The Big Pink - With You

Tomorrow you will be able to get your hands on brand new releases by the likes of Blur, Crystal Castles, Pulled Apart By Horses, Beach House, Rolling Stones and many, many more as part of Record Store Day which is taking place across Britain and America.

As good as all this will be it seems sad that we need to have a day to remind people to visit their local record shop. It's like having a National Sleep day, it's just the normal and right way of doing things. Still, if we get to hear a whole host of exclusive new stuff then it'd be silly to complain.

Something that is not new but still well worth a listen is this track from The Big Pink. It appears on 4AD's contribution to Record Store Day as a 12" alongside tracks from Tuneyards and Blonde Redhead. Originally recorded in the early days of The Big Pink 'With You' is a heavily distorted k-soul blast. Check it out now...

Read More »»

NME Awards Tour @ Brixton Academy

Fitting four bands into four hours is always going to be a challenge and teamed with Saturday evening traffic in London means that much of The Drums set is missed by Gigwise. We do however manage to catch the final two songs of their show including a rousing version of ‘Let’s Go Surfing’. Despite doing little to argue against the theory that they have only got one truly great song The Drums certainly look the part. Lead singer Jonathan Pierce commands the stage like a man who has been doing this for far longer than this bands tender years and set closer ‘Best Friend’ sees the band finishing as if they are headliners. You suspect that in a years time they will have the stature to match their ambition.

The Big Pink are a band seemingly designed to play in as big a venue as possible. Their sound has become gargantuan following support slots with Muse and Pixies and tonight they play Brixton for the third time in under a year. Guitarist Robbie Furze channels his past in digital hardcore bands to great effect as he attacks his mirrored guitar with an aggression normally reserved for enemies not friends. ‘Too Young To Love’ rumbles and rolls the band into vision, through the smoke and haze they then run through a series of industrial lullabies for the hard of hearing. Playing to a somewhat subdued crowd the band do their best to kick start the evening but perhaps the serrated edges and muscular nature of the band seems to jar with an audience here to see three clean cut indie pop bands. Not to be deterred however, The Big Pink hit out with a snarling rendition of ‘Velvet’ before garnering a cheer of recognition for the ubiquitous ‘Dominos’. Furze ends the set in the crowd having propelled himself skywards during the closing moments of the set. Tonight might not have been the victory lap they expected but The Big Pink are quickly establishing themselves as one of this country’s finest live bands.

Bombay Bicycle Club were always going to struggle to match the sonic girth of The Big Pink but what they lack in muscle they make up for in popularity. Cheered like heroes from their first steps onstage these four young men from London have developed slowly and surely into a heart warming and well loved band. It’s not hard to see why either. Their music is a gentle mix of folk ditties and more upbeat indie disco numbers like ‘Magnet’ and ‘Dust On The Ground’. Singer Jack Steadman’s deep and rich baritone is the bands greatest strength and they play to it well. What is most remarkable about tonight’s performance however is just how popular the band are. Perhaps an oversight on our part but with an album met with relatively small fanfare and not appearing to be a band with a definitive song BBC appeared to be a good band but one lost in a tide of newer acts and bigger bands. It’s nice to be proven wrong however and the young audience here have clearly taken the band to their hearts. As ‘Always Like This’ brings a triumphant set to a close the band can look back on this show as a pivotal career moment.

When you record an album with Arcade Fire’s producer and purposely decide to add some meat to your skinny frame then you need to make it pay in large venues like this. The Maccabees more than step up to the gauntlet tonight, proving that they have stepped up mentally as well as in their recorded output. Opening with ‘William Powers’ the band are in a jubilant mood from the off and play through a hit flecked set with an infectious energy. Lead singer Orlando has shed his shy skin of their formative years and now leads his band perfectly, bashful but in control. His voice soars on ’Can You Give It’ and ’All In Your Rows’ but it is first album cut ’Precious Time’ which excels the most tonight. With this being the final night of this tour there are a few treats in store, chiefly being the appearance of Edwyn Collins. Performing his Orange Juice classic ‘Rip It Up’ is clearly a touching moment for the band and it shows in their shyness around the great man. It’s still a triumphant moment however and one all involved will remember fondly. The set ends with the traditional stage invasion by all the bands involved as the brass band fan their goodbye to the sounds of ‘Love You Better’. You get the feeling those gathered tonight could not cherish The Maccabees any more if they tried.

Read More »»

I Really Love Breaking Your Heart...

Read More »»

OCTOBER

The best albums/ downloads and Blog posts of the month of October are as follows.

Albums

Annie- 'Don't Stop' (Album Of The Month)
Karen O & The Kids- 'Where The Wild Things Are' (Review)
Cate Le Bon- 'Me Oh My' (Review)
Editors- 'In This Light and On This Evening' (Track by Track guide)
New Moon- OST (Track by Track guide)
Mumford & Sons- 'Sigh No More'
Johnny Foreigner- 'Grace and the Bigger Picture (Review)
Cymbals Eat Guitars- 'Why There Are Mountains'

Download

Annie- 'My Love Is Better'
Karen O & The Kids- 'All Is Love'
Cate Le Bon- 'Hollow Trees House Hounds'
Editors- 'Papillon'
Thom Yorke- 'Hearing Damage'
Mumford & Sons- 'Little Liar Man'
Johnny Foreigner- 'Choose Yr Side and Shut Up'
Cymbals Eat Guitars- '...And The Hazy Sea '

Spotify playlist to follow...

Blog Posts

Words with

• Graham Coxon,

• Girls

• No Age

New music from

• Lost Knives,

• Veronica Falls,

• Ellie Goulding

Gigs

• Vampire Weekend live @KCLSU

• The Big Pink live @Camden Ballroom

• The Dead Weather @Brixton Academy

Plus
All of The xx's remixxes

Finally-
I am nominated for a ROTD Award for 'Best Blog'. If you'd like to vote for me then please do by following this link HERE. Go on, make my day.

Read More »»

The Big Pink @Camden Electric Ballroom

23/10/09
Gigwise.com

Since emerging earlier in the year The Big Pink have had the albatross of shoegaze hanging heavily around their neck. Every interview, review and feature with the group has tried to lump the pair in with this years genuine revival typified by bands such as The Horrors and New York's The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart much to singer Robbie Furze's chargrin. As the band take to the stage tonight (Furze plus a bassist, drummer Akiko of the punk band Comanechi and full time Big Pink member Milo Cordell behind a box of noise) the quartet quickly and clearly banish the labels and pigeonholes applied to them amidst a fog of dry ice.

Support comes from the similarly loud and reverb heavy new band We Fell To Earth who have the same moody atmospherics and big walls of sound as the headliners but as yet are lacking an emotional dimension. Songs like 'Deaf' and 'The Double' hint at a promising potential but much of the rest flys by struggling to register to the large audience gathered. The Big Pink however are greeted to the stage like returning heroes. The hedonistic band are clad in black with only the gold studs on the shoulders of Furze's leather jacket showing any signs of ostentation. The aforementioned shoegaze burden is immediately proved to be a fallacy as the pummeling riffs and beats of set opener 'Too Young To Love' kick in. The Big Pink are sonic magpies, picking up elements of different styles and genres and blending them into one big ball of noise. 'Frisk' comes across much more like the industrial seduction of Nine Inch Nails 'Closer' than ever this evening whilst Furze's history in digital hardcore music and touring with Alec Empire ensures everything sounds suitably enormous. None more so than the breakdown during 'At War With The Sun' which sounds nothing short of apocalyptic.

The musical pick 'n' mix continues throughout with hints of Timbaland/ J. Dilla production running through the hip-hop beats on 'Tonight' and 'Golden Pendulum in particular. The third key ingredient to the genre mix is soul music. The band have spoken of their love of Otis Redding and the yearnng passion can be heard in Big Pink tracks such as 'Love In Vain'. This side of the band is perhaps their weakest as with each layer you remove from the stacks of sound The Big Pink supply the results become flimsier- they work best at full volume throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Having said that there is an excellent a-capella performance of Otis Redding's 'These Arms Are Mine' in the penultimate moment of the set. Taking the title of that song for it's lead chorus lyric is the effortlessly cool 'Velvet'. Having removed his leather jacket and singing "These arms are mine, don't mind who they hold' those gathered can't help but notice Furze's biceps in a Sonic Youth t-shirt slashed at the sleeves- gym workers would describe them as 'ripped' or indeed 'pumped'.

The show concludes somewhat inevitably with 'Dominos' a song slightly spoiled by a pizza company however it is an undisputed solid gold hit. There will not be a better chorus written all year and the song seems to encapsulate all that is great about The Big Pink, its lustful noise over a celebratory beat waves the crowd off into the night staring at anything but their shoes.

Photo: David Emery

Read More »»

For The Record: September

September is over- here are the best albums of the month. Click the links for full reviews.

The Cribs- 'Ignore The Ignorant'
Jamie T- 'Kings and Queens' (Album of the month)
Japandroids- 'Post Nothing'
The Big Pink- 'A Brief History Of Love'
Dizzee Rascal- 'Tongue 'N' Cheek'
Brand New- 'Daisy'
Vivian Girls- 'Everything Goes Wrong'
Girls- 'Album'

Download these:

The Cribs- We Were Aborted
Jamie T- Castro Dies
Japandroids- Wet Hair
The Big Pink- Velvet
Dizzee Rascal- Dirtee Cash
Brand New- Vices
Vivian Girls- I Have No Fun
Girls- Lauren Marie.

Read More »»

In a move that some people probably think makes her look cool and edgy The Big Pink have remixed Lily Allen. It's a well known fact the 'Velvet' band and Lily Allen go way back so this is all makes sense but luckily it sounds good too. Taking one of Allen's whinier songs ("People think twenty two is old, waah!") Robbie and Milo of TBP have added a suitably rumbling backdrop and made Lily sound more intriguing than she is likely too any time soon. Maybe she should cover 'Dominos'?



The Big Pink's album is out this week- review is here.

Read More »»

The Big Pink- 'A Brief History Of Love'

The Big Pink’s hipster credentials are second to none. Prior to the band Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell were best known for running the boutique label Merok which gave debut releases to the likes of Crystal Castles, Klaxons and The Soft Pack. The pair are well connected too; Milo lives with Jack Penate and Robbie is a former squeeze of Lily Allen. Add to this the fact that Milo’s Dad produced Procol Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ and you have the ingredients for the definitive band to be dubious about.

It’s a testament to the notion of not judging a book by its cover then that The Pink’s debut LP is a heavy and gallon deep adventure into a murky darkness which sees stadium pop choruses do battle with industrial noise and an almost constant whirr of feedback. Ostensibly ‘A Brief History Of Love’ is a marriage of the cold and strong guitars of the likes of Alec Empire and Nine Inch Nails with processed beats courtesy of Cordell’s red hot laptop. This combination makes for an imposing listen, ‘A Brief History Of Love’ is lot of things but subtle isn’t one of them. It demands attention through being relentless and impressively muscled with the expensive touch of Rich Costey audible throughout from the opening waves of ‘Crystal Visions’ to the chiming reverb smothering ‘At War With The Sun’.

When The Big Pink first emerged in 2008 they were noticeably more inaccessible than the most recent incarnation sees them. From the droning loops of ‘Too Young To Love’ to the chanted exuberance of ‘Dominos’ it has felt that every single release from the duo has seen their sound evolve getting progressively more pop-centric. This battle for supremacy is what makes The Big Pink such an attractive proposition, the fact the listener is privy to the harsh working of the music and that nothing is polished or rounded off for digestibility mixed with a melodic search for a hit chorus. It’s essentially the musical equivalent of opening a wide screen TV and seeing the wires and fuses in circuit. Finding the warmth amidst the harsh aesthetic nature of The Big Pink is where the rewards lie in ‘A Brief History Of Love’; the way in which Furze sings “These arms are mine, don’t care who they hold.” on ‘Velvet’ to the tender introspection on ‘Love In Vain’ The Big Pink show they are really just big softies.

There is a chance that The Big Pink are a band caught between two worlds, the mainstream indie crowd who are adopting them and the experimental/ niche world they came from. Perhaps ‘A Brief History Of Love is the sound of compromise and will see the East London duo spread themselves too thin however the niche they are currently carving makes for exciting and powerful listening.

8/10

Read More »»

July: Blog Highlights

Rubbish month, too hot, I moved house, I still don't have a sofa. Here's the best of the blog.

Arctic Monkeys debut their great new song and new look. Here

Mercury Prize predictions and nominations.

The Mae Shi split and confused the world. Luckily I found this on a messageboard.

Download the new single from The Big Pink for nothing. Here.

TV On The Radio in Brixton. Here.

Jarvis Cocker auditions for Outnumbered. Here.

Read More »»

The Big Pink- A Brief History Of Love

Read More »»

Field Day 2009

For This Is Fake DIY

As synonymous with organisational problems as anything else Field Day has struggled in the two years since its birth. Any worries of a repeat of the Great Toilet Wait of 2008 were soon allayed this year as an abundance of portaloos were dotted around the site, this teamed with the excellent bar service and excellent sound throughout the site mean that Field Days detractors are going to have to find something new to moan about next year.

Chances are it will be the weather as for a second year running Victoria Park has bore witness to apocalyptic rain and whilst it may be funny to watch a hipster drown nobody can claim to have enjoyed the various drenchings throughout the day. Luckily however, much of the day’s best action happened in the tents. Starting off with much hyped The XX who staked their claim as the most talked about new band of 2009 by filling their tent to bursting point and keeping many watching from the outside. At the time of going onstage the weather was much better and if there is one band who don’t suit the sun it’s the itchy and nocturnal XX. Despite being at odds with their surrounding the young band play through their delicate and brittle hits with ‘Basic Space’ and ‘Stars’ particularly impressing. You half suspect this band might be best suited to 3am home listening however given some time and a different atmosphere The XX will shine live.

Moving from the introverted and subtle to the ambitious and direct Temper Trap is a big jump. The Australian outfit play a brand of FM ready rock that is ill at ease with this festivals aggressively uncommercial nature and as a result the band come off looking a bit silly. It is odd how the band who emerged in late 2008 with a raft of catchy songs seem to have axed their good material in favour of a series of mid-paced croons and moments reminiscent of best forgotten The Fray. The Temper Trap’s set today is like so much they do, sleek and professional but more than a bit cold.

As The Horrors take to the stage the daylight suddenly becomes all the more illuminating. Not because of the sun, that’s long gone, but because seeing The Horrors in anything other than pitch black is just wrong. The majority of ‘Primary Colours’ is aired today and whilst ‘New Ice Age’ and ‘Who Could Say’ sound good Faris Badwan and co. are missing their mojo today. Offering very little in the way of charisma or stage presence is unlike The Horrors but it’s a crime they are guilty of today. A performance to forget.

Currently hijacking the critical acclaim train that The Horrors have ridden for 6 months are Wild Beasts. Their new album ‘Two Dancers’ is getting critics hot under the collar and as they take to the stage you can see why. ‘The Fun Powder Plot’ and ‘Hooting and Howling’ get an early airing and go to show just how special a band Wild Beasts are, weird and beautiful they have the world at their feet. There is just time to hear ‘The Devil’s Crayon before dashing over to the Bugged Out! Tent to hear Little Boots reviving the ghost of Billie Piper and the Venga Boys. Perhaps it’s harsh but there is something missing in Victroia Hesketh’s arsenal, something critical. The songs are all fantastic as a celebratory ‘Click’ and the ever-brilliant ‘Stuck On Repeat’ show but much of the performance feels like a façade, an episode of Faking It dragged into reality. One day Victoria Hesketh will write a decade defining song however on today’s evidence it won’t be for herself.

Around 7pm the heavens truly open and the rain pours incessantly. A dripping wet mass descend upon The Big Pink to hear their intense set of industrial lullabies. Today working as a three piece the band are uncompromising in their aggression but do more than cater to the casual viewer with a series of sing along choruses and hit singles. Kicking off with ‘Too Young To Love’ the trio then descend into a sludge of feedback and beats which grind together in a wistful fashion. Perhaps the setlist is mismanaged as many album tracks are played in sequence before a crashing finale of ‘Velvet’ and ‘Dominos’ but The Big Pink get away with it. Of all the new bands on display today The Big Pink seem most likely to rapidly work their way up the pecking order over the next 12 months.

Headline time brought something of a conundrum. Do you go for the earnest and epic Mogwai or the fun but frivolous Mystery Jets? Despite knowing Mystery Jets will be more enjoyable there is a part of you that thinks you need to see Mogwai, to be educated in the ways of post rock and how not to be a silly indie boy. However after 45 minutes of punishing and relentless intrumentals the brain begins to turn to mush and the sounds of Eel Pie Island become all the more enticing. Running headlong into the Mystery Jets throng we hear the biggest sing-along of the day for ‘Two Doors Down’ and a celebratory ‘Behind The Bunhouse’. Blaine Harrison et al leave the stage victorious and the grinning crowd leave Victoria Park for another year with fingers crossed for a day of sunshine this time next year.

Read More »»

Download: The Big Pink- Dominos.

The Big Pink, a.k.a that band who sound like a Dildo you might buy from a market stall (not you obviously) have announced their debut album details.

Due for release on September 14th via 4AD 'A Brief History Of Love' is produced by Rich Costey and features previous singles 'Velvet', 'Stop The World' and 'Too Young To Love'. As an appetiser for September you can download the brilliant 'Dominos' below. Most bands would kill for a song this good, TBP are giving it away- go figure.

Download: The Big Pink- Dominos

The London two-piece will also tour in October taking in the following dates.

October
8 Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
9 Digital, Brighton
11 Kasbah, Coventry
18 The Cockpit, Leeds
20 O2 Academy 2, Liverpool
21 Manchester, University
22 Electric Ballroom, London

Read More »»

The Big Pink- 'Stop The World'

This is Fake DIY

Riding the wave of hype and critical praise their previous single 'Velvet' brought, The Big Pink return with this, their third release. Taking the pop aesthetic that is emerging brighter and shinier with each 7" this duo put out 'Stop The World' looks set to establish The Big Pink as one of, if not the best new bands of 2009.

Starting off with an almost Timbaland-esque drum beat enveloped by claustrophobic buzzes and whirrs the haunting atmosphere is immediately laid out. The taught bassline lurks below Robbie Furze's slacker vocals but this is the calm before the storm. As the chorus swells and erupts you can't help but be taken aback by the sheer enormity of it. It feels simultaneously apocalyptic and romantic as the deafening cacophony of feedback pummels away at your eardrums.

As the second verse kicks off with the word "loveless" you can't help being reminded of Kevin Shields et al and My Bloody Valentine certainly preside over The Big Pink. However rather than sounding like 80's revivalists TBP sound like the future, an industrial and urban harshness stood beside a hallucinogenic desire for escape.

Is this better than 'Velvet'? Probably not, but when the only thing stopping your songs being considered great is the quality of your other material then you know you're onto a good thing. Catch The Big Pink now while you still can.

Read More »»

January- March 2009 in 41 Tracks.

So the other day I looked over the last three months best albums and heaped praise on The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Sky Larkin and Franz Ferdinand in particular. Now is the turn of the single, or as it is better known these days 'track'. The very concept of a single seems slightly redundant now with internet leaks, Myspace streams and Spotify destroying the temporary relief of album anticipation a single once provided. What is now a much bigger trend is the free download, a way of introducing your new music to the fans and hoping they then come back and pay for another ten tracks. This list of tracks includes a few free downloads along with b-sides, remixes, good tracks from bad albums, live performances and a couple taken from the best albums of 2008 still demanding attention in '09.

In my mind these are the best tracks that are a) Not on the albums mentioned in Tuesdays post and b) not on the albums released in April, May and June that may well be doing the rounds (So no Zero, Black Wax, Bonkers, Daniel, Love You Better or The Reeling). They and many more will be included when I do this again in three months time.

Until then enjoy the definitive run-down of the best tracks 2009 has given us so far. To listen/ watch the video's then click here

1. Jamie T- Fire, Fire. (Download)
   
2. Jack Penate- Tonight's Today.
3. Friendly Fires- Skeleton Boy (Air France remix)
4. Radiohead- 15 Step (Live at the Grammy Awards)
5. La Roux- In For The Kill (Skream remix)
6. Hatcham Social- Murder In The Dark.
7. The XX- Stars.
8. Kid Cudi- Day and Night
9. Cocknbullkid- I'm Not Sorry.
10. Everything Everything- Suffragette, Suffragette.
11. PJ Harvey- Black Hearted Love.
12. TV On The Radio- Heroes (David Bowie Cover)
13. The Big Pink- Too Young To Love.
14. 
15. The Soft Pack- Nightlife.
16. Two Door Cinema Club- Something Good Can Work.
17. Phoenix- 1901.
18. Girls- Lust For Life.
19. The Dead Weather- Hang You From The Heavens.
    
20. Casiokids- Fot I Hose.
21. Navvy- Disco.
22. Dead Man's Bones- In The Room Where You Sleep.
23. Three Trapped Tigers- 1.
24. Tweak Bird- Whorses.
25. Chew Lips- Solo.
26. Pulled Apart By Horses- I Punched A Lion In The Throat.
27. Fol Chen- Cable TV
28. Telekenisis!- Coast Of Carolina.
29. The Temper Trap- Sweet Disposition.
30. Eugene McGuinness- Fonz.
31. School Of Seven Bells- Iamundernodisguise.
32. Filthy Dukes- Nonsense In The Dark (Ft. Orlando Weeks)
33. Dum Dum Girls- Jail La La.
34. Bear Hands- What A Drag.
35. Lissy Trullie- Self Taught Learner.
36. MC Rut- Busy Bein' Born.
37. Suckers- Easy Chairs.
38. The Lonely Island- Natalie's Rap.
39. Hockey- Too Fake.
40. Little Comets- One Night In October.
41. Still Flyin'- Good Thing It's A Ghost Town Around Here.
    

Read More »»

Top Of The Pops #2

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Hysteric
2. Tweak Bird- Whorses
3. Chew Lips- Solo
4. The Soft Pack- Nightlife
5. Filthy Dukes- This Rhythm
6. The Big Pink- Velvet
7. Dum Dum Girls- Jail La La
8. Casiokids- Fot I Hose
9. Phoenix- 1901
10. La Roux- In For The Kill (Skream's Lets Get Ravey Remix)



Dum Dum Girls- Jail La La (mp3)
La Roux- In For The Kill (Skream's Lets Get Ravery Remix) mp3

Read More »»

Introducing... The Big Pink

All of The Big Pink's good photo's won't upload on here and the rest are blurry and/ or rubbish so I'm going to have to embarrass Robbie Furze,one half of the band, by adding a picture of him with Lily Allen who he briefly dated last year. Sorry (E-mail me some good pics OK?)

Silliness aside The Big Pink are Robbie and Milo, they were most famous for being behind Merok Records (the label that brought us Crystal Castles, Klaxons and more recently Titus Andronicus) now they are making a name for themselves in their own right. TBP makes droning, swirling pop music that is layered so thick it seems impenetrable but with every listen reveals more of itself until you are left with diamonds surrounded by coal dust.

Last year they released 'Too Young To Love' which sound a bit like when John Peel used to play records on the wrong speed. You half expect to hear a few clicks and for everything to transform into something more straight forward- to it's benefit however it stays at the same half pace throughout. The band's next single 'Velvet' is an altogether more anthemic creature with Bloody Valentine esque shoe gaze elements and y'know, an actual chorus. It will be released via 4AD (Deerhunter, Scott Walker) with who the band recently signed, you can see the video below.

They recently won the Philip Hall Radar award at this years NME Awards. In recent years the award has been won by Franz Ferdinand, Glasvegas and The Twang. One suspects The Big Pink might just follow the former and pray to God they don't take after the latter.

The Big Pink @ Myspace

Read More »»