SEVEN DAY SLUMP

Hello and welcome to the new music round up column that will assemble a forty man mob outside your home if you don't like what I've got to say.

Biggest and saddest news of the week is that Ari Up of The Slits has passed away. R.I.P. a true punk icon. (Guardian)

Elsewhere, Laura Marling is apparently the coolest person in the world according to NME. She replied by deciding not to release her planned new album. She's cool like that.

In the world of hyped up Northern bands, D/R/U/G/S hits us with two killer remixes. One for Twin Sister and another for their brothers in arms, Egyptian Hip-Hop.

Pinglewood, one of my favourite blogs, posted this excellent Ariel Pink tribute podcast including covers of the man's songs from blog favourites Echo Lake and Visions Of Trees. Check it out here.

Willow Smith made everyone look very old with her 'Whip My Hair' video/ meme factory.

In the world of embeddable music you can hear right now, Liars have got a remix from Thom Yorke which you can file under 'this will impress bearded critics'

Cocknbullkid is edging ever closer to actually releasing some bloody music with this fine remix/ covers package including Kele and Marina re-works:


Becoming Real gave us a taste of his upcoming EP with this free download called 'South London Congo'.



And finally, one of my favourite songs of the year finally has a video to accompany it. Take a look at Best Coast and her 'Boyfriend'. Have a great weekend.



Img: Dasha Riabchenko

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SEVEN DAY SLUMP

Hello, welcome to another dose of new stuff rounded up in a weekly fashion. Am writing this in a bit of a rush as I'm heading off to see HEALTH and Crystal Castles shortly, I have a really bad headache so those two should relax me and make things normal again, right?

So, first up is some news...

Rivers Cuomo has teamed up with Best Coast to work together. Hopefully it will result in some good music and not just a load of stoned jokes about cats and internet memes involving the cast of Jackass 3D. (Pitchfork)

Nicki Minaj has revealed her album artwork, it shows her with no arms. I've always thought she was 'armless enough etc etc.

Robyn has given us a listen to her brand new single 'Indestructable':

Whilst Mount Kimbie are giving a live version of their track Ruby for free, grab it below:

Elsewhere, Kanye West did a 'reverse Skream' by making La Roux's 'In For The Kill' sound a bit shit with his remix whilst Joe Goddard remixed Kisses self titled track from their wonderful new album which is out this week. Be sure to check them out as I believe they're in the country at the moment. That track is available at Stereogum.

Finally, some videos. Warpaint did nothing to stop people assosciating them with Hollywood by getting band sister and actress Shannyn Sossamon to direct their clip for 'Undertow' whilst Holy Fuck joined Klaxons, Wavves and Best Coast by combining indie with cats to great effect on their video for 'Red Lights'.

Video, track, moment and everything about this week has revolved around James Blake. I've prattled on about him enough on here so will just leave you with the spinning fruit in the official video to his Feist cover 'Limit To Your Love'.

Img: Jared Boger

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For The Record: August

Wow, what a month. Starting with a sweat-inducing Best Coast gig and ending with an even hotter Libertines reunion August has been one of the biggest of the year to date with brilliant albums released every single week. Far ahead from the crowd for me though is 'Treats' by Sleigh Bells. Aggressive, bold, anarachic and ultimately a whole load of fun Treats is an instant classic and one to add to Fever To Tell in the pile marked 'Party Starters'.

August's best albums:

Sleigh Bells - Treats (Album of the Month)
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Klaxons - Surfing The Void
Skream - Outside The Box
Zola Jesus - Stridulum II
Best Coast - Crazy For You
Everything Everything - Man Alive
Count and Sinden - Mega Mega Mega
Wavves - King Of The Beach
Yu(c)k - Weakend (EP)
Los Campesinos - All's Well That Ends (EP)
Sky Larkin - Kaleide

Also reccomended: Maximum Balloon, Magic Kids, Rose-Ellinor Dougall, !!!, Midnight Juggernaughts, Tame Impala.

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Stream Best Coast's 'Crazy For You'

Here it is: the best lo-fi, slacker sunshine guitar pop album with a cat on the cover this side of Wavves. Stream and beam to your hearts content...

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Vivian Girls - John, I'm Only Dancing

It's been a busy day for Vivian Girls. First up, drummer Ali has left to join Best Coast and has been replaced by fellow Brooklynite Fiona who also bashes skins for Coasting. Secondly the band have announced their part in a forthcoming Bowie tribute record alongside the likes of Warpaint, Soulwax and French first lady Carla Bruni. Vivian Girls opted to cover the classic John, I'm Only Dancing and it sounds a lot like this:

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Best Coast, Vampire Weekend + Kid Cudi - All Summer

This Summer jam courtesy of a well known baseball shoe manufacturer is meant to conjure up images of sun-blasted afternoons and long evenings in the heat. So why does it make me think of Christmas so much? Maybe it's the use of the chiming around Best Coasts part. Either way, this isn't quite what many had hoped for from these three but still a great opportunity to listen to Beth Consetino letting rip on a big pop chorus. Surely it's only a matter of time before Xenomania hire her as a top-line writer...

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XXX

The thirty new acts soundtracking my January to July:

Yuck
Veronica Falls
James Blake
Oberhofer
Harlem
Gold Panda
Visions Of Trees
Summer Camp
Korralreven
Villagers
Tennis
Best Coast
Zola Jesus
Avi Buffalo
Toro Y Moi
Delorean
Active Child
Surfer Blood
Wild Nothing
Kisses
Aloe Blacc
Sleigh Bells
Spectrals
Factory Floor
Jai Paul
Frankie & The Heartstrings
Coasting
Nicki Minaj
The Neat
Warpaint

Google is your friend.

Img: Ace Kieffer

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Best Coast - Boyfriend

Your first cut from the album of the year in waiting, Best Coast's 'Crazy For You'. How any man can resist a girl who smokes that much, watches that much basketball and Jersey Shore and writes the most perfectly heartbroken pop songs like 'Boyfriend' must be one of life's great mysteries.

MP3: Best Coast - Boyfriend

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Camden Crawl: Saturday

The success of a festival that operates on fans skipping from venue to venue hinges on the weather so the tropical storms across North London does not get the Camden Crawl off to a great start. With the venues smelling more like wet dog than old beer the search for the Next Big Thing can begin.

First up on the Saturday is Best Coast. Like so many lo-fi slacker pop bands from the USA you half suspect that Beth Cosentino might be too stoned too deliver a killer performance but any doubts are cast away halfway through a rousing, and appropriate, Sun Was High (So Was I). Playing to a packed out crowd, seemingly more interested in the dry warmth of The Jazz Café than shimmering grunge anthems Best Coast plow through a series of tracks lined up to appear on their debut album. Where many bands tend to hide dark and morose lyrics in amongst happy melodies Best Coast switch it up and sing about love and romance in a downbeat way. The results are utterly charming with Cosentino coming off like Dolly Parton going surfing on the wondrous ‘Our Deal’. ‘When I’m With You’ is Best Coasts finest moment however and earns the rapturous applause it so dearly deserves.



Queuing at the Camden Crawl is as inevitable as eating McDonalds on the street and seeing Pete Doherty (who was spotted on the Sunday). Easily the biggest queue we see all weekend is for The Drums who continue to impress and confuse in equal measures. Playing to a packed out Blues Kitchen they whip up the crowd into a frenzy unseen across many of the other bands playing who are all too keen to be coy. Understated is not in The Drums vocabulary though and as Jonathan Pierce struts across the stage it’s hard to deny that this band of starry eyes could become huge. With songs as good as ‘Best Friend’ and Forever and Ever Amen’ the indie kids of Camden are rubbing their hands almost as much as Morrissey and The Cure's royalty collectors.

Poor scheduling means an hours wait for a final band on Saturday however when the clock strikes twelve and Summer Camp take to the Jazz Café stage all worries are forgotten. With ‘Ghost Train’ a permanent fixture on 6Music there are plenty of well wishers here to see one of the bands very early performances and they don’t leave disappointed. Far chirpier than their demos suggest, Summer Camp own the stage painting the crowd in sepia tones with their wistful pop beauty. Like a motivational speaker for the young at heart, lead singer Elizabeth provides pretty vocals whilst her band mates Jeremy Warmsley directs the music admirably. If Camden Crawl is for anything then it is seeing the best new bands first. With Summer Camp we might just have spotted something great indeed.

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Best Coast - Our Deal

This weekend cannot come soon enough, Best Coast = most exciting thing about the Camden Crawl by far. As if further excitement were needed Beth Cosentino has dropped her most prim and proper moment to date with 'Our Deal'. Practically gleamingly clean production brigs the doo-wop vocals and typically laid back attitude to the fore. Recorded especially for a computer game or something (I only play Need For Speed on my phone) 'Our Deal is streaming over at Black Iris.tv now...

Stream: Best Coast - Our Deal

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Words with... Best Coast

This might be the worst interview I've ever done. Best Coast is the Mark E. Smith to my Lauren Laverne, the Nick Cave to my Zane Lowe. Still love her though and can't wait to check the band out in May...

Please describe who Best Coast are to someone who has maybe not heard of you before? Gloomy love songs about boys inspired by the sun and the 60s

Have you been in bands before BC? Yes

Where in America do you hail from? Do you think living there influences your songwriting? Los Angeles. Yes the weather and my house influence me a lot.

You post a lot of 60's music on your blog. Is that your favourite era for music? Yes.

Why is it that girl groups like The Chantels and The Ronnettes strike a chord with punkier bands like yourselves, Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls? I think there is something special about that music and we have all notices that and we've all added our own modern twist to our music.



How many Best Coast releases have there been so far? One solo tape and 5 7 inches
What is the next release you have planned? A 7" for a headphone company called eskachue
You're touring the States with Vivian Girls. Are they old friends of yours? We toured the west coast with them in feb. I've known Cassie since I was 15 and ali and Katy have since become close friends of mine

Do you have plans to visit the UK? Yes in May

Are you working on/ recording an album at the moment? We finished recording our record last month.

What are your musical dreams and ambitions? Take my cat on tour with me, play on the moon.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2010? Smoke weed everyday.

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Best Coast - 'When I'm With You' (Live Video)

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Best Coast - 'When I'm With You'

For every yin there is a yang, for every glossy pop star there is a scruffy rock star, for every GaGa there is a Best Coast. Draping herself in the same cloak of fuzz as Vivian Girls or Times New Viking Cali's Beth Cosentino crafts slices of love-lorn angst with low slung sentiment. Check out 'When I'm With You' or if you're lucky enough to live Stateside catch BC supporting the aforementioned Vivian's on tour later on this year.

MP3: Best Coast - 'When I'm With You'

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