiS caught up with Ladyhawke, aka London-based New Zealander Pip Brown, who also lived in Sydney for a while, to DiScover her thoughts on her career to date.

On signing to Modular Records…A lot of my friends are in bands that are signed to Modular, and so a lot of the people who were around the Modular bosses were talking about me and made them aware of me. Then some demos fell into their hands and they loved them. Being friends with people like Van She, The Presets and Midnight Juggernaughts is great because you are surrounded by amazing music and they are such friendly people, too. It’s good having a major label deal as well (with Island), as it gives me a bigger push.

On moving from Sydney to London…I moved to London In December because the other half of my label is based here and my manager is a Londoner. He asked me to move here and I had not even been to Europe at the time, but I just thought: “Why not?” I had no friends here but through touring all over you meet so many people and I have a lot of friends who are in bands over here now. One of the first bunch of people I got to know was The Teenagers, basically because they got in touch with me and we started hanging out, playing video games. You can tell they play a lot more video games than me.

On ‘Paris Is Burning’ and her forthcoming debut album…The first time I ever went to Paris it was for a long weekend, exactly a year ago actually, and my friend took me. She had all these bottles of French champagne and I’d never had proper champagne before; I’d just had cheap, crappy sparkling wine. We just spent the whole weekend just watching bands and sitting in cafes, running down cobbled streets. It was really great and made a lasting impression on me, so when I got back to London I went straight to the studio and wrote ‘Paris Is Burning’ that morning. The album is all written and recorded now and is out on September 22, I think. Each song on the album really stands alone – it’s more like a soundtrack or a compilation in that sense, I guess. It’s come from all different places and each song comes from a different experience I’ve had. The way I write is very spontaneous: I’ll just sit down and write a song from scratch right there on the spot. If people have only heard ‘Back Of The Van’ or ‘Paris...’ then they’ll probably be quite surprised by the other material.

On remixes of her material…I enjoy dance music, but it’s never really been my thing – I don’t know much about it. I’ve always been a rock and indie sorta person, so I am learning about dance music all the time. I think any kind of pop song lends itself well to being remixed as a dance track, as any progression of chords sounds better and catchier than something that drones on one chord for fifteen minutes. I’ve been really lucky have remixes by some great people – Cut Copy, Peaches, Van She – so I feel really privileged.

On touring… We’ve toured Britain lots and been around Europe, to Russia, Germany, France, Norway and the States. As a band playing live has been a real education for us. I’m basically just a studio person and I’ve been in other bands (such as garage rockers Two Lane Blacktop) where I was just the guitarist, so Ladyhawke was just a side project for me. It wasn’t until things started to snowball for me that I realised I had to start playing live and get a band together. Between myself and my tour manager we managed to get a band together, and they learnt the tracks from listening to CDs. So at first it was very raw and the live show wasn’t the greatest. We’ve done over 50 shows since then though, and it’s improved so much. We’ve got UK and US headline tours around the time of the album release, and around the same time we have a European tour with Black Kids which coincides nicely.

On being a front woman…I’ve never been that good at putting myself out there and being the person everyone stares at, so it took me a while to get the confidence to go out there and sing out loud. I love high energy shows – I’m really influenced by people like Chrissy Hynde, Stevie Nicks, and people like Peaches. I actually enjoy Fleetwood Mac a lot, especially live. They have this whole aura about them. Sometimes my self consciousness holds me back a little bit, but when I was younger I idolised Iggy Pop and David Bowie. I loved how flamboyant Bowie was on stage. I wish I could be as confident as they were, or someone like Goldfrapp or Peaches who are really crazy and outrageous. I aspire to be like that.
'Back Of The Van'

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